Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout1st Q 12 City of Oak Tree City USA First Quarter 2012 Newsletter Inside this issue: 2012 Budget and Property Taxes Update The 2012 City Budget considered the approach of shifting the base water and sewer Recycling Schedule 2 utility fee from the quarterly utility billing to the City's property taxes. Ultimately, and Information the City Council determined that this plan was very challenging for the 300+/- con- dominium and townhome owners where water meters were shared and would be What's Included 3 without similar financial benefit. In addition, the utility shift placed an additional in Trash Pickup burden on local businesses and commercial properties. Therefore, the City's 2012 taxes and utility structures will be simplified to mirror Pet owner past years' policies and would not be blended. This will result in the following im- Reminders pacts: Utility Billing Overall the typical home with a taxable market value of $200,000 will see a 10.8 Due Date percent increase on the City portions of their property taxes. This increase is due to two reasons: Arborist 5 News 1. The State of Minnesota has eliminated the Market Value Homestead Credit and has created a Market Value Exclusion process, and which will results in about Streetlight 6 40% of this overall increase. Outages 2. Overall the City has a 2.7 percent increase in operations costs from 2011, but has lost $30,000 in revenues received from the State of Minnesota, lost $65,000 in Code Red 6 charges received from the utility funds which has been re-allocated to provide Information better reserves for long term infrastructure improvements; and $100,000 in fund balance was not used in balancing 2012 budget as compared to the 2011 budget. Notes from Public works Despite this increase, compared to most communities, City of Oak Park Heights residents will continue to not pay for separate garbage pick—up fees, utility street lighting or utility franchising fees. In addition, the City has saved over $2,000,000 Winter Parking 8 Reminder for street reconstruction purposes so that when the time comes for road reconstruc- tion, property owners would not be burdened with significant special assessment fees or potentially none at all. Ice Rink 8 Hours Federal and State financial situations continue to become more challenging and greater burdens will likely be placed on local governments to provide services and Park and Trail 8 maintain infrastructure. Considering this, it is vital to note that the City's financial Hours position is sound, manages cash flow without borrowing, and is largely capable with replacing major units of infrastructure. Page 2 First Quarter Oak Park Heights Rei 2012 Recycling Calendar dPut ark green dark green with a red lid. NAWeek E B Week M Holiday Some additional recyclable items you may Your Week is B Week(Red Week) not have sorted before: Newspapers Corrugated Cardboard January July •Newspaper Inserts Please Rotten,bundle& Magazines cut to 3'x 3'x 6"(Please place Su Mo Tu we Ta, F, s, s, Mo Tu we Th Fr s, Phone Books next to therecyclecart 2 3 4 5� 6 7 1 2 3 � 5 B 7 ) 0 9 10 11 12 13 14 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 -Catalog's Box Board(cereal,Cake, IS 16 17 18 19 20 21 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 •Old Trainin Manuals cracker,tissue&shoe boxes) 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 g 29 30 31 29 30 31 Junk Mail Brown Paper Sags _--_-.-- Envelopes Aluminum Cans Februory August File Folders Tin&Steel Cans Su Mo Tu We Th Fr 5a Su Ma Tu We Th Fr Sn Not very Good Glass Jars and Bottles 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 Paper Back Books three colors only 5 67 8 9 10 11 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Office&School Papers (brown,green,clear) 12. 13 14 15 16 17 18 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 (Oil Colors) Plastic Milk Jugs 19 20 21 22 13 24 25 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 g 26 27 28 29 '., 26 27 28 29 30 31 Fax Sheets Plastic Bottles with Necks - --_-- - •PET N1 •softdrinks bottles,waterbottles, March September salad dressing bottles,peanut butter&jellyjars S,, mo T,, w� rn Pr s� 1,1 Mo To Wo Ti, F, sa HDPElf2-juice bottles,water bottles,shampoo bottles, 1 2 3 1 laundry detergent bottles 4 5 6 7 a 9 10 2 © 4 5 6 7 8 11 la 13 14 15 16 17 9 i0 11 12 13 21 75 Most common contaminants 18 19 20 21 22 23 2A 1b 17 18 19 20 21 22 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 Please avoid placing the following containers in the recycling. 