2008-01-25 Friday Newsw
u -9,x• =9'-*
The Trust for Public Land (TPL), the organization that is putting together the land deal
for the City to acquire 15 acres of land from Acacia Cemetery to add to the 8.4 acres
the City purchased is December 2005, has informed us that they are ready to close
the deal next Thursday, January 31St. The grants are all in place - Mn DNR, Dakota
County and private donations. The closing will occur in Downtown Mpls, we know that
the TPL is a very well run organization and expect everything to go smoothly just like
they did in 2006.
LOUIS Celebrates 35 VFars
Stacey Kaiser our IT coordinator attended an open house at LOGIS on
Thursday. LOGIS celebrated its 35th anniversary as well as hosted an open
house to give member cities tours of their building expansion located in
Golden Va•Iley. The reconstruction not only looks great but it gives the
growing organization much needed space for employees, training facilities,
video conferencing rooms, and cutting edge server rooms that even
impressed Stacey! LOGIS stands for: Local Government Information
Systems. LOGIS is a consortium of Minnesota local government units. In a
nutshell, LOGIS gives member cities increased buying power for various
applications. Because there are 36 local government units as members,
LOGIS creates a significant cost savings in applications as well as the support
of those applications. The City of Mendota Heights makes use of LOGIS for
public safety applications including LMRS (records management) and CAD
(computer aided dispatch). An invaluable tool for law enforcement is the
ability to search other members LMRS databases —an astounding 2.8 million
names! As a member of LOGIS, Mendota Heights has the benefit of making
use of their new computer training rooms as well as the video conferencing
rooms. In addition to public safety and facilities, LOGIS is our internet service
provider which gives us superior firewall protection. LOGIS is a wonderful
resource for Stacey, an army of one. For example, when she went away to
Italy for vacation this past Fall, LOGIS was available to assist incase we had
any immediate I.T. needs. Now that Stacey is a full time employee she will
attend all the board meetings, I.T. management meetings and user group
meetings.
Condolences to John Ambrose & Family
Condolences go out to John Ambrose and his family for the loss of his
mother, Phyllis Evans Ambrose. Mrs. Ambrose passed away January 21St from
a 2 -year battle with diabetes. Our thoughts and prayers go out to John and
his family in this time of grief.
Dakota County Sustainability Summit - January 30, 2008
Government Training Services - Rethinking Local Land Use Planning - January 30,
2008
February Dates to Remember
City Council Meeting February 4, 2008 (/Vote date Change)
Park & Rec Meeting February 12, 2008
ARC Meeting February 13, 2008
City Council Meeting February 19, 2008r
DCC - Board of Directors February 21, 2008
t• Planning Commission Meeting February 26, 2008r
WWF
RaspactfuHy Subm-atte ,
Jim Danielson
City Administrator
2-) e llut,-,ft
1/25/2008
Q
AOA Social Services 01-15-08 2340 hours
Officer Bobby Lambert responded to a residence where the caller
was reporting that she thought she was losing control. She was
concerned for her child and wanted help. Social services were
contacted as was the child's father. The father arrived and took
control of the situation. Clear no further incidents.
AOA Suicidal Party 01-16-08 0139 hours
Officer Bobby Lambert assisted the WSPPD with a man who
called reporting he was going to kill himself. The party had guns
in his home and was refusing to talk on the phone. The situation
was peacefully resolved before the DC MAAG team arrived.
Speed / Warrant Arrest 01 -16-08 1242 hours
Officer Steve Meyer spotted a car in Mendota that appeared to
be traveling at a very high rate of speed. Radar confirmed tht.
car was going 10 mph over the posted speed limit. The car was
stopped and the driver identified by a MN D/L. The driver he was
found to have an active warrant for his arrest out of Scott County.
The man could have posted $200 and not been taken to jail.
Unfortunately he didn't have the cash and his three friends
wouldn't agree to post his bail. A passenger who was valid and
clear of warrants was allowed to drive the car from the scene.
