Rebecca Cave, who helped get Maplewood into such a mess back in 2006-2007 and thus inspired me to run for office, is running again for City Council in next week's special election.  As in the past, her campaign is built on half-truths and outright lies.  Besides having the backing of our old friends at the "Garbage Haulers for Citizen Choice" (who have a penchant for backing dishonest candidates), she has sent out a flyer of her own, loaded with misinformation.

For example, she harps on this "sale of Gladstone Park for housing."  She has a picture of the Gladstone Savanna Neighborhood Preserve sign, marked "Before"; and then a picture labeled "After Trees Clear Cut - 2012".

This postcard assumes most people don't know what's going on there, maybe even if they live nearby.  What's the construction in that neighborhood preserve you might have driven past on Frost?

Reality is the opposite of Cave's lie.  The Savanna isn't being torn up for housing; it's being cleaned up to be a neighborhood preserve that the neighbors can safely enjoy.  As Cave should know if she paid any attention when she was on the council, the Savanna is contaminated from its old days as an industrial site and rail yard.  Contaminants include lead, arsenic, and other poisons -- not the stuff you want kids (or anyone) playing in.  So, partly with the park funds that came from the development at the former site of the St Paul Tourist Cabins, the City of Maplewood is remediating the site -- which involves actually digging up and removing soil that is loaded with toxic waste.

Cave's cynicism -- taking an ongoing city project that is to enhance and preserve this parkland and actually make it safe for the neighborhood to use, and using it to back her lie that housing is being built there -- is breathtaking.  Or maybe she supports heavy metal poisoning for kids in the Gladstone neighborhood?

Labels: environment, parks, public works

Posted by John Nephew on 11/04/2012 11:38:00 AM Email to a Friend | Permalink | Comments
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This weekend is the Taste of Maplewood in Goodrich Park.  It begins at 4 PM this afternoon, through 10 PM tonight; and then again tomorrow from 12 PM to 10 PM.  Admission is free and it promises to be fun for the whole family!  For more information, visit the city web page with all the details.

Labels: events, parks

Posted by John Nephew on 8/19/2011 07:57:00 AM Email to a Friend | Permalink | Comments
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Earlier this month, Maplewood and North Saint Paul were jointly honored with the "City of Excellence" award at the League of Minnesota Cities annual conference. The award was in recognition of our joint recreation programming agreement, which is saving our cities money and enhancing services for our residents.

You can read more about it on the League of Minnesota Cities website, as well as an article in the Maplewood Review.

Labels: media, parks

Posted by John Nephew on 6/30/2011 12:03:00 PM Email to a Friend | Permalink | Comments
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Yesterday afternoon there was a fun family event at the Maplewood Nature Center: the "Tree-Mendous Celebration," with demonstrations and exhibits on topics such as tree planting and pruning, crafts for kids, the Emerald Ash Borer, musicians, and rides in a tree-trimming bucket.  I especially liked the raptors -- here's a picture of the Barred Owl being shown to the crowd.  I think I heard one of these outside our window on a recent evening.

Labels: environment, events, parks

Posted by John Nephew on 5/08/2011 08:26:00 AM Email to a Friend | Permalink | Comments
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Last Monday's council meeting, February 28th, had a couple of agenda items representing major progress on Fish Creek. First was a grant application that required a public hearing. We did get some comment from the public, and it was all in favor of conservation for Fish Creek.

Second was City Council approval of a joint powers agreement with Ramsey County and the Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District. This agreement lays out a strategy for acquisition of the former CoPar parcels, with monetary commitments from the county, the city, and the watershed district. Our city's contribution will come from the Park Acquisition Charge Fund. PAC fees, which are paid by developers, are limited to being spent on acquiring or developing new parks and park facilities in the city.

While the joint powers agreement and funding commitments are a huge step forward, there's still a gap between those funds and the purchase price for the property, even though (thanks to real estate values going in the tank) the current asking price is far lower than it was when we first began to seriously look at acquiring some or all of it for conservation. My hope is that between the local funding commitments and the relatively small size of the gap, it will be easier to find or more more ways to fill it.

