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2016-04-08 Friday NewsCity of Mendota Heights Weekly Update Mendota Heights City Hall 1101 Victoria Curve www.mendota-heights.com (651) 452.1850 Visit us on: Facebook.com/ MendotaHeightsMN Twitter.com/ @Mendota_heights DATES TO REMEMBER: April 12 Parks Commission 6:30 p.m. April 13 Airport Commission 7:00 p.m. April 19 City Council 7:00 p.m. April 26 Planning Commission 7:00 p.m. May 3 City Council 7:00 p.m. May 7 Spring Clean-up Day Mendakota Park 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. Attachments: Pipeline, Just the Facts April 8, 2016 Spring Clean-Up Saturday, May 7, 2016 Mendakota Park from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. City staff have been busy preparing for this year’s spring clean up day. Just a reminder this event is limited to Mendota Heights residents with passenger vehicles and small trailer only. Residents must have a current ID. We will accept: Car tires, furniture ($5 each) Mattresses/box spring ($10 each) Electronics w/cords (Volume-based fee) Scrap Metals (remove all non-metal) (Free) Bicycles (Free) Paper to be shredded ($5 per car) We will not accept: Yard waste, items that can be recycled at your curb, business waste or contractor de- bris. New this year: Due to the weight of beams, landscape timbers and sharp metal edges, we can no longer accept construction or remodel debris. For additional information contact Nolan Wall by calling 651.452.1850 or email nolanw@mendota-heights.com. Summer Job Opportunities The City of Mendota Heights IT Department has openings for a full-time IT Intern. General duties include assisting in IT projects along with providing help desk services. The Parks and Recreation Department is seeking fun and energetic individuals to lead summer programs for youth. We are also seeking golf enthusiast to staff our Par 3 Clubhouse (must be 18 years of age). To learn more about summer positions in IT, Engineering and Parks and Recreation, visit www.mendota-heights.com/employment. Junk Mail Each year, the average household in the U.S. receives an estimated 40 or more pounds of unwanted, unsolicited mail. Get your name off of junk mail lists. Visit www.RethinkRecycling.com/junkmail for additional information. Public Works Street Crew built a dual mailbox post assembly for houses on 2nd Avenue and installed. They replaced the hydraulic valve on plow truck 308, marked utility locates for upcoming sign work, and picked up signs for The Summit neighborhood. They pushed sweepings at the City material staging area, attended CPR and First Aid training, and continued fabrication on the Parks Dept. new ATV. Utilities Crew checked lift stations daily. Lilydale lift station was vandalized two times this week with spray paint; painted over vandalism. Both emergency generators for lift stations were exercised. Attend CPR and First Aid training. Ordered mosquito control briquettes for storm water structures with in city. Metropolitan Mosquito Control gives us these and we apply them after the structures are cleaned of debris. Attend APWA leadership class at Hamline U. Parks Crew picked up trash in the parks daily, set ball field bases at Mendakota Park, and began to drag the ball fields in all the parks. They finished fabricating the line striper and worked on cost estimates for various park projects. They attended safety training and began mulching leaves. Engineering – Project descriptions simplified for easier reading. For more information, please contact the Engineering Department at (651) 452 -1850. City Projects (construction year) Victoria Road Reconstruction & Rolling Green Neighborhood Rehabilitation (2014/2015) – City Council approved a Change Order at their April 5th meeting for the installation of a retaining wall at the corner of Victoria and Stratford Lane with a standard, rather than ornamental fence. Warranty and punch list items to be completed in the spring. Mendota Road Neighborhood Improvements (2016) – Plans are complete and are being routed for signature before advertising for bid. City Council authorized bidding the project at their April 5th meeting. Bid opening is scheduled for April 27th, and bid award scheduled for the May 3rd City Council meeting. Construction is expected to begin in early June. Update of Local Surface Water Management Plan (LSWMP) – The consultant has completed initial storm water modeling, and is working on revising the text of the LSWMP. A draft plan is expected by the end of June. Watershed approval is expected in August with City adoption in January 2017. The Pipeline April 8, 2016 N E W S L E T T E R Public