2/26/11
Reader "Smart Voter" asked what impact the LMCC has on Shorewood residents and how Council Member Zerby's attendance (or lack thereof) at LMCC meetings affects residents.
The LMCC is a Joint Powers Agreement (yes, another JPA) organization with membership of 17 cities around Lk Mtka. Its mission is to manage the cable TV franchise with Mediacom, to provide Public, Educational and Governmental (PEG) programming to its member cities and their residents and to offer member cities consulting on communications technologies and communications industry issues and trends. See www.lmcc-tv.org for more on this.
The LMCC gets its funding from collecting a franchise fee and a PEG fee from Mediacom. Mediacom collects these, in turn, from residents who subscribe to Mediacom TV service. Fees are basically set by the Federal Communications Commission and apply only to the cable TV part of a Mediacom customer's bill. Monthly, the fees amount to less than $1.00. The total revenue per year is about $600,000. There is no tax dollar funding for the LMCC.
The LMCC operates four cable TV channels on Mediacom cable as well does Internet streaming of some programming. Programs are recordings of council meetings and other public meetings, local sports events, school functions, public interest, locally produced entertainment and more. The LMCC provides free training for residents wanting to learn how to produce TV shows and the equipment to record, edit and air these resident-produced shows. Many regional and national awards attest to the quality of the LMCC's efforts.
Each member city can have two commissioners (not all have two). These commissioners are the equivalent of a city council for the LMCC. They meet as a whole commission four times per year where they consider what the LMCC is and should be doing, how it spends its money and what services it provides to its member cities and their residents. Shorewood has two commissioners: Scott Zerby who is the city council rep and Ken Hendrickson who is a resident rep appointed by the City Council.
So, when Scott Zerby does not show up for a LMCC meeting, he is not representing Shorewood and voting in any decisions. It's basically the same as not showing up for a city council meeting.
Happy Reading!
The Insider
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Shorewood Trail Committee Starting Meetings
2/26/11
Shorewood's Council has created a Trail Committee charged with reviewing trail needs and making recommendations for updates to the City's Trail Plan (yes, there is one of these, but not updated or really used for many years).
Committee Members:
Debbie Siakel, Laura Hotvet - Council Members
Ed Hasek, David Hutchins - Planning Commissioners
Bob Edmondson, Steve Quinlan - Park Commissioners
Mary Donahue, Michael Dodd - Residents
Brad Nielsen - Planning Director
Meetings will be 1st and 3rd Mondays starting March 7th at City Hall. Meetings are open to the public and the Insider encourages Shorewood residents to attend.
While the Insider has no idea of where this committee will go, in the past ideas like a bike and walking trail on Smithtown Rd, connecting the LRT Trail on Cty 19 to the strip mall at the 19/Smithtown intersection, a $15 million trail from the LRT at Cty 15/19 down to the Shorewood City Hall area along Cty 19, putting in sidewalks and more have been floated.
Watch this blog for more as the meetings proceed.
Happy Reading!
The Insider
Shorewood's Council has created a Trail Committee charged with reviewing trail needs and making recommendations for updates to the City's Trail Plan (yes, there is one of these, but not updated or really used for many years).
Committee Members:
Debbie Siakel, Laura Hotvet - Council Members
Ed Hasek, David Hutchins - Planning Commissioners
Bob Edmondson, Steve Quinlan - Park Commissioners
Mary Donahue, Michael Dodd - Residents
Brad Nielsen - Planning Director
Meetings will be 1st and 3rd Mondays starting March 7th at City Hall. Meetings are open to the public and the Insider encourages Shorewood residents to attend.
While the Insider has no idea of where this committee will go, in the past ideas like a bike and walking trail on Smithtown Rd, connecting the LRT Trail on Cty 19 to the strip mall at the 19/Smithtown intersection, a $15 million trail from the LRT at Cty 15/19 down to the Shorewood City Hall area along Cty 19, putting in sidewalks and more have been floated.
