Rochester 5th Ward Information

What's This City Coming To?

2008-02-17T19:30:00.002-06:00

Next Wednesday, February 20, the council will discuss an option to have visible security in the form of police officers at all City Council Meetings. This was brought about because of the killing of council members and police in Kirkwood, Missouri a week or so ago. Whenever I find it hard to decide on something it’s either I don’t have enough information or, even with information, it’s a matter that I wonder should be brought up in the first place. So I’m asking you for your thoughts.

I’m not flippant about my life, the life of the other council members, or anyone in the audience, but I’m having a tough time asking to use police resources just because this happened elsewhere. Unfortunately, in an open, free society these things can and do happen. As Police Chief Peterson said about having restricted access or metal detectors at all entrances, (paraphrasing) - “Restricted access to Government is no access to Government”. Should we then have someone follow me to my car in the parking lot, as I go home, when I go out in public, at Grandma’s Kitchen? Don’t think so. At this time I’m thinking that we should leave things as they are unless we have reason to request otherwise (and we did that once last year.)

Then there’s the shooting in DeKalb that still doesn’t make any sense to anyone.

Should we carry? Are you kidding? I need both hands to talk.

So, what do you think?

Send me your thoughts -- bobnow@charter.net .

Thanks,

Bob

Back Again in '08

2008-01-05T18:27:00.000-06:00

'08 will be GREAT!

Well so far so good. Got the Kiwanis Wells Fargo Hockey Festival behind me, behaved myself on New Year's eve, got back on my treadmill (well, twice this week), and besides having a sewer backup before Christmas in the Northern Hills area, things are looking good.

We've also grown to over 100,000 population on New year's day. With the annexation of the Marvale addition over 1000 residents joined our ranks to push our population to over 100,000 according to our Director of Planning, Phil Wheeler -- and Phil is not known to be wrong in these matters.

The PB had a very good article on January 2 and in it there were references to "City of the First Class".
Since then I'd had several people ask me about this and just what does it mean. We've always said and known that we're a first class city so what's this about?

We're still trying to figure it out. See, its a Minnesota State designation and there are many statutes buried in State Statutes that apply to a "City of the First Class" but they're interspersed in the books. There's no one source for us to go to as the last city to become a City of the First Class was Duluth and that was in 1935!

We've got until about 2011 or 2012 before we'll see any effect or need to take any action but in a proactive move we commissioned a work effort last summer under the guidance of the Charter Commission and our City Attorney's Office to find these statutes so we could get a heads up on what faces us.

It was a tremendous piece of work and you can see the results on our home page. Go on line to http://www.rochestermn.gov/departments/administration/projects/firstclass/firstclasscity.asp

The Excel worksheet "Master Table of Statutes" can be downloaded. The statutes are identified and broken down even to the department level. We even have those statutes identified that affect the County and School District -- why not as long as our researcher was in there.

If you see something interesting then click on the link and you will go on line to the actual full statute in the State's books. Pretty neat!

Anyway, I thought you might be interested in what happens behind the scenes.

If anything interesting happens I'll be in touch otherwise Joan and I are off to a much belated visit with kids and grandkids in Florida. We plan to leave on Jan 14 and return on the 29th. I'll be checking e-mail from time to time but don't plan on being compulsive about the matter. Hope you understand.

Bob

New Ordinance Highlights Booklet

2007-09-10T07:44:00.001-06:00

Sometime ago I mentioned that I was working on a new, improved, updated Rochester City Ordinance Highlights booklet which is intended to help you better understand the "rules" especially in regards to your relationship with your neighbors and vice versa. It's a selection of the key ordinances that may cause neighbor-to-neighbor problems, in a shortened form, with reference to the "official" ordinance as well as a phone numbest of the appropriate city department to call for more information or action.

We also tried to include references to useful city resources that many do mot know about.

This was a collaborative effort between the RNeighbors Board (of which I'm a member), citizen supporters, and the City and we thanks them all.

Printed hard copies will be available at the City Clerk's office at City Hall, the Rochester Public Library, on the information table outside the Council Chambers before every City Council meeting, and at the RNeighbors office (call 529-4150). You may find these useful to distribute to new neighbors or to discuss at Neighborhood Association meetings and the like.

You may contact me for more detail or if you'd like me to attend a neighborhood gathering to talk about this.

Oh, electronic copies and access may be had either from the Rochester City home page http://Rochestermn.gov or the RNeighbors web site http://RNeighbors.org .

Bob Nowicki

Spending Tax $$$ Wisely – Community Service Officers

2007-08-15T16:01:00.000-06:00

The Post Bulletin had an article last Monday, August 13, 2007 about a proposal Police Chief Peterson was going to make (and did) to the city council regarding a civilian response team that would respond to non-emergency calls. The idea is to free certified police officers from these non-emergency calls to make better use of their time and skills for the more serious crime prevention, traffic enforcement, and the more serious calls that require a fully trained police enforcement officer.

I think this makes a lot of sense. So much sense that you have to wonder why we hadn’t done this before. It’s relatively new here in the US but is a plan that the chief studied and has taken the best parts of from a plan in place in London. (This is called research.)

Of course the article and the proposal has raised a lot of questions. Good questions from the council as well as some of you. We don’t yet have a job description but it’s coming. Ditto for more detail. But the gist of the plan is that with the every growing population there have been a rising number of calls for service which impact our ability to respond to the more serious calls so why don’t we hire and train staff to handle these calls and let the fully trained officers respond to the calls that require their training?.

The growing number of calls are fortunately not of the serious crime nature but they impact the PD’s ability to respond to the serious calls or to do important crime prevention activities like show lots of visibility in potential crime areas, businesses etc … be around more on the street for traffic enforcement … respond even faster to emergency calls.

The CSO’s would be trained to respond to time consuming report writing calls after a break in, vandalism, and so on. They would be the ones to take pictures, fill out accident reports or record a crime scene. You don’t need a badge and a gun to do these things. They’d wear distinctive uniforms and be highly visible. They could do great PR kind of things on the downtown area like give directions, keep the peace in Peace Plaza or the new 1st Street Mall. They would have radios and be in contact with the regular police officer in case of need.

We haven’t adopted it yet but are considering it for next year’s budget. Having 4 full time and 12 part time officer for less that $900,000 is a lot smarter, I think, than hiring 16 additional officers for $1.5 million --- and then using them for these same mundane tasks..

You’ll see more as we develop the plan in the paper, on the city’s home page, from me, and from the PD so stay tuned.

Bob Nowicki

Ward Update - July 1

2007-07-02T08:38:00.000-06:00

I'm back from attending the League of Minnesota Cities Conference for elected officials in Duluth. Went to a bunch of sessions and hope some of the things I learned will stick. It was a very good conference. Ardell was elected and sworn it as 2nd Vice President so in two years he'll be the big kahuna (opps. Sorry Mr. Hazama.) Sandra Means, Marcia Marcoux, the Mayor and I attended as well as Donna Bussell, the mayor's assistant, Park Director, Ron Bastian and others from the Rochester Convention and Visitor's Bureau. They were there to not only see what they could learn but to represent Rochester as we will be the host for the conference next year. Rah-Rah-Rochester!

PRESCRIBED BURN AT SILVER LAKE: As you visit Silver Lake no doubt you will notice the work going on in preparation for the vegetation seeding and transplanting. A prescribed burn of some of the shoreline areas will be conducted sometime in July so if you see smoke from the area stay away if you are sensitive to smoke or remain indoors until it passes. (and you might want to hold off on calling the Fire Department) It's anticipated that the area to be burned will be small due to the type of vegetation present and preparation required. Burns will take part in small sections at a time and timing will be dependent on weather and wind conditions. Burns will take place on weekdays between 7am and 7pm. Of course, the contractor is experienced in conducting these burns and will coordinate and obtain the necessary burn permits from the Fire Department.

WARD VISIT WITH THE MAYOR?: The Mayor and I have discussed holding some kind of town hall meetings in wards on a regular basis. I know the Mayor always follows the open door policy and takes calls, visits, and is out and about in his normal course of the day. I try to do the same as do other council members.

We were wondering, however, if having the Mayor and council member host an open meeting session somewhere would be of benefit to you. If so, when and where? Right now you know that I'm at Grandma's Kitchen every Friday from 7 to 8:30 (or as long as there's someone there to talk to). The Mayor thinks that perhaps we should start off there to see what kind of response we get. What do you think?

When we come up with some kind of plan we'll publish a schedule in the paper, our city home page, probably talk about it on the radio and of course I'll let you all know in my Ward Updates.
Let me know what you think or let the Mayor know at abrede@ci.rochester.mn.us

Ward Update

2007-05-31T20:35:00.000-06:00

TRANSITIONAL HOUSE (brought to your attention in my 4/10 update): The council approved city ordinance and land development manual changes which would lay out the conditions for a conditional use approval of a residence to house newly released prisoners who would be otherwise homeless into our community. The net is that a house or dwelling unit (apartment) cannot house more than 5, must be at least 1000 feet apart from one another, and if housing any type of sex offender must not be closer than 500 feet from a day care center or 1000 feet from a school, playground, or other child-oriented facility. A neighborhood informational meeting is mandatory (within a 500 foot radius) and city council approval is required. The Department of Corrections will oversee these requests and establishments. They are currently planning to only have 4 of these homes in Rochester. This is the big picture. Contact me if you have any further questions.

FIRST STREET PLAZA: We awarded the low bid for the First Street Plaza to Pember Construction for $2,872,156.69. Work will begin in June and mostly completed this fall. This was a re-bid as the first bid came in at $4.1 M which was almost $1 M over the preliminary engineering estimate. Staff, working with the design engineers, pared down the design requirements coming up with a figure closer to what we were prepared to fund.

SILVERLAKE BUFFER PROJECT: The project to provide a native plant buffer around Silver Lake had been formally approved at last night's council meeting. The purpose is to reduce fecal coliform bacteria from entering Silver Lake and the Zumbro River as a result of goose and other animal droppings on the shoreline. The buffer zone will begin from about 10 feet off the shoreline in the water to about 30 feet of shoreline. More information about the project and goose management can be found at http://www.rochestermn.gov/departments/administration/projects/geesemanagement.asp . Some interesting stuff in there. One of the most interesting is about Angel Wing, the condition we see sometimes at Silver Lake with some geese that are mistake as wounded. This came up when we first proposed no feeding of the geese and received flak for not helping the poor "wounded" critters. If you read the article you'll see that these geese are healthy, can fly (I'd been amazed the first time I saw this happen) and the condition is attributed to a nutritional condition due to TOO MUCH FOOD! How's that for a twist?

PEDDLER PERMITS: It's the time of year when door-to-door sales reps knock on your door again. Be advised that they must have a "Peddler's Permit", issued by the city clerk. Don't be afraid to ask to see it. A company ID will not do. If you have any doubt don't hesitate to report these people to the police. They may be going door to door to see who's home so they could come back again a bit later to break in and rob you.
The exceptions are political campaigners, religious evangelists (unless they are selling something), non-profit fundraising activities such as Youth Hockey, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, school fundraisers. If in doubt, call the police or the city clerk's office 328-2900.
I had a request to look into the hours that they could solicit. Staff is looking into what other cities are doing. We will have a discussion on this either at our June 4th Committee of the Whole meeting or the one after on June 11th.
What do you think are reasonable hours for solicitation? I'd like to know. Tell me what you think.

Thanks,

Bob

General Ward Update

2007-04-27T18:10:00.000-06:00

LITTERBIT BETTER: Well, the Litterbit Better Cleanup campaign has certainly cleaned up a good chunk of the 5th Ward thanks to many dedicated volunteers. I hope that we will all do our bit to keep it clean.

RNeighborWoods Tree Planting: I'm getting ready to plant some trees on Elton Hills Drive tomorrow, Saturday. Doing it as a board member of RNeighbors, one of the initiators of RNeighborwoods, one of the first certified Citizen Foresters, council member interested in making the city more tree friendly and beautiful, and all around sucker for a good cause.

Perhaps in your travels along Elton Hills Dr.in the last couple of days you noticed the holes dug in the parkways with trees sitting waiting to be planted. These 100 trees are to replace the trees removed due to interference with the power lines and trimming causing structural decay over the years. We're going to start planting at 8:30 on Elton Hills Dr. with a rally at the Rochester Lutheran School and wrap up at the same place with a picnic for all the volunteers. Kids and adults are welcome. Bring gloves, a spade if you have one or just come over to supervise.

EMERALD ASH BORER: I just received a note from Jacob Ryg, our city Forester, regarding the possibility of importing the dreaded emerald ash borer into Minnesota with improperly processed Taylors Wood Products. Apparently the bark hadn't been removed from the logs and could harbor the ash borer which has been devastating trees in Michgan and moving towards us at an alarming rate.

I don't have any information about this product other than what is described in the memo but thought you should know about this just in cas you use the product. I have three very nice ash trees that I'd like to keep for as long as possible and sure that some of you do as well so if we can do something to prevent an even earlier arrival of this pest then let's do it.

Thanks,

Bob

On Transitional Housing

2007-04-11T21:23:00.000-06:00

So what if you were just released from jail or prison and wanted to get back into society but didn’t have money to buy a house or any friends or family in the area?

This is the problem that 40% of the 274 ex-prisoners released in 2006 and 40% of the 139 expected to be released in the Rochester Area face or will be facing. They are essentially homeless and may stay that way unless the already over-burdened probation officers and system find accommodations for them. By the way, there are currently 2,178 people on supervised release living among us today.

I think we’ll all agree that having a job, earning our keep, and being able to support ourselves are key to leading a healthy, productive life. Ditto for those who return to society after serving their sentences for their previous transgressions on our society.

The Department of Corrections including our Olmsted County probation office are proposing to open a “transitional” housing facility to address this need for housing. Others may follow.

An early attempt met with resistance from nearby residents. Fear of the unknown mostly. danger to themselves and their loved ones, loss of property values – you know, that sort of thing.
We, the city council, placed a one year moratorium to study the matter and formed a task force to help do this. Representatives from the Corrections community, neighborhoods, and various city and county organizations met since January.

They’ve made some pretty sound recommendations and we, the council, gave them the approval to continue through the ordinance formation and change process on the line they suggested.

Basically, the proposed home will have to come before the Planning and Zoning Commission and Council as a Conditional Use Development – meaning that it would only be approved if it met the conditions laid out in the ordinance and that it could only keep functioning if it continued to meet those conditions.

Conditions may vary depending on whether any level of sex offender would be housed on the property but basically no two houses could be within 1000 feet of each other (to keep the residential flavor of the area) and there must be at least 400 homes within a 1500 foot radius (again to insure residential atmosphere versus putting the home in a fringe area or industrial area).

In houses where sex offenders of any type might live there would be additional restrictions imposed. Houses could not be within 1000 feet of a licensed day care center, or 500 feet from a school or neighborhood play ground. We think this makes sense and is a balance between addressing the need to help assimilate these folks back into our community as helpful, supportive members of the community and addressing the concerns of our current residents.

I don’t expect to make a firm decision on this before June so let me know what you think.

I also have a lot of data on success rates, recidivism experience and can enlist the help of the Department of Corrections to address your questions, attend neighborhood meetings etc.

How Many People Have to Be Killed ...

2007-03-20T19:55:00.000-06:00

before you put in the traffic signal ... stop sign ... change the speed limit ... etc?

I don't know how many times I'd been asked this question since I've been on the city council and I know our traffic engineer probably gets this question daily.

There is, of course, no good answer to this. We certainly don't want to wait for anything as serious as a death before we take action but, on the other hand, we don't want to cause an accident of death by our actions either.

This is why we, the city and county, hire qualified professionals to carry the title of "Traffic Engineer". They are professionals with experience and specialized training just as are the other public works civil engineers who make daily decisions about the construction of our streets, sewers, water system, bridges and all the other important infrastructure needs of a city. Ditto for all of our city departments.

Stop signs and traffic signals are the most difficult areas to address to those who feel the need for them because the whole science is counter-intuitive. As solutions go, they are regarded as the lesser of two evils when it comes to traffic management. This is why the state, county, and city must meet a rigid set of engineering criteria called "warrants" before they are installed.

These "warrants" are measurements of traffic volumes for prescribed periods of time, the number and severity of accidents, pedestrian volume, and the effect on the "traffic system". This criteria is based on studies and analysis by the Federal Highway Administration and are contained in the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD). Go to http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/resources/state_info/minnesota/mn.htm for more information.

The dichotomy is that often times installing a traffic signal to provide easier access to a busy thoroughfare and prevent accidents may cause an increase in accidents of another kind. There are many studies that show an increase in rear-end collisions and t-boning after a signal is installed that did not occur prior to its installation.

