On It and In It: Lake Minnetonka New Year's Day Plunge

One of the great things about living in Minnesota is how we embrace winter. Nothing exemplifies it more than the ALARC On It and In It Lake Minnetonka Run and Jump.

The run begins on New Year's morning at 9am at Bayview Event Center in Excelsior, with the freezing plunge into Lake Minnetonka immediately following. More information can be found here: http://www.alarc.com/Portals/2/Registration%20form.pdf

As of press time, the temperature at 9am tomorrow is expected to be 6 degrees above zero.

School Funding Challenges - How Will The Housing Market Complicate Matters?

The Lake Minnetonka area has been very active with school funding topics lately. Minnetonka and Westonka both passed levy referendums in November, and the Hopkins school district recently exited statutory operating debt status just as Westonka announced that they had entered it. Statutory operating debt, in simple terms, occurs when the general operating fund balance falls below a certain threshold.

A question I haven't heard explored much recently is what impact, if any, the deteriorating housing market has on school funding going forward. Roughly 67% of school funds come from the State, while 18% comes from local property taxes. The remainder comes from school fee revenues and federal funds.

The 67% of State revenue is paid on a per-student basis, so it is fixed from the local school district's standpoint. There may be a budget crunch at the state level as they attempt to fulfill this obligation, but the localities can count on the money assuming they have accurately forecasted enrollment trends.

The levies that are paid from local property taxes come directly from a portion everyone's yearly tax bill. On your property tax statement, you can see what portion of your payment goes toward school funding.

The question isn't what the funding picture looks like in 2008 -- I think it is pretty well established. The concern is what assumptions have been made about property tax appreciation going forward? Are districts operating under an assumption that property taxes will continue to increase at a high clip, only to have actual revenue falls short of estimates? I understand there is still some room for tax valuations to grow based on actual market value and limited taxable market value, but there is less room to grow than there may have been in 5-year estimates done in 2006 or early 2007.

Does Minnetonka 2010 school district funding, for example, assume conservative or flat property tax revenue increases, or are the estimates based on the abnormally high rate of increase experienced in the 1st half of this decade?

With all of the financial specialists and auditors reviewing school finances, I'm sure this question has been actively explored. If anyone has insight into this, I'd appreciate the dialogue.

MinnPost -- worth a read

For those of you news junkies who are looking for additional sources of local and national information, I'd recommend checking out MinnPost at http://www.minnpost.com/. MinnPost is a nonprofit news source whose mission is to "provide high quality journalism for news-intense people who care about Minnesota."

I had checked out the website a while back when they first kicked off, and was mildly intruiged and reminded myself to keep checking back. Over time I've seen the content become very thought-provoking and have been impressed with their news coverage. Definately worth a bookmark in your web browser.

2010 Loss of Congressional Seat

The Star Trib reported today on what we've been writing about for a few months, that it is likely Minnesota will lose a congressional seat in 2010. Minnesota is growing, but not at the pace of places like Florida, Arizona, and Nevada.

http://www.startribune.com/local/12872346.html

An interesting new piece of information is that there could be momentum to combine districts 4 and 5, the Minneapolis and St. Paul districts. This would be much more likely if Republicans are in power at the state level in 2010.

Ramstad Reconsidering?

A story covered in Roll Call this week and hitting the blogosphere circuit today is that of Jim Ramstad reconsidering his retirement.

We think Jim Ramstad is an excellent Congressman, one who represents the profile of the 3rd district nearly perfectly. We also think there will be a more natural time to step down -- in 4 years when redistricting, and the likely loss of one of Minnesota's 8 seats, may mean the person representing the 3rd has to go head-to-head with another popular incumbent.

While we would be thrilled if Ramstad decided not to retire, the most important thing is that his decision is clear soon. It will only be fair to Erik Paulsen and the other Republican prospects to know if Ramstad is in this race or not.

Minnetonka Ice Not Yet Safe

You've probably seen several fisherman, skiers, and walkers on the lake in the past week. According to word-of-mouth as well as online reports (such as this one from the moundmn blog), the ice isn't fully formed. Go on the ice at your own risk and bring safety equipment with you.

It is normal in years where a major snowfall came early for the ice to take longer to thicken. This is due to the insulating quality that the blanket of snow creates, lengthening the time to get clear, thick, hard ice.

Excelsior: Destination or Community? (editorial)

Let me take a moment to editorialize. I try to keep the information on this blog very balanced and factual, but on occasion I like to interject some opinion, always trying to give you fair warning for when I do so.

With the recent proposal to redevelop the Port of Excelsior and another block in downtown, I'm hearing a mantra that has also been used several times in past years when discussing the vision of Excelsior. That mantra is usually something along the lines of "Excelsior can become a premier destination" in the metro area or the Lake Minnetonka area.