Watch this blog for more as the meetings proceed.
Happy Reading!
The Insider
3-City Cooperation Meetings - 2nd meeting (2/24) results
Thanks to Council Member Woodruff for the following:
Hello Insider,
Since I think your blog is a useful tool to promote dialog about what's happening in Shorewood, I'll be sending my thoughts on various topics.
I attended the 3-City Cooperation meeting last night (the 2nd meeting on this topic).
Shorewood was represented by the Mayor and all four Council Members as well as five staff members. Tonka Bay was represented by its City Administrator. Excelsior had Greg Miller from its Council, Its City Manager and two staff members. The Mayors of TB and Exc were absent (had been at the prior meeting) each citing medical reasons for absence.
It was disappointing to have no other council members from TB and Exc. This calls the question of the level of commitment of these two cities.
The group was lead through a review of the results of the prior meeting followed by ranking of the items. The result was a short list of "projects" believed feasible to undertake and which were assigned to the City Administrators/Manager to pursue.
The good news is that the "projects", in my mind are mostly rational and may have tangible benefits to all parties. One example is: sharing road salt storage.
An example of a "project" not adopted is: formally designating Excelsior as Shorewood's downtown. I'll leave it to readers to decide if they can assign any tangible value to something like this for the residents of Shorewood.
So, while the apparent urge to merge cities legally or de-facto seems still in place in the minds of some Shorewood Council Members, it's not on the front burner for any action. I'd be thrilled to hear about this merger idea from residents of any of the cities.
There was no discussion about having another meeting. The Administrators/Manager were tasked with starting work on the chosen projects immediately.
I'll forward the "project" list as soon as minutes area available.
Dick Woodruff
Council Member - Shorewood
Hello Insider,
Since I think your blog is a useful tool to promote dialog about what's happening in Shorewood, I'll be sending my thoughts on various topics.
I attended the 3-City Cooperation meeting last night (the 2nd meeting on this topic).
Shorewood was represented by the Mayor and all four Council Members as well as five staff members. Tonka Bay was represented by its City Administrator. Excelsior had Greg Miller from its Council, Its City Manager and two staff members. The Mayors of TB and Exc were absent (had been at the prior meeting) each citing medical reasons for absence.
It was disappointing to have no other council members from TB and Exc. This calls the question of the level of commitment of these two cities.
The group was lead through a review of the results of the prior meeting followed by ranking of the items. The result was a short list of "projects" believed feasible to undertake and which were assigned to the City Administrators/Manager to pursue.
The good news is that the "projects", in my mind are mostly rational and may have tangible benefits to all parties. One example is: sharing road salt storage.
An example of a "project" not adopted is: formally designating Excelsior as Shorewood's downtown. I'll leave it to readers to decide if they can assign any tangible value to something like this for the residents of Shorewood.
So, while the apparent urge to merge cities legally or de-facto seems still in place in the minds of some Shorewood Council Members, it's not on the front burner for any action. I'd be thrilled to hear about this merger idea from residents of any of the cities.
There was no discussion about having another meeting. The Administrators/Manager were tasked with starting work on the chosen projects immediately.
I'll forward the "project" list as soon as minutes area available.
Dick Woodruff
Council Member - Shorewood
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Shorewood Council & Staff Strategic Planning and Visioning sessions
2/22/11
Shorewood's Council is meeting tomorrow, Feb. 23rd and Thursday, Feb. 24th, from 8:30 AM to 12:30PM at the South Shore Center for discussion of strategy and vision for the City. These session are open to the public and media, but will not be video recorded. So, if you want to know what goes on, attend (of course, the Insider will have more about these meetings after they happen).
Readers should be wondering why Mayor Lizee started meetings with Excelsior and Tonka Bay about cooperation and visioning before she had any input from her own council and staff. This smacks of "ready-fire-aim" thinking.
The second 3-city cooperation and visioning meeting is at 6:30 PM Thursday night at South Shore Center. This meeting is also open to the public. Watch this blog for more about this.
