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Council Information Memorandum 11-12-1987
( t CITY O PumbUTH CITY COUNCIL INFORMATIONAL MEMORANDUM November 12, 1987 UPCOMING MEETINGS AND EVENTS..... 1. PLYMOUTH FORUM -- Monday, November 16, 7:00 p.m. Plymouth Forum in City Council conference room. 2. COUNCIL MEETING -- Monday, November 16, 7:30 p.m. Regular City Council meeting in City Council chambers. 3. PLYMOUTH EMPLOYER RECOGNITION BREAKFAST -- Tuesday, November 17, 7:30 A.M., the 5th annual City of Plymouth Fire Department Employer Recognition Breakfast at the Scanticon Conference Center. This annual event provides a forum for us to express our thanks to the employers whose willingness to permit their employees to actively participate as firefighters helps us maintain our Volunteer Fire Department. If you would like to attend this breakfast, please let Dick Carlquist know by November 16 in order that reservations can be made for you. A copy of the invitation is attached. (M-3) 4. PLANNING COMMISSION STUDY MEETING -- Tuesday, November 17, 6:00 p.m. Planning Commission study meeting in City Council conference room. 5. HRA MEETING -- Thursday, November 19, 6:30 p.m. The Housing and Redevelopment Authority will meet in the City Council chambers. Agenda attached. (M-5) 6. NOVEMBER & DECEMBER CALENDARS -- Meeting calendars for November and December are attached. M-6 7. EMPLOYEE HOLIDAY PARTY -- The Plymouth Employee Holiday Party is set for Saturday, December 5 at the Scanticon Conference Center. Social hour begins at 6:30 p.m., with dinner at 7:30 p.m. Cost: $7.50 per person. If you plan to attend, please contact Laurie or Judy. 8. MEETING REMINDERS: a. Municipal Legislative Commission Regional Breakfast Meeting, Friday, November 20, 7:30 a.m. at Quality Inn Plymouth. b. Meeting with Metro Council Chair, Steve Keefe, Wednesday, November 18, 7:30 a.m. Holiday Inn, 1201 West 94th Street, Bloomington. 3400 PLYMOUTH BOULEVARD, PLYMOUTH, MINNESOTA 55447, TELEPHONE (612) 559-2800 CITY COUNCIL INFORMATIONAL MEMORANDUM November 12, 1987 Page two FOR YOUR INFORMATION.... 1. 1987 RESIDENTIAL SURVEY COST -- Attached is a report from Frank Boyles which clarifies the cost difference between the residential surveys administered by Decisions Resources, Inc. for Plymouth at $6,180, and the City of Inver Grove Heights at $4,210. (I-1) 2. GEESE TRANSLOCATION PROGRAM -- To determine if areas previously identified as geese "problem areas" are accessible for trapping purposes, on December 3, Dick Carlquist and Dr. dim Cooper will conduct field trip inspections at Timber Shores Park, Parkers Lake Park, Zachary Park and East Medicine Lake Beach. The Council will be kept informed of their findings. 3. COUNTY ROAD 61 PARK - NORTH TRAIL -- Attached is a memorandum from Eric Blank on the additlona mo ifications completed on the 34th Avenue trail. Also attached is a letter to Merilee Riley, President, Heritage Homeowners Association, thanking her for assistance in the design/development phases of the park. (I-3) 4. TOWN MEETING RESIDENT FEEDBACK -- Resident feedback forms turned in at the November 9 meeting are attached. As City staff responds to each inquiry, copies will be made available to the Council through the information memo. (I-4) 5. "PETS IN PLYMOUTH" -- Attached is a new brochure outlining the animal control ordinance and animal -related zoning requirements. The brochures will be distributed by Public Safety, Community Development, and the receptionists at the front counter. 6. N.W. HENNEPIN HUMAN SERVICES COUNCIL -- The third quarter report from the Northwest Hennepin Human Services Council is attached. (I-6 ) 7. CONFERENCE/SEMINAR REPORTS -- From October 25 - 29, Frank Boyles and attended the InternationaI City Management Conference in Montreal, Canada. Reports on the conference are attached for the Council's information. (I-7) 8. CITY ATTORNEY BILLING -- Attached is a copy of the City Attorney's client summary for services performed during the month of October. The detailed listing of the bill is on file in the City Manager's office. (I-8) 9. "THE TIES THAT BIND" -- The attached article discussing urban -rural relationships of the Twin Cities and rural Minnesota is from the October 1987 issue of Twin Cities. (I-9) CITY COUNCIL INFORMATIONAL MEMORANDUM November 12, 1987 Page three 10. CORRESPONDENCE: a. Letter from Mr. Paul Volstad, 13895 Industrial Park Boulevard, concerning the Yoga class offered through the City's recreation program. A copy of Mary Patterson's response to Mr. Volstad is also attached, together with evaluation forms submitted by Yoga class participants. (I -10a) b. Letter of appreciation from Dan Medura, to Fred Moore, for the installation of a "dead end" sign on Harbor Lane. (I -10b) dames G. Willis City Manager OGW:Jm attach � Ff CITY OF PLYMOUTFF October 23, 1987 YOU ARE INVITED TO THE 5th PLYMOUTH EPtPLOYER RECOGNITION BREAKFAST. This breakfast event is sponsored each year to publicly recognize persons and Businesses who have contributed to the betterment of the Plymouth Fire Department. One of the reasons that Plymouth enjoys such an effective response to day time fire calls is because of your benevolence. Please set aside Tuesday, November 17, 1987 on your calendar and join us at Scanticon. Breakfast will be served at 7:30 A.M. Firefighters, who are your employees, are also invited. I look forward to meeting you. Sincerely, Vi gil Schneider Mayor R.S.V.P. - Fire Prevention, 559-2800 3400 PLYMOUTH BOULEVARD, PLYMOUTH, MINNESOTA 55447, TELEPHONE (612) 559-2800 CITY OF PLYMOUTH 3400 PLYMOUTH BLVD., PLYMOUTH, MINNESOTA 55447 TELEPHONE (612) 559-2800 DATE: October 22, 1987 TO: Plymouth Firefighters listed be o FROM: Lyle C. Robinson, Fire Chief SUBJECT EMPLOYER RECOGNTION BREAKFAST Plans have been finalized for the City of Plymouth Fire Department Employers Recognition Breakfast. Please set aside Tuesday, November 17 and join us at Scanticon. Breakfast will be served at 0730 hours. We'll look forward to seeing you there. LCR:ly Ralph Begin Brad Johnson Ted Arbogast Joe Dahlstrom Tom Evenson Larry Gratz Mark Jaminski Jim Nolting Chuck Scharlau Jeff Sisk Cary Smith Chuck Veflin Shawn Wimmergren A G E N D A PLYMOUTH HOUSING AND REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY REGULAR MEETING November 19, 1987 6:30 P.M. I. Roll Call II. Approval of Minutes for October 13, 1987 III. Elderly Housing Site, Phase I Financial Analysis of Developers' Proposals IV. Other Business V. Adjournment 8:00 P.M. M� W 1 52 73 r1 W j r i I Q� N � H �1� M ■/�� A b O Vi i• r --a N N a O Li. x H V W ~-00n H G r V- N CO U A N o N N W Cn W W 00 u No NOM CC C7 co F" U z x A O� 3 "� ,°N° N O 0 0~ 10 = o N 0.0 W F-1 W py H rn 10 N u �` � U M O w _ a o N . O CL ^ U p z cz H vai 00 '0 W EC1 O c�1 C 00 �+ W ou ri) o '�'� A W '� N a H W zw � H U O W P4 O . H Cf] a Z O H W Q U O W 'b Z Pa 0 `D O " z �' O cu�o v M �� •U o O U U •� w o c a• H c7 H c7 E- W uy E-4 H Pa H 'zzoz z H"". H H p., H zoU H U' M a'7 to � �z 0'p.,^UW^ E-400 C`'1 a ar-UO w U) a z oa z�m cz '� op- uox �►�Qy CL. - as CL. N UOU O� U oOUoU tr; o°• O W A' UOU ro M 00 �, ¢^- He .F, Cl. ^ a U •z tz �a •z zzov •z uLD wE-•O �z wa OHO czuu=) O W HO =)zowc�a O E -O Uo.ov)�:U r --q ul N ON L c fn N011�RN0 N 1q -4z, M w 1 O C M H t\ H W' z •• a ... N rz-1 E--1 i z Q F O • V U G U O.• c! h^N� o°•y U H� L itis -. fn N011�RN0 N 1q -4z, O fs M U O O U N z"•'•a M H t\ H W' z •• a ... N rz-1 E--1 z Q F O N U G U L itis -. fn N011�RN0 N 1q -4z, O fs M U O O U N z"•'•a M H t\ H W' ... N rz-1 E--1 z N U L fn N011�RN0 a z1 1q -4z, O fs M U O O U N z"•'•a M H t\ H W' ... N rz-1 E--1 z O N N N fn N011�RN0 a z1 -4z, W' ... N � °a z N ;R� O.• h^N� o°•y U O h O U J O U O U N rry a� O i OC- O h V) h r N 0 1 T N LL 1 r ON N ai F- ~ "0 r_- V, VJ O z V') N O O N N N CITY OF PLYMOUTH 3400 PLYMOUTH BLVD., PLYMOUTH, MINNESOTA 55447 TELEPHONE (612) 559-2800 MEMO DATE: November 10, 1987 TO: dames G. Willis, City Manager FROM:VFrank Boyles, Assistant City Manager SUBJECT 1987 RESIDENTIAL SURVEY COST You have provided me with a copy of the Inver Grove Heights survey administered by Decision Resources in February of this year. The materials supplied show that the total cost for survey administration and associated services was $4,210. The Inver Grove Heights survey consisted of some 90 questions with survey administration being Identical to the Plymouth residential survey. You asked, in light of these facts, the basis for the price discrepancy between the Plymouth survey proposed at $6,180 and the Inver Grove Heights survey at $4,210. I spoke with Diane Traxler at Decision Resources. Decisions Resources has conducted two surveys for Inver Grove Heights. The first was done in December 1986 on hazardous waste and the second in February 1987 on park and recreation issues. The first survey cost $4,210. The second survey $4,800. The cost comparison is therefore between $4,800 and $6,1$0. Pricing of city surveys is based upon "question units" and number of respondents. In both the Inver Grove Heights and Plymouth survey, there are a total of 400 respondents. However, the number of question units for each vary dramatically. The Inver Grove Heights survey is considered by Decision Resources to be 60 question units. The Plymouth survey, on the other hand, is considered a total of 83 question units. The first 60 are charged at $4,800 and the remaining 23 at $1,380, for a total price of $6,180. The Inver Grove Heights survey consists of a total of 90 questions. Of those, 46 questions were very brief, dealing with how often a person participates in certain types of recreational activity. For pricing purposes, these 46 questions are collapsed to a substantially smaller number of question units. The Plymouth survey includes only 22 such questions. I believe that the Decision Resources price is reasonable, especially considering the bid supplied by C.J. Olson, based upon 80 structured and 5 open ended questions assuming 30 minutes per interview and 400 interviews. The total quotation for this work was $14,776. 