Works Engineering Lake Augusta Alum Treatment (2016) –The Lower Mississippi River Watershed Management Organization (LMRMWO) submitted a work plan for the project to the Board of Soil and Water Resources (BWSR). Once approved, the LMRWMO will oversee the contract for the lake treatment, which is expected in the fall. Part of the work plan are statements regarding local matching fund commitments. The City of Sunfish Lake has not committed City funds for the match and has stated the Homeowners Association would cover the required matching funds. If this is not acceptable to BWSR, the City may wind up contracting the project on our own. County Projects Highway 110 Greenway Trail Crossing (2017) – Design is continuing on the project. Soil borings for the underpass will be taken next week. Equipment will be parked along Highway 110 as well as at The Village lot next to the pond and fountain. Please use caution in these areas. Traffic Signal Improvements: I-494 & Pilot Knob Road (2016) – Bids have been opened. The City match for the project is ~$4,000 . Minimal traffic impacts are expected. Work is expected to be coordinated along with MnDOT I-494 bridge project listed below. State Projects Highway 13 Slope Repair (2015-2016) – The final construction phase is expected to begin in early June. A 4-5 week closure of Highway 13 between Sylvandale and Wachtler is anticipated during this period. Highway 110 Rehabilitation (2017) – A Public Hearing was held on April 5th at the City Council meeting. A decision on Municipal Consent was postponed to April 19th, and the Public Hearing was held open in order to receive comments from an area business owner. Municipal Consent is required due to MnDOT proposing to close the right-in/right-out access point east of Lexington (except for emergency vehicles), and to establish new drainage easements along the project. Changes to the 110 median are not part of Municipal Consent. For more information contact Molly Cline, MnDOT Project Manager, 651-234-7723 or molly.cline@state.mn.us. Highway 149 (Dodd Road) Rehabilitation (2018) – Staff attended the design kick- off meeting on Thursday. The project will mill & overlay Dodd Road from West 7th Street in Saint Paul to I-494. Curb replacements and minor drainage improvements are also included as part of the project. Staff is working on getting a bike/pedestrian facility incorporated into the project from Marie Avenue north to Delaware Avenue (see SHIP grant below). Contact Tara McBride, Project Manager at 651-234-7506, or tara.mcbride@state.mn.us for more project information. Pilot Knob Bridge over I-494 Expansion Joint Repair (2016) – MnDOT will be repairing the bridge deck concrete expansion joints on the Pilot Knob Road Bridge over I-494. Work is expected to take two weeks. MnDOT will provide advance notice before the repair work begins. Other Activities City-Wide Trail Plan Update – The City has received a Statewide Health Improvement Program (SHIP) grant from Dakota County to study the Dodd Road (Highway 149) corridor for bicycle/pedestrian improvements. Staff is negotiating a scope of work with our Planning Consultant to complete a plan for the corridor. Staff plans on seeking a grant from the Metropolitan Council for the construction funds necessary to complete the trail. Engineering 101 Seminar – Staff attended the seminar presentation Wednesday night. Over 40 City officials from throughout Dakota County attended. The seminar covered municipal requirements and practices for maintaining transportation & traffic, city streets, storm water, surface water, wetlands, utilities, and a discussion of funding and financing these needs. The seminar was very well receives and group that put it together is already receiving requests to present at other municipal organizations. American Water Works Association (AWWA), Water Works Operator School – Staff presented at the annual conference in Minneapolis on Tuesday. Staff spoke to the group of nearly 200 water utility professionals about documenting work flow and processes as a benefit to their municipalities and organization. Mendota Heights Public Works has been documenting our procedures and how work is accomplished for each of our respective divisions. AWWA found the information to be very helpful, and will likely be seeking further information from City staff. Engineering Services Consultant Pool – Staff has received Statements of Qualification from 40 professional services firms. Staff continues to evaluate SOQs for potential inclusion in the pre-qualified consultant pool for the City. Once staff reviews the submitted packages, a recommendation for selected consultants will be brought before the City Council. 