Burnsville in Brief
Highlights for June 2022 City of Burnsville Home Page
Welcome Hugo
We are excited to welcome Hugo McPhee as our next Deputy City Manager, joining our team on July 18. Hugo was unanimously recommended by the leadership team as the right person to lead in our organization and community well into the future.
Hugo is an experienced, strengths-based leader, committed to building strong teams and helping us work towards our strategic priorities. Hugo previously served as the Executive Director for the Minnesota Private Detective and Protective Agents Regulatory Board and spent 16 years as the Director of Public Safety at Three Rivers Park District. Hugo also serves as community faculty for Metropolitan State University and has a master’s degree in management from St. Mary’s University. Oh, and he has a sense of humor too!
Safety
Burnsville is committed to the safety and wellbeing of our community.
Medal of Honor Award
Recognized for their bravery and commitment to service above self, Sergeants Brent Murray and Dan Anderson along with Officers Paul Oelrich and Chris Walswick received the Medal of Honor Award from the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association.
The choice to work in law enforcement is a family decision, one of service and sacrifice. Thank you for all you do for the Burnsville community.
Pictured left to right: Officer Paul Oelrich, Sergeant Brent Murray and Sergeant Dan Anderson. (Not pictured but also honored is Officer Chris Walswick.)
Equipment Safety: Hose Testing
Our commitment to the community doesn't stop during lulls in fire-related service calls. For example, in between responding to activity, our Fire crews recently deployed, tested and repacked 11,000 feet of hose.
Hoses are tested annually to ensure they're in prime condition for operation and ready to serve at a moment’s notice.
Blazing Commitment Award
Congratulations to Cice with Headway for earning the June Blazing Commitment Award. Students, staff and our School Resource Officers continually praise the work Cice puts into the Burnsville High School community. She de-escalates unproductive situations, connects with students as a professional, friend, role model and confidant and provides guidance, support, advice and patience. Thanks for you hard work, Cice!
VFW Firefighter of the Year
The VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) recently awarded firefighter/paramedic Jared Haider with the honor of VFW Minnesota Firefighter of the Year. Haider has served the Burnsville community for more than five years and is known for his incredible work ethic and willingness to help others. Thank you for your service, Jared! We’re proud to have you on our team.
Community Engagement
Burnsville is committed to meaningful relationships and experiences that meet the diverse needs of our community.
A Month of Celebration
Bringing the community together is one of our favorite things to do and June was full of great events.
On Saturday, June 18 we celebrated freedom with the black community in honor of Juneteenth. The day was complete with a full line up of entertainment, a live artist painting, community booths and tasty eats from a food truck.
June was PRIDE month and we hosted a family-friendly PRIDE celebration at Vista View Park. We got crafty with face painting, glitter tattoos and crafts, danced along with the DJ, played games with the parachute and bean bags and joined in on an affirmation walk.
We had a blast seeing our community come together at Nicollet Commons Park for our first Party on the Plaza of the summer on June 9. We had a great turnout enjoying food trucks, the kids village, games, craft and community booths and fantastic live entertainment. And we’re doing it again July 21 and Aug. 25 from 4 - 9 p.m. We hope to see you there!
“I Love Burnsville” Winners
We once again partnered with TruStone Financial for the annual third grade essay contest. Students were asked to write about why they love the Burnsville community. This year we had so many excellent entries that we celebrated three essay winners and three honorable mentions along with their teachers. Congratulations and thank you to everyone who participated!
Winners:
Clayton Jenstad, Gideon Pond Elementary, Mrs. Susan Zucollo
Cecelia Edward, Edward Neill Elementary, Mr. Luke Bearth
Roma Baregi Estrada, Gideon Pond Elementary, Mrs. Megan Bartling
Honorable Mentions include Isabella Iseri, Salma Aziz, and Ethan Campos
Celebrating Women in Golf
Birnamwood celebrated Women in Golf month in June, kicking it off with a free celebration on June 2 featuring live music, guest speaker Michele Redman with the Ladies Professional Golf Association, food trucks and free club fittings.
