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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013 - 02 Feb 3 Watch Mtgs Online 4 Fire Station at 3M 4 Council Article 4 Police Scanner 5 MCC Membership Sale Fish Creek Event 6 Maplewood Monthly February 2013 City Newsletter 7 Siren Monitors Needed 8 Reduced Trash Rates • Shadows Tribute Band: Back to the 50s & 60s String Songs March 9, 7:00PM Maplewood Community Center Tickets: www.maplewoodarts.com • The Lives of Wolves, Coyote and Fox - Author Stan Tekiela Shares Stories March 14, 6:30-8:00PM Maplewood Library - FREE! Must call 651.249.2170 to register • Flotation Friday March 29, 5:00-7:30PM Maplewood Community Center Free for MCC Members Daily Admission for Non-Members Save The Date Be Heard! Help Shape the Future of Your Parks System Wakefield Fishing PierApplewood Park Wakefield Park City Council To Consider New Fire Station At 3M Campus The Maplewood Fire Department is excited to announce that preparations are underway to consider collaboration with 3M Company to accept a donation of land to construct a fire station on their property. The property is located on the east side of McKnight Road south of the entrance to Wells Fargo bank and will replace stations located on Londin Lane in the southern leg of Maplewood and on Century Avenue, south of Maryland Avenue. Consideration of the construction of a single station on or near the 3M campus was considered after a number of evaluations. In 2010, a committee was formed consisting of firefighters from all five of the current fire stations to look at options in regards to how we will provide service now and into the future. The Committee concluded that the long-standing system of paid per call firefighters who respond from their homes when a pager went off was no longer a viable way to provide fire service and emergency medical services (EMS). The Committee reported that all too often a station would be toned for an emergency fire call or need for paramedic medical service and no paid per call firefighters were available to respond. It must be stated that this was in no way the fault of the paid per call firefighters but rather a system that had been in place for over 70 years that no longer was viable in providing consistent service to our customers and citizens. - continued on page 3 One of Maplewood City Council’s goals for 2012 thru 2014 is to develop a comprehensive master plan for the City’s parks, trails, and preserves that looks out over the next 20 years. To that end, the City will be assembling a “Park System Plan Task Force” that will be charged with the development of this plan. The task force will evaluate the City’s parks as a system, as opposed to individual components, and will work to create a sustainable Park System plan for the future. The Park System plan will address an aging infrastructure (the majority of Maplewood’s Parks were developed in the seventies and eighties), changing city demographics, changing trends and uses of our park system, connectivity with local neighborhoods, and most importantly, ensuring a long- term funding strategy for our parks. The task force will include residents of the City, business representatives, commission members, staff and other stakeholders. - continued on page 5 Frequently Called Numbers Maplewood City Hall General Information 651.249.2000 Monday - Friday 8:00 AM - 4:30PM Deputy Registrar Hours: Monday 8:00AM - 6:00PM and Tuesday - Friday 8:00AM - 4:30PM Passport Hours: Monday - Friday 8:00AM - 4:00PM Maplewood Community Center Registration/Customer Service 651.249.2230 Admissions 651.249.2210 Theater/Banquet Room Rental 651.249.2103 Group Information 651.249.2206 Aquatics 651.249.2206 Fitness 651.249.2207 Maplewood Recreation General Information 651.249.2120 Maplewood Nature Center General Information 651.249.2170 Code Enforcement Hotline 651.249.CODE (2633) Online: Go to www.ci.maplewood.mn.us and click on “Report A Violation” on the right-hand side of the home page. Maplewood Police General Information - Non-Emergency 651.767.0640 Maplewood Public Works General Information 651.249.2400 City of Maplewood Elected Officials Will Rossbach: Mayor 651.484.5427 will.rossbach@ci.maplewood.mn.us Kathleen Juenemann: Councilmember 651.771.3670 kathleen.juenemann@ci.maplewood.mn.us Rebecca Cave: Councilmember 651.773.7059 rebecca.cave@ci.maplewood.mn.us Robert Cardinal: Councilmember 651.765.8600 bob.cardinal@ci.maplewood.mn.us Marvin Koppen: Councilmember 651.770.5391 marvin.koppen@ci.maplewood.mn.us Jim Antonen: City Manager 651.249.2050 jim.antonen@ci.maplewood.mn.us City of Maplewood 2 Febuary 2013 Maplewood Meeting Schedule City Council ......................................................................... 