The young man was left with the DC jail to await transport to the
Scott County jail in Shakopee.
Traffic Complaint 01-16-08 1350 hours
Officer Eric Petersen responded to the report of a truck stuck
under the train trestle on Lilydale Road. Upon arrival he found a
truck attempting to turn around. The driver advised he saw the
height restriction sign and knew his truck would not fit under the
bridge. Officer Petersen assisted with traffic control while the
truck turned around.
DAR/ Warrant 01-16-08 1931 hours
A car with multiple equipment violations was spotted driving W/B
on Hwy 110 when Officer Meyer activated his emergency lights in
an attempt to stop the car it continued on as if nothing was
occurring. After activating the squad car's siren the suspect
continued driving for a short distance before pulling over and stopping. The driver
was obviously a Dale Carnegie graduate as Officer Meyer approached he rolled
down the window and yelled "what". Officer Meyer asked for his driver's license and
proof of insurance. The driver produced an "ID" card but could not locate an
insurance card for his "girl's" car. An in squad computer check revealed the driver's
license was revoked and that he had an active warrant. The warrant would allow
him to post $500 and be released. The man called his "girl" who refused to come
and bail him out. Her response was "he needs to learn to take care of things." The
car was impounded and the driver transported the DC jail were he continued to win
friends and influence people. Officer Meyer requested assistance from the jail staff
in removing his handcuffs from the uncooperative arrestee. Officer Meyer cleared
the jail as the suspect was being booked in (fingerprinted, photographed and entered
into the jail roster) on the warrant and three new traffic charges.
Theft 01-18-08 1156 hours
Caller reported that the day before her wallet was taken from her purse while she
was at the coffee shop. She noticed it earlier today and began notifying her credit
card companies. The only activity was on her VISA. She was advised by Sgt
Garlock on how to ensure no further problems. Referred to investigations.
Drug Violation 01-18-07 1830 hours 9th
Officer Tanner Spicer received reliable information from a citizen on the of an on-
going drug issue at a residence. On the 18th he and another police officer assigned
to the DC Drug Task Force made contact at the residence. The officers advised the
residents why they were paying a visit. The two suspects were asked if they would
turn over their drugs, they stood there speechless looking at the officers. Eventually
one walked into the next room and returned with two containers of drugs. When
asked if there was more the two suspects just stood there looking at each other.
Officer Spicer then asked if he could just look around and gather up the remaining
items. The residents agreed and Officer Spicer gathered multiple items and took
them into custody. The two suspects were left at their home they were advised that
a complaint would be sent to them from the County Attorney's Office.
Fraud 01-20-08 1700 hours
A resident called and requested an officer speak with his mother about possible
transaction fraud. Officer Urmann spoke with the victim who was in her 90's. She
received a phone solicitation from a female who managed to get bank and routing
information from the victim. The victim's son had already attempted to contact the
bank and will take care of that in the morning. The victim realized what had
occurred shortly after hanging up on the scam artist and contacted her son. She was
advised on how to prevent becoming a victim in the future.
Medical? 01-23-08 0020 hours
Caller reported that her 66 YOA husband is drunk and fell down. Officer Chad
Willson arrived and confirmed the man was extremely intoxicated. Officer Willson
offered to help the man into bed. He did not want any help. His wife was advised to
give him a pillow and blanket. Clear.
11a'. Z 1".4 e Iff'k
The Parks Crew broomed the rinks daily along with checking the
warming houses, The plow on 503 was repaired. They plowed the
pedways after Monday®s snow. Lumber was ordered and unloaded for
the ®®You Are Mere°® park signs.
Rich and Tom attended their annual sanitary sewer operator°s school.
They need to attend this school every year in order to keep their
operators license current.
There was a water main break on ColsNre Lane. The Street Crew cut
the ice off the street with the tractor and helped St. Paul Regional
Water Services find the leak. They then sanded the street. Q fire
hydrant had to be replaced by St. Paul Regional Water Services
because of a leak, The Street Crew salted) Highway 13 and London
Road area.
