State of the City Showcases St. Louis Park Operations

Typically, "state of" addresses involve a politician standing at a podium, delivering an hour-long speech.

Not on Thursday in St. Louis Park.

The annual State of the City event was held at the , which is where city vehicles such as snowplows are housed. In keeping with that, the event was an opportunity for guests to see snowplows up close, as well as other city vehicles, blueprints for new construction and schematics for long-term planning.

"It was a nice opportunity for the business community and residents to see some of the inner-workings of a city and some of the work that the city does, which you don't normally see," said Bruce Nustad, president of the TwinWest Chamber of Commerce.

Mayor Jeff Jacobs did give a few short talks, but he primarily played the role of emcee, as he handed the microphone over to city employees, who gave in-depth looks into their departments. This included a presentation by Craig Panning, of the city's parks and recreation department, about a new filter made from moss that the city is using to purify its pool.

There was also a demonstration from Dustin Hanly and Andrew Klobe of the public works departments. The two showed off a sewer camera, which allows workers to get a close-up view of pipes deep below the ground. Mayor Jacobs and city manager Tom Harmening even got to help out with this one — the two donned sunglasses and put their heads up to holes along a piece of plastic tubing. When the robotic camera crawled to the right spot, the audience was treated to a projection of the smiling face on a screen.

"I think this (event) breathed some life into what we talk about as far as municipal operations,"  Jacobs said.