2004-07-23 Friday NewsPilot Knob Ruling Appealed
The deadline for John Allen, Joel Buttenlioff and Mimi Star Builders (owners and developer of
Pilot Knob) to file an appeal from Judge King's ruling against them on their Pilot Knob Town
Home proposal was this Monday. They had filed a lawsuit against the City contending that the
60 day rule was not stayed during the Environmental Review process and their project should be
automatically approved.
On Friday of last week John Baker, the City's League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust
appointed attorney in the case, received notice that John Allen had filed an appeal with the
Minnesota Court of Appeals. The appealants' opening brief will be due about August 15"' and
the City's response due about one month later. The exact dates will be determined by how their
brief is served.
Lexington Avenue Watermain ]Beaks
There had been a slow trickle of water on Lexington Avenue for several months. City
Engineering had reported the leak to St. Paul Regional Water Service (SPRWS) several times
and SPRWS had sent their leak detection crew out to analyze it. This crew's response was that it
was not their water — there was no leak in their system. On Monday of last week the water
running on the surface had increased substantially. Tom Knuth again contacted SPRWS and
again no response — on Friday he contacted the Distribution System Manager and he agreed to
send a crew on Monday to excavate the leak.
Saturday at midnight the main broke and the street caved in. SPRWS crews responded
immediately and shut the valves down to stop the water flow. They had a repair crew on the
scene Sunday morning to fix the leak and repair the road. The damage to Lexington was so
severe that, as of Thursday this week the road still had not been repaired and opened to traffic.
The water pipe in this area is ductile iron, which normally does not break. SPRWS is going to
analyze the pipe to see why it broke.
2003 Audit Completed
The City used the accounting firm of HLB Tauges Redpath this year to complete the City's 2003
Audit. Tom Hodnefield is the officer with the company who is involved with Mendota Heights.
Tom attended this Tuesday's City Council meeting to present his 2003 Audit to the Council.
Toni and his firm reported that they had not found any problems with the City's finances. At the
meeting he reported that, beginning next year, Mendota Heights will have to implement GASB
34. GASB 34 is a whole different way of accounting — mandated by the Federal Government.
This new standard significantly changes the way state and local governments report their
financial activities to the public.
Respectfully Submitted,
Jim Danielson
City Administrator
Attachments: Pipeline, Planning Commission Agenda, TwinCities.com (Pioneer Press) Article
"Compromise to find abatement solution.
N E W S'
N
LETTER The Pipeline
Public Works
Engineering July 22, 2004
Code Enforcement
Public Works
The State AAU Tournament was in Mendota Heights and the Parks Crew prepared the
fields and installed the pitching mounds and then cleaned Up Mendakota fields after the
tournament, remove the pitching mounds, level the fields and move the bases back for
softball. Then they prepared the softball fields for the men's and women's over 35
league.
Rich cut roots with the root saw on Caren Road, Staples Avenue and Highharn Court and
televised the sewer pipes on Staples and Delaware Avenues.
The Street Crew trimmed trees that were obstructing a stop sign at Huber Drive and
Cheyenne Lane. They met with a resident at 699 Third Avenue in regards to the swale in
her yard that goes to the beehive storm drain. They patched streets by the Par 3 golf
courts where there were complaints in the Somerset area.
Engineering
The bid opening for the Somerset Neighborhood improvement project is scheduled for
August 11th.
Jim and Sue met with Mark Gieseke, the new MnDOT State Aid Engineer. Mark is meeting
with all of the state aid cities to discuss ongoing and future projects.
Due to a pavement failure on Huber Drive, Tom inspected and found a settlement in one
of the storm sewer culverts which caused the pipe joints to separate. It will be necessary
to hire a contractor to repair the pipe from the inside.
Sue attended a Lower Mississippi River Watershed Management Organization. Barr
Engineering presented the Water Quality Feasibility Study for Ivy Falls Creek, Interstate
Valley Creek, and Highway 13 Watersheds. The study assesses the benefit of completing
various water quality improvement projects, such as rain water gardens, in the City.
