Blaine BizConnect
Winter Winter Special Special Edition Edition 2017 2017
Blaine Continues as an Economic Engine in Anoka County The City of Blaine is wrapping up another big year for development. In 2017 there were several groundbreakings for large projects along the Highway 65 corridor. • Twin Cities Orthopedics is constructing a 50,000-square foot medical office building at 113th Avenue and Ulysses Street. • Harley Davidson is constructing a 63,000-square foot motorcycle sale showroom at 98th Avenue and Ulysses Street.
The Parkway Off Central, 191-unit apartment project
• The Parkway Off Central, a 191-unit market rate apartment project at 94th Avenue and Ulysses Street, was completed and opened summer 2017.
Elsewhere in Blaine
• United Properties is nearing completion of a 248,000-square foot industrial building at 95th Avenue and I-35W. • Invictus Brewing began construction in August of their brewery and taproom located on 105th Avenue, just east of the National Sports Center. It is expected to be complete late winter or early spring 2018.
Centerview Elementary School, Spring Lake Park School District, completion fall 2018
• Spring Lake Park School District started construction of a new elementary school near the National Sports Center. The school is scheduled to open fall of 2018. • Elevage Group is starting construction soon on a new hotel on Davenport Street near Brick’s Kitchen & Pub restaurant. As of mid-November, Blaine issued 302 single-family residential permits, adding over $85 million in tax value to the community. Most of the residential growth will continue in the north and northeast portions of the City in 2018. There are also still areas within the core of Blaine where lots are being created for new homes. Blaine is now the largest city in Anoka County with over 64,000 residents. To stay up to date on development activity in Blaine, be sure to visit our interactive development map at BlaineBiz.com/DevelopmentMap. This map highlights all the projects underway and coming in the future.
Dominium, 200-unit senior apartment complex
BlaineBiz 2018
Projects Planned • Wellington Development is developing a 32-acre commercial project at the southwest corner of 109th Avenue and Lexington Avenue. This development could include such uses as restaurants, a hotel, bank, and retail spaces. Wellington has also partnered with Dominium, who is proposing to build a 200-unit senior apartment complex within the development. • Kwik Trip is proposing to build two new stores in Blaine. One will be at the corner of 105th Avenue and Radisson Road. The other will be at the corner of 122nd Avenue and Lexington Avenue, near the Parkside North residential development. • Anoka-Hennepin School District is planning a remodel and expansion of Blaine High School and construction of a new elementary school at the corner of Lever Street and 125th Avenue. The new elementary school is projected to open fall of 2019. • A 13,200-square foot medical office building has been approved north of 109th Avenue on Ulysses Street. The City also continues to focus on redevelopment in various areas, most notably along the Highway 65 and University Avenue corridors, and near Northtown Mall. With the recent vacancies of Gander Mountain and Best Buy, the City is working with those property owners to fill those spaces as well. The Blaine Economic Development Authority also purchased and tore down a vacant gas station at the corner of 105th Avenue and University Avenue. The site is under agreement by a developer to construct a new Tumble Fresh laundromat.
BlaineBiz.com
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Brian Podany Named New Safety Services Manager/Police Chief
Blaine City Hall 10801 Town Square Drive Blaine, MN 55449 763-784-6700 763-785-6156 (fax)
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Eric Thorvig Economic Development Coordinator 763-785-6147 ethorvig@blainemn.gov
Bryan Schafer Planning and Community Development Director 763-785-6144 bschafer@blainemn.gov
Clark Arneson City Manager 763-785-6120 carneson@blainemn.gov
Receive Emergency Communications BlaineMN.gov/CivicReady
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BizConnect is published twice annually by the City of Blaine and distributed to all residents and businesses. Past copies of BizConnect are available at BlaineMN. gov/BizNewsletter. Feedback can be directed to Newsletter@BlaineMN.gov.
