By Mark W. Olson

Taxes on a $200,000 home could go up by $28 annually.

On Aug. 28, the Chaska City Council will review a preliminary tax levy, recommended by City Administrator Matt Podhradsky.

The special levy, which would raise almost $261,615 a year, would be used to fund the city’s long-delayed street reconstruction program. “It has to go to debt service that’s supporting the street reconstruction program,” Podhradsky said, after the meeting.

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

* 2008 Comprehensive annual financial reports

* City's agent of record

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.

Like a green lawn? Chaskans might pay more for it beginning next year.

The Chaska City Council discussed the city’s water rates during a work session Monday night.

A proposed rate increase would be implemented next year to comply with a state mandate designed to encourage water conservation, but would also be used to help bulk up the city’s water trunk fund.

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

* EPA Climate Showcase Communities grant

** A worksession on changes to the water utility will be held at 6 p.m.

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.

Chaska’s first windmill will turn its blades above Pioneer Ridge Middle School (formerly Pioneer Ridge Freshman Center) this fall.

Monday night the Chaska City Council approved the location at the southwest corner of Pioneer Trail and Audubon Road.

“This will show our visible commitment to renewable energies,” Chaska City Administrator Matt Podhradsky told the council. As one of the 11 member cities of the Minnesota Municipal Power Agency (MMPA), windmills are being provided to help meet state mandates for renewable power.

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

* Awarding bids for storm water treatment programs

* Wind turbine site selection

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.

The Chaska City Council approved improvements to Hundertmark Road Monday night as part of the future Ridgeview Medical Center emergency facility. The free-standing emergency room, which will be located at the northeast corner of Highway 41 and Hundertmark Road, is expected to increase traffic dramatically when constructed, necessitating the roadway improvements.

The new section of Highway 212 from Eden Prairie to Chaska will get beautified next spring thanks to $750,000 in federal stimulus dollars.

Eden Prairie, Chanhassen and Chaska will each get $250,000 worth of landscaping improvements along the new corridor.

A project to turn the C.P. Klein mansion on the corner of Fourth and Walnut streets into a fine dining restaurant is back on, after some successful brainstorming to make the financing work.

Developers Norm and Jan Kraus gave the council an update at its meeting Monday night. Things looked bleak for the restaurant recently with financing problems that were forcing the city to begin considering other options for the historic building’s reuse.

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

* Klein mansion update

* Hundertmark Road reconstruction feasiblity report

** A worksession to discuss Highway 212 landscaping will take place prior to the council meeting at 6 p.m.

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.