A quarterly newsletter published by the city of New Hope, Minnesota
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City of New Hope A publication of the city of New Hope, Minnesota e www.ci.new-hope.mn.us Summer 2013 Number 187 City of New Hope, Minnesota e Summer 2013 Some highlights of this issue include: Jackie Robinson and the Kid Special presentation on Sept. 11 City Day on Sept. 28 Event is paired with fire open house City Services Survey City adopts performance measurements In Business • New businesses at Village on Quebec • New businesses on Bass Lake Road Employee of the Quarter Sarah Hansen recognized Seal coating and Sewer lining City contracts for 2013 projects 2 2 A great place to grow! 4401 Xylon Avenue North New Hope, MN 55428 2 Prsrt Std U.S. Postage PAID Twin Cities, MN Permit No. 2330 Current resident or 4 (continued on page 4) A shopping promotion held about 20 years ago characterized our com- munity as “neighborly New Hope.” Following the severe storm on June 21, the thoughtful acts by residents throughout our community makes it clear that New Hope continues to be just as neighborly today. A few examples of neighborly acts fol- lowing the storm include: More than 200,000 households lost power in and around the Twin Cities as a result of the storm, but the out- ages were spotty. In many neighbor- hoods, homes on one side of the street lost power for several days while the homes across the street still had power. roughout New Hope, there were ex- amples of residents who still had power sharing it with those who didn’t. In one neighborhood just north of City Hall, there were three long extension cords stretched from one side of the street to the other… all in the same block. at’s neighborly! e strong winds that accompanied the storm also damaged or destroyed countless trees in New Hope. In many areas, neighbors helped each other deal with fallen trees or branches. e Hir- mans, who live near 53rd and Sumter, lost two trees. One of the trees fell on the roof of their home and the other fell in the front yard. As soon as the storm passed, several neighbors rushed over to the Hirman’s home to make sure they were okay. e next morning some neighbors returned, with chainsaws in hand, to help the Hirmans cut up and stack the fallen tree debris. at’s neighborly too! And, Fox 9 News covered the story of 10-year-old Judd Ginther of New Hope who did what he could to soften the blow for his 83-year-old neighbor, Rose Rue, who lost a mature tree to the storm. Rose has lived in the neighbor- hood near 31st and Cavell for 49 years, and has grown very fond of the trees in her yard. When Judd realized that his neighbor had lost one of her trees he brought her the spruce sapling he had gotten at an Arbor Day event. at’s not only neighborly…that’s awesome! June 21 storm led to neighbors helping neighbors 4 e new playground in Terra Linda Park will have fun structures for kids to swing, slide and climb on. A t the June 24 City Council meeting, the mayor and council members expressed their thanks to members of the police and public works depart- ments and West Metro Fire-Rescue who put in a lot of extra effort and extra hours responding to the aftermath of the storm. v Public works personnel scrambled to provide emergency power to several of the city’s lift stations, to make sure that sanitary sewage continued to flow in the right direction. ey also removed lots of tree debris from the street and helped address problems with the Joint Water The city’s response to the June storm Commission’s water distribution system (New Hope, Crystal and Golden Valley purchase water from the city of Minneapolis and jointly operate and maintain the water distribution system). v Police officers responded to lots of additional calls for ser- vice related to problems caused by flash flooding, downed power lines and other storm- related issues. v And, West Metro responded to nearly 200 storm-related calls, mostly for arcing or downed power lines or fallen trees. Fortunately, there were no storm-related house fires in the West Metro area. It took public works crews about a month to finish cleaning up the dam- aged trees along boulevards and in city parks following the storm. A total of 54 public trees were destroyed and more than 270 lost branches in the storm. e city also allowed residents to drop off their tree debris for a couple weeks in the former Kmart parking lot. A con- tractor has been hired to chip up the debris and haul it away. HRG curbside clean up postponed until 2014 T he curbside clean up event origi- nally scheduled for this fall has been postponed until 2014. Hennepin Recycling Group, which coordinates the event for the cities of New Hope and Crystal, has been unable to find garbage haulers that are interested in bidding on doing the clean up this