Loading...
2008-09-19 Friday NewsSeptember 19, 2008 Citizen's Police Academy The first meeting of the 2008 Citizen's Police Academy was held Thursday night. There are 25 participants who met at West St. Paul and Mendota Heights Police Departments for the first session. I spoke with Liz Petschel, ARC Chair and Police Rookie this morning about her first impressions. She thoroughly enjoyed it, and said that there were many very frank discussions prompted by student questions. Liz also enjoyed her classmates which include 2 City Council Members, a fellow commissioner and 2 women who operate apartment complexes in West St. Paul. Liz said that she now feels ready to drive a squad car and making an arrest at class next Thursday. is Pilot Knob I Prompted by some discussion at the City Council meeting Tuesday Night, Jake and I visited the Pilot Knob site Thursday morning. If you haven't been there in a while, it is definitely worth the visit! A portion of the pavement has been removed, and a trail has been laid on the western portion of the site. Along with the fantastic view of both downtowns, we checked out the snake hiberna- cula, lots of plant varieties as well as wildlife signs, tracks and scat. Great River Greening will be holding a seeding event on Saturday, September 27, Some information from their website regarding Pilot Knob has been at- tached. PAR 3 HAPPE',NINGS Jake reports that the bathroom remodel project has a new completion dead- line—TODAY. This should be just in time for a beautiful fall weekend. We would like to thank all of our customers who have played through this project Wwhich took much longer than expected. Mark your calendars for Sunday, September 28– Customer Appreciation Day. We will offer $3 rounds of golf S all day long. Course conditions are great—all the bunkers have been re -worked and filled with fresh, clean sand. Jerry Murphy and Torn Perkins also wrapped up aerat- ing the greens this week. The weather should help the greens to recover rap- idly! September 19, 2008 Dates to Remember in September/October Planning Commission Meeting 9/23/08 7:00 City Council Meeting 10/7/08 7:00 Attachments Just the Facts, Pipeline, Planning Commission Agenda, Great River Greening event description, PAR 3 Customer appreciation notice, TwinCities.com Article "Canines roaming on former landfill." HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!! September 19, 2008 9/19/2008 young man had not been drinking. A computer check showed an active warrant out of Stearns County for Under Age Consumption of Alcohol; he was advised to take care of the warrant and released. When it became obvious that no one would answer the door, the officers cleared the scene. As they were leaving, the young man, later identified as the one the one throwing the parties, came outside, stood on the front step, and had a nice belly laugh. Officer Lambert returned at the beginning of his shift the next evening — again, no one would answer the door. On the evening of the 12 th, the homeowner, father of the party -thrower, answered the door; the son was not home. Dad was advised of the party and of the legal problems he could have in the event of another party; he assisted Officer Lambert in confirming the identity of the guests. A citation was issued to the son for public nuisance. Information 09-12-08 1215 hours Officer Eric Petersen spoke with a group home supervisor who had called to report they had just terminated a staff member. The supervisor found out the staff member had been providing marijuana to a vulnerable adult in her care. An internal investigation by the group home confirmed the allegations. The information was reported under mandatory reporting laws. No further action. Fraud 09-12-08 1603 hours A local business reported to Officer Eric Petersen that they had let an employee go after two weeks because of poor performance. The business received a call from a local credit union inquiring about multiple checks from them that the suspect was cashing or depositing. The suspect used a computer and laser printer to make his own checks; unfortunately, he spelled multiple names wrong and it appears that the signature matches the one he provided on his job application. Affidavits are forthcoming along with copies of the actual checks and bank records. The loss to date is estimated at a few thousand dollars. Investigation will continue. DAS 09-12-08 2143 hours Officer Denise Urmann ran a license plate check which revealed the R/O was suspended. She pulled up along side of the car and confirmed the descriptions matched and then stopped the car. The driver was asked if she