Some items of interest from the Shorewood council meeting:
– Flock ALPR camera audit discussion
– Mill Street water main issues
– Excelsior Fire District report
Some items of interest from the Shorewood council meeting:
– Deer Management Program approval
– Police Joint Powers Conflict
– Fire Chief Hiring Timeline
Some items of interest from the Shorewood council meeting:
– Concern raised over utility bill increases
– Water Connection Program launch
– New hire process discussion
Some items from the Shorewood council meeting:
– 4th of July fireworks
– Annual deer harvest discussion
– Comprehensive Plan survey
The Shorewood council had some tough decisions to make at the Apr. 13 council meeting:
– Whether to build an $813k Mill Street water main serving only 25 homes.
-Whether to revoke an operating license for a massage business.
We watch so you don’t have to. Fresh eyes on every meeting, sharper reporting, and fast analysis—plus the links you actually need when you want to dig deeper.
Here are the simplified highlights of the council actions.
March 9, 2026 Shorewood council meeting.
We watch so you don’t have to. Fresh eyes on every meeting, sharper reporting, and fast analysis—plus the links you actually need when you want to dig deeper.
The bulk of the discussion at this meeting was to determine whether to approve an Environmental Assessment Worksheet for the proposed Watten Ponds 2nd Addition subdivision.
An EAW is designed to evaluate potential environmental impacts and identify corrective measures before any final approvals.
SCA attends every City Council meeting so you don’t have to. Don’t be fooled by the appearance of a “routine” agenda. There are always surprises…
Here are the simplified highlights of the council actions.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is in Shorewood.
At a recent city council meeting, a resident described in breathtaking detail, their harrowing experience as ICE surrounded a neighboring house: knocking, peering into windows and photographing license plates.
SCA attends every City Council meeting so you don’t have to.
The agenda this week seemed routine. As it turns out, matters from the floor was “zoom bombed” by three different men not shy about sharing racial epithets and other vitriol that shocked everyone present.
Jan 12, 2026 Shorewood council meeting.
We watch so you don’t have to. Fresh eyes on every meeting, sharper reporting, and fast analysis—plus the links you actually need when you want to dig deeper.
Some items of interest from the Shorewood council meeting:
– Flock ALPR camera audit discussion
– Mill Street water main issues
– Excelsior Fire District report
Some items of interest from the Shorewood council meeting:
– Deer Management Program approval
– Police Joint Powers Conflict
– Fire Chief Hiring Timeline
Some items of interest from the Shorewood council meeting:
– Concern raised over utility bill increases
– Water Connection Program launch
– New hire process discussion
Some items from the Shorewood council meeting:
– 4th of July fireworks
– Annual deer harvest discussion
– Comprehensive Plan survey
The Shorewood council had some tough decisions to make at the Apr. 13 council meeting:
– Whether to build an $813k Mill Street water main serving only 25 homes.
-Whether to revoke an operating license for a massage business.
We watch so you don’t have to. Fresh eyes on every meeting, sharper reporting, and fast analysis—plus the links you actually need when you want to dig deeper.
Here are the simplified highlights of the council actions.
March 9, 2026 Shorewood council meeting.
We watch so you don’t have to. Fresh eyes on every meeting, sharper reporting, and fast analysis—plus the links you actually need when you want to dig deeper.
The bulk of the discussion at this meeting was to determine whether to approve an Environmental Assessment Worksheet for the proposed Watten Ponds 2nd Addition subdivision.
An EAW is designed to evaluate potential environmental impacts and identify corrective measures before any final approvals.
SCA attends every City Council meeting so you don’t have to. Don’t be fooled by the appearance of a “routine” agenda. There are always surprises…
Here are the simplified highlights of the council actions.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is in Shorewood.
At a recent city council meeting, a resident described in breathtaking detail, their harrowing experience as ICE surrounded a neighboring house: knocking, peering into windows and photographing license plates.
Here are three new, quick and informative articles for readers this week.
Long time Shorewood resident Rick Stromberg raised concerns about the proposed Shorewood fee increases in an email to the Shorewood City Council. He asked SCA to publish it here.
