Six Panthers Earn All-MRC Honors
St. Patrick’s Medallion Hunt Enters Final Week
Boys’ Basketball Team Falls to Maple River in Section Championship Page 15
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ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-FIFTH YEAR
BELLE PLAINE, MINNESOTA, MARCH 9, 2016
75¢ SINGLE COPY
NUMBER 10
Chard Tiling Awarded Bid for Street Improvement Project
Lauren Murphy, left, and Rachel Fahey are Belle Plaine’s 2016 Miss Shamrock candidates.
St. Pat’s Events Saturday Prize to Go to Most AuthenticDressed Leprechaun in Parade No one is too big, small, old or young to dress as a leprechaun and that may be proven as Belle Plaine holds its annual St. Patrick’s Parade and festivities downtown this Saturday in what is forecast to be April-like weather. You must march in the parade to be eligible for the $100 prize. Saturday’s festivities will start with the noon Mass at Our Lady of the Prairie Catholic Church. Parade participants will lineup outside the church after the mass and commence their march through downtown
at about 1 p.m. Parade participants are asked to continue their march all the way to the State Bank of Belle Plaine (do not quit at Main and Meridian streets). Members of the Twin Cities Metro Pipe Band will perform at the mass and the parade. They will also perform in various downtown establishments following the post-parade program. There are two Miss Shamrock candidates. They are Belle Plaine High School juniors Rachel Fahey, daughter of Brian
by Dan Ruud The Belle Plaine City Council Monday night unanimously awarded the bid for the city’s 2016 street and utility improvement project to Chard Tiling and Excavating of Belle Plaine. Chard’s bid was $1,169,798.60, which is $155,470 below the city engineer’s construction estimate of $1,325,268.25. The only other bid received was from RAW Construction of Faribault at $1,530.581.10. Approximately 75 percent of the cost will be paid by the city and 25 percent through assessments to benefitting property owners. A final assessment public hearing will take place later this year after most of the project has been completed. This year’s project consists of street and infrastructure im-
provements on Forest Street East, as well as one block of Oak Street North and two blocks of Court Street East. Also included will be the construction of a sidewalk on the south side of Forest Street to the street’s eastern terminus. The project will also include significant upgrades to the stormwater system at the floodprone intersection of Oak and Forest streets. Also included as an alternate for the project is the paving of the Beaver Street cul-de-sac. The property was sold in 2015, resulting in a development agreement requirement that the cul-de-sac be improved, which will be 100 percent assessed. In other business Monday night, the council unanimously authorized the execution of a memorandum of understanding
with the Scott County Community Development Agency for 2016 economic development incentive grants. The grants will help move forward three local projects: – Assist in the platting of commercial property adjacent to Hickory Boulevard and Main Street. Two-thirds of the project will be funded by the grant ($11,352) and one-third by the owner of the property, Les Buesgens. The 35-acre site is located adjacent to the interchange at the intersection of highways 169 and 25. It was noted that the proposed activity will “bring the property to shovel-ready status” for if and when development occurs. – Conduct a feasibility study
City Council
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and Leann Fahey; and Lauren Murphy, daughter of Joe and Jean Murphy. Miss Shamrock will receive $500 and the Princess $100. The reigning Miss Shamrock is Felicity Mecredy, who will crown her replacement. The princesses are Courtney Fogarty, Jenna Seaver and Alyssa Wentworth. This year’s Irish Lads are Jed Fahey, Carter Piche and Brenden Solheid. The emcee for the post-parade program is Margaret McCue Morrison. Following the post-parade program downtown, the local Hibernians are sponsoring a traditional Irish music band at Belle Plaine firefighters needed about 45 minutes to bring a grass fire on the 17400 block of the Corner Bar Rustic Room. 263rd Street in Blakeley Township under control Sunday afternoon. The fire started when the property owner lost control of a small fire. About four acres near the Wild 80 -- a state-owned tract of land that has never been farmed or logged -- in Blakeley Township burned. Blustery winds blew the flames away from nearby woods.