So, it's not about good or bad planning, the budget, the whim of anyone, stubbornness or not recognizing your concerns, but really is following the best known practices to insure your and my long range safety.

Just thought you'd like to know.

New City Information Service

2007-03-02T14:04:00.000-06:00

Staying home waiting for the big snowstorm and playing on the internet reminded me to tell you about a fantastic new service on the city's home page -- an automatic e-mail update service!

First of all there's a ton of information on the city's home page rochestermn.gov . The latest updates on several projects like the Silver Lake Goose project, The Quarry Hill ravine revision, and the Cascade Lake project. There's info about the current events at Mayo Civic Center, info from the Mayor's office on board and commission openings for appointments, the city council meeting agendas and minutes, changes in ordinance, a lot of general announcements and much more.

The neat thing now is that you can sign up to have selected pieces of information sent to your e-mail address as they become updated or posted on an immediate, daily, weekly, or monthly basis.

I think this is a really neat way to stay informed about what's happening in the city and thought you should know about it.

Your tax dollars at work for YOU! Check it out!

Bob

Duck, Duck, Goose ....

2007-02-09T09:39:00.000-06:00

I’ve been holding off on saying too much about the city’s plan for handling the increasing resident goose population to let things settle down a bit and to see what more should be said.

First of all we’re talking about the resident goose population which has grown from the low hundreds just a few short years ago to over 3000 today. These are the geese that have been born here and stay here the year ‘round. These are the critters who eat grass (their favorite food) in your yards, golf courses, school yards, soccer fields, etc and what goes in must come out so they poop accordingly. 27 times a day and about the same amount as an average human. Don’t ask me how I know or who measures these things but it’s been documented and I’m just passing this on.

Both the resident and migratory birds are protected by a treaty with Canada and up to now we haven’t been able to do much but watch them grow. However, recognizing the problem cities like ours are facing with uncontrolled growth, the Department of the Interior just released a ruling in August 2006 that would permit these cities to file for an application to take steps to control this growth – with local DNR approval.

The migrant birds are still untouchable and are not the “problem”. They are the “good birds”. They come for a stopover, stay for a short while, and then leave before they wear out their welcome - like any good guests you might have over the holidays.

The resident geese are the guys who nest, grow in population and, in ever expanding numbers, look for food in your yards, gardens, etc. These are the guys who are responsible for your slipping and sliding on the jogging paths or sidewalks, for your kids or grandkids coming home with green tinged clothing, hands … well you get the idea.

Information from our Public Health Department, Environmental Commission, the World Health Organization and others indicates that we should be on the alert for the potential of diseases and even eventually the spread of Avian Flu from these critters. We, the city council charged with protecting you, our citizens, see the need to become more proactive.

So, we’re working with the Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Management department to see what, if anything, we might do to control the population increase and possibly contain their interaction with our property and residents. Hunting and addling of eggs are two methods and it’s up to the DNR to make any recommendations and/or allow permits for their use.

Asking to limit feeding in our parks, not mowing grasses around storm water ponds, and developing a vegetative buffer around Silver Lake are other steps we are taking.

If you have any questions feel free to contact me.

A Couple of Opportunities

2007-01-19T14:40:00.000-06:00

CHARTER COMMISSION OPENING: Are you interested in playing a more active role in how our Rochester city government functions? (No, I just got re-elected and aren't volunteering to step down!)

However, there is one opening to be filled on the Charter Commission. This is an important commission for the city. The opening and more information will be posted today on the City's home page www.rochestermn.gov . Details on the Charter Commission could be found at http://www.rochestermn.gov/departments/mayor/boards/index.asp and you can download or complete an application on-line from this site as well. You may also pick an application up at the Mayor's office or call Donna at 295-8080. For more detail contact about the position and function of the commission contact Ass't City Attorney, Dave Goslee at 285-8066.

TRAFFIC ISSUES? Gary Shannon, Rochester's Traffic Engineer, will be at my weekly Grandma's Kitchen coffee next Friday, January 26 so bring your traffic concerns and stop in. I am usually there from 7 am to 8:30 to catch some of you before you get to the salt mines. We will stay as long as you want us there. Gary will address some of our latest thinking in signalization, traffic calming measures, and other creative ideas to improve traffic safety in Rochester so be there. If possible, let me know beforehand if you'll be there (so I might set aside more tables) and also what your major concern is so we could be better prepared to address the issue.

As always, if you have any questions, comments, etc don't hesitate to contact me. If you know of a friend or neighbor who isn't on my distribution list feel free to forward this to them and suggest that they contact me to be added. Also, don't forget to include me in your change of address. Every so often I get email rejects and some are difficult to resolve (you folks with unlisted phones)!!!

Bob Nowicki 285-0295
bobnow@charter.net

Update on Goose Poop

2007-01-05T05:33:00.000-06:00

You may have seen a KTTC news report on efforts being made to reduce the amount of goose poop runoff entering Silver Lake and the mighty Zumbro River. About this time of year I get several calls about the geese as their population grows to the 30,000 range.

The calls are of two kinds, a) What are you doing to control and get rid of these nuisances? and b) Why are the corn vending machines empty so often when I bring visitors to feed the geese?

To the latter, we have in the past allowed the vending machines to be in the area but do not have direct responsibility for their upkeep. The park board has elected to have these machines removed as part of the Silver Lake/Zumbro River clean up effort.

Over the years several groups, including the environmental commission, have met to discuss controlling the goose population. Since we are in the Minnesota flyway and most of the geese are migrating they (and crows as well, by the way) are protected species and we are limited in what we can do. Efforts to control the resident population have been on-going with the assistance of the DNR.

The council authorized a grant application to the Minnesota Public Facilities Authority for a matching grant to help pay for a native vegetative shoreline buffer around Silver Lake to provide filtration capacity to reduce the coliform bacteria entering the lake from goose and other pet waste. We were granted $275,000 from the PFA. The other half of the project funds will come from the storm water management fees we pay for with our water utility bill.

I’d attended a planning meeting with staff , representatives of two consulting firms specializing I these kind of projects, and other interested parties on December 18. An overview of the project with an on-site walk-though of the Silver Lake facility were the highlights. The objectives include keeping the lake periphery accessible to fishermen, walkers, picnickers, etc while making the lake and periphery less accessible to the geese. The hope is to make the lake area less attractive to the migrating birds reducing their population which would also affect their impact on the surrounding area – school grounds, golf courses, farms etc.

I believe that the view of the lake will be enhanced with the plantings. It’s going to take a few years to develop as planned so we need to ask for some patience. The original plan was to have the initial plantings completed by June but because of commitments to the water ski show folks for July 4th , the rowing club, and others, the latest target for initial planting completion will be around August.

I’ll try to keep you updated as we proceed and, of course, if you have any questions, need for more detail, comments or whatever – feel free to contact me directly. Expect to see regular reports from the media as well.

Thanks,

Bob

Season's Greetings .. The Budget is Done!

2006-12-16T20:31:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas/Hannucah/Duvali/Ramadan to all!

The budget is done for another year. Came out to be around $153 M and change with a property tax levy of $37,500,000. Almost $5 M is due to CIP (Capital Improvement Plans – traffic signals, streets, sidewalks, bike paths, parks, etc).

This year we started to work with department heads earlier in the year to discuss their projected needs for 2007. We’d been having department reviews since early summer so most all decisions regarding additional personnel, new projects, equipment etc had been discussed and agreed on in advance. Of course, all year long we’d identified needs across the board in the city, our individual wards, or projecting for the future so there wasn’t much new to work on this last week.

Mr. Kvenvold and all the department heads had taken our recommendation to keep headcount growth to a minimum, to not skimp on needed projects but to hold the line on new and additional ones, and in general to help us absorb the uncontrollable (to us) increases in utilities, fuel, materials, and to some extent the increases mandated for personnel by past contracts or by the state.

Our tax increases this year worked out something like this: Personnel Costs 62.6%; Utilities 10.5%; Contractual Services 8.4%; and Vehicle Fuels & Oils 5.6% --- Total 87% .

On the plus side we started to see some early savings due to a contract we executed earlier in the year with Johnson Controls Inc. JCI is looking at 20 of our properties and replacing motors, pumps, lights, etc with more efficient products. They guarantee a savings of $5.7 M over 12 years, enough to pay for the replacements or they pay the difference. The benefits continue and are projected for 25 to 30 years so this is a good thing for the city. We’ve seen some early reductions in utility costs already. The traffic lamp replacement program with LED lamps has reduced that bill significantly already.

Anyway, if your property value stays the same as last year (the COUNTY does this assessment) then we’ve projected that you may see an increase in your city portion of the property tax of from .3 to .5%.

If you have any questions, comments, whatever, don’t hesitate to contact me.

Bob

Budget Setting Time Again

2006-11-29T17:38:00.000-06:00

I’m anxiously waiting for my preliminary budget package to take with me to the Reno National League of Cities Conference next week (Dec 4 through 10). I’m hoping that I’ll be so busy looking at all those numbers that I’ll be able to stay away from the casino (rather get a poke in the eye with a sharp stick than gamble).

We plan to do our final deliberations starting Tuesday afternoon, Dec 12, at 3:30 and will continue for the next three days if needed.. You are invited. I’d love to hear from any of you who have concerns about our taxes that I should know about – beforehand would be nice.

I haven’t heard or seen anything of concern to date. We’re expecting $600,000 less of a cut in LGA (Local Government Aid) so that will be of some help this year. The projects we’ve been discussing for the last year that will need funding for aren’t too dramatic so I think we’ll not have a big major tax hit this year.

Questions I always ask when making decisions is, “How does this benefit the citizens of Rochester? What does this do for the folks who have to pay the bill?” This not only includes each and every individual resident but all the businesses as well.

What I need from you is some kind of direction … some feeling … some help. Are you and I on the same track when it comes to our expectations as residents of this community? When we talk about “the greater good” do we both mean the same thing? When we look at requests for funding that includes quality of life issues versus the absolute necessities – where do you stand? Bike paths, library funds, art center, civic music, civic theater, diversity education, rebuilding and revitalization of neighborhoods, swimming pools … what do you want us to do?

Cut back? OK. Glad to. Tell me where and why. It’s easy to say “our taxes are too high – cut back!” -- as a retiree and taxpayer I’ll be glad to help here but tell me what you're willing to give up if I do this.

Anyway, as always, would love to hear from any of you who’d like to share input into the process.

Sewer Rates to Go Up Again?

2006-11-15T09:40:00.000-06:00

At our COW (Committee of the Whole) meeting last Monday, Nov. 13, we listened to several reports on long-term planning needs and efforts to maintain effective sewer service for the next 20 years. Much of the discussion centered on finances and the effect on your sewer rates.

The Rochester Public Utility operation is financed by user charges (sewer rates) and not by tax dollars. Much effort has gone in to address growth (our current $74 million expansion) and maintenance of aging infrastructure by balancing new attachment fees with current user rates to hold our rates to a minimum increase year to year and yet fund these needs.

We recognized that we need to do a better job of planning for the future beyond the 5 years we had in plan earlier this year. We spent almost all the time talking about projections out 20 years – with allowances for adjustments on a timely basis. We would prefer to increase rates if necessary in smaller increments rather than hold fees static and then impose a larger rate increase to pay for the new project.

This effort to plan for the future and set ourselves up to meet our needs with a reserve so as to keep us from having big jumps in rates gets complicated and I was impressed by the level of detail and work that went into Monday’s presentation by our Public Works staff and their consultants.

The Post Bulletin had a good summary of the meeting in their November 14 article by Mike Dougherty. Check it out.

As always, if you have any further questions or whatever give me a call.

Thanks for Your Support

2006-11-11T18:12:00.000-06:00

I'd like to thank you for your patience and support during this last election. I am very proud to have been elected to represent you once again on the city council.

Your support and confidence in me is important as I continue in this area of community service. I promise to continue to do my best for the Rochester community and to listen to all sides of an issue before taking any action. I will continue to poll my constituency on controversial issues and to the best of my ability represent the views of the 5th Ward.

Occasionally I will send notices to sections of the ward that may be affected by some action or occurrence in that area. I maintain an e-mail address list of ward contacts and if you received this then you are on it. If you have any friends or neighbors who don't get this please give them my e-mail address and ask them to send me a note to be included.

Remember to join me every Friday morning from 7 to 8:30 am at Grandma's Kitchen. You bring the problems and questions -- I buy the coffee.

For 5th Ward Information I maintain the blog site: http://fifthwardinfo.blogspot.com/

If at any time I can be of service to you please don’t hesitate to contact me by phone at home: (507) 285-0295 or cell: (507) 951-7677 or by email: bobnow@charter.net

New Traffic Calming Help

2006-11-03T19:43:00.000-06:00

The most frequent concern I hear from you has to do with drivers speeding in your neighborhood. This is extremely important to you and me because it affects our personal safety and the safety of our loved ones. It's also one of the most frustrating problems I (and the rest of the council) face.

SOoooo what can we do? A couple of years ago I announced a program which would be a collaboration between you and the police -- Traffic Tamers. The idea is that you and a couple of friends get to use a police radar gun to measure speed, log the time, speed, location, and vehicle tag number and turn all this in to Crime Prevention. They would then send a nicely worded letter (depends on your point of view) to the offender "warning " them that they have been observed driving at such and such speed in your neighborhood etc.

We think this is especially helpful when caring parents get the letter as the registered owner about the driving habits of their beloved teen. I'd think twice or three times before speeding through a certain neighborhood if I got one of these letters -- but that's me (and too many of you know what I look like!).

Traffic tamers has always depended on resident volunteers (YOU) to do the work --- until now. Don't get me wrong. We'd still like you to put some skin into the game but the problems continue, interest in doing something is expressed , but there it stops! Those of you who've tried to get your neighbors to volunteer know what I mean.

The Police have two very fine volunteer groups who are willing to help you with the Traffic Tamer program. VIPS (Volunteers In Public Safety) http://www.ci.rochester.mn.us/departments/police/crimeprevention/vips.asp and TRIAD http://www.ci.rochester.mn.us/departments/police/crimeprevention/triad.asp

What you need to do is to contact Officer Ken Plummer 281-6045 Police Department Crime Prevention/Traffic Tamer coordinator or, better yet, let the PD know about your traffic concern via the form on the city's home page. Go to http://www.rochestermn.gov/departments/police/forms/trafficconcerns.asp .

For the last 2 years I'd had a standing offer to volunteer with you if and when you're willing to try this traffic calming idea. Ball's in your court.

Bob Nowicki
bobnow@charter.net

Response to the PB 10/21 Editorial

2006-10-26T21:46:00.000-06:00

I have avoided being “political” in my blog to you but I feel I have to respond to the PB’s editorial on October 21 so you are warned and can leave now.

I’d held off because anything I would say could be looked as a “sour grapes” thing but, as I talk to people in the ward, most were a bit confused by this and suggested that I should tell my side of the story.

I believe the PB did the entire city, all the other candidates, and especially the Fifth Ward a disservice with the “Shaun Palmer is the best city council candidate in the entire field” statement without looking any deeper into his “ideas” for practicality, workability, accuracy. I think both should be able to articulate his proposed solutions instead of simply stating “I have an idea.” We all have ideas. I believe that experience and knowledge were enough for the rest of us to hold back on our ideas unless we could articulate a solution. For example:

-- Raising city’s lodging taxes to create cash for future debt payments and to fund the convention bureau isn’t a bad idea. However,it took 2-3 years of effort with state legislature to raise the lodging tax 1% from 3% to 4% much less doubling it as Mr. Palmer once suggested or even raising it 2-3%. The dollars raised are dedicated by law to the Convention and Visitors Bureau and we had to negotiate a special law so we could split the tax raised 50/50 with the Convention Bureau -- otherwise we’d only be able to keep 5% of this tax raised. we chose to let this effort sit on the back burner for a bit while we negotiated a sales tax extension for $40 M for city and county roads and the College. It’s not a dead issue but it’s not the revenue generator they’d have you believe it is.

-- Crime as his #1 issue. Last week it was the 58% rise in your property tax since 2001. I corrected him on this and he fired back that it was my inexperience that led me to question his numbers. Actually it was my experience that caused me to misjudge his statement as talking about the tax base (tax levy) instead of the actual property tax. I just couldn’t believe he did what he did – took one sample residence with a higher than normal market value increase (43%) for 2001 to 2006 and then used the city share of tax increase $221 to $350 to come up with 58% which he presented at 4 different forums as “Your taxes have gone up 58% since 2001”… Since 2003 the tax levy went up 47.7% and we can account for almost all of it from the 19% population growth, 22% Local Government Aid cuts from the state that we’ve had to make up ($18.5 M) … well if you’re really interested contact me and I can give you the details. The property tax average was more around 25-26% for the city if you want to get technical.

