Belle Plaine Boy Looks to Continue Hockey Career
All-MRC Boys’ and Girls’ Hoops Teams
More St. Patrick’s Photos Page 12
Page 11
Page 11
ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-SIXTH YEAR
BELLE PLAINE, MINNESOTA, march 22, 2017
75¢ SINGLE COPY
NUMBER 12
City Council Okays Plans for Cricket Fields Near Oak Crest Indoor Firing Ranges to be a Permitted Use in City
Irish Eyes Were Smilin’ Saturday Saturday (March 18), Belle Plaine celebrated St. Patrick’s Day in grand style. The day’s festivities began with Mass at Our Lady of the Prairie Catholic Church, followed by a parade of Irish Clans from the church to downtown. The Knights of Columbus led the parade. (Above) The Sullivan sisters – Jeanette Gloege (standing), Joan Hartmann (center) and Theresa “Tilly” Sullivan were the parade’s grand marshals. (Below) A representative of the Fogarty family proudly displayed the family’s winning entry in the unique Celtic Cross contest. They won $100. The day’s festivities included performances by the Metropolitan Pipe Band in downtown establishments. Mild weather allowed plenty of merriment. North Meridian Street was blocked off to vehicle traffic.
Payton is Family’s ‘Miracle’ Baby
by Dan Ruud Two weeks after okaying the annexation of 10 acres from Belle Plaine Township for the project, the Belle Plaine City Council Monday night unanimously approved the site plan, preliminary plat and comprehensive plan amendment for a privately-funded cricket field complex east of Oak Crest Elementary School. Project engineer Paul Otto and Sabyasachi Sengupta of Chaska, the latter of whom recently purchased the 10-acre site from Ewald and Adella Gruetzmacher, addressed the council during the public hearing. They explained that plans for the complex call for two regulation-size cricket fields and a youth field. Also included will be parking and viewing areas. Future plans call for a 5,000-square-foot clubhouse and a dome over the youth field. “There is a lot of money going into this,” Otto said. Construction of the complex, which will be called Tatiana Fields, is proposed to begin this year. Sengupta said the complex will be named after his late wife, who died of cancer in October of 2015. She was 40 yards old. Sengupta said he plans to bring in cricket players/teams from the metro area, Canada and elsewhere to play in games and tournaments at the complex. He also wants to work with the school district and community education, etc. to make the complex accessible to local youth. The youth field will be multi-purpose in that soccer and lacrosse will be played on it as well, while field one will be used almost entirely for cricket.
Sabyasachi Sengupta attended Monday night’s city council meeting. Field two will be multi-purpose but not as much so as the youth field. Wayne Schmidt, who owns property adjacent to where the complex will be built, told the council that he’s supportive of the project but would like to make sure that proper fencing is installed. Cricket is a bat and ball game played on a circular field between two teams of eleven players who score runs (points) by running between posts called wickets. Each of the wickets is at one end of a rectangle of flattened grass called the pitch. Sengupta said cricket is the second-most popular sport in the “world” behind soccer, and is one of the fastest-growing sports in the U.S. According to Topend Sports, Field hockey is No. 3 and tennis is No. 4 worldwide. The site plan for Tatiana Fields is published on page 9. In other business Monday night, the council unanimously approved an amendment to the city ordinance that will allow for indoor firing ranges in the city. Staff reported that in December members of the city’s planning and zoning commission began discussing indoor firing ranges following an inquiry to
one of its members. “At this time, indoor firing ranges are not specifically provided for within city code, as they are deemed prohibited,” reported Community Development Director Cynthia Smith Strack. She added that the planning and zoning commission reviewed zoning standards in communities with indoor firing ranges, including Chanhassen, Burnsville and Robbinsdale, along with sample code language from the cities of Jordan and St. Joseph. Smith Strack said the Belle Plaine Planning and Zoning Commission found that indoor firing ranges “under a conditional use permit in business and industrial zones may be appropriate and provide for economic opportunity that is currently disallowed.” Council Member Cary Coop asked Police Chief Tom Stolee about his thoughts on allowing indoor firing ranges in the city. Stolee said he has no concerns with the new ordinance and its conditions. Smith Strack said the city has not been contacted by anyone interested in building an indoor firing range in Belle Plaine at this time, but rather the planning and zoning commissioners just felt that it’s best the city have an ordinance in place if and when a proposal is made. No one spoke at the public hearing that preceded the council’s vote. *Unanimously approved an ordinance that will require a license for commercial tree contractors to do business within Belle Plaine’s city limits. The public works committee had recommended approval of the
