COUNTRY
Serving Marine on St. Croix, Scandia, May Township
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2017 VOL. 34 NO. 26 www.countrymessenger.com $.75
RIVER GROVE ELEMENTARY: Upcoming Fall events. PAGE 7
City settles contract with public works union BY KYLE WEAVER CONTRIBUTING WRITER
SUZANNE LINDGREN | COUNTRY MESSENGER
Washington County removed the County Road 4 detour Tuesday, October 17, opening the road and sidewalks to thru traffic.
County Road 4 reopens BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@COUNTRYMESSENGER.COM
Roadwork on County Road 4 is “substantially finished,” said project engineer Andrew Giesen last week. The county removed the detour Tuesday, October 17, opening the road and sidewalks to thru traffic. “After this week the signs and striping will be done,” Giesen said. “We’ll be working on final clean up.” Reconstruction on the road started in May, prompting closures and detours throughout the summer as crews stripped and repaved the road from the railroad bridge to Highway 95. Aside from replacing aging pavement, the project will improve drainage and storm water treatment with new curb, storm sewer and storm water basins, and add more than 10,000 square feet of new sidewalk. “Before the project, County Highway 4 had poor pavement, lacked pedestrian facilities, and
had ponding issues,” said Giesen. Some work still remains on the project as crews complete the retaining wall near Christ Lutheran Church. Limestone blocks for the wall are expected to be delivered in the next month. The remaining work will have minimal impact to traffic, according to Giesen, and no further roadway closures are expected to occur. Plantings will also be installed in the new storm water ponds in the spring of 2018 to ensure roots have time to establish before the winter season. “We’re planning on coming back in the spring to do final restoration,” said Geisen, “but we won’t close the road for it. … It will look nicer in the spring once it’s all done.”
Project prioritizes clean water The project included installation of a series of storm water basins to help prevent suspended sediment and phosphorus load from entering natural water-
ways. The storm sewer basins include raingardens, infiltration basins, filtration basins, and an iron-enhanced sand filtration basin. All are designed to help remove suspended soils and phosphorus from storm water before reaching the natural environment. “Before the project the road just had ditches,” Geisen explained. “Any water that landed on the road made its way to the Mill Stream. Now have curb, gutter and a sewer system that conveys water to basins where we have what we call filtration media. It’s a mix of sand and compost that filters water. The phosphorous or sediment will get filtered through that media before it goes in the natural environment like the Mill Pond.” Geisen noted that the storm water mitigation effort was a cooperative one in which Washington County worked with the community, Marine City Council and Carnelian-Maine-St. Croix Watershed District.
Scandia’s unionized public works staff will be getting a bump in pay and a few other perks in the next three years. The Scandia City Council approved a three-year contract with its city staffers during their Oct. 17 meeting. According to a council memo, the public
works staff will receive wage increases of 3 percent in 2018, and 2.75 percent in both 2019 and 2020. The agreement provides the staffers with a $25 annual stipend for uniforms or boots, specifies the calculation of overtime and holiday call-in pay, and amends the city’s grievance procedures. The city currently employs three full-time staffers and a full-time public works director.
SEE COUNCIL, PAGE 2
KYLE WEAVER
The Scandia City Council recognized five retiring firefighters at its Oct. 17 meeting. Mayor Christine Maefsky (left) presented the recognition plaques to (from left) Scott Swenson, Aaron Sipola, Josh Pearl, and (not pictured) Jason Helke and David Mead.
Community floats ideas for better water quality BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@COUNTRYMESSENGER.COM
State Park to close during special hunt During a special hunt to prevent overpopulation of deer and protect resources on November 11 and 12, William O’Brien State Park will be closed to all visitors. Hunts also will take place at other Minnesota state parks and recreation areas this fall, and access to the parks will vary. Some will remain open to all visitors, some will have limited public access and some will be open only to hunters with
special permits. The deadlines have passed for youth and adults to apply for the permits to participate in the hunts, which include regular firearms, muzzleloader and archery options. “Too many of one animal or plant species in an area can start to throw off the balance of other species in that area,” explained Tavis Westbrook, Natural Resource Program coordinator for the Department of Natural NEWS 651-433-3845 editor@countrymessenger.com
Resources Parks and Trails Division. “When there are too many deer in a park, they tend to feed too much on certain trees and native plant communities, so occasionally we allow deer hunts as a means of protecting natural resources.” The DNR thanks visitors for their patience and understanding during the hunts. For a list of parks that are open, partially open or closed during the ADVERTISING 651-433-3845 sales@osceolasun.com
2017 hunting season, visit www.dnr.state.mn.us/ state_parks/hunting. html or contact the DNR Information Center at info.dnr@state.mn.us or 888-646-6367 (8 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday). Details on which areas of each park will be affected by the special deer hunts can also be found in the “Visitor Alert” boxes on the individual park Web pages at www.mndnr. gov. PUBLIC NOTICES 651-433-3845 editor@countrymessenger.com
Minimizing the use of road salt. Planting cover crops that increase income. Stopping an oil pipeline from expanding beneath tributaries to the St. Croix. Residents from Marine on St. Croix, Scandia, May Township SUZANNE LINDGREN | COUNTRY MESSENGER and North Stillwater gathered last month to Angie Hong, an educator with the Washington Contalk about how local servation District, spoke waterways become about barriers to clean wapolluted and how to prevent that pollution, ter, including the fact that pollution can’t be cleaned part of a statewide effort by Governor Mark in every situation. Dayton spurring Minnesotans to work together to restore water quality. SEE MEETING, PAGE 2
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