Public safety has always been my #1 priority. The PB give him credit for wanting to add more officers to fight the “rising crime rate” also “to cut off any notion that Rochester is soft on crime …” A headline article on June 26, 2006 states “Calls rise as crime drops”! We'd all like to see zero crime so any rate is too high but the crime rate dropped 36% since 1990 -- police department numbers provided to us at the start of our campaign -- Even with a population increase of 53%. Actually in the last 3 years serious crime dropped 16.4%; all crime dropped almost 14%; and the population rose 6.5%. Heck of a crime wave we have here! The chief asked for 5 more officers and he’ll get them. The council has never rejected a request for more officers, upgraded equipment, etc. when public safety is at risk. The real place to send the tough on crime message is through the court system. Shaun’s best idea that the editors missed was the one where he suggests placing video TV cameras in neighborhoods. 1984 idea but a gem! Again, the real numbers don’t support his contention.

-- “Raise the standard for affordable housing in Rochester.” and “the current minimum standards are far too low” completely baffle me. I have no idea what this means or what the council would have to do with this. What standards are too low? We just went through an exercise with the realtors and a developer to look at affordable housing needs in Rochester and the use of TIF funds to finance these houses. Data didn’t support using these funds for this. Not a need. Man, I’d love to know what this “raise the standard” stuff is all about! Seems to me that raising any kind of standard would raise the cost of the house. ????

-- “Wants to set aside green space area …” Who wouldn’t? I said this as we discussed tree loss due to development proposals several times while on the council. I even used the same example as Shaun does, Cook County Illinois Forest Preserves. It’s where I grew up. He has never stated how he’s to do this without raising your property tax that has gone up 58%. I at least proposed to the environmentalist groups in a recent forum that we all collaborate to locate land and do like Pheasants Forever and Ducks Unlimited – have fund raisers to buy the land we want to preserve with private funds. Not a line anywhere about that suggestion and yet a PB reporter was in house when I made it. What about credit to the incumbent council for initiating and passing the Decorah Edge protection ordinance, supporting the Parkland dedication ordinance, or initiating a study for a possible ordinance or incentive to developers on tree conservation/preservation? How about credit for recently supporting the RNeighbors NeighborWoods tree planting effort with $5000 (planting 200 trees last Saturday, October 21) a collaboration of RPU, RNeighbors, resident volunteers, and the city forestry department – all efforts I happened to be directly involved with. These are actual happenings not just an “idea” without substance. But then again I’m not a leader. Frustrated, you bet I am.

-- “bucking trendy establishment ideas” … “rejects the notion that the city should be in the business of downtown development” …. WOW! The BIG concern in the last election was, “What is THE CITY going to do about the failing downtown area?” That was the hot button then and I suggested what turned out to be right on the money - a collaboration of business, developers, and residents that became the RDA with Sandy Keith at the helm. Trendy indeed! Mayo, the Chamber, etc. The city has the lead on building a new Biotechnology Development Building which will bring in new business and tie into the Mayo/UM Biotechnology program.

-- Finally “Palmer would challenge city staff to try new approaches to old problems. … would not hold failure against them … set a tone and direction for staff members and then expect them to follow.” What the heck do they think we’re doing now? Staff has always been encouraged to try new approaches and I don’t know a case where anyone has been punished for failure. This, to me is most elementary and shouldn’t even be a question or in discussion. Look at the changes made in most all departments – the Library, Civic Music, Mayo Civic Center, the Police and Fire Departments, Public Works, city admin --- new technology, processes, people. TID, Tax Abatements, TIF, Bluetooth Technology, Johnson Controls to address cost savings in 20 buildings, and on and on. Best to let staff speak to these new approaches, tone, and direction.

“Just hate it when the facts get in the way of a good story.”

Feel free top contact me if you have any questions.

Bob Nowicki 507 285-0295 bobnow@charter.net

Parkwood Hills Forming Neighborhood Watch

2006-10-15T21:47:00.000-06:00

A few recent events in the normally quite Parkwood Hills neighborhood brought neighbors together earlier tonight to talk about forming Neighborhood Watch groups.

For security reasons I won't mention names but if you are a Parkwood Hills resident and want to know more about this contact me and Ill have someone from the neighborhood get back to you. If you want more info about Neighborhood Watch (NW) then contact me or, better yet, contact Crime Prevention Specialist, Darrel Hildebrant at 507 281-6056.

Neighborhood Watch groups are especially helpful in getting to know your neighbors -- know who belongs in the area and who might not -- who should have a moving truck moving furniture and who shouldn't (really has happened) -- who's on vacation ... etc.

NW groups should have a couple of meetings a year to review and get updated on crime prevention techniques for around the house. Some basic things like keeping your outside lights on during the night or having a motion sensor could prevent a break in. Keep your cars locked even in your driveway, take the keys out and even lock your car while in your garage. Stuff like that might help.

There are regularily scheduled classes for block captains and a couple of Parkwood residents are going to attend. A follow up organizational meeting is planned for November 23 at 7 pm and if you are interested contact me.

Bob
285-0295
bobnow@charter.net

'Tis the Season

2006-10-01T18:10:00.000-06:00

Well, our campaign season is in full bloom and I have been neglecting to update this site. Sorry. Haven't had any major issues to report on, no Committee of the Whole for a couple of weeks, no major crises at the council hearings either.

I was successful in getting two projects on the way that I'd been concerned about for some time -- a pedestrian/bike path from Century HS along CR22 to connect to the path at the Townhomes. Should be in yet this fall. Also have been asking for help from the area residents via a petition to help me keep funds in the CIP for a small section between 16th Ave NE and Alberta Dr. This will then complete the walk from Broadway to Century HS.

The second bit of happy news is that the county/city will install a pedestrian operated flashing yellow caution light indicating a pedestrian in the crosswalk at the entrance to Parkwood Hills from Viola Rd. YOu need to stop if you see this -- it's the law. We hope this will help those who need to cross busy Viola to get to the bus stop or bike path do it more safely.

The candidate forums have begun. Last Tuesday evening the Rochester Area Builders held their annual member's meeting. They posed 6 questions for us to reply to that were of special interest to their membership. I think I answered them well and if any of you are interested in the questions and my responses let me know - I have typed notes I prepared ahead of time.

There are several forums coming up in the next few weeks. They were listed in the PB but here they are again. I suggest that you try to attend one if you can.

Tuesday October 3rd at 12:15 PM - Sponsored by the Rochester Area Chamber of Commerce at the International Event Center (call Chamber for reservations).
Tuesday October 10th at 7:00 PM - Sponsored by the Izaak Walton League, Zumbro Valley Land Conservancy, Audibon Society at the Izaak Walton League Cabin 937 7th Ave NE
Wednesday October 12th at 7:00 PM - Sponsored by Rochester Chapter of NAACP at Rochester Public Library
Tuesday October 24th at 7:00 PM - Sponsored by the League of Women Voters at the Heinz Center RCTC

Of course, I will entertain your questions at any time -- just call, reply to this blog, or send me an e-mail. OR, best yet! Join me at Grandmas Kitchen on Fridays from 7 to 8:30 -- I buy the coffee, you bring the problems!

Bob

Keep Campaign Fundraising Simple

2006-09-11T19:34:00.000-05:00

On September 1, the Post Bulletin published an article. “Candidates file their fundraising, spending statements.”

Friends and supporters were concerned because my opponent was shown to have raised about 13 times the amount I had, was the most “prolific” of all the candidates, and, according to his claim, has a very large support group funding his campaign. Shouldn’t I be alarmed?

Well, fundraising has not been a problem for me as my work on the Kiwanis Hockey Festival, Rochester Sesquicentennial, Diversity Council, and the Veteran’s Memorial Field of Flags project would attest to. I almost enjoy the challenge.

I just feel uncomfortable asking for anything on my behalf. It’s OK for causes that benefit the community but for myself … no way!

There’s nothing wrong with fundraising for an election campaign and if you need to do this to get your name out there then so be it. I’d just rather keep it simple and count on my experience and proven record.

I’m grateful to the contributors I’ve had who have given willingly and of their own accord. I thank them for their generosity and faith in me but what really counts on November 7th is their vote.

I even hate to ask anyone to place a sign in their yard even though I know that it’s important I’m doing well at this but, to me, it’s the worst part of the campaign process. Going door-to-door talking to people, answering questions, and helping with problems is what I dearly love to do. Asking for anything in return just seems not quite right to me. I even help those not in my ward.

Perhaps I’m being a bit too touchy but I relish being independent and if I have any “special interests” it’s you, my constituents, and the good of the city of Rochester. I think keeping campaign costs low encourages more people to seek the office and isn’t that what we want of local government?

I appreciate your support however you choose to show it but I’m most comfortable if you’d give me your vote so I could continue to do my best to represent you and be your voice in city government.

Thanks,

Bob

Preliminary Tax Set

2006-09-07T21:47:00.000-05:00

It's that time of year again! Preliminary tax setting time. State law requires us to set a preliminary tax levy by September 15. The interesting thing is that we can set the actual levy lower but can't go higher so we're forced to come up with a number that generally frightens and upsets those who don't understand "the game" until we sit down in December and come up with the real budget and tax levy number.

This year we set the levy at $37,500,000 which is 6.7% higher than the final levy value for 2005 ($35,159,000). Last year we set the preliminary value at $36,000,000 and it dropped almost $1,000,000 for the actual. You should also be aware that even though the rate was 6.7% higher than last year's, the amount that a current taxpayer's rate would increase would be less than that due to the fact that we added about 3.5% more to our tax base to help pay into the taxes.

So, the final tax may be 3.5 to 4.0% if your property value does not change.

We will be reviewing department needs and all that in the next few months with the idea of keeping this budget number down and come in even lower. Right now it's under the CPI which is 4.1% and I'd like to get it even lower if possible.

There are several items that affect the budget that are largely out of our control --state imposed pension contributions, cost of fuel, energy, materials, rising cost of contracted services, that sort of thing. One of our major concerns that could affect our budget is union labor demands for pay raises. We've negotiated on average a 2.5% increase for 2007 with 15 of the 18 unions. However, the police, fire and dispatch unions have not yet settled their agreements. The police union is demanding a 6% increase which is going to arbitration.

We won't know the results of this arbitration until after the first of the year. Whatever increase (if any) the police union gets will automatically apply to the other unions who have a "me too" clause. We've estimated that for every 1% raise increase over 2% the police get will cost us an additional $400,000 in taxes.

We have a few items in the budget that we can sacrifice but not many. There are some needed new hires that we've been putting on hold that could be put off for a bit again but not many. I personally want to hire the 5 requested police officers as I believe we need them but others may get sacrificed.

Stay tuned!

Bob Nowicki

A Little Bit of Catchin' Up

2006-09-01T23:58:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since I posted an update and to those of you who tune in regularily I apologize. Funny how fast time flies when you're having fun.

A few short updates ...

DECORAH EDGE ORDINANCE: The council unanimously approved an ordinance that would protect that area near the Decorah Edge thought to purify potential drinking water from damage by development thereby reducing the potential of contamination of our drinking water. This was the result of many people representing environmental interests, developers, the public, city planning, and public works. All of us who care about the future of our drinking water thank everyone involved in the creation of this ordinance.

TIF MONEY FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING: A request for Tax Increment Financing (TIF) to help reduce the overall cost of a newly built home in the Pebble Creek area therby helping to build more "affordable" housing was discussed at the August 21 Committee of the Whole meeting. A presentation of the availability of houses in the under $140,ooo range was given to the council by a real estate representative and after much discussion the council tentatively decided not to support this request. There did not seem to be a need for action to correct a shortage of housing in this price range, and especially for the use of tax dollars to do so I felt. I would much rather look at other ways to help builder/developers keep their costs down that would not have you and I paying for it. There are and have been special concessions made realtive to land density, street widths, etc that could help in this area and these will be looked at in the future.

VETERANS MEMORIAL RE-DEDICATION/ FIELD OF FLAGS: The Veterans Memorial was re-dedicated with the unveiling of a Nurse/Corpsman statue on Saturday, AUgust 26. It was a very moving and special occasion with song, displays, the visit of a National Guard Blackhawk helicopter, and best of all a very touching short speach by Senator Bob DOle. To make this event even more memorable, the Rochester Kiwanis Clubs working with the Veterans Memorial Committee and many other volunteers helped to produce a Field of 2,379 Flags, symbolically one for each name inscribed on the Memorial wall. $25 sponsorships were solicited to help pay for the flags adn all excess proceeds will be presented to the Rochester Reading Center/Dyslexia Institute. If you haven't seen the new statue I suggest you do so. The statue as well as the idea and support for the Field of Flags was largely the brainchild of Rochester developer, Frank Kottchade. I had the privilege and pleasure of co-chairing the Field of Flags portion of the event with Kiwanis West Club president Wanda Mitchell and worked with Mr.Kottchade and Wayne Stillman, Chair of the Veterans Memorial Committee. I mention this because these folks have given very much time, effort, monetary support to make our Rochester community even more special and have been doing this behind the scene for many years now.

DOOR KNOCKING AND ALL THAT: I've been out just about every weekday night for the last month or so knocking on doors and handing out campaign literature. Most importantly I've had an opportunity to talk to you face-to-face which is my favorite thing to do. You've been generous with your time and gracious with your support and I thank you. I see people who are busy with their families and their jobs. The main concerns or issues so far are ones affecting them in their immediate area - speeding, need for a traffic signal, bike paths, and the occasional question about the DME. Talking and answering questions now that I've been in a position to have good information takes time and I find that I don't cover as much ground as I did in my first campaign so bear with me. I will try to get to you by November 7th but if you have any questions or concerns, as always, call me immediately -- 285-0295 or send a note to bobnow@charter.net .

Thanks and have a great Labor Day weekend.

Fifth Ward NNO Picnics - Thanks

2006-08-06T21:27:00.000-05:00

The annual National Night Out (NNO) neighborhod picnics took place again last week, Tuesday, August 1 with the Fifth Ward holding at least 25 neighborhood get-togethers.

I tried my hardest to visit them all but only succeeded in visiting 12. What a great opportunity to visit with old friends, put some faces with names on new friends, and, in general have a great time. Thank yo all for your hospitality.

This year I asked the hosts to help me collect written questions and comments so I could have something to work with and as a means of getting some feedback from you in case I wasn't able to personnaly attend the event. THanks for your help and support. I'm glad to say that this seemed to work well and I will certainly do this again next year (if elected, that is.)

I also collected e-mail addresses to add to my ward distribution list. I have a pretty decent contact list by neighborhoods so if something in the Ward is happening in your neck of the woods I can try to let yo know about it.

This also works well for soliciting your input on issues that come to the council. (how else am I supposed to represent you?) So, if you haven't been getting anything in the way of e-mail occasionally from me (guarrantee no jokes, spam, campaign literature or the like) then send your address to me at bobnow@charter.net .

Thanks

HELP! Need your input ASAP

2006-07-22T20:37:00.000-05:00

At the beginning of the year I wrote several blog articles soliciting your input on a few issues, one of them the proposed Graham IV addition: .
Jan 11 – HELP! I STILL Need Some Advice;
Jan 19 – They Shoot! YOU Score! ;
Jan 27 – Run the City Like a Business ;
Feb 4 – HOT TOPIC – What Are Your Views on the Proposed Sports Facilities in Rochester?

I received a couple of replies mainly in favor of doing what we could for Rochester’s youth.

Well, I need your input again. On Tuesday, August 25, the County Board of Commissioners has invite the City Council to a joint Committee of the Whole to discuss among other things, the Graham IV hockey arena. Back in February the council agreed to join the County Board in supporting Rochester Youth Hockey’s plan to build this new arena to the tune of $900,000 each - $75,000 a year for 12 years. RYHA would fund a bit over 60%.

Now, as time moves on, the cost of the project has increased over $1,000,000 and the new request is for us (the Council and County Board) to each increase our contribution by $600,000 to a total of $1.5 M each. This would be payable at $100,000 a year for 15 years instead of $75,000 a year for 12 years.

I’ve taken a pledge to effectively and efficiently manage our tax dollars (one of my campaign goals from 2002 and actually restated in another blog on Jan 2,2006).

So my question to you is; Is this a good use of our tax dollars? For the kids? For added facilities at the Fairgounds? For bringing in visitors and sales tax $$$ to the city?

The County may have some bucks set aside that they can tap into but we don’t. I’m trying to think of a good place to get these kinds of $$$ besides tapping into our tax base. I have a couple of ideas but wonder what you think.

Silver Lake Plant Emission Reduction

2006-06-30T23:42:00.000-05:00

After many years of concern expressed by numerous environmentally concerned citizens about emissions from the Silver Lake Power Plant, and a lot of investigation by RPU, the first step in making further emission reductions a reality is about to take place.

