City of New Hope

A publication of the city of New Hope, Minnesota e www.ci.new-hope.mn.us

Winter 2015Number 191

City of New Hope, Minnesota e Winter 2015

Some highlights of this issue include:2015 Street Project More agressive approachIn Focus Photo Contest 2014 winners namedIn Business• Village on Quebec new businesses• BUCO program • Sign ordinance change consideredEmployee Recognition Schendel is Employee of the Year Employees of the Quarter namedNewly Elected Council Members John Elder and Jonathan London

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A great place to grow!4401 Xylon Avenue North

New Hope, MN 55428

Prsrt StdU.S. Postage

PAIDTwin Cities, MNPermit No. 2330

Current resident or

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City Council approves 2015 budget and tax levy

With a new Hy-Vee store now under

construction in New Hope's City Center area, the city has a lot of work to do to transform Xylon Ave. into a gateway for the newly revi-talized City Center.The city is planning about $5.2 million in infrastruc-ture improvements in the City Center area in 2015. That work will include a little more than $3.1 mil-lion in street, storm sewer, sanitary sewer and water main improvements along Xylon and 45th avenues.

Streetscape plan proposed for City CenterThe city will spend about $288,000 to bury the Xcel power lines and the Comcast cable lines that are currently on poles on the east side of Xylon. And, about $1.8 million in streetscape en-hancements are being considered.The proposed City Center streetscape plan includes a number of components to help beautify the area and make it a distinctive destination. The city is holding an open house on January 15 to present the plan to residents and seek their feedback. There will also be an online streetscape survey to gauge the opinion of residents who are not able to attend the open house.At the entry to the area, at 42nd and Xylon, a small plaza with pavers is planned on the northeast corner which will include a gateway sign with elec-tronic reader board, an entry arbor with landscaping, and a planter for shrubs and flowers. A decorative pedes-trian crossing will adorn the south end

The New Hope City Coun-cil approved the 2015

city of New Hope budget and tax levy on December 8. The 2015 general fund bud-get is $12,066,631, which is an increase of $607,739 compared to 2014. The overall tax levy will increase by 3.95 percent in 2015. Due to increasing home values in New Hope, the average New Hope homeowner will actually pay 4 percent less in property taxes in 2015 compared to 2014.Two major increases in the budget are about $350,000 for equipment replacement and $277,500 for increased employee costs. The city does not generally issue bonds for vehicle and equipment re-placement. The additional $350,000 will increase the amount the city sets aside from 25 to 50 percent of anticipated general fund equipment replacement costs (100 percent of operational costs are budgeted). The amount budgeted for general fund equipment replacement has been reduced in recent years due to the

loss of Local Government Aid. The in-creased employee costs include increases for wages and benefits, a 2 percent cost of living adjustment, additional IT re-sources, a new crime prevention/crime analyst civilian position in the Police Department, and a storm water position in the Public Works Department funded through the storm water fund.Police and fire operations and redevelop-ment will continue to be top priorities in

2015. The kiddie pool at New Hope's outdoor pool will be updated, and a facility space needs study for the Police De-partment and City Hall will continue. Infrastructure and streetscape improvements will be made in the City Center area, an ambitious 2015 street project will be undertaken, and work will continue on the Joint Water Commission's emer-gency water supply.The 2015 city of New Hope bud-get document is available for re-view on the city's website, www.ci.new-hope.mn.us, or at New Hope City Hall.

Council approves 2015 utility rates

In December, the New Hope City Council approved increases to sev-

eral New Hope utility rates for 2015.Both the base fee and the volume rate New Hope utility customers pay for water will increase 3 percent next year. New Hope has had a graduated water rate since 2010 to encourage conserva-tion. Residential customers pay about 9 percent more per 1,000 gallons if they use between 10,001 and 20,000 gallons in a month, and an additional 11 percent more per 1,000 gallons for water they use in excess of 20,000 gal-lons in a month. The fee that the city pays to the Minnesota Department of Health for water testing will not change in 2015. The emergency water supply fee that the city implemented in early 2014 to fund New Hope’s share of the Joint Water Commission’s new emer-gency well backup system, will also not change next year.Both the minimum fee and the volume rate that utility customers pay for sani-tary sewer will also increase 3 percent in 2015. Sanitary sewer volume charges during December, January, February

