Chamber Holds ‘State Of The Cities’ Annual Luncheon

Anoka Area Chamber held its Annual State of the Cities Luncheon on Tuesday, Feb. 14th at the Bunker Hills Event Center in Coon Rapids with city officials and elected representatives.

With the event being held in Coon Rapids, Mayor Jerry Koch kicked off the presentations as the host city got the honor of going first.

Koch said that even though Coon Rapids is a nearly built out city, $183 million was invested in new construction projects, and over the last 10 years the city has seen approximately $1.4 billion in new construction growth.

As for improving some of the existing homes in the city, Coon Rapids received 350 applicants for its Front Door program that awards to homeowners’ grants that pay for a portion of homeowner’s remodeling expense to improve their home’s curb appeal.

One business update for 2022 is that Federal Cartridge hosted a groundbreaking with plans to expand into Coon Rapids. The new warehouse is slated to start operating in 2023. The ammo manufacturing company has operated its warehouse for 100 years in the city of Anoka.

Other new businesses that opened in Coon Rapids include Café Zupas and a Mod Pizza.

On the city’s law enforcement front, Brad Wise stepped down as Coon Rapids police chief and was then elected Anoka County Sheriff. Capt. John Stahnke was promoted to take the helm of the Coon Rapids department

A new 32,000 square foot Coon Rapids fire station, that will be located on Mississippi Boulevard across from Anoka-Ramsey Community College, will open in time for Independence Day.

Coon Rapids has a large fireworks display every Independence Day. For the 2023 celebration, the fireworks will be launched from the building’s roof.

The Coon Rapids Police department introduced a bike rodeo and it restarted the community policing academy that was put on hold because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Andover

At the intersection of Seventh Avenue and Bunker Lake Boulevard, the city is working with a developer that will include 150 market rate apartments, Community Development Director Joe Jinish told the crowd.

South of that there is a proposal for an assisted living facility with memory care units. The city is moving forward on park improvements.

The city is working on seven miles of roadway for its mill and overlay program with the city in-vesting between $1.5 and $2 million into the project.

A few new restaurants in Andover include a Taco Bell, and the City Council approved two new drive throughs for a Noodles and Company and a Chipotle.

Anoka

City of Anoka Council Member Erik Skogquist echoed some of the themes other cities are working on. Similar to Coon Rapids, Anoka has its Curb Appeal Residential Enhancement Program.

The city runs Green Haven Golf Course, and Skogquist said the city looked at “what can we do differently at this time of year” when golf isn’t available in the winter.

Those winter activities include cross country skiing, an indoor golf simulator, and a disc golf course.

Over the past 24 years, the city has invested $5.7 million into street reconstruction, which Skogquist noted was important because as a historic community some of the city’s roads are more than 70 years old. The city is also working on a riverbank stabilization project.

A new law enforcement training facility was completed and contains an indoor firing range.

This year the city has also proposed testing out a social district where open containers outside will be allowed. Skogquist said “they are dipping their toes in the water” on that issue and want to be smart about implementing that.

Ramsey

Ramsey Council Member Chris Riley said that this year, the city tax rate decreased. The city also issued more than $10 million in bonding for road reconstruction.

The goal for the city of Ramsey council when making decisions is to be “balancing rural character and urban growth.”

In 2022, 90 new single family homes were built adding approximately $37.5 million in value to the city’s tax rolls.

For the 31st year in a row, Ramsey was named a tree city. Riley noted the city is seeing trouble with its ash trees.

“Emerald ash borer is hitting our city hard,” Riley said.

Police responded to 15,609 calls in 2022.

“That’s a slight decrease from their record in 2021,”

The majority of those calls are not criminal. The fire department responded to 1,381 calls for services.

Also on the public safety front, the city plans on hiring three officers.

Oak Grove

Mayor Weston Rolf spoke about the year for the city of Oak Grove, a much smaller rural city compared to the cities the other speakers represented.

“What you’ve done in a year, we’ve done in 25 years,” Rolf said.

Rolf said that Oak Grove is a business-friendly city. This year the city started allowing businesses to advertise on the city’s website and in its newsletter.

BILL’s Superette is building its headquarters in Oak Grove on County Road Seven.

“Everyone thinks it’s a gas station,” Rolf said. “It’s the largest gas station you’ve ever seen.”

Since 2020, 161 new homes have been constructed with all the lot sizes set at 2.5 acres. Rolf agreed that is the right size for the character of the city. Those homes generated about $72 mil-lion in new home constructions.

The city opened a hiking trail within the city, Rolf thought that it wouldn’t get used very often because residents all have large lots, but every time he’s passed by it, he’s noticed that the parking lot is full.

SOURCE: Hometown Source