Happy Reading!
The Insider
Shorewood's Council is meeting tomorrow, Feb. 23rd and Thursday, Feb. 24th, from 8:30 AM to 12:30PM at the South Shore Center for discussion of strategy and vision for the City. These session are open to the public and media, but will not be video recorded. So, if you want to know what goes on, attend (of course, the Insider will have more about these meetings after they happen).
Readers should be wondering why Mayor Lizee started meetings with Excelsior and Tonka Bay about cooperation and visioning before she had any input from her own council and staff. This smacks of "ready-fire-aim" thinking.
The second 3-city cooperation and visioning meeting is at 6:30 PM Thursday night at South Shore Center. This meeting is also open to the public. Watch this blog for more about this.
Happy Reading!
The Insider
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Council Member Zerby misses 1st LMCC meeting
2/16/11
The LMCC (Lake Minnetonka Communications Commission) held the first of its quarterly full commission meetings last night. Shorewood Council Member Scott Zerby, appointed on January 3rd as the Council representative for Shorewood, was absent.
Zerby's obligation, as a voting member of the LMCC, to Shorewood is to attend four meetings per year. So, the best he can do now is achieve 75% attendance. Is this the representation Shorewood residents expect?
Happy reading!
The Insider
The LMCC (Lake Minnetonka Communications Commission) held the first of its quarterly full commission meetings last night. Shorewood Council Member Scott Zerby, appointed on January 3rd as the Council representative for Shorewood, was absent.
Zerby's obligation, as a voting member of the LMCC, to Shorewood is to attend four meetings per year. So, the best he can do now is achieve 75% attendance. Is this the representation Shorewood residents expect?
Happy reading!
The Insider
Saturday, February 12, 2011
3-City Cooperation Meeting Notes Now Available
2/12/11
Thanks to Smart Voter for pointing the Insider to the notes on Shorewood's website. The Insider urges readers of this blog to read the 1/31 notes and to show up at the 2/24 meeting at 630pm at Southshore Center. The people in these meetings need to hear from residents and taxpayers before they get further into this process.
See: http://ci.shorewood.mn.us/pages/pdfdocs/comm_vision.pdf
The Insider comments:
- "An end to funding formulas (who pays how much)" - So does this mean Shorewood no longer has to pay half of police and fire? If the cities shared sewer maintenance, would each city pay an equal amount regardless of how much sewer work needs to be done in each city? The Insider thinks this actually would be illegal under MN law besides being onerous to Shorewood taxpayers.
- A sales tax on visitors? Excelsior has been advocating this because they have lots of visitors to their business district and they need cash to make up for lost State aid. The Insider thinks this is a bad deal for other cities (and maybe for Excelsior too). With little retail, Shorewood and Tonka Bay would only make their retail non-competitive and drive it away by having a local sales tax.
- A single identity for all the cities, having one larger city with "municipalities or borroughs?" The Insider asks: Do the residents of the cities really want this merger of cities and if yes, what do they think it would accomplish? Is this like creating a "county" for the lakeshore cities?
- "Formally recognize Excelsior as the downtown of South Lake." The Insider wonders what this would accomplish.
- "End to the mine/your attitude." The Insider wants to know if Shorewood taxpayers want to pay for things done in Excelsior or Tonka Bay without receiving equal value in return? This smacks of a relationship akin to "what's theirs is theirs and what's ours is theirs too."
BTW, the reader will note that Shorewood's neighbor, Minnetrista has also been left out of the discussion. Yes, Minnetrista and Shorewood share a border on Enchanted Island. Seems Lizee and company forget about the "Islands" taxpayers on a regular basis.
What do you think? Comment on this blog post below!
Happy Reading!
The Insider
Thanks to Smart Voter for pointing the Insider to the notes on Shorewood's website. The Insider urges readers of this blog to read the 1/31 notes and to show up at the 2/24 meeting at 630pm at Southshore Center. The people in these meetings need to hear from residents and taxpayers before they get further into this process.