fall. A major factor in the HRG’s inability to find haulers to complete the work this fall is that most new garbage trucks load from the side. Bulk materials pick up, like the HRG’s event, requires old- style garbage trucks that load from the rear. HRG administration will do every- thing possible to be creative and find a Council approves new playground and other improvements in Terra Linda Park T he New Hope City Council ap- proved the low quotes from two contractors recently to complete an im- provement project at Terra Linda Park at Lamphere Drive and Medicine Lake Road in New Hope. Dunaway Construction was awarded a contract for $87,300 to make a num- ber of site improvements at the park including removal of the existing play- ground container and installation of a new container, grading of the site, drain tile to improve the drainage beneath the new playground, storm water work (including removal of two storm sewer covers and sewer pipe), and all blacktop and concrete work. Dunaway Con- struction made improvements in New Hope’s Lions Park in 2011 and the city was satisfied with their work. Flagship Recreation was awarded a contract for $58,600 to install two separate areas of Landscape Structures playground equipment – one geared toward children ages 2 to 5 and the other designed for kids ages 5 to 12. e new playground will include a va- riety of slides, climbing and spinning structures and traditional playground swings. e new play equipment will replace equipment that is 23 years old – the oldest in New Hope’s park system. e playground will be moved northeast from its current location to provide additional separation from an existing sanitary sewer lift station. If contingency funds remain when the project is completed, the city also hopes to install some additional plant- ings and new benches in the park. e Terra Linda Park improvements will be funded primarily through the city’s Park Infrastructure Fund, with about $20,000 from the Storm Water Fund for the storm water work. e im- provement project will be substantially completed this fall. Fifty-four boulevard and park trees were lost in the storm. 3
Transcript
City of New Hope
A publication of the city of New Hope, Minnesota e www.ci.new-hope.mn.us
Summer 2013Number 187
City of New Hope, Minnesota e Summer 2013
Some highlights of this issue include:Jackie Robinson and the Kid Special presentation on Sept. 11City Day on Sept. 28 Event is paired with fire open houseCity Services Survey City adopts performance measurementsIn Business • New businesses at Village on Quebec • New businesses on Bass Lake RoadEmployee of the Quarter Sarah Hansen recognizedSeal coating and Sewer lining City contracts for 2013 projects
22
A great place to grow!4401 Xylon Avenue North
New Hope, MN 55428
2
Prsrt StdU.S. Postage
PAIDTwin Cities, MNPermit No. 2330
Current resident or
4
(continued on page 4)
A shopping promotion held about 20 years ago characterized our com-
munity as “neighborly New Hope.” Following the severe storm on June 21, the thoughtful acts by residents throughout our community makes it clear that New Hope continues to be just as neighborly today.A few examples of neighborly acts fol-lowing the storm include:More than 200,000 households lost power in and around the Twin Cities as a result of the storm, but the out-ages were spotty. In many neighbor-hoods, homes on one side of the street lost power for several days while the homes across the street still had power. Throughout New Hope, there were ex-amples of residents who still had power sharing it with those who didn’t. In one neighborhood just north of City Hall, there were three long extension cords stretched from one side of the street to the other… all in the same block. That’s neighborly!The strong winds that accompanied the storm also damaged or destroyed
countless trees in New Hope. In many areas, neighbors helped each other deal with fallen trees or branches. The Hir-mans, who live near 53rd and Sumter, lost two trees. One of the trees fell on the roof of their home and the other fell in the front yard. As soon as the storm passed, several neighbors rushed over to the Hirman’s home to make sure they were okay. The next morning some neighbors returned, with chainsaws in hand, to help the Hirmans cut up and stack the fallen tree debris. That’s neighborly too!And, Fox 9 News covered the story of 10-year-old Judd Ginther of New Hope who did what he could to soften the blow for his 83-year-old neighbor, Rose Rue, who lost a mature tree to the storm. Rose has lived in the neighbor-hood near 31st and Cavell for 49 years, and has grown very fond of the trees in her yard. When Judd realized that his neighbor had lost one of her trees he brought her the spruce sapling he had gotten at an Arbor Day event. That’s not only neighborly…that’s awesome!
