City of New Hope

A publication of the city of New Hope, Minnesota e www.ci.new-hope.mn.us

Fall 2010Number 179

City of New Hope, Minnesota e Fall 2010

Some highlights of this issue include:2011 Budget and Tax Levy Overview of 2011 budget preparationNew Hope In Focus Winners Photo contest winners selected45th Avenue Pond Improvements Project will improve water qualityIn Business North Central Builders named Out-standing Business, Can Do Canines is New In Town, and new banners on 42nd AvenueEmployees of the Quarter Penny Spitzer and Jann Widseth recognizedPlanning For Arena Improvements Engineering firm will help city de-fine ice arena improvement project

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A great place to grow!4401 Xylon Avenue North

New Hope, MN 55428

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Tom Christensen's new workshop

Prsrt StdU.S. Postage

PAIDMinneapolis, MNPermit No. 2330

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Current resident or

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Council presents RAVE Awards to four New Hope residential property owners

Elder and Stauner reelected to Council

Congratulations to John Elder and Daniel Stauner who were reelected

as New Hope City Council members on November 2.Council member John Elder was ap-pointed to the City Council in May 2008 to fill an unexpired term. He was elected to a two-year term in Novem-ber 2008. Elder has been a resident of New Hope for 22 years. A former police officer, D.A.R.E. officer, and detective with the New Hope Police Department, Elder currently works in sales. He rep-resents New Hope on the Bassett Creek Watershed Management Commission and is a board member for the New Hope Community Farmers Market.Council member Daniel Stauner was elected to the City Council in 2006. He is a self-employed attorney who has been a resident of New Hope for 21 years. Stauner represents the city on the West Metro Fire Rescue District Board, serves on the Shingle Creek Watershed Management Commission, and served as mayor pro tem (acting as mayor in the mayor’s absence) for 2010.The vote totals for New Hope City Council members were 3,436 for John Elder, 2,068 for Daniel Stauner, 1,849 for William Smith, and 1,582 for Wayne Detzler. New Hope’s voter turnout was 60.5 percent of registered voters. State-wide turnout in Minnesota was higher than any other state in the union, with 55.4 percent of eligible voters heading to the polls.

Many New Hope homeowners

spend a lot of time and energy to make their homes, yards and gardens some-thing special. In 2006, the City Council es-tablished an award program to recognize excellence in residen-tial properties each year. When residents take pride in their properties it makes their neighborhoods a better place to live, and it encourages others to make their properties just a little bit better as well.In 2010, nine properties were nomi-nated for a RAVE! Award. In late July, five volunteer judges evaluated the nominees and recommended award winners in four categories to the City Council – Garden, Landscaping, In-terior Renovation, and Exterior Reno-vation. While it was difficult for the volunteer judges to choose among the impressive collection of properties that were nominated, on August 9, the City

Council presented awards to the following homeowners…Interior Renovation: Robin Majestic and Dan RudieMajestic and Rudie’s split-level home at 8009 38½ Avenue had a modest-sized kitchen that was walled off from the living and dining room areas of the home. It didn’t really fit their lifestyle – they love to cook and entertain, and their home simply didn’t have the space to do it comfortably. They considered

moving to an outer-ring suburb where homes were available that had the type of space for entertain-ing they yearned for, but were deterred by home prices in those areas and they like their New Hope neighborhood. Instead, they decided to stay in

New Hope, re-move a wall, and remodel. Their new kitchen/dining great room has a bright, mod-ern, and open feel, with lots of counter and

cabinet space, an expansive cooking island equipped with a hood and tall stools, and cutting-edge appliances. Majestic and Rudie are very happy with their “new” home.Exterior Renovation: Tom ChristensenTom Christensen’s passion is wood-working. Since retiring, Christensen has more time to spend on his favorite hobby, but the old shed, behind the family home at 3639 Jordan Circle, didn’t provide all that pleasant a place to wile away the hours – particularly in the wintertime, when it got mighty cold. Christensen decided to build a new, larger workshop that matched the appearance of the house as closely as possible.

