The job offer is in place — the next question is if Eden Prairie will soon have to begin its own search for a new city manager. Tuesday, the Edina City Council unanimously picked Eden Prairie City Manager Scott Neal to be hired as Edina’s new city manager.
The next step, as Edina City Council member Scot Housh remarked, will be to “close the deal.”

A negotiating team that includes Mayor Jim Hovland and Council member Ann Swenson will be contacting Neal to negotiate the terms of his contract.

The Eagle Band will hold a preview night at 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 2. The event is open to the public and will be held at Aerie Stadium. The event is sponsored by the Band Parent Organization (BPO).

Wildfire (3020 Eden Prairie Center, Eden Prairie) will feature Summit Brewing Co. and its founder Mark O. Stutrud at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 17. The beer dinner will include four courses of food and craft beer by Summit.

The Eden Prairie Chamber of Commerce Gala, “Bahama Breezes,” is set for Saturday, Nov. 13, in the new clubhouse at Hazeltine National Golf Club. A VIP sponsor reception is set for 5:30 p.m. with a live steel drum performance. General admission and silent auction start at 6 p.m. Dinner and a brief live auction is at 7:30 p.m. The Funkeys dueling pianos, sing-along and comedy show follows dinner.

Watershed officials on ‘high alert’

By Forrest Adams

Last summer zebra mussels were discovered in Prior Lake and this summer in Lake Minnetonka, sandwiching the communities of Chanhassen, Eden Prairie, Victoria, Chaska and Shakopee.

Could the non-native aquatic species be coming soon to a lake near you? The answer depends a lot on how much vigilance is practiced by boaters and anglers who transport boats, bait and water between lakes and other bodies of water.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty today announced the appointment of Dave Beal and Corey R. Elmer, and the reappointment of Jennifer DeJournett, Keith Dixon, Ph.D., Robert H. Gotwalt, Jr., Pamela M. Harris, Kate Kelly, Cal Larson, David Metzen, Ed.D., Sakawdin Mohamed, Kera Peterson, Nathan Prouty, Robert Rumpza, Judie Russell and Christine Wiegert to the Minnesota Commission on National and Community Service, also known as the ServeMinnesota Commission. Their three-year terms expire in 2013, according to a news release.

One recent article caught our attention and has led to a 1000-word response from SouthWest Transit CEO Len Simich. The Star Tribune

recently looked at the issue of the differences of both subsidies and perception of quality between suburban bus services (specifically EP-based SouthWest Transit) and Metro Transit, which serves more city-dwellers.

By Karla Wennerstrom

When Nicole Foyt attended scholarship night at Eden Prairie High School, she had no idea that she was the winner of the biggest scholarship that would be awarded, the Holasek-Griffiths Scholarship.

“It was a huge surprise,” she said. “I was shaking in my chair. … So many emotions were going through my mind. That is one of the highlights of my four years of high school.”

Sam and Charlie Bradley of Eden Prairie held their eighth annual Bradley Backyard Carnival last week to raise money for The Foundation for Retinal Research (www.TFRR.org) in honor of their friend Mary Rose Bushland, according to a news release. The carnival raised $1,020, which “will be used to help researchers find a cure for those afflicted with retinal type blindness.”

Mark your calendar for “Vino Classico: Eden Prairie Uncorked,” a popular wine tasting and silent auction fundraiser that will be held from 6:30-9 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 16, at the Eden Prairie Community Center, 16700 Valley View Road in Eden Prairie.

The Eden Prairie (A.M.) Rotary Club organizes the annual event to raise more than $20,000 for its many community, national and international programs, including student scholarships, missions to Honduras, the well-known Golden Eagle Award, student mentoring, and an annual recognition banquet for Eden Prairie High School behind-