30 Pizza Boxes with food residue April _ October Su Mo Tu We Th F, S. Su Mo % We Th Fr $a Oil Containers with residue ' 2 3 4 5 6 ' ' 2 3 4 5 6 How to Prepare 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 7 8 9 10 1/ 12 13 15 16 17 16 19 20 21 14 1s 16 17 18 19 20 22 23 24 26 26 27 2a 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 • Remove caps&lids 29 30 28 29 30 31 Rinse cans,bottles&jars No need to remove labels May November No Plastic Bags or Styrofoam Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su Mc TL, Wa 111 Fr S. Please Helpl i 2 3 a 5 1 z 3 Remember, yin our cardboard& 6 7 $ 9 10 11 12 4 5 5 7 8 9 10 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 paperboard saves space&energy! 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 19 19 20 20 M 23 24 Extra cardboard boxes must be flattened, 27 29 30 31 25 26 27 28 29 30 tied into bundles no more than three feet June December long by three feet wide by one foot tall& then placed next to your recycling cart. SU Mo Tu We Th Fr Si Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa 3 4 S 5 1 8 8 .2..'..3._.—4...,...$..:. 6 7 8 Service Questions? 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Contact us during business hours 17 1s 19 20 21 22 23 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 (Monday-Thursday730AM-430PM,Friday8:30AM-4:30P'M) 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 23 24 26 27 28 29 30__31 Call-651-487-8546 or toll free 888-459-3933 Website-wwwmeol iatwincities.com Please set out trash and recycling containers by 6:00 A.M. Holiday Schedule. New Years Day— Labor Day— Sunday,January 1,2012 Monday,September 3,2012 Service will NOT be delayed. Monday through Friday service day will be delayed by one day. Jam iary 2-6 services will occuron regularservice day. Thanksgiving Day— Memorial Day— Thursday,November 22,2012 Monday,May 28,2012 Thursday and Friday service day will be delayed by one day. Monday through Friday service day will be delayed by one day. Christmas Day— Independenee Day— Tuesday,December 25,2012 Wednesday,July 4,2012 Tuesday through Fridayservice day will be delayed by one day. Wednesday through Friday service day will be delayed by one day. W W W.VeOliatwincities.COM or call 651-487-8546 Tree City USA Page 3 Single sort recycling The City of Oak Park Heights has converted recycling participation via making it easier for its recycling collection from the "dual-sort", 18- the user. Also, the use of a single sort system gallon blue bin collection system to a will reduce the amount of heavy trucks on City "SINGLE-SORT" collection system. streets, extending their life. All homes served by VEOLIA under the City's There are no cost increases or additional fees collection system received a 95-gallon recy- associated with the switch to the Single-Sort clables container in which all recyclable mate- system and unlike most communities, there rials will be placed. You no longer have to sort will continue to be NO supplemental City bill- cans, papers, cardboard, glass, etc. Simply ing for any collection services of solid waste, place the materials into the single container. recyclables, large items, brush or other typical The 95-gallon wheeled container will be ser- collections. viced by VEOLIA every other Thursday. Simply place it adjacent to your solid waste Please keep the current blue bins for your container. own use, but please note that these bins too are recyclable. Garbage pick-up will remain a weekly oc- currence. For the 2012 recycling calendar and informa- tion on what can be recycled, please see The single-sort collection method has been in page 2 of this newsletter. Information can place in numerous communities for some time also be found on the City's website under and has been an effective method to increase Garbage & Recycling. What's included in trash pickup? In addition to the typical garbage and recycling pickup, the City also cov- ers the disposal of yard waste, large household items, and `white-goods' such as televisions, refrigerators, couches, chairs, desks, water-heaters, EIh1V1wIRONIh.