Wayzata
City hires community development leader
Emily Goellner has been named Wayzata's director of community development. She was previously a city planner and grant writer in Golden Valley.
Goellner replaces Jeffrey Thomson, Wayzata's director of planning and building for almost four years. Thomson left Wayzata earlier this year to become community development director in Maplewood.
Goellner will be involved in planning the Lake Effect, a long awaited, $15 million lakefront development plan that includes a streetside plaza, shoreline parks and a boardwalk, scheduled to begin construction next year. She said she will also focus on making Planning Department information more readily accessible to the public.
Katy Read
Lakeville
City moves forward on new liquor store
Lakeville is taking the first steps toward opening a fourth municipal liquor store after a city-commissioned market study found that another store would increase profitability and not hamper its other stores' success.
The store would be on city-owned land at the northwest corner of Interstate 35W and 210th St. W., said City Administrator Justin Miller.
"It's a growth area … [and] there's relatively little competition to the south," he said.
The city aims to get City Council approval on a request for proposals this fall and choose a developer in the winter or spring. The store would likely open in 2021, Miller said.
Lakeville's liquor stores have long helped the city's bottom line and topped the list in sales among metro area cities with municipal liquor in 2017.
Erin Adler
Golden Valley
Upgrades coming to council chamber
Golden Valley's City Council chamber is getting a face-lift focused on improving audiovisual technology and modernizing the space.
The city has budgeted $400,000 for the remodel, which is still in the design phase. Construction is likely to begin in the first half of 2020.
The chamber was last updated in 1989, said Marc Nevinski, the city's physical development director.
"The main goals are to make it a more welcoming space and enhance the technology we have," he said.
The remodeled space will be a flexible area, allowing it to be used for other purposes, including internal meetings or staff training, Nevinski said.
Mara Klecker
Columbia Heights
Thompson back to head fire department
Charlie Thompson, who left his job as Columbia Heights fire chief 14 years ago to lead the Anoka-Champlin Fire Department, was hired back to his former job last month.
"Knowing where Columbia Heights is today, and watching the progression of the city, it appealed to me," he said.
Thompson was fire chief in Columbia Heights from 1999 to 2005, when he left for the Anoka-Champlin department. He was succeeded in Columbia Heights by Gary Gorman, his assistant.
But Gorman retired in May, opening the door to Thompson's return. "I talked with people in the city and they had an interest in seeing me come back," Thompson said.
Interviews were scheduled last week with candidates to fill the Anoka-Champlin fire chief position, a spokeswoman said.
Kevin Duchschere
