BPHS Softball, Baseball Teams Stay on a Roll
City Council to Continue Talks With Solar Reps Page 4
Pops Concert Photos
Page 14
Pages 12, 13
ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-FOURTH YEAR
BELLE PLAINE, MINNESOTA, MAY 13, 2015
75¢ SINGLE COPY
NUMBER 20
Scott County OKs Sales Tax Hike Revenue for Roads, Transit; Wagner Casts Lone Vote Against Increase
Scott County commissioners approved a ½ percent sales tax increase yesterday morning (Tuesday, May 12) that will fund road projects and transit capital and operational expenses. The tax will begin July 1, 2015 and run through Dec. 31, 2022. It will be applied to all taxable purchases in the county. The tax also includes $20 excise tax on retail motor vehicle sales. Robin Sawdy is thrilled to be back in her apartment at Cardinal Ridge. Even though her apartment sustained no damage when a sprinkler pipe failed last February, she had to live with her daughter until last week.
‘It’s Nice to be Home’ am I,” she said. “It’s nice to be home.” The official move-in day was Friday, May 1. Tenants’ vehicles have replaced the storage pods that filled the parking lot. Sawdy, 53, had spent the past three-plus months living with her daughter and granddaughter in Belle Plaine. Sawdy has found that as she ages, she’s become less tolerant of a break in her routine. The house where she lived is cozy. Being an older house, it has steep steps to climb.
by Dan Ruud Tears were shed during a Belle Plaine City Council workshop session on May 4, during which the council took no official vote but the consensus was to deny Sawdy lives on the first floor 7-year-old Taylor Smith’s reof Cardinal Ridge for a good reason. Having endured hip replacement surgery and rehabilitation – on both hips – and a bad back, climbing steps is painful. When she wants to visit with friends who live on Scott County will test its outthe Cardinal Ridge’s second or door warning sirens in Belle third floors, Sawdy gladly uses Plaine, Shakopee and Elko New Market on Thursday, May the elevator. She also appreciates peace and 14 at 1 p.m. The test is being done to ensure a software update to Scott Cardinal Ridge County’s emergency notifica(continued on page 6) tion system was successful. There is no need for citizens to take any action during this special test. Warning sirens are in place to notify people who may be outside that hazardous conditions
low as 1 percent to as much as 3 percent on to the basic education formula during the coming biennium. Other than waiting for funding from the legislature, school district options for raising revenue are limited, said Superintendent Kelly Smith. Without additional revenue, increasing costs would push the board into options that would likely impact the classroom, decisions that would increase class sizes or reduce learning options like electives. “I don’t think any of us at the table want to do that,” said Director Dan Gardner. In Belle Plaine, the commitment to educational technology and other ongoing expenses has prompted the school board to take an increasingly large dip into its operating reserves.
Missing Le Sueur Woman’s Body Found in River Deputies searching for Moriah Zwart found her body floating in the Minnesota River last Wednesday afternoon (May 6), ending days of searching for her after a camping trip along a sand bar near Le Sueur. The 20-year-old’s body was found in the river’s main channel, about 2½ miles downstream from the sandbar southwest of Le Sueur where she was last seen. A county medical examiner is performing an autopsy to determine the cause of Zwart’s death. Zwart was last seen Friday morning (May 1) after an overnight camping trip on a sand
bar. She and a friend had been drinking and the two became separated, accord ing to Le Sueur County Sheriff Dave Tietz. The friend walked to Zwart’s house. Sheriff’s deputies and police were called and a search began.
An Early Target
The proposed interchange at the intersection of highways 169 and 41 would likely be the county’s first target for using the new revenue, said Lisa Freese, Scott County’s transportation
Sales Tax Hike
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quest to raise chickens in her yard that is in the city limits, which is currently not allowed in residentially-zoned districts. The decision came a few weeks after Mayor Mike Pingalore met Taylor during a Break-
fast With the Mayor gathering at McDonald’s in Belle Plaine. It was then that Taylor initially asked Pingalore about the
Council Denies
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Warning Sirens to Sound Thursday
School District Levy Request Looking More Likely This Fall Although the amount of money to be requested and the duration of an operating levy are yet to be determined, it seems increasingly likely the Belle Plaine School Board will invite voters to the polls this fall. During a workshop Monday evening, the school board discussed the need for an excess operating levy and the options for how much to request. The request, if approved, would be intended to help the school district, fund its operating costs with more certainty than waiting for what increases that might come from the Minnesota Legislature. State lawmakers are expected to complete a K-12 educationfunding package this week after closed-door talks between a House-Senate conference committee. The options could be as
way 169 frontage road system north of Jordan, additional capacity to the Bloomington Ferry Bridge, bridges along County Road 17 south of Shakopee, intersection improvements at the junction of County Road 42 and Highway 13 in Savage, corridor improvements along Highway 13.