In late September, the New Hope City Council passed a resolution in sup-

port of a noise wall project by the Min-nesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) planned for 2011. MnDOT plans to construct a new section of noise wall on the east side of Highway 169 from approximately 36th Avenue north to near 42nd Avenue. The new noise wall will be located just north of a segment MnDOT constructed in 2003, from approximately Medicine Lake Road to 36th Avenue.In June, MnDOT advised the city that construction of a section of noise wall in New Hope was on the state’s priority list for 2011. In August, representatives from MnDOT made a presentation to the City Council about the proposed project. MnDOT staff was very inter-ested in getting feedback from property owners from the neighborhood abut-ting the proposed project, and held an open house on September 9 to share

City supports Highway 169 noise wall project

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Robin Majestic and Dan Rudie's remodeled kitchen and dining room

Public Works maintenance crews work throughout the winter

months to remove snow and ice from New Hope city streets. Residents can help the process work a bit more smoothly by following a few simple tips:

Street Plowing and Drivewaysv Community collector streets such as 36th and 49th avenues are plowed and sanded first, followed by residential streets and cul-de-sacs.v Thoroughfares including 42nd Ave-nue and Bass Lake Road are maintained by Hennepin County. Call the county at 612-596-0299 if you have maintenance concerns about these streets.v The city uses a mixture of coarse sand – to provide traction, and rock salt – to melt ice and hard packed snow. Unfortunately, rock salt starts to lose its melting ability when the tempera-ture falls below 10 degrees Fahrenheit.v Snow from snowplows often ob-structs mailboxes located in the bou-levard. Residents are responsible for keeping their own mailbox clear of snow.

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When it starts snowing, the plows get going

City of New Hope, Minnesota e Fall 2010

Kathi Hemken Mayor763-537-7990 khemken@ci.new-hope.mn.us

John Elder Council Member763-442-0999 jelder@ci.new-hope.mn.us

Andy HoffeCouncil Member763-537-2647ahoffe@ci.new-hope.mn.us

Eric LammleCouncil Member763-544-0912elammle@ci.new-hope.mn.us

Frequently Called City NumbersGeneral Telephone ........... 763-531-5100Inspections ...........................763-531-5127building permits, complaintsParks and Recreation ........763-531-5151Public Works .......................763-592-6777sewer backup, snowplowing, forestryUtility Billing ........................763-592-6760Police (non-emergency) ....763-531-5170TTY (through MN Relay) ...651-602-9005

Kirk McDonaldCity Manager763-531-5112kmcdonald@ci.new-hope.mn.us

City Hall Address 4401 Xylon Avenue NorthNew Hope, MN 55428City Websitewww.ci.new-hope.mn.usTell us what you think...24-Hour Opinion Line .... 763-531-5102E-mail .......cityhall@ci.new-hope.mn.us

Daniel StaunerCouncil Member763-536-1415dstauner@ci.new-hope.mn.us

Council recognizes photo contest winners

2010 New Hope In Focus photo contest winners are (clockwise, from top left): Winter Wonderland by Kenneth Fromm, Fire in the Sky by Jennifer Schmidt, Adventure by Naomi Chan, and Lake at Hidden Valley by Terri Bangasser. To see all the contest entries, go to photobucket.com and search for New Hope In Focus.

New Hope's first ever photo contest, New Hope In Focus, was a big

success! Both the qual-ity of the photographs and the number of entries submit-ted far exceeded expectations. Nineteen New Hope photographers submitted 48 photographs before the August 31 deadline, including four youth under the age of 18.A panel of four volunteer judges who work in the photography and commu-nications fields selected the winners in three categories – Nature, People and

Places, and Youth Photographer. Local residents chose the People’s Choice

Award winner, after a month of open voting.

The winner in each category received a cash prize and was invited to an award presentation at the

October 25 City Council Meeting.Congratulations to this year’s New Hope In Focus photo contest winners: Jennifer Schmidt - Nature and People’s Choice (tie), Terri Bangasser – People and Places, Naomi Chan – Youth Pho-tographer, and Kenneth Fromm – Peo-ple’s Choice (tie).