1987 Residential Survey Cost November 10, 1987 Page 2 I hope that the information in this memorandum clarifies the cost difference between the Inver Gove Heights and Plymouth surveys. FB:kec CITY OF PLYMOUTH 3400 PLYMOUTH BLVD., PLYMOUTH, MINNESOTA 55447 TELEPHONE (612) 559-2800 DATE: November 6, 1987 MEMO TO: James G. Willis, City Manager FROM: Eric J. Blank, Director of Parks and Recreation SUBJECT: COUNTY ROAD 61 PARK - NORTH TRAIL On Saturday, October 31, Barber Construction removed the old asphalt and dug up the earth on the 34th Avenue entrance to County Road 61 park. On Monday, November 2, the new trail section was paved. On Tuesday, November 3, I contacted Merilee Riley, President of the Heritage Homeowners Association and asked her to review the new grading of the trail along with some of her neighbors. On Thursday, November 5, Mrs. Riley called me to convey the message that she and a number of the people in the area had reviewed the trail and felt it was a nice improvement. She expressed her thanks to the Mayor and Council for listening to their concerns and acting promptly to improve the conditions. We will now proceed as quickly as possible to sod the banks along the trail, so that the final completion of this project can be closed out. I will keep you informed of any further developments as they arise on our neighborhood park construction projects. WE November 6, 1987 F j J CITY Or- PLYMOUTH rPLYMOUTH Merilee Riley, President Heritage Homeowners Association 13010 37th Avenue N Plymouth, MN 55441 Dear Mrs. Riley: I want to thank you for the time and interest you have shown in the development of the County Road 61 park. I believe you were a great help and influence to the consultant, Park Commission and me during the design and development phases of this park. I wanted to assure you that the most important thing in my mind has always been the development of a safe, clean, and fun park that will bring much enjoyment to the neighborhoods around the park for many years to come. I hope with the additional work we have done on the 34th Avenue trail that we are all closer to reaching that goal. I look forward to working with you and the rest of the citizens in your area to assure that the ongoing maintenance and operation of this park meets with your desires. If I can be of help to you in any way, please give me a call. Again, thank you for all your assistance. Have a nice winter; I hope to see you in the park next summer. Sincerely, Eric J. Blank, Director Parks and Recreation /np cc: City Manager 3400 PLYMOUTH BOULEVARD. PLYMOUTH. MINNESOTA 55447. TELEPHONE (612) 559-2800 —� - I -� ---------------- RESIDENT FEEDBACK FORM Please use this form if you have a question or concern which you would like the City to investigate. If you provide your name, address and phone number, we will advise you of our actions and findings with respect to your concern. NATURE OF CONCERN/PROPERTY ADDRESS INVOLVED: L0u114y gouj XC�h�u�, -���� o /w��, /� l Tb 0,-0(4 Q'C ACTION YOU DESIRE THE CITY TO TAKE: NAME OF CONCERNED RESIDENT: %1�^ 6 ADDRESS OF RESIDENT: PHONE NUMBER: X11-- A G E N D A PLYMOUTH TOWN MEETING AREA 8 November 9, 1967 7:00 p.m. I. INTRODUCTIONS - Mayor Virgil Schneider II. STATUS REPORTS ON ISSUES OF INTEREST - City Department Heads III. QUESTIONS FROM RESIDENTS IN ATTENDANCE IV. CLOSING COMMENTS - Mayor Virgil Schneider V. ADJOURN RESIDENT FEEDBACK FORM Please use this form if you have a question or concern which you would like the City to investigate. If you provide your name, address and phone number, we will advise you of our actions and findings with respect to your concern. NATURE OF CONCERN PROPERTY ADDRESS INVOLVED: ,E,jell � zt Gl i ACTION YOU DESIRE THE CITY TO TAKE: lipkpr— Tke s 4y' - al'110. Al' ee s NAME OF CONCERNED RESIDENT: - L CT C /-!/./- ADDRESS OF RESIDENT: / s'�y$' 9,PZ- h �% b PHONE NUMBER: 14" 5 S %— 198-7 j .29` _ 9�s A G E N D A PLYMOUTH TOWN KcETIN', AREA 8 November 9, 1987 7:00 p.m. I. INTRODUCTIONS - Mayor Virgil Schneider II. STATUS REPORTS ON ISSUES OF INTEREST - City Department Heads III. QUESTIONS FROM RESIDENTS IN ATTENDANCE IV. CLOSING COMMENTS - Mayor Virgil Schneider V. ADJOURN RESIDENT FEEDBACK FORM Please use this form if you have a question or concern which you would like the City to investigate. If you provide your name, address and phone number, we will advise you of our actions and findings with respect to your concern. NATURE OF CONCERN/PROPERTY ADDRESS INVOLVED: ,j"jyrU Caar Y ACTION YOU DESIRE THE CITY TO TAKE: -1- I-VA5 Z!�2= 7Y47- 72W445 LAKE~ i o �r t G 4YZOW 74' 75VIC 1LAN . 41,rwT !t T//! ��/E!?�t� OF �i� �M£s�f 2 NAME OF CONCERNED RESIDENT: &uRN P06Y ADDRESS OF RESIDENT: 381s pxr-kin j -*MC IVo PHONE NUMBER: �rq - 1.3 LSF A G E N D A PLYMOUTH TOWN MEETING AREA 8 November 9, 1987 7:00 p.m. I. INTRODUCTIONS - Mayor Virgil Schneider II. STATUS REPORTS ON ISSUES OF INTEREST - City Department Heads III. QUESTIONS FROM RESIDENTS IN ATTENDANCE IV. CLOSING COMMENTS - Mayor Virgil Schneider V. ADJOURN RESIDENT FEEDBACK FORM Please use this form if you have a question or concern which you would like -- the -City to investigate. If you provide your name, address and phone number, we will advise you of our actions and findings with respect to your concern. NATURE OF CONCERN/PROPERTY ADDRESS INVOLVED: J� 2la �� S� - d�✓�5 ©af 74�rYP r ACTION YOU DESIRE THE CITY TO TAKE: J90 /1; 51P �n NAME Of CONCERNED RESIDENT: ADDRESS OF RESIDENT: 3 ©�CZ�Q -PHONE NUMBER: �oli k -co 4 Cr r.P -�0,4V-- 2 -7---I—\ A G E N D A PLYMOUTH TO" MEETING AREA 8 November 9, 1987 7:00 p.m. I. INTRODUCTIONS - Mayor Virgil Schneider II. STATUS REPORTS ON ISSUES OF INTEREST - City Department Heads III. QUESTIONS FROM RESIDENTS IN ATTENDANCE IV. CLOSING COMMENTS - Mayor Virgil Schneider V. ADJOURN RESIDENT FEEDBACK FORM Please use this form if you have a question or concern which you would like the City to investigate. If you provide your name, address and phone number, we will advise you of our actions and findings with respect to your concern. NATURE OF CONCERN/PROPERTY ADDRESS INVOLVED: ACTION ,YOU DESIRE THE CITY TO TAKE:/c.(c, � lQ-�-e-- NAME OF CONCERNEDJt€SIBE-NT : ADDRESS OF RESIDENL• PHONE NUMBER: — f9G 5z -=,-.)-A . A G E N D A PLYMOUTH TOWN MEETING AREA 8 November 9, 1987 7:00 p.m. I. INTRODUCTIONS - Mayor Virgil Schneider II. STATUS REPORTS ON ISSUES OF INTEREST - City Department Heads III. QUESTIONS FROM RESIDENTS IN ATTENDANCE IV. CLOSING COMMENTS - Mayor Virgil Schneider V. ADJOURN RESIDENT FEEDBACK FORM Please use this form if you have a question or concern which you would like the City to investigate. If you provide your name, address and phone number, we will advise you of our actions and findings with respect to your concern. NATURE OF CONCERN/ PROPERTY ADDRESS INVOLVED: ��OQ inn /hOdi�ic�ctrrm Of eo. "ed, 1 V 1C sbGoer ,Cn . )b Zy� /� '14is 1 dad MVdl7'1 c�fsri /s 67 //? 1,11pur&'j s /Q9d D/an , alt WAa ' 00/ i (V17 &ie arrfrGT � rr�0iit 6un� ACTION YOU DESIRE THE CITY TO TAKE: W/// ` &,broil *e /0/0,n & AAV146,le 7Wacs,- vlewly NAME OF CONCERNED RESIDENT: ADDRESS OF RESIDENT: 146 /6 - p'k )Dmct- 1JaR7-11 PHONE NUMBER: // JT5--7- I/p(, 4) a96 - a4(11 A G E N D A PLYMOUTH TOWN MEETING AREA 8 November 9, 1987 7:00 p.m. I. INTRODUCTIONS - Mayor Virgil Schneider II. STATUS REPORTS ON ISSUES OF INTEREST - City Department Heads III. QUESTIONS FROM RESIDENTS IN ATTENDANCE IV. CLOSING COMMENTS - Mayor Virgil Schneider V. ADJOURN RESIDENT FEEDBACK FORM Please use this form if you have a question or concern which you would like the City to investigate. If you provide your name, address and phone number, we will advise you of our actions and findings with respect to your concern. NATURE OF CONCERN/PROPERTY ADDRESS INVOLVED:c\`� ACTION YOU DESIRE THE CITY TO TAKE: NAME OF CONCERNED _ ADDRESS OF RESIDENT: 9 S 1-- -T PHONE NUMBER: A G E N D A PLYMOUTH T0WN METING AREA 8 November 9, 1987 7:00 p.m. I. INTRODUCTIONS - Mayor Virgil Schneider Ii. STATUS REPORTS ON ISSUES OF INTEREST - City Department Heads III. QUESTIONS FROM RESIDENTS IN ATTENDANCE IV. CLOSING COMMENTS - Mayor Virgil Schneider V. ADJOURN RESIDENT FEEDBACK FORM Please use this form if you have a question or concern which you would like the City to investigate. If you provide your name, address and phone number, we will advise you of our actions and findings with respect to your concern./ I � err r/1 G -A-'"`-' NATURE OF CONC RN/PROPERTY AD RESS INVOLVED:CZA DTHE CITY TO TAKE: w DESIRE .