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UPDATE ON NEW VICTORIA BUILDINGS ON THE HOME STRETCH AND MOVING IN On December 22nd, City Engineer Cara Geheren reported the latest on the new Victoria buildings. About the new City Hall-Library she stated, "There continues to be a lot going on inside the building. There are still missing pieces of glass for the front of the building. A lot of people are working there." "The week of January 19th is still on schedule for moving in," she said. "Our City Clerk is especially working hard, especially on setting up the technology. January 16th ends our time here in the old building. I think we're on the home stretch. We are still on or below budget." Council voted 5-0 to honor payments as requested toward the total construction amount of $1,962,368 as well as toward the total construction manager (Stahl) amount of $190,615. Ann Mahnke, Director of Victoria Parks and Public Works, gave an update on the new Public Works facility. "We're undergoing a soft move-in at the moment," she stated. "We held our first staff meeting there. We're putting up miscellaneous equipment and putting up shelving. We are operating out of there." About the old Public Works site on Stieger Lake Lane, Ann said, "We're moving the trailer out on January 5th. We're hoping to move the Salt Shed out to the new site in 2015." Council voted 5-0 to honor payments as requested toward the total construction amount of $1,452,148 as well as toward the total construction manager (Stahl) amount of $195,253.
A VIDEO TO SHOWCASE CITY HALL BOTH OLD AND NEW AND PUBLIC WORKS TOO Council voted 5-0 on December 22nd to accept the offer of Isaac Leif to put together, free of charge, a video that will showcase the new City Hall and in the process show comparisons to the old City Hall. Isaac has been videotaping Victoria City Council meetings since May of 2013. "I was 16 when you hired me," he said. Isaac also tapes council meetings for the City of Minnetrista. He is a senior at Mound-Westonka High School in Minnetrista. "I've got two concepts for the video," said Isaac. "I thought it would be cool to make a video contrasting the new City Hall with this building." "How long would the video be?" asked Mayor Tom O'Connor. "About a minute or two," replied Isaac. "Could you do it for the new Public Works building as well?" asked Councilmember Tom Strigel. "Sure," said Isaac. "It will be a real resource to document this building," said Mayor Tom O'Connor. Councilmember Lani Basa said that Sue Orsen and the Victoria Gazette would be a good resource to get photos of old city buildings. At the council meeting that December evening, Isaac presented a video he created entitled "Warm Winter." Much of the video was done with the maneuvering of a drone. He said his plans are to attend Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin, next fall to study Communications and Business.
MPCA FINE TO CITY OF VICTORIA HOLDS “TO HEAR THEY LAUGHED IS CONDESCSENDING” The MPCA fine to the City of Victoria stands, even though the silt was caused by the 100-year rain this past June on a trunk sewer project near Lake Wasserman. Said City Manager Laurie Hokkanen on December 8th, "The staff and mayor attended a meeting with the MPCA today. We agreed last month to pay the fine of $5,450. The goal of the meeting was to understand what we could have done differently, to reassure the MPCA we take their rules very seriously, that the city cares about the environment, we act in good faith and take the fine very seriously." Laurie continued, "First we heard laughter when we asked if we could get our money back, so I guess that's not going to happen ... The fine was related to conditions they saw on Day One ... We thought we took swift action and did everything we could and yet we still received a fine. They found us to be very cooperative. They had no complaints about how we responded, but it didn't change what they found on that first inspection ... "The fine was lessened because they take into consideration how you react. The MPCA considers there was environmental damage done due to the discharge and therefore there is a fine ... "In the future, we'll put language into the contract with the contractor so they'll be responsible for any penalty levied against the contractor as well as the penalty levied against the city." Said Councilmember Tom Strigel, "I was under the impression we were going to talk to them here at a city council meeting. I see the penalty as a punishment, after all effort to prevent problems. To hear that they laughed is condescending. It's like somebody's budget came up short and they had to get some more money. I'm disappointed. I think they should have stood in front of the camera and explained why we were being punished."
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January 2015 |