and March are based on actual water usage. In the summer months, because most utility customers use water both inside and outside, sanitary sewer vol-ume rates are based on the previous winter’s average water usage (or the actual water used, if that is lower). The Met Council charges the city of New Hope a sewage treatment surcharge be-cause of the excessive volume of storm water that has found its way into New Hope’s sanitary sewer system following recent peak rain events. Although the Met Council has increased New Hope’s surcharge for next year, the monthly surcharge that utility customers pay will not change in 2015.The 3 percent increase in sewer and water rates are necessary because both the New Hope Water Fund and Sani-tary Sewer Fund have struggled to keep up with the cost of needed infrastruc-ture maintenance improvements in recent years.The storm drainage fee, which funds maintenance and improvements to the city’s storm sewer system and

Proposed streetscape improvements would beautify City Center.

General Fund Expenditures - 2013-2015

Streetscape Open HouseThe city of New Hope is holding a City Center Streetscape Open House for interested residents on Thursday, January 15, from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m., at City Hall, 4401 Xylon Ave. N. The open house will feature a num-ber of display boards depicting the proposed streetscape plan. The city engineer and city staff will be in at-tendance to answer questions.

City of New Hope, Minnesota e Winter 2015

Kathi Hemken Mayor763-537-7990 khemken@ci.new-hope.mn.us

John Elder Council Member763-913-1472 jelder@ci.new-hope.mn.us

Andy HoffeCouncil Member763-537-2647ahoffe@ci.new-hope.mn.us

Eric LammleCouncil Member763-544-0912elammle@ci.new-hope.mn.us

Frequently Called City NumbersGeneral Telephone ........... 763-531-5100Inspections ...........................763-531-5127building permits, complaintsParks and Recreation ........763-531-5151Public Works .......................763-592-6777sewer backup, snowplowing, forestryUtility Billing ........................763-592-6760Police (non-emergency) ....763-531-5170TTY (through MN Relay) ...651-602-9005

Kirk McDonaldCity Manager763-531-5112kmcdonald@ci.new-hope.mn.us

City Hall Address 4401 Xylon Avenue NorthNew Hope, MN 55428City Websitewww.ci.new-hope.mn.usTell us what you think...24-Hour Opinion Line .... 763-531-5102E-mail .......cityhall@ci.new-hope.mn.us

Jonathan LondonCouncil Member763-546-1293jlondon@ci.new-hope.mn.us

This year was the fifth year of New Hope's In Focus photo contest. In

2014, 27 photographers entered 69 photos into three main catego-ries – people, places or nature. The contest is open to photographers who either live or work in New Hope, and the photos need to be taken some-where in the city. Each participant could submit up to three photos by

The winner in the people category, and the photo with the highest overall score of 299 (of 350) was Dack Nehring for "Circles." Nehring also won in the places category for his photo "Night Light," with a score of 296. Michael Powell finished first in the nature category for his photo "Prairie Flower Monarch," with a score of 275. Nehring received a $100 cash prize as the cat-egory winner with the highest overall score. Nehring and Michael Powell each received $75 prizes for winning the two other main categories.The Council also presented honor-able mentions to three additional photographers who received a score of 287 or higher, but did not win a category. 2014 honorable mention re-cipients were Catherine Burbank for "Puddle Lovin'" (296), Amos Vodis for "Bolts" (288), and Tom Chris-tensen for 238,900 Miles Above New Hope" (287). Congratulations to this year's winners!The winning photos from this year's New Hope In Focus photo contest along with past winners are on dis-play in a gallery at City Hall. You can see all of this year's submissions by following a link on the In Focus page on the city's website.

Dak Nehring's "Circles"

Michael Powell's "Prairie Flower Monarch"

the August 15 deadline. The win-ning photographers were recog-nized at the City Council meeting on October 13.From late August to the end of September, community members were invited to pick their favor-ite photo for a special people's choice category. The photo gal-lery was displayed in the City

Hall lobby, the golf course clubhouse, and at the New Hope Community Farmers Market. The photos and a bal-lot were also posted online. A total of 664 people cast a bal-lot - about half of them online. The winner of the 2014 People's Choice Award was 12 year old D. Williams for his photo "Eat at Brueggers." Eat at Brueggers also won in the special youth category for photographers ages 16 and under. Williams received a $50 cash prize for winning the people's choice category, and an

additional $50 for winning the youth category. In early October, seven judges with extensive knowledge of photography and communications selected the win-ners in the three main categories. Each judge awarded a score of between 10 and 50 based on each photo's subject matter, composition, clarity, lighting, effective use of depth of field, drama/artistry, degree of difficulty, technical excellence, and overall impact.

