HomeMy WebLinkAboutCitySlick_January_2014CITYSLICK p1
A newsletter for the City Council and employees of the City of Edina
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
2 Around The
Water Cooler
3 Staff Notes
3 Techy Tidbits
5 Employee Milestones
5 Letterbag
1|3|2014
by Michael McGivern, Communications Intern
Edina’s “First Lady of Assessing,” Liz Lopez,
retired on Dec. 20 after 31 years with the City.
The CMA and Assessing Tech was a favorite in
the building with her wit and charm.
Lopez’s job evolved with
technology. “Assessing
is more computerized
now,” said Lopez,
reflecting on the
change she saw in
her work over three
decades. “I don’t think
we even had Word or
Excel when I started!”
Back when she
started at old City
Hall and even after
staff moved into the
new building in 2004,
there were files upon files
in a cataloging system
with every property in the City. These files had
information on the property’s ownership and
sale prices. Luckily, the assessment industry’s
answer to the Dewey Decimal System has been
replaced by the Property Data System (PDS)
which stores all the necessary information on
computer software.
“[Liz] is retiring because she doesn’t want to be
here when she’s 60,” joked Planning Secretary
Jackie Hoogenakker.
The Chandler, Ariz., native found her way
to Edina by way of Alaska when her-then
husband landed a job with the Alyeska Pipeline
in Fairbanks. She took a job there where she
worked in employee relations. She enjoyed her
time there, but a new job took the couple to
Minnesota, where Lopez eventually ended up
in the Edina Assessing Department.
Besides the aforementioned management
of property records, Lopez excelled in the
communications-side of the job where
sometimes a resident can come in and be
none too pleased with the value of his or her
property. Lopez learned how to deal with
the public through
experience and
proper guidance.
“I learned a lot from
June Regan. She
always told me that
you have to be firm
with what you’re
talking about,” she
said.
Anyone who knows
Lopez can attest
that she can balance
the work with her
personality. “She’s so
easy to get to know. She’s
outgoing and friendly,”
said Permit Technician Jackie Onischuk.
With her newfound free time, she plans to take
advantage of her love of exercise with hiking
and gym time and also reconnect with family
back in Arizona where she hasn’t been in
recent years.
She’s currently engaged and plans to work a bit
at her fiancé’s commercial real estate company,
William Campbell Appraisals.
“I’ve really enjoyed working with Liz over
the years,” said City Assessor Bob Wilson.
“She’ll be missed and we wish her well in her
retirement.”
Hoogenakker sums up Lopez’s retirement best:
“Liz is Liz. You can’t help but love her.”
Lopez Retires After 30 Years with Edina
Liz Lopez and her daughter, Kendra, board a stretch
limousine after Lopez’s last day as a City of Edina employee.
Su
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Jan. 6, Brian, Public
Works
Jan. 6, David, Public
Works
Jan. 7, Steve, Fire-Rescue
& Inspections
Jan. 9, Laura, Centennial
Lakes Park
Jan. 9, Dustin, Public
Works
Jan. 11, Jeff, Health
Jan. 11, Michael, Police
Jan. 12, Greg, Fire-Rescue
& Inspections
Jan. 13, Ronald, Braemar
Golf Course
Jan. 15, Ross,
Engineering
Jan. 17, Richard, Public
Works
Jan. 17, Solvei, Health
Jan. 18, Jeff, Fire-Rescue
& Inspections
Jan. 18, Diesel, Police
Jan. 20, Bill, Fire-Rescue
& Inspections
Jan. 21, Nick,
Communications &
Technology Services
Following is a summary of some of the projects of some departments, divisions and
facilities. Other areas of the City will be featured in upcoming issues.
Communications &
Technology Services
The Communications Division is kicking
off the new year with a new discussion on
“Speak Up, Edina!” Through the City’s civic
engagement site, www.SpeakUpEdina.org,
staff hopes to learn what residents, visitors
and businesses feel about a variety of topics,
from garbage hauling, public art, food-liquor
sales ratios and others. The topic for January is
food trucks. A new topic will be posted every
month.