2011 Proposed BudgetDue to the unreliable nature of local government aid (LGA) in recent years, the City Council instructed staff to pre-pare a budget plan which assumes that New Hope will not receive any LGA in 2011. The city’s unalloted LGA totaled $375,000, $314,966, and $726,747 in 2008, 2009, and 2010 respectively. In addition, the city lost another $338,216 in Market Value Homestead Credit in 2010. Under the proposed budget plan, the city eliminated the $643,705 of LGA funds New Hope is scheduled to receive in 2011 from the revenue side of the budget. This budget adjustment was achieved by reducing expenses by about $290,000 (including cuts to central ga-rage replacement charges and reductions in all city departments); deferring more than $115,000 in personnel expenses (including temporarily delaying the hir-ing of an additional police officer); and increasing revenue more than $250,000 (by adding permit fees for construction oversight of District 287's new building, and utilizing park infrastructure funds to subsidize the outdoor pool).The Council and staff also reviewed several budget adjustment scenarios that would lower the final levy increase from 2.87 to 1.83 percent, 1.5 percent, or 0 percent.The City Council provided interested residents with an overview of the pro-posed 2011 budget and tax levy and an opportunity to comment on the budget at a public hearing on Monday, Novem-ber 29. At that hearing, the consensus of the Council was to move forward with a 1.5 percent levy increase in 2011. To view the November 29 budget hear-ing, the proposed budget Powerpoint, and for other 2011 budget information, follow the links on the bottom of the homepage of the city’s website, www.ci.new-hope.mn.us.

The City Council adopted the final 2011 City of New Hope Budget and

tax levy on December 13. The budget resolution was the final step of an in-tensive process which began in April.

2011 Budget ProcessLast spring, the 2011 budget process began with broad budget direction from the City Council and initial ex-penditure recommendations from the director of each city department. In September, the City Council adopted the city’s preliminary 2011 budget and property tax levy and certified them to the county auditor. The preliminary budget resolution called for a maxi-mum 2011 budget of $10,705,523 with a maximum tax levy of $8,700,755. The Council considered the preliminary budget and tax levy as a starting point for ongoing 2011 budget discussion and analysis, which continued during October and November City Council work sessions. The preliminary levy represented a $260,711, or 2.87 percent, increase over the 2010 levy. This compared to a final tax levy increase in 2009 of 3.69 per-cent. A majority of the increase was the result of adding back local government aid (LGA) that was originally sched-uled but not delivered to the city, and $185,000 in debt service for three new fire trucks. The Council’s key goals for the 2011 budget are to hold the line on spending while continuing to provide existing services with reduced resources. High budget priorities include police and fire operations, emergency management pre-paredness, and property maintenance and redevelopment. The city plans to continue with infrastructure and en-vironmental improvements, maintain parks and recreation facilities and pro-grams, and continue with the city’s em-erald ash borer program on public land.

2011 budget and tax levy to be adopted

Council approves contract for pond improvements

The New Hope City Council ap-proved a contract with Minnesota

Dirt Works, Inc. in November to con-struct a regional storm water pond north of 45th Avenue. Eighty-one acres of commercial, residential and park land in New Hope drain into the pond and, in turn, the pond is a tributary to Twin Lake, which has been identified as having impaired water quality. The improvement project will significantly increase the storm water treatment ca-pabilities of the pond.The existing wetland north of 45th Avenue and just west of Winnetka Av-enue currently provides virtually no storm water treatment. The improve-ment project will essentially replace the existing wetland with a permanent water quality pond. The inlet and outlet to the pond, which are currently close together, will be moved as far as pos-sible to the west and east. The outlet of the pond will also be raised. These improvements will make it possible for the new pond to pretreat a much larger volume of storm water and to

hold it for a longer period of time than the existing wetland. The pond's design will greatly increase the amount of sus-pended solids that settle out of storm water into the pond.Some storm sewer improvements related to the pond – those that do not involve infrastructure located beneath 45th Av-enue – will also be included in this phase of the project. The pond improvements will be completed this winter with resto-ration of vegetation next summer.The water quality pond's inlet will be connected to a new section of storm sewer storm trunk line beneath 45th Avenue in a second phase of the proj-ect. That storm sewer work will be coordinated with an infrastructure improvement project on 45th Avenue planned for 2012.The 45th Avenue pond project will be funded, in large part, by a grant from the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources and the Shingle Creek Watershed Management Commission's Capital Improvement Program.

