MOVING IN A FORWARD DIRECTION
FOR THE VICTORIA FIELD HOUSE
Council voted 5-0 on June 28th to allow the city attorney to work out terms of agreement for Ken Vraa and Harvey Feldman to work on ice contracts, ice drafts, and ice scheduling for the City of Victoria for a flat fee of $5,000. 

City Administrator Dave Urbia in-dicated that both of these men have worked in the Park and Recreation Field for a combined 60+ years. 
"Through my networking I had the opportunity to meet with them and asked them to submit a proposal to assist us with our ice contract situation," said Adminis-trator Urbia.  "They are independent con-tractors.  Harvey has worked for the City of Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board and now at the University of MN.  Ken was at the City of Eagan for over 20 years."
Council hired the two Park & Rec consultants to help in multiple areas but in particular with the ice drafts and contracts for 2007-2008 and advise for 2008-2009.  Said Councilmember Kim Roden, "These are people who really know the business.  They've had a lot of experience with Park and Recreation.  They come highly rec-ommended.  It's nice to have someone on our side of the table."
Council and City Finance Committee also directed staff to help prepare a summary of what the city is looking for in a full time director and how to move forward with that. 
Attorney Norton said he met with the Minnetonka Youth Hockey Association about past ice contracts.  "They don't believe they're obligated to pay ... They don't believe they owe us any money, based on what the council did in 2004 ... They're anxious to nail down their 2007-2008 ice contracts.  Let's get those resolved now.  At least we'll know what's coming in for budgeting."

WHO'S MANAGING VICTORIA?
IT'S BEEN DIFFICULT SINCE 9/11
As the June 28th city council meeting drew to a close and all itemized agenda items had been addressed, Councilmem-ber Richard Tieden spoke extempor-aneously about the past and present.
"I'm concerned about the manage-ment of the city," he said.  "I think we've kind of derailed.  It happened along with 9/11 when our City Administrator Steve Sarvi was called away for four months of duty, then he was called to Afghanistan, and then Iraq ...
"Our planner, Mark Kaltsas, took over for a while, then we hired Dave Urbia who came in midst a lot of turmoil, and tonight, ironically, he's gone because of military duty.  A caller recently asked who's in charge?
"We've got questions directed to the city engineer about noise abatement at the water treatment plant.  Who's doing what?  Who's running what?  There have been times we've micromanaged.  There have been time times staff has dropped the ball and times council has dropped the ball ...
"We've got questions like who put in summer ice?  We're off the track.  Who's running the city?
"In all the issues I see the same ques-tion.  What's the role of councilmembers?  What's the role of a staff member?  I think a future workshop should expand to include the management of the city.  We're working real hard to put our hands around things.  People can laugh ... It's all in the paper ... but I think we should do it now, hold a workshop now, and not wait until Steve [Sarvi] gets back."
Administrative City Assistant Jennie Kretsch was directed to organize a city workshop, outline a series of topics, and present dates and timeline to councilmem-bers as soon as possible.

SMITHTOWN ROAD CLOSED IN VICTORIA
FOR A VERY LONG TIME, OVER A YEAR!
Council moved on June 28th to support the mayor's action to move the No Parking signs at Smithtown and Iris during the construction periods this summer, if there is a neighborhood consensus to move them, to the other side of the street.
On July 12th City Engineer Cara Geheren reported there had been "near misses" on the closed Smithtown Road, with people driving through the construc-tion zone at a fast clip.
Stated Councilmember Tim Amund-sen, "If there have been near misses, we need action now.  It's quite frankly a big safety issue for construction workers.  Closed means closed.  Going through at a very good clip adds insult to injury."
Councilmember Richard Tieden sug-gested that Smithtown residents be given a little sticker pass to get through.  "This is going to be going on for a long time," he said, "over a year!"  The city engineer will look into the possibility of sticker passes.
On July 26th Victoria Town Cop Erick Boder reported, "A lot of problems keep coming off Smithtown Road."

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