June 21 storm led to neighbors helping neighbors
4
The new playground in Terra Linda Park will have fun structures for kids to swing, slide and climb on.
At the June 24 City Council meeting, the mayor and council members
expressed their thanks to members of the police and public works depart-ments and West Metro Fire-Rescue who put in a lot of extra effort and extra hours responding to the aftermath of the storm. v Public works personnel scrambled to provide emergency power to several of the city’s lift stations, to make sure that sanitary sewage continued to flow in the right direction. They also removed lots of tree debris from the street and helped address problems with the Joint Water
The city’s response to the June stormCommission’s water distribution system (New Hope, Crystal and Golden Valley purchase water from the city of Minneapolis and jointly operate and maintain the water distribution system).v Police officers responded to lots of additional calls for ser-vice related to problems caused by flash flooding, downed power lines and other storm-related issues.v And, West Metro responded to nearly 200 storm-related
calls, mostly for arcing or downed power lines or fallen trees. Fortunately, there were no storm-related house fires in the West Metro area.It took public works crews about a month to finish cleaning up the dam-aged trees along boulevards and in city parks following the storm. A total of 54 public trees were destroyed and more than 270 lost branches in the storm. The city also allowed residents to drop off their tree debris for a couple weeks in the former Kmart parking lot. A con-tractor has been hired to chip up the debris and haul it away.
HRG curbside clean up postponed until 2014
The curbside clean up event origi-nally scheduled for this fall has
been postponed until 2014. Hennepin Recycling Group, which coordinates the event for the cities of New Hope and Crystal, has been unable to find garbage haulers that are interested in bidding on doing the clean up this fall. A major factor in the HRG’s inability to find haulers to complete the work this fall is that most new garbage trucks load from the side. Bulk materials pick up, like the HRG’s event, requires old-style garbage trucks that load from the rear. HRG administration will do every-thing possible to be creative and find a
Council approves new playground and other improvements in Terra Linda Park
The New Hope City Council ap-proved the low quotes from two
contractors recently to complete an im-provement project at Terra Linda Park at Lamphere Drive and Medicine Lake Road in New Hope. Dunaway Construction was awarded a contract for $87,300 to make a num-ber of site improvements at the park including removal of the existing play-ground container and installation of a new container, grading of the site, drain tile to improve the drainage beneath the new playground, storm water work (including removal of two storm sewer covers and sewer pipe), and all blacktop and concrete work. Dunaway Con-struction made improvements in New Hope’s Lions Park in 2011 and the city was satisfied with their work.Flagship Recreation was awarded a contract for $58,600 to install two separate areas of Landscape Structures playground equipment – one geared
toward children ages 2 to 5 and the other designed for kids ages 5 to 12. The new playground will include a va-riety of slides, climbing and spinning structures and traditional playground swings. The new play equipment will replace equipment that is 23 years old – the oldest in New Hope’s park system. The playground will be moved northeast from its current location to provide additional separation from an existing sanitary sewer lift station. If contingency funds remain when the project is completed, the city also hopes to install some additional plant-ings and new benches in the park.The Terra Linda Park improvements will be funded primarily through the city’s Park Infrastructure Fund, with about $20,000 from the Storm Water Fund for the storm water work. The im-provement project will be substantially completed this fall.
Fifty-four boulevard and park trees were lost in the storm.
City Hall Address 4401 Xylon Avenue NorthNew Hope, MN 55428City Websitewww.ci.new-hope.mn.usTell us what you think...24-Hour Opinion Line .... 763-531-5102E-mail [email protected]
Commission is sponsor-ing a presentation by Ron Rabinovitz, "Jackie Robinson and the Kid," at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, September 11, at Coo-per High School audito-rium, 8230 47th Ave. N.When Ron Rabinovitz first met his idol, Jackie Robinson, in 1953 they couldn't have come from much differ-ent worlds. Ron was a chubby, 8-year-old Jewish kid growing up in lily-white Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Jackie was the 35-year-old black athlete who had shat-tered the color barrier in Major League Baseball when he joined Branch Rickies Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. Yet, Rob-inson and Rabinovitz became penpals who continued to maintain a friendship for the remainder of Robinson's life.