See: http://ci.shorewood.mn.us/pages/pdfdocs/comm_vision.pdf
The Insider comments:
- "An end to funding formulas (who pays how much)" - So does this mean Shorewood no longer has to pay half of police and fire? If the cities shared sewer maintenance, would each city pay an equal amount regardless of how much sewer work needs to be done in each city? The Insider thinks this actually would be illegal under MN law besides being onerous to Shorewood taxpayers.
- A sales tax on visitors? Excelsior has been advocating this because they have lots of visitors to their business district and they need cash to make up for lost State aid. The Insider thinks this is a bad deal for other cities (and maybe for Excelsior too). With little retail, Shorewood and Tonka Bay would only make their retail non-competitive and drive it away by having a local sales tax.
- A single identity for all the cities, having one larger city with "municipalities or borroughs?" The Insider asks: Do the residents of the cities really want this merger of cities and if yes, what do they think it would accomplish? Is this like creating a "county" for the lakeshore cities?
- "Formally recognize Excelsior as the downtown of South Lake." The Insider wonders what this would accomplish.
- "End to the mine/your attitude." The Insider wants to know if Shorewood taxpayers want to pay for things done in Excelsior or Tonka Bay without receiving equal value in return? This smacks of a relationship akin to "what's theirs is theirs and what's ours is theirs too."
BTW, the reader will note that Shorewood's neighbor, Minnetrista has also been left out of the discussion. Yes, Minnetrista and Shorewood share a border on Enchanted Island. Seems Lizee and company forget about the "Islands" taxpayers on a regular basis.
What do you think? Comment on this blog post below!
Happy Reading!
The Insider
Friday, February 11, 2011
How you can post on this blog
2/11/11
Want to post something new on this blog? Email your posting to: blog.shorewoodinsider@gmail.com
The insider will post your submission.
You can always comment on a posting that's already on the blog. Just clock on "Comments" at the end of the posting.
Happy reading!
The Insider
Want to post something new on this blog? Email your posting to: blog.shorewoodinsider@gmail.com
The insider will post your submission.
You can always comment on a posting that's already on the blog. Just clock on "Comments" at the end of the posting.
Happy reading!
The Insider
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Shorewood spending $ on 3-City Cooperation Meetings
2/10/11
The Insider just read the "Lakeshore Weekly News" article about the January 31st meeting. While there's still no sign of the notes from the meeting being publicly available, the article does give some insight as to what happened. See: http://www.weeklynews.com/main.asp?SectionID=10&SubSectionID=10&ArticleID=8300
The Insider notes that Shorewood is spending $1100 for these meetings. It's interesting that approval of this spending has not been obtained in any City Council Meeting. Maybe the new Council members feel spending approvals are not necessary.
The article also mentioned that Lizee reacted to a question about why Deephaven and Greenwood were not invited by stating that there's a physical link to Excelsior and Tonka Bay. Maybe Lizee hasn't checked a map recently. Shorewood shares its border with both Deephaven and Greenwood as well as sharing police with Greenwood and fire with both Deephaven and Greenwood. It would seem Shorewood should be seeking more "cooperation" with these cities too.
Happy Reading!
The Insider
The Insider just read the "Lakeshore Weekly News" article about the January 31st meeting. While there's still no sign of the notes from the meeting being publicly available, the article does give some insight as to what happened. See: http://www.weeklynews.com/main.asp?SectionID=10&SubSectionID=10&ArticleID=8300
The Insider notes that Shorewood is spending $1100 for these meetings. It's interesting that approval of this spending has not been obtained in any City Council Meeting. Maybe the new Council members feel spending approvals are not necessary.
The article also mentioned that Lizee reacted to a question about why Deephaven and Greenwood were not invited by stating that there's a physical link to Excelsior and Tonka Bay. Maybe Lizee hasn't checked a map recently. Shorewood shares its border with both Deephaven and Greenwood as well as sharing police with Greenwood and fire with both Deephaven and Greenwood. It would seem Shorewood should be seeking more "cooperation" with these cities too.
