Community Center

There is an effort currently underway to explore the feasibility of constructing a Community Center on Coon Rapids Boulevard, where the current Goodwill and Big Lots stores are located. The City recently purchased this property for redevelopment purposes. The Community Center, if constructed, would become a “gathering place” for the community and would provide something for all ages. The project would likely include new recreational and social space for seniors, a new ice arena, a field house with basketball/volleyball courts, a walking/running trail, an aquatics center, an indoor playground, significant meeting and community space, and fitness areas. An outdoor park with refrigerated skating trails is also being explored. A partnership with Anoka-Ramsey Community College is also being explored. The City Council retained the professional services of Perkins + Will and appointed a 35 member community center task force to consider potential opportunities and to make a recommendation to the City Council later this fall.

Egret Bridge

Replacement Work to replace the Egret Boulevard Bridge located immediately North of Robinson Drive began Thursday, August 14th. Traffic will be diverted from Egret Boulevard and the street will remain closed for around 90 days. The bridge will be substantially completed by the end of this fall, although the final asphalt layer is not scheduled to take place until next spring.

Bunker Hills Clubhouse

The City is working with the consultant group of Partners and Sirny in designing a new clubhouse to serve the customers of Bunker Hills Golf Course. There are numerous code deficiencies in the current 40 year old clubhouse. As part of this design effort, space is being incorporated for golf related office space that would support our interests in keeping Bunker Hills Golf Course financially strong. The community will start to see design ideas later this fall. This project would be paid for using golf related revenues, except where it makes sense to utilize community based resources, such as reserves or the tax levy. This project is expected to be worked on over the next several months and be presented to the City Council late this fall. Anticipated construction would be next year.

Rental Ordinance Modifications

There is a significant amount of work going on relating to strengthening the City’s ordinances for rental licensing. Current regulations require that any rented residential buildings, from single family homes to large apartment buildings, receive a license from the City to operate. This ordinance is becoming more important with the evolving housing market where more investor-owned homes are appearing. The intent behind the efforts for improving the ordinance is help ensure that property owners and managers are aware of the importance and expectations of owning and managing properties responsibly. As part of this discussion, staff is incorporating the input of the multi-family housing coalition. The City Council will be discussing recommended changes at a work session on August 27th with formal consideration at a September Council meeting.

Port Riverwalk Public Discussions

The City is underway with an effort to consider what should be developed on the Coon Rapids Boulevard site known as Port Riverwalk. When an earlier project was cancelled due to the current housing conditions, the City Council elected to reevaluate what project would best meet the City’s long term needs on this site. There are currently a series of meetings being held on this topic. The last of four meetings will be held on Monday, August 26th at the Coon Rapids Civic Center.

Based on the feedback received from these meetings, as well as considering other input and market conditions, the City expects to develop a desired list of redevelopment principles and goals that will be shared with Shamrock Development, which will be provided the first opportunity to implement a redevelopment plan. There is not a specific schedule for the redevelopment of this area. It will realistically tie into what will be allowed as market conditions improve.

Preparing the 2009 Budget

The City Council had its first opportunity to review the 2009 proposed municipal budget at a work session on August 13th. State law requires that the City Council declare a maximum property tax levy no later than September 15th and then work towards finalizing the final budget by early December. There are four main focus areas in the 2009 proposed budget:

1. Neighborhood quality of life;
2. Increased reinvestment in the City’s infrastructure;
3. Consideration of the potential for a community center;
4. Improvements in the City’s use of technology for the delivery of services.

The proposed general fund budget is $25,213,326, which is 2.8% over 2008 levels. There are a variety of other factors involved when calculating the anticipated impact on the property tax levy, including debt obligations, capital replacement requirements, and changes in non-property tax revenue sources. The other issue that impacts final property tax impacts on an individual property is the change in taxable housing values, which have decreased this past year. As the budget currently stands, properties valued from $183,000 to $233,000 would experience a property tax increase of approximately $85.