Jackie Robinson and the Kid is a story of a kid and his larger than life hero and the lessons he learned. It is a story of dreams come true, mu-tual respect, and "paying it forward." It is a story of poignant, emotional and heartfelt letters that provide a unique win-dow into Jackie Robin-son's soul.
Major League Baseball Productions re-leased a documentary about Jackie and Ron's story - "Letters from Jackie, the Private Thoughts of Jackie Robinson" on DVD earlier this year. And, Oscar-winning playwrite, Eric Simonson is writing a play about their relationship.Rabinovitz's presentation on Septem-ber 11 is free, and everyone is welcome.
City Services Survey gives insight into what residents think about core city services
City Day rescheduled to September 28
CERT basic training session in October
New Hope has been participating in a voluntary Performance Mea-
surement Program for cities and coun-ties since it was implemented by the Minnesota Legislature in 2011. Government entities that participate in the program are required to conduct an annual survey to assess what their resi-dents think about core municipal services. In addition to the survey, another com-ponent of the state program requires participating communities to develop some specific performance measure-ment benchmarks. In May 2013, the City Council adopted 17 performance measures related to core city services.Three of New Hope's performance measures assess police services: num-ber of crimes, average response time, and citizens' feeling of safety. The fire and EMS services performance mea-sures are: insurance industry rating,
fire calls per 1,000 population, and the citizens' rating of fire services. Several performance measures evaluate public works services, including: the average city pavement rating based on detailed analysis as well as citizens' per-ception of pavement condition, citizens' rating of snowplowing, the number of sewer blockages in the city's system per 100 connections as well as how citizens rate the sanitary sewer system, and how citizens rate the quality and de-pendability of the city's water supply.Finally, several performance measures evaluate the general condition of New Hope, including: the city's bond rating, percent change in the taxable market value, citizens' ratings of the overall ap-pearance of the city, the quality of city recreational programs and facilities, and the overall quality of city services.
City staff had a fun New Hope City Day event planned for Saturday, June 22.
Unfortunately, the weather had other ideas, and the event had to be cancelled.Not to be deterred, City Day has been rescheduled to Saturday, September 28, from 9 a.m. to noon, outside, in front of New Hope City Hall, 4401 Xylon Ave. N. While some of the activities at the fall City Day have changed, it will still be a great opportunity to learn about city programs, services and projects, and ask questions of City Council members and city staff. A great addition to the fall event is that City Day is being held in collaboration with a West Metro Fire-Rescue open house, which will be going on at the same time, right next door at Station 3. The open house will be an opportunity to see the department's equipment, learn about fire safety, and participate in fun activities. And, the New Hope Community Farmers Market, with lots of vegetables and its annual craft sale, will be in full swing across the street.City Day will have lots of fun activities including police department tours at 10 and 11 a.m. and a K-9 team demon-stration at 10:30 a.m. There will be fire trucks, police cars, and heavy equip-ment from public works that kids of all ages are sure to enjoy.Several groups that work closely with
the city have also been invited to City Day, including: k Center for Energy and Environment (CEE) with information about home improvement loans and energy audits,k Hennepin Recycling Group (HRG) with information about curbside recy-cling and other waste disposal options, k West Metro Water Alliance with fas-cinating information about storm water management and water quality,k A television production truck from Northwest Community Television,k Armstrong Cooper Youth Hockey, the Human Rights Commission, and more.
Sergeant Pete Stanley gives a young boy a chance to try some SWAT team equipment on for size.
West Metro Community Emer-gency Response Team (CERT)
will hold its next basic training course the weekend of October 11 to 13. West Metro CERT is a collaborative effort of the cities of New Hope, Crystal and West Metro Fire-Rescue to provide disaster training for local residents.The CERT program educates people about disaster preparedness for haz-ards that may impact their area. Team members are trained in basic disaster response skills such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization, and disaster medical operations. Using the training learned in the classroom and during exercises, CERT members can assist others in their neighborhood or workplace following an event when professional responders are not im-mediately available to help. There are
many jobs within a CERT team suitable for both older adults and those with physical limitations.The basic training course is free and open to anyone 15 and older (youth 15 to 18 must be accompanied by an adult). Participants need to complete online training before participating in the classroom instruction. The course is scheduled from 5 to 9 p.m. on Friday, and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, at the fire station, 4251 Xylon Ave. N. in New Hope.Applications for the basic CERT course and additional information are available on the city’s website at www.ci.new-hope.mn.us/cert or by calling 763-531-5161. For more information about CERT, visit www.fema.gov/community-emergency-response-teams.