7:00PM Listening Forum ............................................................... 6:30PM 2nd and 4th Monday of the month City Council Workshop ........................................................ 5:00PM 1st Monday of the month Community Design Review Board ....................................... 6:00PM 4th Tuesday of the month Environmental & Natural Resources Commission ............... 7:00PM 3rd Monday of the month Heritage Preservation Commission ...................................... 7:00PM 2nd Thursday of the month Housing & Economic Development Commission ................. 6:00PM Date and Time To Be Determined Human Rights Commission .................................................. 7:00PM 2nd Tuesday of the month Parks & Recreation Commission ......................................... 7:00PM 3rd Wednesday of the month Planning Commission .......................................................... 7:00PM 1st & 3rd Tuesday of the month City Hall will be closed Monday, February 28 in observance of President’s Day. A Great Gift Idea! Watch Meetings Online That’s right! Any City meetings that are broadcast on Channel 16 are available for you to watch via our website. Simply visit our website at www.ci.maplewood.mn.us go to “Government” and click on “Watch Meetings Online”. This will take you to a page where you’ll be able to watch any live meetings that may be taking place. From that same page you’ll also be able to click on one of the other meeting body’s to view video of their past meetings. Once you’re watching the video be sure to take advantage of the “Agenda Items” tab on the left of your screen. Click on any of the links and it will take you right to that portion of the meeting. We’re very excited to offer this service and encourage you to take advantage of it. Attention Businesses: Advertise and reach over 22,200 homes, businesses, and apartments with the Official Maplewood City Newsletter. For more information, contact Heidi Carey at 952.212.7333 or heidi.carey@ci.maplewood.mn.us. Thank you to the advertisers who support this publication! Your Electronic Filing Specialists! Individual, Small Business & Corporate $20.00 OFF! New Customers Only. Exp. 4/15/13. Must present ad to redeem discount. 1696 White Bear Ave N, Maplewood, MN 55109 Registered Tax Return Preparers: (The IRS does not endorse any particular individual tax return preparer. For more information on tax return preparers go to IRS.gov) (651) 774-9558 millertax@integra.net www.taxxman.com City of Maplewood Elected Officials Will Rossbach: Mayor 651.484.5427 will.rossbach@ci.maplewood.mn.us Kathleen Juenemann: Councilmember 651.771.3670 kathleen.juenemann@ci.maplewood.mn.us Rebecca Cave: Councilmember 651.773.7059 rebecca.cave@ci.maplewood.mn.us Robert Cardinal: Councilmember 651.765.8600 bob.cardinal@ci.maplewood.mn.us Marvin Koppen: Councilmember 651.770.5391 marvin.koppen@ci.maplewood.mn.us Jim Antonen: City Manager 651.249.2050 jim.antonen@ci.maplewood.mn.us City of Maplewood 3 Febuary 2013 A Great Gift Idea! - New Fire Station continued from cover page Chief Lukin and the Committee reported that recruiting and retaining paid on-call firefighters had become very difficult. The requirement to provide an acceptable level of service meant that the pool of applicants had to live within five minutes from the closet station to their home. It is not uncommon in today’s families that both husband and wife work outside the home with their children being involved in many different activities making it difficult for firefighters to commit to a pay per call schedule. In addition, as Maplewood ages, other areas of the city within the five minutes of a fire station have become an older population making it even more difficult to recruit firefighters. Because of the volume of calls for emergency service is approaching 4,000 per year, the ability to rely upon the old model of paid-per-call firefighters responding through a pager-system is no longer feasible. These findings are included in a report entitled, “Maplewood Fire Department Strategic plan (2011-2016).” A copy of that plan is available on the City website at www.ci.maplewood.mn.us under the Fire Department section. The conclusion of the Strategic Plan and decisions for staffing our Fire and Emergency personnel was to create a combined model of full-time and part-time firefighters, EMT’s and paramedics. Those crews are to be spread throughout the City in three stations, instead of the current five. One station is centrally located in the Gladstone area near English Street and Frost Avenue. A second station exists at Hazelwood Street and County Road C. A