BlaineBiz.com More information about Blaine’s Economic Development Programs is available at 763- 785- 6147 or online at BlaineBiz.com. FACEBOOK.COM/ BLAINEBIZMN
TWITTER.COM/ BLAINEBIZMN
The City welcomes Brian Podany as the new Safety Services Manager/Police Chief. Chief Podany has more than 20 years of public safety experience. He previously served as the commander of the patrol division for the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO). He had been with ACSO since 1995 and held the positions of special deputy, deputy, major crimes detective, lieutenant, and captain. Chief Podany holds a Masters Degree in Public Safety Administration and a Bachelors Degree in Police Science from St. Mary’s University. Chief Podany began employment with Blaine on November 27. Former Safety Services Manager/ Police Chief Chris Olson retired in June after serving the community for more than 27 years, including nearly nine years as Safety Services Manager/ Police Chief. Captain Daniel Szykulski served as the interim Safety Services Manager/ Police Chief.
Brian Podany, Safety Services Manager/Police Chief
Jon Haukaas Hired as New Director of Public Works The City also welcomes Jon Haukaas as the new Director of Public Works. He believes that Public Works is the backbone of a community and is there to provide the highest level of service to make your city a better place to live, work, and play. Mr. Haukaas recently returned to the Twin Cities from Fort Collins Colorado, where he managed Engineering and Field Services for the water, wastewater, and stormwater utilities. Fort Collins recently won the national Malcolm Baldrige Quality Award for performance excellence, realizing its multiyear pursuit of the presidential award. Mr. Haukaas Jon Haukaas, Director of Public Works was the executive sponsor for the Photo by Eric Hagen, Utilities Asset Management Program and Blaine-Spring Lake Park Life was heavily involved in the systematic replacement and rehabilitation of aging infrastructure. Notable projects include the Canal Importation Ponds and Outfall project, an award winning flood mitigation and natural areas improvement project, as well as the Michigan Ditch water supply tunnel, a 760-foot curved tunnel through the mountain to restore a critical water supply source. Before his move to Colorado, Mr. Haukaas was the Director of Public Works/City Engineer for the City of Fridley. During his tenure, Fridley was the first Minnesota community to certify their State Aid System as “complete” and worked cooperatively with MnDOT to develop rules on the use of funding of off-system improvements. Another notable program was the improvement of all neighborhood streets to modern standards of concrete curb with improved drainage. Mr. Haukaas received his Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Minnesota and his Masters of Business Administration from Colorado State University. Mr. Haukaas began his employment with the City on September 25.
Winter Special Edition 2017
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Do You Know Your Fire Department? Spring Lake Park, Blaine, Mounds View Fire Department (SBM Fire) Do you know your Fire Department? How it is organized? The value provided? Over the next few months we will be highlighting information about the Spring Lake ParkBlaine-Mounds View Fire Department (SBM Fire). Originally called the Spring Lake Park Fire Department, it was incorporated in 1944 as a non-profit corporation. The department started with two pieces of equipment and 20 volunteer firefighters. At that time the Fire District consisted of Blaine, Spring Lake Park, Mounds View, Fridley, Arden Hills, Shoreview, and Coon Rapids. Today, SBM Fire is a dynamic, high performing organization, which provides all hazard emergency response, innovative fire prevention services, and public fire education to the communities of Spring Lake Park, Blaine, and Mounds View. SBM Fire currently serves a population of over 82,000 residents dispersed over 40 square miles. The coverage area includes the Anoka County Airport, critical state infrastructure, major regional employers, and numerous schools. Service is provided through a combination of full time staff and volunteers. Fire service is delivered at the lowest cost per capita in Minnesota. Current daytime fire response combines 11 full-time SBM Fire personnel staffing Fire Stations 1 and 3, with 12 full-time City of Blaine employees staffing Fire Station 5. During the evening, service is provided by approximately 60 volunteer personnel who respond from their homes. Many full-time personnel are also volunteer firefighters during the evening.