Labels: parks

Posted by John Nephew on 3/07/2011 01:21:00 PM Email to a Friend | Permalink | Comments
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While I was away, our City Council unanimously approved a joint powers agreement with our neighboring city of North Saint Paul to provide shared recreation programming for both cities.  (Were I here, I would have voted in favor as well.)  We had taken some small steps in this direction this past summer, with Maplewood providing lifeguards for North Saint Paul's beach on Silver Lake.  City officials from both cities should be commended for the work they put into this.

Local newspapers have covered the agreement: the Maplewood Review published an article after the North Saint Paul City Council signed off last month, and the Star Tribune followed its earlier and more detailed article with a short piece after our Council's action on Monday.

I expect this will be only the beginning of such programs among cities, as we try to stretch our dollars further in maintaining services for our residents.  Shared services are worth looking into at any time, but the state's fiscal crisis and the resulting cuts of funds to cities make it a matter of urgency today.

Labels: finance, media, parks

Posted by John Nephew on 12/16/2010 06:33:00 AM Email to a Friend | Permalink | Comments
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Improvements to Maplewood parks are the topic of an article in the Star Tribune this weekend.

Labels: media, parks

Posted by John Nephew on 9/12/2010 05:08:00 PM Email to a Friend | Permalink | Comments
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Tomorrow, August 28th, is this year's annual Johnny Appleseed Day at the Bruentrup Farm, hosted by the Maplewood Area Historical Society. It's great fun for families, so be sure and stop by!

Last year we enjoyed attending, and I posted a couple of photos.

Labels: events, parks

Posted by John Nephew on 8/27/2010 07:56:00 AM Email to a Friend | Permalink | Comments
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The Taste of Maplewood will take place in Goodrich Park tomorrow from 4-10 PM and Saturday from 10 AM to 10 PM. Admission is free, and it promises to be fun for all ages, especially if you like to eat! More information is available on the city website.

Labels: events, parks

Posted by John Nephew on 8/05/2010 03:38:00 PM Email to a Friend | Permalink | Comments
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I've been watching the replay of this past week's Parks Commission meeting, in which they voted against endorsing the proposed 2011-2015 Capital Improvement Plan. Unfortunately, there seems to be a persistent confusion through the meeting about how the CIP works.

For example, one concern was the proposed spending of Park Availability Charge funds on the Gladstone Savannah. A report to the City Council summarizing the Parks Commission concerns states, “The Parks and Recreation also made a motion to fund additional projects by cutting back on the Gladstone project and all non-Gladstone PAC fees be redirected to the unfunded projects identified.”

For years, the CIP has included seemingly imminent spending on the Gladstone Savannah. But very little if any has actually been spent. Here's how the project finances were described in the four most recent CIPs:

• 2008-2012 CIP, p. 73: $900,000 to be spent in 2008; $100,000 in 2010; $500,000 in 2011; for $1.5 million total. All funds are identified as coming from the Park Development Fund.
• 2009-2013 CIP, p. 69: This page seems to be erroneous – it reports $900,000 spent in prior years (which I don't think is true); $100,000 in 2010; $500,000 in 2011. Again, all funds are listed as coming from the Park Development Fund, with a total of $1.5 million across the CIP years. I'm guessing that the intent was just to move all the same figures a year forward instead.
• 2010-2014 CIP, p. 65: This CIP listed prior year expenditures as $80,000 total. It also identifies a second funding sources: Special Assessment bonds (which were expected to be part of a redevelopment plan on the Tourist Cabins site) in addition to the Park Development Fund. Half of the prior year expenditures ($40,000 each) was to be allocated to each funding source. For 2010, we were supposedly going to spend $920,000 on the Savannah, half from the Park fund and half from Special Assessments. In 2012, $400,000 from park funds was identified; and again $400,000 in 2014. The grand total for the project in this CIP: $1.8 million.
• 2011-2015 Draft CIP, p. 61: The prior year expenditures have dropped to zero, but a third funding source — the Environmental Utility Fund (which is used for stormwater management) has been added. 2011 expenditures are listed as $1.2 million total: $200,000 from the EUF; $400,000 from Special Assessment bonds; $600,000 from the Park Development Fund. The future expenditures from the Park Development Fund are reduced to $250,000 in 2013 and $250,000 in 2015. As a result of those reductions (and the disappearing prior year expenditures), the grand total for the project in this CIP is lower, at $1.7 million.

