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2002-09-20 Friday NewsThe Friday News September 20, 2002 Council Approves Hiring Two Probationary Firefighters With the retirement of Mike Maczko in June and the recent resignation of Rob Galeweski, the Fire Department had two openings in its staff of 36 firefighters. On Tuesday night, the City Council approved the hiring of two probationary firefighters: Richard Griep and Michelle Henne-Malkes. These two individuals participated in the selection process last year at this time and are still very interested in becoming a part of the Mendota Heights Fire Department. Richard and Michelle will now begin their one- year probationary period with the Department. Congratulations! Firefighters Complete Probationary Period Five firefighters were appointed last year to a one-year probationary period. During that time, all five were required to meet certain educational standards and response requirements. All five individuals met their requirements and have been active in education, training and numerous committees in the Department. On September 3rd, the Executive Board unanimously recommended that all five be appointed as firefighters. On Tuesday night, the City Council formally appointed Steven Boley, Richard Gapinski, Scott Henning, Mary Kreuser and Patrick Noack as firefighters of the Mendota Heights Fire Department. MHAA Request for Funds and $4,000 Donation On Tuesday night, MHAA President Charlie Noel addressed the City Council. He reviewed the changes in MHAA leadership over the past year and told the City Council about Amelia Olsen, the new Recreation Programmer they've hired. Mr. Noel requested the $10,000 that the City budgeted for MHAA in 2002, and also requested that the City budget $15,000 for MHAA in 2003. The Council approved the $10,000 expenditure and indicated that they would discuss the $15,000 request for 2003 at their budget meeting in November. Scott Miller, also representing MHAA, presented $4,000 to the City to be placed in the Special Park Fund. Last April, the City Council passed a resolution of support for an application by MHAA to the Minnesota Twins Community Fund Gant for safety and other improvements at the Sibley Park varsity ballfields. The application was successful and a $2,000 grant was received for the fields. Skate Park Informational Open House - October 8'h The Parks Commission will be holding a skate park informational open house at their October 8d' Parks and Recreation Commission meeting. The Commission has been discussing the development of a tier one roller skate park in the City. The system is comprised of individual components that can be placed on an asphalt surface, such as the paved hockey rink in Friendly Hills Park. The ramps and jumps would be installed within the hockey boards in early spring and disassembled each fall. Funding for this improvement would come from the Special Park Fund. The Commission has included this project in the Capital Improvement Plan with a working budget of $24,000, with a goal of completion of this project in 2003. Residents within 350 feet of the park will be notified of the open house on October 8th Rogers Lake East Airport Noise Reduction Committee Rogers Lake East residents Guy Heide and Mike Kosel have been corresponding with representatives from the MAC over the last year. They are of the opinion that the 1996 DNL Contour map which was submitted to the FAA, is based on faulty information and that the MAC knew or should have known that it was faulty. Recently, Mr. Heide made a presentation to the FAA on his beliefs and findings. Mr. Heide and Mr. Kosel made the same presentation to the City Council on Tuesday night. The Council asked Mr. Heide to draft a letter to the MAC regarding their concerns and present it to the Airport Relations Commission at their October meeting. Once the ARC Commission has reviewed the document, it will be submitted to the City Council for approval. The Council will then send the document to the MAC from the City of Mendota Heights. Planning Commission to Consider Draft RV Ordinance As you recall, the City Ordinance precludes a resident from storing an RV on his/her driveway, but does not prohibit the parking of such vehicle on the driveway. This is problematic as there is no clarification as to how long a recreational vehicle has to be "parked," before it is considered "stored." Our prosecuting Attorney feels that the City Ordinance regarding this issue is unclear and unenforceable. Last October at the joint City Council/Planning Commission workshop, the issue of recreational vehicles was discussed. At that meeting, the consensus of the City Council and Planning Commission was for staff to put together a resident survey regarding the issue for the Heights Highlites for Planning Commission and City Council review. In May, the Planning Commission and City Council reviewed a survey with mixed opinions. At that time, the City Council asked that this item be placed on the agenda for the goal setting session. At the goal setting session, the City Council requested that staff put together an ordinance for consideration that would prohibit the parking/storage of mid to large size mobile homes (campers, motor homes etc) on residential driveways in residential zones. Next Tuesday, the Planning Commission will review a draft RV ordinance. This ordinance prohibits the parking of any mobile homes or recreational camping vehicles on the street in a residential district. It also prohibits the parking of a mobile home or recreational camping vehicle in the driveway of a home in an R- I district that is greater than 8 ft in height, greater than 22 ft in length or greater than 6,500 lbs. in weight. Once the Planning Commission has commented on the ordinance it will go to the City Council for review. Halloween Bonfire On Friday morning, Chief Maczko, Chief Piotraschke, Jim Danielson, Dave Sorby and I met to discuss this year's Halloween bonfire. As you know, residents of Mendota Heights are allowed to deposit brush no larger than 4" in diameter as fuel for the fire. In the past, the City has had problems with illegal dumping at the site which costs the City a great deal of money. In order to prevent the illegal dumping, the City will be limiting the hours of operation from 8am-7pm from the 19th —29th of October. We will also be increasing the signage and limiting access to the dumping site. Hopefully these measures will result in a safe and successful Halloween bonfire. Heights Highlites The fall edition of the Heights Highlites is in progress. This edition will contain biographies of all of the local election candidates, as well as general election and City news. Watch for this latest edition in your mail in early October. Final Thought "Speak your mind, even if your voice shakes" -- unknown—(bumper sticker wisdom I saw this week) Respectfully Submitted, Cari Lindberg Administrator Attachments: Just the Facts, Pipeline, Planning Commission agenda, Sun Current articles "Boltz' Tae Kwan Do to move to new home in Mendota Heights, " and `Mendota Heights property owners can expect lower taxes this year. "