sbm fire
QUICK FACTS 82,700
+28% 2000-2015 RESIDENT POPULATION
107,100
+66% 2000-2040 PROJECTED POPULATION
40.2
SQUARE MILES SERVICE AREA
2,015
PERSONS/ SQUARE MILE POPULATION DENSITY
$2.3
MILLION 2017 BUDGET
5 FIRE STATIONS 2 LADDERS | 6 ENGINES 1 TENDER | 4 BRUSH/UTILITY 11 FT FIREFIGHTERS 57 VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS 14 VOLUNTEER FIRE CORPS 8 VOLUNTEER EDUCATORS
SBM Fire also provides fire prevention and safety programs in several focus areas with our Fire Corps, Educators, Fire Explorers, and Firefighters. The services they deliver are critical to the safety and wellbeing of our communities. Some of these innovative and crucial programs are: After the Fire Care, Bike Helmet Fittings, Car Seat Clinics, Citizens Academy, First Aid and CPR, Home Safety Surveys, Safety Camp, Senior Safety Fair, School Education, and Youth Fire Setter Intervention.
City Budget Moving Toward Final Adoption As fall unwinds and slowly transitions into winter, the City Council continues the path toward final adoption of the City’s 2018 tax levy and General Fund Budget. In September, the Council approved the City’s Preliminary 2018 Tax Levy and General Fund Budget. At that time, the Council levied $26.5 million for City purposes including $22,382,025 for general operations; $500,000 for the City’s Pavement Management Program (PMP); $3,281,250 for debt service; and $400,000 for a newly conceived parks and trails revitalization program. Additionally the Council, acting as the Economic Development Authority (EDA), adopted a preliminary EDA levy of $650,000 for a total citywide levy of $27,213,275. Per Minnesota statutes regulating local tax levies, the preliminary levy can only be adjusted downward – the City cannot adopt a final levy that exceeds the preliminary levy. At that same meeting in September, the Council also approved the Preliminary 2018 General Fund Budget with revenues totaling $30,547,475 and expenditures totaling $30,794,750, leaving a funding gap of nearly $250,000 that the Council resolved to balance through spending cuts, additional non-tax levy revenue, a reallocation of the preliminary levy, or a combination of the aforementioned. Since that time, revenues have been adjusted and expenditures have been refined and, with a gap of just under $100,000 remaining in the General Fund, the City Council has indicated support to reallocate $100,000 from the parks and trails levy to the General Fund to fill that gap. As it currently sits, the total citywide levy would raise the City’s tax rate to 36.776%. For a home valued at $200,000, property taxes would increase $14.33 (about $1.20 per month) in 2018. A public hearing to discuss the 2018 Tax Levy and General Fund Budget is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. on December 14, 2017, with final adoption of next year’s levy and budget scheduled for December 21.
PRSRT STD U.S. Postage PAID TWIN CITIES, MN Permit No. 29418 10801 Town Square Drive NE Blaine, MN 55449-8101 763-784-6700
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POSTAL CUSTOMER
DATED MATERIAL PREPARED BY THE OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
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Blaine Market
Farmers & Handcrafted Indoor Market on Select Dates Blaine City Hall Atrium 10801 Town Square Drive
Indoor Market & Craft Fair Select Saturdays, 9 AM to 1 PM December 16 January 13 & 27 February 10 & 24 Be a Fix-It Clinic Volunteer If you can troubleshoot repairs for broken items, consider volunteering at a Fix-It Clinic. Volunteer fixers who have skills in computers, cell phones, soldering, electronics, and small appliances as well as electrical, toy, bike, and jewelry repair, sewing, wood working, and general tinkering are essential to making the clinics successful. Clinics are held monthly beginning in January. For more information, visit BlaineEvents.com/FixItClinics.
March 10 & 24 April 7 & 21 Shop a variety of locally grown and produced products at Blaine’s Indoor Farmers Market! Products may include root vegetables, jams, jellies, pickles, bread, pasta, meat, and eggs. WANTED: Fix-It Clinic Volunteers
For a list of vendors, visit our website at
BlaineEvents.com/FarmersMarket