In Business e Fall 2010

North Central Builders receives Outstanding Business Award

In August, the New Hope City

Council recognized North Central Builders with the Summer 2010 New Hope Outstanding Business Award. The company has been doing business in New Hope since 1974. North Cen-tral’s office is lo-cated at 7401 42nd Avenue.North Central Builders is co-owned by presi-dent, Larry Kraatz and vice president Frank Wattunen. The two have dubbed themselves “The Siding Guys.” In ad-dition to specializing in maintenance-free siding, they also install windows and do some roofing work. The com-pany has four employees, supplemented by subcontractors who have worked with North Central for many years.Kraatz and Wattunen have always strived for their company to be a leader in value and service, which has led to thousands of satisfied customers over the years. Mayor Kathi Hemken, who had North Central Builders install sid-ing on her home several years ago, can attest to their excellent service. “They put siding on every single house in my neighborhood. These guys come out twice a year to make sure their former customers’ siding is okay.” She added, “They are good, honest business people who have been here for a long time, and who are very deserving of this award.”When accepting the award from the City Council, Frank Wattunen noted,

“Our name is North Central Builders, and we don’t build anything. We are a siding and window company.” He con-cluded by thanking both the City Coun-cil and clients, “I would like to thank all our customers and all the referrals they have given us over the years.”North Central Builders was nominated for the New Hope Outstanding Busi-ness Award by Mark Jennings of Frat-tallone’s Ace Hardware. The City Council considers nominations for the Outstanding Business Award four times a year. The award recognizes businesses that have become a valued part of the community, and is intended to encourage other New Hope busi-nesses to strive for excellence. Any local resident, business patron, or busi-ness person may make a nomination. For more information, call the New Hope Community Development De-partment at 763-531-5196.

Colorful new banners will soon grace the light

poles along 42nd Avenue in New Hope. The new banners represent a series of firsts for the city’s banner program.The new banners will be printed in full-color and fea-ture photographs for the first time. The theme for the ban-ners is “New Hope – A place for all seasons.” Photographs of New Hope taken by residents, that were selected from entries in the first an-nual New Hope In Focus photo contest, will represent each of the four seasons.Because the new banners have a year-round theme they will, for the first time, remain up year-round. Pre-viously, the city has always had two sets of banners – one set for

New banners for 42nd Avenuespring and summer and a second set for fall and winter. Public works crews changed out the banners twice each year. Staff esti-mates that leaving the same banners up for two years will save the city more than $2,900 in personnel and material costs.And, for the first time, each of the new banners will be sponsored by a New Hope business. Not only is recog-nizing local businesses on the banners a great way for New Hope to demonstrate pride in its excellent business community, but the par-ticipating businesses are also helping to pay about half of the cost of the new banners.The new banners should be

up before the end of the year.

In early 2010, Hearing and Service Dogs of Minnesota moved into its

new home at 9440 Science Center Drive in New Hope and, at about the same time, the non-profit changed its name to Can Do Canines. The new name reflects how the orga-nization’s mission has changed and grown since it was first incorporated, as well as the positive impact its more than 330 canine graduates have had on their disabled human partners. The new, much larger building in New Hope provides the space Can Do Ca-nines will need to train more dogs, and to do so more efficiently, as they con-tinue to grow in the years to come.Al Peters founded Hearing Dogs of Minnesota in 1987 because he believed more needed to be done to provide trained hearing assistance dogs to the thousands of deaf and hard-of-hearing persons who could benefit from having a canine helper. Can Do Canines' dogs are specifically trained to enhance the quality of life of their disabled human partners by assisting them with a wide variety of every-day tasks. The dogs deliver personal dignity through the gifts of indepen-dence, freedom and peace of mind.Over the last 20 years, Can Do Ca-nines has expanded its services to train assistance dogs for people deal-ing with five types of challenges:✦ Hearing assist dogs make physical contact to alert their partner to the source of a sound. ✦ Mobility assist dogs can pick up or carry objects, pull wheelchairs, retrieve a phone, and open a door or a drawer for a client with a physi-cal disability. ✦ Diabetes assist dogs alert a diabetic if they smell a specific scent related to rapidly falling blood sugar.✦ Seizure assist dogs comfort and stay with a person experiencing a seizure and wear a cape with medication and medical information.✦ Autism assist dogs help provide se-curity and peace of mind to children with autism and their families. To help carry out its mission, Can Do Canines has 16 employees, 20 field trainers, 75 puppy raisers, and more than 200 dedicated volunteers. Some of the organization’s dogs are do-nated as young puppies; others are adopted from local animal shelters. Young dogs are nurtured by puppy raisers until they are mature enough to begin assistance training, typically at about the age of 1½ or 2. The dogs then go through “puppy college” where trainers evaluate what they are best at and what they love to do. Each assistance dog trainee is assigned to a trainer and carefully matched to a