Obviously there are some inconsistencies from one document to another, and I'll be sure to ask about that on Monday. (Do we or should we account for the spending already done on things like the soils testing that found contamination?) But the big picture is this: For at least four years in a row, our CIP has projected that we would be putting $900,000+ into the Savannah the very next year — and it has not yet actually happened.

The reason is simple. The proposed Gladstone Savannah improvements have been and remain contingent upon there actually being development moving forward in the neighborhood. Every year it seems like that might finally happen (some approvals related to the latest effort are on our agenda for Monday), and so the related parks expenditures are included in the CIP for the next year. And so far, the development has failed to materialize. With no development, and no related PAC money, the Savannah improvements keep getting pushed off into the future. Each year the details change a little bit according to whatever is the current plan in the works (will it be assessed in part to a developer? will it include stormwater management features? etc.).

While respecting and agreeing with the intent of the Parks Commission, it appears that they are asking the city to do exactly what this CIP does in practice, just as the past CIPs have done. Without development in the neighborhood, there isn't money for the Savannah; but that doesn't mean there's any funding freed up for any of the other unfunded priorities in the park system. I don't see that there are any "non-Gladstone PAC fees" here to be redirected to other projects.

Moreover, note that the amount of projected funding coming from the Park Development Fund drops from $1.5 million in 2008-2012; to $1.3 million in 2010-2014; and now to $1.1 million in 2011-2015. So besides implicitly waiting for local PAC fees to be generated by development, just like past CIPs, this draft CIP proposes using $400,000 less from the Parks fund as well.

Labels: finance, parks

Posted by John Nephew on 7/25/2010 02:06:00 PM Email to a Friend | Permalink | Comments
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Tuesday evening, July 13th, my family and I enjoyed attending the dedication ceremony at Wakefield Park for the new fishing pier and picnic shelter. A plaque was presented to the Minnesota Darkhouse & Angling Association, in appreciation for the funding they helped provide for the pier. MinnAqua did a “Let’s Fish” program with the Community Center day camp kids that evening as well, putting the new pier to immediate good use!

My wife took this picture of Mayor Rossbach and the ceremonial first cast from the new pier:

Labels: events, parks, photos

Posted by John Nephew on 7/15/2010 07:25:00 AM Email to a Friend | Permalink | Comments
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As you may have heard, Maplewood will not be hosting fireworks this year at Hazelwood Park, as has been covered by media such as the Pioneer Press, the Maplewood Review (in this week's paper, not online yet as I write this), and the Star Tribune. As all the articles explain, when we were working on the budget last year and figuring out how to absorb the impact of Pawlenty's slashing of all of our Market Value Homestead Credit without even higher tax increases, we decided that this was an area we could cut for 2010.

Personally, I'm hoping fireworks will return next year (if only because the constituent who has given me the most grief over this particular budget cut is my wife) -- but I don't think it can be something done on the city's dime alone. I'd like to see cooperation with business, perhaps even other municipalities, and even a fundraising drive to raise money from individuals.

Update: The Review article is online now.

Labels: events, media, parks

Posted by John Nephew on 6/30/2010 05:13:00 PM Email to a Friend | Permalink | Comments
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Maplewood is running an online survey about parks and recreation in our city. Input is sought from both residents and non-residents. If you can, please take a moment to follow the link and fill out the survey. Thank you!

Labels: parks

Posted by John Nephew on 4/19/2010 09:39:00 AM Email to a Friend | Permalink | Comments
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At last week's council meeting, during the discussion of options for the former CoPar property in the Fish Creek area, I made reference to an e-mail sent to the city council by the members of the now-completed Fish Creek Greenway Ad-Hoc Commission. I think it's worth sharing:

March 5, 2010

Dear Mr. Mayor and City Council Members:

On behalf of the members of the former Fish Creek Natural Area Greenway Ad-hoc Commission who are listed at the end of this letter, I am writing in support of the proposal to issue an Economic Development Authority bond to purchase the former CoPar property in south Maplewood. We believe this is a very creative approach for the city to act upon its stated desire to protect some or all of this natural area. Unfortunately, I will be out of town next week when you take up this matter, so I would like to share some thoughts regarding the proposal.