Affected staff will be contacted by
Communications Coordinator Jordan
Gilgenbach prior to a topic’s assigned month.
The Communications Division encourages
other staff to get involved in the online
discussions, asking questions of commenters,
asking for or providing clarification, and
simply having a conversation online with
residents. For more information, contact
Gilgenbach at jgilgenbach@EdinaMN.gov or
952-826-0396.
Community Development
It’s not all about zoning, ordinances and
variances for some staffers in the City’s
Planning Division. Recently, Residential
Redevelopment Coordinator Cindy Larson,
Assistant Planner Kris Aaker and Senior
Planner Joyce Repya completed the Edina
Police Department’s Citizens’ Academy.
Fire-
Rescue &
Inspections
After a stretch
of more than six
weeks without
a structure fire
in Edina, the
Fire Department
battled a garage
fire in mid-
December.
Edina Fire was
dispatched to the
6300 block of York Avenue on Dec. 16, after
people in nearby buildings and passersby
made several reports of smoke and flames
coming from a unit of an apartment building’s
detached garage. Crews arrived to find a car on
fire inside the garage.
Crews from Edina, Bloomington, Richfield
and St. Louis Park worked through the cold
to extinguish the flames to prevent it from
spreading to adjacent garage units. While
checking for fire extension in the garage, the
body of an adult male was discovered in the
front seat of the vehicle.
The cause of the fire is currently unknown. The
State Fire Marshal’s office and the Hennepin
County Crime Lab are assisting Edina with its
investigation. An autopsy determined that the
man died before the fire started.
Edina Art Center
The first exhibit of 2014 for the Edina Art
Center is the Faculty and Student Show, which
runs from Jan. 9 to Feb. 6. This new exhibit
combines two former individual shows –
the Annual Faculty Show in January and the
Student Show in April. The idea is to see
works by students and instructors in the same
gallery, however not necessarily together, to
offer insights in the ways the student/instructor
relationship might influence the other.
The Edina Art Center will install new point-
of-sale software by Max Solutions in January,
and all-day training for staff will occur Jan. 13
and 14.
Police Department
The Edina Police Department donated $435
along with numerous items of clothing, toys
and food to the St. Joseph’s Home for Children
this holiday season. The money was raised
through Department donations and “Caroling
Cops,” a group of police officers and staff who
sang their way through City Hall collecting
donations along the way.
St. Joseph’s
Home for
Children,
a program
of Catholic
Charities of
CITYSLICK p2
AROUND THE WATER COOLER
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STAFF NOTES
Heather Branigin began work Monday, Dec.
30, as Executive Assistant in the Admin-
istration Department. Most recently,
Branigin worked as the Associate Di-
rector of the National Collegiate Con-
ference Association and held the po-
sition of Executive Director for the United
Nations Association of Minnesota. Branigin
has a bachelor’s degree in political science/international re-
lations and a master’s degree in teaching.
St. Paul and Minneapolis, serves children and their
families by addressing immediate needs for shelter
and stability and offering long-term solutions to
emotional and behavioral issues with quality mental
health care.
The Edina Police Department works to raise money
and donations for the organization every year
around the holidays.
by Katie Bisek, I.T. Specialist
The following article will get
your Microsoft Exchange 2010
mailbox setup on your iPhone
running iOS 7:
1. Tap the Settings icon on the iPhone.
2. Next, tap Mail, Contacts, Calendars.
3. Tap Add Account, then Microsoft Exchange.
4. The Exchange setup screen will open. You’ll then enter
the following information:
Email. Enter your entire email address (e.g., myname@
edinamn.gov), using all lowercase letters.
Password. Enter the password for your email account.
Description. Enter a descriptive name for your account
(e.g., City email account). This description will only be
visible to you.
5. Tap the Next button and the device will attempt to verify
the account. You may receive an “Unable to Verify Cer-
tificate message.” Go ahead and Tap the Continue button.