2014 In Focus photo contest winners

Dak Nehring's "Night Light" D. Williams "Eat at Brueggers"

2015 street project reflects more aggressive approach to pavement management

In November, the New Hope City Council accepted a feasibility report

from the city engineer for a 2015 Infra-structure Project that includes improve-ments to 11.27 miles of city streets at an estimated cost of $6.61 million. Aware that New Hope's road conditions have continued to decline in recent years, the City Council adopted a more aggressive approach to pavement man-agement in May 2014. The overall goal of the city's revised Pavement Management Strategy is to improve the driving surface of New Hope's streets. The revised plan shifts the primary focus from full street re-construction to interim pavement over-lays that will add structural integrity to existing street sections for several years. Full street reconstruction with exten-sive utility replacement will be limited to street segments with a significant history of water main breaks. Utility is-sues that may arise on streets receiving the overlay improvements will be lim-ited to spot repairs in order to build up the city's water and utility funds.Because the high cost of water main replacement has typically limited how much street can be improved, New Hope's new pavement management philosophy will make it possible for the city to improve more streets more quickly. In 2011, for example, 2.9 miles were reconstructed and 2.7 miles were completed with a less extensive mill and overlay improvement. In 2015, by contrast, the proposal is to reconstruct approximately 1 mile of the streets and complete 11.08 miles of edge mill or conventional mill and overlay improvements.The proposed 2015 Infrastructure Proj-ect includes pavement improvements to most of the streets between 42nd and 51st avenues and between Flag and Quebec avenues. Two segments of roadway are being

considered for reconstruction: Flag Ave. between 47th and 49th avenues and, as an alternate, 50th Ave. be-tween Boone and Winnetka avenues. The existing cast iron water main pipe and hardware in those full recon-struct areas will be replaced with PVC pipe. Spot repairs will also be made as needed to sanitary sewer and storm sewer in those areas. Although those two reconstruct areas total just under one mile of roadway, they account for nearly one-third of the estimated proj-ect costs. To ensure that the city has sufficient funds on hand to cover 2015 infrastructure project costs, contrac-tors will bid the reconstruction of 50th Avenue as a separate line item from the remaining project costs.Extensive utility improvements are

not planned along the streets sched-uled for overlay work. New Hope pub-lic works staff will, however, replace water valve bolts in the overlay areas. Corrosion of those bolts complicates the repair of water main breaks and replacing them can help to extend the useful lifespan of a section of water main. All non-conforming sanitary sewer manhole covers throughout the project area, those with pick holes that allow storm water to flow in unabated, will be replaced. And, leaky sanitary sewer structures, where storm water infiltration has been identified, will be repaired as part of the city's effort to mitigate current Inflow and Infiltration surcharge costs from the Metropolitan Council and prevent future surcharges. The Council tentatively plans to ap-

prove final plans and specifications for the project and authorize advertising for bids in late January. If approved, construction of the project will begin next spring.

New Hope is a member of the Hen-nepin Recycling Group (HRG). The HRG manages a comprehensive recycling and waste program which includes curbside recycling, a yard waste site in Maple Grove, special materials drop off events each spring and fall, and a curbside cleanup for waste items in even-numbered years. For more information, visit hrg-recy-ling.com or call 763-493-8006.

HRG Recycling

New businesses at Village on Quebec

New Hope development update

Inspection program for new businesses

Construction is well underway on Compass Pointe, a 68-unit apartment complex on the south-west corner of 62nd and West Broadway. Work on the project, which has a value of $13 million, should be completed in summer 2015.

Since 2008, New Hope has required every new business to register with

the city and arrange for an inspection of their facility before they open for business. The purpose of the Busi-ness Use Certificate of Occupancy (or BUCO) program is to ensure that the new business is safe, appropriately equipped, and meets building and fire code requirements for the type of oper-ation planned. Existing businesses are not required to obtain a Business Use Certificate of Occupancy at this time. The most cost-effective time for a busi-ness to make necessary modifications to its building is before it moves into the building and before it opens for business. Therefore, it’s in the best in-terest of new business owners in New Hope to register for the BUCO pro-gram early.Before the BUCO program was imple-mented, many new businesses moved into New Hope without the knowledge of city staff. New business owners sometimes did not have a complete understanding of all of the fire safety and building code requirements that applied to their type of business in New Hope and, consequently, failed to com-

ply with some of those requirements. Now, new businesses can avoid po-tential fire safety and building code problems by registering with the city through the BUCO program and work-ing with New Hope building inspectors and West Metro Fire-Rescue District fire inspectors to resolve any code is-sues before they open for business. By proactively addressing building code and fire hazards, the BUCO program helps to ensure the safety of employees at local businesses and the surrounding community and protects the invest-ment of commercial property owners. For more information about the BUCO program, contact the New Hope In-spection Division at 763-531-5127.