third station located in the southern leg of the city is the station that is being considered for the 3M campus. An option, instead of building a new station on the 3M Campus, is for the Council to approve an increase in staffing of both a full-time and part-time firefighters and reopen the station located on Londin Lane. Remodeling to the interior the building would be necessary to provide sleeping quarters and due to the size of the station there would only be room for two sleeping areas. As call volumes increase in that area, rebuilding of that station would be necessary in order to add additional staff. The station is over 25 years old with little or no energy efficiencies. The Station on Century Avenue near Maryland Avenue was built back in the 1940s by volunteers of the East County Line Fire Department who provided their skills and labor in building the original station which is used today. Plumbing, electrical, brickwork as well as the roofs are in serious disrepair. The cost to make the necessary repairs and make the station more energy efficient would cost more than building a new station. Considering the aforementioned, staff recommends to the Council to build a new fire station more centrally located in the area that is currently served by both stations. This new station would be built with today’s energy efficiencies and provide our firefighters and emergency medical services personnel the capability of expanding our staffing needs as call volumes dictate in the coming years. Having full-time and part-time personnel staffing the stations around the clock allows us to move the stations from their present locations. The proposed staffing model for the 3M station will be two paramedics around the clock and one EMT around the clock. Fire Chief Lukin reports, “Providing service from that station in this manner will give us the greatest opportunity to always have medical personnel available to take a call anywhere in the southern leg. For fire responses all three firefighters will become a team of three responding in a fire truck”. Chief Lukin indicates that as call volume increases there may be a need to add one more part-time personnel around the clock starting in 2016. Throughout the East Metro fire departments are sharing fire and EMS services which has become an important part in providing services. This sharing of services is called auto aid; auto aid is a way of providing additional resources from neighboring departments at the same time the call is sent to the Department with the working fire. Today, Maplewood has auto aid agreements with Little Canada Fire, North St. Paul Fire, Oakdale Fire and we are presently meeting with Woodbury to have them become part of our auto aid program. The 3M Station is proposed to be built on the land that 3M has indicated they will donate to the City. The estimated cost of a new station is approximately $3.5 million to $4.0 million dollars. A proposed financing plan is being prepared that will take the increased taxes from the new Research and Development Laboratory that 3M is planning to start construction in April 2013 and use those increased taxes to pay a majority of the bond payments for the new station. City Finance staff has estimated if all approvals are achieved on the financing plan the new station will not require a levy increase to Maplewood property owners to pay the annual bond payments. The City Council will receive this information on Monday, February 11th at 5:00PM in the Council Chambers to re-affirm with the Council the need to build the station in order to provide quality service to all residents, especially those residents in Maplewood’s southern leg, south of Larpenteur Avenue. A public hearing on financing the project will occur later in the Spring of 2013. If approved by the City Council the new station is planned to be open during the fall of 2014. For more information, visit www.ci.maplewood.mn.us. Send comments on this plan to Chief Lukin at steve.lukin@ci.maplewood.mn.us or Assistant City Manager Chuck Ahl at chuck.ahl@ci.maplewood.mn.us. Council Cor n e r City of Maplewood 4 February 2013 Moving Forward in 2013! By Mayor Will Rossbach As we move past the holidays and into the New Year we look forward to the activities coming up. Maplewood has numerous projects that are planned during the year including both city and private projects. The most notable project and the one that will have the greatest impact on the daily lives of the residents is the construction of a diamond interchange at English Street and Highway 36. At the same time that the city and MNDOT are working on the interchange, the Ramsey Washington Metro Watershed will be making water run