Snow Events for the Week:
®ate o Event'. Response:
January 21 1°° Plowed main streets and salted
Engineering
i - Avenues l_ a�i
Kay/Walsh cil"ea ('r'gaP"ling the upcoming street project his spring.
The meet was well attended. Staff answered qu Sti nS about
individual' cone n .
There was a water main break on C®Gshore [bane on Wednesday ®f this
week. St. Pail Regionae Water Services fixed the break.
and Guy have been meeting with properly owner=s along Coda,
Road and SUey Memorial Highway t® discuss acquisition ®f easements
for proposed trails.
TwinCities��com
Mendota / Bars clear
for late closings 10 days a
year
Council will vote.; on last of specific dates
w,Y HiCK FERRA O
Ponaer Press
,?'Ude Last ?i. ,,.N d:01,12frt..✓8 10:555:51 P�,y. CST
The Mendota City Council has given the go-ahead
for the city's three liquor license holders to
stay open until 2 a.m. - but there's a hitch.
Axel's River Grille, Lucky's 13 Pub and
Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6690 will be allowed
to stay open late just 10 days a year. The council
unanimously passed the time change resolution
Tuesday.
Linda Young, co-owner of Axel's River Grille
and Lucky's 13 Pub, attended the meeting and
had asked for the later closing time for the entire
year.
"I'm going to take what they give me, I guess,"
Young said Thursday. "A lot of times it isn't
feasible just from a labor standpoint or you
don't have the people there to stay open. But it
would be a nice option."
The City Council asked the owners to return next
month with a list of dates for the later closing times.
The council will then consider the dates and
approve or deny them, City Clerk Joan Olin said.
doesn't mean in six months or a year that they
will be the owners."
Nick Ferraro can be reached at
nferraro@pioneerpress.com or 651-228-2173.
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Mayor Steve Golias said residents were concerned
about excessive noise.
"Almost all of them were in favor of (the bars)
staying open on special occasions, just not every
day," Golias said.
Last month, the council tabled the issue so City
Attorney Tom Lehmann could look into several
options, including how easy it would be to revoke
the 2 a.m. license if problems came up, Olin said.
Young and Charlie Burrows opened Lucky's 13
Pub in the former Mendota Saloon in November. The
business partners also own other Twin Cities
restaurants.
"The support of the town is critical to our
business, and Charlie and I only wish the town
would respect our business sense on the 2 a.m.
closing as other cities have done," Young said.
Neighboring Lilydale, which has Bogey's
Lounge and Moose Country, changed to a 2 a.m.
bar -closing time after an enabling state law was
enacted in May 2003. Bars in Mendota Heights still
close at 1 a.m.
Mendota in 2003 considered the later closing time
but shot it down.
Mendota Heights Police Chief Mike Aschenbrener,
whose department also serves Mendota and Lilydale,
said there has been no increase in crime or
complaints in Lilydale since the change.
He said the cost of police service for Mendota is
partially calculated by the number of calls.
"Based on that alone, the (Mendota) council is
justified in being cautious," he said. "You have some
outstanding owners there right now, but it
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Ttwinuitiesfi corp
whin e company buys
AppTec for
1 $151 million
P!01-eer Press
ArKde _ast Opa4e 1, QjV 3J'20,G8 G8: 47:52 P?.'. CST
Mendota Heights -based AppTec Laboratory Services
Inc. will be acquired by China's WuXi
PharmaTech company for $151 million plus the
assumption of $11.7 million in AppTec debt, the
companies said Thursday. AppTec offers testing,
contract research, and development and
manufacturing services for biopharmaceutical and
medical technology companies. Shanghai -based
WuXi provides laboratory and research
manufacturing services for companies throughout
the drug discovery and development process.
