Submitted by Carver Mayor Courtney Johnson
As mayor of the City of Carver, it has become my tradition to take a look back on the past year and share my “Top 10” list this time of year. Each of the following items were impactful, memorable or both in our community in 2024.
With that, here’s my 2024 Top 10 list from the City of Carver:
#10. Cannabis Dispensary Zoning – Dispensaries will be permitted in the Central Business District (downtown) without buffers. A 1,000-foot buffer (from the property line) will be required from schools. In the Freeway Commercial District, which is generally located along Jonathan Carver Parkway, a 500-foot buffer will be required from daycares, which will impact both O2B Kids and Next Steps Learning Center. We anticipate Carver will only have one cannabis license awarded to a business in our community, because of our population.
#9. Water System Improvements – Following the Community Response on Water Quality in 2023, I am proud of the improvements we’ve made in the city’s water system. We passed a “water piracy” ordinance and added signs to fire hydrants, letting folks know it is illegal to use hydrants for anything other than a city-authorized use. Because the final phases of Timber Creek have started construction, the water system now “loops,” which removed the problematic dead ends in our water system.
#8. Pickleball Courts – Along with the basketball and tennis court refurbishment at Lions Park, two new pickleball courts were installed, becoming the city’s first permanent courts for this very popular game. Coming in 2025, four more new pickleball courts will be installed in the new Creekside Park!
#7. Community Survey – We completed the 2024 Community Survey last spring. Highlights include 90% of respondents saying the city is headed in the right direction AND that city services are able to keep pace with Carver’s growth. There is more data in the survey than I have space to share. You can find complete survey questions, results, and comparison graphs to the responses from our 2020 Community Survey at CityOfCarver.com/218/Community-Survey.
#6. Employee Pay for Performance – Included in the 2025 budget is funding for a new employee compensation system where pay is directly tied to performance based on specific, measurable metrics. The new employee pay system establishes milestone steps for annual training goals, accumulated years of experience and key performance measurements to determine pay increases.
#5. Commercial Development – In 2024, we welcomed two new businesses with as much fanfare as I’ve ever seen in Carver. When HomeTown Bank and Mocha Monkey opened in September, some waited in line overnight to win one free coffee a week for a year. Coming in 2025, Les Schwab and more!
#4. Affordable Housing – The Carver County Community Development Agency (the CDA) broke ground on Carver Place, a 60-unit building, with one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. All households that qualify for the property will need to be at or below 60% of area median income. This was the first use of Carver’s Connection Fee Waiver program where, based on the affordability of the units, the city waives up to $250,000 of water and sewer connection fees, as long as the project can demonstrate it will remain affordable for 20 years.
#3. New 3rd Street Bridge – Last summer and fall, work commenced to replace the 112-year-old 3rd Street bridge. Because we qualified for Small Cities Bridge Bonds through the state, the city’s portion of this estimated $1.7 million project should be no more than about $240,000. That’s less than 14 percent of the overall project costs… and a tremendous value to Carver’s taxpayers.
#2. Closure of Chaska Herald – Last April, the Chaska Herald’s closure came as a shock. At City Hall, it has made us work a bit harder (in a good way!) to share news and information about the projects, initiatives and planning we’re working on. Before each one of our City Council meetings, a detailed Agenda Guide is shared on Facebook.com/cityofcarvermn, Instagram.com/cityofcarvermn/, and the city’s website. After each meeting a meeting rundown, which summarizes what took place at the meeting, is shared on those same media channels.
#1. Record-Breaking Flood – On June 28, 2024, the Minnesota River crested at 30.12 feet, breaking the previous record from April 11, 1965, which was 30.07 feet. Although the levee had a couple of minor breaches, it was nothing like the storied flood of 1965. Thanks to good planning and great teamwork, Carver’s historic downtown made it through yet another flood.
Happy New Year! Here’s to a terrific 2025. As always, if you have any questions, comments or concerns about anything that’s going on in our community, please don’t hesitate to reach out. I look forward to hearing from you.
Mayor Courtney Johnson; CJohnson@CityOfCarver.com; Cell: 612.702.7703
Facebook.com/CarverMayorCourtney • Instagram.com/Carver_Mayor_Courtney