1 The latest from the Mendota Heights Police Department CHIEF Mike Aschenbrener SERGEANTS Eric Petersen Tanner Spicer Peyton Fleming Bobby Lambert POLICE OFFICERS John Larrive Todd Rosse Jeff VonFeldt Steven Meyer Denise Urmann Michael Shepard Nick Gorgos Robin Nelson Steve Hilyar Phillip McCarty INVESTIGATIONS Chad Willson SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICER Jennifer Fordham SUPPORT STAFF Kim Henning Trista Miller Shayna Hoechst Becky Pentel RESERVES Randy Pentel Jim Knox Jeff Parker CHAPLAINS Butch Millett John Snider Alberto Vargas Lynn Liberman Sue Plucker Joel Detlefsen Lenny Andrie APRIL 8, 2016 OFFENDER LOCATOR Did you know you have the ability to search public informaƟon on Minnesota offenders who have been commiƩed to the Minnesota Department of CorrecƟons, who are in prison, released from prison or sƟll under supervision? You can indeed! Remember, all of the informaƟon is only the public informaƟon. By visiƟng the Minnesota Department of CorrecƟons website, you can search: LEVEL 3 PREDATORY OFFENDERS All offenders who are required to register as sex‐offenders, are also assigned a level 1, 2, or 3 when they leave prison. Level 3 is considered the highest risk to re‐offend. If a level 3 offender moves into your neighborhood, you will be noƟﬁed by law enforcement. WANTED FUGITIVES NON‐COMPLIANT PREDATORY OFFENDERS The MN Department of CorrecƟons supervises two types of offenders: Felony offenders who have served the mandatory two thirds of their prison sentence who have been released from prison. ProbaƟoners who were not commiƩed to the custody of the Commissioner of CorrecƟons but reside in counƟes that do not ﬁnd it pracƟcal to operate a local supervision program. For more informaƟon, please visit the Minnesota Department of CorrecƟons website. We have heard of many accidents this week, many caused by distracted drivers, so we were especially glad to see this headline on the morning news this week! Please view the flyer on the next page for some tips and reminders. In our ever-more technological world, distractions seems to beckon to us more and more. Even the new high tech equipment that is meant to help us be hands free while in our cars is distracting. Breathe deep, turn off the phone and drive safe. There are great apps out there to help you with that if you want to try them. However, be sure to search it out before or after you are driving. 2 3 DISTURB THE PEACE THURSDAY 0331 HOURS Sergeant Tanner Spicer with Officer Denise Urmann and Officer Hilyar responded to a business for a possible assault in progress between two employees. Upon arrival, they found the parties had been separated and one had some facial injuries. Investigation revealed they were having a disagreement and appeared to be mutual combatants. Interviews were attempted but limited due to language barriers. Neither party wished to pursue charges. Officers cleared. FRAUD FRIDAY 0944 HOURS After a business reported they had been “phished” for employee tax data, a victim soon surfaced. The victim reported to Officer Robin Nelson that a fraudulent tax return being filed under the his name and social security number. The return was withheld by the IRS and the party was able to file their own taxes. No sus- pects at this time. Case inactive. DRUGS SATURDAY 1605 HOURS While on routine patrol, Sergeant Spicer followed a vehicle that had turned in front of him from a local neighborhood and then immediately proceeded into another nearby neighborhood; this continued for a bit. The driver seemed to be attempting to elude the officer and a stop was initiated. The smell of marijuana greeted him at the window. The driver could not give a clear answer as to where he had been, whom he had visited or where he was going next. The driver provided his DL but did not have insurance. When asked where the marijuana was, he opened the console and pointed out several articles of drug paraphernalia involving the use of marijuana . The drugs were confiscated and he was cited for possession of drug parapher- nalia and small amount of marijuana. Closed by citation. DRUGS SUNDAY 0253 HOURS While on patrol, Officer Hilyar observed a vehicle with a headlight out. Upon running the vehicle, he found the registered owner was suspended. Officer Hilyar initiated a traffic stop and when the driver was attempt- ing to find his registration and insurance, Officer Hilyar spotted marijuana paraphernalia. The officer seized the drugs paraphernalia and the driver was cited and then released. THEFT SUNDAY 1430 HOURS After church, a woman returned to her unlocked vehicle and found her laptop, which had been covered up, had been stolen. No suspects or witnesses; no serial number available for tracking. Case inactive. 