��`'��✓ ACTION YOU NAME OF CONCERNED RESIDENT: ADDRESS OF RESIDENT: PHONE NUMBER: � S2- l rS 0 A G E N D A PLYMOUTH TOWN MEETING AREA 8 November 9, 1987 7:00 p.m. I. INTRODUCTIONS - Mayor Virgil Schneider II. STATUS REPORTS ON ISSUES OF INTEREST - City Department Heads III. QUESTIONS FROM RESIDENTS IN ATTENDANCE IV. CLOSING COMMENTS - Mayor Virgil Schneider V. ADJOURN RESIDENT FEEDBACK FORM Please use this form if you have a question or concern which you would like the City to investigate. If you provide your name, address and phone number, we will advise you of our actions and findings with respect to your concern. Of NATURE OF CONCERN/PROPERTY ADDRESS INVOLVED: MP�e q �UP�s�n�or�noo� .n�l� , n �r �� c.'r' ACTION YOU DESIRE THE CITY TO TAKE:0 4v �-Q�lit�/ G �P GI Ery C L4 P G' NAME OF CONCERNED RESIDENT: ADDRESS OF RESIDENT: �d-Oz) PHONE NUMBER: C�` 7- — Qf I I NORTHWEST HENNEPIN November 9, 1987 TO: Plymouth City Council HUMAN SERVICES COUNCIL FROM: Northwest Hennepin Human Services un it Patricia Wilder, Executive Direct RE: Third Quarter Report Enclosed you will find Northwest Hennepin Human Services Council's part of the 3rd quarter report. West Hennepin Human Services Planning Hoard will be attaching their activities and will be sending the full report to you in the near future. Please call if you have any questions. Thank you for your support. M BROOKLYN CENTER CORCORAN GOLDEN VALLEY MAPLE GROVE PLYMOUTH BROOKLYN PARK CRYSTAL HANOVER NEW HOPE ROBBINSDALE CHAMPLIN DAYTON HASSAN OSSEO ROGERS 7323 - 58th Avenue N. • Crystal, MN 55428 (612) 536-0327 MEMO TO: City of Plymouth City Council and Staff MEMO FROM: Marcy Shapiro, Director West Hennepin Human Services Planning Board Patricia Wilder, Director Northwest Hennepin Human Services Council SUBJECT: Third Quarter Report, 1987 The following information is being submitted as per your request for quarterly updates from human service agencies funded by the City of Plymouth. The report contains four sections; Committee and Network Updates, Special Events and Activities Updates, Program Information and a description of joint efforts by the two Councils. COMMITTEE UPDATES Northwest Hennepin Human Services Council: Public Communications Committee met several times and discussed the CSSA summary report, telephone survey publicity, and an updated emergency services brochure. An Advisory Commissioner's brochure was completed during this quarter(see enclosed). The Membership Committee met August 26, 1987 to review Council and municipal recognition activities. The Committee will contact the Minnesota Office on Volunteer Services and have them forward volunteer recognition materials to the Council. Committee recommended the use of Certificates of Recognition for Advisory Commissioners when their term is completed, at reappointment, and when a resignation occurs. Committee recommends having Board Chair and City Mayor signatures on the Certificate of Recognition. Committee also recommended Commission recognition at the annual meeting and in the annual report. Recommendations for the Annual Meeting Committee, Public Communications Committee and future Membership Committees will be developed at the membership Committee's last meeting, September 23, 1987. Emergency Services Providers Meeting: Directors and staff from area foodshelf programs met June 24, 1987 at Thorson Center. A discussion on altering the current Commodity Distribution Program was held. Community Emergency Assistance Program (CEAP) and People Responding In Social Ministry (PRISM), for one month, will store and distribute excess commodities through their foodshelves. This will allow commodities recipients to use additional services available at these two sites. In addition, the Red Cross Home Delivery Program will distribute commodities once a month, rather than once every two months, to homebound or disabled persons. The South Hennepin Human Services Council is also considering implementing this change in the way they distribu�,e commodities. The service providers heard a presentation from Jeri Boisvert, Supervisor, Hennepin County Economic Assistance Department. The providers were updated on changes in program eligibility requirements and various procedural changes. The Red Cross reported that it has a one-time Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) grant of $25,000.00 for rent assistance. Providers discussed data privacy and information release procedures. All providers will incorporate release of information procedures into their intake process. Senior Services Network meeting: The Network Steering Committee held its first meeting September 2, 1987. The Steering Committee decided on quarterly Network meetings to be held at provider sites on a rotational basis. Network Co -Chairs are Barbara Bailey, Golden Valley Senior Services and Melinda Ludwiczak, District #281 Senior Services. The Steering Committee will hold its initial meeting November 12, 1987 and will ask the Council Director and Melinda Ludwiczak to speak. Proposed speaker for the January 1988 meeting will be Hal Freshley, Metropolitan Council Aging Division Planner. Northwest Child Abuse Network: The Network met August 4, 1987. The featured speaker was Barb Peterson, from Project Impact. Project Impact is sponsored by the Minnesota Interagency Team on Child Abuse and Neglect. The goals of this state-wide organization include: 1) Building communication and cooperation between professionals. 2) Improving child abuse detection, intervention, adjudication, and treatment through training. 3) Recommending consistant guidelines to the criminal justice system to improve response to child abuse cases. The Northwest Child Abuse Steering Committee met on July 79 1987. The Committee has also scheduled Pete Dimmick, Therapist, Pilot City, in October to discuss male sexual abuse identification and intervention techniques. The Committee also reviewed a Network Membership Survey and has agreed to change its name to the Northwest Child and Family Abuse Network to reflect its focus on all forms of family violence, domestic abuse, and adolescent issues. Senior Services Network: Several months ago, the Council conducted a focus group with area senior services providers. These providers represented agencies that provide senior housing, transportation, congregate dining, home delivered meals, medical services, educational services, legal services, and chore services. Several participants noted that coordination and client access to these services could be enhanced. The Council has proposed the establishment of a "Senior Services Network" that would meet on a regular basis at the Thorson Center or at provider sites on a rotational basis. A questionaire was sent to area providers to determine interest level and needs that providers feel could be met by forming an area senior services network. Responses have been very positive and include representation from the major senior programs in the area as well ,as from a number of smaller organizations. A steering committee will be formed to develop goals and a structure for the network in the latter part of August. Home Free Advi<_sory Committee met on August 27, 1987. The fourth presentation of the Home Free Shelter presentation series: Children's Advocacy Program by Brenda Ewing - McKinney, was held during this meeting. SPECIAL EVENTS/ACTIVITIES Northwest Hennepin Human Services Council The following events or activities occurred in the third quarter of 1987. Hennepin County CSSA Annual Report: Bob Ansel, Hennepin County liaison to the NWHHSC, met with staff to discuss an annual report from the human services councils that is being proposed by Hennepin County. The report would be solicited through an interview of the council Executive Director by the County liaison in December of each year. Information to be collected will include updated board member information, numbers of meetings held and attendance figures, description of Community Social Services Act activities conducted during the previous year, and suggestions for improved communication with Hennepin County. Play and Humor Workshop: Approximately fifty area service providers attended a play and humor workshop co-sponsored by the NWHHSC and five other area agencies on September 3, 1987. Twenty-five different agencies were represented by those in attendance. The Northwest Network is considering sponsoring an additional training event in late fall, 1987. SUT-PIUS Commodities: A volunteer recognition potluck and awards took: place after the September 19, 1987 commodities distribution at Thorson Center. The event was co-sponsored by the NWHHSC and the NW Branch of teh Red Cross. Presenters included Marty Gates and Madeline Roach from the State, Jobs and Training Department, Bob Andre; CASH, Patti Hague; Red Cross, Ellie Schmeltzer and Patricia Wilder, NWHHSC staff. Bob Andre, Director of C.A.S.H. has requested a contract modification with the NWHHSC for the commodities distribution program. He is requesting that the NWHHSC order quantities in addition to those needed for the usual bi-monthly distributions for on-going distribution from C.E.A.P. and P.R.I.S.M. This approach would be treated as "experimental" and would hopefully make commodities available between the major distributions to low-income persons who need them. NWHHSC staff has ordered some additional commodities items to begin the implementation of this "experiment" with the August 15, 1987 distribution. Additional logistics such as storage arrangements, transport of the commodities, more precise estimates of quantities to be ordered, and registration procedures at C.E.A.P. and P.R.I.S.M. will be worked out in August for the September, 1987 distribution. Municipal Profile Update: As requested at the August 12, 1907 Executive Board meeting, staff is preparing three-ring binders with the updated Municipal Profile data. These binders will be given to each Executive Board member to keep as a "master copy". Each Executive Board member will provide updated information to their respective City Council. The updated Profiles will be given to Board members mid-September 1987. NWHHSC Location: Thorson Community Center- will no longer be open as a Community Center as of June, 1988. Rental options are being explored by staff for relocation with efforts to be in the geographic demographic center of the NW region and in affordable space. Current rental costs are only $3,500.00 annually. Management and Leadership Sub -committee of United Way in Minneapolis was attended by staff on September 10, 1987. The United Way training funds for this year have been used up. Non -Profit Tax Law Update meeting sponsored by United Way was attended to obtain information related to tax law changes for non-profit organizations. Executive Director Search activities occurred during July, August and September. Approximately 87 candidates applied. Candidates were screened. Interviews were conducted in August with a candidate selected, Patricia Wilder, who started on September 7, 1987. Outreach Workplan was developed for the new staff position and submitted to CASH with the job description to facilitate a