FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

As a precaution, a "Sniffer Truck" may be seen driving through the area over the next few days monitoring gas levels. CenterPoint Energy is monitoring streets other than Arden Avenue. Residents who live on other streets should not be alarmed if they see the utility company working near their homes.

The Edina Fire Department is gathering information and will meet later this week with representatives of other public safety agencies involved in the incident to complete a Post Incident Analysis (PIA) of the event. Early reports indicated that the immediate area was evacuated before the explosion and a wider area evacuated after. More recent information is contrary to some of those reports. Questions and concerns about evacuations in the area before and after the explosion are among the items to discuss in the PIA. The PIA will be complete and a summary of results made available in March.

CenterPoint Energy is expected to return to the area after the spring thaw for "yard restorations." Any area affected by CenterPoint's digging will be fully restored at that time. This process may result in some road blockages or closures and is expected to take approximately two weeks.

Is it safe in my home/neighborhood?

Explosive gas alarms, similar to carbon monoxide detectors, can be purchased from local retailers.

There is debris on my property. Is the City or CenterPoint Energy going to pick it up?

Fire Chief Marty Scheerer

Attention -

Bruce Ave at 50th Street (intersection only) will be closed Friday, March 13 and Monday, March 16, to facilitate lining of the sanitary sewer pipe that is running along Bruce north of 50th Street. The work is weather dependent, therefore, the dates are subject to change.

If you purchase real estate and place the property inside your IRA, you do not own it; your IRA owns the property. Since qualified plan law governs your IRA, the owner must adhere to Internal Revenue Service guidelines. Investment restrictions, custodial fees, distribution rules and, ultimately, income taxes must be paid. All proceeds must go back into the IRA and occupancy is not an option. In addition, if the real estate is a rental property, for compliance purposes, your custodian will appoint a property manager. If loans are used, the loan must be a nonrecourse loan (secured by the property but no recourse on any other assets). Commercial lenders usually do not engage in these types of loans, so the private sector (private investors, owner/seller financing, etc.) is your best option

The second way an IRA owner can use an IRA to purchase property is for the real estate to be purchased outside the IRA and owned outright. This approach is more traditional because the individual owns the real estate and therefore holds title. Since the individual owns the real estate, real estate law governs the owners investment. Real estate law is more consumer friendly, and the real estate can qualify for long-term capital gains income tax treatment and many other financial and economic benefits. Depreciation, additional write-offs, income flexibility and a stepped-up income tax basis are possible. The use of 1031 Tax Deferred Exchanges and/or the Personal Residence Exclusion are now possibilities.

An IRA can completely or partially fund a real estate purchase. In addition, you can purchase and own the property outright or share ownership with other IRA and non-IRA owners.

Many people have not heard that purchasing real estate via an IRA is a possibility and certainly are not aware that there are two possible ways to make this type of purchase. Both approaches have been around for many years, and real estate gives the investor options other than stocks, mutual funds, money markets and certificates of deposit.

COUNTRY CLUB NEIGHBORHOOD IS A Local & National Treasure

In 1922, when Minneapolis land developer and speculator Samuel Thorpe looked at the land now bordered by 50th Street on the south, Sunnyside Road to the north, Edgebrook Place on the west and Arden Avenue on the east, he saw more than farmer Henry Brown’s cattle peacefully grazing near the Edina Mill and George Baird’s prize Merino sheep on what is now Casco Avenue. Thorpe saw a place to build his dream.

Between 1922 and 1934, Thorpe spent more than $1 million platting the Country Club Neighborhood’s 300 acres into 585 home sites. He landscaped, installed water, gas and underground wiring and laid sewer lines before allowing the first home to be built.

Detailed deed restrictions were written controlling the values and styles of homes, and all lots were reserved for single-family homes. Promotional literature boasting “…. you [will] be protected from having a monstrosity or eyesore next door” was widely distributed to Minneapolis families.

Soon, a homeowners’ association, later known as the Country Club Association, was formed. From 1930 to 1941, the association reviewed all plans, specifications, elevations and color schemes. Outbuildings were required to correspond to the style of the residence on the same lot. Fuel storage tanks and garbage receptacles could not be visible from the street. No “objectionable” trees or shrubs could be planted.

As a result of strict adherence to the restrictions, Thorpe’s dream of a community where “one could be proud to live, proud of your home and of your neighbors’ homes as well” became a reality.

The 554 houses built between 1924 and 1931 represent a notable concentration of historic architectural styles: English Tudor, English Cottage, Italian Renaissance Revival, French Provincial, Mediterranean and American Colonial.

Few changes occurred in the Country Club Neighborhood until the 1960s when the original deed restrictions expired, and a few contemporary homes were built on the remaining undeveloped lots.

Many Country Club residents discovered that lifestyles in the 1970s differed from those of the original occupants in the 1920s. The addition of multiple baths, two-car garages and family rooms resulted in alterations to interiors and exteriors of many homes. The neighborhood, one of the first planned communities in the United States, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

Attention to design issues such as scale, windows, details and building materials has ensured that the district’s 80-year history has not blemished the character and stateliness of the exceptional neighborhood. The Edina Heritage Preservation Board helps Country Club residents retain the neighborhood’s architectural integrity, character and special place in Edina’s history, while maintaining it as a desirable place to live in the 21st century.

For more information about Edina's Country Club Neighborhood please contact:

BRETT MALINSKI

612-590-1500

www.EdinaSales.com