TIMES THEY ARE A'CHANGIN'
AND THAT INCLUDES AT CITY OFFICES
Victoria City Offices on Rose Street have changed in recent times with a remodeling job to the foyer and front offices.  Have you stopped by to admire the makeover?  Some of the people working at city offices have also changed in recent times.  Have you met (l-r) Building Official Tom Gray, Building Inspector  Bill Schwanke, Finance Director Jylan Johnson,  Receptionist Maggie Gaitley, and  Office Assistant Doc Schmieg?

NEW BRIDGE AND NEW STREETS
FOR A SECTION IN DOWNTOWN VICTORIA
On June 13th councilmembers ap-proved a Joint Powers Agreement that authorizes the mayor and city adminis-trator to execute and enter into the agree-ment with Carver County for the replace-ment of the Stieger Lake Bridge.
City Engineer Jack Griffin explained why the county must be involved in con-struction of the city bridge.  "The county has to request the funds from the state because Victoria is not a state aid city," he said.  It allows the city to use state bridge bonding money for partial funding of the bridge replacement project.  The county must be the contracting agency to secure the state funds.
Total estimated construction cost for the project is $818,621.  Expected MnDOT cost participation is $695,081, leaving the city portion at $123,540.
Regarding the related Stieger Lake Lane and Rose Street improvements, Jack said, "We've completed the plans and specifications.  It includes brand new streets, a sidewalk along the east side of Rose Street and the south side of Stieger Lake Lane.  A future sidewalk will be provided along the north side of Stieger Lake Lane.  It includes the reconstruction of stormsewer and water lines."
According to information from the city engineer, the 26-foot wide streets will promote slower traffic streets in the downtown area and promote a pedestrian setting.  The bridge will be placed at a greater skew to accommodate an improved downtown street plan.  Traffic bound for Highway 5 will be encouraged to proceed to the intersection with the signal. 
Street lighting will be installed along both sides of Stieger Lake Lane and Rose Street, as well as on the bridge.  Street-scape amenities have been incorporated into the project.
Bids are expected to be received on July 18th with awarding of the project at the July 25th council meeting.  A public improvement hearing has been scheduled for July 25th at 6:30 p.m.  Adjacent prop-erty owners are being assessed for the street improvements.  Construction should be completed by November 1st.

OUTDOOR BAND CONCERTS AT FLOYDS
NOISE COMPLAINTS DURING LATE NIGHT HOURS
The Victoria Council served as a sounding board on June 13th for both owners and neighbors of the Floyd's establishment at the intersection of Highway 5 and Main Street Victoria.
The owners of Floyd's have binding summer contracts with very expensive bands, but some neighbors don't appre-ciate the weekend noise from late night, outdoor concerts on the patio at Floyd's.
Owners of the bar are Lois Melcher and Rick Plocher.
City Planner Mark Kaltsas pointed out that earlier this year Floyd's was granted an extension to the city's noise ordinance in order to provide music until 12 midnight rather than 10 p.m.  The bar began providing outdoor concerts in June.
Said Mark, "The city has received a numerous amount of complaints.  There are basically two issues.  There is a noise issue, especially a lot of base, and there is also loitering in the parking lot.  There are reports of public acts of indecency and people leaving with unfinished beverages. 
"The first concert night was also a learning experience for Floyd's," said the city planner.  "The owners have now gone around and talked to their neighbors.  We could monitor the noise levels, or increase the level of security."
Owner Lois Melcher spoke first.  "Screeching tires and motorcycles and busses stopping can happen on any high-way.  Supposedly, there are beer bottles on the sidewalks.  No one leaves our property with a beer or beverage in their hand.  If someone was having sex in their backyard one night, that's not related to Floyd's."
"We've taken every precaution we can," said Lois.  "These things could hap-pen 12 months out of the year, not just during the summer months.  We have two carders at our door every Friday and Sat-urday nights.  We belong to the Tri-County Sober Ride.  We pay monthly for this service; there's no charge to the cus-tomers ... We've got a lot of contracts with bands for the summer that we couldn't possibly afford without the outdoor patio and larger crowd."