COUNTRY
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2016
Serving Marine on St. Croix, Scandia, May Township
VOL. 33 NO. 24 www.countrymessenger.com $.75
KAYAK TRIP: The homestretch. PAGE 9
Scandia Candidates seek to balance growth, preservation BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@COUNTRYMESSENGER.COM
Scandia voters will choose from a wide roster of candidates for mayor and council this year. Incumbent mayor Randall Simonson is defending the seat against planning commission chair Christine Maefsky. On the council, where two seats are up for election, incumbent Chris Ness faces 12-year watershed district rep Steve Kronmiller, former New Scandia Township board member Lisa Crum, business owner Robert Pilz, and former planning commission members and business owners Susan Rodsjo and Jan Hogle. Dan Lee, the other would-be incumbent, is not seeking re-election. Below, many of the candidates have answered questions about their skills and visions for the future of Scandia. A candidates’ forum will be held at 7 p.m., Oct. 13 at the Scandia Community Center. The forum, sponsored by TA-COS (Take Action — Conserve Our Scandia), will be moderated by Kristin Tuenge.
Mayor Randall Simonson What abilities and experiences make you the best candidate to represent the people of Scandia as their mayor? I am a native Scandia resident and use common sense. I’m an honorably retired United State Air Force Veteran; my 20 years of experience allowed me opportunities to demonstrate leadership, management, diplomacy, conflict reso-
lution, safety, development and disaster management. In my younger life I also served on the Scandia Fire Depa r t ment Simonson and also recently served as a tour guide for the Gammelgården Museum and presently serving on the Forest Lake Cable Commission. As the mayor of Scandia currently serving my sixth year I am well seasoned in working with issues and seeing the benefits of positive growth in our community. What are one or two of the most pressing issues for Scandia right now and, if elected, how would you work to handle them? To continue to let the people’s voices be heard and to listen to them, particularly as it relates to the update of the city's comprehensive plan. The city has not experienced zero population growth, but within that there is a large increase in population over 60 and a decrease in the school age population. It all has a negative impact from our local bank to our school and fire department. We need to rezone areas of Scandia to allow lifecycle housing with smaller density requirements to accommodate the aging population and young families as well as create more opportunities for local businesses. The lack of growth has also led to limitations on broadband internet service to our community. We have approximately 75 percent of our residents with no reliable access to any broadband service. This has a
negative impact on our business opportunities as well as our most important resources: our families and the children needing it for schoolwork as well as the adults’ needs for online service and homebased businesses. We, as in all of us, make our communities strong and successful if we bring all of our ideas to the table and watch them come to life. What kind of growth do you envision for Scandia in the next 25 years? I would like to see an expansion of small to medium sized businesses in our community as well as more families with children to preserve the strength of our school and with the population growth brings the servant’s heart that makes our community as wonderful as it is today.
Christine Maefsky What abilities and experiences make you the best candidate to represent the people of Scandia as their mayor? I have been in positions of leadership for much of my life. I am a skilled consensus builder and Christine Maefsky as mayor will persistently encourage open and public participation in decisions involving Scandia residents. I have specific and dynamic ideas about how to encourage positive growth that will value and promote what is best about Scandia.
BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@COUNTRYMESSENGER.COM
Bike trails, a coffee house with wi-fi, a farmto-table restaurant — all surrounded by fields of green. Near the city center, a cluster of townhomes, perhaps some tiny homes. Better internet for all. And spread throughout: a healthy, welcoming
community with a sense of its history and future. When Scandia residents gathered two weeks ago to share their ideas for the future of the city, there was a wide swath of common ground among the many visions. Maintaining rural character is important to a vast majority of those who weighed in, whether they support a denser housing core or not. Similarly, most residents see a need for some populaNEWS 651-433-3845 editor@countrymessenger.com
tion growth and expanded infrastructure, but would like such growth to be thoughtful and well planned. At the session, residents were asked to choose, hypothetically, between keeping Scandia’s zoning at a 4-lot-per-40-acre average or moving to an average of 3-5 lots per acre. These densities are based on designations created by the Metropolitan Council for use in planning and coordinating ADVERTISING 651-433-3845 sales@osceolasun.com
Barn restoration leads to conflict JESSICA ANDERSON INTERIM EDITOR
Over the past couple months conflict has been brewing in a neighborhood along Highway 97. At the start of this year landowner Jeffery Gacek moved an 85 year-old barn onto his property along the highway in order to restore it for a new purpose. His intention is to utilize the restored barn as a Rural Event Center where he can hold weddings, worships, and retreats. This idea has ignited anger in some of his neighbors. At the Oct. 4 Scandia Planning Commission meeting over 45 people attended, both in support of the Gaceks and against their plan. The commission had the responsibility of making a recommendation to the city council as to whether or not Gacek should receive the Rural Event license. The item listing on the agenda called for the commission to make a resolution and decide what to recommend. The previous month a public hearing had been held in order for residents to voice their opinions; however since so many people showed up this month the commission allowed some public comment. SEE BARN, PAGE 12
SEE CANDIDATES, PAGE 10
Man dies in community pool
Bikes, better internet, thoughtful planning Visions emerge for Scandia 2040
COURTESEY OF REDEEMED FARM
Jeff Gacek's post-restoration barn and possible event center.
BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@COUNTRYMESSENGER.COM
growth throughout the region: Diversified Rural (4/40) and Rural Center (3-5/acre). The group that chose to keep housing density low (4/40) described Scandia in 2040 as rural, scenic and distinct from the Twin Cities metro area. They were more likely to suggest businesses oriented toward agricultural and ecological tourism such as farm visits, SEE SCANDIA 2040, PAGE 6
PUBLIC NOTICES 651-433-3845 editor@countrymessenger.com
A 74-year-old man from Stacy, Minn., was found unresponsive at the Forest Lake Community Pool last Tuesday. The man has not been identified. According to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, emergency responders were called to the scene just before 3 p.m. on Oct. 4 at the report of a possible drowning at the Southwest Junior High School
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community pool. At the pool, responders took over for school staff who had taken the man from the water and were trying to resuscitate him. “ U n f o r t u n a t e l y, efforts to revive the victim were not successful,” wrote Forest Lake Police Department Captain Greg Weiss in a news release. The Washington County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the case.
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