contract for funding of the position effective October 1, 1987. Energy Assistance Outreach has included staff recruitment of volunteers, conducting volunteer training and producing training manuals and intake materials. The Energy Assistance Program start-up date was October 1, 1987. JOINT EFFORTS: In addition to separate agency activities, the Northwest Hennepin Human Services Council and the West Hennepin Human Services Planning Board also jointly worked on projects and committees to expand united resources. Joint efforts during the third quarter of 1987 included: Plymouth City Council Hearing:_ Northwest Hennepin Human Services Council and West Hennepin Human Services Planning Board presented their budget requests before the Plymouth City Council on September 14, 1987. Benefit -Analysis Meetings with a MAP consultant, Ronald Tollefson, from First Bank of Minneapolis, occurred on several occasions in an effort to examine benefit areas included paid holidays, sick leave, insurance package options. Hennepin County Budget Briefing with Michael Weber presenting on September 24th at Brookside Community Center. Covered information on the new Mental Health Act provisions, County program increases, changes and new innovations in services. Suburban Research Network met with planners from the Suburban Human Service_, Councils, United Way, Hennepin County Management and Planning Division, and Hennepin County Purchase of Service Office was held July 8, 1987. The purpose of this meeting was to review the current human service data collection system in Hennepin County. It was agreed that a fall or winter planners' forum would be useful. Several representatives suggested coordination issues as well as information -sharing activities be highlighted at the forum. Additional meetings will be scheduled to plan the content, and audience for the forum. CASH/McKnight Initiative in conjunction with the three suburban councils, convened a suburban -wide meeting of service providers working with families in poverty. This meeting was scheduled for September 17, 1987 at the Eisenhower Community Center. The McKnight Foundation will present its program at this meeting. Follow-up meetings for the northwest providers has been scheduled for September 28, 1987 at the Thorson Center. Coordinating Council: The Coordinating Council met July 14, and August 18 to prepare its CSSA presentation before the Hennepin County Ways' and Means Committee. The presentation is scheduled for September 14, 1:30 p.m. Steve Lundell, the Coordinating Councils' Suburban Co -Chair, will give the presentation. The presentation will consist of a (1) a summary on four commonly -held priorities; subsidized child care, emergency food and shelter, mental health counseling, and chemical abuse prevention. (2) activities of the Service Coordination Task Force and (3) recommendations regarding case management, information systems, and evaluation of contracted programs. CSSA/Lobbying Task Force met on September 3, 1987 to review the proposed 1988 Community Services Department budget and develop a lobbying strategy to advocate for our CSSA priorities. The Community Services budget as forwarded to the County Board calls for 0% increases for many of the contract programs operating in northwest Hennepin Council. Overall, the Department is requesting a 12'% increase, or approximately $3,000,000.00. Much of this increase is targeted for mental retardation ($5,000,000.00), family services ($2,000,000.40), and daycare services ($3,000,000.00). However, state and federal funds account for much of the $3,000,000.00 increase in daycare funding. Long Range Planning efforts during the third quarter involved selecting three consultants to facilitate this process. A joint board, advisory commission and staff meeting with one of the consultants occurred in September where long range trends were addressed to "set the stage" for future discussions. Mental Health Aftercare Providers are co -staffed by Northwest Hennepin Human Services Council and West Hennepin Human Services Planning Hoard. The meetings held during this quarter included much discussion on the new mental health legislation. The Northwest Hennepin Human Services Council's Advisory Commission meets monthly and has been working on developing a workplan for the year. PLYMOUTH NORTHWEST HENNEPIN HUMAN SERVICES COUNCIL EMERGENCY SERVICES PROGRAM REPORT THIRD QUARTER ENDING SEPTEMBER 309 1987 EgB99N9 SERVER 3RD 904 1987* PLYMOUTH 26 * H_0_M_E_F_R_E_E_ 14 TOTAL 40 EXPENDITURES 3RD OTR_ 1987_ PLYMOUTH $969.96 * HOMEFREE $395_20 TOTAL $1,365.16 EXPENDITURES BY SERVICE PROVIDED 3RD QTR_ 1987: PLYMOUTH * HOMEFREE FOOD $400.00 - RENT ASSISTANCE $300.00 - MOTEL $75.00 $210.00 TRANSPORTATION - $185.20 UTILITY ASSISTANCE $194.96 --- =-__ TOTAL $969.96 $395.20 1ST QUARTER _ THIRD QUARTER 1987 $969.96 $2,611.96 PERSONS SERVED_ - ----- ------ 1ST QTR. --- - - 2ND QTR. 3RD QTR. --- ---- - - - -- TOTAL - --- PLYMOUTH 5 16 26 47 * HOMEFREE 25 10 14 49 TOTAL 30 26 40 96 EXPENDITURES: PLYMOUTH $486.00 $1,156.00 $969.96 $2,611.96 * HOMEF'REE $223_00 $374_50 $395_20 __$992_70 TOTAL $709.00 $1,530.50 $1,365.16 $3,604.66 * HOMEFREE CLIENTS MAY OR MAY NOT BE PLYMOUTH RESIDENTS ..� W CO V� Z2 D4 O °C U� O WCL V °- N > W� irUT w>x OC w UJ ZCf) °C dE =W� cc CC M �W i � W W ~w = U _ ~ U- F- = o w OCD Za � z Q 0 C3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 m w wo w� CE UJ w CC :�i_ O F- M *O AL J C/) LLJ U Oc Z o0 Uz w COX Ww UCO �w �V W OAC �w Z� �U �Z �w Z C) cc LLIM Ww 3: = mr O C a� Z a. co LU T. Q D a 0 cc W CCQ J 0 0 Z 0 0 C) Q 0 c� CC 0 0 0 0 0 LO 0 LO 0 LO N N `- � 10 0 w w my L� w 00 =W 49ir 0 2 =d �w 0 } z 170 0 H w J U w w U- w 2 O CITY OF PLYMOUTH CONFERENCE/SEMINAR REPORT DATE OF SEMINAR/CONFERENCE: October 25 - October 29, 1987 LOCATION: Montreal Canada EMPLOYEE ATTENDING: dames G. Willis TOTAL COST: $1,277 PURPOSE/THEME OF SEMINAR/CONFERENCE: The annual meetinq of the International City Management Association (ICMA), is the annual meeting of city managers and other urban administrators throughout the United States, Canada and numerous foreign countries. The annual meeting provides a form for this diverse group of managers to meet together in conference to discuss and explore a broad range of current or emerging public management issues. DESCRIBE BENEFIT TO EMPLOYEE/CITY: As with any major conference, there are several concurrent meetings going on at any given time. This year those meetings involved international issues, basic management issues, partnerships and "nuts and bolts" issue themes. My interest generally focused around the "nuts and bolts" types of meetings where one is able to deal with more specific hands on issues. I also appreciate the opportunity to meet with colleagues from throughout the country to share ideas and discuss issues. I feel substantially recharged after having been able to attend an ICMA annual conference because I have had the opportunity of hearing of the ongoing experience of other managers as they and their communities try to cope with their own problems. It is likewise refreshing as so many of the problems concerning most urban managers revolve around decay and decline and how that process effects their day to day operations. It certainly strengthens the resolve I have to insure that we do everything to develop mechanisms to avoid such problems in the years ahead for Plymouth. One interesting trend I observed is that more an more city managers are recognizing that long-term reliance upon either their state or even the national government is not productive. The "partnership" has too many built in conflicts. If cities want to remain viable, they must develop mechanisms to help themselves and not wait for handouts from either their state or federal government. As a postscript, Montreal is a vibrant city, in fact it is the second largest French speaking city in the world behind Paris. It has enjoyed a substantial rebirth since the late 1960's while working to preserve its French heritage. It has a supurb subway system which is clean, efficient and well utilized. I noted, however, that the farebox pays only 42% of the operating costs. Some things don't change. NOTE: A copy of seminar/conference educational materials should be retained in appropriate department for not less than 10 working days following the employee's return. CITY OF PLYMOUTH CONFERENCE/SEMINAR REPORT DATE OF SEMINAR/CONFERENCE: 10/25 - 10/29 LOCATION: Montreal Canada EMPLOYEE ATTENDING: Frank Boyles TOTAL COST: $1,183.36 PURPOSE/THEME OF SEMINAR/CONFERENCE: Annual International City Management Conference. Includes various sessions on numerous topics. Topics ranged from: comparison of U.S. and Canadian local governments; state and local initiatives to keep the USA competitive with the world; creative thinking; dealing with personal crisis; and a wide variety of other sessions. DESCRIBE BENEFIT TO EMPLOYEE/CITY: Benefits to Employee: I gave a round table discussion presentation on romp -arable Worth and in the process learned other ways of looking at the issue. One session dealing with making America competitive focused largely on education as a means of making the American worker comparable to his/her European/Asian counterparts. I can begin to support this concept at home first and through participation in the school district. Another session dealt with managing personal conflict, i.e., those crises which are a part of the growth process. A threefold strategy was offered to deal with such circumstances which I have already used. Benefits to City: I had the opportunity to learn what others were doing on certain issues. Some of the ideas may be useful for our proposes. Finally, I attended a session on creative problem solving which I am considering recommending as training for City personnel. NOTE: A copy of seminar/conference educational materials should be retained in appropriate department