+IENTAL stoves, dishwashers, dryers, etc. for single family residences and com- SERVICES plexes with four units or less in Oak Park Heights. In order to have these items picked up in a timely fashion, please contact Judy Tetzlaff at City Hall, 65 1-439-4439, at least two days prior to collection day so that the special truck may be dispatched to your home. If you receive a bill from Veolia for these ad- ditional services, please call the City Administrator at 65 1-439-4439 as most, if not all, of these items are covered under the City's contract, and you should not be billed. Some items are not included in your monthly fee are extra bags of garbage not placed in your container. The City's waste hauler, Veolia, will bill you $1.50 per bag. Some other items that are picked up for a fee are sinks, toilets and construction debris. You will be billed by Veolia at a regulated rate as monitored by the City. REMINDER!! Waste and Recyclable pick-up is every THURSDAY. However, if one of the six holidays—New Years Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas—falls on a weekday, collection may occur on FRIDAY of that week. Page 4 First Quarter • Attention Pet Owners Leash Law Reminder The City of Oak Park Heights has a leash law in effect that prohibits pets from running at large. Any dog or cat that is off the premises of the owner and not under the physical control (by leash or by voice) of the owner or another designated person is in violation of this Ordinance. When you are out walking your pet, please remember to bring a plastic bag. Pet owners are re- quired by City Ordinance to clean up pet waste on public and private property. Removal and proper disposal of pet waste helps keep our City clean and healthy. Pet Licenses All dogs and cats in the City for more than 30 days are required to have a City Pet License. There is no charge for this service and it could save your pet from a trip to the animal shelter. Bring proof of your pet's rabies vaccination to City Hall to receive a pet license and tag. For more information, please call City Hall at 651-439-4439. City Ordinances can be viewed on the City's web-site: www.cityofoakparkheights.com. Third quarter utility bills City Meetings Utility bills for the fourth Quarter of 2011 (subject to change) (October—December) will be mailed to residents City Council: soon and will be due February 9, 2012. 2nd and 4th Tuesdays at 7:00 p.m. Auto pay is available. With auto pay, there is no need to waste time writing and mailing a check. Paying your utility bill electronically allows you to Planning Commission: save time and money on stamps and late fees. The Typically the 2nd Thursday at '7:00 amount you owe on your utility bill is automati- p•m• cally withdrawn from the account you designate on the billing due date each month. You will con- tinue to receive your bill so that you know the date Parks Commission: and amount to be withheld from your account. 3rd Monday at 6:30 p.m. If you are interested in participating, please call or stop by City Hall to obtain an enrollment form. Agendas and Minutes are posted on The form is also available on the City's website, the City's website: under City Information, Forms & Handouts. Call www.cityofoakparkheights.com Judy Tetzlaff at City Hall, 651-439-4439, if you have questions. Tree City USA Page 5 Winter boulevard tree pruning Tree Pfoblems? Pruning of boulevard trees in Oak by March 15t". If you reside in the Park Heights is done on a 5-7 year area where trees are to be pruned If you are an rotation with several hundred trees this year, you have probably al- O a k P a r k pruned in any one year. Starting in ready received a postcard from the H e i g h t s January 2012, boulevard trees will city notifying you of the pruning. If be pruned by a tree service hired by you have any questions about resident, and the City of Oak Park Heights. This boulevard trees, please contact the have a problem work is scheduled to be completed Oak Park Heights Arborist. with a tree or shrub, such as Oak Wilt an insect or a disease, have The time for insect transmission of the oak wilt fungus to fresh wounds is p 1 a n t i n g April 1 — Sept. 15, with the riskiest period being April 1-July 1 . Pruning of oaks can occur October-March without application of paint to fresh wounds. questions, or Contact the Oak Park Heights Arborist if you have any questions about oak just want to wilt. have a plant identified, call Dr. Kathy Emerald Ash Borer Widin, the OPH At the time of this writing, emerald ash borer (EAB) has been found in Minnea- Arborist, at 439- polis, St. Paul and Shoreview, but not yet in Washington County. Everyone 4439 Ext. 11o6. with ash trees should be examining them for signs of EAB activity. If larvae are She can either under the bark, one might see a lot of woodpecker activity and feeding holes answer your on the tree along the trunk and larger branches, particularly in the top half of question over the tree. Looking closely, you might also be able to see Y4 in. long "D-shaped" exit holes in the bark if adult