COUNTRY
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2016
Serving Marine on St. Croix, Scandia, May Township
VOL. 33 NO. 30 www.countrymessenger.com $.75
LOCAL ELECTION RESULTS: Scandia, Marine on St. Croix, May Township. PAGE 2
Mayor Maefsky in 2017 BY JESSICA ANDERSON INTERIM EDITOR
JESSICA ANDERSON | COUNTRY MESSENGER
Scandia Public Works employees Mike Egelkraut, Rick Regnier, and Jeff Anderson with the newest city truck, ready for snow.
Scandia Public Works ready for winter BY JESSICA ANDERSON INTERIM EDITOR
It may not feel like it so far this year, but winter is nearly upon us. Most of us only need to prepare for this mentally and perhaps throw some winter gear into our vehicles, but the people in charge of the municipalities in which we live have to make a lot of changes. In Scandia the Public Works department is gearing up for the approaching, inevitable, snow. First, they prepare their trucks for the changes. “Every fall we have to grease the trucks prior to putting the plows on,” explained Public Works employee Jeff Anderson. THeir small tractor, used for mowing, will have a snowblower and tire chains added to it. This is then used to remove snow from the majority of the sidewalks in town, generally south of
Highway 97. The Scanida Public Works department uses salt instead of sand on nearly all of the roads in their care. However, on dirt roads, Anderson explained, they use sand because if they were to continue on these roads spreading salt the dirt would then become mud and therefore freeze. Not only this, “it also doesn’t dry out over the winter because the salt water won’t evaporate as quickly.” The city purchases salt in orders of 75 tons and Anderson estimated that each winter they likely go through about 200 or more tons, which is around 20 tons per snowfall. This team plows 92 miles of road, double that for each lane, every time it snows a substantial amount. Anderson stated that they “have three trucks so it takes us about five to seven hours to get all of the
roads done.” Prior to the fall of 2012 the city only had two trucks to do this work which took about ten hours to complete. People seem to be stumped as to what to expect for this coming winter. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the source the Scandia employees usually use to plan ahead, had even released statements saying that they believe it will be a La Nina year, but are unsure as to its extent. “There is a chance that La Nina conditions could play an important role, albeit somewhat limited,” stated the National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center. So we may not know just what to expect from the weather, but at least we know the public works department is prepared.
A couple weeks ago a new mayor was elected for the city of Scandia. Christine Maefsky will be replacing Mayor Randall Simonson, who served the community for three two year terms. Not only will Maefsky be the city’s third mayor, but she will also be the first woman to hold the office. Brenda Eklund, the city’s Deputy Clerk, explained that “[s] ince the township incorporated to a city in 2007, this is the city’s third mayor, after Denny Seefeldt and Randall Simonson. All prior town board chairs were also men.” Maefsky has experience in a variety of occupations including owning an agricultural business, teaching for over 45 years, and ten years on Scandia’s planning commission. “Over the years I have found that my skills as a leader, mediator and creative problem solver have been extremely effective when facing challenges, whether in business, the classroom, or government,” Maefsky wrote in response to a questionnaire prior to being elected.
Maefsky
Frontier cable application approved Demand is there, but will service be? BY KYLE WEAVER CONTRIBUTING WRITER
The City of Scandia residents will be getting access to more cable television and internet service. But what services and how available those services will be remains to be seen. Last week the Scandia City Council approved an application from Frontier Communications to negotiate and enter into a franchise agreement with the cable company. During a public hearing on the application,
several city residents expressed support for the application, particularly for the idea of bringing better internet access to the area. City resident Bob Bernard said he often works from home and he depends on a speedy connection to attend important meetings. “If I lose my audio, I’m out of the meeting,” Bernard said. From the audience, though, councilmember-elect Steve Kronmiller cautioned that Frontier may not be able to offer the kind of high speed service and not in all the areas Scandia residents may desire. Kronmiller
noted that some of the service speeds the company representatives had discussed were good enough to provide television, but perhaps not fast enough to meet other requirements. “[Those speeds are] still not high speed to a lot of people,” Kronmiller said. Kronmiller encouraged the application to go forward, but urged Frontier’s representatives to continue to press for high speed service. “We will certainly take the message back that there is pent-up demand here,” Frontier representative Jack Phillips said. Bob Tronrud, a Frontier engineer, noted that the
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company hoped to build out its infrastructure and possibly begin services in the first quarter of 2017.
Smith variance The council tabled a request from Pam Plowman-Smith and Mike Smith for a variance from a pair of setback requirements for their planned replacement of a garage at 20919 Quint Ave. The Smiths have proposed to replace the outbuilding in its existing location, but because the structure sits along the St. Croix River it is subject to more stringent setback requirements from
Although her term hasn’t begun, Maefsky has shown dedication to the community beyond her role as chair on the planning commission, which will end in January. She has shared with me several creative ideas for getting the community involved with the Country Messenger and stories she believes they would like to read about. Many of these ideas are linked to Maefsky’s experience, one that “grew out of [her] campaigning door to door and marveling at the diverse and wonderful people who live here.” Another was inspired by a program that her students in Minneapolis did with the Star Tribune called “Journal Juniors.” It involves a “question of current interest” being given to students and chosen responses being published in the paper. Or possibly a column of her own to share her perspective with the community. “I plan to continue going door to door after I begin serving my term. I won’t go with the intensity of campaigning, but regularly. That can keep me up to date on our residents' ideas and concerns, and grounded in the community,” Maefsky stated. It will be interesting to see where the up coming term takes the city and the work Maefsky will do.
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