City Council
(continued on page 2)
Annual Breakfast to Support B.P. Child, Family There was a time when Matt Smith’s confidence was tested as he fought to maintain hope his daughter, Payton, would survive the first few weeks and months of her fragile life. He relied on his wife, Sarah, and the little girl’s fighting spirit, her smile, to bolster his faith in the future. Sunday (March 26, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.) is another step in the future for Payton Smith and her family of Belle Plaine. They are the guests of honor at the 10th Annual Roman Barten Memorial Breakfast at the Knights of Columbus Hall in New Prague. The pancake breakfast is a community service project held each year in the memory of Roman Barten, a strong advocate of giving back to the community. The breakfast is a free-will offering with all proceeds going to benefit the Smith family. Sarah and Matt Smith met in Burnsville when they were in high school. They were married in 2006. They have a son and daughter, 6-year-old Austin and his sister, Taylor, 9. In 2015, the couple learned they were expecting a third child. But doctors detected something wrong with Sarah’s baby during the 20-week ultrasound. After several tests, they determined the baby was afflicted with Dandy-Walker Malformation, a condition in which part of the child’s brain did not develop. In addition, the cerebellum – the portion of the
brain that controls functions including balance and other muscular activity – was displaced. Doctors told Sarah and Matt their child’s quality of life would at best be minimal. Her life might be short-lived. They discussed, for only a moment, terminating the pregnancy. Sarah rejected the idea, choosing unconditional love for her unborn child over any anguish she might endure should
doctors’ worst fears come to pass. The doctors were not certain Payton would be able to survive long after birth. “I had to hold her,” Sarah said. “Even if she lived only an hour, I had to hold her.” Sarah refused to accept the notion of planning her daugh-
Payton
(continued on page 10)
Michael Kroells had his hand raised several times at this past weekend’s NCAA Championships in St. Louis (photo courtesy of Gophers wrestling).
Kroells is Three-Time All-American
Payton Smith, being held by her mother, Sarah, and the rest of the Belle Plaine family will be the guests of honor at Sunday’s (March 26, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.) Barten Memorial Breakfast at the Knights of Columbus Hall in New Prague. Born Dec. 10, 2015, Payton suffers from Dandy-Walker Malformation. Sarah and Matt Smith also have a 6-year-old son, Austin, and a 9-year-old daughter, Taylor.
Belle Plaine High School graduate Michael Kroells capped his Minnesota Gophers wrestling career by earning his third All-American status at this past weekend’s NCAA Championships in St. Louis, Mo., where Kroells placed seventh in the heavyweight division. Kroells finished his Gophers career in dominate fashion, taking down Denzel Dejournette (Appalachian State) fewer than 20 seconds into their bout and building from there, ultimately scoring bonus points for Minnesota by earning a 17-2 tech fall. The match was a dramatic departure from Kroells’ doubleovertime win over Dejournette
in the second round of the tournament on Thursday evening. “The heavyweight tradition Kroells kept here for the University of Minnesota as a threetime All-American is incredible,” said Gophers head coach Brandon Eggum. “He’s a great kid and a great leader. It was awesome to see him tech fall his last opponent and end his career like that.” Kroells’ All-American performance, his third straight, continues a strong history of podium finishes from Minnesota’s biggest wrestlers. The Gophers have now had an All-American at heavyweight 20 times in the
past 25 years. Kroells, the son of Larry Kroells and Laura Cunningham, and Lori Kroells, graduated from BPHS in 2012. In high school, he was a combined 97-0 for Scott West his last two years, winning state individual titles in 2011 and 2012, the latter year of which he was named Mr. Minnesota Wrestling. Kroells is the second Scott West wrestler to become a three-time All-American. Pat McNamara did it at Michigan State from 1998-2001.