The opinions expressed here are solely his own.
To increase transparency and resident education, below is a quick summary of the Shorewood City Council meeting of September 8, 2025.
Here are three new, quick and informative articles for readers this week.
To increase transparency and resident education, below is a quick summary of the Shorewood City Council meeting of August 25, 2025.
Shorewood’s disappearing roads, intersections and traffic signs continue. This year, there are some repeaters and some newbies.
To increase transparency and resident education, below is a quick summary of the Shorewood City Council meeting of August 11, 2025.
To increase transparency and resident education, below is a quick summary of the Shorewood City Council meeting of July 28, 2025.
Here are four short articles you may find informative.
Here are three short articles you may find informative.
To increase transparency and resident education, below is a quick summary of the Shorewood City Council meeting of June 14, 2025.
One of the biggest educational garden tours in Minnesota will be in the southwest metro this Saturday, July 12, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., rain or shine.
‘Tis the season. Here are some conversational topics to keep things light, to learn and to share some humor.
– Winter Solstice
– Marcescent Trees
– A Little Humor
Dec. 8, 2025 Shorewood council meeting.
We watch so you don’t have to. Fresh eyes on every meeting, sharper reporting, and fast analysis—plus the links you actually need when you want to dig deeper.
To increase transparency and resident education, below is a quick summary of the Shorewood City Council meeting of November 24, 2025
Here are 3 new articles for Thanksgiving week.
• Xcel Energy Leaves Shorewood with Redevelopment Options
• E-bike shopping? Buyer Beware
• Shoreline Fire District: Firestorm Resolved
To increase transparency and resident education, below is a quick summary of the Shorewood City Council meeting of November 10, 2025
Here are three new, quick and informative articles for readers this week.
• Are Woolly Bears Winter Predictors?
• Hennepin County Plans North Arm Access Improvements
• A Facelift for the Lake Minnetonka Regional Trail
• A Full Moon
• $450,000 park proposal
• The LRT in winter
To increase transparency and resident education, below is a quick summary of the Shorewood City Council meeting of October 27, 2025
To increase transparency and resident education, below is a quick summary of the Shorewood City Council meeting of October 14, 2025
Dale and Karan Newberg attended the September 22, 2025 Shorewood City Council meeting.
Here are the observations and comments of that meeting they shared in an email with the City Council.
It’s Time to Focus on Our Natural Areas!
A walk through Freeman Park’s woodland is heartbreaking. Decades of buckthorn have ravaged the hardwoods and other native plants. Massive stands of ash and elm trees are in rapid decline.
Shorewood is experiencing a 2+ decades decline in its natural spaces, trails and woodlands. Invasive species litter our parks. Trails need critical repairs and the growing number of dead or diseased trees desperately need removal.
The blame falls on city leaders, from the top down.
Here is a summary of the May 28th Shorewood City Council Meeting. This included a presentation regarding Freeman Park and consideration of several controversial proposals.
By Barry Brown, Freeman Park Advocate —
Freeman Park has 30 acres of ball fields for baseball, soccer and a variety of events, but there’s also 30 wooded acres that until now, has been neglected for decades. Now that 20+ acres of buckthorn has been removed, what do we do with the wooded areas and walking trails? Many people have contributed to a vision for the wooded areas, but City officials would not allow me to share this vision with City Council. So, I am sharing it broadly with the SCA readers. Our modest vision for 2024 improvements is affordable and realistic.
A Citizen’s Guide to Becoming a Candidate
Running for local office requires dedication, effective communication, and a genuine commitment to serving the community. Running for local office involves a series of steps and considerations. Here’s a general overview of what is typically involved:
On May 13th Council approved the sign ordinance on a 4-1 vote.
This includes clear rules for placing campaign signs during the election season.