EAB exited the tree in 2010. the phone or make an If you have any ash trees which are dying from the top down, have excessive appointment for woodpecker activity and feeding, or you see any other signs of EAB activity, a site visit. This please contact the Oak Park Heights Arborist to come out and take a look. Do service is paid not move ash wood from one area to another, as this is one way that emerald for by the City of ash borers can be easily spread. Oak Park Risk trees Heights. Winter is a good time to check trees trees in and near your yard for prob- for broken, hanging branches, and Iems and contact a tree service to cracks in branches or trunks, espe- remove hazardous branches or cially the main trunk union. Also trees. If you're not sure which prob- look for evidence of decay, such as Iems are serious enough for tree shelf fungi or wildlife holes, in the pruning or removal, call the Oak branches or trunk. These issues can Park Heights Arborist to come out be dangerous for people living and take a look to determine which around trees. Take a good look at trees might be a risk. Page 6 First Quarter 2012 Newsletter CodeRED Emergency Notification System The City has joined in a partnership with other area municipalities to establish a CODE RED Emergency Ser- vices Notification System. The System enables emergency services to notify you (via voice message, text or email) if there are activities in your area you need to be critically aware of and to direct specific actions in emergency situations. In an emergency you may be given a description to help locate a missing person, be notified of a potential danger in your area and what action you should take, along with other police or fire emergency information. The System will not notify you because the police or fire are in your neighborhood, you will only be notified if you are requested to take a specific and necessary action related to the emergency or to provide you meaningful and specific information. The System also will not be used for weather related infor- mation, such as in the event of a tornado warning. Follow the siren protocols. Lastly,you may also be notified for non emergency public works information such as water outages, and other immediate and timing-critical City notices. Those, however, are expected to be very rare occurrences. To ensure your home address, phone number, text and email addresses are in the database, log onto the Oak Park Heights website at www.cityofoakparkheights.com and follow the "CodeRED" link on the front page or the Police section. Those without personal Internet access may use the county library system computers or call 651-439-4723 Monday through Friday from 9am to 4pm. Required information includes a street address (physical address, no P.O. boxes) for location purposes and a primary phone number. To receive email and text messages,individuals will also need to enter those addresses. By entering a cell phone you will receive the notices even when away from your home so you may know if children or other persons at your residence may need assistance from you. Do NOT use your home phone number for a residence of another person such as parent or a business. If you enter your home phone number for an address other than your own home,it will be removed from the database, and you will not receive the messages intended for your own home. While the System attempts to load current 911 telephone information into current databases, this does not guarantee that you are in the system. Some home phones using the internet, cell phones and others may not have or may have incorrectly been submitted by your provider as 911 information. Please follow the link to the Code Red web site and enter your address and the phone number associated with your residence or busi- ness. You do not have to create an account to enter your information, but creating an account will allow you to easily change your information in the future. Be assured your information is to be treated as confidential and will be accessible only to City and other Emergency service personnel. Of course, no system is 100 percent reliable at all times. Do not rely on this if you feel you are in danger; take appropriate action on your own and do not wait for a notification. See the FAQ section for more information on how the system works, how the message gets to you, and why you may not be notified in some incidents. More information about the CodeRED system is on the city web site under the CodeRED FAQ link. Water main breaks Water main breaks usually occur during freezing