Happy Reading!
The Insider
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
3-City Cooperation Meeting - No transparency?
2/9/11
It's been well over one week since Shorewood hosted the "cooperation" meeting with Excelsior and Tonka Bay. Yet, has the public seen any minutes or notes from this meeting? The answer is: no!
The Insider has learned that Shorewood's council members were sent a PowerPoint of the notes from the meeting last week. Why isn't this on the Shorewood city website?
Lizee, Hotvet and Siakel all ran on a transparency platform last fall. If you voted for them, ask them why they're keeping the notes from this meeting a secret.
The Insider
It's been well over one week since Shorewood hosted the "cooperation" meeting with Excelsior and Tonka Bay. Yet, has the public seen any minutes or notes from this meeting? The answer is: no!
The Insider has learned that Shorewood's council members were sent a PowerPoint of the notes from the meeting last week. Why isn't this on the Shorewood city website?
Lizee, Hotvet and Siakel all ran on a transparency platform last fall. If you voted for them, ask them why they're keeping the notes from this meeting a secret.
The Insider
Monday, February 7, 2011
"georged" commented on identity of the Insider
2/7/11
The Insider says that "georged" and others just have to trust what the Insider posts anomously is fact and otherwise keep his B.S. filter turned on at all times. Sometimes the Insider will make an editorial comment and these will be obvious.
Posts by others are as-is unless there is something of a personal attack nature which, the Insider reserves the right to delete.
Happy reading!
The Insider
The Insider says that "georged" and others just have to trust what the Insider posts anomously is fact and otherwise keep his B.S. filter turned on at all times. Sometimes the Insider will make an editorial comment and these will be obvious.
Posts by others are as-is unless there is something of a personal attack nature which, the Insider reserves the right to delete.
Happy reading!
The Insider
Resident comments on 1/31 3-City Cooperation Meeting
2/7/11
The Insider has received some prominent resident comments about the 1/31 meeting on cooperation between Shorewood, Excelsior and Tonka Bay. Thanks to Martin Wellens and Nick Ruehl.
Also, watch the blog for a copy of the notes from the meeting, coming soon.
------------------------------------------------
Comments from Wellens and Ruehl:
The Insider has received some prominent resident comments about the 1/31 meeting on cooperation between Shorewood, Excelsior and Tonka Bay. Thanks to Martin Wellens and Nick Ruehl.
Also, watch the blog for a copy of the notes from the meeting, coming soon.
------------------------------------------------
Comments from Wellens and Ruehl:
Greetings All:
Mayor Ruehl’s note supports Charlie’s report that:
“THE TWO LADY PRESENTERS INITIATED BY SAYING LOCAL GOVERNMENTS WILL BE BROKE IN 4 YEARS…”
But then Mayor Ruehl says: “there is absolutely no truth to the suggestion that Excelsior, or any other city in the South Shore, may go broke by 2015.”
I agree with Mayor Ruehl. Additionally it makes no sense to lump all small cities together (sweeping generalization) since every city’s finances are different.
Since this was how the ladies opened the meeting… it appears the entire premise of the meeting was based upon a falsehood/scare-tactic intended to deceive and manipulate our elected representatives. I don’t know how one could conclude anything else.
It also demonstrates the irresponsible partisanship of the League of MN Cities for publishing such nonsense.
Former Shorewood Councilman
Martin WellensTo All:
Brett Stursa called me late yesterday for comments on the meeting that took place last Monday at Shorewood. During that phone interview, she asked if I had seen the email chain (followed below), and I said I had not. She sent it to me, and I have a few comments to share.
· The City Councils and Staff from Tonka Bay and Excelsior were invited to a meeting sponsored by Shorewood regarding collaboration on services. As noted below, approximately 20+ people attended, including Excelsior residents Charlie & Marlin Tomson and Bob Bolles.
