Woodbury City Council News And Notes

The Woodbury City Council on Wednesday conducted fairly regular business before looking into a new ordinance aimed at .

The council unanimously approved a conditional-use permit and final site and building plans for a new funeral home.

O’Halloran & Murphy Funeral Home plans to construct a 12,600-square-foot building at the northeast corner of Valley Creek Road and Donegal Drive, east of .

The building will have a “colonial look,” according to city staff. The council did have some questions about parking and turn-ins at the site; Councilman Paul Rebholz asked staff to look into improving access points for motorists.

The council approved the assessment roll and selected a contractor for the .

The assessments account for about $75,000 of the $456,000 project, which will improve Courtly Road from Lake Road to Century Avenue.

The pavement-condition index on that portion of Courtly Road is 0-21 on a 100-point scale, City Engineer Klayton Eckles said.

Councilman Christopher Burns voted against the awarding the contract. He was opposed to the assessments for , which was assessed for work to Lake Road a couple of years ago. Burns said this round of assessments for the bike shop “are still bothersome to me.”

The work is expected to begin Aug. 22 and be done around Sept. 30.

Janelle Schmitz, Planning and Economic Development manager, gave the council a rundown of some updates to the city’s zoning ordinance.

Some of the changes will reclassify portions of the zoning codes, bring them up to date and align them with the city’s 2030 Comprehensive Plan.

Schmitz said the language in many portions of the zoning code will be modernized—some of it hasn’t changed since the 1970s. For example, the language for “churches” would change to “places of worship,” and things like monopoles will be added. (There were no cell phones in the ’70s, she noted.)

Woodbury received an “unqualified” opinion of its 2010 audit from Kern, DeWenter, Viere, Ltd.

It was the first time the firm reviewed the city’s financial statements. Kern, DeWenter, Viere was less costly than the previous firm the city worked with and it had “no audit findings,” City Administrator Clint Gridley said.

The city will have to keep an eye in its approximately $100 million in investments, according to a representative from the city’s Audit and Investment Commission.

The city has new Mission, Vision, and Values statements.

Mission: A leading community in which to live, work, and thrive.

Vision: Woodbury will continue to be a leading community where everyone has the opportunity to thrive. Through professionalism, responsive service and leadership, we will strengthen our tradition of public trust and effective resource management.

Values: Exceeding Expectations; Professional – Responsive – Leaders

• Heard from resident Linda Stanton, who spoke during the open forum portion of the meeting. She asked about the name of the , Bielenberg Gardens, planned at the southwest corner of Bailey Road and Woodbury Drive. She also asked when the city would get an Aldi grocery store. 
• Looked out at new chairs in the council chambers. The chairs were appreciated by at least one reporter.
• Continued the public hearing for the preliminary plat for the Stonemill Farms additions 10-14.