client, to ensure that they will make a good team. The dogs generally receive about 16 weeks of training, including one-on-one training with the client. A dog/human team is certified and grad-uates from the program only after the dog has demonstrated all of the skills required and has proven that it can be-have appropriately in public situations. Although it costs more than $28,000 to graduate a human/assistance dog team, with the help of its generous donors Can Do Canines provides assistance dogs to its clients at no charge. Can Do Canines is very happy in its new home in New Hope. The organi-zation moved from a cramped build-ing with less than 7,000 square feet of space in Minneapolis to a spacious 32,000 square foot building in one of New Hope’s industrial areas.

New in Town:Can Do Canines assistance dogs

This Can Do Canines assistance dog has been trained to open doors for her disabled partner.

Their old building had indoor kennel space for 10 dogs, while the new facility has indoor/outdoor kennel space for 20 dogs with future expansion space for up to 42 dogs. The old facility had a little over 300 square feet of exercise area for the dogs – with no grass, while the new facility has more than 20,000 square feet of outdoor exercise space with plenty of grass. And, the old building backed up to a bar, while the new building has an excellent location with easy access and visibility from Highway 169.Other amenities at Can Do Canines' New Hope facility include two large training rooms, a training apartment, separate rooms for veterinary care/grooming, and areas for preparing dog meals and isolating dogs. There are also several offices, meeting rooms and a large gathering space. And, perhaps best of all, plenty of currently unused space for future expansion.For more information about Can Do Canines, visit its website at www.can-do-canines.org. Or, call 763-331-3000 to learn when their next one-hour "Tails to Tell" facility tour is scheduled.

Frank Wattunen (front row, left) and Larry Kraatz (right) accept the Summer 2010 Outstanding Business Award from the New Hope City Council.

City of New Hope, Minnesota e Fall 2010

RAVE! Awards (continued from page 1)

Penny Spitzer, administrative sup-port specialist in the Parks and

Recreation Department, and Jann Wid-seth, administrative support specialist in the Police Department, were chosen to be New Hope Employee of the Quar-ter in the second and third quarters of 2010, respectively.Penny Spitzer was recognized for the extra work she put in during the hiring and orientation process for seasonal employees who work at the New Hope outdoor pool and “for the great job that she does day-in and day-out” with her regular job responsibilities. Because the pool manager is only part time, it fell to Spitzer to organize the packets of employment information of the 44 seasonal pool employees; confirming that forms were filled out correctly and required certifications were in order. At the same time, she needed to keep on top of her usual job responsibilities during the Parks and Recreation De-partment’s busiest time of the year.

Spitzer and Widseth named Employees of the QuarterShe was previously named Employee of the Quarter in 2003, and in 2005 and was recognized as Employee of the Year for her “consistently outstanding performance each and every day.”

Penny Spitzer

He did much of the work on the new workshop himself, and his son and neigh-bors helped out when they could. The new workshop has plenty of open space to work, better lighting, and insulation and electric heat to make it more pleasant during the winter months. Chris-tensen enjoys building bird houses with the neighbor kids in his new shop.

Landscaping: Truong FamilyThe Truong family clearly takes me-ticulous care of their large corner lot at 9432 Northwood Parkway. A bed of beautiful roses graces the front of the house, paired with a second bed of large marigolds along the front walk. A landscape block bed with ornamental shrubs and flowers steps its way down the hill along the side of the house to the back yard. The highlight of the back yard is a large, attractive, two-level wooden deck surrounded by a refined selection of bushes and flowers. In a corner of the back yard stands a more casual garden, with a mix of vegetables and flowers.

Garden: Joan and Bob SableThe gardens of Joan and Bob Sable, at 5242 Quebec Avenue N, are both extensive and breathtakingly beauti-ful. Gently curving beds, filled with an impressive array of annuals and peren-nials, embrace nearly every nook and cranny of the Sable’s property. And each bed has its own special charm. One judge noted that the gardens contained more than 80 kinds of day lilies. Another was particularly taken with the “nice textures, great colors, and accents.” A third was impressed by the back yard waterfall and “very nice shade garden.”Congratulations to this year’s RAVE! Award winners. Each recipient was

invited to attend the August 9 City Coun-cil meeting, received an engraved paver or plaque to display in their home or garden, and had their name engraved on a plaque at City Hall.