6. The device will than continue verifying the account.
Once complete, tap the Server field, and enter “mail.
edinamn.gov “ (without the quotation marks). Tap the
domain field, and type EDINA, using all caps. Then, enter
your user name, typically first initial, last name (e.g. jdoe).
7. Tap the Done button and the device will then try to
create a secure (SSL) connection to your Exchange server.
When con-
nected, you’ll
see check
marks along
your settings
to confirm
that your
account has
been verified.
8. Tap the ON/
OFF buttons
to select which information to synchronize with the Ex-
change server and then tap the Done button when finished.
Typically all items are selected as “ON.”
For all devices connected to City email accounts, the user
is required to enable a passcode or password on his or her
mobile device.
Your iPhone may take a moment to sync all your infor-
mation depending on how much you have on the Ex-
change server. To learn more about the mail settings on
your device, tap Settings from the home screen, then Mail,
Contacts and Calendars and then select your account. You’ll
be able to customize how much data you would like to sync
from the server.
For more information, or to suggest a topic for Techy
Tidbits, email helpdesk@EdinaMN.gov or call 952-903-5711.
TECHY TIDBITS
CITYSLICK p3
CONFIGURE AN IPHONE WITH MICROSOFT EXCHANGE
As the crisp autumn air morphed into a frigid winter
breeze, the City’s Public Works Department prepared
itself for the snow season in new ways.
First, the City installed a new salt brining system, which
is a vast improvement over its predecessor. Asphalt
Street Supervisor Shawn Anderson explains: “[The new
system] is a 5,000-gallon storage tank with an automated
brine-making cabinet. This will give us the capabilities
to produce brine and store reserves to fit our needs.
[Another] 4,000-gallon storage tank will house calcium
chloride, a product that lets you use liquids at a much
lower temperature.”
The new tank is
much larger than
the previous
600-gallon tank
and allows for
all Public Works
vehicles to salt
roads before,
during and after
a storm. The
calcium chloride
will not only melt
ice at a lower
temperature, but is
also a more pure
form of salt that is
better for efficiency
and the environment.
The new system was purchased with funds from the
annual budget, as well as a $25,000 grant from the Nine
Mile Creek Watershed District.
Public Works Director Brian Olson notes that exploring
new chemicals to cut down use and a new system have
been in the works for over a decade.
The new system will allow for a big reduction in salt.
“Our goal is to reduce as much salt expenditure as
possible while still maintaining the same level of service
to the public,” Olson said. With an annual budget of
nearly $198,000 for salt, a goal of 15 to 20 percent
reduction in salt use will be a boon for the City and its
residents.
EDINA PUBLIC WORKSBRINGS NEW SOLUTIONS TO CITY STREETS
by Michael McGivern, Communications Intern
‘We hope
to be able
to do much
more with
this addition
to our snow
fighting’
Another gain for increased efficiency with the
new tank is more storage capacity. A look at
recent annual snow falls at Minneapolis-St.
Paul International Airport illustrate Minnesota’s
unpredictable winter weather:
Winter 2010/11: 86.6 inches
Winter 2011/12: 22.3 inches
Winter 2012/13: 67.7 inches
Last year (2012/13), Public Works had 1,500 tons
of salt left over from the previous winter and still
ordered 1,700 tons
more. The City is now
better prepared for both
blizzards and seasons
with light precipitation.
Also, Public Works is
using a new database
with GPS tracking
devices in all department
vehicles. The “Precise
System” is a reporting
system that shows where
trucks are on routes at
any given time, past or
present. This is especially
useful for winter weather
events during which
the City would like the
capability to make custom plow routes. The Precise
System also shows staff if a truck is ahead or behind
schedule.
“Both of these new technologies are at the ground
level and we are learning and implementing them
on a daily basis,” said Anderson. “We hope to be
able to do much more with this addition to our snow
fighting operation.”
“The City of Edina Public Works Department is
proud of the service we give our citizens and strives
to exceed people’s expectations,” said Olson. “The
City Council provides the tools to be successful.”