Some turf experts are warning about the downside of taking a crucial month off from lawn care for “No-Mow May.” The concept of No-Mow May spread widely in recent years. The idea was to encourage people to stop cutting their grass for the month, to help the environment and boost pollinator habitat. An academic study supporting the theory that a month off from mowing helps bees was retracted in 2022. Some experts say the one-month mowing hiatus doesn’t help bees all that much. The Star Tribune recently reported that Rosemount, Roseville, New Brighton, and Columbia Heights now officially advocate for “Mow Less May.” Letting your lawn go for a month at a time of year
State Rep. Heather Edelson (Edina) defeated Marisa Simonetti in the special election held May 14th to decide who finishes the term in a now-vacant District 6 seat on the Hennepin County Board. Read more here .
It’s the Shorewood/Excelsior Lift Station L20 Project The narrow lanes on Hwy 19 entering Excelsior from the west, are the result of Metro Council constructing a new regional gravity sewer pipe between sewer lift stations (pumping stations) L19 and L20. Work will also include decommissioning the old lift station. Meanwhile, drive skillfully, or try to avoid the area completely. The final phase, now in progress, is along Oak Street going west to Beehrle Avenue and L19. Expectations are that the project will wrap up this spring. Landscape restorations will be completed in fall, 2024. For more information: info@excelsiorL20project.org or call 952.737.4681. For a deeper dive go to Excelsior Shorewood Lift Station project.
View the full meeting here. (Links to video of each discussion for a deeper dive.) There were 11 items on the Consent agenda-9 passed without verbal identification by the mayor, or discussion by the Council. Matters from the Floor included presentations on Requesting support for SoHi Community Park, Buckthorn project at Freeman Park, and Failure by the city to provide statutory notice for discussion of an ordinance revision and two-vote Council approval of “blanket” herbicide spraying on soccer fields. Presentation and approval of the Park Commission’s 2024 work plan. A variance was approved for new home construction at 25955 Wild Rose Lane. Northwest Asphalt was awarded the bid for mill and overlay and drainage improvement
Two massive volunteer clean-up efforts took place in April and May, making significant headway in the removal of the buckthorn debris. 60+ residents volunteered to remove buckthorn fragments left behind by the deforestation equipment. Volunteers worked primarily in Area 1 (see map) and completed approximately 90% debris cleanup. Members of Scout troops 409 and 424 were part of the team. City workers have been chipping the piles as the next phase of the project. Volunteer feedback will be shared with the Parks Commission. Overall, feedback for the events was positive, but suggested there should be more focus on organization, instruction and community outreach for future projects. “…it was good, well organized, etc. Maybe widen the
The Metropolitan Mosquito Control District (MMCD) oversees the “control” of the nuisances in the metro area. MMCD is funded through a line item on our property tax bills. We all pay for it.
The Metropolitan Mosquito Control District (MMCD) has been conducting surveillance and treatment activities in your community to reduce the risk of disease and annoyance in an environmentally-sensitive manner.
Read the full article, including MMCD contact information for comments.
Prof. Mike Schuster and his team of researchers from the University of Minnesota are studying alternative buckthorn management strategies in Freeman Park’s western section.
This research focuses on methods aimed at exhausting the plant without relying on herbicides.
Update 12/1/2024 – The proposal to implement council bylaws was tabled until next year after the new council members are seated.
Since the middle of October, the Shorewood City Council has devoted all or part of 3 work sessions to discuss adding proposed “bylaws” to govern council operations and member’s behavior.
While clearly within the rights of the council to enact these “bylaws”, the details and timing of this initiative are concerning and raise quite a few questions. Here are just a few:
It’s hard to miss all the site preparation and construction activity happening in and around Shorewood.
Read further for descriptions of 10 projects that are in various stages of development
Once a rare sighting in the area, bald eagles are now a daily occurrence seen soaring above the Lake Minnetonka area, including on the southwest end of the lake and on the eastern bays.
The massive dirt piled in the Tonka Bay City Hall parking lot is not unnoticed.
In fact, it was a topic for the Sept 28 Tonka Bay Council Meeting where an impressive resident-council-consultant conversation addressed every question and concern in a full-blown “community conversation.”
The 2024 election results for Shorewood City Council have been published by the Secretary of State.