And the fun continued all month long!
- Weekly trivia contests and drawings were held during women’s leagues
- Lakeville South High School’s Golf Coach Kirk Reiners and his team coached 68 women each Thursday during a weekly clinic
- And the month wrapped up on June 25 with 28 women participating in a two-person scramble - congrats to team McBride and Carlin for taking first in the tourney and cheers to all the women who make this sport great!
Serving Up Smiles
Our Behavioral Health Unit team served up pizza to students at Neill Elementary School. Thanks for having us, ISD191!
And the youth outreach continued with
Lights, Gadgets, Action!
Officer Ryan Moran was out and about in the community and showed off some of the lights and gadets in a squad vehicle to some young officers-in-training!
Organizational Culture
Burnsville is committed to creating great experiences for our employees so they do the same for our community.
City of Excellence Award for Workplace Culture
Organizational culture is one of our six strategic priorities at the City of Burnsville. That means we are committed to creating great experiences at work so our team can do the same for the community. In June, our Organizational Development team accepted the 2022 League of Minnesota Cities city of excellence award for improving workplace culture. A well deserved recognition for the development of Burnsville University, our organizational university created to help people and teams be their best.
2021 MRPA Award of Excellence
In January of 2021, Recreation introduced Winter Golf – a new take on a typically warm-weathered sport complete with golf clubs, soft dodgeballs, painted holes and snow boots. The goal: develop a new event to bring the fun outdoors in the snowy months. This midwestern-take on a classic pastime quickly sold out and has now become a popular annual event. This past June, our Rec team was presented with an Award of Excellence from the Minnesota Recreation and Park Association for the innovation, collaboration and execution of this event.
High Standards = Safety
Meet your Burnsville Fire Investigation Technicians! This team is responsible for determining the origin and cause of fires and work to uphold protocol relating to fire and life safety to protect citizens from fire and fire-related incidents.
Fire Marshal Nelson and Fire Inspectors Knutson and Linderholm recently earned certifications from the Fire Investigations Technicians Program that ensures that they meet and exceed professional qualification standards for fire investigation. Accurately determining the cause of fires allows us to be proactive in fire prevention education and to look for innovative ways to keep the community safe even before tragedy strikes.
Building Teams to be their Best
In 2021, we invested in the strengths of all our employees by hosting team strengths conversations. In June, we continued our investment in the strengths of our managers and teams by providing one-on-one individualized Strengths coaching for all people managers. Through this one-hour conversation, 55 people managers learned how to better understand their own strengths and strategize how to recognize and enhance the strengths of their team.
Organizational Development Consultant, Kayli Knighton-Johnson, conducted the coaching sessions, with many managers reporting that it was an extremely positive experience they could use to better lead and coach their teams.
Community Vibrancy
Burnsville is committed to designing places and growth that enhance our community for years to come.
What's Building in Burnsville?
- Gallery on the Parkway: the residential portion of the mixed-use building located at 12301 Nicollet Avenue South
- Overlook at Crystal Lake: a 110-unit active senior apartment building located at 15315 Maple Island Road
Under Construction:
- Park Jeep dealership expansion located at 1408 Highway 13
- Starbucks Coffee located at 14214 Nicollet Avenue South
Explore the latest projects and progress when it comes to Burnsville development through our interactive development map.
The 411 on Landfill Applications
Waste Management/Burnsville Sanitary Landfill, Inc. has submitted a land use application to expand the landfill and we know that brings up a lot of questions. We've created a comprehensive webpage with public hearing dates, additional resources, detailed information and the full application, plus an opportunity to ask questions and provide feedback.
View landfill application information
Free Business Advice
Open to Business offers free business consulting to entrepreneurs and small businesses. Consultants work with residents and businesses to develop a business plan, identify opportunities and challenges and help connect them to financing options. Open to Business is a partnership between the City and Dakota County Community Development Agency (CDA), the Metropolitan Consortium of Community Developers (MCCD) and neighboring Dakota County cities.