for not less than 10 working days following the employee's return. LeFEVERE, LEFLER, KENNEDY, O'BRIEN 5 DRAWZ a Professional Association 2000 First Bank Place West Minneapolis, Minnesota 55402 Telephone: (612) 333-0543 Page 1 November 10, 1987 C L I F. N T S U M M A R Y City of Plymouth MATTER # MATTER NAME *110 General 1024 Codification FEES DISB 8,130.00 695.27 von TOTAL $8,825.27 $170.67 $6,863.08 $7,220.55 $658.18 $1,085.40 $37.50 $22.50 $630.00 $93.75 $82.20 $15.00 $258.30 75.00 95.67 111 Prosecution - Court Time 6,717.75 145.33 111A Prosecution -Office Time 6,626.50 594.05 1883 Robert Middlemist 6th Addition 825.00 33.18 3281 Project 455 - Eminent Domain 1,080.00 5.40 3729 Dunkirk Lane - Proiect 408 37.50 3845 Neutgens, K. M. - Zoning Violation 22.50 3888 Police Officer Negotiations 630.00 4339 Project 609 Stroman v. City 93.75 4701 Project 655 - Easement Acquisition 75.00 7.20 4770 Foster Land Acquistion-Project 431 15.00 4898 Berthiaune Land Registration 247.50 10.80 von TOTAL $8,825.27 $170.67 $6,863.08 $7,220.55 $658.18 $1,085.40 $37.50 $22.50 $630.00 $93.75 $82.20 $15.00 $258.30 Page 2 November 10, 1967 C L I E N T S U M M A R Y City of Plymouth MATTER # MATTER NAME FEES DISB TOTAL 5066 Benson V. City of Plymouth 15.00 $15.00 *5087 Recycling/Source Separation 30.00 $30.00 5195 Suburban Hennepin Regional v. City 15.00 $15.00 5248 Project 648 - Eminent Domain 105.00 3,146.00 $3,251.00 *5284 Aesthetics Task Force 65.00 $65.00 5314 Van 494 Land Registration 285.00 32.70 $317.70 5322 Project 762 - Eminent Domain ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 516.50 5.40 $521.90 TOTAL: $25,607.00 $4,771.00 $30,378.00 *Retainer (Credit) -2,225.00 TOTAL: $28,153.00 There canbe no doubt that there is ton.Teat a tenden- CI tirpopulation to floe frown the counT11AT - tn to the city. To be sure, the cite must aliva►s be fed from the countn; but the latter as well as thefor ier has need and opportunities for the progressive man. Too man•progressiae, energetic young men leave the countn: —From an editorial in The .11inneapolis Journal, January 22. 1902 1TTLE IS EXACTLY " NEN " iN THE RELATIONSHIP BE- le the city and the countn,. The basic trend was about 1.000 years old schen the journal's editorialist decried it. It started when the lord of some medieval manor equipped his serfs with improved plows and harnesses, ordered them to rotate his crops, and for the first time in history produced more food from a tract of land than the people living on that land could eat. Capitalism arose from that first surplus production. So did modern cities—that is, cities as economic centers, not merely I" ^iical and religious centers. So did competition among farm- ers, and the resultnyg rural -to -urban migration. And so did worries that all of this was sure to be the ruin of humankind. The trouble with gradual historical trends is that there is nothing gradual about what happens to all the individuals involved. The urbanization of the Western world, statisticallv as slow and steadv as a shadow creeping up a wall, has brought sudden tragedy into the lives of uncounted millions of people, including of late quite a fey, Minnesota farmers. Their agony is very real and hard to hatch. but the only really new thing about it is that we are watch- ing. that television cameras are humming as farms are auctioned and lives are uprooted. For the viewer in the Twin Cities, some- thing else is peculiar: These farmers and their tragedies seem a million miles away. though many are within an hour's drive. This morning's Star and Tribune gives me the latest economic bulle- tin from theTwin Cities. "Upscale Eden Prairie leading urban spray,]." the headline reads. It seems there's some danger that Edina will be eclipsed as "the suburb of choice for families ii ho h-e'arrived.' " odd the televised departures from family Lrnys and the upscale arrivals in Eden Prairie are what statisticians call "anecdotal" information—not always reliable. Yet. in this case, experts agree that the anecdotes paint a fair likeness of real trends. "The Twin Cities et -0110111v is healthy." a says by U • J Thomas Stinson, a University of Min- nesota economist and, since July, Minnesota's state economist. "The rural economy is not healthy." But the same experts caution that the Twin Cities' immunity to rural economic afflictions is strict- ly limited—that some viruses are maddeningly complex and slow to incubate. Will Twin Citians be hurt by economic crisis in the country? " Very substantially," says Philip Raup, a professor at the university's department of agricultural and applied econom- ics. "And re n- indirectly." HISTORICALLY. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE TWIN CITIES and the neighboring rural economy has been anything but in- direct. Minneapolis and St. Paul grew up along the banks of the Mississippi River as market towns, gathering the produce of Up- per Midwest farmers and lumbermen for shipment to other parts of the country, and in turn sending goods, sen -ices, and capital out to those rural businessmen. Thousands of American towns and cities were founded in exactly the same way. 1» the Twin Cities, however, something unusual happened. As the frontier pushed rapidly westward from the Mississippi, no great new cities appeared to challengeMinneapolis and St. Paul, in the way that Nashville had appeared to challenge Knoxville, or Louisville to challenge Cincinnati, or Kansas City to challenge St. Louis. John Borchert, Regents' professor of geography at the University of Minnesota and author of America's Xorthem Heart- land, recently published by the University of Minnesota Press, explains that the Twin Cities happened to come along just as im- proved railroad technology was making it possible for market centers to be "farther apart than was ever before possible." The Twin Cities also arose on the extreme northwestern edge of America's first great wave of settlement. The rich farm regions of Minnesota, the Dakotas, Iowa, and Nebraska were destined to be sparsely populated compared with similarly fine agricultural areas in Ohio. Indiana, and Illinois. The result, Borchert says, was "an extraordinary concentration of this region's resources, and a community ]in the Twin Cities] that in terns of entrepreneurial skill and information, in terms of money capital and human capital, reached some sort of critical mass by the 1920s. Had it been different, had the region's popu- lation and wealth been more dispersed among a • tree larger number of smaller centers, there would have D. J. Tice is a freelance writer echo lives in .Minneapolis. •rtt iN: (Trine #1VTO111:9 1097 61 been a net loss to the Upper Midwest economy. If Vol, look at areas where resources were dispersed in that way, say between Knoxville and Nashville and ;Memphis and Chattanooga, you see that they're not better off as a result." The early development of a great urban center in the Upper Midwest was not an inevitability, but a "happy historical acci- dent," according to Borchert. Certainly, though, Twin Citians were diligent about helping that accident along. In September 1929, Minneapolis city planner A.C. Godward tried his hand at futurism (with considerable success) in a Minneapolis Joumal ar- ticle titled " iMinneapolis, 1979." Godward was still worried about the Twin Cities, which, even so, has been above the national aver- age. [The rural crisis] hasn't depressed the metro area—it's only slowed its rate of increase." Yet it is not entirely clear that the Twin Cities could support a much faster rate of growth. Last spring, unemployment in the metro area fell below four percent, a level generally thought to represent "full employment." There were reports of labor short. ages in many industries, even though population in the metro area has soared since 1980, mostly in the affluent suburbs and by as much as 16 percent in some metro counties. The median Twin Cities family today has an annual income of around $35,000, well The threat to the Twin Cities, to put it plainly and ., p p y uncharitably, is that mauitalnuig good roads schools and Public services in troubled rural- communities might become a ponderous burden on metro a tax ers, And i ' taxpayers, is not a burden the Twin Cities can afford to lay down. urban rivals. "If Minneapolis continues to give senice to its trade territory efficiently and economically, it will prosper," he wrote. "If it does not, the competition of other cities, also strategically lo- cated in relation to this trade area, will retard the growth of our cite." It didn't happen. The Twin Cities' position as the undisputed economic hub of the Upper Midwest was firm as the postwar eco- nomic boom began. The irony is that it was precisely the Twin Cit- ies' pre-eminence as a service center to the surrounding rural economy that in time freed the metro area from economic depen- dence on the countryside. The market -town foundation eventually became so large as to create a substantially self-sufficient urban economy, and to permit the development of industries that focus on national and international markets—not on the rural econo- my of the Upper Midwest. As Ted Kolderie, a senior fellow at the university's Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, asks, "What does rural Minnesota mean to Cray Research?" Answer: Not much more than rural Texas, or rural Belgium. The 1987Economic Report to the Governor, prepared by a coa- lition of state agencies, cites a study suggesting that in 1984 more than 35 percent of Twin Cities businesses considered their pri- mary market "national." The second largest number, just under 25 percent, described their major market as "local." There was a virtual tie between Twin Cities businesses that were focused on "export" markets and those focused on "regional" markets. Says Wilbur Maki, another U of tM economist, '*The Twin Cities econ- orny is now geared