Learn more about the Hopkins Historical Society: Bob Miller and Jerre Miller will present a report from the society at Tuesday’s council meeting. Stop in and find out what’s going on. See how the Fire Department plans to replace its equipment: Fire Department personnel will be giving council members a tour of their vehicles and equipment as part of a discussion about plans for replacing equipment. Join in the tour during a special council meeting Tuesday at the Fire Department. Find out the school calendars for 2012-13 and 2013-14: At the Jan. 19 School Board meeting, directors discussed …

Learn what the market looks like for grocery stores: Scott Driskill, the owner of Driskill’s Foods, approached the city a year ago for help with repositioning the store to be financially viable—saying that the store’s location and size don’t allow it to be competitive in today’s market. Hennepin County awarded Hopkins a grant to study the viability of a downtown grocery store. Find out what that study had to say at Tuesday’s City Council work session. Check out what’s going on with the Cottageville Park area: 2011 saw big improvements to the Blake Road area—from the demolition of buildings …

Welcome the new council members: Incoming City Council members Molly Cummings and Jason Gadd will be taking the oath of office at Tuesday’s meeting, along with Mayor Gene Maxwell. Learn more about tax increment financing and bonding: A financial advisor from Ehlers, Inc. will review TIF and bonding procedures with City Council members in preparation for a discussion in February about the city’s TIF management plan. Visit the Tuesday’s council meeting to learn more about how these redevelopment tools work. *** Meetings Hopkins City Council 7:30 p.m. Tuesday Council Chambers, City Hall Hopkins …

Explore how to get the Eighth Avenue project back on track: In April, Hopkins selected Klodt Inc. to redevelop a former Park Nicollet site on Eighth Avenue site envisioned as a key part of the city’s downtown development efforts. But in September, the developer received a two-month extension to get its financing in order after one of the company’s owners experienced health problems that reduced the amount of money available for the project. Hopkins and Klodt officials will get together at Tuesday’s City Council work session to discuss plans for moving forward. Klodt has been able to partner …

Thank police officers for their work: Hopkins will swear in two Sergeants (Matthew Struck and Elizabeth White) and one police captain (Brent Johnson) at Tuesday’s council meeting. Shortly afterward, council members will say goodbye to retiring Reserve Officer Richard Brasket and retiring Reserve Captain Sue Rhodes. And in between, Police Officer Mike Johnson—who served in Afghanistan—will present the city with a flag. Congratulate Community Image Award winners: Last month, Hopkins announced the winners of its Community Image Awards—which honor owners “whose pride shines through their property…

Learn what issues the art curriculum review will cover: Hopkins Public Schools is launching a review of its art curriculum, with the department scheduled to make recommendations during the 2011-2012 school year. At Thursday’s board meeting, school board directors will discuss what issues they’d like to see covered during the curriculum review process. Find out what’s ahead for Ready 4 K: The district’s Ready 4 K program helps low-income children and English language learners who have not had a chance to attend preschool prepare for kindergarten. The first class wrapped up at Alice Smith in …

Chime in on a proposed tobacco ordinance: City staff have proposed a smoking ban that would prohibit on smoking in retail establishments—an idea brought about because businesses in other cities set up smoking lounges using an exemption in the Minnesota Clean Indoor Air Act that permits tobacco stores to allow sampling of their products. Hopkins hasn’t had a problem with this. But City Manager Mike Mornson wants to get ahead of the issue and force businesses to make their case directly to the city if they want to establish a lounge. Council will give the ordinance its first reading at Tuesday’…

Discuss a strict new discharge ordinance: Hopkins staff are proposing a new ordinance “to regulate pollutants to the storm sewer system, prohibit illicit connections and discharges, and establish legal authority for inspection and enforcement procedures.” The goal is to give the city more ability to protect local waterways. Learn about the proposal at Tuesday’s City Council work session. Learn about massage license restrictions: Hopkins wants to change its massage licensing requirements because of problems with prostitution at a massage parlor at 1209 Mainstreet. Undercover police arrested a …

Find out what’s in store for Hopkins’ amenities: The budget for the Hopkins Center for the Arts and the Depot Coffee House will be up for discussion, along with other “special revenue fund budgets,” at Tuesday’s City Council work session. Learn about the challenges they face and proposals to overcome those challenges. Examine the structure of the Hopkins Center for the Arts: Officials have batted around the idea of saving money by not filling a scheduling coordinator that will be left vacant because of a retirement, but Arts Center Director Amanda Birnstengel says that position is needed—if …

Check in on the HRA: The Housing and Redevelopment Authority is having a brief meeting to appoint permanent executive co-directors, which will be a change from the previous norm of appointing the city manager as the executive director of the HRA. Congratulate police officer: The city will swear in Officer Rachel Denny at Tuesday’s council meeting. Hear from the Zoning and Planning Commission: Molly Cummings, second-term Zoning and Planning Commissioner, gives her report to the city council. *** Meeting schedule Housing & Redevelopment Authority 7:25 p.m. Tuesday Council Chambers, City Hall …

