HAPPY NEW YEAR,
VICTORIA CITY COUNCILMEMBERS!
At the close of the final Victoria city council meeting of 2003, the five members could still smile, which is probably a good omen for the New Year. 
There had even been a 4:00 p.m. council work-shop that evening of December 18th before the regularly scheduled  6:30 p.m. meeting.  There are lots of extra city workshops before meetings and on Friday mornings or whenever needed.  There had also been council meetings on December 4th and December 11th. 
Each of the Victoria councilmembers also serves as a member or ex-officio member of various other groups such as the Victoria Planning Commission, the Victoria Parks and Recreation Committee, Lake Minnetonka Communication Commission, and Personnel Committee, to name a few.
The Victoria councilmembers are (l-r):  Mary Hershberger Thun, Richard Tieden, Mayor Jerry Bohn, Dave Lindgren, and Terry Bishop.  Thank you, councilmembers, for your work on behalf of the health, safety, and welfare of the residents and tax-payers of Victoria.

MASTER PLAN APPROVED FOR "NEW" VICTORIA
Preparing 2,000 Acres for Development
MANY NEW HOMES -- AND A SCHOOL -- IN NEAR FUTURE
After months of review and updates, as well as several hours of discussion with major developers on the evening of December 18th, Victoria City Council-members approved the Victoria Southwest Master Plan by a unanimous 5-0 vote, subject to eight conditions to be addressed and further defined.
This Master Plan was created for those large land areas south and west of the current City of Victoria boundary.  A large portion of these Laketown Township properties have come to be owned by four developers who plan to petition for annex-ation to the City of Victoria as soon as city utilities such as municipal water and sewer services are needed. 
Those developers:  Pentom/Hartman Properties, Victoria; Enterprise Properties, Minnetonka; Lyman Properties, Excelsior; and Lundgren Brothers Construction, Inc., Wayzata.
The Master Plan provides a planning guide for future growth and development. 
Planner Kaltsas identified the Master Plan area as 1,000 to 2,000 acres that extend north to State Highway 5, encircle Krey Lake and much of Lake Wasserman, and go east over to County Road #11. 
The proposed annexation area does not extend as far west as Laketown Road.
Said Mark, "We have concentrated on the parcels that are owned by develop-ers.  The school district, especially, has caused us to move forward on a faster track.  The Planning Commission has rec-ommended approval of this Master Plan.  I put it before you in the form of a resolu-tion."