Staff

A total of 136 full and part-time employees in seven departments deliver water and sewer, public safety, street maintenance, parks and recreation, and other services to the public. During the summer, as many as 40 seasonal employees are added to assist with maintenance and recreation programming. Fire services are provided by 37 paid-on-call firefighters who live or work in Savage; they are led by a full-time fire chief who also serves as fire marshal.

Operations

The City owns and operates two liquor stores. Profits from the stores help support other services provided by the City. The City also owns the building that houses the Savage Public Library, which is operated by Scott County.

In addition to Fire and Municipal Liquor Operations, the City’s departments are Administration, Finance, Community Development, Police and Public Works. These departments operate out of eight buildings located throughout the community:

• City Hall and the Savage Police Department, 6000 McColl Drive
• Public Works/Utility Services, 13770 Dakota Ave.
• Fire Station 60, 13105 Dakota Ave.
• Fire Station 61, 14321 O’Connell Road
• Water Treatment Plant 2, 13800 Dakota Ave.
• Water Treatment Plant 3, 8100 Foxberry Bay
• Marketplace Liquor, 8200 West County Road 42
• Dan Patch Liquor, 4425 W. 123rd St.

Officials

A city administrator appointed by a five-member City Council oversees all City of Savage operations. The Council is responsible for setting policy that guides the development and provision of programs and services provided to the community. The Council consists of a mayor, who is elected every four years; and four council members, who each serve four-year terms.

Budget

City of Savage services are funded through several revenue sources and various budgets. The General Fund supports general operations with a 2011 budget of $12.1 million. Property taxes provide 81 percent of the revenue for the General Fund, with licenses and permits, engineering and plan review fees and intergovernmental revenues accounting for the balance. Special Revenue budgets, supported in part or entirely by independent funding sources, provide for cable access initiatives, maintenance for the Savage Public Library and economic development efforts. Other budgets for the City include the Water and Sewer Operating, Storm Water, and Liquor Operating funds.

Growth

City operations have expanded over the past two decades in response to a rapidly growing population. Once a rural community, Savage’s population has increased from 4,000 to 26,852 in the past 24 years. The greatest amount of growth occurred from 1990 to 2000, when the population increased by 113 percent. A new city hall, fire station, water treatment plant, library and liquor store were built during that time frame.

In 2007, a 31,720 square foot addition onto Savage City Hall provided new space for the Savage Police Department and community meeting rooms. The $8.25 million project, funded through property taxes, also allowed for renovations to the former police facility for City Hall office space and a new television production studio. In 2010, the downtown fire station was closed and a new fire station opened on the government campus in 2010 to improve response times.

Community

Construction of the McColl Pond Environmental Learning Center at Community Park was completed in December 2008. The center provides classroom space for an elementary environmental program developed with local schools, as well as larger areas that may be rented by the public for meetings, events and other gatherings.  The building is the result of a partnership with several public and private entities. Supporters include the Jeffers Foundation, which provided a $500,000 grant to get the project started.

Savage’s environmental assets include the Minnesota River, which forms the city’s northern border; the 500-acre Savage Fen Wetland Complex, which contains some of the largest calcareous fens in the state; Eagle Creek, one of the last self-sustaining trout streams in the metro area; and Boiling Springs, a historical landmark.

A major industry in Savage is shipping, due to the community’s location on the Minnesota River. Five private facilities operate along the banks of the river to form the Ports of Savage. These  include Harvest States, Port Cargill, Cargill West, Port Bunge, Superior Minerals Corporation and Flint Hills Resources. Other major businesses include Fabcon, Silgan Containers, Master Electric Co., B.F. Nelson, and Road Machinery & Supply Co. The community also offers a large retail base, which includes two grocery stores, a SuperTarget and several restaurants and service shops.

Three school districts serve Savage: Prior Lake-Savage, Burnsville-Eagan-Savage, and Shakopee schools. The community has one high school, one junior high, and five elementary schools within its borders. The city also has one non-public school, St. John the Baptist Catholic School, located in downtown Savage. Land near the Minnesota River is included in the Bloomington School District; however, no Savage households or businesses are located within that district.

History

Savage was originally called Hamilton and was incorporated under that name in 1892. It was settled by Scottish and Irish immigrants who exited a Fort Snelling steamboat at the junction of the Credit and Minnesota rivers. The community’s post office was renamed in 1904 in honor of Marion W. Savage, the owner of the beloved pacing horse, Dan Patch. Dan Patch was famous for running the mile in 1 minute and 55 seconds — setting a world record that held up for 54 years. The city’s name officially changed to Savage in 1919.

Savage played a significant role in World War II by serving as the site for training intelligence soldiers. Camp Savage, formally known as the Military Intelligence Service Language School, was intended to improve the foreign language skills of Japanese-American soldiers and to train them in military intelligence. In addition, Cargill, Inc. constructed 18 auxiliary oil and gas carriers (AOGs) and four towboats for the war effort.