If I could change just one word in that phrase, I would then be able to embrace the mantra wholeheartedly. I'd like to change the word "destination" to "community".

I'm not entirely sure that Excelsior needs to prove itself as a destination. Lake Minnetonka is a natural resource that sells itself. It is rare to have a downtown and public area on a 14,000 acre lake so close to a major city. Places like Excelsior and Wayzata, and to a lesser extent Mound, are able to take advantage of prime placement on one of the largest lakes in the state. Excelsior gets a healthy amount of traffic, and one could describe it as vibrant during most business days, weekend evenings, and summer festivals.

Where Excelsior needs to improve, in my opinion, is not in becoming more of a destination, but in becoming a more livable community. We can buy antiques in Excelsior, but we can't buy meat or fresh vegetables. I can buy artwork to my heart's desire, but I can't find a high quality sandwich to-go from a good deli. We have 7 places to have a beer and 2 more to buy offsale, but we have to venture out on a state highway to find cough syrup. I'm all for new development: Development that will make Excelsior a great place to live, 365 days a year.

This is not to discredit the businesses who have set up shop on Water Street. I want any business in town to thrive. If the free markets suggest that Excelsior should supply the nightlife for the Western suburbs, or become the premier concentration of art for the area, I won't stand in the way.

This is just to say that while becoming a "destination" and a livable "community" might share some commonalities, such as good neighborhood nightlife options, the two ideas diverge at some point. We have biking trails, a beautiful lakefront park, 2 coffeeshops, a movie theater, schools and churches that serve the community. What comes next? More bars, nightlife, and a hotel? Or a market, a drug store, and a gourmet deli supported by a critical mass of tasteful residential development like the Promenade?

My vote is for the latter. Yours?

Excelsior Redevelopment Part 2

The Sun Sailor's coverage of the proposal to develop the southern edge of the Commons as well as an adjacent downtown block provides more information and a balanced perspective on the topic. It can be found at:

http://www.mnsun.com/articles/2007/12/13/news/ex13monson.txt

Figuring the value of a prime, downtown, Lake Minnetonka lot is still the big question, and I maintain that that corner of the Commons is hardly a brown lot in need of revitalization. One the other hand, converting a city-owned parcel to a piece of tax-generating property would help Excelsior's finances, and expanding parking through private development and without taxing residents is the only fair way to do it.

Thoughts? Comments?

What is Excelsior lake frontage worth?

An article in the Lakeshore Weekly News outlines how the Excelsior City Council recently heard a proposal to allow for development of a lakeshore area on a small chunk of what is now the Commons / Port area. Under the proposal, the land would be provided to the developer in exchange for building a 2-story parking ramp somewhere in downtown, but it is unclear as to if that would be in what is now the East or West Lot.

http://www.weeklynews.com/main.asp?SectionID=10&SubSectionID=10&ArticleID=4018

The developer is The Landschute Group, who has also been involved in the Wyer-Hill project and 200 Water Street, among others. There is no doubt that both of those projects were well-done, tasteful projects that blend very well with the city of Excelsior. Quality of the developer's work is not an issue -- we think Landschute's work speaks for itself.

The real issues here are the land use question, and the land swap deal. It is one thing to take a burned down hardware store and make it into a timeless corner building, complete with an authentic and unique venue like Jake O'Connor's. A piece of lakefront property at The Commons, however, isn't exactly a brown lot yearning for redevelopment. It is a part of Excelsior which is currently enjoyed for views, walks, or merely to add to size of the Commons' greenspace, the South Lake's gem.

To be sure, this space isn't perfect. It is the home to trash collection bins for the charter boats and doesn't have the shoreline conducive to bluegill fishing or rock skipping like the rest of the Commons. But it is prime Lake Minnetonka frontage.

It seems that the fundamental questions on this topic are the following, in order of priority:

1. What is the best use of that lakefront lot for the residents of Excelsior? (i.e. what makes the town a more livable place -- the existing greenspace and views, more restaurants and retail, or something else?)
2. Would the proposed development accomodate the answer to question #1?
3. What is the best use of that lakefront lot for the health of downtown?
4. What is the value of a lakefront, downtown lot adjacent to a Commons area, and would this deal provide at least fair value in both the near-term and longer-term?
5. Would the benefits from this project cover the direct and indirect future costs -- future policing, parking, etc? Would this project encourage or inhibit additional commercial and residential projects in that immediate area?

The developer is quoted as saying "The city has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to comprehensively plan the crucial block of Excelsior." He is right. But the residents also need to decide if the real once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is having a large piece of Lake Minnetonka lakefront undeveloped and accessible by all.

I haven't formed an opinion on this yet - I'm just examining the issue. It is a complex question with upsides and downsides and assumptions and permanent ramifications. Aldo Leopold had a quote that I keep coming back to, and I paraphrase: "Examine each question based on what is ethically and aesthetically right, in addition to what is economically expedient.”