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2003-02-07 Friday News The Friday News February 7, 2003 Larry Shaughnessy I am sorry to report that City Treasurer Larry Shaughnessy passed away on his birthday, Saturday, January st 31. Larry has been a financial advisor for the City since 1963. His funeral was Tuesday morning at Church of St. Joseph in West St. Paul. It was a wonderful turnout and a great testament to how much he was loved in the community. Please see the attached obituary and article from the Pioneer Press for more details. Larry will be greatly missed. Burrow Farm When Tom Burrow passed away last year, the Burrow Farm was put up for sale. Sealed bids on the property were due on Friday. On Monday we learned that the winner of the bid is Dan Tilsen, of Tilsen Homes. As many of you know, Dan Tilsen is a former Planning Commission member for the City. Mr. Tilsen is meeting with Planner Steve Grittman on Monday to go over his plans for the site. Police Chief Recruitment Process The City Council has narrowed down the forty applicants to twelve candidates. These twelve individuals will th now be asked to complete a written exercise due back to the City by Friday, February 14. The top five th finalists will then be asked to participate in an oral interview process on Saturday, March 15. They will first meet with an interview panel of Acting Chief Donn Anderson, Human Resources/Communications Coordinator Emmy Foster and two members of the Police Department. Following that interview, the finalists will meet with the City Council for an interview. We hope to have a new Chief on board in April. New Name for a Portion of Swan Drive Mr. Jerry Nelson, 894 Wagon Wheel Trail, approached the Council in January about re-naming a portion of Swan Drive. Jerry has had to assist many motorists and emergency vehicles when they become lost or confused after they encounter Cheri Lane when traveling south on Swan Drive from Wagon Wheel Trail. In order to improve the clarity of the street names in the neighborhood, Jerry requested that the name be changed. There are no homes having an address on Swan Drive through this area, so no home addresses th would be affected by the change. At the January 7 meeting, the City Council directed Jim Danielson to send a letter to the neighbors informing them of the request and soliciting their input. We have received a number of suggestions for the name change. On Tuesday night, the City Council voted to change the name of this small portion of Swan Drive to “Cygnet Lane.” A cygnet is a baby swan  Joint Meeting of City Council and Airport Relations Commission th On Wednesday, February 12 at 7:00 PM, the City Council will attend the monthly Airport Relations Commission meeting. Senator Metzen and Representative Tom Pugh will be in attendance. The Airport Relations Commission is looking forward to this dialogue and has several questions they would like discuss with Metzen and Pugh. Some of the issues for discussion will include: How do you best represent citizens in your communities when dealing with airport noise related issues? What can the Airport Relations Commission do to be more effective in helping residents deal with airport noise related issues? What information can we provide to them to help them to be more aware of airport noise related issues in our community? The ARC Commission and City Council will also listen to a presentation from Guy Heide of the Rogers Lake East Airport Noise Reduction Committee. Commission Appointments The City Council interviewed five candidates for the expired Commission seats on Tuesday night. The th Mayor and Council will make the official appointments at the next City Council meeting on February 18. Converse with Legislators on Live Call-in Cable Show Cable subscribers in the seven cities of northern Dakota County will see Capitol Commentary, a LIVE call-in show on Town Square Television’s Community Channel 14, Monday, February 10, 2003, from 7:30 – 8:30 p.m. Host Lou Harvin, Director of Public Affairs for the House DFL Caucus, will moderate the discussion with District 39A State Representative Tom Pugh, District 39B State Representative Joe Atkins, District 39 State Senator Jim Metzen, District 57A State Representative Katie Sieben, and District 57 State Senator Sharon Marko. Viewers can tune in to Community Channel 14 and call in with their questions or concerns for the panel of Senators and Representatives. This program is a joint production of Town Square Television and its parent organization the Northern Dakota County Cable Communications Commission (NDC4) together with MN House DFL Media. Town Square Television is a non-profit organization producing local television programs and providing access to video production equipment, studios, training, and cable TV channel time for community members who wish to televise their own programs. Town Square Television channels are 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, and 21 and can be viewed by almost 20,000 cable TV households in Inver Grove Heights, Lilydale, Mendota, Mendota Heights, South St. Paul, Sunfish Lake, and West St. Paul. More information, including a detailed weekly schedule for Community Channel 14, is available at www.townsquare.tv. Northern Dakota County Cable Communications Commission (NDC4) is a joint powers cooperative formed by its seven member cities to administer and enforce the cable television franchise ordinance for each of the seven cities. NDC4 is the local franchise authority representing cable subscriber’s consumer interests, and also oversees seven local community access channels on the AT&T Broadband cable system. More Free School for Firefighters Captain John Lapakko spent the week in Anniston, Alabama at a command school. John was accepted to the school after attending a bio-terrorism course in Anniston last month. Ken Weisenberger was accepted into the Bio-terrorism class as well, and will be leaving February 10th. Both of these are fantastic training opportunities and the experience gained will benefit the department at all levels as well as our residents. (A side benefit is that the Federal Government is picking up the tab.) Valentines Day Potluck On Friday, February 14th staff will be having a Valentines Day potluck lunch. All City Council members and Commissioners are invited and encouraged to attend. If you are interested in attending, bring a dish to share and your Valentines Day spirit and join us at noon next Friday in the City Council chambers. Final Thought An Irish Blessing—“May the roads rise to meet you, May the winds be always at your back, May the sun shine warm upon your face, The rains fall soft upon your fields, And until we meet again, May God hold you in the hollow of his hand.” This blessing was performed and printed on the program for Larry Shaughnessy’s . funeral on TuesdayWe will remember him always. Respectfully Submitted, Cari Lindberg Administrator Attachments: Pipeline, Parks and Recreation Commission agenda, Airport Relations Commission agenda, Sun Current articles “Met Council candidates seek council partnering with cities,” and “Met Council candidates: Improve relationship with communities,” Southwest Review editorial “Ode to Chuck in River City,” Obituary for Larry Shaughnessy and Pioneer Press article, AMM News, and LMC Friday Fax.