Mr. Konewko contacted me late last week to discuss this idea, shortly after the property was listed. As the chair of the former commission, I contacted all of the voting members of that commission, as well as several ex officio members, to seek their input regarding the proposal. They unanimously supported pursuing this opportunity.

Below are some of the major points that came out of those conversations:

1) The price at which the property is listed is a bargain the city is unlikely to ever see again. It also means the property is likely to sell quickly, and while no-one can predict when such a sale might occur, there is a very real concern that the property will be purchased before a referendum could be brought to the voters this November.

2) Purchase of the property would put the city “in the driver’s seat”, allowing us to ensure protection of the most sensitive areas, development trails, and public access to the creek and bluffs – thereby achieving the majority of recommendations made in the Fish Creek commission’s report to city council. It would also allow the city greater control over the design of any development that does occur, allowing us to minimize its environmental footprint.

3) Development of the northernmost parcel, along Carver Ave., makes sense and is supported by the former commission members. Having residents in this area may even help reduce misuse of the open space areas, by having more “eyes and ears” in the area, especially near the main access point to the property (Henry Lane).

4) The former commission members are still committed to the vision for Fish Creek outlined in the report to city council. They all expressed a desire to avoid development in the parcels south of Fish Creek, if at all possible. They suggested that if development of the property is phased, starting with the Carver Ave. parcel, this could provide the city the time it needs to explore a variety of funding sources to “buy back” some or all of the bond, thus reducing or eliminating the need for development in the parcels south of Fish Creek. The low list price makes it much more likely that the city could secure sufficient funds to do this and all of the partner agencies represented on the former commission (Ramsey County, Watershed District, National Park Service, Friends of the Mississippi River) expressed interest in assisting the city to seek those funds.

5) If the city still decides to pursue a referendum to prevent development of the south parcel(s), purchasing the property now allows the city to bring the referendum at a time when the economic climate might make passage more likely. Additional time would also allow the city time to engage in a better process to craft a referendum that addresses needs beyond the Fish Creek area. Moreover, the current open space referendum sunsets in 2014 and residents may be more likely to support another park/public lands referendum if it is perceived as a extension of the existing levy, rather than one added on top of it.

In summary, given the long-standing desire of the city and residents to protect this area of Maplewood, this appears to be an investment opportunity of a lifetime, and one that comes with little or no risk to the city. It allows us to obtain the property at a price we could only have dreamed of, provides us the time to seek funds to protect all of the land from development (except the Carver Ave parcel), and if we fail in that mission, the city can still recover its investment while ensuring ecologically sound development of some of the area while securing access and recreational opportunities for our residents.

We want to thank the council for the time and attention being paid to the Fish Creek greenway area in general, and this opportunity in particular. If we can provide any information to assist you in your deliberations, please let me know.

Respectfully yours,

Ginny Yingling
Commissioner, Environment & Natural Resources Commission
Members of the Fish Creek Natural Area Greenways Commission (all reviewed and approved this letter):

Cliff Aichinger, Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District
Ron Cockriel, Friends of Maplewood Nature
Ginny Gaynor, City of Maplewood
John Moriarty, Ramsey County Parks
Carolyn Peterson, Maplewood Parks Commission

Labels: development, environment, parks

Posted by John Nephew on 3/16/2010 01:35:00 PM Email to a Friend | Permalink | Comments
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This coming Monday, the city council workshop will include the presentation of the report of the Fish Creek Natural Area Greenway Ad-Hoc Commission (note: link is a 6.5 MB, 40-page PDF with numerous images, which will take a while to download if you a slower internet connection).

Labels: environment, parks

Posted by John Nephew on 1/27/2010 04:09:00 PM Email to a Friend | Permalink | Comments
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The Fish Creek Greenway Ad-Hoc Commission currently has a survey on the city's website, seeking public input about the greenway, how it's used now by residents, how it might be used in the future, and how people feel about things like spending money on conservation. If you are a resident of Maplewood or even a neighboring community, I'd strongly encourage you to fill out the survey. Even if you don't know how to get to Fish Creek, your input can still help (and there's even a "not sure where it is" option to answer the question, "How often do you visit Fish Creek or the Ramsey County Fish Creek open space?")