City to consider sign ordinance change

In January, the Planning Commission will discuss possible changes to New

Hope's sign code ordinance that will likely be of interest to some local busi-ness people.Currently, the city's sign code restricts both the size and number of wall signs a business may have on their building. To provide businesses with additional flexibility, the Planning Commission and City Council will discuss eliminat-ing the language in the ordinance that limits the number of wall signs to two. The ordinance revision being considered would, instead, likely specify the maxi-mum percentage of a building's wall surface that can be covered by signage.For more information about the sign ordinance change being considered, call Jeff Alger at 763-531-5119.

Nominate an outstanding business

There are a lot of great businesses in New Hope. The New Hope City

Council is encouraging local residents, business people and business patrons to nominate one of those businesses for a New Hope Outstanding Business Award. The award program recognizes New Hope businesses that make noteworthy contributions to the community. Spe-cial consideration is given to businesses that have made property improve-ments, expanded on-site or relocated within the city, or done a good job of maintaining their property. A business which has been in the community for a long time, takes an active role in sup-porting the community, or is celebrat-ing some sort of company milestone (i.e. 25 years in business) would also make an excellent nominee. Award-winning companies receive a plaque, are recognized on New Hope’s website and in city publications, and have their name engraved on a perma-nent plaque in New Hope City Hall. The deadline to nominate a company for the Winter 2015 New Hope Out-standing Business Award is January 31. Nomination forms are available on the New Hope website at www.ci.new-hope.mn.us or by calling 763-531-5114.

City of New Hope, Minnesota e Winter 2015

Park Place StoragePark Place Storage Condominiums re-ceived a conditional use permit in June to convert an existing warehouse at 4630 Quebec Avenue North into a self storage facility. The 63,600 square foot building will contain about 35 for-sale storage units ranging in size from 600 to 4,000 square feet. Interior remodel-ing of the building is underway. The property owner also plans to reno-vate the facade of the building – par-ticularly in the southwest corner where the building entrance, an on-site man-ager suite, and offices will be located. Some existing overhead doors will be removed and two new access drives will be constructed through the building. Additional site improvements include new landscaping at the office entrance, new evergreen tree plantings along Que-bec Ave. N., a new rain garden near the parking lot, and new parking lot lighting.

Scattered Site Housing AcquisitionsThe City Council has recently put renewed emphasis on New Hope's scattered site housing program. The primary focus of the program is to pur-

There are three new businesses at Village on Quebec, the multi-tenant

office/retail complex on the northeast corner of 42nd and Quebec avenues.Farrell's eXtreme Bodyshaping moved into 7550 42nd Ave. N. in July 2014. Farrell's is a results based fitness pro-gram for participants of any age, life-style, or athletic ability. The franchise has locations in nine states, including 10 gyms in Minnesota. For more infor-mation, visit extremebodyshaping.com.Avada Audiology and Hearing Care opened its office at 7500 42nd Ave. N., Suite B, in July 2014. Avada currently has several hundred locations in 20 states, including 26 offices in Minne-sota. Avada offers comprehensive hear-ing testing and hearing aid services. Avada is the first tenant in the two-story building on the east side of the Village on Quebec complex. For more information, visit avada.com.

chase blighted or outdated single-fam-ily houses and rehabilitate or demolish them – whichever is most appropriate.The city acquired the residential prop-erty at 6059 West Broadway in mid-November for $116,595. The city also purchased the small, 590 square foot house at 5431 Virginia Ave. N. in mid-December from the Twin Cities Com-munity Land Bank for $76,000.Due to the outdated floor plans and limited resale market for the two houses, along with other factors, city staff and the City Council plan to de-molish the structures and resell each lot to a builder/developer who is inter-ested in constructing a new single family home.Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds have been the primary funding source for New Hope's scat-tered site housing acquisitions. City staff is currently working with Hen-nepin County, which administers the federal CDBG funds, to amend the city's grant agreement so that it could use CDBG funds to demolish blighted structures throughout the city without placing income requirements on poten-tial buyers of newly constructed homes.

