City of New Hope

A publication of the city of New Hope, Minnesota e www.ci.new-hope.mn.us

Fall 2014Number 190

City of New Hope, Minnesota e Fall 2014

Some highlights of this issue include:Railroad Quiet ZonesCompleted on Boone, proposed for WinnetkaElection Primer• Double check your polling location• Registering to vote• Voter eligibility• What's on the ballot?In Business• Minneapolis Die Casting named Outstanding Business• Winnetka Commons expansion• Development update

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A great place to grow!4401 Xylon Avenue North

New Hope, MN 55428

Prsrt StdU.S. Postage

PAIDTwin Cities, MNPermit No. 2330

Current resident or

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The Tangens won in the General Property Maintenance category.

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The New Hope City Council ap-proved a purchase agreement to

sell the former Kmart and Wells Fargo Bank site at 4200-4300 Xylon Ave. N. to Hy-Vee Inc. at its meeting on Sep-tember 22. Hy-Vee is paying the city $3,725,000 for the 13.3 acre site. The Council also approved Hy-Vee's final development plan for a 90,000 square foot grocery store and additional im-provements on the site.This project marks Hy-Vee's entry into the Twin Cities grocery market. Hy-Vee is an employee-owned grocery chain based in West Des Moines, Iowa, with more than 230 stores in eight midwest-

ern states. The company currently has 17 stores in southern Minnesota.The grocery store will include about 65,000 square feet of conventional grocery space surrounded by several boutique specialty spaces including: a full-service restaurant, a deli with specialty cheeses, wine and spirits, a bakery with artisan breads, a large organic food section, a flower shop, and much more. The store is expected to bring about 400 to 500 new jobs to New Hope.Hy-Vee is dividing the site into four lots. The grocery store will be located at the north end of the site. A con-

City Council approves Twin Cities' first Hy-Vee store

Since 2006, the New Hope City Council

has recognized excel-lence in residential properties through the RAVE! Awards. The program gives the Council the opportu-nity to formally thank residential property owners who go to the time, effort and expense to make their property something special. It also highlights things that other residents can do to enhance and im-prove their property.

Council presents 2014 RAVE! Awards to recognize residential excellenceThis year, 10 residential properties were nominated for a RAVE! Award. In mid-August a panel of volunteer judges toured and evaluated each of the properties and recommended award winners in four categories: Outstand-ing General Property Maintenance, Outstanding Landscaping, Outstand-ing Gardens, and Environmentally Sen-sitive Improvements. On September 22, the City Council recognized the follow-ing property owners during an award presentation:

General Property Maintenance: Arnold and Marlene TangenThe care the Tangens show to every detail of their lawn and garden at 7316 39th Ave. N. led the judges to recognize it for outstanding general property maintenance and to designate their property as "Best in Show."Arnold Tangen is meticulous about the lawn. It's essentially perfect. He hand weeds it and mows it in a checkerboard pattern. The Tangens have several garden beds in both the front and back yard. The gardens feature a variety of perenni-als including hostas, sedum, begonias, roses, day lilies and native grasses, puncuated by an assortment of annuals including marigolds, geraniums, coleus and more. Vegetables, including giant 10-foot tomato plants and rhubarb, add to the Tangen's assortment of plants.A particularly striking feature of the Tangen's corner lot is a paver patio,

Nextdoor.com helps neighbors stay connected

In late June, the city of New Hope announced a partnership with Next-

door (www.nextdoor.com), the private social network for neighborhoods, to help improve neighbor-to-neighbor communications and communications between the city and its neighbor-hoods. The city is working with Next-door to launch neighborhood websites throughout New Hope.With Nextdoor, New Hope residents can join private neighborhood websites to share information. Neighbors can use their Nextdoor website to share recommendations for a babysitter or a plumber, ask to borrow a ladder, organize a neighborhood gathering, find a lost pet, or share informa-tion about suspicious activity in the neighborhood. Nextdoor is free to residents and the city. Each New Hope neighborhood has its own private Nextdoor website, accessible only to residents who verify that they live in the neighborhood.