· Some person or persons, when asked about how the cities could collaborate to achieve efficiencies, improve services, and reduce costs, anonymously filled out post-it notes with wide-ranging ideas – yes, including consolidation of the cities. I can assure you that I did not make that suggestion.
· Our 2010 Council Goals included looking at collaboration with other cities, as we should explore all ideas that make sense where there is a win/win. Over the past year, Staff has been exploring a few ideas. In addition, the Mayors of the cities associated with the School District, have been discussing creative collaborative ideas – this includes Minnetonka Public Schools, Chanhassen, Minnetonka, Tonka Bay, Shorewood, Deephaven, Greenwood & Excelsior.
· This session was an outgrowth of our own goals, along with discussions mentioned above. Excelsior did not organize the meeting nor create the agenda, but Councilmember Berghorst and I attended, along with our City Manager, Finance Director, and Public Works Superintendent. The whole Council was invited, but the others were not able to attend.
· The facilitators of the meeting quoted a League of Minnesota Cities report on Minnesota cities’ finances, which stated that all cities in the State would be broke by 2015. We believe they put that report together last fall to influence the Legislature regarding the State Aid to cities. While there are many cities who rely on State Aid for a significant portion of their operating budget, there is absolutely no truth to the suggestion that Excelsior, or any other city in the South Shore, may go broke by 2015.
· The reality is that Excelsior is in healthy financial condition, due to careful planning over the past several years and a focused effort to reduce expenses, implement some revenue enhancements, and wean ourselves off of Local Government Aid. The Council will continue to look for ways to generate additional non-residential revenue, while watching carefully our city expenditures.
Recently our Council had a 2011 planning meeting, and established goals for the year. Next Monday evening at the beginning of the Council meeting, I will be giving a “State of the City” address, that will not only explain our 2011 goals, but will also summarize and clarify our stable and positive financial condition.
I realize that there are concerns that some of you may have about our financial status. I encourage you to come to our meetings, ask questions, and engage in an open dialogue. Our Council (and Staff) are very willing to answer your questions. If we don’t have the answer to your specific question, we will get back to you quickly.
Thanks.
Nick Ruehl, Mayor
City of Excelsior
Friday, February 4, 2011
More on Shorerwood Yacht Club Power Boats
2/4/11
See the "Sun Sailor" article at: http://www.mnsun.com/articles/2011/01/28/excelsior/news/4a103yachtclub.txt
See the "Sun Sailor" article at: http://www.mnsun.com/articles/2011/01/28/excelsior/news/4a103yachtclub.txt
More on Shorewood Attorney Change
2/4/11
The Insider has been asked to provide a link to the "Sun Sailor" article on the change of Shorewood's city attorney. See: http://www.mnsun.com/articles/2011/02/04/news/aw/a127shorewoodattorney.txt
The Insider has been asked to provide a link to the "Sun Sailor" article on the change of Shorewood's city attorney. See: http://www.mnsun.com/articles/2011/02/04/news/aw/a127shorewoodattorney.txt
LMCC FTTH Market Survey Underway
2/4/11
The Lake Mtka. Communications Commission (17 city group that does public cable TV programming locally) has launched a telephone market survey effort. The survey is to determine if there is a market for a new fiber-optic service (FTTH) to all homes, businesses, schools, governments, etc. in the area. Shorewood residents are receiving calls randomly and are encouraged to spend about 10 minutes answering the questions. Look for results by the end of March. Want to learn more? See www.tonkaconnect.com. This is the LMCC's site for the FTTH project.