The City Council will be asked, at its July 5th Council Meeting, to approve negotiating and executing a contract agreement with an engineering firm, Utility Engineering, to provide professional engineering services for the design, contract procurement, construction management, site engineeering, and start up work for the Emission Reduction Project -- not to exceed $4,375,750 (which includes a 15% contingency).

I expect that this will be approved and since the plant is in the Fifth Ward, I would expect that I have your full support as well.

Thanks

Fantastic Opportunity To Help Our Community

2006-06-09T21:06:00.000-05:00

Statistically, more American children suffer long-term life-harm from the process of learning to read than from parental abuse, accidents, and all other childhood diseases and disorders combined. So says a recent Public Television, DVD & Web Documentary Series, Children of the Code.

Some states plan their prisons based on the illiteracy rate of their population and there is ample evidence to show that there is a direct correlation between literacy, drop-out rates in school, crime, poverty, and joblessness. Our local Kiwanis clubs are already providing reading activities, increased access to books, motivation, and inspiration through our Reading Around the World programs and the Rotary Clubs have had a long time “Rotary Readers” program in our elementary schools – a couple of ways to help overcome the reading “problem”.

But what if you have difficulty learning to “break the reading code” … interpreting the symbols that we use for language and reading, our alphabet? Many of the reading problems can be detected and corrected at an early age or can be coped with through professional and caring assistance programs. Locally we have the Rochester Reading Center/Dyslexia Institute.

A local businessman and member of the Reading Center Board approached me as a Kiwanian and asked for help to raise funds for the Reading Center to help address this growing problem. This is important and an emphasis program world-wide in Kiwanis.

Our Soldiers Field Veterans Memorial organization’s goals include “education for our rising generations”. What a natural collaboration. They are planning a re-dedication of the Memorial on August 26th. at which time a statue of a nurse will be unveiled to commemorate the significant contribution nurses and corpsmen played in the fight for freedom. As part of this dedication, we are going to fill the field behind the Memorial with a “Field of Flags” – hopefully one flag for each name on the wall.

You may sponsor a flag for a loved one or for a name on the wall for $25 and receive a certificate and desk top flag with base as a thank you. The proceeds from these flags will go to the Rochester Reading Center. Of course, sponsorship opportunities for multiple flags will be available and we will be happy to provide this information to you. All donations are tax deductible. The flags will be stored and used for future Memorial events.

Checks made out to “The Field of Flags Fund” can be sent to Field of Flags Fund, PO Box 534, Rochester, MN 55903.

For more information, to schedule a speaker for your business or service club, or to volunteer to help with this effort, contact either myself, Bob Nowicki, at 285-0295 or Wanda Mitchell 252-9841.

A media release and invitation to community leaders is being planned for the near future. Your support and cooperation is greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

Bob Nowicki

Carbon Monoxide Alarm Mandate Signed Today

2006-05-25T17:45:00.000-05:00

Ten years ago we lost two grandchildren to Carbon Monoxide (CO) poisoning – a loss that changed our family forever, made even more tragic because of the ease in which this tragedy could have been prevented. A simple CO detection device costing around $40 would have prevented this loss.

The governor just signed into effect a Carbon Monoxide Alarm mandate bill (HF1337 and SF1003) that would require CO detectors in newly constructed single family and multifamily dwelling units effective January 1,2007 and August 1,2008 for all existing single family and multifamily dwelling units.

Don’t wait until then to have them installed in your home. Do it TODAY!

Thanks.

Not About Listening but Better Information

2006-05-20T18:39:00.000-05:00

I am a bit surprised and pleased to see how many people pay attention to some of the things we do on the council and always happy to explain why we, or at least I, make some of the decisions on your behalf that I do. At my coffee last Friday this was the main topic of discussion,as it was at several other gatherings I attended this last week. There was a letter to the editor and even a question to the PB Answer man.

In the Friday, May 12, letter to the editor, Mr. Bill Burt asked a couple of interesting questions implying that the city council doesn’t “listen to the people” because we made a decision reversing and earlier Planning and Zoning Commission decision on a Willow Heights development. This decision seemed to be inconsistant with a statement I made earlier that evening about supporting our civil service commission referring to supporting the decision of the Fire Civil Service Commission in the hiring of one of the firefighters last month. I truly support and commend all the volunteer commissions we have that dedicate their time and talents to helping us govern this great city.

It’s not a matter of “listening to the people” or of “support”. It’s a matter of missions and making the best decision with the best information.

The Fire Civil Service Commission “is responsible for the selection of entry-level Firefighters’” – “responsible” being the key word. In addition they reviewed the background check information, testing and interview scores, and participated in the interviews. THEY had the necessary information to make their hiring decision and they did. The council’s role is to insure that hiring policies and laws were followed and that they hire according to our staffing plan – which they did. I fully support this.

The Planning and Zoning Commission in this case is an “advisory” role. . We had the advantage of the fine work they did in their meeting to identify not only the standard requirements that development sites bring but also the concerns of the nearby residents. WE had more information to make the final decision. We not only had more time to investigate the solutions to the concerns and requirements but we also had benefit of a much more thorough presentation made by the developer’s consultants as well as the support of our Public Works engineers.

In short, we had more information to make a better decision and that’s what the process is about. Otherwise, why have two meetings?

I have a more lengthy response explaining the process and if you want it let me know. As always, I am open to discuss this with you or visit with me at my weekly coffee at Grandma’s Kitchen every Friday from 7am to ???.

Cost Savings Proposal Coming Soon

2006-05-09T19:11:00.000-05:00

One of the most frequently asked questions asked especially around tax time is, "Just what are you doing to keep our taxes down?" Asked or not, this is a very valid expectation that we should all have regarding our city’s operation.

Sometimes this is difficult for me to answer because on a day-to-day basis I think everything we (the city) does should be on a needs-only, efficient, and timely manner and to single out any particular functions among the many functions that our departments do boggles the mind.

Here is some good news. You should be hearing and reading about an energy cost savings project we’d initiated last year with Johnson Controls. At our May 8th COW (Committee of the Whole) meeting Johnson Controls outlined the results of their 6 month study and made recommendations that we will discuss and most likely approve at our next council meeting on May 15.

Johnson reps worked closely with all departments and especially our Director of Finance to identify areas that would most benefit our fair city in the next 10 years. They identified 20 areas which could realize savings and that were in need of change anyway. They propose a course of action which would replace light fixtures, ventilation systems, boilers, and other similar kinds of equipment that would save us tax dollars for many years to come.

Our expected costs of making these changes are to be paid for by the savings and are guaranteed by Johnson Controls. We’re looking at roughly a $6,000,000 cost/savings to be realized in a 10 year payback – 12 years with amortization costs and a very conservative savings estimate. They guarantee a cost savings of around $650,000 a year for the life of the contract and, if not met, they will pay us the difference.

Our current utility costs had been used for the projections and so with the estimated rising costs of energy we expect the savings to be even higher than planned for. In addition labor savings attributed to the proposed improvements also had not been factored in which would increase the overall cost savings for us.

Keep tuned. I think this is a really exciting and different way to run our city and am excited to get started on this proposal.

As always, if you have any questions, comments, or just want to talk give me a call.

Bob
285-0295 bobnow@charter.net

Vital Aging Commission

2006-04-24T22:30:00.000-06:00

A newly formed Vital Aging Commission has been established in response to recommendations made at the November 2005 Senior Summit. The Olmsted County Board of Commissioners is accepting applications now until May 5, 2006.

Appointed members of the commission will:
• Advise the County Commissioners on issues affecting elders and their families.
• Advocate for the interests and needs of our aging population
• Serve a 2 year term beginning in June 2006
• Attend monthly meetings

You can contact me for an application or submit one on-line at www.olmstedcouonty.com
For additional information contact Charity Floen 287-2392, e-mail floen.charity@co.olmsted.mn.us or Mary Gorfine 285-8115 gorfine.mary@co.olmsted.mn.us

Thanks.

A Neighborhood Traffic Management Program Coming Soon

2006-04-18T22:38:00.000-06:00

One of the most frequent complaints I receive has to do with traffic -- ignoring stop signs, stop lights, and most irritating and frustrating -- speeding and reckless driving in residential neighborhoods. It's especially troubling where there are wide streets, gentle curves, and downhill grading --- like so many streets in the newer sections of the 5th Ward.

I'm very pleased to be able to announce that we are considering the adoption of a Neighborhood Traffic Program Handbook for the City. This handbook would describe the process and guidelines we will follow in responding to your concerns about traffic in your neighborhoods . It will address how the city will prioritize requests for assistance that involve construction of physical improvement such as speed tables, traffic circles, raised medians, and other potential solutions.

Refer to http://www.rochestermn.gov/departments/publicworks/trafficmanagement/ or go to the Rochester City Home page for more detail about the program overview and to review a draft of the proposed handbook.

Two public meetings are scheduled for next week;
City Council Committee of the Whole -- Monday April 24, 4 pm Room 104, City Hall
Public Information Meeting -- Tuesday April 25, 7 pm Room 104, City Hall

If you have any questions or comments or wish to discuss this with me don't hesitate to contact me at 285-0295 or email bobnow@charter.net

I'M BACK AGAIN!

2006-04-13T12:39:00.000-06:00

Well, I've just returned from a hectic three weeks with family (mostly grandkids) in Florida. First time Joan and I took so much time off at one time since kids were tiny. Not sure well do this again either!

A lot seems to have been going on in the city and some in the ward. I tried to keep up to date via emails, a cell phone call or two, and reading the on-line Post Bulletin.

Didn't update this blog site for a couple of reasons but mainly not being here to get info first hand and not being here to respond to those of you who might want to discuss something personally didn't seem to be the right thing to do.

The Think Credit Union zoning and general development plan approval seems to be the biggest 5th Ward decision made in my absence and went as I expected.

I'm waiting to hear more about the attempted mediation with the DME railroad that occured this morning in Sioux Falls. Will probably be several articles in the PB and play on the TV news but if I get any good inside scoop I'll let you know.

IF any of you are still tuned in let me know if you have any questions or concerns about anything that happened in the last three weeks and I'll get back to you.

Now to attack the foot of city council mail I just picked up and even bigger pile from the post office.

BOb

Update -- Think Credit Union

2006-03-20T20:51:00.000-06:00

Sorry for not updating this site for a while. I intended to do so while at the National League of Cities Conference in Washington, DC last week but somehow some of that Washington-itis rubbed off on me and then when I returned home spend a few days with a 102 fever for some unknown reason. Am much better and about to take of for Florida to visit some grandkids for about 3 weeks so I thought I'd better take a shot at this.
(I'll be watching my emails and checking stuff so will be in touch but not planing to be a fanatic about the whole thing either!)

After the last City Planning and Zoning Commision meeting both Think CU and our planning department had been meeting to get to the fne points of what to present to the city council for final approval on the zoning and approval of their General Development Plan (GDP).

There are a lot of details that the average person doesn't see that goes into these things and many of us who work with these things at every council meeting still have a lot to learn but to net it out Think is offering to use only 12% of their property for commercial use and leave the rest as green space.

Now this is much less than the B1 zoning would allow and I think it's a good deal. B1 in this case is overkill and our planning department would rather set the tone for the area by recommending a more appropriate zone, preferebly a "mixed-zone" (commercial/residential) that would do the same thing but set precedence for other future developement that may occur in our area.

They are waiting for the traffic study results to be compiled and analyzed and would like to use this study to make the appropriate zoning recommendation as this would then set the ruel for other land in the area.

So, we're going to have to wait and see but I believe a 35.000 sq ft max floor space with appropriate ratio of parking space is what will probably happen and that's a very good low impact use of almost 9 acres.

Will let you know when I learn more.

PS. You can respond to this blog or contact me at bobnow@charter.net .

Bob

Hold the Mayo -- Info on Upcoming COW

2006-03-05T21:19:00.000-06:00

Monday, March 6th's COW (Committee of the Whole) would be a very interesting one to attend. It will start at 3:30 pm in Concerence Room 104 at the Government Center.

A presentation to the council will be made by Front Row Marketing Services, a sports and entertainment marketing company specializing in contracting revenue for sports facilities and otehr sports properties. They plan to present their analysis on the naming rights for MCC and discuss the revenue generation of these kinds of contracts in general.

We're a long way from seriously considering renaming MCC but do need to look at all options to add to our revenue income other than taxes. (Yes, we know that cutting spending in the first place would be a good idea.)

We'll be discussing the selling of some odds and ends of city property no longer needed.

Of greater interest might be the presentation of the Rochester Higher Education Development Committee Report to Gov. Pawlenty. I've got the report and think that you might find it very interesting.

Finally, we're going to have adiscussion on a possible joint City/YMCA Aquatics Facility. I've been a member of an Aquatics Task Force looking at the future of the Silver Lake Pool and the Rec Center. This new option will definitely have an affect on their future so I recommend you get in on the ground floor (shallow end of the pool?).

Second Neighborhood Meeting to be Held

2006-03-02T21:48:00.000-06:00

In a previous article I discussed neighbors working together with a business, Think Credit Union, to address their concerns about the proposed use of Think’s newly acquired property on the SW corner of Viola Rd. and East Circle Drive (CR22).

The scheduled City Planning and Zoning Commission hearing originally scheduled for February 22 was postponed to March 8, 7pm in the City/County Council Chamber at the Government Center.

Prior to this hearing Mr. Paul Horgen, CEO of Think CU has called for another informational meeting with the area residents. This is scheduled for Monday, March 6 at 7 pm at Think’s main office 5200 Members Parkway NW (West Circle Drive NW just south of 55th Street---on the east side of WCD).

As always, I would suggest that anyone with any interest in the matter attend this meeting. It’s your opportunity to learn more about what Think is considering after their first meeting with the neighbors and your opportunity to further discuss your concerns prior to the official public meeting. It's YOUR meeting so I sugggest you go.

As the city council representative of this area I am very interested in what transpires at this meeting. I’d been a proponent of this kind of informational exchange for the last 10 years and have seen the benefits of this kind of collaboration numerous times. I believe that both the area residents and the propective new business have good intentions for the area. I have to be at a city council meeting that night so I won't be there but trust that you both sides will do a great job with this exchange.

This particular area of NE Rochester presents challenges and opportunities that are unique and important to all of us living in the area.

I trust that by working together each party’s good intentions will evolve not only into the best use of that particular corner but also help set the stratigic direction of what will be developed in the remainder of NE Rochester.

Thanks to everyone from Think and from the area residents for their interest in working to better our section of the world.

New Development in NE Rochester

2006-02-18T17:00:00.000-06:00

About 3 years ago I collaborated with then City Council President, John Hunziker and City Plannning Director, Phil Wheeler in writing a simple document titled "Not in my Backyard." It's available on-line at http://www.ci.rochester.mn.us/departments/citycouncil/GuideToCouncilMeetings.pdf and was intended to help you understand some of what happens when a new development is being proposed near you (in you backyard). I need to update it and will because I learned a lot in the last 3 years on the council but it's still a pretty good overview on what you can do when such an event happens. (a reference to the Rochester Neighborhood Resource Center should be changed to "RNeighbors". You can access RNEighbors by going to their home page at www.rneighbors.org .

The most recent example of neighors working together wit a business proposing a new development and zone change occured just last week -- the Think Credit Union's proposal to develop the SW corner on the intersection of Viola Rd and CR22 (the old Wheeler Horse Farm).

Nearby residents were invited to an informational meeting called by the Credit Union and they attended (note: this is an important first step so if invited - attend!). This is a first meeting and both sides had an opportunity to exchange information with each other and learn more about the proposal. It was my first exposure to the project so I attended in "learning" mode as well.

Armed with what I gathered at the meeting I was in a much better position to help both sides evaluate options and concerns for the area which is very helpful to me as eventually the final decision as to the disposition of the request is made by the city council. Taking the political, "Some of the people are for this and some of the people are against this and I'm for the people" doesn't cut it as you can imagine.

Though it's still too early to say what the final result will be, you should know that much work occurs behind the scenes as our planning department takes into consideration the Land Use Plan, traffic flow, access points, the surrounding area both residential and commercial, future growth, water, sewer and other infrastructure needs and a lot of other things. I'm very proud to say that I believe Rochester has a most dedicated and professional planning department and public works staff to help all sides make the right decision.

The first formal public hearing will be with the City Planning and Zoning Commission (CPZC) who does a fantastic job to help see that the right decision for all is made as well. After this hearing then the matter is brought forward to the city council for another public hearing and the final binding decision. So you can see that there are several occasions to make your concerns heard and several occasions where thnings can change.

