Volunteering in Eagan

We know that Eagan is a successful city and a strong community when we all work together. Thankfully, residents have a variety of volunteer opportunities. Featured below are two: helping with City programs and serving on advisory commissions.

City volunteers

Eagan’s Water Resources team is a great place to start volunteering. Water Resources volunteers help with a variety of Lakefest tasks each year, including teaching participants the basics of fishing and running craft projects. Volunteers also support lake cleanup days, help keep storm drains clear, and provide valuable wetland monitoring through the summer months with our Dakota County partners.

Holz Farm offers other outdoor opportunities. Every spring, volunteers help clean up the farm — clearing away last year’s foliage, planting annuals, and freshening up the farmhouse. Holz Farm participants also help out during the Spring Festival, Harvest Festival, and Old-Fashioned Holiday events.

The Eagan Historical Society is also seeking volunteers to help protect and preserve historical elements of the City. Besides these roles, you can find other opportunities geared toward seniors, event support, with ETV, and with the Eagan Police Department. Discover all of these opportunities and more at cityofeagan.com/volunteer, and spot the perfect way to get involved with or give back to your community.

Advisory commissions and boards

Consider making a direct impact on Eagan by sharing your thoughts and your time as a commission or board member. Advisory commissions meet regularly to review ideas, gather information, and make decisions that help the City Council accomplish initiatives across a variety of topic areas, including sustainability, planning and zoning, and parks and trail amenities.

All are encouraged to apply — we want our commissions and boards to reflect the diversity of lived experiences and perspectives in our community. You can positively impact Eagan by sharing your expertise and views.

Applications are being accepted by the following organizations:

• Advisory Planning Commission
• Advisory Parks & Recreation Commission
• Sustainable Eagan Advisory Commission
• Eagan-Inver Grove Heights Watershed Management Organization

Apply online at cityofeagan.com/commissions or visit City Hall to fill out an application. The deadline for appointment this spring is Friday, March 13. Our application takes just a few minutes to complete and questions are structured to capture other types of relevant leadership or community experiences you may have, including leading a church group, coaching or helping with youth sports, and volunteering for a nonprofit. We welcome any Eagan resident who’s at least 16 years of age to apply to serve. Please consider applying even if this is your fist time volunteering with the City or a commission.

Using GIS for efficiency and understanding

At City Hall, maps are for more than just directions. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) combine maps with data to help city staff members work smarter, faster, and more efficiently, saving time and taxpayer dollars.

What is GIS?

GIS is a computer-based system that captures and displays all types of data and the places the data references. GIS overlays data on maps, so that users can visualize and understand patterns, relationships, and trends.

What can GIS do?

• Display information in a map-based format, making it easier to understand than a spreadsheet or table.
• Analyze spatial relationships, answering questions like "What’s the most efficient route between two points?" and "Which areas are most at risk for flooding?"
• Store and manage large datasets of geographic information, such as the locations of all water pipes in a city.
• Help with planning and decision-making in various fields, such as engineering, urban planning, emergency response, and asset management.  

How does Eagan use GIS?

The City has used GIS for nearly 30 years. Users include our Fire and Police departments, plus our Community Development and Public Works departments. For Public Works, GIS helps us plow the roads more efficiently, prioritize ponds and lakes for pollution treatment, and effectively coordinate projects to replace water pipes while reconstructing streets.

Planning: Over the next 50 years, Eagan will replace most City public sewers and water mains with scheduled and financially coordinated projects. Cities with older infrastructure and a lack of records for their underground utility systems can’t proactively plan this level of replacement. Instead, they can only react to broken pipes, which leads to a more significant expense and hassle for community members.

GIS offers a more efficient approach. By combining maps and data about the pipe system with street conditions and pipe life expectancies, staff can create a replacement plan with optimal timing for each area. This keeps utility bills and property taxes lower and makes the most of our resources.

GIS also helps create snowplow routes. Using data that includes types of roads and how much traffic they experience, the City prioritizes plowing routes that clear roads for the greatest number of people.

Visualizing: Meanwhile, the Eagan Police Department worked with GIS staff to layer crime data on maps. The resulting crime map is available for residents to check out at cityofeagan.com/crime-map. It’s also a useful tool for police when looking for patterns of crime activity. In addition, a fire hydrant City map is especially useful when hydrants aren’t visible under snow, helping police and fire staff shave off time during emergencies.

Discovering: Sometimes unexpected — or expected — patterns emerge that can prove an educated guess. One example: To reduce pollution in LeMay Lake, Water Resources staff members used GIS to pinpoint the best location for a stormwater treatment system. This successfully improved the lake’s water quality — and won the lake its removal from the state's list of impaired waters.

Ultimately, GIS helps the City move from reacting to problems to planning with foresight. By turning data into actionable insights, GIS supports fiscal responsibility and better outcomes for Eagan residents.

Annual tree sale opens Friday, Feb. 6

Planting a tree is a simple yet impactful way to improve our community. After all, trees enhance our air quality, reduce heat, support local wildlife, and increase the beauty and value of our city and your property. Fortunately, the Eagan annual tree sale is coming right up, beginning Sunday, March 22. If you’re a resident, you can purchase a limited selection of high-quality, Minnesota-hardy, bare-root trees at cityofeagan.com/treesale. Please note: There’s a limit of two trees per household.

Looking for a summer job? Your summer of fun starts in Eagan

The City of Eagan is hiring more than 300 workers this summer in Parks & Recreation programs, in maintenance, and at Cascade Bay Waterpark.

Open positions offer great opportunities for first-time job seekers, and many positions fit those seeking part-time employment. Some start as soon as April, while most begin after the school year ends. They run through August or September.

Available summer positions include:

• Summer recreation program and camp team members and leaders
• Lifeguards and pool attendants
• Guest relations crew members
• Park laborers
• Forestry and landscape crew laborers
• Maintenance workers
• Preschool teachers
• And more

Apply today if you want to:

• Work outside
• Develop skills
• Serve our community
• Work with friends and make new ones
• Work in a welcoming, fun environment

The City’s seasonal jobs cover a range of roles. Maintenance and landscaping crews learn to beautify landscapes, safely use equipment, and even supervise projects and teams. If you like working with kids, check out the City’s jobs in recreation — camp staff, and preschool teachers. Cascade Bay roles include guest relations crew members, concession workers, lifeguards, and pool attendants.

Many employees come back for another year — or more. Student staff often say they meet friends through Eagan jobs, and have fun working with them all week long.

“We hear from parents that working for Eagan as a first job is great step into the work world. Their kids gain confidence, friends, and a sense of belonging after a summer of working at the City,” says Tanya Mozingo, superintendent of recreation.

There are jobs open to ages 15 and older, and pay rates are $14.70–23.75 per hour. Apply today for summer jobs at cityofeagan.com/jobs!

City of Eagan wins Voice of the People award

Once again, Eagan was recognized as a top performer in multiple categories in the 2025 Voice of the People Awards. These include Trust in Government, Health and Wellness, Community Design, Mobility, and Parks and Recreation. In addition, Eagan earned the 2025 Voice of the People National Champion in Excellence award for Health and Wellness.

These recognitions reflect both the high ratings Eagan receives from its residents and the City’s demonstrated improvements over time. Eagan is honored to receive this national award, along with recognition in the other five categories.