AppTec's full year 2007 revenue is expected to
range from $70 million to $72 million, according to
the companies. Since 2004 and including the
expected revenue for 2007, AppTec will have
achieved a compounded annual revenue growth rate
of approximately 46 percent.
Advertisement
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`125 local jobs said safe
as Twin Cities med firm
EY CHRISTOPHER SHOVVEECK
Pioneer Press
, .'tire LasUpdated: CJ1'04; _...;u 11:51:22 ,AN CST
Leaders of the Chinese company acquiring Mendota
Heights -based AppTec Laboratory Services said
during a conference call with investors this morning
that they expect to maintain and grow the local
company's U.S. operations.
That sounds like good news for U.S. employees of
AppTec, which has about 125 workers in Minnesota,
according to Bill Smith, the local company's
vice president of finance.
China's WuXi PharmaTech said Thursday it
would pay $151 million and assume $11.7 million
in debt to acquire AppTec.
AppTec offers testing, contract research, and
development and manufacturing services for
biopharmaceutical and medical technology
companies. Shanghai -based WuXi provides
laboratory and research manufacturing services for
companies throughout the drug discovery and
development process.
AppTec's full year 2007 revenue is expected
to range from $70 million to $72 million, according
to the companies. Since 2004 and including the
expected revenue for 2007, AppTec will have
achieved a compounded annual revenue growth rate
of approximately 46 percent.
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Mendota Heights, irks Vit=
Grove Heights and x { St
Paul to webcast publ
meetings
Deal to bring video from Mendota Heights, IGH,
West St. Paul
BY NICK FERRARO
Pioneer Press
Article Last Updated: 01/16/2008 11:32:47 PM CST
Webcasting allows users to watch a city meeting any
time - and to skip over the humdrum discussions
for the juicy meat of the agenda.
It's been a useful tool for residents and staff in
many larger cities, and now it's about to
become a reality in three northern Dakota County
communities.
The Northern Dakota County Cable Communications
Commission (NDC4) is negotiating a contract with
San Francisco -based Granicus to stream city council
and other meetings in Mendota Heights, Inver Grove
Heights and West St. Paul.
The feature could be up and running as soon as
late March, said Jodie Miller, executive director at
NDC4, which provides local cable programming for
seven northern Dakota County cities.
"I came here in 1989 and at that time getting live
meetings on cable was a big change for people and
city staff," she said. "This is the next logical step."
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Meetings will be available either live or within a few
hours of ending, she said. The streaming videos will
be archived up to a year.
Web users will be able to select and view specific
agenda items of interest.
"For residents, specifically, that's really a great
feature," Mendota Heights City Administrator Jim
Danielson said. "it really is meetings on -demand."
Webcasting will allow former residents or city staff
who live outside the cable television area to keep in
touch with the meetings, said Joe Lynch, Inver Grove
Heights city administrator.
The cost to each city and the NDC4 is estimated at
$8,500 in 2008, Miller said. NDC4 is also putting
forth about $10,000 for computer software and
hardware and will hire a part-time employee to work
with the cities.
Granicus currently provides the service for 10
metro area cities, including St. Paul, Eagan and
Woodbury.
Minneapolis and Bloomington were among the first
in the state to stream meetings, said Tom Garrison,
communications director for the city of Eagan, which
launched the feature in February 2006.
Last year, Eagan's meetings received more
than 2,300 viewings. City Council meetings
averaged about 70 viewings, either live or on -
demand.
"People want what they want and when they want it,
and that's why you're seeing TiVo and
video on -demand," Garrison said.
Eagan also features short videos, produced by
Burnsville/Eagan Community Television, on winter
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parking rules and the opening of the new 911 call
center.
Miller said those types of videos also will be an
option for the three northern Dakota County cities.
"Those have been very popular and we maybe
underestimated how much those would be used,"
Garrison said. "So we keep asking ourselves, '
What are things we're getting calls onT
And we keep putting something up there so people
can watch and get informed."