Visit Facebook for timely city information
The city of New Hope now has two Facebook pages. The New Hope Parks and Recreation Department has had a Facebook
page since early 2010. The page has more than 350 active followers. The web address for the recreation site is www.facebook.com/newhoperecreation.City staff has been considering adding a second Facebook page for all of the other city departments for some time. The recent storm made it clear that the city needed additional ways to quickly disseminate information to residents, espe-cially those who rely upon mobile devices. New Hope launched a new Facebook page for information about all city pro-grams except for recreation programs in early July. The page already has more than 135 followers. The web address for the new page is www.facebook.com/cityofnewhopemn.
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Robinson and Rabinovitz
In Business e Summer 2013
Council approves restaurant and adult day care at Village on Quebec
Auto Zone and new restaurant coming to Bass Lake Road
The eastern building at Village on Quebec has been vacant since the project was constructed.
The City Council approved two new businesses in August at the Village
on Quebec, located at 42nd and Quebec avenues – Goose Egg's Deli and Diner and Hope Health Care.Goose Egg's Deli and Diner will occupy 7554-7562 42nd Avenue, which are the three tenant bays on the north end of the one-story building on the west side of the development. The bays have been vacant since Village on Quebec was constructed in 2006. The addition of a restaurant at that location meets a stated goal of the City Council since Village on Quebec was first proposed.Goose Egg's owner describes his new enterprise as two businesses under one roof with a shared kitchen. The deli and diner will occupy a total of about 3,700 square feet. The diner will be open for breakfast and lunch, with seating for 101 guests. The deli, which will have a sepa-rate entrance, will be open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and have seating for 35.In 2006, when Village on Quebec was constructed, the Planned Unit De-velopment for the project limited the number of tenant bays that could be occupied by a restaurant to two be-cause of the intensive need that restau-rants have for parking. After careful consideration, the Plan-ning Commission and City Council granted a request by Goose Egg's owner for a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) that allows up to four bays in the west-ern building to be used for restaurant space (a bay on the south end of the building has been occupied by the Mountain Mudd Espresso coffee and cafe for several years). A condition of the CUP is that Goose Egg's owner lease 15 off-site parking spaces to pro-vide additional parking.The new deli and diner will also share an outside dining area with seating for 16, which will look very similar to the area Mountain Mudd has at the south end of the building.Hope Health Care will occupy 7504-7512 42nd Avenue North, which are the five tenant bays on the north end of the first floor of the two-story building on the east side of Village on Quebec. That building has been vacant since the de-velopment was constructed.The adult day care facility will serve clients who range in age from 18 to 99, all with some kind of disability. Hope Health Care expects to serve ap-proximately 70 clients per day. Each client's arrival times and length of stay at the center will vary. The center will
be divided into several rooms to meet clients' needs, including an exercise room, game room, activity room, quiet rooms and a dining room. The facility also has office space and a kitchen to prepare cold breakfasts and help serve catered lunches. An adult day care is a conditional use in a New Hope zoning district designated Community Business, like the district in which Vil-lage on Quebec is located. Staff believes that Hope Health Care is an excellent fit for the shopping center. Both the Planning Commission and City Coun-cil agreed, and granted a Conditional Use Permit.The city's Zoning Code also requires that adult day care facilities have at least 1,500 square feet of outdoor recreation area. The care facility owners plan to convert 624 square feet of parking on the north end of the building into out-door recreation space. Because the
facility will have more than 2,000 square feet of interior recreation and exercise space, the city approved the smaller exterior recreation space. The outdoor recreation area will be entirely hard sur-faced to accomodate the needs of clients – most of whom will rely upon either a wheelchair or walker to get around.Hope Health Care has had a location in south Minneapolis since 1999. The New Hope facility will be their second location.Both Goose Egg's Deli and Diner and Hope Health Care plan to open for business sometime this winter.
