COUNTRY
Serving Marine on St. Croix, Scandia, May Township
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 15, 2017 VOL. 33 NO. 46 www.countrymessenger.com $.75
CLOSED SCHOOLS: Bill would allow cities first chance to purchase PAGE 2
Restoration Society uncovers history of forgotten bridge
Sheriff Bill Hutton will leave to head sheriffs’ association BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@COUNTRYMESSENGER.COM
COURTESY OF THE MARINE RESTORATION SOCIETY
Eastern elevation of the keystone arch bridge on private property. JESSICA ANDERSON CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Marine on St. Croix is well known as an historic town. People flock here to take photos of the old buildings and to learn more about the town’s beginnings. However, the story behind a little known historic landmark is only now being rediscovered. Underneath Judd Street, which runs through the city center, right in front of Burris Park, lies
an old culvert surrounded by sandy colored building stones which, on the west elevation, were almost entirely buried. “It just looked like a drainage ditch from the park,” stated Fitzie Heimdahl, a member of the Marine Restoration Society. The Restoration Society has been working with the City of Marine and the Bluestem Heritage Group, a research company based in St. Paul, to uncover the history of these stones since April 2016.
The city has approved a budget of over $10,000 for the project, $3,500 of which has gone into researching the landmark’s history. They have discovered that the stones originally made up a keystone arch bridge that was part of the Point Douglass Military Road, which was planned to run from Hastings to Superior, although it was never completed. They believe the bridge was built SEE BRIDGE, PAGE 7
Out with trout, say Square Lake residents BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@COUNTRYMESSENGER.COM
Fun to catch and tasty to eat, the chance to fish for trout is prized by many anglers. But residents of Square Lake are resisting an effort by the Department of Natural Resources to stock the lake with rainbow trout after a years-long break. Those who live on the lake say trout, stocked each spring and fall from the 1970s until 2013, encouraged algae growth in the lake, which is renowned for its clear waters. And a study conducted during a trout-stocking morato-
Washington County Sheriff Bill Hutton announced plans last week to step down midterm, transitioning to the executive directorship of the Minnesota Sheriffs’ Association. His last day will be April 30, and he will begin work at the sheriffs’ association May 1. Hutton was elected in 2006 and re-elected in 2010 and 2014, leading during a time that saw outreach efforts such as Coffee with Cops and Scoops with Troops established. His term would have ended in 2018. He told the Pioneer Press that he never planned to run for a fourth term, but that it was a difficult decision to take the association’s job offer, based on the timing. The county board will begin to consider Hutton’s successor this week. He has recommended Chief Deputy Dan Starry to the post. Starry joined the department as a deputy in 1993 and became Hutton’s second in com-
Hutton
mand in October 2010. Jim Franklin, the current executive of the Minnesota Sheriffs’ Association, called Hutton an excellent choice for his successor. “He has the respect of the sheriffs in greater Minnesota,” he told the Pioneer Press. “He is a knowledgeable sheriff in Washington County and the metro area, and he is a respected leader in the law enforcement community.” The association helps to train and educate law enforcement in sheriffs’ offices statewide. Franklin will keep his position with the Minnesota Sheriffs’ Association until the end of the year to allow time for a smooth transition.
Marine may be branching out JESSICA ANDERSON CONTRIBUTING WRITER
torium. At a watershed district meeting last week, Hembre, who
In the light of recent work being done in the City of Marine regarding its urban forest and becoming a Green Steps City, the council is considering taking further steps to become a Tree City USA. Founded in 1976 by the Arbor Day Foundation, Tree City USA is a program that “provides the framework necessary for communities to manage and expand their public trees” according to the foundation’s website. The process required to gain this recognition is made up of four steps or standards. The first is to form a tree board or department, which can be made up of private citizens or city officials.
SEE TROUT, PAGE 2
SEE BRANCHING OUT, PAGE 11
LIQUID ART | WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Residents who live on Square Lake are resisting an effort by the Department of Natural Resources to stock rainbow trout after a years-long moratorium has come to an end.
rium seems to support those claims. According to Leif Hembre, a biology professor and department NEWS 651-433-3845 editor@countrymessenger.com
chair at Hamline University, the lake’s water was “significantly clearer” from 2013 through 2015, during the moraADVERTISING 651-433-3845 sales@osceolasun.com
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