South St. Paul wanted to get on board this year but
couldn't find the wiggle room in the city's
budget, City Administrator Stephen King said.
"We're shooting for next year," he said. "Until
then, we'll look on with envy."
Nick Ferraro can be reached at
nferraro@pioneerpress.com or 651-228-2173.
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Retail development cools off in Twin Cities
Commercial real estate market in holding pattern amid housing slump, report says
BY GITA SITARAMIAH
Pioneer Press: Article Last Updated: 01/21/2008 09:01:10 PM CST
A slowdown in retail leasing and development is in the works in the Twin Cities after a record level of
construction only a couple of years ago.
That's according to the January 2008 edition of United Properties' Outlook Market Report released
Monday.
Speculative development of retail space has slowed to a trickle, reflecting the continuing housing
slowdown, the report said. Leasing activity has been light in smaller shop spaces, illustrating a scaling
back in store openings by many retailers.
"I think people are taking a breath," said Ned Rukavina, a vice president at Bloomington -based United
Properties, a commercial real estate firm.
The average vacancy rate in the Twin Cities area among retail properties rose to 6.9 percent, up from 5.8
percent at mid -year 2007. The average rent was virtually unchanged in the second half of 2007, at
$28.39 per square foot, down from $28.58.
Absorption - the measure of additional retail space filled - fell off in the second half, totaling 546,871
square feet, down from 741,334 square feet in the first half.
The Twin Cities market for office space was flat overall, with the vacancy rate at 15.2 percent, a rise of
one-half percent. In St. Paul's central business district, the overall vacancy rate rose 2.5 percent to 24.6
percent during the second half while the rate in downtown Minneapolis dipped less than one percentage
point to 15.4 percent, the report said. The office vacancy rate ranged overall in the Twin Cities from a
low of 10.5 percent in the west metro up to the high in St. Paul's central business district.
Vacancy rates have held to the low- to mid -20 percent range for the past five years in downtown St.
Paul. A 10 percent vacancy rate is considered balanced, when landlords can make money but enough
space is available for lease or corporate expansion.
Respite an uptick in Twin Cities' medical office vacancy primarily resulting from 498,532 square feet
of new space delivered in 2007 - that market remains healthy, according to the report. Only 10.5 percent
of the more than 5.4 million square feet was vacant at year-end.
Meanwhile, the Twin Cities industrial market is in a pause as many users take a wait-and-see approach
when it comes to the economy, slower job growth and the housing downturn, the report said.
Companies associated with residential construction traditionally contribute strongly to leasing activity in
the commercial market, and they are feeling the pain of the housing slump. Two flooring companies
downsized in the southeast suburbs. Several mortgage companies left the southwest suburbs. Title
companies closed across the metro area. Another related trend is that many smaller outfits want shorter -
term leases and tenants don't want take on more space than they need. Some are renewing rather than
relocating.
Gita Sitaramiah can be reached at 651-228-5472 or gsitaramiah@pioneerpress.com.
Ambrose, Phyllis Evans Beloved Wife, Mother & Grandmother
8/11/1934-1/21/2008, Age 73 passed away ather home after a 2
year battle with diabetes. She showed great strength & courage.
Survived by beloved spouse of 45 years, Joe; children, Mary (Brent)
Jeffers, John (Michelle), ]inn (Tammy); stepson, Greg (Shari)
Opheirn; grandchildren, Jamaica, Jordan, Kayiie, Tristan, Rowan,
Jennifer, Megan, Christian, &Tay|or; brother, Bob (Barb) Evans, as
well as many others relatives & friends. Her life will be celebrated
with a Mass of Christian Burial 12 noon, Saturday at ST. MATTHEW'S
CATHOLIC CHURCH, 498 Hall Ave, 5t. Paul. Visitation will be 1 hour prior to services at
the church Saturday. Private family interment at Fort Snelling National Cemetery.
Memorials preferred. 488 Humboldt Avenue 651-222-8597
Published in the Pioneer Press on 1/34/2008.
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