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.
‘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.
MnDOT has developed a comprehensive website to keep the public informed and engaged as it progresses with the Hwy 7 Corridor Study.
It includes public feedback gathered via an online study of design alternatives, pop-up events, an online public meeting and online survey.
To increase transparency and resident education, below is a quick summary of the Shorewood City Council meeting of September 22, 2025.
‘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.
At some point, you may have found yourself in a conversation that you had no idea what the other person was talking about because of acronyms and spurious code words. This could likely be said about technology companies, the stock market, manufacturing, the list goes on.
City finances and budgets are no exception.
There is one thing we should be able to count on in a local election: respect and civility among the candidates.
After all, those running for elected office in our city are our neighbors, friends, and possibly relatives.
The filing period for election to the Shorewood City Council ended on Tuesday, August 13th.
Six residents filed for election to the council.
Compare a few neighboring cities budgets and demographic information and you will learn that Shorewood taxpayers are paying more and perhaps getting less.
For those who like charts and graphs keep reading.
Shorewood’s intersection at Hwy 7 and Eureka Road is well known for the wrong reason: It is fatally dangerous.
An immediate danger exists: poor to no visibility for cars entering onto eastbound Hwy 7 from Eureka.
Have you taken the Shorewood Citizen Advocates survey?
If not, please take a couple of minutes to do it now. It’s short. It’s anonymous. View how your neighbors think things are going.
Looking to give back to the community? Consider Running for Shorewood City Council!
The filing period for Shorewood City Council closes on Tuesday, August 13th at 5:00.
Unlike Shorewood, Excelsior has proven that some simple additions to an ordinance to improve it’s understanding is not impossible to do.
Once again, what should have been a routine, informative email from the City of Shorewood, was delivered to residents under the heading “Message from the Mayor – July 2024”. This included a banner that had all the appearance of an election campaign sign, replete with Jennifer Labadie’s smiling headshot.
The Shorewood City Council will begin working on the 2025 budget in late August. The department heads are now putting together numbers for their next year’s activities.
Residents can have an influence.
Hoping to feel some relief from the high speed bicycles on trails, sidewalks and streets?
Read this update and draw your own conclusion.
Shorewood Citizen Advocates (SCA) started as a concept four years ago. After three years of incubation, SCA went live in summer 2023. The goals were to provide service to residents focusing on accountability, transparency, environmental stewardship, and education. Flash forward to the SCA one-year anniversary.
How have things gone?
Once again, what should have been a routine, informative email from the City of Shorewood, was delivered to residents under the heading “Message from the Mayor – July 2024”. This included a banner that had all the appearance of an election campaign sign, replete with Jennifer Labadie’s smiling headshot.
The Shorewood City Council will begin working on the 2025 budget in late August. The department heads are now putting together numbers for their next year’s activities.
Residents can have an influence.
Hoping to feel some relief from the high speed bicycles on trails, sidewalks and streets?
Read this update and draw your own conclusion.
Shorewood Citizen Advocates (SCA) started as a concept four years ago. After three years of incubation, SCA went live in summer 2023. The goals were to provide service to residents focusing on accountability, transparency, environmental stewardship, and education. Flash forward to the SCA one-year anniversary.
How have things gone?
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.
Due to the resignation of Patrick Johnson, there’s now an opening on the Shorewood City Council that will be filled by appointment. The open position will be filled for the remainder of Johnson’s term by a vote of the remaining four council members. Three of the open seat candidates have held positions as mayor, council members or both, and will likely use that experience as their primary qualification for the appointment. One other candidate has not been previously associated with Shorewood government but has diverse background, education, interests and viewpoints.* Here are a few reasons why appointing someone from the outside may be the best choice: A city council should be representative of the population
Patrick Johnson resigned from the Council in May. The timing of his resignation, less than two years from the date of the next election, does not require a special election (start at hr. 1:41:17). The period for applications closed on June 20 at noon. First applicants interviewed on 6.12.23 were Planning Commission Chair and former Council Member Nat Gorham, former Mayor Woody Love and another former Mayor Scott Zerby. Commissioner Gorham (start at hr: 1:20:25) ran for re-election to the Council in November 2022. He lost by 10 votes. Prior to his time on the Council, he had served on the Planning Commission. Love served as Mayor from approximately 1998-2005. He dropped out of contention
Message from the SCA Editors: SCA was created to inform and advocate. Our purpose is to promote the transparency, consistency and accountability residents expect from Shorewood leadership. We educate residents on the processes used and decisions made at city hall. We hold our elected officials responsible for respect and civility toward residents and each other. We encourage residents to become more involved and respectfully find their voices for issues that matter to them. These are crucial ingredients for a thriving and engaged community. SCA creates a space for public participation and diverse perspectives through our comment sections and editorial/opinion page. We invite the public to submit an editorial or sourced article. We encourage comments
The Planning Commission is charged with the in-depth study of ordinance and policy involving land use in Shorewood. It makes recommendations to assist the Council in decision making. Commission Chair Nat Gorham described, with great clarity, what the Commission does best (start at 00:42).
