Shakopee: A reception for two departing city council members in Shakopee is being held next month. The event honoring Steve Clay and Pamela Schurman is at 6 p.m. Jan. 7 in the council chambers, 129 Holmes St. S. It is open to the public. Both officials did not seek another term of office last year. Clay began his service in 2006, having served on the council way back in the 1980s. Schurman actually resigned earlier this year after serving a term that started in 2010.

Shakopee: Shakopee is warning its residents that parts of town may temporarily look a bit disheveled this winter, but things will be put right in the spring. Crews have been upgrading communications lines this fall and winter. The city is a crossroads for companies running fiber optic, data, cable and phone lines to users south of the river. Workers are installing new fiber optic and copper cables and replacing the green communication boxes found along the side of the road. They are also drilling a pipe under the Minnesota River to bring fiber optic from locations north, city officials report. City streets affected are Fourth Avenue, Gorman Street, Marschall Road, Adams Street, 12th Avenue and Vierling Drive. There could be lane blockages in work areas, with the work taking place as weather permits through March. Crews will also tear up sod and dirt, but grass will be replanted after May 15.

Shakopee: Shakopee has created a web page to answer questions about next year's transition to a new garbage hauler. After an occasionally messy divorce from its existing hauler on June 1, the city will switch, for refuse and recycling, to a new hauler, Allied Waste Services. The web page is designed to answer many questions about the transition, such as what the new cost will be and what will happen to the old carts. ("Dick's Sanitation will pick up their refuse carts and recycling bins following garbage collection the last week of May 2014. Customers will have the option of retaining the red or blue recycling bins for their own storage use, but Allied will not pick up recycling from those bins.") The page is at www.ci.shakopee.mn.us/refuse_recycletransition.cfm.

Prior Lake: "How To Stay Physically Fit And Active Without Going To The Gym" is the seductive title for a talk to be given in Janaury at Club Prior in Prior Lake. The session is Jan. 15 at 10 a.m., and it's free. It's designed to give practical advice on how to stay physically active, and the benefits of staying active. Each person attending will get a chance to create an individualized plan. Instructor Jayne Kane is a licensed physical therapist and a certified life coach. Club Prior is also offering Zumba Gold at Club Prior, on a series of Wednesdays, Jan. 15, 22, and 31. Wear tennis shoes for a class offering low-impact moves for active older adults. Everyone is welcome.

Scott County: Scott County residents may drop off Christmas trees free of charge at the Shakopee tribe's organics recycling facility at 1905 Canterbury Road, Shakopee. Trees will be accepted Dec. 26 to Jan. 17. The tribe will open the facility on these days and times, excluding holidays: Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-4 p.m.; and Saturdays, Jan. 4 and 11, during the same hours. Trees must be free of tinsel and flocking.