The City’s Public Works vehicles are prepared for all that Mother Nature has in store
this winter.
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CITYSLICK p4
by Michael MGivern,
Communications Intern
In his final weeks as an Edina
Police Officer, Jeffrey Bolks
reflects on some of his fa-
vorite memories, including
apprehending a kidnapper
after a car chase and get-
ting the female victim out
unharmed; participating in
many SWAT activities, hav-
ing a suspect arrested as a
result of a composite forensic
drawing; and getting the motor-
cycle down to the 35W bridge col-
lapse very shortly after it happened
to assist with rescue.
Bolks is set to retire from the Edina Police Department (EPD)
Jan. 31. During his time with the force, he has had numerous
and eclectic duties.
“I was fortunate to be able to experience many different
aspects of police work over my career here with EPD,” said
Bolks. “Shortly after I started here in 1988, I was asked to be
a field training officer. I joined SWAT in the early 1990s and
spent 10 years working on that team.”
Before joining the EPD, Bolks had garnered experience in
police work as a U.S. Army Military Policeman for two years
while stationed at the Siegelsbach Army Depot, an hour north
of Stuttgart, Germany. He also worked at State parks in Pine
and Dakota counties as well as with the North Dakota Park
Service.
Once he joined the EPD, he continued to move around and
help where he was needed.
“I completed forensic artist training and enjoyed creating
composite drawings of suspects with the help of witnesses or
victims,” he said.
After working the mid-shift for 15 years, Bolks went through
motor officer training, spending the last years enjoying the
freedom and versatility of policing on a motorcycle.
“Officer Bolks spent many years as our Motorcycle Officer. In
that capacity, he became a favorite of many people in town,”
said Police Chief Jeff Long. “Jeff also had a unique way of
communicating with the public. He could issue a ticket and
have the drivers thank him for doing so as they drove away!
BOLKS SET TO RETIRE FORM EDINA POLICE DEPARTMENT
CITYSLICK p5
LETTER BAG
Selected letters are
printed in City Slick each
month to let you know
what residents and busi-
nesses think of your
services.
“[Communications & Technology Services Director Jennifer
Bennerotte], I would like to sincerely thank you on behalf of
the eighth-grade students and staff for taking time out of your
busy days to come and visit with our students at Valley View
Middle School during the week of Oct. 13, 2013.
“You provided a valuable real-life message to students about
education, experience and work outside of the walls of our
school. Your words validate the lessons of both life and aca-
demics that we emphasize to students on a day-to-day basis.
Without the support that we get from persons like you, our
work in school would be much more challenging indeed. The
community support that you provide is invaluable.
“Thank you again for your time, care and partnership with our
students and staff.”
– Chris Hoffman, Valley View Middle School Teacher
EMPLOYEE MILESTONES
Douglas Wagner, Police, 20 years. (Jan. 3, 1994)
Gregory Keehr, Edina Liquor, 20 years. (Jan. 24, 1994)
Denise Beck, Police, 25 years. (Jan. 1, 1989)
Andrew Medzis, Fire-Rescue & Inspections, 30 years.
(Jan. 23, 1984)
Tim Zimmerman, Public Works, 30 years. (Jan. 9, 1984)
We will miss his dedication to traffic enforcement and his
strong work ethic.”
With Officer Bolks’ last day with the EPD nearing, he looks
forward to tackling many different projects at his family’s Lake
Minnewawa log home an hour north of Mille Lacs and taking
on some projects in Iowa and South Dakota where he grew
up.
CITYSLICK p6
9:00 AM
Join us for
App Users’ Group
9 a.m. the last Friday
of the month
Edina City Hall Community Room
Do you have a mobile device? Do you use mobile apps? Want to use more?
Whether you use an iOS device such as an iPhone or iPad or an Android device, get together with other mobile app users in an informal setting
to talk about your use.
Get ideas for apps to use for work and play!
App Users’ GroupApp Users’ Group