This article was posted on NextDoor during the week of May 22, 2023. Another from the week of June 12, As the summer progresses, this topic becomes more relevant. The authors’ names are intentionally omitted. Kids, e-bikes, and sidewalks in Excelsior. Yesterday I was walking on Water St at around 6 pm between George St and 3rd when I was met with a group of middle-school boys on e-bikes riding on the sidewalk. I told them they couldn’t ride on the sidewalk here. The group sneered and dismissed this by announcing, in unison, that these were “class 2” bikes, and after some incomprehensibly mannerless behavior, they continued down the sidewalk toward Lake St, nearly running
UPDATE 9.19.23: The City is looking for resident feedback on the proposed design options for Eureka Road North. Learn more here. Residents who appeared before the Council on 3.27.23 challenged a plan for a “scoping document” of Eureka Road North, making among other points, the $125k cost for the study was too high. Further, they supported a simple resurfacing of the roadway, rather than reconstruction. A petition was presented to support their position. Later in the meeting, a question was raised by a council member about the need for the scoping. After somewhat tense council debate, a majority of the Council determined to proceed with the study, saying there would be no further discussion, and
Based on citizen feedback, city staff was asked to consider performance measurements for response time to data practice requests. Data practice policies are driven by Minnesota Statute. However, staff performance when responding, is not. The comments focused on improving staff response time. CM Sanschagrin suggested that the timeliness of responses to some data practices request has been a “pain point,” with city residents. Mayor Labadie and CM Callies both quickly responded with altered interpretations of his comments. Callies, as she has done on other occasions, narrowed the numbers of concerned residents down to a point where they did not matter. The two argued against a need for such response metrics, and declined to do
At the May 22. 2023 Council meeting, CM Sanschagrin chose to abstain from voting on a bond sale. He was challenged by the Mayor and CM Callies for abstaining. The City Attorney was asked for his opinion on the viability of the abstention. See the episode here. Note the attorney’s reply.* When can a voting member abstain? *Orono Council Member Benson recently faced a similar challenge at her first meeting. In that case, the Orono City Attorney (from the same firm as Shorewood’s attorney) correctly explained to her the meaning of an abstention. UPDATE (Jun 12, 2023): The City Attorney changed his previous opinion regarding the Sanschagrin’s “right” to abstain by saying the CM did indeed
The Legislature established the Metropolitan Council in 1967 to coordinate planning and development within the Twin Cities metropolitan area and to address issues that could not be adequately managed with individual governmental arrangements. The Metropolitan Council is the regional policy-making body, planning agency, and provider of essential services for the Twin Cities metropolitan region, including Shorewood. It provides for orderly and economical development of the metropolitan area through the Comprehensive Plan process. It is funded through the “Special Taxing District” (Line 10 of your tax statement) laws. State law requires the Met Council to create regional plans and policies to guide growth and manage regional systems for transportation, aviation, water resources, sewage and regional parks.
Rules for E-Bikes When you use any public trails, sidewalks, or the Lake Minnetonka Regional Trail, you have definitely encountered E-bikes. The compatibility with pedestrians depends on the user of the bike. Most are respectful…but then, there are always those who are not. E-bikes can go up to 28 mph. Such speeds are without a doubt dangerous to others in close proximity. E-bikes have three classifications, based on speed capabilities. See Minnesota Law 169.011, Subd. 15a-c. No person under the age of 15 years may operate an e-bike, of any class, on public streets, sidewalks or trails in Minnesota. Where E-bikes are allowed, only one person per seat is allowed and no towing of another
Enterprise Funds…Not Just for Starships Approximately a 3 minute read Excerpted from an article Roger Kemp (May 2016) What to Know: An Enterprise Fund is created when a municipal public service generates sufficient revenues, from dedicated user fees. These fees pay the operating cost. The use of Enterprise Funds treats a public service, such as city water, as a “cost center” – where only the users pay for the cost of the service. The “revenues”are then dedicated to cover the maintenance of the water infrastructure. A loss in the fund should be made up with increased user fees. Enterprise funds satisfy an elected official’s aversion to increasing taxation, help offset cuts in Federal or State
Planting Deciduous Trees for a Changing Local Climate Approx 3 minute read Adding trees to your landscape is a great way to help fight climate change. But the already changing climate has affected the choices you make in local tree selection. Diversity is key, which is why Hennepin County forestry discourages the planting of some tree species. If the large number of ash trees in Shorewood that will likely be lost due to the Emerald Ash Borer has taught us anything, it is that we must be educated on our tree choices. Hennepin County forestry currently discourages the planting of many maple trees due to the abundance of the tree present in the current landscape.
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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