2021 State of the City Address

2021 State of the City Address
January 4, 2021
Mayor Sandy Martin
At the start of 2020, we were filled with hope and optimism at the start of a
new year and a new decade. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has
resulted in personal suffering for so many people and it has adversely
affected each and every one of us in some manner. It has impacted the way
we work and shop and our ability to gather with our family, co-workers and
friends. Who would have thought that phrases like “social distancing”, "mask-
up", and "zoom meetings" would become part of our everyday vocabulary in
2020?
Despite the fact that 2020 has been an extremely challenging year, I continue
to be amazed and thankful for the resilience of our residents and our city. The
generosity of our residents has been demonstrated through donations to the
local food shelves and volunteer efforts to help those who are isolated or
unable to shop safely. Our city staff has ensured that critical city projects have
been completed in a timely fashion and that essential municipal services are
provided safely and efficiently. Our city staff has been able to adapt to
changes in state mandates and regulations and create innovative ways to
open facilities and provide programs that serve our residents. The outdoor
summer concert series went on to the delight of hundreds of attendees who
safely distanced themselves outside by the pavilion. The staff even found a
safe way to bring Santa Claus to neighborhoods throughout the city by
collaborating with the Lake Johanna Fire Department and letting Santa ride
atop a fire truck, festooned with holiday lights. At the same time, they
collected several truckloads of food for the Ralph Reeder Food Shelf and
hundreds of Toys for Tots.
The impact of the pandemic on our small business owners has been
devastating. The city responded by establishing a forgivable loan program,
making grants available to more than 30 local businesses. A second round of
loans targeted to restaurants and small fitness centers was established in late
December.
Throughout this challenging year and despite the fact that we were rarely
able to meet in person, my fellow city council members demonstrated their
vision, dedication, and leadership in our efforts to make Shoreview a better
place to live, work and play. I would like to express my personal thanks to Sue
Denkinger, Emy Johnson, Terry Quigley and Cory Springhorn for their

outstanding work this year. They are a great team and contribute so much to
the success of our community.
Now I would like to take a few minutes to review some of our key
accomplishments in 2020 and highlight some of our major initiatives for 2021.

PARKS AND RECREATION
Phase I of the Shoreview Commons improvements was completed this
summer. These improvements were designed to enhance the outdoor park
area surrounding the community center and included the construction of a
decorative pond and formal perennial garden which will provide a beautiful
site for outdoor weddings and family events. The trails and sidewalks
throughout the site were expanded and a much needed pedestrian
connection to the Ramsey County Library was created. In addition, a new
plaza-style skate park opened in the spring and it immediately became an
extremely popular and well-used amenity for skateboarders of all skill levels.
In 2021, the city plans to construct phase 2 improvements which will provide
for a new destination playground in the Commons area. This new playground
area, which will be located near the intersection of Victoria Street and the city
hall entrance, promises to be one of the largest and most exciting
playgrounds in the entire metro area.
The city is also in the process of completing a comprehensive update to its
park system plan. This plan will review all of our city parks, examine
demographics and current recreation trends, and develop conceptual master
plans for all our city parks. We had hoped to finish this plan in 2020, but the
coronavirus delayed its completion. There will be an active public
engagement process that will involve the youth athletic associations, the
park and recreation commission, and Shoreview residents.
Our recently expanded community center had a difficult year financially in
2020 because of the pandemic. The facility was closed for 4 months and,
when it was able to open, there were many restrictions on which areas could
be open and capacity. Now that a vaccine for the coronavirus is on the
horizon, we expect to be able to fully reopen for business by mid-year. We are
hopeful that many of you will be renewing your memberships to the best
community center in the State of Minnesota.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
The city continues to see significant new commercial and residential
development, reinvestment, and construction activity despite the impacts of
the pandemic. In the past few years, Shoreview has added more than 1,000

market-rate apartments and townhomes in the city, greatly expanding the
variety of housing choices that are available. The following residential
developments have either been opened or under construction:
The Edison at Rice Creek - located in northwest Shoreview on Rice Creek
Parkway. The development's first phase includes 68 rental townhomes and
150 market-rate apartment units that opened in late summer. The developer,
St. Louis-based JPL Development, plans to begin the second phase of 150
additional apartment units in 2021.
Emrik Apartments - the second phase of the nearly $90 million multi-family
residential redevelopment project called the Emrik started in June, 2020. This
phase will add another 200 high-end apartment units to the former industrial
property within the Shoreview Corporate Center, on Lexington north of 694.
Once this phase is complete, there will be more than 400 residential units
featuring underground parking and many amenities such as pools, fitness
and yoga spaces, pickleball courts, and designated dog park areas. This
property is a joint venture between Greco Properties and Eagle Ridge
Partners. The city is providing some funding assistance to provide 24
affordable units within both phases.
Midland Terrace - the city council recently approved a new apartment project
at the 420-unit Midland Terrace apartment complex, in southern Shoreview.
This will require the removal of an existing 42-unit apartment building which
will be replaced with a new 103-unit building. The new building will be
constructed adjacent to the luxury Lakeview Terrace building that opened in
2012. This project is expected to begin in 2021.
Affordable Housing - the city has also acquired two properties on County
Road E that will eventually be incorporated into Bobby Theisen Park. Since it
is expected to be several years until these properties will be added into the
park, the city has worked with a local non-profit group to renovate the
existing homes and will use them to provide affordable housing to two
families. In addition, the city purchased a tax-forfeited property near
Lexington and Hamline and will also be made available as an affordable
home.
The city also continues to see redevelopment in its business and commercial
areas as noted below.
The Lex at 4100 - Eagle Ridge Partners has completed a major
redevelopment and upgrade to the Shoreview Corporate Center campus at
Lexington Avenue and County Road F. The initial improvements consisted of
major interior and exterior renovations to a 120,000 square foot corporate