venience store and gas station with a national coffee chain will be located on the southwestern portion, and a future office/retail building will be located on the southeast portion. A small outlot at the corner of 42nd and Xylon avenues will be dedicated as a public plaza.The property was recently rezoned to planned unit development (PUD) to ac-commodate the gas station and conve-nience store on the site and to provide needed flexibility related to setbacks, parking arrangements, signage and other Zoning Code issues. The site is part of the newly created City Center Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District. The city will use TIF funds from that district to pay the costs related to acquiring and clearing the site, to replace and expand the capacity of utilities in the City Center area, to reconstruct the portions of Xylon and 45th avenues in the area, and to con-struct streetscape improvements along those two streets.Hy-Vee is scheduled to close on the sale of the property on October 21 and begin site preparations shortly there-after. A contractor for the city began making sanitary sewer improvements in Xylon Avenue in early October. The city will make additional utility improvements, reconstruct Xylon and 45th in the City Center area, and install streetscape amenities next spring. Hy-Vee plans to open their New Hope grocery store in fall 2015.

Construction of the New Hope Hy-Vee will begin this fall. The store is scheduled to open next October.

Food and toy drivesCity employees are sponsoring a Thanksgiving food drive from now until November 20 and holiday food and toy drives from Novem-ber 21 until December 15. See the city's website or In the Pipeline news brief for more details.

City of New Hope, Minnesota e Fall 2014

Kathi Hemken Mayor763-537-7990 khemken@ci.new-hope.mn.us

John Elder Council Member763-442-0999 jelder@ci.new-hope.mn.us

Andy HoffeCouncil Member763-537-2647ahoffe@ci.new-hope.mn.us

Eric LammleCouncil Member763-544-0912elammle@ci.new-hope.mn.us

Frequently Called City NumbersGeneral Telephone ........... 763-531-5100Inspections ...........................763-531-5127building permits, complaintsParks and Recreation ........763-531-5151Public Works .......................763-592-6777sewer backup, snowplowing, forestryUtility Billing ........................763-592-6760Police (non-emergency) ....763-531-5170TTY (through MN Relay) ...651-602-9005

Kirk McDonaldCity Manager763-531-5112kmcdonald@ci.new-hope.mn.us

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 .......cityhall@ci.new-hope.mn.us

Daniel StaunerCouncil Member763-536-1415dstauner@ci.new-hope.mn.us

The city of New Hope was recently informed that its request for a

quiet zone at the railroad crossing on Boone near Science Center Drive has received final approval from the Fed-eral Railroad Administration (FRA). Implementation of the new quiet zone will take effect on October 31. The city is also working with the FRA and Hennepin County toward implement-ing another quiet zone at the crossing on Winnetka Avenue near Angeline Drive. A city contractor began construction of about $25,000 in quiet zone im-provements to the railroad crossing on Boone Avenue last year as part of the 2013 Street Infrastructure project. Those improvements included a 30-foot center median on the south side of the tracks, a 100-foot median on the north side of the tracks, expansion of the driveway approaches for the busi-nesses just south of the tracks, a curb "bump out" on the east side of the road to provide adequate truck turning ra-dius, and an extension of the no park-ing zone north of the crossing. The improvements were completed and inspected by a Federal Railroad Administration official this summer.

2014 RAVE! Awards (continued from page 1)

The Reynolds won in the Outstanding Landscap-

Beginning October 31, train engineers will no longer routinely sound their train horn as they approach the Boone Avenue railroad crossing. They still may sound their horn when necessary.The city is currently working with Hennepin County and the FRA toward implementation of another quiet zone at the railroad crossing on Winnetka Avenue in 2015. Hennepin County has tentatively agreed to pay for $140,000 in street improvement costs for the planned quiet zone as part of a Winnetka Av-enue resurfacing project planned for 2015. Those street improvements would involve slightly narrower driv-ing lanes, construction of four-foot center medians, patching and restrip-ing. The city of New Hope has agreed to pay for updated Constant Warning Time (CWT) circuitry at the cross-ing, which is required for quiet zone designation, at a projected cost of $250,000. The city plans to fund the circuitry upgrades with Economic Development Authority funds.If the Winnetka quiet zone project proceeds as anticipated, quiet zone improvements would likely be com-pleted by late next year.