to the national and world economy. Its exports go outside the state and the region, by and large." The result of that gear shift, plain for all to see, has been a robust economic recovery in the Twin Cities since the national recession of 1981-82, even as the rural economy, in Minnesota and beyond, has continued to contract painfully. "We've had recession in the outstate economy since 1981," DlAki says. "Now, if we hadn't had that long recession outstate, we'd have had an even larger resurgence in economic activity in 62 TWIN CITIES OCTOBER 1987 above the national average and increasing faster than the national average. Moreover, as Sung Won Sohn, senior rice president and chief economist at Norwest Corporation, points out, many of the economic setbacks the Twin Cities area has suffered in recent years—such as the major layoffs at Control Data Corporation— have had little clear relationship to rural economic woes. Sohn points out, however, that not all Twin Cities businesses and workers are equally protected from rural troubles, that there are thin spots in the insulation. Norwest, Sohn says, "has a lot of coun- tn- banks throughout Minnesota, and there's no question that those banks suffered." Norvest's total of troubled domestic loans bal- looned from $118 million in 1980 to $433 million in 1983, con- tributing to a sharp earnings decline that has been prolonged by difficulties with foreign loans. But it's also telling that Nonvest's domestic business has significantly recovered in the past several years as the corporation has trimmed its agricultural -loan portfolio and turned to more business and consumer lending. A growing number of Twin Cities firms can do business with the rural areas when that business is good—and have alternatives when it is not. To be sure, some Twin Cities companies lack such handy, op- tions. Firms that rely heavily on selling goods and ser -vices to farm- ers and other rural businesses—agricultural cooperatives such as Land 0' Lakes, for example, and sonic machinery manufac- turers—have suffered along with their custorners. Yet some com- panies whose names leap to mind when one considers the eco- nomic interaction of the Twin Cities and its rural surroundings— Pillsbury, General Mills, Cargill, International ,1ltilt ifoods—have restructured their businesses over the years in ways that give fur- ther insulation to [fie metro econornv. Philip Raup observes that such companies have moved many of their processing plants out of the Twin Cities, while keeping their administrative and management operations here. Jobs at corporate headquarters are less Vulnerable to rural economic hardships than the processing jobs that were sent eLsew•here. AL:o. to he to ,ut_ •ea as vin .ell D1 's onal and ithe cent in— and are oun- hose bal- con- d by est's yeral tfolio .wing areas s not. y op- farm - ch as ufac- com- eco- 'lgs- -have e fur - many .ping ,bs at rorllic Also, i -9 many of the problems besetting farmers, such as falling cornmodi- Nor are all farmers today in trouble. "There was an idea in the ty prices, are less than entirely disagreeable for food-processing Seventies," says Philip Raup, "that the world was running out of firms. General Mills, for one, reported record profits for the fis- food and only the United States could feed it. That was wrong, ,old cal ytar ended May 31, 1987. it's quite evident now that it was wrong. A lot of farmers reject - So the T%, -;n Citian Latching a farm family sundered from its ed that (idea), and many of there are in good shape today." By land on the 10 o'clock news isn't entirely wrong to feel that the and large, the farmers in crisis are those who loaded up ' debt event is strangely distant. The metamorphosis of the Twin Cities, during the inflationary 1970x, as well as many younger farmers from America's biggest farm town to one of the nation's more who got started during that era and `'just happened to be born at diversified economic centers, has been remarkable. ''Today the wrong time." as state demographer Tom Gillaspy puts it. you can have a heck of a jolt in the rural economy," says John Farm incomes have plummeted since the late Seventies, a: for - Borchert, "and by the time it filters up through the eign competition and an overvalued dollar have caused export system, it has a comparatively small effect on the markets to dry up, but in doing so they've only economy of Marquette Avenue or the 494 strip." returned to levels (in relation to non - Still, there are other kinds of jolts. farm incomes) more typical of the twentieth century as a whole. And while the average Value of a Minnesota farm acre dropped 55 percent be- tween 1981 and 1986, according to Torn Stinson's "Governing the Heartland" study (conducted for Senator David Durenberger's committee on inter- governmental affairs), land Values remain slights• above their 19 70 level. None of this eases the heartache of farm bankrupt- cies. Nor does it mean that the farm crisis is not a crisis for rural Minnesota's econorny. Forty percent of Minnesota's counties depend on farming for at least 20 percent of their total income, and in many rural areas agricultural land is an enormous portion of the local property -tax base—about 70 percent in the southwestern Min- nesota region Tom Stinson studied. And there isn't really anything reassuring about knowing that the current farm crisis is part of a long -terra trend. Asked if the farm economy has bottomed out, Philip Raup says, *"That method of looking at the situation as- sumes that it's a roller coaster... that it's gone down and now it's going to go back up. The farm economy may well have bottomed Out, but it mac well stay there." There is, though, much more to the rural economy than farm- ing. Unfortunately, other sectors of that economy are also troub- led. Wilbur Maki figures that "half the cutback in economic ac- tivity outstate is because outstare manufacturing has undergone a tremendous slowdown. The manufacturing impact has probably been greater than the agricultural impact." 1'orimetro-aea manufacturing has suffered disproportionately, Maki explains, because much of it is in such industries as fabri- cated metal, nonelectrical machinery, and other -standardized" goods that compete in world markets moldy on the basis of price, much as corn and wheat do and with similar results. Maki notes that in the 1970s manufacturing was, expanding more rapidly in rural Minnesota than in the Thin Cities. That changed. Acrord ng to the Economic Repw to the Goremor, rural, Minnesota had 35.7 percent of the state's manufacturing jobs in 1976, but gained only 20 percent of the new manufacturing jobs over the next eight years. Western Minnesota gained fewer than one in 100 of those new jobs. During the same period, northeastern Minnesota suffered an actual decline in the total nurnberof nonagricultur- al jobs—a rare calamity. The northeastern Arrowhead region felt the force of the third major blow to fall on the economy of rural Minnesota—the shrivel- ing of the taconite industry. The basic problem is the same one plaguing farmers and small-town manufacturers: intense foreign THE MOST TROUBLING FEATURE OF THE ECONOMIC SIT- uation in rural Minnesota is not the severe contraction Qf the past five or six years, which is in some ways a cy- clical and statistical aberration, but the prospect tha sluggishness in the rural economy could Ven lye per- sist for a veru long time. The threat to the Thin Cities, to put it plaint• and un- ciharitabl', is that maintaining good roads, schooL, and ublie services in troubled rural communities might be- ome a Ponderous ur en on metro taxpavers.7n7il's not a burden t}he Thin Cities can afford to lay own, since without those roads, schools, and services, rural areas would have no hope of economic recovery, and there would be at least some danger, in the Lords of U of,I economist Glenn Nelson, of "creat- ing a new kind of Appalachia in rural Minnesota." Take a map of Minnesota and draw a curing line roughly from Winona, on the :Mississippi River, westward through Rochester, northwestward to St. Cloud, then northeastward to the Wiscon- sin border. You have just sketched Minnesota's economic fron- tier. Within the slender crescent is a robust, diversified economy, rich with manufacturing jobs of all kinds and, increasingly, jobs in serice industries. Outside it is about 80 percent of Minnesota's land mass, about a third of its people, and a deeply troubled econ- omy substantially dependent on agriculture and mining. It's possible to exaggerate the importance of farming to Min- nesota's economy and to overstate the novelty of the farm crisis of the past felt' years. Since 1980, according to the Economic. Report to the Governor, no county in Minnesota has owed as much au half of its income to farming. Farm jobs represented less than sir percent of Jlinnesota employment in 1980, and the figure has probably fallen below five percent today. Put another way, in 1984 there were more nonagricultural jobs in the western quarter of,Minnesota, the most farm -dependent region, than there were farm jobs in the entire state. The hard truth about farming in America, and Minnesota, is that there are too many farmers producing too much food. :Astonishing improvements in farming technology have continued t . make many firms economically superfluous even though Min- r.