Family and Cosmetic Gentle Dentistry is in the process of relocating from its cur-rent office at 5001 Winnetka Ave. N. to 7500 42nd Ave. N. They plan to open in their new location in January 2015. The New Hope location is part of a network of 11 offices throughout the metropoli-tan Twin Cities area. The three doctors at Gentle Dentistry in New Hope offer a wide range of dental services. For more information, visit smilemn.com.

Construction has begun on Gates of New Hope, a new 32-unit apartment building on the northeast corner of Medicine Lake Road and Hillsboro.

State of the CityLearn about major projects that occurred in New Hope in 2014 and those that are planned for 2015 at the New Hope State of the City pre-sentation at 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday, February 10, 2015, at New Hope City Hall. The event is a collabora-tion with the Twin West Chamber.

City of New Hope, Minnesota e Winter 2015

Service Description2015

Monthly Rate

2014 Monthly

Rate

Water

Base Fee $6.95 $6.751-10,000 gal. $5.12 $4.9710,001-20,000 gal. $5.57 $5.4120,000+ gal./Irrigation $6.26 $6.08Commercial/1,000 gal. $5.24 $5.09Emergency Water Supply Fee /1,000 gal. $0.20 $0.20

Water Testing Fee $0.53 $0.53

Sewer

Minimum (includes 1,000 gal.) $6.50 $6.31

Each additional 1,000 gal. $4.32 $4.19Treatment Surcharge /1,000 gal. $0.46 $0.46

StreetLights

Non-Decorative $1.10 $1.05Decorative $1.58 $1.50

Recycling $3.55 $3.55Storm

DrainageResidential $6.55 $6.30Non-residential $9.83 $9.45

2015 Utility Rates (continued from page 1)

Barb Schendel, full time police clerk,

was named New Hope 2014 Employee of the Year at the city’s annual employee recognition event in December. Schendel was nominated for her consistently good work, initiative, and willing-ness to take on addi-tional responsibilities as needed. She received two nominations for Employee of the Year. One of her nominators, a police investigator, noted, “I know with confidence that when I send requests and work to Barb that it will get done without fail or error.” In addition to being very thorough and detail oriented, her nominator gave examples of Schen-del’s initiative and willingness to “take ownership” of cases on which she is assisting. “Barb’s assistance has contrib-uted greatly to my ability to successfully investigate drug cases and get charges submitted that have led to multiple con-victions,” her nominator concluded.Schendel received a second nomina-tion, along with coworker Jeana Allen-Hatcher, for her willingness to take on several additional tasks during a

Schendel named Employee of the Yearsupervisor’s extended leave of absence. One of those tasks involved preparing two exten-sive and important audits for the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the county jail. To prepare the audits, Schendel had to track down information from two different data management systems, because the New Hope Police Department changed to new soft-ware earlier this year.

As a police clerk, her key responsibili-ties include processing police reports, data entry, bookings, assisting the pub-lic at the counter and on the phone, and assisting police officers (especially those in investigations).Schendel has been a city of New Hope employee for 17 years. She began as a part-time police clerk in 1997 and became a full-time clerk in 2012. She shared Employee of the Quarter recogni-tion with two other police clerks in 2013.Nominations for New Hope Employee of the Year are submitted by city em-ployees. The winner is selected by the city’s management team. Congratula-tions Barb!

of Xylon and crosswalk stripping will be added across 42nd Avenue.The city plans to narrow Xylon Ave.between 42nd and 45th from its cur-rent width of 45 feet to 30 feet. The narrower roadway will help encourage motorists traveling through the corridor to slow down, and provide additional right-of-way area for aesthetic enhance-ments. Traffic stud-ies indicate that a 30 foot street should be more than adequate to handle anticipated traffic levels and public safety needs.The current proposal includes lighted bollards, attractive acorn-style street lights, street furniture including benches, bike racks and trash enclosures, interspersed areas of turf, and possibly banner poles along both sides of Xylon Ave. Decorative crosswalks are proposed at the main entrance to Hy-Vee on Xylon. The plan currently includes 85 new bou-levard trees along Xylon Avenue and 33 new trees along 45th Avenue. Some of the trees will likely have tree grates to improve drainage and other features to help improve stormwater quality.The plan calls for the east side of Xylon Ave. to have a six foot wide concrete sidewalk with a colored accent band