Code Enforcement
Paul issued a permit to United Properties Construction Services for a building containing
70,150 square feet with and estimated cost of $3,016,000.00. This building at 131.5
Mendota Heights Road will be the future home for Le Cordon Bleu, a Brown College
facility.
CITY OF MENDOTA HEIGHTS
DAKOTA COUNTY, MINNESOTA
PLANNING COMMISSION
AGENDA
July 27, 2004- 7:30 P.M.
1. Call to Order
2. Roll Call
3. Approval of June 22, 2004 Planning Commission Minutes.
4. Hearings
a. Case No. 04-11: Ettinger, Ron, 1588 South Victoria Road — Critical Area Permit,
Variance and Conditional Use Permit for an outdoor shelter — Public Hearing 7:30
p.m.
b. Case No. 04-25: St. Martin, William, 1933 Crown Point Drive — Driveway width
Variance — Public Hearing 7:45 p.m.
C. Case No. 04-26: Adams, Howard, 1241 Dodd Road — Subdivision and Lot
Combination — Public Hearing 8:00 p.m.
d. Case No. 04-27: Randolph, Troy/Odlaug, Daveid, 2122 Theresa Street —
Conditional Use Permit for Fence within Street Setback Area — Public Hearing
8:15 a.m.
e. Case No. 04-28: Skemp, Charles, 1060 View Lane — Conditional Use Permit for
Addition to Detached Garage - Public Hearing 8:30 p.m.
f. Case No. 04-29: St. Thomas Academy, 949 Mendota heights Road —Conditional
Use Permit and Variance for Air -Supported Structure and Accessory Building —
Public Hearing 8:45 p.m.
9. Continued Discussion of Property Maintenance Ordinance
5. Verbal Review
6. Adjourn
Auxiliary aids for persons with disabilities are available upon request at least 120 hours in
advance. If a notice of less than 120 hours is received, the City of Mendota Heights will make
every attempt to provide the aids, however, this may not be possible on short notice. Please
contact City Administration at 452-1850 with requests.
Compromise to find abatement solution Page 1 of 1
k9MARMMM110
Posted on Mon, Jul. 19, 2004
Compromise to find abatement solution
Somewhere between the retreat by a cash-strapped airport authority and cities' threats to sue, there must be grounds to compromise on
noise -abatement for homeowners in flight paths.
The Metropolitan Airports Commission is scheduled to vote today on a committee recommendation not to extend a home insulation
program. The original program would have offered the same noise -abatement package for more than 11,000 homes that the commission
has already provided for 7,500 others in the high -noise zones of the south metro. Instead of heavy insulation, including sound -dampening
doors and windows, the airports commission panel recommends offering central air conditioning to the yet -unserved homeowners, who
would pay half the cost of the units. These homes are in Minneapolis, Eagan, Bloomington and Richfield.
Commissioners backing this plan contend that in the tough economic times since Sept. 11, the commitment made in 1996 to provide the
insulation packages is no longer sustainable. Proponents of extending the insulating package say a promise is a promise, implied in order
to keep the Minneapolis -St. Paul International Airport where it is rather than move to a less densely populated area in the metro.
Mayor R.T. Rybak of Minneapolis and Mayor Pat Geagan of Eagan have threatened to sue the airports commission if it cuts back the
insulation program.
The policy issue involves neighborhoods not technically in the areas covered by the 1996 agreement, but where the noise is highly
disruptive. The practical issue for the commission is, of course, cost. The air conditioner plan would mean an outlay of about $31 million
compared with $135 million for insulating the remainder of the houses in question. The quality -of -life issue is genuine for the homeowners.
But we aren't convinced that there isn't an element of personal responsibility when one chooses to buy a house under the air traffic
patterns.
A creative solution is in order. Perhaps a temporary tax on passengers or airport parkers, or on limo and shuttle services. Perhaps a blend
of municipal and MAC funds can be arranged. Perhaps some buy -in by homeowners on the insulation package.
Whatever the answer, it isn't in hot tempers or protracted lawsuits.
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