I'm looking forward to seeing what will transpire with this particular proposal but rest assured that it will be done with "win-win" in mind.

HOT TOPIC -- What are your views on the proposed sports facilities in Rochester?

2006-02-04T12:35:00.000-06:00

Good question. I ask my constituents this every chance I get. It’s important to know what they want and expect.

The PB has published numerous articles on the value of sports to the local area economy. “Ice time is nice time” , “Plenty of company coming to Rochester in ’06, ‘07” on Nov. 28th; “Sports bring dollars” around the same time. “Athletes bring big bucks to the city.” on January 24th and even an editorial comment "Consider your tax dollars as an investment in the community".

The articles talk about the value to the local economy and especially to the hospitality business, our third largest employer. This IS important but is it our taxpayer’s responsibility to see that this industry or our local economy thrives at their expense? That’s the real question.

So we get taxes that might not otherwise be there. So these businesses are successful and, seeing that, other businesses establish themselves in our community. What’s this mean to you and me?

Jobs for one thing -- yours, your kids, grandkids, your friends, your neighbors. Certainly jobs that are filled by residents learning the language and attempting to assimilate into our society instead of being on the dole.

Let’s also consider the savings in time and dollars to the parents who might stay in town rather than travel elsewhere – if there were such facilities locally. Let’s consider parent’s savings in time and energy not having to haul youngsters to practice arenas at 4:30 in the morning because of the lack of facilities at more reasonable times of the day.

What about giving the kids something to do? You don’t hear the “I don’t have anything to do” complaint from kids actively engaged in school activities, especially sports. “Kids on ice don’t get into hot water.” I’ve been told.

Finally, let’s take a look at where the request for support of the proposed facilities is coming from. They’re not originating from myself or any of the other council members. Nope.

The plea for help and support comes from our taxpayers themselves -- those who recognize the need, those who are willing to collaborate and fund the needed facilities or a majority portion of it, those who are concerned about the present and future viability of our community . They are parents, grandparents, the business community. Being responsible representatives of the people, I and the others on the council feel at least obligated to look long and hard at these requests.

And so we do.

Bob Nowicki

Run The City Like a Business

2006-01-27T15:02:00.000-06:00

"Run the city like a business!" I'd heard this more times since we'd been working on our tax levy than ever before. I do think we try to do this and I think we can make good argument for when we can't because the city is NOT like always like a business. Since our form of govenment had been established by our forefathers this argument has raged. I'd spent my last 22 years in IBM making business decisions in marketing and the development lab.

This short year of 2006 has already brought forward several opportunities to make "business" decisions. Already in this short period some of the very same people who've criticised us for not running the city as a business then have spoken out against our doing or even looking into some "business" opportunities. Can't have it both ways folks!

Consider the Graham IV Hockey Arena; the proposed Hawthorne Hills Executive Golf Course; the proposed new Biotechnology Building downtown; the UCR Soccer Dome; and even the consideration of renaming the Mayo Civic Center or anywhere else. All proposals would bring in revenue in business, additional taxes, jobs, savings to our residents in time and expense traveling outside of Rochester (UCR Dome and Hockey Arena), and many other benefits. Closing the swimming pool at Silver Lake early a couple of years ago was a pure business decision by the Park Board and most of you must remember the backlash that caused.

Anyway, I'm open to discussion on these and other issues but need your input BEFORE we make the decision. Would be nice.

I taped a segment again on Clear Channel generally discussing a couple of the issues - Graham IV and the Hawthorne Hills proposal.

It'll be played Sunday morning, Jan. 29:

Fox Country 102.5 FM -- 7 to 7:30 am
Laser 1270 AM --------- 6 to 6:30 am
KWEB 970 AM ---------- 6 to 6:30 am

I'm working on getting the audio file attached to this blog or the RVOICES.org city wide blog page.

Keep in touch.

Bob

They Shoot! YOU Score!

2006-01-19T09:24:00.000-06:00

Who won? We all did! YOU did! It was a “Win, win, win, win decision!”

At last night’s city council meeting approval for the three major agreements needed as a first step toward the construction of a fourth hockey arena, Graham IV, passed unanimously.

WIN! The Rochester School district and Lourdes: This facility will provide much needed practice and play time and allow for expansion of girls hockey. “Kids on ice stay out of hot water!”

WIN! Rochester Youth Hockey Association: Allows them to expand their operation and provide the opportunity for more youth to learn and participate in the sport. Will bring in tournaments to Rochester not now possible. Opportunity for more home play.

WIN! County and County Fair Grounds: Improvements to the present roadway and Graham arena complex will provide for venues that up to now have eluded Rochester not only for the Fair but for events throughout the year.

WIN! The business community: Visitors to Rochester spend money in hotels, restaurants, retail outlets, and , yes, even relocate themselves and business after experiencing Rochester. Keeping our business community healthy and growing means jobs, growth, a larger tax base, sales tax and in general a healthier community.

WIN! YOU: The above affect you even if you don’t play hockey or have a kid in the program. Kids playing sports are an asset to our community. Jobs, taxes, a healthy business community helps all of us as they pay the bulk of our property tax, storm water fees, etc.

We’re constantly asked to run the city more like a business. Here is an example of a merger of city, county, and an independent entity – Rochester Youth Hockey Association – resulting in a truly good business decision with a return on investment (ROI) that goes through the roof! ... and we may see results this year yet and not pay a penny until next year!

Congrats! You won again!

Northern Heights Traffic Signal

2006-01-11T16:07:00.000-06:00

Every once in a while I get a complaint about the timing of the traffic signal exiting Northern Heights Drive onto Broadway. The problem has been that the sensing device that would sense your car on N. Heights was very close to the cross-walk and many drivers would not go that close so the light would not change as it should have for them.

MN-DOT controls the light and has been made aware of the problem.

GOOD NEWS! As of the first of the year they have released this as a free running light, that is, it's on a 55 seconds for North/SOuth Broadway and 45 seconds for Northern Heights cycle.

In spring, as weather permits, MN-Dot will cut a new sensing loop at the intersection and will then return it to the "on-demand" light we probably would prefer.

Bob

HELP! I STILL Need Some Advice

2006-01-11T15:28:00.000-06:00

I could still use some help. Some advice.

Last February the Rochester Youth Hockey Association (RYHA) came to the council proposing a fourth hockey arena for the Fairgrounds – Graham IV. They made a proposal and submitted rationale to support their proposal. Made a lot of sense then but they still had to get County Board approval and do other homework. Surprisingly, I hadn't heard from anyone speaking out against the proposal. They were offering to spend over 60% of their own money for something that would bring in revenue to the county and city for many years to come and would address some problems they'd recognized for several years.

Nothing much happened until a few weeks ago when they returned with a revised proposal and plan. Their request to the city of Rochester was the same – commit to $75,000 a year for 12 years ($900,000) towards the $5.3 million building.

That’s a lot of money but what were the benefits for this partnership between the County, City, and the Rochester Youth Hockey Association (RYHA)? What are the needs?

There’s a shortage of ice time for RYHA and High School teams. RYHA needs about 156 hours of ice time per week, Before the high school hockey season they have approximately 138 hours available for their 52 teams of boys and girls aged 4 to 18. After the school season they have on the average 94 hours of prime time available. Their teams skate at 5:30 am prior to the start of school and until 10:45 PM on school nights. The high schools start at 2:45 PM during 8th period and still do not have enough hours to provide every JV team with a regular proactive time.

Girls high school hockey cannot expand to 3 Varsity and/or a JV until additional weekday practice hours become available.

I have been a supporter of our Kiwanis’ fund raiser the Kiwanis/Wells Fargo Hockey Festival for the last 10 years and co-chair for the last 7. We have returned over $430,000 to deserving community and selected Kiwanis charities in the last 12 years. I attribute our success to the quality of competition our local hockey players provide – play that I attribute to their RYHA training – play that provides us with a waiting list of teams that want to participate in our tournament when they have other attractive venues to choose from. So, yes, favor supporting a proposal that would help our young men and women develop their hockey skills (and would help others from having to get up at 4:30 to take a son or daughter to practice).

I made this point at our November 7th Committee of the Whole meeting. Perhaps I shouldn't vote on this issue I mused.

The rest of the proposal is that this private organization, RYHA, would provide the funding for around 66% of the $5.3 million - $4 million – which would benefit the county and city for years to come. The city and county would commit 12 years of debt service at $75,000 per year each. Spending $900,000 over 12 years for a $5.3 million facility doesn't seem like a bad deal. There are additional revenues to be brought in by RYHA tournaments not possible today with economic benefits to Rochester proposed to be in the area of $1,000,000 per year, additional benefits to local economy , hotel taxes, sales tax etc. In addition there are dry season advantages for fixing the arena area on the fairgrounds.

The other day I heard that the County wants us (the City) to help back the bond needed for the project instead of doin it themselves. I don't even know if this is possible. Should we still go for it or not?

That’s the short form of the proposal we've been presented.

My problem is, well, I haven't had a cohesive presentation from the opposing side. If you're out there let me know. Let’s discuss the matter. I need your input to help me make a good decision. I know there are some of you opposing this proposal.

What I have received are a couple of e-mails with no supporting discussion about my stupidity for supporting this proposal. I agree that my openness at the COW in stating that anyone with a brain would support this proposal based on the facts I was given and my experience as mentioned earlier. This could have been taken and apparently was taken as a put down to those opposed to this proposal. I apologize for this. I’m pretty open and sometimes say my mind without being “politically correct”. I’ve only been in this political game 3 years and am still learning. One person did come to my Friday morning coffee at Grandma's Kitchen (7 to about 8:30 am) and we had a very good exchange about a lot of city related concerns. I appreciated his spending time with me.

I'd also been confronted with a threat to not vote for me and even work for anyone who opposes me should I support this dumb idea ... but I didn't get any facts to support the "smart" side of the argument.

So, those of you out there with strong feelings against this proposal – speak up! Where are you?

Give me some rationale to suppoort your position. I swear I’ll listen. I always have. I promised to do so when I ran for office and tried to do so for the last 3 years. If any of you who read this know someone who has rationale against this arena give them my number and have them get to me. We’ll have to make a decision in December.

I will make the best decision for our greatest good with your help – with the hope that those who threaten me will understand that if I decide in their favor I’m doing so because of the facts in their favor and not the threat and, vice versa, if I support the proposal the other way it’s also because of the facts and not to spite them.

Thanks,

Bob Nowicki --- 285-0295 bnowicki@ci.rochester.mn.us

Resolutions for 2006

2006-01-03T15:00:00.000-06:00

So many ways I could and should do better in this next year that my New year's resolution list would probably exceed the capacity of this blog site. So I'll do what I've been trying to do since my election 3 years ago (already 3 years? WOW), that is, live up to my campaign promises. Here they are:

To promote communication and cooperation between city government, its citizens, and its neighbors. Worked hard on this. Have invited constituents to meet with gov't workers and department heads whenever possible. Tried to keep you informed as to anything and everything affecting you and have always returned calls and had personal visits when possible.

To ask, listen and learn so I can better serve you. Hae to work on the listening and especially the learning part.

To promote and support community youth who will be our future. Been a member of the Rochester Youth Commission, Diversity Council's Predjudice Reduction Workshop faciltation team, teach Junior Achievement, and volunteer in the Read Around the World program. Bring kids to the gov't center whenever possible.

To be accessible and lend support to the citizens of Rochester. You need to be the judge of this but I've attended and hosted Friday morning coffee at Grandma's Kitchen every Friday that I've been in town since my election, have never turned down an invitation to attend a neighborhood meeting, an informational meeting, or a get-together. I have a blog site (you're reading it), take calls at all hours of the day or night, and knock on doors at random in my ward.

To work closely as a team member with all areas of city government. My 32 years of working with a wide variety of IBM support staff, engineers, finance, and field marketing have prepared me and taught me the value of team work--even though, technically, we on the council do make the final decisions on many matters.

To effectively and efficiently manage our tax dollars. One of my biggest hot buttons! This is an area that we try to watch all year long as we make operational decisions but it's not apparent. I will simply state that if you have any concerns about what I've done in this are or have any suggestions then contact me immediately.

Thanks for your patience. Have my marching orders and need to get cracking again!

Final on the Tax Levy - WHEW!

2005-12-22T09:41:00.000-06:00

Up to the end when we finally approved this years tax levy on Monday, December 19, we had some lively discussion. Perhaps you could catch it on Channel 19 this or next week.

Denny Hanson made a last minute suggestion to hold off until July on 6 of the new hires we approved which would have cut another $208,554. Loved the idea but not the timing.

We had to vote against this in spite of wanting very badly to make the cut. The department heads making these requests did so after working short-handed in some cases since 2002. We discussed each request in detail at our previous week's hearing and made the decision to approve these positions. Wouldn't have if they weren't needed and so to now delay them for six months without a chance to discuss the impact with the department heads wasn't, in my mind and several of the others, the responsible thing to do. Unfortunately we couldn't postpone the approval decision until further discussion.

We scrubbed through the 245 pages of detail department by department for three days last week. This was after our city administrator worked for the last three MONTHS with each department head to make a recommendation that would fit within our projected tax levy of $36,000,000. Be glad to discuss anything in it you think we could have done better. We could only scrape a bit over $314,000 from the proposed levy.

For those of you who saw outrageous increases in your property tax I suggest you first look at how much your assessed valuation went up. The state directed the county to bring the valuation up to par since they felt many residential and commercial properties were under-valued. They did this with the resultant "tax shock". There was much said about lowering our tax levy to correct for this but it's not possible. Denny has suggested and we all agree to form a working group to address the complicated state property tax process this year.

If you think your assessment is too high you can contact the county at the number that will be provided on your tax statement. You can also bring your case to the city's Board of Equalization (I chair it this year). There's also the State's "Circuit Breaker" program for residential properties to address fairness by either income or property increase over a certain %.

I asked our city finance director to crunch some numbers for us. If we used last year's tax of $32 M (0% increase) the effect on a $175,000 residence that saw a 40% increase to $245,000 would have reduced their 57% tax increase to 52% or $104 for the year. They would have still had to pay $1055 more to live in their house.

Another way to look at this is the end result of reducing our tax levy by $1,000,000.
FOr every million $$$ your tax bill would be reduced by .9% for residential and .6% commercial or about $20 for the average resident.I'm not saying that $20 isn't important to you and me but try to think of the number of street repairs, police, fire, and other services that would have to go to save this amount.

We did manage to cut the proposed estimate to an 8.5% increase from last year. Taking into account the city growth of 4.5% which is real and we have to add services for and we're left with 4.0% which is just about right on target for the cost of living.

In summary, we had a pretty grueling week, made some tough decisions to balance providing services to you that we feel you want and yet keep the $$$ down as much as possible, and hope that we can do better for next year.

Clear Channel Community Corner

2005-12-14T23:11:00.000-06:00

Wow! I've been invited to tape a half hour segment of the Community Corner to be played this weekend on Rochester's Clear Channel stations. So many things to talk about but the important thing is what would YOU like to hear? Any suggestions?

So far I'm thinking that the city's budget and the budget setting process would take a minute or two (HA!); then I've had questions about the proposed bio-technology building proposed for the downtown area; also, a hot topic at local governments around the country is emminent domain. ANy other ideas? Let me know before Friday morning.

Air time is not for sleepy-heads so I'd better be good.

Fox Country 102.5 FM 7 to 7:30 AM
Laser 1270 AM 6 to 6:30 AM
KWEB 970 AM 6 to 6:30 AM

Bob

City Leader Will Be Missed

2005-12-13T21:07:00.001-06:00

City Council Member Jean McConnell, Ward 3 passed on earlier today after suffering a massive stroke at Monday's Committee of the Whole preliminary budget setting hearing.

Jean served the city as a council member since 1987 and was known throughout as a fiscally conservative member of the council with strong convictions. Though we often differed in our approach I looked to Jean for advice and support and he never let me down. He was a frequent visitor to my Friday morning coffee's at Grandmas Kitchen stiffing me for his coffee and toast and we joked about that.

We often observed that though we may have differed at times we could still be friends and I cherished that friendship. We often joked on the council that in matters concerned with spending money we considered a 6-1 vote unanimous, knowing that Jean would take the lone position.

Please remember Jean, his wife Catherine, and his family in your prayers this Holiday season. Thanks.

Greetings From Charlotte

2005-12-09T18:02:00.001-06:00

I can’t believe that it’s already Friday and I didn’t post my update to this site all week. I’m attending the National League of Cities (www.NLC.org ) Congress of Cities conference in Charlotte, NC. Over 3500 elected officials representing 1200 cities across the US are here.