Railroad quiet zones completed at Boone, planned for Winnetka

Neighborhoods establish and self- manage their own Nextdoor websites. The city and police department are not able to access residents' websites, their contact information, or content. In-formation shared on Nextdoor is pass-word protected and cannot be accessed by search engines.The city of New Hope and the New Hope Police Department are excited to partner with Nextdoor, because when neighbors connect with one another their neighborhoods become stronger and safer. If lots of New Hope residents participate in Nextdoor.com, it can serve as a virtual extension of the pop-ular Neighborhood Watch program. It makes it easier for neighbors to watch out for one another and share their observations about what's going on in the neighborhood.Nextdoor also provides a new way for the city to directly communicate with residents. In recent months, city staff has been able to post important infor-mation on Nextdoor about vandalism in Hidden Valley Park, a rash of bur-glaries on Oregon Avenue, and traffic delays on Boone, Winnetka and Xylon. And, staff can target that information directly to the neighborhoods that are affected. Four New Hope neighborhoods have had Nextdoor websites for more than a year. The city worked with Nextdoor to create 15 additional neighborhoods. Currently more than 900 residents have joined their neighborhood's website, and all 15 of the new neighborhoods have now started a Nextdoor website. Nextdoor has already proven to be a popular and useful tool for New Hope residents. To join your neighborhood's website, visit www.nextdoor.com and enter your address. If you have ques-tions about how Nextdoor works, visit help.nextdoor.com.

The Berrys won in the Outstanding Garden category.

The Frantzes won for Environmentally Sensitive Improvements.

Nextdoor.com (continued from page 1)

surrounded by colorful flowers inter-spersed with a whimsical collection of ornaments.

Outstanding Landscaping: Duane and Patti ReynoldsThe Reynolds' yard at 7116 39th Ave. N. includes a fascinating assortment of green plants in both the front and back

yards. Duane Reynolds, a past president of the Minnesota State Horticultural Society, has cultivated a large variety of drought-tolerant, low-maintenance plants in his front yard over the last several years. His efforts have been so successful, that he never needed to water his front yard this year. The Reynolds' front yard includes deco-rative onions, Jack in the pulpit, sedum and other types of ground cover, snake grass and other native grasses, various cacti, peas shrubs, cedars, and an eye-catching bush called a Harry Lauders Walking Stick. The back yard boasts several fruit trees – pear and apple (although the neighborhood squirrel gets much of the fruit), black-eyed Susans, hostas, and much more.

Outstanding Gardens: Filipina and James BerryThere's a garden plot of some sort tucked into every corner of the Berry's yard at 4816 Ensign Ave. N.A collection of perennials – including hostas, hydrangeas and coleus – are comple-mented by an assortment of annuals in pots along the

front and east side of the house.Across the back of their property, the Berry's have planted a large gar-den featuring a lovely arbor structure surrounded by lots of hostas, begonias, black-eyed Susans, clematis and many other plants and bushes.The Berrys also have a screened area in their back yard planted with an as-sortment of vegetables.

Environmentally Sesitive: Marianne and Kenneth FrantzThe front yard of the Frantz's property at 4738 Decatur Place has a fairly mod-est garden with some hostas, a few hi-biscus, black-eyed Susans and assorted ground cover. What makes their property excep-tional, however, is the extensive col-lection of hostas Marianne Frantz has planted and cared for in the back yard

over the last 25 years – it's something of a Hosta Heaven! Frantz is an advo-cate of "lasagna gardening," which is a no-dig, no-till organic gardening method. The resulting landscape features limited grass areas, focusing instead on shade tolerant plants that require little watering. The hundreds of hosta plants in a dizzying array of varieties makes quite an impression. To the Frantz's grandkids, it's "Grandma's oasis."