View the results here.
For those hopeful for some long-awaited enforcement on the kids on e-bikes, the wait will continue. On October 15 the Shorewood council passed its first ever ordinance regulating youth riding e-bikes.
The ordinance is quite simple:
The October 15 Shorewood council meeting will introduce an ordinance regulating e-bikes. Until now, the council has not publicly discussed the e-bike chaos in our city.
There was no public comment before the creation of this ordinance. How this version came to be, with so few specifics, is unknown.
Here are 5 suggestions for creating e-bike regulations:
As part of our continued service to residents, Shorewood Citizen Advocates is pleased to present the following profiles of the candidates for Shorewood City Council.
Shell game or voodoo economics – call it what you will, but our leaders in city council don’t want you to know that they can make a 13.9% budget increase look like a 3.2% tax increase because it’s an election year.
Wait – What? How does that happen?
Transparency “…transparency is government’s obligation to share information with citizens.” — ballotpedia Government should be transparent at all levels Transparency promotes accountability and enables residents to understand what their Government is doing Shorewood’s non-transparency to resident document requests Planned Unit Development (PUD) documents, including Minnetonka Country Club, are not easily accessible to the public (Conversation starts at 1:40 regarding “extreme” resident data requests that are “demanding and unreasonable” The City Council struggles to find a way to safely communicate with residents during these “crazy times.” (Conversation starts at 1:40) “We were bullied into having this meeting on Zoom.” – CM Saikel On 9.12.21 the Council agreed to discuss communications with residents at their retreat. A
Consistency …means adhering to the governing documents in each case and treating each non-compliant issue in the same manner Provide consistent and equal treatment for all Lack of clarity in zoning violation enforcement process. Shorewood’s policy is to enforce code violations on a “complaint only” basis. This policy has been enacted without resident conversation Resident confronts council (starts at 7:20) on special treatment regarding the Mayor’s dock violations Inconsistency in variances granted: Smithtown fence (see p. 7) Smithtown Circle (see p. 9) accessory shed (required to move a building that did not comply) and a dock (allowed to keep a dock that did not comply.) Investment groups are buying homes and renting them. According to Shorewood’s
Managing Natural Resources: How is Shorewood Doing? Bee Safe program, pesticide use, phosphorous Shorewood’s violation of its Bee Safe Resolution City Council Discussion of the violation of the Bee Safe Resolution on January 24, 2022 and February 28, 2022 Proposal from IPM Institute of North America for pest management policies (Page 44-) The Western Shorewood Stormwater Drainage Plan / Smithtown Pond Project issues Despite the plan’s $4 million+ price tag, the City has not performed a cost benefit analyses and has not obtained second or third opinions/reviews on the system design The City has opted to rely on a city engineer who is employed by the contracting firm awarded the project It is unclear who
Western Shorewood Stormwater Drainage Plan The Western Shorewood Stormwater Drainage Plan is the most expensive series of public works projects in Shorewood history. This plan has not been properly vetted, the cost vs. benefit has not been analyzed, alternatives have not been considered and, most disturbing, the backers are intent on leaving Shorewood residents in the dark. Cost Overview At a cost of over $5.5 million, Shorewood’s Western Stormwater Drainage Plan will tax the wallets of Shorewood taxpayers and continue the City’s policy of draining Shorewood of its natural heritage of woods, wildlife, and quite green neighborhoods. Here’s how the City plans to spend $5.5 million+ of our taxpayer money An industrial project in a
The City has a responsibility to manage snow and ice
First: The Lake Minnetonka Regional Trail Crossing at Strawberry Lane
At the Dec. 11, 2023 City Council meeting a number
AGENDA and packet for Jan. 26, 2024 Retreat At the
Takeaways from the meeting: About 50 residents attended to hear
In June, 2022, a Shorewood-led report was released on Safe
During the City Council meeting of 11.27.2003, one of the
The Lake Park Villas development project, (former Truffle Hill property)
In 2016, Alex and Elena Ugorets requested a permit to
The Shorewood Council discussed a contract for removal at Freeman
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