Council Denies Girl’s Request to Raise Chickens in the City Limits
With Repairs Completed, Cardinal Ridge Residents Return She woke up early last Saturday morning (May 2) uncertain of where she was. It took Robin Sawdy a minute to realize she was in her own bed in the apartment she calls home. Nearly four months after a portion of a broken dry stand water main pipe over the third floor failed, sending thousands of gallons of water onto the apartments below, Sawdy and the displaced residents of Cardinal Ridge were able to move back into their apartments. “I thought, where the heck
The tax is expected to generate $6 million annually. The county will use the money on projects that are nearly ready to begin or need local funding to complement state or federal money to begin. The list of projects includes the overpass of Highway 169 in Belle Plaine near County Road 3. Other projects include interchanges at highways 169 and 282, highways 169 and 41 in Jackson Township, Interstate Highway 35 and County Road 2 (plus bridge replacement) in Elko New Market, and at the intersection of Highway 13 and Chowen Avenue in Savage. Other projects the tax revenue could help fund include a High-
are in their area and they need to take shelter immediately. The Scott County outdoor sirens are activated for severe weather if winds have been measured at 70mph or greater, a tornado has been spotted, or a tornado warning has been issued. Scott County only sets off sirens in the area of the county that has been included in the storm warning. All sirens go off for three minutes when activated and then they automatically turn off. There is no “all clear”
Without new revenue, those reserves will be depleted by the 2017-18 school year. Negotiations on a new twoyear contract with the unions representing the district’s teachers and para-professionals and support staff are expected to begin later this spring or summer. Staffing is the school district’s largest ongoing cost, topping busing and heating/cooling the district’s buildings.
with the sirens during weather events. Scott County citizens are encouraged to have more than one means of getting weather alerts such as a weather radio, signing up for CodeRED on the Scott County website, or by monitoring TV or radio. If you wish to sign up for CodeRED weather alerts and do not have access to a computer, contact Scott County Emergency Management at 952-496-8181 and they will register you over the phone.
Possibilities
Board members considered asking voters for amounts ranging from an additional $320 per student to $620 per student, requests that would generate anywhere from $410,000 to $902,000 in additional revenue annually. School Board Chairman Mike Ludvik likened the $320 request to “putting a roof over our heads and not getting the hot tub. There’s nothing exciting about it,” he said. The request, if approved, would cost the owners of a $200,000 house or business anywhere from $97.91 to $228.37 more per year on the property taxes to the school district. The board just enacted $222,050 in reductions to the growth of next year’s (2015-16) budget. The reduction in spending largely impacts para-professionals and a junior-senior high school counselor. The board has set its fund balance policy at 10 percent of operating costs, making additional cuts likely without additional revenue,
School District
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Members of the Belle Plaine Archery Subcommittee include (from left) Ashton Pankonin, Liann Hanson, Chris Kehr, Chelsea Alger, Kent Zimmerman, Wyatt Herrmann and Dan Townsend (not pictured: Tom Gillespie and David Steinmetz).
Belle Plaine Eyes League Award to Improve Archery Range
Belle Plaine is hoping the work done to date and the potential of its archery range is enough to land a $1,0000 grant from the League of Minnesota Cities. The city is applying for a City of Excellence Parks & Recreation Programs and Projects Award. Later this month, the LMC will present one $1,000 award to the city with the winning entry. Belle Plaine hopes to use the award money for improvements at the range. The award recognizes collaboration between a city and its residents and groups, said Chelsea Alger, Belle Plaine’s Community Development director. The ar-
chery range recently received platform, a $1,500 donation from the Belle Plaine Chamber of Commerce. The donation also includes new targets and archery stands. Wyatt Herrmann completed his Eagle Scout project building target frames at the range. The range opened in the summer of 2014. It is located on two acres of the 24 acres Scott County owns on County Road 6 (Union Trail/the Blakeley road) just beyond Belle Plaine city limits. Since opening in 2014, the Belle Plaine Archery Park has been heavily utilized by the community, according to the
city’s application, and has been commended “as a great addition to the recreational opportunities provided in the city.” Several of the targets have been replaced due to significant use. The archery park was “designed to suit everyone from the beginner archer to the experienced bow hunter,” according to the application. The archery park has been “a popular recreational option since opening,” the application states. The city continues to discuss funding and expansion opportunities to build on what has already been created.