Voter eligibility You are eligible to register and vote in Minnesota if you are: At least 18 years old on the day of the

election A citizen of the United States A resident of Minnesota for at least

20 days before the electionYou are not eligible to vote if you have been: placed under guardianship “of the

person” in district court found by a court to be legally

incompetent convicted of a felony without having

your civil rights restored

You must be registered in order to vote. If you are not already registered, Min-nesota law permits voters to register and vote on Election Day with proper proof of residency.Accepted proofs of residency are: A valid Minnesota driver’s license,

learner's permit, Minnesota identi-fication card, or a receipt for any of these that has a current name and address in the precinct.

A Notice of Late Registration form mailed by the city or county.

The oath of a pre-registered voter in the same precinct or a voter who reg-istered on election day with a valid form of identification. (A person who is vouched for may not vouch for another).

Voting absenteeVoters may make an absentee ballot request online, by e-mail or by mail. You can complete the absentee ballot process in person at New Hope City Hall, or the Hennepin County Elections office at 300 South 6th St. in Minne-apolis, until November 3. Or, you can complete the process by mail (allow at least five to seven days). Voters in the military and citizens living outside the U.S. use a different process to vote ab-sentee. For more information, visit the Secretary of State's website at mnvotes.org, the city's website at www.ci.new-hope.mn.us/vote or call 763-531-5160.

City OfficesNew Hope City Council – At Large (vote for up to two) John A. Elder Jonathan D. London Louis D. Oswalt Daniel Stauner

Federal OfficesUnited States SenatorUnited States Representative, District 5

State OfficesGovernor/Lieutenant GovernorSecretary of StateState AuditorAttorney GeneralState Representative, District 45A(all New Hope Precincts except 1)State Representative, District 45B(New Hope Precinct 1 only)County OfficesCounty SheriffCounty AttorneySchool DistrictRobbinsdale School District No. 281 School Board Member (eight candi-dates, vote for up to four)Judicial Offices (contested seats in bold)Supreme Court: Associate Justices 2 and 3 Court of Appeals: Judges 1, 3, 4, 9, 10, 12, 154th District Court, Judges 1, 5, 9, 10, 14, 16, 19, 20, 25, 27, 28, 30, 31, 32, 38, 42, 43, 47, 51, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 61, 62Sample ballots for each New Hope pre-cinct are available on the city’s website at www.ci.new-hope.mn.us/vote.

What’s on the ballot?

City of New Hope 2014 Election Primer

School District QuestionsBelow are abbreviated versions of the ballot questions. For the complete ballot language, view a sample ballot online.Voters are asked to vote "yes" or "no" on each question. By voting "yes" you are voting for a property tax increase.

Renewal of Expiring Referendum Revenue AuthorizationRobbinsdale Area Schools has proposed to renew the school district's existing referendum revenue authorization of $1,418.94 per pupil which is scheduled to expire after taxes payable in 2015. The proposed referendum revenue authorization would increase each year by the rate of inflation and be applicable for 10 years beginning with taxes pay-able in 2016.

Capital Project Levy Authoriza-tion to Fund TechnologyRobbinsdale Area Schools has pro-posed a capital project levy authoriza-tion of 4.207% of the district's net tax capacity (approximately $3,500,000 for taxes payable in 2015) "to provide funds to increase technology access for students and staff through the acquisi-tion, installation, replacement, support, and maintenance of software, applica-tions, digital curriculum and resources, mobile devices, improved technology, technology systems, networks and in-frastructure, and related training." The estimated cost of projects to be funded over the 10 year time period of the levy is approximately $35 million. "The projects to be funded have received a positive review and comment from the Commissioner of Education."

Polling LocationsPrecinct 1Robbinsdale Spanish Immersion School at Sunny Hollow8808 27th Ave. N.

Precinct 2Sonnesyn Elementary School3421 Boone Ave. N.

