City Services
SERVING THE NEEDS OF THE COMMUNITY
City Council
Richfield residents are represented by a City Council, which consists of a Mayor and four Council Members. Three of the Council Members are elected from the wards where they live and the fourth is elected at-large. The Council employs a City Manager to oversee the day-to-day operations of city government. At the State level, Richfield residents are represented by a State Senator and two members of the House of Representatives.
The Council sets the direction and policy for the city. Contributing to this process is input from City staff and, of course, the public. Besides having the opportunity to contact elected officials, the public is always encouraged to attend council meetings and open houses. Public input is also sought for long-term plans such as the City’s Comprehensive Plan.
Together, the City Council, City staff and residents help Richfield achieve its vision to be “the best place to live, work, learn, and do business.”
Public Safety Department
Richfield’s Public Safety Department consists of four main divisions: Police, Emergency Services, Inspections and Support Services.
The Police Division is responsible for ensuring the safety of the community by enforcing criminal and traffic laws. The division consists of 44 sworn officers, including two canine handlers and two canines that are trained in general criminal apprehension and narcotics detection. A School Liaison Officer works with the high school, and another School Liaison Officer works with the middle school in Richfield to help ensure the safety of students and staff. Every year the Crime Prevention staff coordinates neighborhood National Night Out block parties, Citizen Police Academy and Police and Fire Safety Day for fourth graders.
The Emergency Services Division is responsible for developing an emergency preparedness plan for natural disasters, plane crashes, explosions, acts of terrorism, pandemic flu and other potential threats to the health and safety of Richfield citizens. To assist with this effort the division has trained Police Reserves and Police Explorer Scouts who also assist in police-related activities and several civic events.
The Inspections Division is responsible for providing inspection services to safeguard life, health, property and public welfare by enforcing the requirements of the Richfield City Code (e.g., Point of Sale inspections, rental licensing) and the Minnesota State Building Code. The Division issues around 4,000 permits and performs around 6,500 inspections annually.
The Support Services Division is responsible for performing four major functions for the city in the areas of environmental health code enforcement, animal control, business licensing and providing health services to the community.
Fire Department
Richfield residents can be comforted to know that the RFD responds to fire and medical emergency calls in approximately three minutes. That is faster than most departments in the region.
The Fire Department has 24 full-time firefighters who are all trained as Emergency Medical Technicians. The department responds to over 3,800 calls for emergency service each year.
Besides providing emergency fire and medical response, the department also provides hazardous material and technical rescue response, fire prevention, fire code, public education programs and car seat checks. The department also receives requests and responds to many calls for non-traditional fire department services.
It also participates in Auto-Aid, where neighboring departments partner in responding to calls to provide more in-depth coverage and efficiently utilize shared resources.
Public Works Department
The city’s Public Works Department is responsible for overseeing the design and maintenance of city buildings and infrastructure. The city’s Utility Division staff helps to provide and maintain a safe water supply and is responsible for the disposal of waste water to the city’s 34,000 residents every day. They test the water to make sure it is safe, monitor the city’s wells, provide routine cleaning and maintenance to the city’s 120 miles of utility pipes, and handle billing.
Richfield’s Streets, Parks and Building Maintenance Division seal coats and resurfaces Richfield streets every year. In addition, staff provides regular cleaning of the streets. Richfield has more than 20 parks, which staff is responsible for the upkeep by mowing, trimming or removing trees, cleaning up trash, and maintaining outdoor ice rinks in the winter months. Staff is also responsible for maintaining city facilities like City Hall, City Garage, Community Center, Municipal Liquor Store buildings, Wood Lake Nature Center and other park buildings.
Community Development Department
The city’s Community Development Department is responsible for overseeing land use regulation, commercial redevelopment and housing. Helping guide the department in these areas are the City Council, Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA) and Planning Commission.
The department has seen many redevelopment and housing accomplishments in recent years. Included is the construction of Cedar Point Commons, the first phase of redevelopment along Highway 77. City Bella, a retail and residential building, opened in September 2004 at the corner of Lyndale Avenue and 66th Street. Other notable projects in the past few years include Kensington Park (Lyndale and 77th) and Woodlake Centre (66th and Lyndale).
In addition to the many new town homes and condominiums, the department has focused on improving the city’s stock of older single-family homes. The city has encouraged home remodeling by coordinating what has become one of the most successful remodeling fairs in the Twin Cities. There are also financing options through the HRA to those looking to improve or remodel.
Redevelopment
Richfield continues to re-create itself to ensure its citizens and visitors the latest and best place to live, visit and work.
In recent years, major projects have been completed for Best Buy’s world headquarters, the Woodlake Centre at 66th Street & Lyndale Avenue, City Bella, Gramercy Park Cooperative at Lake Shore Drive, Kensington Park, the development of retail, lofts & town homes on Lyndale Avenue and 76th Street, and a unique townhome project on Penn Avenue at 68th.
An upgrade to the newly built City Bella Condominiums at 66th and Lyndale Avenue has been installed in the summer of 2007. The upgrade includes a streetscape consisting of trees, sculptures and other amenities along Lyndale Avenue.
The newest development to be opened in the fall of 2007 is Cedar Point Commons. This project arose as a way to buffer Richfield’s residents from low frequency airport noise, brought about with the construction of a new runway adjacent to Cedar Avenue. Homes built in the 1950’s that became untenable in the new conditions gave way to a project consisting of approximately 29 acres. This is the first project in the United States to be built expressly to withstand the low frequency vibrations from the close-by flights.
This center at 66th Street and Cedar Avenue (Hwy 77) has major tenants such as Target Superstore, Home Depot, TCF bank, a stand-alone restaurant, and many supporting retail outlets. This community focal point has 20 foot-wide sidewalks, overhead trellises, outdoor eating areas and includes the first two-lane roundabout at the intersection of 66th Street and Richfield Parkway.
Future Redevelopment
Richfield’s southern border is Interstate 494. A 494 Corridor study in 2006 set up a vision of what the future development along this important corridor should look like. The vision sees a mixed-use village approach with offices, retail, housing and a lot of green. This area, from Interstate 35W to Cedar Avenue, will become an important entrance to Richfield from its southern edge.
Opportunities for further redevelopment of the northern portion of the Lakes at Lyndale area, along Lyndale Avenue from 66th Street northward to the Crosstown (MN State Hwy 62,) present themselves as prime prospects to developers.
Under the direction of the Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA), Richfield has constructed over 125 homes in recent years to replace small homes built in the pre-WW II era. They also oversee an apartment renovation program designed to keep the apartments desirable and up-to-date.
Richfield is guided by a comprehensive plan that is upgraded at least every 10 years. This community guide for future development is undergoing revision for the period 2008-2018. For further information regarding development, contact the Richfield Community Development Office at 612-861-9760.
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