Grass Fire
County Planning Commission Turns Its Gaze to Blakeley Solar Power, Dog Breeding Operation on the Agenda
Sue and Bob Fahey will be the grand marshals for Saturday’s annual St. Patrick’s parade in Belle Plaine.
Bob, Sue Fahey St. Patrick’s Day Parade’s Grand Marshals
Bob Fahey typically spent St. Patrick’s parades standing along the boulevard, watching members of the other Irish clans stroll from church to downtown Belle Plaine. The marching was left to his wife Sue, their children and the rest of the Faheys. The approach to paradewatching fits Fahey’s soft-spoken, understated manor. But Saturday (March 12), The Faheys will be the center of attention. Bob and Sue are this year’s grand marshals of the annual parade from Our Lady of the Prairie to downtown Belle Plaine.
The Faheys were on the short list of potential grand marshals. John Bailey, the member of the organizing committee charged with selecting a grand marshal for the annual St. Patrick’s parade looks for tenure in the community, a rich Irish heritage and commitment to Belle Plaine. Bob and Sue Fahey topped the list this year. Bailey liked the idea that Bob has always maintained a positive outlook on life, despite facing many challenges growing up. “Bob’s always got a smile. He’s just a great guy,” Bailey
said. “He and Sue were an easy choice.” Bailey expected he’d need to resort to a hard sell. But the day after pitching the idea to Fahey, the lifelong Belle Plaine area resident willingly accept the invitation. “It’s been a while since a Fahey has been a grand marshal,” Bob Fahey said. His cousin,
Grand Marshals (continued on page 6)
A new solar garden and dogbreeding kennel are on the Scott County Planning Advisory Commission’s agenda Monday evening (March 14), 6:30 p.m., at the Government Center in Shakopee. The Scott County Planning Advisory Commission will consider a conditional-use permit for a 5-megawatt solar garden on Union Trail (County Road 1) in Blakeley Township, just north of the county road’s intersection with West 250th Street (County Road 51). It is on a 40-acre tract owned by Bonita and John Kane. The land is free of buildings, woodland and wetlands and is farmed. ScottSun is proposing to lease the land from the Kanes. The company is proposing to use 35 of the 40 acres. The solar panels will be on concrete foundations 8 to 12 feet into the ground. If the CUP is granted, they will be set 150 feet from the centerline of County Road 1 (Union Trail) and 100 feet from the side property boundaries. They will be mounted on a racking system, 15 feet apart and 10 feet into the air. They will be dark blue in color, coated with a material designed to minimize reflection
and maximize absorption of sunlight. The county says ScottSun is required to erect a 6-foot-tall chain link fence around the solar garden with 4-foot-tall evergreens along County Road 1 and the north side of the solar garden, the closest side to existing residences. The trees will be 12 feet apart. Blakeley Township is requesting additional screening. It is also seeking a 50-50 split in the $13,000 in production tax the
project will generate, said Robert Wagner, a Blakeley Town-
Blakeley
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Spring Forward Saturday Night Daylight Savings Time begins early this Sunday morning, meaning you should set your clocks ahead one hour before going to bed Saturday night.
Bus in Shakopee, Lone Passenger Hit by Gunfire Monday afternoon (March 7), a Metro Mobility bus and one of its passengers was struck by gunfire in eastern Shakopee. Around 2:15 p.m., along Stagecoach Road near the Highway 169 bus ramp, police were notified an unknown object struck the bus. They discovered a bullet hit the bus and struck the only passenger aboard, Matthew David Munz. The passenger, a 45-year-old man from Savage, was transported to Hennepin County Medical Center. Tuesday, he was listed in satisfactory condition. Shakopee police are uncertain if the shooting was accidental or a criminal act.
Shakopee Police Chief Jeff Tate said investigators have yet to determine if Munz was targeted or, perhaps more likely, “just in the wrong place at the wrong time.” Officers from area police departments, the Scott County Sheriff’s Office and Minnesota State Patrol searched for the shooter on land and from the air Monday. They are reviewing camera footage from a nearby railroad yard and area roadways. Anyone with information on the shooting should contact the Shakopee Police Department at 952-233-9400.