Precinct 3St. Joseph Catholic Church8701 36th Ave. N

Precinct 4New Hope Learning Center8301 47th Ave. N.

Precinct 5Holy Nativity Lutheran Church3900 Winnetka Ave. N.

Precinct 6North Ridge Health and Rehab5500 Boone Ave. N.

Precinct 7Meadow Lake Elementary School8525 62nd Ave. N.

Precinct 8House of Hope Lutheran Church4800 Boone Ave. N.If you are uncertain which precinct you live in, call 763-531-5160.

Registering to vote An approved photo ID showing the

correct name along with a current utility bill, bank or credit card state-ment, rent or mortgage payment, or residential lease or rental agreement, due or dated within 30 days of the election, that shows the voter's name and address in the precinct.

You must re-register if: Your name or address has changed. You have not voted within the last

four years.

Don't be disappointed or inconve-nienced on Election Day. It's impor-tant to confirm your precinct number and polling location before heading to the polls. Use the map below to confirm your polling location.

Double check your polling location

For more election information, call 763-531-5160 or visit www.

ci.new-hope.mn.us/vote. For election results, visit www.hennepin.us/ElectionsResults

2014 Election Primer

Election Day is Tuesday, November 4

Polls will be open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Minneapolis Die Casting receives Outstanding Business Award

New Hope development updateGates of New HopeBaruch Associates broke ground on Gates of New Hope, a new apartment building at 9390-9398 Medicine Lake Road, on October 6.In May, the New Hope City Council approved the final plat, site plan and a variance to the building setback for the four-story, 32-unit apartment complex at the northeast corner of Medicine Lake Road and Hillsboro Avenue. The secure building will include 15 one-bedroom, 14 two-bedroom and three three-bedroom apartments. The developer has purchased, combined and cleared two residential properties to create a 1.6 acre lot. A rear yard setback variance of 10 feet was needed to accommodate a 34-stall garage while maintaining the required number of surface parking spaces and a suitable fire lane design. The project will also include a 2,600 square foot fenced, outdoor recreation area with picnic tables, a grill, and play equip-ment, and three stormwater ponds to handle the runoff from the site.

Wenck Response ServicesWenck Response Services (WRS)recently completed a $300,000 reno-vation of the former Hostess outlet store at 5130 Winnetka Ave. N. Wenck Response is a division of Wenck As-sociates, Inc. engineering and consult-ing firm. WRS specializes in providing 24-hour emergency spill response and remediation services for petroleum and hazardous chemical products. The company is capable of responding to a variety of situations including train derailments, highway transportation accidents, leaking containers, in-plant releases, above ground storage tank re-leases and natural disasters.

Auto ZoneAuto Zone opened a new store at 7117 Bass Lake Road in August. In August 2013, the City Council approved the site plan and a final plat for the project. The developer purchased the former gas station at 7117 Bass Lake Road and the long vacant property just to the south at 5551 Louisiana Ave. N. and combined the lots. The former gas sta-

tion was demolished and the un-derground tanks were removed before con-struction of the new

Minneapolis Die Casting is located at 5100 Boone Ave. N.

Minneapolis Die Casting, lo-

cated at 5100 Boone Ave. N., was named a New Hope Outstand-ing Business earlier this year.Minneapolis Die Casting has been a New Hope business for 42 years. The company recognizes the importance of taking an active role in the community, and establishes inter-nal goals for commu-nity volunteer hours. In 2013, Minneapolis Die Casting’s 115 employees performed more than 400 hours of volunteer service in New Hope.Minneapolis Die Casting employees volunteered at ARC Value Village help-ing with a variety of tasks. They bagged enough food at Kid’s Against Hunger to feed over 8,000 people. Company employees sorted, labeled and bagged a variety of food items at the Emergency Foodshelf Network. They provided filled backpacks for more than 30 stu-dents at Meadow Lake Elementary School. They shoveled mulch for the courtyard at Project for Pride and Liv-