^nta farmers have been going broke since the state %%-,is settled. "there are today about 100,000 fiums in Minnesota, half as many as in 1945. The farm economy has looked unusually bad in the 1980s largely because it looked unusually good in the 1970s, a decade of export boom and rocketing land values, when the aver- age price of a Minnesota farm acre nearly tripled. TWIN CITIES OCTOBER 1987 63 competition. Minnesota's taconite plants +ill ship about 30 million year, more than half the record 59 million tons tons of product this shipped in 1979. About 6,000 people work in the taconite plants today, down from nearly 15,000 eight years ago. There is no sign. according to Maki and virtually everyone else, of any major recov- ery any time soon. In short. rural Minnesota has felt "a heck of a jolt." Twin Cit- ians, in turn, are going to fl tie afterrhocks in their tax i �a s Maki- "It puts an increasingly large burden on those parts ot it, state that are enjoying prosperity .Tax bur ens v+'i increase rn the Twin Cities] so long aswe continue sharing revenues v+-ith our Minnesota's increased from 1.11 to 1.25. This clow of tax dollars from the Twin Cities to rural Minnesota is almost sure to continue—and to gain force. The increase in that flow between 1980 and 1985 occurred almost entireh_through the automatic adjustments of the progressive tax s�'stenh`v+'ithout the state taking decisive action to aid rural governments and the rural economy. It is very difficult to calculate what all this means in hard nunn- bers to Twin Cities families. but here's one attempt: Total per -capita stattaxes ip the Twin Cities rose from 114 state ayera a in 1980 to 120 percent of the state percent of the Experts detect two quite different migration patterns that could result from economic hardships in rural a�.eas, both unfortunate for the Twin Cities: Too many people may come to the metro area too quickly, and too few may come over timeo less -well-off citizens." That we v+ill continue to share is clear. Last spring the 1lnvneso- ta legislature passed the seconalargeSt tax increase in statelnis- torv, almost S 1 billion altogetller, complete wit h a Justnnents to property -tax relief measures and a ucation ar s t gat wr , in e - feet shift resources fro nn the Twin Cities, especially the su ur per. to rural local governments, which are increasingly hard-pressed as property values decline on the farms and in the small towns and as federal budget cuts further erode local revenues. Even without such adjustment our progressive tai system grantees that areas enjoying larlar e�mes and more vigorous economic activity will pay more taxes as sufferin areas pay less. About half the state's people live in the Twin Cities area. and in 1985. according to the Economic Report to the Govenior. t gat 50 percent of the population paid about 60 percent of all state taxes. lip from 55,5 percent in 1980 During the sanne ocriod. the metro area's share of state spending declined slightly, from 53 percent of the to to 52 percent. In 1980. says the Economic Report to the Goremor, the metro area was nearly breaking even on state taxes—that is, for even_ dollar in state taxes collected ill -the Tb -iii -Cities. 96 cents were spent in the Twin Cities. By 1985, the state spent only 87 cents in the Twin Cities for every dollar it collected here. These figures. moreover, understate the flow of funds from many parts of the Twin Cities to other regions, because Ramsey County, home of the state capital, has one of the highest expenditure -to -revenue ratios in the state. In 85. Hei nepin_and Carver counties suffered the greatest net outflow of funds among all Minnesota n_ nesota counties. with just 57 cents being spent in those.eounties for each stale tax dollar collected there. Dakota County_(S_9 cents) and _ Scott County (66 cent) were close behind. Every other re 'on of the state received more in state spending in 1985 than it paid in state taxes. Northeastern Minnesota s expenditure to revenue ra_ do iumped from 1.00 in 1980 to 1.27 in 1985. while_+�e`111'h L1 '1'+T'1\' /'ITI['C 11(••1•(IHF•{; t�J}{, iverage in 1985. increasing Twin Citians' per -capita tax bill by S67 over what it would have been had the ratio remained the same. This doesn't include the innpact of potential property tax increases as local governments in the Twin Cities collie under stress from reduced federal aid and relatively less state aid. Suffice it to say that economic trouble in the countryside has tine potential to substantially inflate Twin Cities tax bills. In "Governing the Heartland," Tom Stinson notes that urban Americans may come to resent such flows of funds from cities to rural areas if the flows are -'seen as a permanent transfer of in- come rather than temporary assistance." But economist Glenn Pelson, among others, argues that such resentnhent would be shortsighted and self-defeating. If rural areas are to recover eco- nomically, he says, they must attract new businesses and make existing businesses more competitive: to do all that. rural public services of every kind, especially education. will have to be main- tained, even improved. Stinson worries that if rural governments are left to their ovvn shrinking resources, "over time you could have people migrat- ing to the urban area with much lower levels of human capital— poorer educations, health deficiencies. and the like—just because they come from a poorer region." YOU CANT THINK Awt'r THF: RURAIA RRA\ cONNECTION FOR lung without getting back to nnigration patterns. Glenn Nelson •aye "Inyestnnent in the educ•atiun of rural children is without doubt a concern of the'rvcin Cities, because those pcuple are com- ing to us. Thev're going to be our neighbors, and the people who are working fur us, and the pcuple who are enhpluying us." Americans have been moving from the country to the city throughout the nations history. and though the process has slowed in recent decades. there is no sign cif its stopping. Yet ex- fverts detect t++o quite different migration patterns that could result from economic hardships in goal area. bulb unfortunate for the uezota in that Trough without nd the 1 num- n 114 c state gill by d the :y -tae ender • aid. is the . rban ies to ofin- :lenn d be eco- -mke iblic i:un- own a at- al— uuse FOR :on .out )m - who •ity `was ex - Alit :he Twin Cities: Too mann people may come to the metro area too cfuickly. and too feu• may come over time. It's important to distinguish the farm population from the rural population. While Minnesota's farm population has dwindled from half the state's people in 1900 to less than one Minnesotan in 10 today, the total rural population, counting small towns and raid -sized cities, has declined much less rapidly and still accounts for about half of all Minnesotans. Still, recent reports suggest that the Twin Cities area has grown twice as fast as the rest of the state so far in the 1980s. after a brief, peculiar period during the 1970s when population grew faster outside the metro area. It's possible. observers say, that migration into the Twin Cities will accelerate too fast. -Metropolitan areas have always had an attraction for younger people from rural areas." says state demographer Torn Gillaspy "but now we have a repelling factor in rural areas. Whole families are dropping out of farming. There's a push factor we didn't have before. As long as it's a slow effect, a predictable rate over along period_of time. peo. pie can adjust. But if things start changing too rapidl . we'll have problems." Wilbur Maki saws that if rural - to -urban migration speeds up, "it will impose very high additional infrastructure costs [for roads, schools, all(] the like) on the Twin Cities. We'll have a lot of thing: happening that we wish wouldn't happen. And we'll have unused facilities outstate." There is-, reason to expect that the Twin Cities economy as a whole, now suffering labor shortages, can absorb any temporary acceleration in rural migration. The most serious threat rnac con- front the urban poor, who could face increasing competition for jobs from what Glenn Nelson calls "the new rural poor"—people who have lost jobs in small-town manufacturing plants or Main Street stores, sometimes even the former owners of those businesses. According to Nelson, '*The new rural poor are different from the traditional rural poor that came out of the South or Ap- palachia. They're well-educated and have excellent work histo- ries. What happens when they get to the cit-' We believe they find work—it's a success story. But that misses what happens to the urban poor. You take an urban employer, and a member of the new rural poor walks in alongside a member of the urban poor. The employer says, 'Gee, here's an educated white male who's been working for twenty years, and here's a black female head of household with no work history.' He takes the new rural poor, when otherwise he'd have taken the other person. I think that dis- placement of the urban poor can be said to exist, but we don't have ally hard data yet." Whatever the consequences of a crisis -triggered increase in rural -to -urban migration. experts agree that such an acceleration ,would be a temporary glitch in a very different underlying trend. ,which may prove to be a more serious threat to the Twin Cities' future. The traditional pattern of steady urban growth by means of rpigration frown rural area, has largely placed itself out. "For the past fifteen years or more there has been a diminution of both tile• .absolute all(] relative importance of rural migration into the'l'win Cities," notes John Borchert. There is today a relatively smaller pool of people in rural areas from which the Twin Cities can draw immigrants. Also, it is at least possible that a: the Twin Cities has _=_Ct grown into a major urban center. more and mere independent of its rural surroundings economically and culturally. it has lost some of its appeal for rural migrants, w ho mai• feel more comfortable seeking economic opportunities in Sioux Falls or Omaha or Des Moines. The Economic Report to 11re Gnemor note. that Millneso- to as a whole has been experiencing slight net out -migration for decades, and that the loss was greatest during the 1950s. when people were leasing the farms and rural areas most rapidly. "Historically," says Philip Raup. "the Twin Cities have lived off the importation of talent from smaller communities and rural