The Lake Mtka. Communications Commission (17 city group that does public cable TV programming locally) has launched a telephone market survey effort. The survey is to determine if there is a market for a new fiber-optic service (FTTH) to all homes, businesses, schools, governments, etc. in the area. Shorewood residents are receiving calls randomly and are encouraged to spend about 10 minutes answering the questions. Look for results by the end of March. Want to learn more? See www.tonkaconnect.com. This is the LMCC's site for the FTTH project.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
The "Insider" January recap
2/2/2011
January 3rd - Mayor holds special council meeting to have new members sworn in and to make appointments to committees and boards. On a 4 to 1 vote, Council Member Dick Woodruff is removed from the Lake Minnetonka Conservation District Board even though he has one year left on a three year term. An unnamed "resident" is to be appointed. Unfortunately, it's overlooked that now, nobody will represent Shorewood at January LMCD meetings. On January 24th, new Council Member Siakel is appointed as interim. Kind of de ja vu as her husband was not reappointed to the same position two years ago.
Also on January 3rd, Mayor Lizee moves to authorize removal of Kennedy and Graven as City Attorney and to rehire Tim Keane. No justification given despite it being pointed out that K&G has one year left on a three year contract and there are no issues with the services that have been provided.
January 10th Council Meeting - Tim Keane rehired (four to one vote, Woodruff dissenting) as City Attorney at a $4200 per year cost increase over what was paid to K&G and for same services. "Sun Sailor" documents that Keane had been removed from this job twice before. Is the third time the "charm?" No competitive bids, no reference checks although Council Member Zerby did say he was a reference as he'd worked with Keane before.
January 15th - Arctic Fever held. Smashing success, including great turn-out for the new Ice Princess Tea. Congratulations to the mother of AF, Sue Davis, and the rest of the people who made it happen.
January 24th Council Meeting - Shorewood Yacht Club is granted a permanent CUP to have 56 power boats, up from 35 granted three years ago, on a 4 to 1 vote, Woodruff dissenting. This makes permanent the reversal of the City's 2004 decision that the SYC was to be sailboats only, a decision that resulted in a MN Supreme Court fight with the prior SYC owner. Why was this necessary? According to the current owners, the sailing business doesn't support the SYC financially and power boats are needed to make money. One Timber Lane lakeshore resident pointed out that SYC benefits while he endures the results in the lake in front of his home. Council Member Woodruff called into question the effects of more powerboats on stirring up the toxic sludge on the bottom of the bay (this was the outlet of the old Excelsior sewage plant). Other council members ignored this.
Also, Mayor Lizee announces a 1/31 facilitated discussion between the neighboring cities in which ways to "cooperate" would be discussed. This is the first time this date was known, officially, to the Council. Mayor Lizee was admonished last year by the prior council to provide adequate notice of special meetings to the Council. Apparently, she's ignoring this.
January 31 - Facilitated meeting to discuss "cooperation" held with neighboring cities at Southshore Center. Attended by Lizee, Zerby, Siakel and Hotvet plus staff from Shorewood; Tonka Bay Mayor and Excelsior Mayor and a few of their council members and some staff. Council Member Woodruff of Shorewood absent due to being out of town. Curiously, Deephaven and Greenwood were not invited to participate. Maybe they're no longer "neighbors?" A few residents attended (not surprisingly only a few given the short notice and no external publicity). Information generated at the meeting was collected for future consideration and a second meeting scheduled for 2/24 at 6:30pm at Shouthshore Center. The 24th meeting is open to the public and everyone who lives in the area and has interest in how the cities might do more to work together should attend. Even Deephaven and Greenwood residents should show up.
Observation: the cooperation discussions appear to be similar to the "Visioning" sessions former Mayor Love and then Council Members Lizee and Zerby held some years ago. Shorewood spent over $30,000 on these sessions, getting very little in results. Cooperation seems a good idea, but at what price to Shorewood? Excelsior and Tonka Bay have not been asked to chip in on the cost of these new meetings. The Insider thinks they should share and cooperate here too.
January 3rd - Mayor holds special council meeting to have new members sworn in and to make appointments to committees and boards. On a 4 to 1 vote, Council Member Dick Woodruff is removed from the Lake Minnetonka Conservation District Board even though he has one year left on a three year term. An unnamed "resident" is to be appointed. Unfortunately, it's overlooked that now, nobody will represent Shorewood at January LMCD meetings. On January 24th, new Council Member Siakel is appointed as interim. Kind of de ja vu as her husband was not reappointed to the same position two years ago.