and thawing cycles which causes the ground to shift. To report a potential main-break, please call City Hall at 651-439-4439 during business hours, and the Oak Park Heights Police Department at 651-439-4723 after hours. The call will be forwarded to the Washington County dispatcher and an of- ficer will then contact the Public Works Department. Tree City USA Page 7 NOTES FROM PUBLIC WORKS Hydrants Trash receptacles Note the location of the nearest hydrant to During a snow event on a trash pickup day, your home. It is extremely helpful and ap- it is helpful to the street plowing crew when preciated that residents help city staff and residents keep trash receptacles from creep- the fire department in maintaining hydrants ing too far into the street. Please be aware clear of snow. Keeping a hydrant clear and on trash day if a snow event is occurring. easily accessible could save precious time in The plows will likely be out. the case of an emergency. Protect your house from frozen meters and pipes You can take easy and inexpensive steps to prevent the damage, expense and inconvenience associated with freezing pipes and meters. Temperatures are colder along the floor and cement block wall of the basement than near the ceiling. Circulating the warmer air can help prevent fro- zen meters. In some homes, meters are in separate unheated rooms or boxes; open the doors to rooms or open a meter box to allow warmer air to circulate. Simply keeping your home and basement warm enough will help prevent freezing. In addition: • Check along the foundation for areas where cold wind can enter the basement or crawl space and plug with insulation. • Close off crawl space vents and doors. • Replace broken or cracked basement windows or doors. • Install a storm window or cover basement windows with weather insulation kits • Make sure basement doors and windows close tightly. • Seal or caulk cracks in the walls. • Insulate pipes. • Don't forget to turn off the water supply and drain all outdoor faucets! Streetlight out in your neighborhood? Your help in identifying street lights that are not working is very important, as we rely solely on your notification assistance. Once City staff is aware of a light out, we contact Xcel Energy im- mediately to help make sure the light is repaired in a reasonable amount of time. Xcel Energy Streetlighting Department strives to repair outages within two business days of notification that the light is out or not working properly. To report a City street light out, please contact City Hall at 439-4439. If possible, have the following information available: • Property address and/or nearest cross street to where the light pole is located. • Whether the light is located on a corner, midblock, or in a cul-de-sac. • The nature of the problem (i.e. light is out, light is blinking, light is broken). ritv • City of Oak Park Heights • ak ' Quarter- 14168 Oak Park Blvd. N. PO Box 2007 WINTER PARKING REMINDER Oak Park Heights, MN 55082 Phone:6 1-43-4439 Parking regulations begin November I st through March 3 I St. No 439574 Police non-emergency:651-439-4723 parking is allowed on City streets during Police Emergency:911 the hours of 1:00am and 6:00am. Office Hours: Winter parking restrictions are put in place in an effort to enable snow re- Monday through Friday moval equipment the opportunity to do a top quality and efficient job in re- 8:00 a.m.to 4:30 p.m. excluding legal holidays moving snow from city streets. Please be aware that these parking restric- tions are in place AND ENFORCED regardless of whether or not there has been recent snowfall. Move off the city streets during those hours to avoid MAYOR David Beaudet:439-2582 citation and towing' Please help us by obeying the winter parking restric- COUNCILMEMBERS tions. Les Abrahamson:351-0807 Mary McComber:351-7879 Mike Runk:439-5458 WINTER WARMING HOUSE HOURS Mark Swenson:270-5385 CITY ADMINISTRATOR The City of Oak Park Heights Public Works Department will maintain hockey Eric Johnson rinks again once temperatures are low enough. Warming house hours will be as follows: Weekdays: 3:30pm-9:00pm Visit our Weekends: 9:00am-9:00pm Holidays: 9:00am-9:00pm The Oak Park Heights PARK HOURS newsletter is published by the City Park and trail hours are October 1—April 30 from 6:00 a.m.to 10:00 of Oak Park Heights. P Comments are welcome. p.m. and May 1—September 30 from 5:00 a.m.to 10:00 p.m. 651-439-4439 8SS 'oN I?�ad NW`JOTEIA111TS (11Vd 3&'1Sod.S.n LOOZ-Z80SS NW `sVgW!3H AJP-d AP-0 PiEPUPIS LOOZ xog `N PAIS AJP-d AP-0 891t,I PaIJosaid S111-'diaH 1"d V0 J° 'A4T)