ing’s Bass Lake Townhomes. And, they called Bingo at the North Ridge care facility every other Friday. In addition, Minneapolis Die Casting employees and their families participated in many other volunteer projects during 2013 that were outside of New Hope.Minneapolis Die Casting is a subsid-iary of Metal Technologies, which has seven plants in Minnesota, Michigan, Tennessee and Indiana. The New Hope plant is an aluminum high pressure die casting shop specializing in high volume aluminum casting and value added processes. The plant works with a wide variety of alloys and uses the

squeeze cast process and vacuum as-sisted filling for casting thicker sec-tions that require higher integrity. They specialize in parts used in the automo-tive, electronic, and military/aerospace industries. To learn more about the company, visit metal-technologies.com/facilities/minneapolis-die-casting.When announcing the Outstanding Business Award, Community Develop-ment Director Jeff Sargent noted, “Not only is Minneapolis Die Casting a good longstanding New Hope business, they take pride in making sure that they give back to the community.” Council mem-ber Elder added, “I think this is a slam dunk. This is a good corporate citizen - this is the kind of thing we would love to see every business in New Hope do!”Minneapolis Die Casting was nominat-ed for an Outstanding Business Award by company employee Cheryl Fowlkes. The purpose of the New Hope Out-standing Business Award is to rec-ognize the contributions New Hope businesses make to the community and to encourage other businesses to rise to the excellence achieved by award recipients. Any resident or busi-ness person can make an Outstanding Business Award nomination. For more information or a nomination form, visit the city’s website at www.ci.new-hope.mn.us.

Expansion approved at Winnetka Commons

In September, the New Hope City Council approved a proposal by the

owners of the Winnetka Commons shopping center to build a new multi-tenant retail building at the southeast corner of Winnetka and 36th avenues.The Council approved the project site plan, replatting of the Winnetka Com-mons property into two parcels, and a conditional use permit for a Planned Unit Development (PUD) at its meet-ing on September 8.Winnetka Commons Holding LLC plans to add a 4,656 square foot build-ing with three tenant spaces, a drive through service lane, and a small out-door dining area. To accommodate the expansion, an existing storm water retention pond currently located on the corner will be filled in and replaced by an underground corrugated metal pipe (CMP) storm water storage system that will be located under the parking lot.The property owner has subdivided the existing shopping center parcel to create a new .83 acre parcel at the northwest corner of the site. The new parcel shares existing access to the adjacent streets and parking with the current Winnetka Commons shopping center.Sidewalk access to the new building will be provided from both 36th and Winnetka. And, 12 new bicycle parking spaces will be added throughout the shopping center.The design and materials for the new building will comply with New Hope's design standards. Building setbacks and the number of parking spaces will also meet the city's standards for the Com-mercial Business (CB) zoning district.Several existing trees that will need to be removed during construction will be replaced by new trees. And, shrubs and decorative fencing will provide screening for the building, parking, and drive through lane to make the corner more attactive. To address concerns expressed by the Planning Commission and city staff regarding adequate space for snow storage, the developer has pre-pared a detailed snow removal plan.The property owner plans to begin construction of the new building next spring.

7,360 square foot retail store began this spring. Auto Zone eliminated two somewhat hazardous driveways that exited onto Bass Lake Road and instead provided access to the store off of Loui-siana Ave. N. An underground storm water detention structure will capture the runoff from the site.

Compass PointeThe City Council gave final approval to the Compass Pointe apartment complex on the southwest corner of 62nd and West Broadway in late May and Ron Clark Construction broke ground on the project in late June. The $13 million building is geared toward workforce housing for adults and young families. The three and four-story, 68-unit build-ing will have an attractive, low-maintenance exterior designed to blend in with surrounding residential properties. Building amenities will fea-ture underground parking, community room, fitness room, tot lot, basketball half court, outdoor grilling area and a professional, on-site property manager.Construction is proceeding very well. The developer ex-pects to complete the project by fall 2015.Gates of New Hope as it will appear from Medicine Lake Road

An artist's rendering of the building expansion approved at Winnetka Commons.

City of New Hope, Minnesota e Fall 2014