Find out where the candidates stand:Today, Hopkins Patch starts our seven-part video series asking city council candidates where they stand on issues important to Hopkins residents. See your candidates positions on the budget, development, and quality-of-life concerns. Get an early look at the budget: The Hopkins school board will begin preliminary discussions on the coming 2012-13 budget. Superintendent Schultz and John Toop, Director of Business Services will lead discussion examining budget forecasts in light of State revenue changes. Keep up-to-date on Academic Milestone changes: The …

Support the newest Park Board member: The city will administer the oath of office to Colin Serle, who’s joining the Park Board. See the action at Tuesday’s City Council meeting. Learn about athletic field user fees: Park Board members will discuss new fees and policies for athletic fields. The changes are set to take effect in the Spring of 2012. City staff will have an update on projected fees at Monday’s Park Board meeting. Vote on your favorite piece in the Salon 300 exhibition: Hopkins Patch is sponsoring a prize for the two pieces readers judge best in the annual art show. Visit the …

Join in the domestic partner discussion: Hopkins Graduate Peter Boisclair asked the City Council in July to create a domestic partner registry that would allow unmarried couples to certify their relationships with the city, including same-sex couples. Council members will discuss the proposal at Tuesday’s council work session. Learn about more changes to the city budget: Residents got a peek at the preliminary city budget in July. Just a few weeks later, that budget is already in for some changes, including an uptick in expenditures and a decrease in the levy as staff fine-tune next year’s …

Check out the final details of Marketplace and Main project: Although the long-running downtown project appears finally set to get off the ground, the Housing and Redevelopment Authority has a few more details to consider because of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development requirements. The HRA will take up these details at a special meeting Tuesday. Get an early look at this year’s budget: Finance Director Christine Harkess will present a first draft of the city’s budget for next year. Take a look at the details at Tuesday’s City Council work session. Investigate filing to run for …

Local government junkies, your summer drought continues this week. But that doesn't mean Hopkins is totally without government activities for you to join in on. Celebrate Marketplace & Main: Although the project has had its ups and downs, Marketplace & Main gets off the ground for real this week. Marketplace & Main is an $11 million mixed-use development at the intersection of Seventh Avenue North and Mainstreet—the site of the former Hopkins Honda body shop and used car sales lot. Watch officials shovel the ceremonial first bit of dirt during the groundbreaking at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at the …

The state government may have shut down, but that hardly means the Hopkins City Council has packed up and gone home. However, since neither the school board, the Zoning and Planning Commission, or the Park Board are scheduled to meet this week, they're all you've got this week. So swing on down to City Hall on Tuesday, July 5th, at 7:30 PM.  Ever seen an audit up close? No, it's not some strange beast of the jungle; the City Council is recieving an anual report on the state of its finances from an independent accountant. Warning: audits can be very dry and esoteric, even in the midst of a …

Share your thoughts on new development: Hopkins is considering new rules for a type of zoning called “mixed use development”— neighborhoods devoted to a variety of residential, retail and office space. Planners envision a unique identity for each of Hopkins’ future light rail stations, and mixed-use ordinances will be key to determining that identity. Chime in with your thoughts at Tuesday’s Zoning and Planing meeting. Learn about plans for the old Park Nicollet site: Hopkins selected selected Klodt Inc. to redevelop the former Park Nicollet site on Eighth Avenue. Representatives from the …

Check in on the Park Board: The Park Board is having its monthly meeting Monday. Drop in to see what’s in the works for local parks Congratulate new commission members: The city will swear in three new people for the Zoning and Planning Commission at Tuesday’s council meeting. Hear from the Met Council: Metropolitan Council member Jennifer Munt—whose district includes Hopkins—will speak to the City Council at Tuesday’s meeting. *** Meeting schedules Hopkins City Council 7:30 p.m. Tuesday Council Chambers, City Hall Hopkins Park Board 6:30 p.m. Monday Council Chambers, City Hall

Find out the finalists in the city manager search: Hopkins has been looking for a city manager since before previous City Manager Rick Getschow left March 15. Council will pick five or six finalists at its work session Tuesday under the guidance of executive search firm Brimeyer Fursman. Learn more about Blake Road acquisitions: In March, Minnehaha Creek Watershed District broached the possibility of acquiring eight properties straddling Lake Street, south of the Cottageville Park. A watershed board committee is now uncertain whether it makes sense to pursue the acquisitions. See more See …

Comment on new development: City Council will be taking up no less than three development issues at Tuesday’s meeting. Let them know what you think about the proposed remodeling of the old Mayon Plastics building, a rezoning for the old Blake Road BP site and a permit for maX It Pawn. Congratulate Citizens Emergency Response Team graduates: A group of dedicated volunteers started learning basic disaster response skills April 11 in order to help when emergencies strike. Join the city in congratulating them at Tuesday’s City Council meeting. Learn how enrollment changes affect school facilities…