2007-02-02 Friday News The Friday News
February 2, 2007
WATERMAIN BREAK
On Tuesday morning this week at about 5:30 a.m., I received a call from Fire Chief John
Maczko. He was calling to tell me that there was a main water-main break at the intersection of
Lake Drive and Dodd Road. An 8-inch ductile iron pipe, (which hardly ever breaks) had broken
right near a 16 inch trunk water-main that feeds our water tower. Two homes were being
threatened with flooding from the water. St. Paul Regional Water arrived on the scene and was
ultimately able to close valves and isolate the break without having any residents without water.
They fixed the break by that evening. In the end, no one was hurt, no homes were flooded and
no one was without water during the process.
The media covered the event, which several St. Paul Water workers said was the worst break that
they had ever seen. The break was covered on KS95 radio, and it was on Channel 11 TV, where
Tom Olund and George Noack were seen.
Thanks go out to our Fire Department and especially our Public Works Department for doing a
great job of dealing with problems associated with about a million gallons of leakage on a very
cold day. They kept the water flowing and the streets safe during and after the leak. Now St.
Paul Regional Water will need to come back after the frost is out to fix the street and clean up the
mess.
PAR 3 REFERENDUM COMMITTEE UPDATE
The Par 3 Referendum Committee’s Executive Board met this Monday evening at City Hall to
organize their effort. Next Monday, at the full committee meeting; the Executive Committee
will recommend that the name of their group be called “Save Par 3”(because in golf you are
always trying to “save” par). They will also recommend to the full committee that one post card
be sent to all residents, one door hanger be placed on each home and that lawn signs are placed.
RECYCLING UPDATE
Jake Sedlacek attended a Local Solid Waste Staff (LSWS) meeting on Thursday. This is the
group that coordinates recycling in the community. The primary topic of discussion was how
funding per household has dropped in recent years, while the cost for maintaining existing
recycling programs has increased. A sub-group of the LSWS will be working on a request to the
County Board for additional funding. This could potentially result in more dollars for recycling,
or more resources for us to utilize in our recycling efforts.
GROUNDHOG DAY
The Groundhog did not see his shadow this morning so I guess we will have an early spring!!
Respectfully submitted,
James Danielson
City Administrator
Attachments: Pipeline, Just the Facts, City Council Meeting Agenda, Sun Newspaper Articles
“Mendota Heights residents to determine fate of golf course”, Mendota Heights woman crowned
Queen of the Snows” and “Noise mitigation lawsuit headed for Feb. 12 trial”. Pioneer Press
Articles “Mendota Heights golf course plan has support”, “MAC noise suit moves forward”, “A
busy Joe” and “Metropolitan Airports Commission / Suburbs seek spot on airport board”,