At its August 26 meeting, the New
Hope City Council gave the necessary approvals for a new auto parts store and a restaurant remodeling project near Bass Lake Road and Louisiana Avenue.Auto Zone is construct-ing a new 7,360 square foot retail auto parts store at 7117 Bass Lake Road, the site of the former Jack's Gas Station. The Council approved a preliminary and final plat to combine 7117 Bass Lake Road and 5551 Louisiana Avenue (the vacant property just to the south) into one parcel that will provide Auto Zone with adequate space for its new store. Auto Zone will demolish the vacant gas station and remove the underground fuel storage tanks. The company will construct a new store that complies with all of the city's building, utility, landscaping and signage requirements.The building's front yard setback from Bass Lake Road and rear yard setback from the adjacent residential properties to the south will significantly exceed the city's minimum standards. The remaining setbacks – along the west property line and for parking and light-ing – will meet the city's standards.Vehicle access to the Auto Zone will come off of Louisiana Avenue. The cur-rent access points off of Bass Lake Road
will be removed, substantially reducing vehicle conflicts on the heavily-traveled Bass Lake Road. The property owner will provide ample parking, exceeding City Code requirements. Both an underground detention tank and an open infiltration area will more than offset the additional storm water runoff that will result from the increased build-ing and blacktop coverage on the site.The landscape plan for the site includes a "green belt" of evergreen trees and shrubs to buffer the residential proper-ties to the south. The developer plans to preserve some of the existing ma-ture trees on the site and add five new deciduous trees in the boulevard area along Louisiana. The plan also provides adequate screening of the parking lot with a mixture of shrubs and grasses.The building architecture and materi-als comply with the New Hope Design Guidelines. The building's exterior features concrete masonry panels, sythentic stucco, and lots of windows and door glass accented by aluminum
coping and decorative cornices. And, Auto Zone will construct a pylon sign that meets all city requirements.The City Council also approved a site plan for The Claws Restaurant to remodel the former Taco Bell at 7100 Bass Lake Road and con-vert it into a seafood restaurant.The new restaurant's owners
plan to improve the outside of the existing 2,100 square foot build-ing by moving the entrance from the south side to the northeast corner of the building, repaint the masonry to match the restaurant's color scheme, and enhance the outdoor dining area with an ornamental, black aluminum fence and some new landscaping. Reorient-ing the building entrance will make it more convenient to the parking lot. Two handicapped parking spots will be moved closer to the new entrance and the lot will be restriped, but otherwise will remain unchanged.A portion of the existing chimney on the south side of the building will be re-moved and a backlit faux chimney with the restaurant logo will be added to the front of the building. The existing pylon sign on the southwest corner of the property will also be reused. The new restaurant owners have also agreed to screen the previously un-screened rooftop heating and air condi-tioning units by constructing a low wall around the units.
Open to Business helps entrepeneurs take the next step
A drawing of the new Auto Zone as it will appear from Bass Lake Road.
In early 2012, the cities of New Hope and Golden Valley joined together to
provide free one-on-one business as-sistance to small businesses through Open to Business. Professional business advisors from the Metropolitan Consortium of Commu-nity Developers can help residents who are thinking about starting a business as well as existing businesses that are thinking about expanding.So far in 2013, the local Open to Busi-ness advisors have provided assistance to 13 local businesses. They helped a New Hope resident evaluate the feasi-bility of a micro-brewery business and helped an existing Golden Valley busi-ness develop detailed costing to manu-facture a new product.The types of services Open to Business provides included business plan devel-opment, business feasibility, cash flow analysis, marketing, record keeping, strategic planning and real estate anal-ysis. They can also help clients work with banks to obtain financing. For more information or to get started, contact Rob Smolund at 612-789-7337, ext. 11 or [email protected].
