COUNTRY
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2016
Serving Marine on St. Croix, Scandia, May Township
VOL. 33 NO. 19 www.countrymessenger.com $.75
MARINE ELEMENTARY: New staff members for school year. PAGE 2
Judge dismisses suit against Stillwater school district BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@COUNTRYMESSENGER.COM
SUBMITTED
Injecting Marine on St. Croix’s Montfort Ash with an insecticide that will protect the tree from the invasive Emerald Ash Borer for about three years.
A tree worth saving: protecting the Montfort Ash BY JOHN GOODFELLOW SPECIAL TO THE MESSENGER
On the north side of Marine on St. Croix sits an ash tree. In front of the tree, a plaque dedicates “this green space to Montfort Dunn on the occasion of his 97th birthday (May 15, 2004).” It is a tree at risk, and a tree worth saving. A serious threat to forest and landscape trees is beginning to make its presences known in the St. Croix River Valley. The inevitable infestation by Emerald Ash Borer (EAB), an aggressive invasive species, will have a devastating impact on the three species of ash (Fraxinus spp) found in the
region. EAB, as the name implies, is a wood-boring insect. It kills trees by girdling them below the bark, interrupting the flow of nutrients between the root system and crown. The unfortunate result will be near 100 percent mortality in the population of ash trees. While landscape-scale treatment of native forests for EAB is impractical, individual trees can be protected. One method involves injecting a systemic insecticide into a tree’s trunk, and has been used effectively to preserve large and significant veteran trees in other communities that have experienced the loss of ash due to EAB
infestation. The Montfort Ash in Marine on St Croix is such a tree. The Montfort Ash was recently treated as a preventive measure in anticipation of the arrival of EAB in the community. The insecticide, once injected into the tree around the root collar, moves up throughout the crown, and is expected to provide protection against EAB for as long as three years. There is no uncertainty that the EAB infestation is coming, it’s just a matter of when. But the veteran Montfort Ash will survive and provide witness to the inevitable loss of ash from our urban and natural forests.
A lawsuit accusing the Stillwater Area School District of violating promises made to voters in a 2015 bond referendum was dismissed last week. The suit, brought by district parent Melissa Douglas last March, alleged that the district had outlined specific improvements at schools leading up to the passage of a $97.5 million bond referendum in May 2015. Six months later, the district announced plans to close three schools that had been included in the plan: Marine, Withrow and Oak Park elementaries. Douglas, a city plan-
ner for more than two decades, argued that the district should be required to make the promised improvements or send the bond question back to voters. The case was not a review of the district’s decision to close the schools, which is being evaluated by the Minnesota Court of Appeals in a pending suit. In his Aug. 30 decision, Washington County Judge John McBride agreed that the district had abandoned a portion of the project authorized by the referendum, but ruled that such action was within legal SEE SCHOOL DISTRICT, PAGE 8
How the Lions caught a celebrity grand marshal BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@COUNTRYMESSENGER.COM
Voices heard above idling May trains BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@COUNTRYMESSENGER.COM
Noisy train engines are still idling regularly behind homes on 120th Street near Norell Avenue, but town officials hope a spotlight on the issue will provide some leverage in their efforts to work with federal authorities and Canadian National, the railway responsible for the noise. Recent coverage by the Pioneer Press and KSTP TV has brought increased attention to the issue of the idling engines (the Messenger ran a story Aug. 24).
SUZANNE LINDGREN | COUNTRY MESSENGER
A train idles near the intersection of the Canadian National rail line and Norell Avenue in May Township.
Both major news outlets quoted Town Chair Bill Voedisch saying he has documented the engines running above the NEWS 651-433-3845 editor@countrymessenger.com
70-decibel limit for trains manufactured after 1979. The railroad is exempt from local noise regulations such as the ADVERTISING 651-433-3845 sales@osceolasun.com
township’s noise and nuisance ordinance, and instead falls under the jurisdiction of the Federal Railway Administration (FRA). The FRA has agreed to measure noise at the site to determine whether Canadian National is in violation of federal regulations, but hasn’t yet made concrete plans to do so, attorney Dave Snyder told the town board last Thursday. And it’s not clear whether that visit will resolve the problem. “It may turn out that
The truth is, it didn’t take much convincing. “A friend called me and I said I’d be glad to do it,” said former U.S. Vice President Walter Mondale, recounting the day Scandia-Marine Lion Tom Triplett asked him to act as grand marshal of the Taco Daze parade. “I have friends in Scandia and it’s always nice to be around them. And I’ve seen the Taco Daze signs around town for years. It’s interesting, a bunch of Swedes with a sort of Mexican theme for their town festival.” Although Mondale lives in Minneapolis, he’s had a place on the St. Croix River since 1992 and calls Scandia his “second home.” Mondale’s interest in Mondale the area was piqued in the 1960s as he worked with Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson to pass the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, legislation that
SEE TRAINS, PAGE 9
SEE GRAND MARSHAL, PAGE 9
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