Please take a couple of minutes to fill out the survey today.

Labels: environment, parks

Posted by John Nephew on 11/30/2009 10:37:00 AM Email to a Friend | Permalink | Comments
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This week's Maplewood Review covers a number of city topics, including the candidates for the primary election that is now just two weeks away. Our printed copy hasn't arrived in the mail yet, but I can see quite a few new articles on the Lillie newspaper's website.

Under the headline "Seven vie for Maplewood mayor," the newspaper's managing editor, Holly Wenzel, offers profiles of six candidates, drawn from questionnaires filled out by the candidates. One candidate, Fran Grant, did not submit a questionnaire.

All eleven city council candidates did fill out their questionnaires, and the result is another article, "11 file for 2 Maplewood council seats." Candidates Julie Binko and DelRay Rokke also make an appearance on the letters to the editor page. Rokke observes that "Maplewood’s elected leadership has been sorely lacking in the eyes of the entire metropolitan community for a number of years," a chord similar to the "not been proud of our government" comment from running mate Dave Hafner in the Review two weeks ago. Binko, whose small claims suit and its failure have gotten her attention in recent newspapers, expresses her outrage that our legislators introduced bills to fund acquisition of land for conservation in Fish Creek, and that Peter Fischer and I testified in favor of one such bill earlier this year. Another letter that touches on the election appears from resident Christeen Stone.

"Applewood trail construction reaching conclusion" discusses the sustainable trail at Applewood Park, which was the topic of an informational presentation from city staff at our August 24 council meeting. Other article topics include the city manager's spending authority and when or if issues involving councilmembers should be referred to outside agencies for investigation.

Labels: campaign 2009, council politics, finance, media, parks

Posted by John Nephew on 9/03/2009 06:57:00 AM Email to a Friend | Permalink | Comments
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Yesterday was Johnny Appleseed Day, an annual event hosted by the Maplewood Area Historical Society at the Bruentrup Farm. MAHS events often bring some of the oldest and youngest residents of Maplewood together for fun in celebrating the community's heritage.

One tradition at Johnny Appleseed is the hayride across the Prairie Farm Preserve.


Speaking of youngest and oldest, at one point the city's brand new electric GEM car was parked next to a collector's Model T Ford from nearly a century ago.

Labels: events, parks, photos

Posted by John Nephew on 8/16/2009 10:11:00 AM Email to a Friend | Permalink | Comments
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One of the items on Monday's agenda is approval of an electric GEM car for the police volunteers, to be used in patrolling city parks and trails. From what I've heard, this is a welcome response to legitimate resident concerns about safety in the wake of incidents around Lake Phalen and Beaver Lake. I saw the car myself at one of the National Night Out parties I visited, and heard positive comments there and from other residents.

The original price was under $10,000, which would not require City Council approval; but with a delivery fee added to the final bill, it wound up at $10,149. Hence it appears on Monday's consent agenda.

In a number of recent e-mails copied to the rest of the council, Councilmember Hjelle has gone on the attack against this public safety initiative. I'm not entirely sure if he's more wound up by the fact that it's electric car (and thus might be seen as environmentally friendly -- Hjelle has a tag on the bottom of his e-mails that reads "Please Print this E-mail, help save jobs," to mock people who have tags asking people to avoid unnecessary printing so as to save the environment), or if he's worried that it might divert money from his fire department. Either way, it sounds like he will pull it from the consent agenda so that he can vote against it.

Labels: parks, public safety

Posted by John Nephew on 8/08/2009 09:58:00 AM Email to a Friend | Permalink | Comments
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Mayoral candidate Ken Smart addressed the city council during our truth-in-taxation hearing on December 8, 2008. He expressed concern that the city was not cutting taxes in response to the poor economy, and suggested that one way to reduce the city's budget would be to sell the Maplewood Community Center. I am told that he repeated this idea at the DFL meeting last Thursday.



Ken Smart is running as a team with city council candidates Delray Rokke and Dave Hafner.

Labels: campaign 2009, finance, parks, video

Posted by John Nephew on 8/03/2009 08:42:00 AM Email to a Friend | Permalink | Comments
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