Join the New Hope BNGThe New Hope Business Networking Group (BNG) was created by local businesses and meets twice monthly to network. For more information, visit www.newhopebng.org
City of New Hope, Minnesota e Summer 2013
Curbside Pick Up Alternatives(continued from page 1)
way to bring back the curbside clean up event in 2014.In the mean time, there are other al-ternatives to get rid of your unwanted waste items. v The HRG fall Special Materials Drop-off Day is October 12. At that event, electronics, scrap metal, oil, an-tifreeze and paper/cardboard can be re-cycled for free. Carpet/pads, mattress/box spring, appliances, and tires can be dropped off for a fee. Visit hrg-recyling.com or call 763-493-8006 for details.v A variety of household items are ac-cepted at Hennepin County’s drop-off facility in Brooklyn Park. Automotive products, household hazardous waste and limited quantities of electronics are accepted for free. A variety of other items are accepted for a fee. House-hold garbage is no longer accepted at this facility. Visit www.hennepin.us and search for “Drop-Off Facilities” for more information.v To dispose of household garbage, consider contacting your garbage hauler and ask them what they charge, or haul it to a landfill or transfer sta-tion. Visit www.hennepinatoz.org/azguide/item/246, for more options.
The 2013 New Hope City Services Sur-vey was posted online in July and mailed to residents in the utility bill they re-ceived in early August. So far, more than 750 residents have completed a survey. That is nearly four times the participa-tion of the previous two years.A link to the City Services Survey is available on the homepage of the city’s website, www.ci.new-hope.mn.us. The survey is on a Survey Monkey web page hosted and tabulated by the League of Minnesota Cities. Survey responses are kept anonymous. The 10-question, multiple choice survey will take most residents only a few minutes to com-plete. For those who do not have access to the Internet, paper copies of the sur-vey are available at City Hall.The city will continue to accept City Services Survey responses until No-vember 30. The results of the 2013 sur-vey will be published early next year.
The popular New Hope Safety Camp teaches kids entering grades 3 to 5
about a broad range of safety topics in-cluding fire safety, personal safety, bike safety, seatbelt safety, water safety, first aid, and many more. This year, 68 kids participated in the camp, which was held from August 13-15.Safety Camp would not be possible without those who donate time, money and merchandise to the event. Thanks go to: New Hope Crime Prevention Fund Board, West Metro Fire-Rescue Relief Association, McLellan Plumbing,
2013 Safety Camp a big success!Process Displays/Printing, New Hope Women of Today, Sweet Taste of Italy-Crystal, Country Kitchen-New Hope, McDonald’s-New Hope, Applebee’s-New Hope, Chili’s-Plymouth, NUCOM Ltd., New Hope Lions, Golden Valley VFW Post #7051, Stantec, Inc., and Twin West Chamber of Commerce.The event is coordinated by staff mem-bers of the New Hope police and parks and recreation departments and West Metro Fire with assistance from the New Hope Police Reserves, police and fire Explorers, and other city volunteers.
(left) A state trooper demonstrated the impor-tance of proper use of seatbelts in a rollover ac-cident. (right) Don Bania, a quadriplegic and mouth artist, encouraged kids to always wear a helmet to protect their head, and to have a "can do" attitude, whatever challenges they face.