To say that we’ve been kept very busy is an understatement. I’d met and exchanged ideas about the role of a city council member with others at workgroups, panel discussions, breaks, over lunch, at the exhibit hall, the elevator … you name it. What a great opportunity to learn from others. Elected officials from cities big and small, North, South, East, West, or like us, from the Mid-West, share very common problems, very common values, very common desires for their communities.

I spent Tuesday and Wednesday attending all day workshops presented by the Leadership Training Institute – The Six Essential Tools of Public Service and an especially helpful workshop for me, Public Problems; Democratic Solutions. This last one I hope will help me become more sensitive to the public values each of us has so that I might work better with you and the other council members to develop a solution that recognizes these difference values and is truly a “win-win” solution that we both agree on.

Thursday and Friday were filled with excellent speakers among them being Robert Reisch, former Secretary of Labor. Anthony Williams, Mayor of Washington DC, is the NLC president and he’s a real interesting character as well.

Besides the General Opening Sessions I spent the last two days attending a wide variety of workshops; Expanding Your Local Economy Using technology to Promote Citizen Involvement; Strengthening Community Through Participatory Governance; Eminent Domain in a Post-Kelo Environment (NO! We aren’t planning to take your house away to build a shopping center! Just getting info. ) and Can Blogs Improve Your Constituent Communications? ( and I’m hoping and betting “Yes”. That’s why I hope you’re reading this.)

Just returned from a mobile workshop on Revitalizing Your Neighborhoods. Amazing what they’ve done.

We’ve got one more day of sessions, tomorrow, Saturday.

Then next week we’re going to pour through the line-by-line detail of the city budget. Here’s your chance to help us by attending the sessions and letting us know what you think we should cut down on, do away with, or even what you want to make sure we don’t do anything real dumb and do away with. Wrote about this in a previous posting so check it out.

From the South, “See y’all later now, hear?”

Truth In Taxation Hearings

2005-11-29T19:15:00.000-06:00

It’s that time of year when we look at wish lists, see who’s been naughty or nice, and stretch the checkbook to the breaking point – city budget review time!

Last week we read two articles referring to “Truth in Taxation” and your local government –which as a council member I play a part. Matthew Stole’s article on November 24 reflected the advice of top state legislators, “State to Taxpayers: Don’t roll over”. In the same issue Pat Anderson wrote an article titled, “Low turnout will tell officials that you are satisfied”.

I certainly don't think I’m a “roll over’ sort of person and don't think that those of you reading this are either. Nor am I, or the others on the city council, naive enough to beleive that if you don't show up for the “Truth in Taxation” meetings you give us permission to spend your tax dollars foolishly, recklessly, wantonly. But we want you there anyway.

What is important is your help and advice BEFORE we make decisions – like now!

We're going to hold the annual Truth in Taxation/City Budget hearings starting Monday 12/12 Conference room 104 from 3:30 to 7pm.

Monday 12/12 -- Overview and general review;
Tuesday 12/13 -- Departmental reviews;
Wednesday 12/14 -- Outside agency requests and continuation of the operating budget;
Thursday 12/15 -- CIP (Capital Improvement Plans if not covered in previous sessions); backup/overflow if required.

If there's anything you want addressed during these hearings make sure you attend or, better yet, get the information to me. A general "cut our tax - your wasting money" won't help. We really do want to keep our expenses/tax dollars down. Almost everyone thinks government spends too much and wastes money. Show me where you think we're messing up. I've always had a standing invitation to listen to you, take your information (and you), set up a meeting with the appropriate party and try to do something to resolve yourissue. Waiting until all the discussions and reviews are done and we present the budget at the "official" Truth in Taxation hearing on December 21 won't get much accomplished. We need your input NOW!

I'll be attending a conference in Charlotte for the National League of Cities next week from 12/5 to 12/11 so we only have this week to meet but I will try to stay in contact via my trusty laptop while gone. Thanks

Police and Residents Collaborate to Make Streets Safer

2005-11-16T22:10:00.000-06:00

A the request of several area residents who read my November 12 Post Bulletin article on speeding which referenced the Traffic Tamer's program here's a previous article on Traffic Tamers -- call me if you're interested.

“Slow down!” – a too frequent cry heard in our neighborhoods directed at fellow residents. “Somebody will get killed! You’ve got to do something!” Yes, but what?
Speed bumps, speed tables, chokers, median strips are somewhat effective but costly. Bumps and speed tables don’t mix too well with snowplows either! Stop signs are the most requested “fix” made to council members and public works -- most requested, least expensive, and least effective. (We have references to studies showing this.)
So what works? Having a Police car shooting radar and issuing tickets seems to work pretty well – for the time the officer is on station and for perhaps two or three days afterwards. With 440 miles of paved streets to patrol and less than a dozen officers on shift – well, its no wonder so many residents are frustrated and stand at the curb shaking their fists at offending drivers. A hopeless situation? Not any longer!

In a unique collaboration between Police and residents, a new program – Traffic Tamers – has been created to help bring safe streets back into our residential areas.

It’s a multi-faceted” program”, reports Crime Prevention Officer, Ken Plummer, who has taken the lead in its development. “Education, monitoring, reporting, enforcement - all play a key role in this program.”

How does the program work?

First, neighborhood volunteers distribute information flyers describing their traffic safety concerns and their role in the Traffic Tamer program to their neigborhood. Then the neighborhood volunteers, after screening and a short training course, monitor their streets at their chosen location, date, and time, using a police provided radar gun. They will work in teams of two or three – one person registering the actual speed, others capturing vehicle information. These logs will them be turned in to the Crime Prevention unit for processing.

Registered owners of vehicles exceeding the speed limit by 5 or more MPH will be sent a notification letter emphasizing the need for safety on our streets and requesting their cooperation in the future. No tickets will be issued nor will there be any notation on a driver’s record. Vehicle registration information will not be shared with the neighborhood volunteers.

Follow on phases will include the visible monitoring of the street with the mobile radar trailer and then actual police enforcement,if warrented, by the data collected from the Traffic Tamer effort and the radar trailer.

There are a number of benefits to this program. The residents are there every day. They are the experts of their area. They know best when to watch and can more effectively gather the data that will help our police and traffic safety engineers make more effective future solutions. In addition, they will also be able to validate their perception of their local speeding problem by capturing accurate speed information first-hand.

This data will allow the Police Department to position traffic enforcement officers at the proper locations and at the proper times for most effective use of these valuable resources. It’s a win-win situation.

For information on how and when you can be a Traffic Tamer call the Rochester Police Department, 281-6045 or send an e-mail to kplummer@ci.rochester.mn.us OR call me at 285-0295.

Bob Nowicki

Speeding a City Problem -- Not so Fast

2005-11-10T00:52:00.000-06:00

Speeding, whether actual or perceived, is one of the most frequently received complaints from all quadrants of the city. There is also an increasing trend toward running through stop signs and red lights, failing to stop for pedestrians at intersection crosswalks, and just plain rude driving. What is going on?

Are we so rushed in our daily living that we ignore safe driving practices? Are we so accustomed to our personal "rights" so as to extend them to owning our share of the roadway and darned be those who get in our space? Is it that we believe laws are for others to obey? Should we blame the increase of speed on the improved technology that gives us quieter, easier handling cars, vans, SUV’s, and pickups as well as quieter, smoother roads with greater visibility?

I think it’s ridiculous that we have to try to engineer around personal responsibility. We put up stop signs or traffic signals and studies show an increase of accidents or an increase in the seriousness of accidents -- even an increase of speed to "make up" for the lost time at a signal or stop sign. Appalling! Just the opposite of what you would want or expect. We now have to resort to "big-brother-watching-you" technology like Photo-cop to catch red-light runners -- something being studied in the Twin Cities – and they are issuing thousands of tickets in their trial run!

Soon it will be photo cop for speed as well. Then what? Un-signaled lane changes? Rude hand signals? (Since elected I have learned to wave to someone cutting me off on the road with ALL of my fingers!)

It's not only ridiculous to try to engineer solutions to make up for the lack of personal responsibility but very costly as well!

I, and others on the council and in planning, have been looking with a much more critical eye at developments with long, straight streets - especially where grades are concerned. I've been a proponent for narrower streets, curves, medians, and, yes, mini-roundabouts. These solutions generally increase the cost of development, cost of maintenance, or otherwise impact the economics of future development. There are parking and emergency vehicle issues to consider as well.

I helped develop a practical, low cost means to combat at least some of the residential speeding issues with the Traffic Tamer's program -- you get to use a radar gun, log speeders, give the license number to the cops, and then they send a "warning" to the vehicle owner -- which is really effective in the case of kids using mom and dad's car! (contact me for more detail.) You get to educate your neighbors about the program, do it, have an organized follow-up program with the cops and all kinds of stuff.

We get very few takers because the expectation is that "the city" caused the problem by building streets and roads so "the city" has to fix it. Folks, if "the city" workers were the ones violating the driving laws I'd be first in line to kick butt.

Let’s try to use some care especially as winter and the holiday season approaches.

To quote one of my favorite contemporary sages, Pogo, "We has identified the enemy and it is us!" Thanks

UPDATE -- N'Valley/Rocky Creek Drives

2005-11-03T09:30:00.000-06:00

The data is in from both the N’Valley speed table effectiveness study and the traffic study of the Northern Valley/Rocky Creek intersection.

In both cases, at present, they are a table of numbers and I’ve asked Mr. Kramer, our traffic engineer for a written analysis and recommendation that I can give you all.

The intersection study shows that there haven’t been any reported accidents at that corner in the last 6 years. It also seems to indicate that we are a long way from meeting the criteria for a 4-way stop. The study I forwarded to those of you interested in this gives all the rationale as to why meeting the criteria is so important .

I hadn’t heard back from the neighborhood as far as your desire to relocate the “Glendale” sign. I’m in favor, based on the data collected, to not remove it unless you want to. I believe we can make a case to keep it there but I would recommend that we do a bit of clean up – perhaps remove the big dogwood to help visibility, and clean up some brush. I’d leave the plantings around the sign but perhaps doa bit of trimming which I believe one of the residents does anyway.

We’ve been giving a lot of thought to swapping the stop signs between N’Valley and Rocky Creek Drives but here’s another fly in the ointment.

You have asked me to push for signilization on N’Valley and CR22. It’s in the CIP (Capital Improvement Plan) for next year – possibly next summer if all goes well with traffic counts and all that again. Big concern is that the traffic signal installation may affect the traffic pattern in your area – specifically the intersection – as our experience has shown it to do in other areas of the city.

Our engineers are reluctanct to make a change now and then later, shortly after you all adjust to the new signage, they may have to change it again. This is where we can really cause accidents instead of preventing them. I think you can see their point.

Anyway, just wanted you to know what was happening in the area and will get back to you with somekind of an “official” report from public works.

Thanks

Think Outside the Box

2005-10-23T11:12:00.000-06:00

No doubt you've all heard the expression "think outside the box". I'd taken courses on this in the past and even taught a couple of sessions in my past life.

I like to think I do this from time to time.

Had an occasion last Friday, October 21, to think INSIDE the box -- a cardboard box -- and I spent a cool, chilly night in one along with about 200 others.

The event was a fundraiser for the Interfaith Hospitality Network, Dorothy Day House, and the Salvation Army to help raise funds to support their efforts to help the homeless. Now, I don't know of any homeless within the boundaries of the Fifth Ward and I'm thankful for that, but there are some who find themselves in need of help this way and so ....

Sort of got exposed to this as a favor to a friend who was designing the promotional brochure for the event and he asked for a little help. In doing this I learned more about the problem and recognized the names of two key organizers, Joanne Markee and Ginger Holmes. THanks for all your hard work and for all those who helped.

I guess you can guess the rest. Next thing I knew I was committed to represent the council and the mayor also graciously volunteered along with his grandaugther, Madison.

I was very impressed by the number of people who braved the cold and especially the young folks. From the Fifth Ward we had great representation from the Kiwanis K Club at Century HS. Five young ladies participated and three of my fellow Kiwanians did as well acting as chaperones.

I suggest that anyone reading this consider helping out next year.

Only suggestion to the organizers -- consider doing this a little earlier in the fall when it's warmer.

But then again, kind of would miss the point of being homeless wouldn't it?

Glendale Sign Change -- UPDATE

2005-10-20T17:45:00.000-06:00

After publishing my previous blog and sending an e-mail notice to the residents of Glendale about our plan to remove the "Glendale" sign I received several concerned e-mails about this plan urging us to reconsider.

Several folks had the impression that we were going to denude the entire corner -- including the remoal of the conifers. No, that wasn't in our plan. We just wanted to clear the corner enough to improve driver visibility to on-coming cars on N'Valley Dr.

I had done a spot check yesterday with what I took as support for our plan but I didn't have an opportunity to touch base with all of the concerned parties and so I asked Mr Kramer to hold off on any action until we could look at the problem again.

We spent a couple of hours this afternoon looking at the area again and this time with Craig Springer who was one of the parties who brought this concern to our attention. Thanks, Craig for spending time with us.

The alternative of changing stop signs to place them on N'Valley instead of Rocky Creek has merit in addressing the "Glendale" sign visibility concern as this would force cars to stop at the offending corner, eliminating the need to remove the sign.
This alternative, however, creates another visibility concern looking from N'Valley facing south to on-coming traffic from the curve on Rocky Creek. A big clump of trees now are in the way. Should we remove them?

Unwarrented 4-way stop signs present numerous hazards and side effects that are spelled out in a study we can provide to you on request. Doing a 4-way stop is very much against engineering judgement and recommended procedure.

I very much liked changing the stop sign location and thought that there would be ample justification because of the school bus and city bus stop but once again I was shown to be wrong because studies across the country have shown this too, in fact, causes more danger to pedestrians mainly because they assume safety with the stop sign when actual experience shows that this assumption leads them into dangerous proximity to oncoming traffic. Can't seem to win no matter what we do.

We're still thinking about this. In the process we realized that the existing signage and plantings are likely in violation of the city's long standing corner visibiilty ordinance. We're checking into the details but may now be forced to consider removal or relocation of the sign as the only responsible course of action now that we've been made aware of the potential danger.

Seems to me to be a perfect project for the Glendale NA to help us tackle -- where might the sign be moved to and who wants to help do this?

Glendale Sign Change

2005-10-19T00:42:00.000-06:00

Several of the residents of the Glendale Hills area have brought to my attention the intersection of Rocky Creek Drive and Northern Valley Drive. We looked at this about a year or so ago and removed the lower limbs of two pine trees that were obstructing on-coming traffic on N'Valley from those at the stop sign on Rocky Creek.

I'd also had several requests to make that intersection a 4-way stop -- partially to address the on-coming traffic vision situation and also in the hope of reducing speed on N'Valley.

On the latter, putting stop signs to slow traffic speeds has been shown consistantly across the country to be very ineffective and in fact studies show that other major problems are generated. Contact me or David Kramer, our Public Works Traffic Engineer, for details. A practical matter is that the intersection is so far removed from the residential area so as to not have any affect on speed.

However, Mr. Kramer and I took another look at the intersection and, after watching traffic for a while, came to the conclusion that there was a visibility problem and the most appropriate solution was the removal of the Glendale sign and surrounding large shrubbery. I talked to several of the area residents and all were in agreement with this as a solution.

The sign is on public property but we did get permission from the original developers, Mr. Gill and Mr. Hexum to remove this sign. A work order to that effect has been issued.

We will keep the smaller planting that surround the cable junction box to keep some of the aesthetics on the corner.

So ... if you suddenly see a dramatic change as you enter or leave the area that's why.

As always, feel free to contact me if you have any further questions.

Bob

Street Repairs Coming to an End

2005-10-13T20:30:00.000-06:00

You read about the Roc 52 project finally coming to an end after 3 years and no doubt have come across Hwy 63 South renovation.

Well, the Fifth Ward hasn't been left out of this summer's street tear up and repair and they're getting closer to getting wrapped up. Thanks for your patience!

The Silver Lake sewer project is continuing to move along closer to its completion. Hitting a larger rock formation than was shown in geologic findings and a slight delay in the special 60 inch sewer pipe put a bit of a crimp in our plans but all is well and we're moving along.

North Broadway has been torn up for a couple of weeks and should be back in full swing very shortly.

The steam pipe from the Silver Lake power plant to Mayo is moving along well too.

With so much being torn up and all, the projected rebuild of 7th Street NW has been rescheduled to next year -- budget permitting. I think there are some mixed emotions on this one. Would have been nice to get it done and over with now but ... that's city hall for you!

Northern Hills Drive has been milled for a couple of days now with my neighbors and I dodging those big orange markers and tubs expecting the asphalt to be layed any hour now. In checking with Joe Fitzpatrick today, I learned that the street will be paved either next Monday or Tuesday (October 17 or 18). For those of you who thought I'd get special treatment .... HA!

