"Wayzata Today" - Sun-Sailor webcast for Feb. 4, 2009

At last night's Wayzata City Council meeting, the council approved the 2009 Police Union agreement by a 4-0 vote. Councilmember Sue Bangert was absent from the meeting.

As I mentioned yesterday, some of the main points of the agreement include a 1.5 percent wage increase and an increase in the city's health insurance contribution from $750 per month to $855 per month. This new amount will pay 50 percent of the increase in family health insurance premium in 2009.

Also included in the agreement are:

The inclusion of the city's new vacation accrual plan, that the public works union and administrative staff accepted in 2007. That plan added an additional accrual step at an employee's 25th anniversary with the city.

New specialty pay that will give officers an additional $1 per hour per assignment for field training officers and firearms and use of force instructors.

The city's new city-wide sick leave and severance payout policy with the post employment health savings account was not accepted by the union.

Orono Board of Education member Martha Van de Ven was named to the 2009 All-State School Board during the Minnesota Schools Boards Association leadership conference in Minneapolis on Jan. 15.

Van de Ven - the first Orono board member to receive MSBA's most prestigious award - was nominated for the honor by Superintendent Karen Orcutt, with support from Board Chair Jack Veach Veach and a host of others representing staff, parents and the Orono Alliance for Education.

In addition to board meetings, Van de Ven chairs the Community Education Advisory Council and serves as a board liaison on seven additional committees, including the Curriculum and Accountability Council, Early Childhood Family Education, Orono Action, Orono Healthy Youth, Orono Kids Matter, Spartan Parents Association and World Class Schools Committee.

She has also served as a board liaison on every citizen referendum committee since joining the board in 1991, including the largest referendum in district history, the $39.35 million facilities vote approved by residents last February.

She and other community members founded the Orono Alliance for Education in 2000 following a particularly painful round of budget reductions. She continues to serve on the board of directors of the foundation, which has raised $2.5 million for educational enrichment since its inception.

What will happen to the Hennepin County portion of your property taxes in the years to come? Stay tuned. This week, we're featuring a series of interviews with Mike Opat, chairman of the board of the Hennepin County Commissioners. Today Opat addresses the complexity of property-tax revenue, which includes residential and commercial industrial.

You can read a full account this week of Opat's interview in most printed editions of Sun Newspapers published in Hennepin County.

And now for the weatherunderground.com forecast.

For the rest of Wednesday it will be mostly sunny with highs around 12 above. It will remain mostly clear throughout the evening before a few clouds roll in. Expect overnight lows between 5 and 10 above.

Expect to see more of the sun again on Thursday with temperatures expected to be around 35.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Sun Newspapers
• Sun-Sailor
• Jared Huizenga
• Wayzata City Council
• Martha Van de Ven
• Mike Opat
• Hennepin County
• Hennepin County Board
• Orono Board of Education