Excelsior City Council: Banners, Snow Removal, Fire Lanes, New Bandshell

Monday night’s Excelsior meeting opened to a full house. Local residents attended the meeting to give feedback on several issues, with snow removal being the most heated topic.

Festive Winter Banners:

Linda Murrell, executive director of the South Lake Excelsior Chamber of Commerce, and Betty Sorenson, president of the Excelsior Downtown Business Group, presented a banner the two groups planned to hang on streetlights from Thanksgiving until February. The two-sided, 18x49 vinyl banners will not include advertisements. The city will not need to contribute any money to pay for the 25 to 40 banners.

Murrell explained that big events coming up in Excelsior—Arctic Fever, Minnesota Hockey Day and pond hockey—will bring greater media coverage to Excelsior, as well as people. Up to 15,000 visitors are expected to attend Minnesota Hockey Day alone.

She said that the banners are a “huge opportunity to welcome a ton of people to town, and say we’re glad you’re here.”

Council member Mary Jo Fulkerson mentioned that she had received many emails objecting to the banners. She felt that the banners could detract from other holiday decorations, namely the white lights, greenery, and spruce tips, that give Excelsior a small-town feel during the holidays. She suggested hanging the banners after Christmas.

Council member Greg Miller added that he received emails both in support of and objecting to the banners. He said he likes the banners.

Mayor Nick Ruehl asked for feedback from meeting attendees, three of whom voiced their support for the banners.

One business owner, however, spoke about her concerns of “visual clutter.” For her, the streetlights are already decorative and are “an important part of who the city is.” She challenged the city to think carefully about the banners and suggested focusing on the current holiday decorations and making those stronger. The banners are “ordinary and trite,” she said.

In the end, council members were impressed that both the South Lake Excelsior Chamber of Commerce and the Excelsior Downtown Business Group supported the banners and were planning to pay for them.

Dave Wisdorf mentioned that in the past banners have not damaged the streetlights. As far as making an artistic judgment call on the banners, council member Miller stated, “You either like them or you don’t.”

The city council voted to allow the banners to go up as suggested.

Snow Removal:

According to City Manager Kristi Luger, city staff suggested that residents no longer be allowed to put snow and ice in the streets. She said residents typically clear their driveways and sidewalks after public works clears the streets at 5:00 am. The extra snow and ice in the road is not cleared until the next morning, at which time it has hardened and is more difficult to remove.

With last year's atypical winter, the city received many complaints about roads that were not plowed. Luger stated that other cities with homes on small, unique lots do not allow residents to put snow into the street because it causes more effort for public works, it increases the risk of property damage and is raises the risk of accidents.

Many residents spoke to the council about the hardships the ordinance change would cause them. Some residents were frustrated by dealing with snow from city streets being put in their yards. But the essential problem that many residents mentioned is that they really do not see where else they can put the snow other than in the street. One woman, who lives on Second Avenue, described her driveway as very short.

“We can’t throw it into the house,” she said.

Another resident responded to council member Fulkerson’s suggestion that residents be allowed to shovel snow into the street if the city plows have not cleared the road.

“If I plow early, I get plowed in again,” he told the council. Then he added, “You have the big plows. We have the little plows.”

One resident objected to the tickets and fines included as part of the proposed ordinance. Some people cannot afford to pay for a snow removal service, she said, particularly baby boomers with fixed incomes. She believed that the ordinance was driven more by money issues than public safety.

Council member Miller responded: “This is not a scheme to cite people and raise money,” he said.

The mayor described the snow removal issue as complex, and he thanked residents for coming to the meeting and speaking about how they would be personally affected by the proposed ordinance. He called for more research into what residents who live on small lots in other cities do with their snow. The issue will be continue to be discussed at the next council meeting.

Fire Lanes:

City Manager Luger explained that some of the fire lane parking signs in Excelsior are not consistent or compliant with city ordinances. The proposal was to make the end of fire lanes “no parking” areas for city maintenance.

A resident provided feedback to the council regarding his strong objections to the no parking areas.

Dave Wisdorf, public works superintendent, admitted that some of the maintenance only occurs twice a year.

Council member Fulkerson said that she had received many objections to the proposed change. She had questions about the current parking regulations and suggestions for possible changes that have resident support. She will meet with Wisdorf and the issue will be discussed at the next council meeting.

Bandshell:

A group seeking a new bandshell for Excelsior asked for funds from the city for a feasibility study. The Rotary Club agreed to pay for half of the $16,000 cost of the study, leaving the city to pay the other half. Excelsior Bay Group, LLC will conduct the study with feedback from the city, the Parks and Recreation Commission and the Bandshell Committee.

Kim Snyder, founder of Excelsior Bay Group, LLC, explained that a feasibility study would help the city learn how much money significant donors would be willing to give, and a conservative estimate of how much the city could raise for a new bandshell.

The mayor and council members were at first hesitant to agree to the request. Without a larger plan for the Commons, they wondered if it was too early in the process to think about the bandshell only. Council member John Olson especially voiced his concerns about the narrowness of the project.

A resident also told the council that he believed that basic maintenance at the park should first be improved upon before adding new structures to it.

“We need to get better at what we’re doing,” he said with passion. Council member Fulkerson agreed.

After more discussion, both Mayor Nick Ruehl and council member Miller agreed that the city could work on a larger plan for the park while the feasibility study is conducted.

“I hate to stop the momentum of this group,” said Miller, noting that despite good ideas in the past, nothing had been done to improve the park due to lack of funds.

Eventually Olson agreed, and the city agreed to pay $8,000 for the feasibility study. Fulkerson voted against the plan. Council member Jennifer Caron was not present at the council meeting.