A TALE OF TWO CITIES...

It has often been said that it is in Eureka's best interests to be in touch with the surrounding municipalities and develop positive relationships with them. In that vein, on March 10th I attended the "State of the City" address by Farmington Mayor, Todd Larson, sponsored by the Dakota County Chamber of Commerce. Obviously, there are big differences between a city of Farmington's size (over 22,000) and Eureka Township (1500), but here are some bits of information that I learned that may also be of some interest to citizens of Eureka:

* Mayor Larson said that Farmington has some joint committees with and that it is "nice to go out to townships and meet with members." (In regard to Eureka, this type of meeting hasn't been done in my recent memory.)

*A HyVee grocery store is to be located on Highway 50, near McDonald's. The preliminary plat, CUP, and business subsidy agreement have been approved. They have been working on this for about nine months.

* For the first time ever, the Tamarack Retail Center is full.

* There were 65 new single-family building permits issued in 2016. This is considered low; they would like to have closer to 100 per year. They are looking for 300 new lots to be platted in 2017 if developers to clear land and build are secured.

* The city has given matching grants ($1500-2500 each) to downtown businesses to improve and upgrade their facades.

* Various Farmington businesses and organizations donate to city-wide efforts such as new chairs and cabinets for the senior fitness center, crack sealing trails, K-9 unit, and first aid kits for police and fire.

* Farmington sends out a city survey every two years.

* Highway 50 will be milled and overlaid between 3 and 52 in 2017.

* Farmington uses many means to communicate with its citizenry such as a new mobile app, a new website, e-notifications, on-line job applications, city calendars mailed every December, city news and rec guide mailed every quarter.

Of all the ideas above, I was perhaps most interested in the surveys sent out on a fairly frequent basis. It could be a good way to engage more Eureka residents and landowners and obtain some direct feedback. (The last time a Township-wide survey was sent was for the Commercial/Industrial Study. I will note that some did not want that survey sent out in the first place and then later questioned its validity, even though the return was actually quite good for surveys of that type.)

In a similar vein, I attended the Lakeville Public Hearing on March 16th for the preliminary plat of the property owned by Launch Property, represented that evening by Dan Regan. This is part of the 98-acre property that was annexed by Lakeville in 2006. At the time of annexation, it was said that a developer was all lined up and ready to go and they needed sewer and water.

Here are the points of interest that Mr. Regan made in his public testimony:

* This development has "been a long time coming."

* It has taken "quite a number of years."

* There are structures planned on Lot 1 (19 acres) and Lot 2 (20 acres).

* There will ultimately be two buildings with warehouse and office space built on these specific properties. The tenant for the western half of the first building to be built will be Menasha Paper. This business has been located in the AirLake Industrial Park for quite a few years. It was not made clear if Menasha is moving entirely to the Launch Property site, leaving open its current facility in the industrial park, or if this could be in addition to its current operation. If my notes are correct, they will have 3,000 sq. ft of office space and 136,000 sq ft of warehouse space in the new structure.

* Launch Properties is building the facilities with maximum adaptability/flexibility as they look forward to possible uses in the future. For example, there are 269 parking spaces planned, with room for 334. They intend long-term ownership.

* It was noted by the Commission Chair that this property is readily developable, being flat with sandy soils.

* They are obtaining a CUP for a deviation in the exterior architecture. Instead of concrete with vertical "corrugations" colored like concrete, the exterior will be smooth concrete that will, at least in part, be colored. This would be similar to the Shutterfly development in Shakopee, for example, and is the newer trend.

* There are 11 stipulations to consider in the review.

* The plan calls for a Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) that will not result in open water near the airport. Open water "attracts birds."

There were no comments from the public. There were two of us in attendance! It was interesting to see how city municipal matters move ahead when there is a full-time and complete staff to present information to the Planning Commission!