off improvements in the existing interchange at Highway 36 and Highway 61. In addition, MNDOT will be replacing the bridge for Highway 36 which spans the waterway between Spoon and Keller lakes. This work will cause some major inconveniences for any motorist who normally uses this route. Along with the normal reduction in lanes that accompanies highway projects, there will be a two month period during which Highway 36 will close down completely. You may remember that this same process was used when North St. Paul did their Highway 36 project. Although it causes obvious travel difficultly during construction time, closing it will greatly reduce the overall time to complete the project. Although this project will be mostly complete during 2013, travelers of Highway 36 and 35E will get little immediate relief due to the reconstruction of 35E from Little Canada Road to St. Paul which will be starting in earnest in 2014 and is a multiple year project. 3M is moving forward with a major project to build a new lab building on their Maplewood campus. The current labs were built years ago and have not kept pace with the needs 3M has for research and development. 3M had looked carefully at remodeling the existing buildings but ultimately determined that they would be better off to build a completely new building and at a later date remove one of the existing buildings. This is good news for Maplewood as it speaks to 3M’s continued commitment to their headquarters in the city. 3M is Maplewood’s largest employer and the relationship which exists between the city and 3M is something that we work hard to maintain for the mutual benefit of both entities. The city will also be moving forward on improvements on our own campus sparked by the need to enlarge and improve the police department. The Council reviewed our options including construction of a new building at a cost of 12 million dollars or expanding the existing section of the building that houses the police department for 8 million. We were lucky to have an engineering consultant that was not satisfied to settle for just those options and did an overall study of the use of all the buildings on Maplewood’s campus and determined that we could meet all of the needs by better using space that all ready exists. It will mean that various departments will be shifted to other buildings or their space will be remodeled. This approach allows the city to address most of the department needs for 4.5 million, a much more palatable option in my opinion. There are also several private development possibilities during 2013 including a possible new medical facility on Beam Avenue, improvements to the Concordia Arms facility, expansion of Buffalo Wild Wings and several other possible building projects. This will also be the year that Maplewood will complete a major non building project with the final steps being taken to acquire the Fish Creek Open Space Area. The city staff has done a tremendous job of finding funds through multiple sources and we are very close to having all the funds needed to complete the purchase. It could be argued that this acquisition is of equal important to the quality of life in Maplewood allowing us to not only have better travel, police protection, and a healthy business community but to be able to recreate in one of the best metro natural areas in the Twin Cities. The Council Corner is a space that is rotated monthly between the Mayor and Council members. Editorial views expressed are those of the author and may not necessarily represent or reflect the views and opinions of the City of Maplewood. Councilmembers Cave and Cardinal, Mayor Rossbach, Councilmembers Koppen and Juenemann On The Police Scanner In December, the Maplewood Police Department responded to 2,110 calls for service. 14 Assault Cases 2 Robbery Case 20 Burglary Cases 143 Theft Cases 21 Auto Theft Cases 46 Theft from Vehicle Cases 21 Criminal Damage to Property Cases Officers also made 77 arrests for shoplifting and 31 arrests for DWI. City News City of Maplewood 5 February 2013 The Council Corner is a space that is rotated monthly between the Mayor and Council members. Editorial views expressed are those of the author and may not necessarily represent or reflect the views and opinions of the City of Maplewood. - Shape Your Park System continued from cover Why are parks and trails important for the city and residents? Every parks and trail user knows the personal benefits of green space, but the benefits of parks, trails, and green spaces extend far beyond users – they touch the lives of every person that lives and works in the City of Maplewood. Parks improve our physical and psychological health, strengthen