By Mollee Francisco

The Chaska City Council voted unanimously to adopt a maximum tax levy for 2011 identical to that of 2010.

City staff has argued that to provide the same services, Chaska will need to collect the same taxes in 2011 as in 2010. However, home values are down an average of 7.43 percent in Chaska, which will mean that the tax rate will increase.

Among the items included on tonight's Chaska City Council agenda is:

*Maximum tax levy approval

Chaska City Council meetings are held the first, third and fifth Mondays of each month at 7 p.m. at Chaska City Hall, One City Hall Plaza.

By Shannon Fiecke

Chaska had its eyes set on redeveloping an abandoned rail line in its downtown area, but Scott County thinks that would be short-sighted.

Union Pacific Railroad gave tentative approval on Tuesday to sell 5.6 miles of abandoned rail line through Scott and Carver counties that was previously used for shipments to a Chaska sugar plant.

By Mollee Francisco

If one didn’t know any better, they might think that the park at the north end of Victoria Drive, near Highway 212, was complete.

The baseball field is done and in use. So is the nice new playground. And pots of colorful flowers adorn the light poles leading to the freshly paved parking lot.

But a few wooden stakes strategically placed to the east of the playground indicate something is missing from Veterans Park.

Herald staff is getting ready to send out Election 2010 Q&As to the candidates for Chaska City Council. We'll print them in the Sept. 23 edition of the Herald but first we want to what you would ask the candidates.

Are you interested in their position on raising taxes vs. cutting services? Do you want to know where they stand on downtown revitalization? Are you curious what books they're reading? What issues are most important to you?

We'll take your responses into consideration when we formulate our questionnaire.

Mayor Mark Windschitl will give the annual State of the City address on Wednesday, Sept. 8. The hour-long event will take place at The Lodge at the Chaska Community Center beginning at 12 noon.

The State of the City address focuses on the accomplishments made in Chaska over the last year as well as future projects on the horizon.

The event is free and open to the public. For those who cannot attend, the address will be taped and replayed on the city’s cable access channel.

By the end of this week the City of Chaska expects that the major road closures within the community will be open to accommodate the school traffic that will start on Tuesday, Sept. 7.

According to the City Hall bulletin, the two projects coming to a close are Hundertmark Road east of Highway 41 and the downtown median and signal project. Both projects should be completed by Labor Day for full traffic movement.

By Mollee Francisco

Facing a $500,000-plus deficit for 2011, city staff is hoping to rely on taxes and deferments to balance the budget. The Chaska City Council met in a work session Monday night to review the five-year forecast for the general fund.

Among the items included on tonight's Chaska City Council agenda are:

*Presentation of 2011 prosecution contract

*Bids for West Creek Corporate Center Street

** A work session will be held at 6 p.m. to discuss the five-year general fund budget.

Chaska City Council meetings are held the first, third and fifth Mondays of each month at 7 p.m. at Chaska City Hall, One City Hall Plaza.