along the edge. Trees, shrubs and pe-rennials will be planted and a decora-tive fence is proposed between the sidewalk and the Hy-Vee parking lot, in-cluding some raised concrete planters. The proposed amenities along the west side of Xylon Ave. include a 10 foot wide concrete pathway to handle both

storm water ponds, will increase by 4 percent in 2015.The recycling fee, which pays for New Hope’s participation in curbside recycling, the yard waste site, special materials drop off events and related activities will not change next year. The fee is charged to every utility customer and is not based on how often a resident uses the program or what volume of recycling they produce.Finally, the city’s street light fee will increase for the first time in several years to cover a 5 percent increase in charges from Xcel Energy. When the utility rate increases are added together, the bill of the average residential utility customer (a customer who uses 4,500 gallons of water per month) will increase by a little less than $2 a month. The 2015 rates take effect on Jan-uary 1. See the table (at right) for more detailed utility rate information. If you have questions about your utility bill, call the utility billing specialist at 763-592-6760.

Hy-Vee broke ground on its new, 90,000 square foot grocery store at 4300 Xylon Ave. N. in November. Installation of concrete wall panels began in late December. They plan to open in fall 2015.

City Center Streetscape Plan (continued from page 1)

Beck and Alger named Employee of the Quarter

Barb Schendel

Jerry Beck, communications coor-dinator, and Jeff Alger, community

development assistant were named New Hope Employee of the Quarter for the second and third quarters of 2014 respectively.Jerry Beck received three Employee of the Quarter nomina-tions for the second quarter of 2014 for his work coordinating City Day, launching Nextdoor.com, and assisting with the new Movies in the Park program.As communications coordinator, Beck is responsible for all facets of the city's communications including publica-tions, the city website, photography and video, media releases and media coor-dination. During his 14 years with the city, he has received Employee of the Quarter recognition three times and was named 2002 Employee of the Year.Jeff Alger also received three Employee of the Quarter nominations for the third quarter of 2014 for his coordina-tion of the city commissioner bus tour, the exceptional job he did training his replacement as office specialist, and for the drive and enthusiasm with which he does his work.Alger was hired as one of two office specialists in the Community Develop-ment Department in March 2014. In August he was promoted to commu-nity development assistant. One nominator noted, "the fall bus tour was a success because of Jeff's organiza-tional skills mapping the route so that it would meet a tight timeline, and pre-paring an excellent information packet."

Jerry Beck

Jeff Alger

Council members take oath in January

Council member John Elder (2009-2018), who was reelected in No-vember, and newly elected council member Jonathan London (2015-2018) will take the oath of office on Monday, January 12, 2015. They join Mayor Kathi Hemken (2009-2016) and council members Andy Hoffe (2005-2016) and Eric Lam-mle (2009-2016) on the Council.

New Hope has two Facebook pages. For information about city programs and services, visit facebook.com /cityofnewhopemn. For news about recreation programs, visit facebook.com/newhoperecreation.

pedestrian and bicycle traffic. Lots of trees, shrubs and perennials are in-cluded – especially in front of the pool and City Hall parking lot. And, several arbor structures with seating would serve as public gathering spaces. An innovative "convertible street" ele-ment is planned for the portion of the corridor between Hy-Vee's main entry along Xylon Ave. and the north end of the Hy-Vee property. That portion of Xylon has been designed so that it would be easy to shut down and control traffic to accommodate the Farmers Market or other special events.The City Council is still considering a number of options to pay for the City Center streetscape improvements including the use of TIF funds, bond-ing, proceeds from the sale of Kmart, or using a combination of funding sources. Hy-Vee will contribute up to $314,000 to the streetscape project.

Another nominator cited the initiative Alger showed in re-designing all of the department's permit forms, creating fillable forms for the city's website, and reorga-nizing the forms dis-play. "Jeff has a terrific personality, is a quick learner, and asks for more work and more projects because his work is done so timely and correctly!" Alger was also applauded for the excel-lent job he did training in his replace-ment as office specialist while performing all of the duties of his new position.Recipients of the New Hope Employee of the Quarter recognition are nomi-nated by coworkers and selected by a committee with representatives from each city department. Congratulations to Jerry Beck and Jeff Alger for being named Employee of the Quarter!

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