Moorhead City Council Approves

the Trollwood Performing Arts School Budget

The Moorhead City Council approved the 2015 TPAS Operating Budget, which was previously approved by the Fargo Public Schools’ Board of Education. There is no cost to the City to approve the TPAS operating budget. However, Moorhead leases 32.9 acres of property to FPS. City Manager Michael Redlinger reviewed the proposed budget and stated that it is in compliance with the State of Minnesota’s bonding legislation and grant to the City of Moorhead.

The budget reflects forecast program revenues along with other funds available for the operation of the program will be equal to or greater than forecast expenses and thus when approved by the City Council will be transmitted to the state as required by the Grant Agreement.

The agreement between the City of Moorhead and State of Minnesota requires an annual filing be submitted to the State of Minnesota. This filing is to include a determination that the facilities are being used for the purposes of the grant as well as the City’s approval of the upcoming year’s operating budget of the program if the proposed budget shows that forecast revenues along with other funds will exceed forecast expenses. The 2014 filing was made and accepted by the appropriate state agencies.

Bluestem Center for the Arts opened in 2009 and is a testament to our region’s commitment to the arts. Bluestem is collaboration between Fargo Public Schools and the City of Moorhead. It hosts a number of programs to inspire a love for the arts in people of all ages. Bluestem is programmed and managed by Trollwood Performing Arts School, a program of Fargo Public Schools, who leases the facility from the City of Moorhead. Bluestem is used for school arts curriculum and activities, public performances, exhibitions, community festivals, corporate retreats, conferences, and private rental opportunities. Since opening, thousands of patrons have enjoyed exciting programming including theatre, a variety of arts education, concerts, dance, music, and special events.

Moorhead’s Bluestem Communications & Advisory Committee

· Michael Redlinger Moorhead City Manager

· Heidi Durand Moorhead City Council

· Mike Hulett Moorhead City Council

· Rebecca Sundet-Schoenwald At Large Member, MSUM

Be Aware of Financial Scams

Increase seen in number of victim’s

The Moorhead Police Department would like to remind everyone to always be protective of personal information, account numbers, and PIN’s (Personal Identification Numbers). Thieves have countless tactics to extract the necessary information to steal money.

Scammers contact their victims through mail, e-mail, text, and telephone. These contacts can be random or in response to a posted advertisement for something for sale. They falsely represent themselves, sometimes from legitimate authorities like the IRS to a local power company. If you believe the contact to be legitimate, call the public telephone number for the business, not the phone number they provide, to confirm that you are speaking to employees within the business. Often times a check is issued to be deposited into the would-be victims account. This check is fraudulent and worthless; however the victim’s doesn’t know that until later. Believing that they have already been compensated, victim’s cooperate and either provide funds or goods.

Green Dot Cards: These Money Pak cards can be purchased in stores to have funds up to $2,000 electronically transferred. The protected account number on the back of the card is the authorization to extract the funds. Yesterday a victim reported to have been contacted via e-mail to be a “Secret Shopper.” They received a check to deposit into their account so that they could purchase specific items in stores to report their customer satisfaction with the employee’s customer service. Ultimately these account numbers were provided to the scammer and the funds were stolen immediately.

Anyone can become a victim of a scammer as they continue to change their tactics and prey upon unsuspecting victims. We would like to provide this reminder as an on-going effort of protecting members of our community.

Commercial remodels and expansions continued to be strong in 2014. Total value of commercial remodels and expansion projects is $33,664,292 through November of 2014. Strong private investment is seen in both commercial and residential development.

As we close out 2014, there are many positives to be happy with in Moorhead. Two new full-service restaurant venues opened their doors: Grizzly’s Wood-Fired Grill and Rustica Eatery and Tavern. Subway relocated to 9th and Main and three additional restaurants are slated to open soon: Moorhead Billiards on Center Avenue, Noodles and Company adjacent to the Courtyard by Marriott hotel, and Spicy Pie Pizza is coming to the new 8th Street Retail Center next to Hornbacher’s. Moorhead also got its only brew taproom this year: Junkyard Brewing on 1st Avenue North.

Many of our major corridors are experiencing new development and redevelopment of existing properties. I am confident that 2015 will shape up to be another outstanding year for Moorhead in growth and development while offering new services to our residents.

See you around town!