COUNTRY
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 9, 2017
Serving Marine on St. Croix, Scandia, May Township
VOL. 34 NO. 15 www.countrymessenger.com $.75
SCANDIA ROADS: Council considers debt plan. PAGE 6
May Township responds to growing popularity of short-term rentals
Scandia plans repeal on solar BY KYLE WEAVER CONTRIBUTING WRITER
For the City of Scandia, six solar farms seem to be plenty. The Scandia City Council has made plans to close the door on commercial solar energy production within city limits, after directing city staff last week to draft a repeal of the city’s Community Solar Garden ordinance. During their Aug. 2 meeting, the council had discussed a second yearlong moratorium on new solar projects, prompted in part by neighbors raising objections to two of the farms seeking conditional use permits in recent months. Under the terms of a repeal, the city's six major solar farms that have already been permitted through the existing rules will still be
BY NEALY CORCORAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
NEIL SOLTIS
Only the first of Scandia's six approved solar farms has been installed. The Scandia City Council last week initiated the process of repealing a 2015 ordinance allowing solar farms.
installed and allowed to operate. No new applications would be accepted. Residential solar arrays would still be allowed, though the council didn’t discuss how small a solar farm must be to be considered “residential.”
Mayor Christine Maefsky expressed concern that continued installations would bring harm to Scandia’s rural residential viewsheds. Councilman Steve Kronmiller also noted the environmental concerns raised during
the recent approval of the Woolford farm off Manning Trail north of Highway 97. But Councilman Bob Hegland took those concerns and talk of a moratorium a step further.
As vacation rental websites like Airbnb and VRBO grow in popularity, May Township officials are considering how to regulate the kind of short-term rentals they engender. The cloud-based marketplaces enable property owners to lease anything from a single bedroom to the entire house, with or without the owner present. In July, board members noted that occurrences at properties on small lakes had made it clear that the rental activity needs some level of regulation. Other municipalities are dealing with the same issue. A study done for the Saint Paul City Council concluded that the city should regulate such dwellings to ensure fire safety, confirm that appropriate taxes are being collected, and communicate with SEE TOWNSHIP, PAGE 5
SEE COUNCIL, PAGE 2
Pine trees browning after July hail damage Many may recover, says DNR BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@OSCEOLASUN.COM
Pine trees turning brown after hailstorm strikes earlier this summer are not necessarily dying, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources said last week. Following heavy winds and hail on July 12, red pines in a 14-mile path from the Hugo area to Scandia and Marine on St. Croix have been showing signs of diplodia, a fungal disease that causes their needles to turn red or brown. Conifers in southwestern Polk County, Wis., are showing similar symptoms caused by the same storms, said Wisconsin DNR forester Paul Heimstead. Hail damage to the trees gives the fungus, which is already present on the pines, an opportunity to infect the shoots with blight, browning the outer limbs. Many of the trees still have a chance, according to Minnesota DNR forester Jeff Wilder, who said most will survive if there is SEE TREES, PAGE 2
STEPHANIE LEGROS
Lying on the Lift Bridge GREG JOHNSON
On cycling trips, Greg Johnson of Marine on St. Croix noticed stands of Norway pine, also known as red pine, turning brown. These photos were taken on Mayberry Trail in Scandia. According to the DNR, the diplodia fungus is attacking trees that were damaged by hail earlier this summer.
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Local Stillwater boys James Kalmon, age 10, Jack Kalmon, age 8, and Nick Clark, age 10, lie down on the Stillwater Lift Bridge after the last cars drive across it on Aug. 2. “They are excited to get their town back,” said Stephanie LeGros, mother of James and Jack.
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