our com- munities, which make the city a more attractive place to live and work, and protect the environment. The benefits of parks, trails, and open spaces are comprehensive for Maplewood residents, the economy, and the environment. The City of Maplewood Parks and Recreation Department is accepting applications from the community for members of this Parks System Plan Task Force. The task force will be centrally involved in the creation of a Parks System Plan that will be founded on a process of resident and stakeholder engagement. The City is looking for six community members to represent different areas of Maplewood. Ideally, we would like a member from the each of the four areas on the map to the right along with two “at-large” members. Applications will be taken through the end of February and the City Council will conduct interviews in early March. This will be a 12-18 month commitment, meeting 15-20 times primarily on the fourth Wednesday of the month beginning at 4:00PM starting in April. Applications and more information on the Parks System Plan can be found on our website at www.ci.maplewood.mn.us under the projects page or by calling Parks Manager Jim Taylor at 651.249.2121. For Heart Disease Awareness Month celebrate heart healthiness with a new fitness commitment. MAPLEWOOD COMMUNITY CENTER MONTHLY MEMBERSHIP SPECIAL TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OUR HEART-HEALTHY SPECIAL Purchase a monthly membership in the month of February and we will waive the initial fee - a $75.00 value!* Make a one-year, monthly commitment and receive a FREE one-hour massage, one-hour personal training session, or group swimming lesson. *Minimum 3-month requirement. Offer expires February 28. 2100 WHITE BEAR AVENUE • MAPLEWOOD, MN 55109 651.249.2230 • WWW.MAPLEWOODCOMMUNITYCENTER.COM Wakefield Park City of Maplewood 6 February 2013 City News Fish Creek Land Acquisition Maplewood is getting closer to acquiring the Fish Creek parcel outh of Carver Road. Our focus for 2013 is to complete fundraising and acquire the land. Along the way, there will be hikes at the site and restoration activities with Great River Greening will be in full gear. The city has secured 80% of the $2,151,200 project cost and needs to raise an additional $426,200. Friends of Mississippi (FMR) has submitted a grant on our behalf and if that is successful we’ll be $264,200 from our goal. The city is grateful to the many residents that made donations to the project in 2012 through FMR’s Fish Creek fund. FMR will continue accepting donations until the land is acquired later this year (www.fmr.org/support/fish_creek). The Fish Creek Committee invites you to help close the funding gap by joining them for Fish Creek’s Minnesotan Get Together on February 22. An evening of fun is planned with author Chris Niskanen and offers you a chance to brush up on your Minnesotan skills. See details below. For more information on the Fish Creek project, visit www.ci.maplewood.mn.us/fishcreek. Fish Creek’s Minnesotan Get Together Friday, February 22, 5:30 - 9:00PM Maplewood Community Center, 2100 White Beat Ave. Tickets - $35, registration required by February 15 Reserve your ticket today, by calling 651.249.2230. Join us as for good food and great times as we gather to preserve the Fish Creek Natural Area and celebrate all that is Minnesotan. Enjoy naturalist, outdoor author and Minnesota native, Chris Niskanen as he talks about his new book, “The Minnesota Book of Skills,” which outlines the true skills all Minnesotans should have! Fill up on a delicious pasta dinner, bid on some great items in our silent auction, and take part in a hands-on Minnesota challenges held throughout the night. All event proceeds will benefit the preservation of Fish Creek Natural Area. 2013/2014 Pet License Application Fees: $21 Female/Male $19 Senior’s Discount $18 Spayed or Neutered $16 Senior’s Discount ADD $1 PenAlTy For liCenses PurCHAseD AFTer JAnuAry 31, 2013. new PeTs Are exeMPT FroM PenAlTy I, ___________________________________________residing at _____________________ ______________________________________, Maplewood, MN_______________________ Telephone (H)____________________________ (W)________________________________ hereby apply for a permit to keep the below-described cat/dog and do agree to comply with the rules and regulations duly adopted by the lawful governing body of the City of Maplewood and the provisions of the Municipal Code, Chapter 10, Animals, and subsequent amendments and any other applicable state and local laws. The information contained in this application shall be deemed public unless private by State Statute. Pet’s Name____________________________________________ Age of Pet_____________ Cat / Dog Breed____________________________________ Color of Pet________________ Male Female Sterilization Yes No Microchip Yes No Veterinary Clinic____________________________________ Clinic Phone_______________ Signature of Owner__________________________________ Date______________________ Pet Licensing Maplewood ordinance requires licensing of all cats and dogs over three months of age. If you have not already licensed your pet and it is not convenient for you to come to City Hall, you may obtain the license by mail. Complete the form and mail it along with the appropriate payment and original signed certificate of rabies vaccination from your veterinarian to: Cat/Dog License 1830 County Road B East Maplewood, MN 55109 Applications can also be obtained online at www.ci.maplewood.mn.us. Call 651.249.2000 for more information. City of Maplewood 7 February 2013 City News Maplewood Emergency Management is In Urgent Need of Siren Monitors The City of Maplewood has 12 outdoor warning sirens. These sirens are activated in the case of dangerous weather and all types of imminent emergencies. They are tested monthly year-round to ensure they are working properly. Because the City doesn’t have the staff to monitor all 12 sirens when they are activated, our siren monitors listen for the siren in their area during monthly testing and actual soundings. At that time, they report back to us using pre-stamped postcards that we provide or by email- ing us on whether the sirens operated properly. Repairs can then be made to any sirens that did not operate properly. If you live close to one of the sirens listed below and would like to be a siren monitor, please contact Susan at 651.249.2800 or susan.zwieg@ci.maplewood.mn.us Siren 1 – 217 Roselawn Siren 2 – County Road B and Kenwood Siren 3 – Kohlman and Keller Siren 4 – 1965 Manton Siren 5 – 1530 County Road C Siren 6 – McKnight and Lydia Siren 7 – 1600 Myrtle Siren 8 – Sterling and 7th Siren 9 – 220 O’day Siren 10 – 2501 Londin Lane Siren 11 – 1200 South Sterling Siren 12 – Highway 61 and County Road D (the west side of Highway 61 behind Lexus) SHLANDPRODUCTIONS Performance for a Lifetime www.ashlandproductions.org 651-274-8020 Performances February 21 - May 5 CT! Ashland Collaborative eater P ir ates The M u s icalwww.partnersobgyn.com Birch Run Station in Maplewood 1737 Beam Ave (Next to JoAnn Fabrics) Specialty Women’s Health Obstetrics • Gynecology • Infertility • Surgery Office Procedures • Next Day Appointments Available (651) 770-3320 New Patients Welcome! City of Maplewood 1830 County Road B East Maplewood, MN 55109 Phone: 651.249.2000 www.ci.maplewood.mn.us PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID Permit #32324 Twin Cities, MN********eCrwss** resiDenTiAl CusToMer Upon request, this newsletter will be made available in an alternate format.Printed on 10% post consumer product. now you can even Make a Deposit by snapping a p ure. Federally insured up to $250,000 by NCUA. cccu.com ! INTRODUCING !! !! With City & County’s App for your iPhone, Android or iPad, you can pay your bills, make a transfer, locate the nearest ATM and even make a deposit by snapping a picture. Get started today! Visit your associated app store and search for PC FIRST mobile. (651) 225-2700l800 223-2801 Attic Insulation30% OFF or 6 Months No Interest, No Payments Expires 3/15/13 $200 OFF Per Window or Door Minimum purchase required. Expires 3/13/13 Call Today for a FREE Estimate. (651) 203-0149 www.nwfaMN.com Multiple financing options available! BC248265 Register to Win a $25,000 Home Makeover! nwfamn.com 2013 Trash Disposal Rates Reduced The City’s residential trash collection contract with Allied Waste Services requires an adjustment to trash hauling rates annually based on changes in disposal costs. The disposal cost is the amount charged to the contractor to dispose of trash at the Resource Recovery Technologies facility in Newport. The disposal cost represents a portion of your overall trash rates. The 2013 disposal cost for all Ramsey County haulers has decreased by 3.58 percent. Based on this reduction, beginning in February 2013, Maplewood residential trash rates will decrease. Following is a comparison of the 2012 rates to the 2013 rates. Rates listed include ALL taxes and operational fees. Cart size and service level 2012 rate 2013 rate 20 gallon every other week $6.83 $6.79 20 gallon every week $9.31 $9.23 32 gallon every week $10.63 $10.51 65 gallon every week $11.93 $11.76 95 gallon every week $13.39 $13.17 For more information contact Allied Waste Services at 651.455.8634 or visit the City’s residential trash webpage at www.ci.maplewood.mn.us/trash.