View the meeting (click to open)
We were notified within the last few days that the county will be doing a lot of culvert work from April 3rd through mid July. What this means is county road 12 will be CLOSED to through traffic during this time. Hennepin county has never been known for their great customer satisfaction...
So, for those of you that can, I would appreciate you posting this information to your Dayton Facebook community groups.
Also, we are still searching for a city planner. It sounds like planners are hard to come by. If you know of someone that might be interested please have them contact city hall.
Radon Mitigation Presentation
For those of you not aware, Radon is a thing. In many homes within Minnesota it's fairly common for levels to be considered hazardous. This presentation was given by Wright county. There are many ways to get your home check for Radon and if you have an interest I would recommend watching this portion of the meeting.
Activity Center Presentation
If you're unaware, our city has an activities coordinator in charge of planning city recreational activities and coordinating rental of the activity center in the Old Village. Contact Address: 18461 Dayton St, Dayton, MN 55327 Phone: (763) 428-4692
Item H (Activity Center Sign)
Throughout my time with the city I occasionally getting presented with something that causes my jaw to drop. And then I have to question... am I off base?
A few years back the city commissioned a group and (naturally) hired a consulting firm to create a brand for the city. The result was what I have called the "tooth paste" branding. I have spoken to a couple members of that committee and it sounds like this consulting firm basically drove this decision. I have yet to hear from anybody that likes it. If you do, feel free to let me know and why. 🙂
Regardless, as part of that effort, the city commissioned a company to design signage for various city properties. Those designs included various types of signs all with a similar theme. For those of you that use the Dayton Interchange you'll see the initial sign as you exit the freeway on the north side.
This item was to approve the creation of a sign in front of the Activity Center in the Old Village. That facility needs a sign but... $27,000 seemed to me to be a ridiculous amount of money to spend on it.
I was the first to give my opinion and I was not alone.
So staff was directed to come back with something more reasonable.
Item I (Appointing City Administrator)
Zach Doud has been our temporary administrator for quite a few months. Prior to that he was our Finance Director. In looking for a permanent replacement, the city went through roughly 15 applications, interviewed 3, and decided on appointing Zach to the position.
I have come to trust Zach and I know he is very familiar with our finances. He also seems to be a customer (resident) focused person. While it's not an easy thing to measure, I believe he does a good job being a buffer between the council and staff. To me those 4 things are a MUST if the council and staff are to provide the best services for the residents.
Item J (Opus)
This industrial development would put 132,000 sq. foot office/warehouse/manufacturing building at the south corner of Dayton Parkway and 81. Last year the council changed that zoning (B4) to NOT allow warehousing because we have a lot of warehousing on the north side of 81 and wanted to see more commercial. Unfortunately this specific property has no way to support the traffic that commercial would require. It has no access to 81 or the parkway and the Territorial access is right on the corner. All of that adds up to traffic problems with high volumes. So this action will allow the office/warehouse use. They don't have customers yet but it sounds like they don't foresee a problem since small office/warehouse/manufacturing are in high demand. Passed 5-0.
Item K (Cemstone)
This was an application for site plan review and permits to allow them to redevelop one of their properties for use as industrial with outdoor storage and an outdoor display for their products. Passed 5-0.
Item L (MTL)
This was a final plat review for the MTL property that sits between the south side of the Dayton Mobile Home park and West French Lake Road. The preliminary plat was approved back in November.
Final plats are normally approved if they've complied with the requirements given them during preliminary approval. It passed 3-2.
This one was a little frustrating in that 2 of the council members voted against it without any discussion of why. The entire point of discussion is so we're all dealing with the same information. My belief is that if we tell someone "no", we owe it to them and the residents as to why.
Item M (Mini Storage)
This was an application for plan review and permit for a mini storage facility. The property is west of the interchange about a 1/2 mile on the north side of Territorial. The only issue here is the lack of water and sewer to the property. There is no plan on needing sewer, but they will need water for irrigation and fire suppression. We will be allowing a local well and storage to accomplish this. It passed 5-0.
Feel free to contact me with questions / opinions on anything!