Victoria Gazette - The Scoop at City Hall

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AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN VICTORIA

Needed for seniors and general occupancy

Council held a workshop on May 13th that focused on affordable housing in Victoria. As Community Development Director Patrick Smith said, "The Metropolitan Council is saying that Victoria's allocation of affordable units is 434 more."

He clarified that some of those additional affordable units needed in Victoria may be for general occupancy, some for seniors, also known as the baby boomer generation. He said that by 2040, Victoria should have 680 affordable rental units for seniors and 180 affordable/subsidized rental units for general occupancy.

VICTORIA GOES VALET, AS THEY SAY

TAKING ADVANTAGE OF PARKING ON THE FRINGES

Council voted 5-0 on May 28th to allow three public parking spaces on Tower Boulevard, next to the Clocktower, to be designated for valet service after 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights.

The service is being sponsored by Winchester & Rye, School of the Wise, and The Noble Lion, although the valet is open to anyone who wants to use them for any of the restaurants or any of the patrons.

HOPING FOR DEVELOPER’S AGREEMENT IN JUNE

TO WRAP UP VISION OF VICTORIA’S 13.5 ACRES

Councilmember Tom Gregory brought up the topic of the city-owned 13.5 acres as part of a roundtable discussion May 28th. "We do have some people here tonight from DJR Architects," he said, referring to the development team chosen by the City of Victoria last November to present a vision for the property.

"From our strategic planning session," said Councilmember Gregory, "I think we have the same thoughts. We want to continue working with them, and we want the process to keep moving forward."

STREAMLINING VICTORIA COUNCIL AGENDA

NUMBER OF CATEGORIES REDUCED FROM 15 TO 9

On May 13th Council voted 5-0 to change the format of their regularly scheduled council meetings and adopt a council meeting rules policy. The changes involve reducing the categories of agenda items and, in some cases, moving their former position on the agenda.

Said City Manager Dana Hardie, "We talked about this at our Strategic Planning Session. Our current agenda has 15 different categories. We would go to nine categories."

THE BALL IS ROLLING FORWARD

FOR WASSERMANN LAKE WATERFRONT PARK

At the council meeting following the above workshop, Council voted 5-0 to approve the revised cooperative agreement with the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District and authorize the design scope for Lake Wassermann Park.

Said Parks and Public Works Director Ann Mahnke, "With this agreement, the District can compel the city to close on the purchase of that property." She delineated, "Our goal is to work on the design scope through the summer, have that done, and come back to you and say, here's the plan! At that point, you'd revise and execute the purchase agreement and, hopefully, in December of this year complete the 90% design, go out for bid, and plan for opening and construction in the spring of 2020."

BECOMING ADA COMPLIANT

SIDEWALKS, CROSSWALKS VICTORIA’S PRIORITY

Council authorized Bolton & Menk to provide design phase services for the downtown Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) improvements. Design cost is around $15,020. Bolton & Menk completed a preliminary evaluation last year.

Said City Engineer Cara Geheren, "We have systems that are not in compliance. We reviewed conditions and recommend we move forward with Project Area #1." She pointed out this area is outlined by Main Street (Victoria Drive), Tower Boulevard, Quamoclit Street, and Hwy 5. The square area includes sidewalks and crosswalks on the perimeter of that area.

NO HOMES FLOODING AT ZUMBRA RIDGE

JOINT MAINTENANCE EFFORT MADE A DIFFERENCE

Mayor Funk reported on May 28th that the longtime flooding situation on Lake Zumbra appears to have been, at least for the time being, improved. "We have surpassed the precipitation levels from 2014 when Zumbra flooded and we had to do sandbags," he said. "We believe that's attributable to the maintenance work that was done when that canal was dredged out. Water was then able to drain as soon as it was unfrozen, and the capacity was there to handle that extra rain. None of the homes are flooding. We clearly made progress."

CONSIDERING EMERALD ASH BORER TREATMENT

931 ASH TREES ON PUBLIC PROPERTY IN VICTORIA

Council spent the first half of the May 28th city council meeting learning about a green-colored insect called the Emerald Ash Borer, its ramifications, and the cost to help control it. At the end of the 45-minute presentation by Jeff Hafner, Director of Municipal Consulting for Rainbow Tree Care, Council learned the recommended plan for treatment would cost the city about $31,000 to $32,000 per year. Total cost estimate for the first ten years is $318,000. There was not a cost estimate for the second ten years of treatment. No council action was taken at this time. The agenda item was informational.

LONGER MORE DETAILED SCOOP IN PAPER EDITION.

The Victoria Fire Department

City of Victoria 952-443-2771

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