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4 Fall 2013 You may have noticed several Lake Elmo properties cleaning up their act this summer. That’s thanks to the City cleaning up their code en- forcement policy and sticking to it. In May the City Council passed Or- dinance 08-075, adopting the 2006 International Property Maintenance Code, a common adoption in sur- rounding cities that provides mini- mum standards addressing public health, safety, and welfare as they relate to the use and maintenance of existing structures and premises. “We adopted the code to standard- ize our process for dealing with nui- sance properties,” cites Mayor Mike Pearson. “By putting these stan- dards into place we are protecting taxpayers’ property values and cre- ating a high quality of life for current and future residents.” In the past three months, approxi- mately 150 site visits have been con- ducted by code enforcement staff, and 28 of the 42 properties deemed non-compliant have been cleaned up. This includes the property at 9447 Stillwater Boulevard that has been reported for its rundown state numerous times since 2009. Over the course of one month, after the adoption of the new maintenance code, enough trash to fill 14 30-foot dumpsters has been removed from the site. Currently there are 14 active code enforcement cases in the City. In addition to heightened focus on blighted properties, a Code Compli- ance section has been added to the City’s website, which provides ex- amples of common code violations, explains the administrative citation process, and provides a link to re- port violations anonymously. The page can be found at www.lakeel- mo.org/code-enforcement. City Cracking Down on Code Violations Pictured at left, a Lake Elmo property prior to the adoption of the Interna- tional Property Maintenence Code. Pictured above, a cleaner view of the same property, after an administra- tive citation was issued. The entire process took approximately three weeks. Armed with a recently completed survey and more than $900,000 of funds to allocate toward City parks and trails, the Lake Elmo Park Com- mission held its first annual retreat on September 28th to begin plan- ning for the future. The morning session, moderated by City Council Member and Park Liaison Mike Reeves, focused on the Park Commission’s role of pro- viding recreation and conservation opportunities for Lake Elmo resi- dents. The Commission reviewed the results of the current survey, which generally indicated a need for more trail connectivity that would al- low residents to get around between neighborhoods, parks, schools and the downtown area. “Trails and paths ranked very high on the list of survey respondents, so we will spend time this year identi- fying the best places to use our re- sources to get this City connected. This will include searching out grant possibilities with our partners in Washington County and the Metro- politan Council,” said Shane Weis, Chairman of the Park’s Commission and member of the Trail Sub Com- mittee. In the afternoon session, the Com- mission also looked at the hierarchy of parks in Lake Elmo, recognizing the special nature of Sunfish Lake Park as a flagship nature preserve, designating Reid Park, Tablyn Park, Pebble Park, DeMontreville Park, and the VFW – Lions Complex as community parks, and looked at the specific needs of neighborhood parks for serving young and old alike. First up in 2014 will be the completion of a neighborhood park plan that will serve the Sanctuary neighborhood. “We want to make sure that when we are planning for additional park- land, we not only look at the neigh- borhood, but the community as a whole. The survey has helped us identify some gaps in our program- ming,” said Park Commissioner Da- vid Steele. Park Commission Holds Planning Retreat; Looks to the Future The Lake Elmo Park Commission is deciding how best to improve City parks and plan for growth. Pictured above is Carriage Station Park.