The New Hope City Council ap-proved a proposal with Stevens

Engineers in November to develop a phased plan for implementing improve-ments at the New Hope Ice Arena.In August, Stevens Engineers completed an engineering study which identified 11 high priority improvements that are needed at the ice arena. Stevens is now being retained to develop a plan that will group top priority improve-ment needs into a project or a series of projects. The plan will address the most time sensitive improvements first and will determine appropriate phasing to provide the best value for the city.Improvements likely to be addressed first include replacement of the ice re-frigeration system for the north sheet of ice, replacement of the dehumidification system for one or both ice sheets, and building infrastructure maintenance. As part of the project planning process, a subcontractor will evaluate current energy usage at the ice arena and cal-culate the energy savings that would result from energy efficiency improve-ments which potentially could be used to leverage funds for the project.

After Stevens completes its recom-mended plan of action in February 2011, city staff will share the plan with ice arena stakeholders and begin work-ing with Abdo, Eick and Meyers, the city’s financial consultant, to identify potential funding options for the ice arena improvements.

Engineering firm will help plan ice arena improvements

information and listen to comments about the plan. The vast majority of residents who attended that open house were in favor of the noise wall project.The state will fund 90 percent of the estimated $1.2 million cost of the noise wall project. The city’s 10 percent in matching funds, or about $120,000, will come from an existing construction project fund.

Noise Wall (continued from page 1)

As the administrative support specialist for the Parks and Recreation Depart-ment, Spitzer is a key cog in keeping the department running smoothly. For many residents, she is the face (or voice) of the Parks and Recreation Department – much of her day involves customer contact both on the phone and at the counter. In addition, Spitzer prepares countless documents for department staff and coordinates records management. This wide variety of responsibilities and chal-lenges is one of the things that Spitzer enjoys most about her job. She has been a city of New Hope employee for 16 years.Spitzer has an Associate Degree from North Hennepin Community College.

Jann Widseth

Joan and Bob Sable's beautiful side yard garden

The Truong family's backyard landscaping and deck

v Don’t throw snow from your drive-way into the street. It’s against city ordi-nance, and it can cause slippery spots.v If it snows on trash collection day, please keep trash carts out of the street. v If a mailbox that is properly installed is physically struck by a snowplow city workers will make the mailbox service-able as quickly as possible. The city will return in the spring to permanently re-install a mailbox of a standard design.v The city is not responsible for im-properly installed mailboxes, damage to items located within the city right-of-way (including irrigation heads), or damage caused by snow thrown by a city snowplow.

Snowplow (continued from page 1) v When grass is damaged by a snow-plow, maintenance workers will repair the damage with black dirt and grass seed in the spring (typically by early May). Sidewalk Snow Removalv Property owners are responsible for removing snow and ice from sidewalks adjacent to their home or business in a timely manner. v The city removes snow from city sidewalks when time and resources permit, but maintenance workers’ first priority is to clear city streets. New Hope does not budget for sidewalk plowing on overtime or on weekends.To report a slippery intersection or damage caused by a snowplow, call New Hope Public Works at 763-592-6777.

Jann Widseth was recognized for the tremendous help and was during the police officer recruiting process which took place this fall. She processed 240 applications, entered candidate scores into a database, and prepared and mailed letters to each of the applicants. Widseth set up appointments for the 39 candidates that were selected for an interview, prepared score sheets, and arrived to work early the three days interviews were held to facilitate can-didate testing. She also prepared and copied extensive background packets for the candidates who advanced to second interviews. At the same time that the recruiting process was going on, Widseth also needed to fulfill her regular job responsibilities.As the administrative support special-ist for the Police Department, Wid-seth acts as an assistant to the chief. Among her many responsibilities, she transcribes recorded statements for court prosecutions, coordinates court appearances for officers, processes confidential reports for command staff, investigates applications for permits to purchase firearms, and coordinates de-partment purchasing and payroll.Widseth has been an employee in the New Hope Police Department for 33 years. She has an educational back-ground in criminal justice and sociol-ogy along with specialized training she has completed during her time with the department.Recipients of New Hope Employee of the Quarter recognition are nomi-nated by coworkers and selected by a committee with representatives from each city department. Congratulations Penny and Jann, for being selected for the award!