was the R/O; she advised she was. The driver was asked if she had her license; she replied that she did not as it was suspended. When asked if she had insurance, she advised that she did not have insurance. What an honest driver! She was cited and released and her car was impounded. Gun Permit Violation 09-13-08 2138 hours A local bar called to report an intoxicated female with a gun in a holster on her waist band. When advised that guns were not allowed in the establishment, the woman became irate, stating there were no signs. She was apparently knowledgeable about some parts of the conceal and carry law but not quite all of them. She left that bar. Officer Peyton Fleming located the woman having a drink at another bar. She was taken into custody without incident. She did have a permit to carry; unfortunately, she must have missed the "under the influence" part of the class. She was interviewed, her gun was taken into custody and she was released. The gun turned out to be stolen out of Minneapolis in 1975. The suspect purchased it from a local gun shop earlier this year. Investigation continues. Theft 09-18-09 2033 hours Employee of a local business came out after work and noticed she no longer had a license plate on her car. A quick check revealed that she was missing both plates. Officer Denise Urmann arrived on scene and spoke with the victim. The plates were entered in the computer system as stolen in the event they are used to commit a crime. The victim got a ride home and wHI2be getting new plates in the morning. N E W S The Pip el i n LETTER -- Public ETTER----1Public Works September 19, 2008 Engineering Code Enforcement Public Works The Parks Crew completed general maintenance in the parks this week including trash pick up, cutting grass, striping soccer fields, dragging fields, and cutting grass adjacent to the pedways. Rich cleaned the sanitary sewer lines on Riverside Lane, Aspen Way, and Brookside Lane. He sprayed Kensington and Mendakota Parks for broadleaf weeds. A sewer inspection was done on Cullen Lane. He fixed a manhole on Ivy Hill Road. The concrete ring had a hole and then the blacktop caved in. A new ring was installed and the Street Crew then blacktopped it. The Streets Crew dug out a patch on Mendota Heights Road and blacktopped it. They cleaned storm sewer grates. John Ambrose made a "Do Not Enter" sign for the Police and installed it. Rip rap was installed at the Pilot Knob site where there was a washout. Tree branches were cut that were overhanging the street on Huber Drive. Pot holes were filled on Valley Curve by the alleyway. A broken storm grate was replaced on Mendota Heights Road. The parking lot entrance at the fire hall was overlaid. The last of the curb was installed on the Avenues project. The contractor is finishing the gravel base and the project will be ready to pave on Tuesday. Concrete driveways have also been poured and bituminous driveways will be paved toward the end of the week. 1st Avenue has "bump outs" in the intersections as a traffic calming measure, the full effect of the calming will not be known until the street is paved and boulevard landscaped. The Somerset Park/Evergreen Knoll project and Main Street were paved this week. The contractor, Bituminous Roadways, did an exceptional job with the quality of their work and relations with the public. Over half of the water main has been installed on Callahan Place. The contractor is not working Thursday or Friday but will return next week to complete the installation and begin installing the storm sewer. A slope was repaired at 755 Willow Lane where the city recently did a stream bank stabilization project. Great River Greening I Events Calendar Registration Closed Event: Pilot Knob Native Seeding Site: North of Highway 13 on Acacia Blvd. and Pilot Knob Road Mendota Heights, MN Time: 8:30a.m. — 12:30p.m. Volunteers: 50 Supervisors: 10 Description: Pilot Knob Hill, a national historic site overlooking the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers, has played a significant role in our region's cultural and natural history. This fall, volunteers of all ages are invited to continue the work of restoring this majestic site to its original beauty. Past work has included the removal of invasive buckthorn, seeding, and a click to professional prescribed burn. This year, volunteers will spread sign up native seeds along the bluff slopes and blue top. Pilot Knob is a gorgeous site and important for wildlife species. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to help preserve it for fixture generations. Support provided in part by the City of Mendota Heights, the Dakota County Farmland and Natural Areas Program, MN- DNRs `biofuels for restoration ; and the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative -Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR) through Greening's participation in the Metro Conservation Corridors partnership. Page 1 of 1 http://www.greatrivergreening.org/events_calendar.asp 9/19/2008 Canines roaming on former landfill - TwinCities.com TwinCitiesocom Canines roaming on former•`f Dog park is first new use for reclaimed riverfront By Nick Ferraro nferraro@pioneerpress.com Article Last Updated. 09/13/2008 09:25:24 PM CDT A former demolition landfill in South St. Paul has gone to the dogs. The city last month opened its first off -leash dog park on 6.3 acres along the Mississippi River. The pooch park — the first in northern Dakota County — is part of the city's long-term plan to transform the former 87 -acre Port Crosby industrial landfill into a huge recreational area called Kaposia Landing. St. Paul resident Jim Robins was one of a half-dozen dog owners who visited the park on a sunny afternoon last week. It was Robins' first visit to the park, and he said he was pleased to see it relatively free of weeds and wildflowers. "That's huge, because there are a lot of dogs, including mine, that are affected by allergies," said Robins, who visits the Arlington/Arkwright dog park on St. Paul's East Side two or three times a week. Before the park opened, Mary Lamminen, of South St. Paul, would walk Ally, her 3 -year-old black Labrador mix, on a leash on paved trails along the river. "We don't have a fenced -in yard, so we love this," Advertisement Page 1 of 2 Lamminen said. "That's all I have to do is grab my keys, and she barks. She knows where she's going." The city purchased the former landfill for $1 million in 1999 and secured $4.5 million from the Legislature between 2004 and 2006 to prepare the area. Cleanup involved clearing trees and brush and then covering all 70 acres with 526,000 cubic yards of fill dirt. As a result, the park is wide open and ideal for dogs that need to run. "Dog owners who like to launch toys will enjoy this park," said Chris Esser, South St. Paul's director of parks and recreation. Esser said it cost a little more than $45,000 to build the park, which is enclosed by a 4 -foot fence and has two shelters and two disposal stations for dog waste. The city is asking park users to buy a $20 annual membership that will go toward maintenance and help officials compile a database of dog owners, Esser said. Eventually, the database could be used as a way to notify owners of news and events at the park, .Jan Carr, who last year established St. Paul Dogs, said that in the past two years, dog parks have been popping up across the United States like never before, In 2006, Carr said, there were about 700 dog parks in the U.S.; now there are close to 3,000. During August alone, he said, 98 dog parks opened or were approved to be built. "The dog people like them because when you have a dog that socializes, it's a better -behaved dog," said Carr, whose group has more than 200 members. "And that means there's less chewing on furniture and shoes." 13 -wk introductory offer of � Yl.�ksruru�cAYaR°.s e �., � • • • • • ' hg's'- � �`� � .. Print Powered By http://www.twincities.com/ei—I 0455128?IADID=Search-www.twincities. com-www.twinc... 9/19/2008 Canines roaming on former landfill - TwinCities.com TwinCitiesecom Carr's group is pushing for more dog parks in St. Paul, which has one. Minneapolis has seven, including one that opened Wednesday in downtown. By comparison, Carr said, there are 32 in Portland, Ore., a city that has about 100,000 fewer residents than Minneapolis and St. Paul combined. Lamminen said the parks are not just places for dogs to interact. "You always talk to the people you meet here," she said. "You find out how old their dogs are and what kind they are. I enjoy that." Another $6 million would be needed to carry out the city's long-term vision for Kaposia Landing, Esser said. Plans include ball fields, volleyball and bocce ball courts, an outdoor performing arts area, picnic areas and river overlooks. "We see the dog park as a good first start to get more people to the area and connected to the river," Esser said. Nick Ferraro can be reached at 651-228-2171 Advertisement Page 2 of 2 III WA rMaTme • 11,590-'R • _.�_.. introductory offer • � discount • subscribers. --rNellr�Y Print Powered By http://www.twincities.comlci_1045 5128?IADID=Search-www.twiiicities.com-www.twiiic... 9/19/2008 "CUSTOMER" APPRECIATION DAY SUN, SEPT 28TH 2008 ROUNDS, ALL DAY