Also on January 3rd, Mayor Lizee moves to authorize removal of Kennedy and Graven as City Attorney and to rehire Tim Keane. No justification given despite it being pointed out that K&G has one year left on a three year contract and there are no issues with the services that have been provided.
January 10th Council Meeting - Tim Keane rehired (four to one vote, Woodruff dissenting) as City Attorney at a $4200 per year cost increase over what was paid to K&G and for same services. "Sun Sailor" documents that Keane had been removed from this job twice before. Is the third time the "charm?" No competitive bids, no reference checks although Council Member Zerby did say he was a reference as he'd worked with Keane before.
January 15th - Arctic Fever held. Smashing success, including great turn-out for the new Ice Princess Tea. Congratulations to the mother of AF, Sue Davis, and the rest of the people who made it happen.
January 24th Council Meeting - Shorewood Yacht Club is granted a permanent CUP to have 56 power boats, up from 35 granted three years ago, on a 4 to 1 vote, Woodruff dissenting. This makes permanent the reversal of the City's 2004 decision that the SYC was to be sailboats only, a decision that resulted in a MN Supreme Court fight with the prior SYC owner. Why was this necessary? According to the current owners, the sailing business doesn't support the SYC financially and power boats are needed to make money. One Timber Lane lakeshore resident pointed out that SYC benefits while he endures the results in the lake in front of his home. Council Member Woodruff called into question the effects of more powerboats on stirring up the toxic sludge on the bottom of the bay (this was the outlet of the old Excelsior sewage plant). Other council members ignored this.
Also, Mayor Lizee announces a 1/31 facilitated discussion between the neighboring cities in which ways to "cooperate" would be discussed. This is the first time this date was known, officially, to the Council. Mayor Lizee was admonished last year by the prior council to provide adequate notice of special meetings to the Council. Apparently, she's ignoring this.
January 31 - Facilitated meeting to discuss "cooperation" held with neighboring cities at Southshore Center. Attended by Lizee, Zerby, Siakel and Hotvet plus staff from Shorewood; Tonka Bay Mayor and Excelsior Mayor and a few of their council members and some staff. Council Member Woodruff of Shorewood absent due to being out of town. Curiously, Deephaven and Greenwood were not invited to participate. Maybe they're no longer "neighbors?" A few residents attended (not surprisingly only a few given the short notice and no external publicity). Information generated at the meeting was collected for future consideration and a second meeting scheduled for 2/24 at 6:30pm at Shouthshore Center. The 24th meeting is open to the public and everyone who lives in the area and has interest in how the cities might do more to work together should attend. Even Deephaven and Greenwood residents should show up.
Observation: the cooperation discussions appear to be similar to the "Visioning" sessions former Mayor Love and then Council Members Lizee and Zerby held some years ago. Shorewood spent over $30,000 on these sessions, getting very little in results. Cooperation seems a good idea, but at what price to Shorewood? Excelsior and Tonka Bay have not been asked to chip in on the cost of these new meetings. The Insider thinks they should share and cooperate here too.
Introducing the Shorewood Insider blog
2/2/2011
The Shorewood Insider is just what it will be, a blog with insider and other comment on what's happening in Shorewood, Minnesota's city government and the City in general. What gets published will be factual or opinion and you, the reader, will be able to distinguish between the two. Submissions that are personal attacks will not be published.
Everyone is encouraged to submit their views on any subject that affects the City of Shorewood and its residents.
Happy reading:
The "Insider"
The Shorewood Insider is just what it will be, a blog with insider and other comment on what's happening in Shorewood, Minnesota's city government and the City in general. What gets published will be factual or opinion and you, the reader, will be able to distinguish between the two. Submissions that are personal attacks will not be published.
Everyone is encouraged to submit their views on any subject that affects the City of Shorewood and its residents.
Happy reading:
The "Insider"
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