Keep in touch and don't forget to visit me at Grandma's Kitchen each Friday from 7 to 8:30 that I'm in town. I buy the coffee you bring the problems!

Thanks For Voting

2005-10-05T12:38:00.000-06:00

Just wanted to thank those of you who got out to voice your oppinion regarding the sales tax extension yesterday, October 4th.

The Fifth Ward had one of the best turnouts of all the wards in the city. This tells me that you are knowledgeable, interested in the future of the city, willing to help make decisions for the greater good of the community and I'm very proud to have been elected to represent you.

Don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions about issues coming up in the future or any problems or concerns you might have that takes away from your quality of life in the FIfth Ward. I'm here to serve you.

Thanks again for helping me help you.

I'M BACK !

2005-09-27T21:00:00.000-06:00

I don't know if you missed me but I missed you!

Joan and I just returned from a 10 day trip to Germany and thereabouts with the mayor and 35 others. What a wonderful (and extremely busy/tiring) time!

Our excuse for visiting that area of the world was to visit our sister city, Moosburg, Germany. Moosburg is about 25 miles north of Munich. We also went there to help kick off Oktoberfest ... and did so in grand style!

In case you're wondering ... no, this was not a boondoogle paid for by the city. Visiting our sister city was as good an excuse as any to get us all over there to help with Oktoberfest. Joan and I and all the others paid our own way.

The mayor (Burgermeisterin) hosted us all on Monday to a tour and a lunch. We all got to sign the "golden book" ... the city's very special guest registry. We walked in their parade and later saw the fantastic float they had made for us. Unfortunately due to bad weather they started the parade 1/2 hour early and our bus was delayed by a traffic jam going to a big soccer game in Munich so we just jumped into the parade as one of the last groups and made the front page of their paper.

I learned that they have the very same concerns about city matters as we do here --taxes, street maintenance, speeders in town, waste management, hockey and swimming pools that don't make money. They have 24 council members (stadtrat's) for their town of 18,000 but there are 5 political parties they represent. I think I prefer our way for sure!

Visited a few castles and my favorite part was the trip to the Alps and having lunch at an ourdoor restaurant next to the north face of the famous Eiger. WHat a hoot!

Anyway, I'm working hard at shaking my jet lag and getting caught up with my council mail and all that so have some patience with me and I'll get back to let you know more about 5th Ward stuff.

Guten tag!

Good News for 11th Ave NE Drivers

2005-09-06T19:19:00.000-06:00

Some good news for all of you who use 11th Ave NE. We are going to replace the fixed-time traffic signals on 14th Street, 7th Street, and Center Street with semi-activated signals. Semi-activated signals have detection for vehicles on the minor street, and pushbuttons for pedestrians wishing to cross the major street.

Semi-activated signals remain green for the major street, and only go red on the major street when there is a need to service a vehicle or pedestrian.

This should provide improved operation and decreased delay for all who travel in the area. This is something a number of you have requested for some time.

Viola Road/Cassidy/Century Hills Traffic Signal UPDATE

2005-08-23T15:40:00.000-06:00

I finally had the meeting between the county and city regarding the status of the traffic signal at the Century Hills/Emerald Hills entrance on Viola road. Thank you to Assistant County Administrator Mary Callier, Commission President Paul Wilson, Commissioner Judy Ohly, County Traffic Engineer Mike Sheehan, County Public Works Traffic Design Engineer Kay Bieniek, City Traffic Engineer David Kramer, and city Traffic Accident Specialist Wayne Winter.

I think you've all heard this before but all signalization requires meeting "warrent" criteria set by the state before we would be allowed to install such signals. This is especially true to get any state funds to support such installation. (Signals cost between $250,000-$400,000 each). From a safety standpoint traffic signals do create traffic problems of their own kind and so the rationale is that before we create any other problems we need to be sure that it's of lesser impact that the situation we're currently facing. Does that make sense to you? I understand this but I've been tutored for the last 2 1/2 years by our traffic "experts".

In April of 2004 we were getting pretty close to meeting these warrents and that's when I started to really push for the signal. However, the paving and opening of the southern Century Hills access to West Circle Drive has greatly dropped the volume of traffic at the intersection to the extent that we have moved further from meeting the traffic signal warrent.

One of our major concerns was the Century HS student's use of u-turns at the intersection when traffic backs up at the school entrance. Our observations over the last two years has shown the students to use caution when making these u-turns. Our fear is that by posting a "no u-turn" sign at the intersection and ticketing offenders we might force them to make the turn further up Viola Road where the road is narrower and more dangerous. We are all aware of the law of unintended consequences I'm sure.

Our accident monitoring of the site also does not indicate taking any action at this time. The statistics are like those you'd hope for AFTER taking action such as what we'd been discussing.

The net is that we have engineering work done for the time when we meet state traffic signalization standards (warrents). We will continue to keep an eye on traffic patterns as new housing development continues and act when it is prudent to do so.

As always, feel free to call me if you have any further questions.

Parkwood Hills Entrance UPDATE

2005-08-23T14:52:00.000-06:00

Several residents of Parkwood Hills expressed concern about the number of accidents at the entrance to Parkwood Hills. I asked for a meeting with the county folks who "own" the road. Thank you to Assistant County Administrator Mary Callier, Commission President Paul Wilson, Commissioner Judy Ohly, County Traffic Engineer Mike Sheehan, County Public Works Traffic Design Engineer Kay Bieniek, City Traffic Engineer David Kramer, and City Traffic Accident Specialist Wayne Winter for sharing their time and assistance this morning.

The net of the meeting is that we all agreed that we need to do something to reduce the number of rear-end collisions when making left hand turns into Parkwood Hills but the solution (or a realistic one) is still in the future.

Our number one solution would be to widen the road at the entrance to allow for a left hand turn lane and a bypass lane. The bike path on the north side of Viola precludes our doing this easily. After much discussion of alternatives we are going to look at widening the road on the south side but this will take a considerable amount of engineering --- work which we couldn't commit to doing yet this year.

One of the future projects looked at while discussing the sales-tax extention refernedum in October is improvement to Viola Road -- widening, curbs, and storm water drainage. This would be an opportune time to make the entrance change.

At this time, nothing is committed and we will continue to look for a way to address your concerns.

I've asked Mr. Winter to provide me with statistics on just who has been causing the rear-ending accidents. Because the frequency is largely during the school year, we suspect that they are Century HS students. If this is truly the case, I will take these statistics to Century HS and see if we can't do something to work with the students to prevent serious injury to themselves and others.

Any help you can provide would be appreciated. Thanks.

Northern Viola Lane Neighborhood Watch

2005-08-19T16:55:00.000-06:00

Many thanks to the residents of Northern Viola Lane for inviting me to their annual Neighborhood Watch picnic and meeting. What a fantastic group!

Kids had a ball with the moon walk, ice cream and the works. Everyone seemed to be busy being "neighborly" which is what this is all about.

Many thanks to Darrel Hildebrant, our Police Crime Prevention Specialist, for his on-going dedication to the Neighborhood Watch program and especially for his personal attention to meetings like last night's. Also thank to Officers Peck and Turk who stopped by to help out.

I especially had a great time answering questions and talking about the kind of things that the folks were interested in regarding city operations. Hope this was helpful to you. Thanks.

To everyone reading this, if you don't know your neighbors and would like to, call me and I'll help you get a Neighborhood Watch set up ... if you have any questions or problems about anything happening in your neighborhood, again, call me ... and finally, if you have any questions about anything we're doing in the city, call me. Perhaps I'll be able to find someone who knows what's going on!!

Stop Signs on 19th St and Wilshire Dr NE- UPDATE

2005-08-19T16:36:00.000-06:00

I heard a number of residents express their concern about the corner of Wilshire Dr. and 19th Street NE at the National Night OUt picnic on August 2. There are two "Yield" signs there already but residents seemed to think that perhaps more needed to be done to address the speed of crossing traffic.

The next morning I talked to Mr. Kramer, our Traffic Engineer, and he agreed.

I'm very please to be able to announce that they'd been installed yesterday, August 18.

Thanks for bringing this to my attention. As I said earlier in these pages, don't hesitate to contact me about your concerns or wait until you see me.

Who knows? Sometimes we get what you want done!

National Night Out Picnics -- Thanks

2005-08-03T13:39:00.000-06:00

It was really great so see so many NNO picnics get organized in the great 5th Ward. Thanks to those of you who invited me to share time with you and to those who allowed me to "crash" their parties.

We had 18 picnics registered and a couple more that I discovered in my travels. I managed to make it to 11 this year before it got dark and you pitched tent. I will make a strong effort to attend any of yours that I missed next year if you want me to. Just let me know.

I think we shared some good info and even managed to solve a couple of neighborhood concerns, so thanks for talking to me.

As a reminder, don't wait until next year to get in touch with me about anything bothering you regarding our city operations, neighborhood concerns, what you read in the paper, or anything else. OK?

East Silver Lake Ballpark - What's Happening?

2005-07-28T15:23:00.000-06:00

Several people have asked me about the work going on at the East Silver Lake ballpark. Here's the scoop.

The Park Department is removing the fence, spraying the outfield grass to kill it all in preparation for regrading and leveling of the field. Apparently stormwater runoff fron the grounds and the culvert (at the 9th Street hill) have flooded the field making it unplayable. The regrading of the field will include a swayle to divert water to the parking lot and to the storm water drains at the street.

They are removing trees at the culvert to allow grading there as well (this was the former "clump" of bushes we had cleaned up a year or so ago).

Overall, we should have a much better field to play in.

Pint's Pub on North Broadway - What Happened?

2005-07-21T13:46:00.000-06:00

At the July 18, 2005 city council meeting, the council reversed a Planning and Zoning Commission (P&ZC) 4-3 vote to deny the Conditional Use request by Mr. Todd Powers to relocate his Pint’s Pub establishment to a North Broadway location formerly known as Whiting’s Nursery. This was done in a 1 ½ hour public hearing after listening to nearby resident’s objections stated at the P&ZC, presented via a signed petition by 88 residents of the area and repeated at the council hearing. WHY? What went wrong, if anything?

Many are concerned that the system failed them, ignoring that their major concerns were listened to and addressed with conditions of operation which is exactly what this process was designed to do.

The simplest explanation is that our zoning and land development laws required this action. The property in question was already zoned as B-4 requiring a Type II Conditional Use permit – that is meeting standards defined in the Land Development Manual Section 61.146. At the time of the P&ZC hearings the P&ZC members in a 4-3 vote felt that the conditions for approval did not provide adequate protection from the detrimental features of the proposed establishment. I agreed and said so to Mr. Powers.

The major concerns at the time were noise, traffic impact to Hwy 63, and close proximity to a children’s playground. Other issues were brought up but were not supportable.

I have a detailed accounting for each concern and am willing to either discuss them or send you a copy. It's too long to get into with this vehicle. The net is that Mr. Powers, the petitioner, agreed to significant changes to the conditions of approval between the hearing at the Planning and Zoning Commission and the appeal at the City Council. This is not unusual.

The residents should not look at this as a loss. Because of their concerns and Mr Powers desire to mitigate these concerns they now have:

- a committment to never having to contend with a tent or outdoor amplification.
- a 3 foot berm and an 8 foot solid fence separating Pint's Pub property from an adjoining playground and from the neighborhood. In addition, the new fence will extend along the fence at the back of AL's Specialty Marine property, shielding AL's boats and equipment from view of the patrons using the parking lot (an unexpected bonus).
- a new frontage road running to the south exiting at the Shopko North Hwy 63 entrance to relieve traffic from HWY 63 and potential re-routing to 41st Street and Alberta Drive.

So, again, nothing went wrong. My rationale to support the neighorhood and the denial of the P&ZC were largely overcome by Mr Powers new agreement to conditions. The only one supportable concern over routing of traffic to the Shopko exit was not
supported by anyone else and I can understand why.

I suggest we relax and wait and see what happens.

Anonymous Patriot on Northern Heights

2005-07-05T23:20:00.000-06:00

What a nice surprise to drive on Northern Heights Dr over the 4th and have it decorated with a flag at each mailbox.

I asked several residents about this and they weren't aware of who did this wonderful deed. Was this a neighborhood effort? A small group of patriotic citizens? A single person?

I would like to thank whoever did this and I'm sure so would all of us who cherish what our flag means and what the 4th of July means.

If you read this, thanks!

Fifth Ward Growing and Growing

2005-06-28T16:49:00.000-06:00

As a 31 year resident of NE Rochester I know what I like about this area and bet you do too. Looks like a lot more folks will get to share the experience in the coming years and that's great. There's a lot to offer.

You may have read about the TID (Transportation Improvement District) we developed last year and begin implementing. Number two on the list was the Hadley Valley Area, an area comprising of over 1000 acres of developable land. Several developers have submitted plans for the area and are working with the city to make sure that we do things in an orderly, cost effective manner.

We reviewed plans for this area and approved the methodology. Final details are being worked on and I expect that we will sign off on this sometime in August.

The TID requires the developer to commit to pay for 75% of infrastructure needs generated by the new development. These costs will be passed on to the new owners -- not any of you who already live in the area nor any of our other taxpayers. We, the city, will pay the remaining 25% which is a lot less than the 100% we've paid in the past.

This development will take place over the next 10-20 years. I just wanted you to know a bit more about what's happening around you and how far in advance we often work with developers and public works.

As always, get back to me with any questions or concerns.

Have a safe and sane 4th!

Neighbor-to-neighbor Problems

2005-06-20T23:02:00.000-06:00

One of the most difficult and sensitive problems I get to respond to occasionally are the neighbor-to-neighbor issues that occasionally occur.

Weeds or grass too long (Rochester Code of Ordinace 72.08) is easy because there is an ordinance to cover it. Same for snow removal in winter (RCO 72.02). Most people are hesitant to talk to their neighbor about this and stew over it for fear of causing trouble or whatever. I can easily help you with this if this is a problem because I can simply stop by as a concerned alderman who noticed the violation and see if the party in question needs help, is aware of the city ordinance, and offer to get help to keep them from getting a citation. Done it several times and don't have to even say that a neighbor complained. (So if I stop at your house to talk to you about your lawn or snow removal -- it was your neighbor that complained but I won't tell you that. HA!)

There are laws about barking dogs and other animal control issues that simply should be reported to Animal Control-- 287-2230. There is a noise ordinance (RCO 85.10) that protects you from "unnecessary" noises in general. Call the cops on this.

And yes you can keep chickens, up to three, no roosters, and you must have a coop.

Trucks over 3/4 ton, boats, trailers, motor homes longer than 20 feet, dump trucks, tractors, boat trailers, heavy machinery, uncleaned livestock trailers cannot be parked on any street or alley for more than one hour. (RCO 134.23)

There isn't much I can do to help you with drainage or water runoff concerns especially in older established homes. Could help to insure that new development builders conform with grading plans by asking our public works folks to check for compliance. Been getting a lot of these requests lately.

You can find our ordinances on line by going to the City Home page, get tham at the Public Library, or visit the City Clerk's Office at City Hall, 201 4th Street SW.

The best piece of advice I can give you is to try to talk to your neighbor yourself. If I or someone else from the city talk to them about a problem (with the exception of the simple concerns I mentioned above) and you hadn't made the effort, well, think of how you'd feel in the same circumstance. Probably not too cooperative and your relationship most likely will move even further apart.

I know it's tough sometimes but we do have to live together in this community called Rochester so let's all lighten up a bit and make the best of this "best small city to live in".

Speed Tables for Northern Valley Dr. NE

2005-06-20T22:51:00.000-06:00

After quite a bit of re-engineering of slope angles and such to help address the concerns of the Fire Department about potential damage to their heavy emergency response equipment and design adjustments to meet the unique requirements of Northern Valley Dr, our Public Works Department requested approval from the city council tonight (June 20, 2005) to adversize for construction bids.

This was unanimously approved which moves us another step closer to getting the speed tables built. I realize that this is long overdue but it is the first set of speed tables we're going to build in over 3 years.

As always, if yo have any questions or comments don't hesitate to contact me.

Glendale Neighborhood's Eight Flag Day Parade

2005-06-14T22:14:00.000-06:00

Just returned home from one of the best 5th Ward homespun annual get-togethers -- the Glendale Neighborhood's Flag Day Parade. This is their 8th one and I think I managed to march in at least 7 (did so even before I was politically correct or involved.) Lora Powell has been one of the main organizers ever since I can remember. Im sure she had lots of help by others -- that seems to be the kind of neighborhood it is.

The parade started at the top of Glendale Hills Dr. at 6:30 as it has every year. This year I parked my car at the end point, North Park, and walked the route backwards so I would end up where my car was parked. Old guy like me started the parade already fairly pooped! What was I thinking? What were the developers that build all those beautiful homes on such a long, steep, street thinking?

