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2003-07-25 Friday News The Friday News July 25, 2003 DNR Fish Samples taken at Roger's Lake During the week of July 14th the DNR netted fish samples at Roger's Lake. Rick Walsh, DNR Fisheries Specialist, reports "the write up of the sampling results will be done this winter, but I can report that we collected good numbers of bluegills (sunfish), with average size better than most metro lakes, fair numbers of northern, bass, and catfish, moderate numbers of bullheads, and low to moderate numbers of crappies". Lake fish surveys are conducted every four or five years in the metro area. Special Thanks to Terry Blum and Crew The City Council received a letter this week from Mendota Heights Athletic Association Baseball Commissioner Dave Libertini. Mr. Libertini wrote to express his thanks to Terry Blum and his crew for “the wonderful job they do of helping run baseball tournaments.” He wrote “ Terry and his crew are always on time, willing to lend a hand and do a great job with field preparation and garbage clean up. We could not fun the successful tournaments we do without them.” Good job guys! Critical Area Ordinance Revision Since the Metropolitan Council has approved the City’s revised Comprehensive Plan, the City is required to bring all ordinances into conformance with the Comprehensive Plan and state requirements. This includes the City’s Mississippi River Critical Area Ordinance, which needs to be updated to conform to the most recent standards of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. The City Council has ordered a public hearing on the proposed Ordinance Amendment for the August 23, 2003, meeting of the Planning Commission. The meeting begins at 7:30 PM in the City Council Chambers. This new ordinance would only impact property in Mendota Heights that lies within the Mississippi River Critical Area. It would further restrict subdivisions, construction of new homes, placement of accessory structures, and any other physical changes to all property within the Critical Area. The following is a general guide to the area being discussed: 1. South of Highway 110: There is no land in the City south of Highway 110 within the Critical Area, apart from Fort Snelling State Park land on the far western edge of the City. 2. North of Highway 110: Your property may be within the Critical Area if it lies west of Lexington Avenue or north of Marie Avenue. A map of the Critical Area and the language of both the current and proposed Critical Area Ordinance are available at www.Mendota-Heights.com in the “What’s New” section. Special Thanks to Clifford Timm Mr. Clifford Timm approached the City Council and Park and Recreation Commission to request improvements at Roger’s Lake that would enhance the survival of fish, during the winter, in the section of the lake north of Wagon Wheel Trail. In June, the City Council directed staff to gather information and present options to the City Council. After meeting with the DNR and Mr. Timm, Parks Project Manager Guy Kullander and Public Works Director Jim Danielson made a recommendation to the City Council to lower the existing lake equalizing cross culvert under Wagon Wheel Trail and to dredge sump pools at the end of each lowered culvert. This new culvert will be installed to meet final MSA standards for Wagon Wheel Trail in the future. The roadbed around the culvert will be widened to accommodate a potential future widened roadway, curb/gutters and trail. The DNR indicated that the widening can only take place on the north side of the road as they do not want the mature trees on the south side of the roadway disturbed. Mr. Clifford Timm has now generously donated $50,000 to the project for the fishing enhancements. The remaining cost will be offset by MSA funds. Staff is now proceeding with consultant selection. If the project proceeds on schedule, construction will begin at the end of October and will proceed into December. The majority of the project will be completed in 2003 with final restoration to follow in spring 2004. Please see the attached Sun Current article “Rogers improvements get green light from Mendota Heights.” National Night Out th The Police Department will be hosting National Night Out on August 5, from 6:00-9:00 PM. The theme this year is “Give neighborhood crime and drugs a going away party.” This event will be held at Mendakota Park. Officers will be showing a squad car and several other pieces of equipment used to assist officers in fighting crime. Citizens will have an opportunity to visit with a bike patrol officer and view one of the City’s patrol bikes and discuss bike safety. The Department’s child safety seat expert will be available for questions and will be taking reservation for a full child seat installation inspection. Crime prevention materials will be available and officers will be on hand to answer questions. Children will also be able to participate in “Operation Kid Print” which is a free program where children are fingerprinted and photographed. The parents are given the prints and a photo to retain for police investigators in the event that their child ever becomes lost or missing. The Fire Department will also be displaying some of the fire apparatus used to protect the City. Firefighters will be on hand to give tours of their trucks and answer questions about fire prevention. Music and magic will be provided by “Woody” a member of the Rockin Hollywoods (Courtesy of Ziggy’s restaurant). Free root beer floats and hot dogs will be available th to all who attend! Please join us this year at National Night Out August 5! Dangerous Dog Hearing On Tuesday, we will be conducting the City’s first “dangerous dog” hearing. The Mendota Heights Police department may declare a dog to be “potentially dangerous” or “dangerous” when it has reason to believe the dog is “potentially dangerous” or “dangerous” as defined in the City ordinance (“without provocation, inflicted substantial bodily harm on a human on public or private property”; “killed a domestic animal without provocation while off the owner’s property”, etc). Once an Officer makes such declaration, the owners have the right to request an appeal hearing to contest the designation. Once a dog has been declared “dangerous,” there are a number of requirements to be met including a $250,000 insurance policy, annual registration, and various confinement and restraint requirements. In preparation for this hearing, I’ve learned that many Cities have 30+ of these hearings annually. We should feel fortunate that this is a rare event in Mendota Heights. Heights Highlites The next edition of the Heights Highlites goes to print this week! Please watch for it in your mailbox by the first week of August! Thanks to all who contributed and to Emmy Foster for her production work! This is a special edition as it contains the first article highlighting a volunteer in the community. In each Heights Highlites newsletter, we will honor one of the many wonderful volunteers in our community. If you would like to nominate someone, please contact Emmy at 452-1850. Final Thought ‘Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no-one alive that is you’er than you.”—Dr. Suess Respectfully Submitted Cari Lindberg Administrator Attachments: Pipeline, Southwest Review article “Homes to go up on Burow Farmstead,” Sun Current articles “Rogers improvements get green light from Mendota Heights,” “Mendota heights residents part of the Parade of Ponds,” and AMM News.