building to convert it from a single user to a high-end multi-tenant facility.
The first two tenants, Progressive Insurance and PTC Corporation have leased
two floors of the building. Once fully leased, the developer anticipates as
many as 600 jobs at this site.
Gradient Financial is nearing completion of renovation and major upgrades
to an office building at 4625 Churchill Street north of Hwy 96. Gradient will be
moving their software division of about 30 employees to this site and has a
growth plan that estimates as many as 100 employees in the future.
Former Deluxe Campus - Long-time Shoreview business Deluxe Corporation
recently announced their decision to relocate their headquarters to
downtown Minneapolis. Although this decision was disappointing because of
the city's long-standing relationship with Deluxe, Shoreview is well positioned
to overcome an anticipated loss of jobs due to its strong and diverse local
business community. The property has been sold to Scannell Properties, a
national developer that specializes in business parks. The city is optimistic
about working with Scannell in order to develop a plan that that will
maximize the development of the 50-acre site to attract new business and
further strengthen and diversify the city's tax base.
The city will also be issuing a request for proposals for development of the 10-
acre Rice Street Crossing property at the southwest corner of 1-694 and Rice
Street. It is anticipated that there will be some type of business park use on
the property.
In 2020, the city also introduced a new business-focused website called
"Think Shoreview." This new website is designed to expand Shoreview's
outreach to our business community and focus on the city's economic
development efforts.

TRANSPORTATION AND TRAILS
During 2020, two very large transportation projects were completed in
Shoreview. The first project, which was led by Ramsey County, was the much
anticipated reconstruction of the Rice Street/I-694 interchange. Due to the
complexity of this intersection, the new design features a series of three
roundabouts that significantly improve traffic flow and provide better access
to neighborhood streets and local businesses.
The city also completed the reconstruction of North Owasso
Boulevard/Arbogast Street from Rice Street to Victoria Street during 2020.
This project included total reconstruction of the roads, replacement of
utilities, improved stormwater treatment, and replacement of the trail. In
addition, the city worked collaboratively with Ramsey County Parks to

complete the renovation of Lake Owasso/Wabasso Park as part of this
project.
The city is nearing the end of an important milestone in its street
reconstruction program. In the mid 1980's the city began a program to
reconstruct all substandard residential streets in the community and to bring
them up to current roadway standards that include concrete curb and gutter
and modern storm drainage systems. In 2020, the city completed the first
phase of a two-year project to reconstruct the streets in the Edgetown Acres
area in northwest Shoreview. Once the second phase of this project is
completed in 2021, every street in city will have been brought up to current
standards. After 2021, the city's efforts will then turn to maintenance and
rehabilitation of more than 90 miles of city-owned streets.
During 2020, three important trail links were also completed. A trail was
added to County Road E between Vivian Avenue and Lexington Avenue to
connect neighborhoods in southern Shoreview with the Lexington Avenue
retail corridor. In addition, a trail was constructed along the unimproved
Gramsie Road right-of-way from Chatsworth Street to connect to Victoria
Street. There was also a new trail segment constructed in the Vadnais/Snail
Lake Park open space to provide an at-grade crossing to the Grass Lake open
space area. This was necessary because a pedestrian underpass under
Gramsie Road experienced flooding for several years.

CONCLUSION
As I begin my 25th year as Mayor of Shoreview, I continue to believe that the
local level of government is where we can make the largest impact on the
quality of life in a community. This strongly held belief keeps me focused on
working hard to create a better city for both current and future generations
of Shoreview residents and businesses. By continuing to work collaboratively
with our residents, neighboring cities, and other levels of government and
maintaining our focus on long range planning, Shoreview will continue to be
viewed as one of the premier communities in the State of Minnesota.
On behalf of the entire city council, I would like to thank our many committee
and commission members who volunteer their time to help make Shoreview
a better place. I would also like to thank our many community groups, who all
had unique challenges due to the coronavirus, including the Shoreview
Northern Lights Variety Band, Shoreview/Einhausen Sister City Association,
Gallery 96, Slice of Shoreview Committee, Shoreview Historical Society, and
the Shoreview Community Foundation. Each of these groups helps build civic
pride and makes our community stronger. I am confident that these groups

will have a much better year in 2021. Finally, many thanks to our professional
and dedicated city staff that work to provide a wide variety of municipal
services and programs to our citizens and guests.
As a city, we are committed to providing an open and accessible government
and are making many efforts to increase our communications with residents
through a variety of methods including the city's website and social media
accounts, through our quarterly ShoreViews newsletter and the bi-monthly
Access Shoreview e-newsletter. We also televise and stream all of our city
council and planning commission meetings. The city is planning on offering
another Shoreview Citizens' Academy in 2021 where residents can learn more
detailed information about city operations and programs.
It is truly an honor and privilege to serve as the Mayor of our great
community and I look forward to continuing to work together to insure our
continued progress and success. Please stay healthy and best wishes for a
happy new year.