areas. We used to get the twenty -year-olds without pacing the ex- pense of breeding and feeding there. There aren't so many people in rural :uveas anymore. so the Cities will have to breed and feed and train its own replacements. We can't Con- tinue to look forward to free replacements in our labor stock." Apart from covering its own "breeding and feed- ing" costs. the metro area may simply become starved over time for population growth. and its economic growth could be stunted as a result. John Borchert thinks that the pattern may prove self-sustaining. De- tecting "a change in the relationship between the Twin Cities and its trade and serice territory." Borchert say,: "The business ties are still there, as strong or even stronger than ever. But the family ties, the ties between friends and relatives, are being weakened. t,'nless there's some countervailing effort, the result could be that the area will become ... less of a community than it's been in the past." The weakening of personal ties between Twin Citians and rural citizens could result in even leu incentive for rural youths to choose the Twin Cities as a place to start a new life. It could also inflame political rivalry between c•ountr• and city. Borchert wor- ries that as Twin Citians becorne further removed culturally from the countryside, "they're going to have to make more of an effort to understand why their tax dollars should flow to troubled rural regions. Glenn Nelson says, "We vote for the same candidates for governor and senator, and if we get a feeling of metro versus the rest of the state, we're going to lose something [because of] our internal bickering. A sense of community and shared interests is a better basis for good public policy." Raup, meanwhile. thinks the Twin Cities will be the lose[- ifcul- tural exchanges between country and city wane. "We've been the beneficiaries," he says. "of a small-town, rural work ethic that takes about a generation to breed out ofa migrant population. That work ethic was the most important contribution of the rural inu- migrants. They knew how to make do with less. were willing to work for a lower wage, were less likely to go into debt. You have to be urbanized for two generations to lie trained to take coffee breaks." N1 E'V E RETURNED. OF COL R4:. 1-0 THE REALM OF ANECDOTAI. information and expallsiye .peculation. But it is apparent that. both economically and culturally, a wide all(] possibly widening gap exists between the 'I'will Cities and its rural neighbors. The good news for the Twin Citian watching rural suffering on the 10 o'clock news is that the gap provides a measure of safety frorn those inunediale economic woes. The disquieting news is that the gap really could become some- thing altugellie•r new. And that which is new is unpredic•table.1C PAUL S. VOLSTAD Licensed Public Accountant Enro;ied To Practice Betore The Interna' Revenue Se^rrc SUITE 100 • 13895 INDUSTRIAL PARK BLVD. • PLYMOUTH. MINNESOTA 55441 • PHONE if 12) 553 1875 November 3, 1987 Mr. James G. Willis City Manager City of Plymouth 3400 Plymouth Blvd. Plymouth, MN 55447 Dear Jim: I just received a copy of "Plymouth on Parade" and it was called to my attention one of the courses that was being offered in the fitness pro- gram. On page 32 a program is being offered in Yoga. I have not noticed that this program was being offered in the past and it surprises me that the City would offer this type of program. Many years ago the YMCA did extensive studies on the offering of Yoga and determined that Hatha Yoga as being offered in your book represents the practice of religion. I was furnished extensive data on this which even- tually was furnished to the YMCA's and based on their studies Yoga was not offered in any of the YMCA's in the Metropolitan area. It would seem that by the City of Plymouth offering Yoga it has undertaken to offer a class in religious instruction. Based on that information I am wondering whether or not the City of Plymouth will also be offering in the future Bible Study classes. I would recommend and request that the Yoga class be withdrawn effective immediately as it does present a conflict of interest with the City of Plymouth. Yours very trul , Paul S. Volstad Licensed Public Accountant Enrolled Agent PSV/rbm `•'ter �\`� 77— --\ C cam. November 6, 1987 CITY O' PLYMOUTH+ Paul S. Volstad Suite 100 13895 Industrial Park Boulevard Plymouth, MN 55441 Dear Mr. Volstad: I am writing in response to your correspondence directed to James G. Willis, City Manager, dated November 3, 1987. Prior to offering the Plymouth Park and Recreation yoga program, the instructor and I discussed the possible religious connotations that people might place upon it. We both agreed that religion had no place in a program offered through a public agency. In discussions with the instructor, Bonnie Dow, today; we again reviewed the content of the program as she presents it. The basic format includes stretching and exercise, along with stress reduction techniques. I also contacted several of the class participants to poll their feelings regarding possible religious overtones of this program. The individuals that I contacted were very positive about the class, commenting that the physical and mental control techniques that are presented are not directly related to any religious beliefs. These students felt strongly about the value of this program and would be willing to share their views personally. In all written evaluations received from participants, the class has been very highly rated. I would invite you to observe this class to evaluate for yourself its appro- priateness for a city park and recreation department. At the current time, I find nothing to suggest that it is a program that needs to be removed from our class offerings. Thank you for your interest in our recreation programming. Sincerely, Mary Patterson Superintendent of Recreation /np cc: James G. Willis Eric Blank Bonnie Dow 3400 PLYMOUTH BOULEVARD, PLYMOUTH. MINNESOTA 55447. TELEPHONE (612) 559-2806 PAPK & RECREATION 3400 PLYMOUTH BLVD PLYMOUTH, MINN 55447 559 2800 CITY OF PLYMOUTH Department of Parks b Recreation CLASS EVALUATION FORM CLASS NAME LOCATION TIME w 7: ys In order to better serve the participants in our Recreation Program, we need to receive as much input from the participants as possible. Therefore, we would like to ask you to take a few minutes to answer the following questions and give us your suggestions. THANK YOU! Please answer the questions with more than a yes or no, for that answer does not indicate what we are doing right or wrong. 1. Organization of the class ✓ Well organized good organization usually organized little organization poor organization 3. Did you enjoy the program L✓ Yes 2. Instructor's enthusiasm very good _ generally good _ mildly enthusiastic _ occasional enthusiasm bored 4. Did the class cover what you expected?� No 5. What kind of a relationship did you and the instructor develop? Are you satisfied with the attention given you? - J..E.-�' 6. Did you enjoy the skills taught? LI -1 Yes No 7. tnichJacttivities were enjoyed the most? N.f 8. Comments and suggestions for future programming, scheduling and improvement. , Thanks for your input, participation and support. Plymouth Parks and Recreation 559-2800, Ext 266 PAPK & RECREATION -�CC- 3400 PLYMOUTH BLVD PLYMOUTH, MILAN 55447 $59 2800 CITY OF PLYMOUTH Department of Parks & Recreation CLASS EVALUATION FORM CLASS NAME �� �, C— LOCATI O �..� ` «�<._ [ �. •Jf -' ,�.� TIME In order to better serve the participants in our Recreation Program, we need to receive as much input from the participants as possible. Therefore, we would like to ask you to take a few minutes to answer the following questions and give us your suggestions. THANK YOU! Please answer the questions with more than a yes or no, for that answer does not indicate what we are doing right or wrong. 1. Organization of the class X Well organized good organization usually organized little organization poor organization 3. Did you enjoy the program Y Yes 2. Instructor's enthusiasm X very good generally good mildly enthusiastic occasional enthusiasm bored 4. Did the class cover what you expected? f No 5. What kind of a relationship did you and the instructor develop? Are you satisfied with the attention given you? 41 6. Did you enjoy the skills taught? Yes No 7. Which activities were enjoyed the most?���kc�i,f�_ 8. Comments and suggestions for future programming, scheduling and improvement. Thanks for your input, participation and support. Plymouth Parks and Recreation 559-2800, Ext 266 PAPK 8 RECREATION 3400 PLYMOUTH BLVD PLYMOUTH, MINN 55447 5592800 CITY OF PLYMOUTH Department of Parks & Recreation CLASS EVALUATION FORM CLASS NAME LOCATION !�y��} i ��}57 �,Q l�Inl� ��.�cc TIME % � !!� In order to better serve the participants in our Recreation Program, we need to receive as much input from the participants as possible. Therefore, we would like to ask you to take a few minutes to answer the following questions and give us your suggestions. THANK YOU! Please answer the questions with more than a yes or no, for that answer does not indicate what we are doing right or wrong. 1. Organization of the class Well organized good organization usually organized little organization poor organization 3. Did you enjoy the program Yes 2. Instructor's enthusiasm very good generally good mildly enthusiastic occasional enthusiasm bored 4. Did the class cover what you expected? q e8 M 5. What kind of a relationship did you and the instructor develop? Are you satisfied with the attention given you? �i Q„ - tw t-�-A 6. Did you enjoy the skills taught? L/ Yes No 7. Which activities were enjoyed the most? 8. Comments and suggestions for future programming, scheduling and improvement. Thanks for your input, participation and support. Plymouth Parks and Recreation 559-2800, Ext 266 AIL IL) Cc le4-