Sarah Hansen, recreation coordina-tor for the Parks and Recreation
Department, was named New Hope Employee of the Quarter for the second quarter of 2013. Hansen was recognized for the out-standing work she did organizing New Hope's participation in the Step To It program and a first-ever Step To It kickoff event in May. Hansen has been responsible for coor-dinating the participation of New Hope residents and employees in Hennepin County's Step To It exercise program for the last two years, but 2013 was the first time there was a Step To It kickoff event. The kickoff event, which featured a fun walk, also became a designated activity for the city's employee wellness program. The Step To It kickoff quickly grew in scope, with Hansen arranging the par-ticipation of a number of organizations and guests including the mayors of New Hope and Crystal, the Minnesota Twins mascot, Emergency Foodshelf Network, representatives from Henne-pin County, and others. Hansen ended up handling the kickoff event almost single-handed, even though it occurred during her busiest time of the year and she only works 24 hours a week. Eighty-eight people attended the event, which included the walk, refreshments, Step To It giveaway items, and more. The kickoff was a big success!Hansen coordinates many of the rec-reation programs for youth and a few parent/child sports programs. She also
Sarah Hansen (with TC Bear)
Hansen named Employee of the Quarter
coordinates or helps organize a number of major recreation events including the Bike Rodeo, Vehicle Fair, Safety Camp and Half-Pint Safety Camp, Wet and Wild Water Day, youth dances and more. And, Hansen takes the lead on most non-sports recreation programs for adults. She keeps very busy, espe-cially because she only works part time.According to her nominator, "Sarah de-serves to be named the Employee of the Quarter for her outstanding organiza-tion, enthusiasm, communication and follow through."Hansen has been a city of New Hope employee since May of 2011. She has a masters degree from Minnesota State University, Mankato. Before coming to New Hope, she worked at Golden Val-ley Parks and Recreation and interned at the Chanhassen and Rogers recre-ation departments. Recipients of the New Hope Employee of the Quarter recognition are nomi-nated by coworkers and selected by a committee with representatives from each city department. Congratulations Sarah Hansen, on being selected a New Hope Employee of the Quarter!
City contracts for sewer lining and seal coating work
Survey (continued from page 2)
At its July meeting, the New Hope City Council approved the low bid
for a contract to complete the city’s 2013 crack repair and seal coating street maintenance project and a contract to reline 6,170 feet of sanitary sewer pipe.New Hope performs crack repair and seal coating maintenance regularly based on detailed pavement analysis done as part of the city’s Pavement Management Program. Those mainte-nance activities are a relatively inex-pensive way to maximize the life of pavement on the city’s streets. This year’s project included selected streets west of Winnetka Avenue between 59th and 62nd avenues and Boone Avenue between 62nd Avenue and Bass Lake Road for crack repair. The project also included crack repair and seal coating of Bass Creek Circle and the neighborhood south of St. Raphael’s Church, between Winnetka Avenue and the Crystal city border.The seal coating process was modified this year to avoid the problem with loose rock chips that New Hope expe-rienced in 2012. The contractor imple-mented recommendations from the Minnesota Department of Transporta-tion to use fewer chips and a polymer modified asphalt sealer. In addition, a the seal coat area will be swept again in spring 2014, if needed. The low bid of $95,966, submitted by Allied Blacktop Company, was about $38,000 below the engineer’s estimate for the project. The work was complet-ed in early August.
This year's sanitary sewer lining project involves the relining of 6,170 lineal feet of nine-inch clay sanitary sewer pipe in the neighborhood between Winnetka and Boone avenues from Medicine Lake Road on the south to the Crystal border on the north. These areas were found to be in need of repair during televised inspections.New Hope began relining sanitary sewer pipe in 2004 as one of several initiatives to help reduce the inflow and infiltration (I/I) of ground water into the city’s sani-tary sewer system. During heavy rains, incorrectly connected sump pumps, cracks and gaps in sanitary sewer lines caused by tree roots and other factors can cause high volumes of ground water to flow into the city’s sanitary sewer sys-tem. In 2007, the Metropolitan Council implemented a sanitary sewer surcharge because these excessive volumes from New Hope and many other communities had begun to strain the capacity of its wastewater treatment facilities. Through its ongoing sanitary sewer relin-ing work and other I/I abatement efforts, the city has significantly reduced peak sewer flows following heavy rain events.The sewer lining process creates a joint-less pipe-within-a-pipe which eliminates ground water seepage into the sanitary sewer system without the mess and high cost of replacing the old sewer pipe. The liner is installed through manholes and hardened in place, so there is no need to dig up the street. This year’s sewer lin-ing project is expected to be completed sometime this fall.
Use yard waste site for leaves, grass and more
The Maple Grove yard waste site is a great place to dispose
of leaves, garden waste, branches, grass clippings and small quantities of sod or dirt. The site, which is located at 14796 101st Ave. N., is free for residents of New Hope to use with proof of residency. Hours of operation are 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and noon to 7 p.m. on Sundays, through November 30. For more information about the yard waste site including directions, listen to the recorded message at 763-420-4886, or visit the facility’s website at www.mgyardwaste.com.
