by Erin Johnson
Thisweek Newspapers

The state of the city is strong, said Eagan Mayor Pat Geagan, and getting stronger.

"Our foundation is solid, Eagan's future is bright,î he said.

Geagan delivered the annual state of the city address on March 17, highlighting the city's recent successes and outlining its future challenges.

The theme of the address was "Building on Success.î

Eagan has been very successful at attracting and retaining businesses, he said. Last year, Ecolab expanded and moved more than 700 jobs to Eagan and expects to add about 100 more jobs a year over the next five years.

Wells Fargo moved 500 jobs to Eagan, and Thomson West constructed two new data centers in the city. In addition, small businesses like Viva Italia Restaurant and Tandem Printing also opened in Eagan.

Geagan said that technology and transportation are critical to Eagan's future success. The city is working to improve its technology infrastructure, but it will face a $40 million gap in transportation funding over the next decade.

"Figuring out how to solve those funding challenges is one of the top goals of the Eagan City Council,î he said.

The city did, however, secure $1 million in federal funding for an eventual ring road to relieve congestion at the intersection of Pilot Knob and Yankee Doodle roads.

Another key infrastructure improvement is a new water treatment facility that will open later this year and provide 10 million additional gallons of water capacity per day.

The water treatment plant is the largest single construction project ever undertaken by the city, Geagan said.

Preserving open space is a council priority, he said, and the city recently reached its long-term goal of protecting the Caponi Art Park. More than $2.2 million in public financing was used to secure the property.

"But we believe there is more to do,î he said. "And figuring out how to fund open space acquisition in the future will be a major challenge.î

Other future challenges include the hiring of a Parks and Recreation director and evaluating the future needs of the park system.

The City Council will also look at how to position the city for the next 10 to 15 years in terms of service delivery and examine what it will mean to be a maturing city. And it will need to prepare for the eventual retirements of at least three administration members, who have more than 90 years of combined experience.

"That's hard to replace,î Geagan said.

Eagan has always been a leader in fostering partnerships to reach city goals, he said, and he stressed that civic involvement is "the cement that builds democracy.î

"The challenges we face, we will face together,î he said. "Working together as one on blueprints for the future, we can make a huge difference for the Eagan of today and tomorrow. We can build on our success.î

Erin Johnson is at eagan.thisweek@ecm-inc.com.

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