We recently teamed up with Open to Business to create a video highlighting three Burnsville businesses and their experience with Open to Business. Check it out!
Opportunities Belong in Burnsville
Our new Burnsville Community Profile showcases key information and will be the go-to guide to help attract developers and new businesses to our community. The guide includes industry and employment highlights, demographics, transit and geographical information and some of Burnsville's great community aspects.
Infrastructure
Burnsville is committed to responsible stewardship of resources and lands to ensure access and allow our community to thrive.
Record-Time Repairs at Nicollet Commons Park
It was just another day, conducting a daily amenity check at Nicollet Commons Park on a Sunday morning when our crews noticed the water feature wasn't working. They ran a routine reset of the system, hoping for a quick fix. Instead, they discovered water coming out of the ground south of Mediterranean Cruise Café. Knowing this popular attraction helps many residents and visitors beat the summer heat, teams jumped into action.
The water feature was back in action on Tuesday, an amazing response time considering the trouble sourced from a cracked 20-year-old pipe original to the system. Thanks to our teams for their dedication and quick response in sourcing and solving an issue that could have easily taken a week or more.
If you haven't been out to Nicollet Commons Park lately, come check it out! We upgraded the area last year for improved safety and enjoyment.
Safer Roads in The Making
Construction on the I-35W south ramp and Cliff Road West has begun. The City secured a $3 million grant to assist with remedying the existing inadequate sight lines and speed reduction distance for traffic exiting the freeway into a primarily industrial area bringing in a lot of heavy commercial trucks.
Current impacts include closure of Dupont Ave between the Union Pacific Railroad tracks and Cliff Road. Starting in August, the southbound freeway ramps are expected to close for about 90 days.
Coming soon to our Fire Fleet
Our new Medic 1, Road Rescue Ultramedic is almost ready! We look forward to continuing to serve our community with the latest technology.
Sustainability
Burnsville is committed to innovation that supports environmental, human and financial vitality for our community and future generations.
Alternative Transportation in Mind: County Road 42 Construction
While we know the County Road 42 repaving project hasn’t been the easiest to navigate as a commuter, construction is almost finished. Once complete, residents of Burnsville and the surrounding areas will have access to improved sidewalks and curbs and better intersection signals for pedestrians and bicyclists - making significant progress to not only the driving surface, but enhanced safety and convenience for other modes of transportation.
County Road 42 is a county road and this project is led by Dakota County. Work is expected to be fully complete sometime in July.
Get Involved - Vote!
Voting is an incredible opportunity for residents to voice their opinions on how we can make our local, state and federal levels of government better. Your vote helps sustain a great community. Our elections team has been out and about at commuity events educating residents on all things voting - registering, absentee voting, voting on election day, changes to precinct locations and more.... but with a twist! Event attendees of all ages voted for their favorite characters like Spongebob, Peppa Pig, Elsa, Captian America and others.
Do you have questions on elections? Burnsville offers a new voter's guide as a great starting point. Learn more about this year's election at burnsvillemn.gov/elections or call our elections line at 952-895-4491 to request a guide or ask any questions you may have.
Prioritizing Proactive Community Risk Reduction
On top of fighting fires and saving lives, our Fire Department prioritizes proactive community risk reduction - essential to human vitality within a sustainable community. With the help of the Burnsville/Savage Lions Club, they were able to purchase 30 portable cribs while Experience Burnsville connected with hotels to determine need. Our teams then distributed cribs to hotels in the city and kept a few on hand for unexpected situations. Portable cribs offer a safe sleeping option for infants when families are faced with circumstances that require alternative housing.
Want to know what's coming up next in the City? Check out our Events and Meetings calendars for the latest activities.
By the Numbers...
Fire Statistics: Click through the charts below for a closer look at Burnsville Fire Department activity including types of calls, call by property type and more.
Police Statistics: Total Calls for Service in May 2022 is 4,279 (+0.5% year over year). This includes 343 traffic stops.
View additional police statistics including criminal offenses