4 THEFT/FRAUD MONDAY 1905 HOURS A resident arrived at the police department lobby to report his wife’s credit cards had been stolen from inside her car. When she called to cancel them, one had not yet been used; the other had been attempted but not completed. Additional charges and suspect data were later found from transactions that occurred. Case has been referred to West St Paul for further investigation into the fraudulent card usage. DAS/NO INSURANCE TUESDAY 1119 HOURS Officer John Larrive observed vehicle operating in the rain without its lights on. When he ran the plate, he saw the registered owner was suspended and he initiated a traffic stop. The driver admitted eh had just pur- chased the car a month ago and did not yet have insurance. The driver was cited for DAS and No Insurance. CREDIT CARD FRAUD TUESDAY 1127 HOURS Officer Todd Rosse met with a party in the lobby concerning an after the fact fraud report. Victim had fraud- ulent charges on her account but still had the debit card in her possession. Unknown where information was obtained. Report only. THEFT OF GAS WEDNESDAY 0650 HOURS A local gas station called to report a gas theft that had just occurred—suspect vehicle left S/B on Hwy. Officer Rosse checked the area; vehicle was not located. Plate information was not on file. Inactive due to lack of evidence. DAC-IPS WEDNESDAY 1512 HOURS Officer Larrive ran the license plate on vehicle I had stopped one month ago. The previous time, driver / owner violated his limited DL. This time the status came back as DAC-IPS. Vehicle stopped, driver claimed issues with ignition interlock. I called MN DMV and was advised he was to contact an evaluator, but was more than likely still going to be DAC-IPS because of the violation a month ago. Report forwarded to city attorney. ASSAULT/PROPERTY DAMAGE THURSDAY 1539 HOURS Officer Robin Nelson, with Peyton Fleming, responded to a group home on a party who had assaulted a staff member and broken windows. Officers arrived and found the assaultive party, still acting violent and making verbal threats and he was taken into custody upon arrival. The staff member/victim denied medical attention. Victim was interviewed and party was transported to Mendota Heights Police Department, where he was also interviewed. Party transported to Dakota County Jail and was charged with 5th Degree Assault and Felony Property Damage. Closed by Arrest. 5 03/26 ‐ 04/08 2016 YTD Calls for Service 269 1969 Citations 31 254 Warnings 16 257 Police Reports 34 271 Response Time Average 4.27 4.73 Check out the MH Crime Map! Click below to search your neighborhood: https://www.raidsonline.com 1101 Victoria Curve, Mendota Heights, MN 55118 If you are a Mendota Heights resident and you are going out of town or on vacation, you can notify MHPD of your outing and we will be more than happy to keep a watchful eye on your home while you are away. The House Check Request online form is available on our website; you can complete a form found in our lobby, or simply give us a call and we’ll help you out. MHPD offers monthly Car Seat Safety Checks. To schedule an appointment, call 651.452.1366 or email jennyf@mendota‐heights.com to contact Ofϐicer Jennifer Fordham. MHPD has a Medication Disposal Box in the lobby of the PD where Dakota County residents can safely and anonymously dispose of their prescription drugs and over‐the‐counter medication. Please send us your positive feedback on our staff to: pdrecords@ mendota-heights.com Your feedback is greatly appreciated and helps boost the morale of our staff. HAVE A SAFE WEEK! Do you know what to do if you come upon a Crash ? Slow down, do not stop unless you are ﬁrst to arrive or are signaled to do so. If you are ﬁrst on scene, assist in any way you can and park your vehicle away from the crash. Warn other drivers of danger with four‐way ﬂash‐ ers, ﬂares, ﬂashlights, etc. If there is a personal injury, serious property damage or danger to other motorists, call for help. Do not move injured persons unless they are endangered by traffic or ﬁre. Aid the injured if you are qualiﬁed. If an emergency exists, call 911 to provide locaƟon, distance from an intersec‐ Ɵon or milepost number. MN has a “Move Over” law which requires motorists approaching emergency vehicles w emergency lights acƟvated, to move to the farthest lane away from emergency vehicles. Use cauƟon around emergency vehicles and give the emergency personnel space to do their job safely.