The route was lined with flags stuck in front of all the homes for the entire route. Most homes had some kind of flag display as well. Very patriotic.

Moms and dads, grandpas and grandmas, and kids of all ages joined the procession down the hill. The smarter and wiser joined as we moved past. They must have walked up the hill in the past and were quicker learners than I.

Kids on bikes and in wagons decorated with flags and red, white, and blue streamers were pulled by parents. This is one of those times I think the kids will talk about with their children someday and hopefully try to duplicate when the time comes.

Finally at the end we were treated to the traditional watermelon. Helped cut again and yes, they did trust me with a knife though I tried not talking too much because it seems that my vocal cords are linked to my arms.

I met a few wonderful people and we talked some about a few city and local area issues. Promised to look into a stop sign at Northern Valley and Rocky Creek Roads, do more about speeding, running red lights, explained the real story behind our new bow and arrow hunting ordinance, and vowed to be back next year.

Nice going Glendale! See you next year (but think I'll call a cab to take me up the hill!)

Holy Moley! What was that?

2005-06-03T11:26:00.000-06:00

No, we've not been transplanted to California and it's not an earthquake, nor are we being invaded by terrorists!

If some of you felt your house do a bit of rockin' and rollin' lately it's most likely the blasting taking place for Stonegate Summit Townhomes on top of the hill off of Rocky Creek Drive.

The developer does have a permit, you shouldn't have any damage to your property (but if you do you can contact Mr. Bill Keehn, 254-1623), and this should be over shortly so hang on.

Or feel free to contact me at 285-0295 or 951-7677 (cell).

Bob

Soldier's Field Playground - Fantastic Volunteer Effort

2005-05-26T22:27:00.000-06:00

I think I just had the most rewarding experience of all of my 31 years in Rochester last week and last weekend. It wasn't in the Fifth Ward but I did see many folks I recognized from the Ward working on the project so I guess it counts for this "blog".

I'm talking about the building of the new Soldier's Field Playground.

What an effort! Kudos to all those who worked on planning and raising funds for the project but I really take my hat off to the many volunteers who worked tirelessly to see the project to its completion (or close to it). I'd been involved in numerous volunteer projects through my association with Kiwanis, the Neighborhood Resource Center, our city's Sesquicentennial etc. but I'd never seen anything like the effort I experienced last week.

I was very impressed with the planning and logistics that went into the project -- lumber to do the job, all kinds of tools, hardware, even tenting to protect from the rain (somebody didn't talk to the weather man).

I know that there were plans somewhere, and that there were a couple of "foremen" from the company that designed the playground (with the help of kids and the playground committee) but I saw the thing go up from nothing to completion with just the simplest instructions and was especially impressed with how well volunteers cooperated with strangers, contributing their own particular skills and knowhow, a lot of sweat, and, if I can rely on my own experience, some aches and pains later in the evening.

This was an effort truly to be admired, even if it was clear accross town from our Ward. It was Rochester at it's finest!

If you get a chance to help with this project in the future do yourself a favor and take time to do it! YOu'll be glad you did and years from now you'll be able to tell your kids and grandkids how you helped make Rochester and even better city to live in than the #1 city it's always been.

For more info on this go to their web page www.soldiersfieldplayground.com .

Local Partisan Politics in the Future?

2005-05-10T22:44:00.000-06:00

I attended a very interesting City Charter Commission meeting earlier tonight.

In an effort to be prepared for the future, Commission Chair, Randy Staver, attempted to lead the commision in a discussion concerning our future role as a “city of the first class”, a status reached and recognized by the State of Minnesota when a city’s population rises over the 100,000 mark. The biggest concern over this change is the requirement for the mayor and city council to declare their political party affiliation and run a partisan election.

Or not!

Duluth had chosen to pass an ordinance that declared their non-partisan preference and so do not follow the state policy recommendation.

It was clarified by our esteemed assistant city attorney, Mr. Goslee, that even should Rochester reach the 100,000 population mark in two years we would not be recognized until the official 2010 census results were reported and then after the State “officially” recognized our status. So it looks like we’re about 6 years too early to seriously look at the matter.

But it makes for an interesting discussion and I wonder what you think.

I was asked my opinion and simply stated I just wonder what the benefit would be to the citizens of Rochester and especially my constituents in the Fifth Ward. How would this help me be a better representative of the people who elected me to serve? I also wondered what this might do to my ability to “lobby” with our state representatives and senators. Today, I am completely autonomous, non-partisan, and independent and so their listening to my point of view is purely that of what’s best (in my opinion) for Rochester and is not reflective of my political party which may be the opposite of theirs.

What do you think? (Just in case we’ll both be around to consider this when the time comes.)

Deferred Payments In the Future?

2005-05-10T22:33:00.000-06:00

The city of Rochester has had an assessment strategy for many years when it comes to payment for curb and gutter installation, sidewalk installation, and street reconstruction. As we face the necessity to possibly increase street reconstruction rates in the future we also anticipate that there may be some homeowners who will have difficulty in making those payments. Until now, the problem has been discussed but no action had been taken. We are now investigating a plan to defer payment for those qualified until the house is sold or the property owner dies and the estate transfers title.
The basic plan would allow property owners to claim a deferment based on age (over 65) or permanent disability as well as meeting low-income criteria as set by the most recent U.S Census Bureau poverty threshold guidelines. Two examples: a single 65-year-old living alone must earn $9,060 or less and a household of two 65-year-olds would have to have an income of $11,418 or less to qualify.

The council expects to pass a resolution putting this in effect at our May 16 meeting. Property owners in the 5th Ward along 7th Street NW where the city plans to do a major reconstruction of the street later in 2005 will be the first to benefit from this new policy.

7th Street Reconstruction - Correction

2005-05-02T12:10:00.000-06:00

(Things happen so fast that sometimes even I don't get all the changes right. The scope of the 7th Street project has been reduced for this year with plans to continue the rest of the street into either 2006 or 2007.)

From time to time our streets need complete reconstruction instead of just a recovering of asphalt or a few potholes filled. In the past, city streets have been constructed with an expected lifetime of 30 years … with occasional resurfacing and pothole repair. Our new standards are to build or re-build them to last 50 years before a major reconstruction.

You will hear and learn more about this as we discuss the funding problems of street maintenance in the near future. We plan to have a series of informational meetings on the subject city-wide.

In the meantime, we in the 5th Ward will have a major reconstruction of 7th Street NW from Broadway to Cascade Bridge. The rest of 7th will be reconstructed either in 2006 or 2007. Affected property owners had been notified, given their assessments, and have been invited to a Public Informational Meeting. You should note that this may be one of the last projects to use the current assessment rate as we are investigating new rates for next year (the funding problem I mentioned above.)

The Public Information Meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, May 4th from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in Conf Rm. 104, at the Government Center. Mailings went out to all abutting property owners April 18th

The rate we are using is $37.46 per front foot, the reconstruction rate for residential areas. Assessments account for approximately 25% of the total project cost. ($3,750,000)

The Project Hearing and Assessment Hearing in front of the City Council is planned for Monday, May 16, 2005.

Let's Talk

2005-05-01T12:15:00.000-06:00

I know that there are a lot of questions about problems the city faces as we grow and especially questions about why we on the council make some of the decisions we make. It's tough enough to do when you get inundated by recommendations from "expert" consultants, city staff, special interest groups, state and city statutes in the land development guide and the like so I can only imagine what you must be thinking ... and that's my problem.

Just what are you thinking?

I can do a much better job if I know what you think or know about the matter at hand. This "blog" is my latest attempt at reaching out to you. In it I'll attempt to let you know what I know about an issue, why I'm thinking like I am, and probably how I'll vote on the matter. I do try to keep an open mind and would like to know what YOU think. It's important to me and to the best interest of all the residents of our fair city.

I host weekly breakfast meetings at Grandma's Kitchen in the Silver Lake Shopping Center. I'm there every Friday that I'm in town from 7 am to about 8:30 am. I buy the coffee, you bring the problems. Look for the red "City COuncil Spoken Here" sign on the table ... usually in the back of the large seating area. Ask any of the staff if in doubt.

I also have been stoping at homes to check with you on how things are going. I do this randomly and in good weather and have about 16,000 residents so it might be a while before I get to you. Don't wait for me. Call me and we can talk on the phone, meet for coffee, or I'll be very happy to meet at your house with you and any of your neighbors. OK?

What do you think of a regular -- say once or twice a year -- ward meeting. Say at Century HS or some other location? Been wanting to do this since election but my past investigations told me that not many people wanted to come to "another meeting" so I'd held off from doing this.

My email is bnowicki@ci.rochester.mn.us. or barefoot@juno.com
Home Phone is (507) 285-0295 Cell (507) 951-7677 Or you can reply by posting our comment using the "comment" box at the bottom or this "blog".

Thanks and keep in touch. Pass the word.

A Whole Lot of Buildin' Goin' On

2005-04-22T19:17:00.000-06:00

As you travel through the Fifth Ward you can’t help but notice all the new homes and other development taking place.

NEW PREMIER BANK -- 37th Street and Broadway

CENTURY SQUARE PLAZA – Viola Road and West Circle Drive. Opps! Called it a ribbon cutting when should have been "ground breaking" ceremony. About a dozen hearty souls braved a chilly, windy ceremony this morning (April 27) including Mayor Brede. First business to take occupancy will be Leo's Pizza who were kind enough to bring some hot pizzas which we dug into to thaw out almost frozen bod's. Added bonus was that the pizza was great! Look for announcements of future businesses to join the Plaza.

STONEGATE SUMMIT TOWNHOMES (West end of Rocky Creek Drive): Several of you have noticed large construction equipment on Rocky Creek Drive, close to Broadway. By now you’ve probably seen the start of some grading and all that.

This is the first step toward the completion of the townhome development on top of the hill behind the cul de sac on 26th St. NE … a development that was approved in January 2003.

The land survey was completed and net buildable area was calculated for the zones (part is R3 – Medium Density Residential and another section is R1X – Mixed Single Family) and the plan shows 123 units down from the 144 the original GDP indicated in 2003. Neighbors will be invited to the Final Plat hearing sometime later this summer.

ROCKY CREEK DRIVE: Quite a few new homes going in.

STONEHEDGE – continues to expand.

CENTURY HILLS – building continuing down West Circle Drive

MORRIS HILLS and MORRIS HILLS NORTH – GDP’s approved. Developers getting closer to final site plan reviews.

We’re also looking at annexing new land and continuing north and along 48th St. but still several years away from having the necessary other infrastructure ready for development..

SEWER BYPASS – in response to the unfortunate sewer backup due to abnormally heavy rains on June 9th, 2004, Public Works, along with hired consultants, designed an improved sewer bypass that will greatly expand the capacity of the line running from the south-side of Rochester to the Waste Treatment facility. Work will begin in May and continue through the summer along Silver Lake Dr, 12th St NE to 2nd Av NE to the river and along the river to eventually the Waste Treatment plant. Affected neighbors and businesses had been notified, attended a couple of information meetings and are preparing for work to begin. We appreciate their cooperation with us and look forward to the successful completion of the project.

Hunting In the City Limits….Are you serious?

2005-04-19T16:14:00.000-06:00

First of all, we need to set the stage right up front that our decision is NOT about whether to hunt or not to hunt. Hunting is allowed by the state at certain times of the year. It's not even a question whether or not to allow bow and arrow hunting in the city limits. The Police Chief has the authority to grant this today.

Rochester's growth has caused us to expand into our designated urban use area and so we've been annexing more and more outlying land that had once been farmland and wooded area used by generations of hunters. This land will be developed sooner or later but because it is now in the city limits it is off limits to hunting except if requested to, reviewed, and approved by the chief of police.

The Chief raised a concern over the lack of criteria needed to make his "go/no-go" decision. He made several suggested additions to the present ordinance to make hunting safer and a less subjective decision therefore our discussion scheduled for our May 2nd council meeting.

You may have noticed the evidence of the overpopulation of deer by seeing increasing numbers of them in your backyards ... eating your tulips, your garden, young saplings or perhaps lying on the street or road near you after being hit by a vehicle. I'd even been told of an instance of a bicyclist nearly run over by a deer and had a similar experience on the Douglas Trail. I get numerous requests about having "the city" do something to reduce their number.

The proposed "city limit" bow and arrow hunt is not a direct response to getting rid of those pesky deer in your backyard. (I happen to enjoy watching them walk through the yard but that's me.) We aren't talking about having "bounty hunters" walking down Wilshire Drive or Broadway. However, by allowing the thining of the herd in and around the outlying city limits in a safe manner less deer will need to forage in our backyards, cross our streets, and cause damage and injury by vehicle accidents and the like.

What is proposed for council action is simply the addition of text to the existing ordinance to better define hunting conditions taking out the guess work for our police.

Here are the suggested changes:
1) The shooting occurs on property the person owns or on another person's property
2) The arrow does not travel beyond the boundaries of that property (and that's easier to control than you would think especially with something I want to add).
3) Unless otherwise specified by written permission of the property owner, any shooting must occur at least 500 feet from any building and from any land not owned by the landowner .
4) The shooting does not endanger anyone else. (Well of course! I searched the internet for safety statistics and there has not been a reported bow hunting injury in the whole state .. period. I'd not heard of an injury in my experience back in Illinois at our Archery Club and we'd have a hundred or more members on the course in the woods firing at targets on the range summer and winter.)

I do see a couple of items I think are missing that were in other city's hunting rules that I think should be added and have suggested the same:

5) The applicant must purchase a Regular Archery License or All Season Deer Liciense (a state law anyway but might as well make sure someone doesn't read more into the ordinance than we mean)
6) The applicant must complete an Archery Proficiency Test and be prepared to show proof of this proficiency as granted and administered by a certified Archery Instuctor.
7) Hunting must make use of a tree stand at least 5 feet from ground level. (99.9% of archers use these stand today.) This forces downward shooting and makes travel to 500 feet impossible. Arrows don't ricochet very well. They stick in the ground or in trees or break on rocks but don't go flying all over the place.

A recent Post Bulletin “BackTalk” survery resulted in 197 votes for the hunt and 94 against.

For those of you completely against any kind of hunting, I understand and respect your position. Again, I repeat, our May 2nd discussion is NOT whether to allow huntng or no hunting but simply changes the ordinance to help the police with guidelines that will make it safer for those who chose to participate.

As always, I welcome your questions, comments, or suggestions.

Century Hills/Emerald Hills Traffic Signal

2005-04-05T22:15:00.000-06:00

The much desired traffic signal at Viola Road and Century/Emerald Hills Rd has moved another step closer to being installed. A Professional Services Agreement was approved by the council at our 4/4/05 meeting to Yaggy Colby for the design of the signal.

The signal has been included in our 2005/6 CIP (Capital Improvement Plan) so the city is willing to pay it’s half of the estimated $200,000. We are simply waiting for the traffic volume statistics to meet the state’s “warrant” for a signal and the county traffic engineer has control over this. (Viola Road is a county road after all.)

Our public works traffic engineer and myself have been keeping on top of this and Mr Sheehan, the county engineer, has been most cooperative.

I’d like to tell you that it will be in yet this year but can’t but at least we’re moving in the right direction.

As always, feel free to contact me directly about any concerns you have in your neighborhoods or anything we’re doing concerning the city.

I’d be happy to visit with you and your neighbors anytime.

Bob

Speeding and Speed Limits

2005-04-05T15:21:00.000-06:00

One of the most frequent complaints I get about residential neighborhoods has to do with driving at excessive speeds. WHat's excessive? To some people and at some times even 20 miles is too fast. I agree. Current speed limits are set at 30 mph.

Minnesota statues set these limits and we as a city are obligated to follow these laws unless a major state-wide change is made.

Even so, numerous studies have shown that lowering the speed limit will NOT change the speed pattern. (Refer to http://dot.state.mn.us/trafficeng .) Drivers are much more influenced by roadway conditions and so you will notice that we are requiring developers to take steps to narrow streets in their development, add median strips, put curves on straight runs, and take other steps to help keep the road from being a raceway.

Stops signs are equally ineffective as they cause drivers to speed up to "make up" for lost time both before and after the stop sign.

We do have an effective program to help reduce speed in your neighborhood called "Traffic Tamers". Basically this is a program where you and a couple of neighbors can check out a radar gun from Rochester's Crime Prevention Unit, register speeders on a log, turn it in to the police and a "warning" notice will be sent to the offender. This has shown to be especially effective for youngsters using the family car as the letter goes to the registerd owner of the vehicle. For more information on this call the Crime Prevention Unit (507) 281-6045 or call me.