Author: Mark Weber

The trial on a lawsuit by Rebecca Prochaska and the Spring Valley Friends, already continued several times, was scheduled to get under way Nov. 18. Hennepin County District Court Judge Edward Wahl’s order Nov. 16 further postpones its start pursuant to “agreement of the parties.” A jury trial for a civil lawsuit claiming the City of Eden Prairie acted too hastily in approving the construction of homes near the Minnesota River Valley bluffs and the historic Fredrick-Miller Spring, has been continued to March 20, 2023. James Peters, the attorney representing Prochaska and Spring Valley Friends, said the main reason the…

Cities are apparently facing inflation like the rest of us, and it’s evident in the construction of a new building at Round Lake Park. The Eden Prairie City Council on Tuesday, Nov. 15, approved a bid of $3,001,990 for the construction of a 4,293-square-foot building that will replace the smaller, 40-year-old structure that now exists and serves as restrooms and an ice-rink warming house. That’s higher than estimates of $2.1 million, $2.5 million, and $2.725 million that have been cited by city staff over the past year or so, although there have also been some changes to the building plan…

If you thought the Eden Prairie City Council’s approval Tuesday of a five-year strategic plan for its Community Development Department was only about looking ahead, you’d be wrong. The council and especially Mayor Ron Case on Nov. 1 said they preferred to think of the five-year plan as a continuation of the city’s 54-year-old history of mapping out in detail how Eden Prairie should be developed in an orderly and attractive way. The new plan takes development-related goals from the city’s latest long-range plan, called Aspire 2040, and outlines a phased approach to initiating those goals.  But, the city has…

Discussion of a 2023-27 strategic plan for community development is expected to be part of the Tuesday, Nov. 1, meeting of the Eden Prairie City Council. The plan outlines the priorities for the city’s Community Development Department for the next five years within its wide range of responsibilities: redevelopment as well as “infill” development on small vacant parcels, but also initiatives in the areas of affordable housing and economic development. Stimulating investment and development near Eden Prairie’s future light-rail stations is an example of ongoing initiatives that are part of the plan. Tuesday’s city council meeting begins at 7 p.m.…

They sometimes called him The Bürgermeister – which translates to “town master,” or mayor – as a nod to Wolfgang Penzel’s Eden Prairie elected role and his German heritage. “I used it affectionately and humorously,” recalled Dean Edstrom, who served on the Eden Prairie City Council when Penzel was mayor. “He was a really good mayor, in my view. A strong mayor. He would exercise his authority to the max, and I think that was good.” Penzel, who served as Eden Prairie mayor in the late-1970s and early ‘80s, passed away on Oct. 7 after struggling with kidney and heart…

Developers of the Asia Mall in Eden Prairie say they are planning for a Thursday, Nov. 10, opening of their 100,000-square-foot project, an Asian-themed mix of grocery, restaurant, retail, and office uses in the former Gander Mountain building along Technology Drive, east of Costco. The opening comes 15 months after the City of Eden Prairie approved the project in August 2021. It’s been a long and tough process, said co-owner Amor Zhao, primarily because supply-chain problems slowed down the project. “We’ve tried the best we can to get it done,” he added, noting that Asia Mall will be about 75%…

Ryan Companies is considering changes to an apartment plan rejected by the Eden Prairie City Council in August, hoping there’s a path toward city reconsideration and approval of the project. The potential changes were outlined in a city council workshop Tuesday, Oct. 18. While there were no votes taken or commitments made, council members indicated that the revisions address many of their earlier concerns, and they have no objections to the revised plan being resubmitted for consideration, as long as the developer also meets with neighbors. On Aug. 16, the council rejected on a preliminary 4-0 vote a Ryan Companies…

The Eden Prairie City Council is poised to take the final step in creating a replica of the water tank and train depot that, when railroads ruled, stood east of Eden Prairie Road and south of the historic Smith-Douglas-More House. Those original railroad structures are long gone, and the replica depot isn’t identical to the so-called Washburn train depot that was an Eden Prairie transportation hub for many years, starting in 1871, when the Minneapolis & St. Louis Railroad tracks were built here. But, the new buildings will return to life some of EP’s earliest “downtown,” which not only included…

Eden Prairie city officials are taking lessons learned from their 3-year-old Staring Lake Park building and putting them into plans for a new building at Round Lake Park. They’ve incorporated a rentable community room into the design for a new, 4,293-square-foot building that would replace the 40-year-old restrooms and skating rink warming house at Round Lake. That’s because the current, smaller building isn’t rented at all, whereas the relatively new park building at Staring Lake Park is tallying more than 60 rentals a year, according to Matt Bourne, the city’s parks and natural resources manager. Bourne, who presented park-building plans…

For Roy Terwilliger, a lifetime of community service – most of it in Eden Prairie – was sparked by his family’s involvement in a tiny town in South Dakota. “One of my most vivid memories – I was 4 or 5 – was of an old guy who lived by himself in a tarpaper shack in town,” Terwilliger recalls. “His house caught on fire. The town fire truck wouldn’t start. My dad went over with his truck, his gas truck, (and) pulled the fire truck to the fire, so they could use the pumping mechanism and pour water on the…