GROUNDBREAKING FOR THE FIELD HOUSE
A "CROWN JEWEL" FOR VICTORIA
A groundbreaking ceremony for the Victoria Field House was held at 8 a.m. on Thursday, June 20th, at Diethelm Park in Victoria.  Approximately 30 representa-tives of the city and field house project were present to mark the occasion.
Mike Ayres, volunteer developer with the Minnetonka Youth Hockey Associ-ation and Oppidan Investment, said the new field house will be an excellent facility in the metro area, that Victoria was an excellent city to work with be-cause it was community minded beyond its own borders, and Krause Anderson was an excellent contractor for the job.
Mike thanked the various hockey associations, parents, and people who pledged support to the ice arena through long term contracts and dollars, especially the Holy Family Catholic High School, and the Minnetonka, Waconia, and Chaska hockey folks.
Mayor Mary Meuwissen called the field house a "crown jewel" for the City of Victoria, and was pleased that the facility would accommodate various needs of residents of all ages and also community organizations.
Jody Vlatkovich, who was hired by the City of Victoria to bring in revenue through advertising displays in the ice arena, said he hopes to raise $300,000 upfront and that he's well on his way with 2/3 of that amount already committed to the cause.
"I've got $187,000 in commitments," said Jody.  "I want to net out $240,000."  He gets 20%.
To date there are 18 parties making advertising commitments for player benches, scorekeeper and penalty boxes, wall panels, and dasher boards at the Victoria Field House.  They include Hartman Communities, Maynard's Res-taurant, Berry Coffee, Rink-Tec, Vienna Hotdogs, Victoria Subway, Matheson Cabinets, Maximum Solutions, Sonder-gaard-Forcier Builders, Nan Emmer, Konen Homes, Dan's Heating and Air Conditioning, Michael Homes, Inc., Nature's Bounty, Midwest Coca-Cola Bottling Company, Victoria House, Mike Buller, and JWDA, Inc.
Anyone interested in securing an advertising spot at the Victoria Field House is encouraged to call Victoria City Offices for information.

BIDS AWARDED ON FIELD HOUSE
PRICES COMING IN UNDER BUDGET
On June 13th councilmembers voted 4-0 (Dave Lindgren was absent) to award the first bid package on the Victoria Field House to the low bidders in each of eight categories.  As reported by project man-ager Dave Hanson, the budget for this portion of work was $2,126,432, and the apparent low bidders came in at $1,970,571, or a savings of about $150,000.

Mr. Hanson reported that 19 separate bids were received for the eight bid categories.  Low bidders included Belair (excavating), Gresser (concrete), North-land (masonry), Rink Tec (ice rink), Under Review (dasher boards), American Structural (structural steel material), Mid Central Steel (structural steel erection), and FabCon (precast).
Mr. Hanson said he anticipates that the entire Victoria Field House should remain within the $5.35 million total budget.  When asked by Councilmember Richard Tieden about cost estimates on the gymnasium shell, Mr. Hanson said, "It will push close to plus or minus $700,000."  He said they are in the process now of taking bids on the roofing.  Previous cost estimate on a gym "shell" was $1 million.  This would be in addition to the $5.35 million.
"So we're looking good," stated Councilmember Tieden.  "We're coming in under budget."  The motion to accept low bids in the first eight categories of this field house project was contingent on the bids being free of large error and contractors able to perform at those prices.  Mr. Hanson predicted a December 1st skate date, with opening for the community between January 15th and February 1st, 2003.

APPLEWOOD SUBDIVISION APPROVED
FOR 35 SINGLE FAMILY LOTS ON 20 ACRES
On June 13th Councilmembers ap-proved the preliminary plat for Apple-wood, a subdivision of 35 single family lots on approximately 20 acres adjacent to the Holy Family Catholic High School and across from the Hartman Tree Farm.  The developer is Terry Hartman of Hart-man Communities, Victoria.
The parcel was formerly owned by the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum and acquired by Hartman through a land swap.  Minimum lot size will be 15,000 square feet.  Average density will be 2.1 units per acre
A sidewalk will be provided on the interior side of the main loop road to allow pedestrians access to the main trail along Bavaria Road.  The plan also in-cludes a bituminous trail along the west side of Bavaria Road, providing a link to the trail on County Road #18 and then into the Victoria trail system.
The developer will pay the City of Victoria cash in lieu of parkland dedication.  Said City Planner Mark Kaltsas, "It is a straightforward development.  It meets requirements."
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