Art Fete at the Burnsville PAC shines the spotlight on local visual artists. See Thisweekend Page 10A.
Thisweek Farmington-Lakeville MARCH 11, 2011
VOLUME 32, NO. 2
www.thisweeklive.com
Messages/2A
Public Notices/3A
Opinion/4A
Announcements/5A
Sports/6A
Crystal Lake Elementary to close this year Lakeville School Board votes to repurpose the building to save more than $750,000 by Aaron Vehling THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
Her face red with melancholy, Kim Heiar told the Lakeville School Board the reasons why she chose to send her children to the soon-to-be-closed Crystal Lake Elementary. She said its diversity and the amazing success it has with some of the district’s most vulnerable students are among the traits that make the school an important center of learning. “This is a special school with a special climate and special kids,” Heiar said. “I want you to understand that.” The School Board voted on March 8 to close and repurpose the school, likely moving the district’s early childhood programs into the facility. The move will realize $750,000 in savings for the district. On top of that, once the district’s lease at Kenwood Center, which now houses Early Childhood Family Education expires, there will be more than $450,000 in additional savings. This is enough
File Photo by Rick Orndorf
U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan (above) joined U.S. Rep. John Kline at Crystal Lake Elementary in January to discuss education policy and tour the school. Part of that tour included Duncan participating in educational games with students in the school’s ELL program. to save 17 teaching positions. Wold Architects made the closure recommendation at a Lakeville School
Board study session March 3 after considering several criteria, including geography, facility space, feasibility for repurposing,
and enrollment, among others. Wold has been working with the district in a variety of consulting capacities since the early
1990s. In January the school recently hosted U.S. Rep. John Kline and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan as part of a school tour/press conference. At the time, Kline said he chose the site because it was his neighborhood school. Duncan said it was an example of a great school. “I look at this school and it’s not a failure,” Duncan said at the time. The closure and repurposing is part of a $15.8 million budget adjustment plan on which the School Board voted in February. Now that the board vote has happened, the district will form an Attendance Area Task Force consisting of Superintendent Gary Amoroso (as a facilitator), two School Board members, Director of Business Services Mark Klett, and two school principals.
‘A very sad day’ Peggy Maloney, a fifthgrade music teacher at Crystal Lake, attended the See Crystal, 3A
Farmington closes license For now, the former police station stays center after state denial off the market State says city’s subcontracting of services is illegal
by Laura Adelmann THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
Farmington’s week-old deputy registrar’s office closed at 2:30 p.m. March 8 because the state denied approval for the office to issue motor vehicle licenses and services. Since opening Feb. 28, the city was limited to selling Department of Natural Resources-related licenses, and as a result had only made two such sales, said Amanda Van Binsbergen, manager of Quick-Serv, which operated Farmington’s deputy registrar’s office for the few days it
IN BRIEF Thisweek first broke news there were problems with Farmington’s deputy registrar’s office online March 7 and updated the story as new facts emerged that eventually led to its closing. To read breaking news, go online at www. ThisweekLive.com. was open. Farmington is the first city in the state to hire a sub-
contractor to run the office it operates. Under contract, the city would charge Quick-Serv no rent for the City Hall space, but would be paid 25 percent of filing fees collected totalling over $100,000 beginning in 2012. But the public-private partnership violates state rules prohibiting outside management of deputy registrar offices, said Patricia McCormack, director of the Minnesota Public Safety’s Driver and Vehicle Services Division, in a March 8 letter See License, 5A
Southern Hills Golf Course for sale Broker asks $5.4 million for 18-hole championship course by Laura Adelmann THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
Southern Hills Golf Course in Farmington is up for sale. Built in 1993 by Twin Cities investor Grady Newman, the 18-hole public course is listed for $5.4 million, although listing broker Frank Jermusek with commercial real estate brokerage firm Grubb & Ellis, said offers will be considered. Located on 117 acres at 18950 Chippendale Avenue (Highway 3), the course features a 10,000-square-foot clubhouse that accommodates up to 175 guests. Newman is also selling the two other courses he owns: Briarwood Club of Ankeny in Polk County, Iowa, for between $8 million and $10 million and is asking $1.9 million for Lake Wissota Golf & Events in General 952-894-1111 Distribution 952-846-2070 Display Advertising 952-846-2011 Classified Advertising 952-846-2000
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Photo by Rick Orndorf
Southern Hills Golf Course is located east of Highway 3 between Rosemount and Farmington. Chippewa Falls, Wis. $11 million purchase agreeJermusek said Southern ment for developing the Hills Golf Course has an- property into housing was nual round sales of about signed, but the buyer did 24,000, having recovered not follow through. from a sales slump of about “People thought the 21,000 annual rounds in course was going to close, so 2007. they stopped going. … But The dip occurred after an See Course, 12A Turn clocks ahead one hour
Sunday, March 13 $
Building has been idle for two years but some say it needs to be sold by Aaron Vehling THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
It looks like the police station won’t be put up for sale just yet. Because of a tie vote and an absent council member at a previous meeting, the Lakeville City Council voted once again at its March 7 meeting on whether to put the former police station at Holyoke and County Road 50 up for sale. This time around, the council tabled the motion on a 3-2 vote with Mayor Mark Bellows and Council Member Colleen Ratzlaff LaBeau the dissenters. Council Member Matt Little introduced the motion to table the vote to sell, which council members Kerrin Swecker and Laurie Rieb affirmed. Bellows said the motion to table showed the community the council’s “inability to act.” “I have been the most vocal proponent of selling that police station from day one,” he said. “It’s an embarrassment that we have sat on it this long.” At the previous council meeting, LaBeau introduced the motion as a surprise during the “new business” section of the agenda. Rieb was absent and so the vote tied. Council bylaws dictate that motions that result in tie votes must get another vote at subsequent meetings until the tie is broken. LaBeau said she did not introduce the motion to be subversive. She said she was responding to citizen complaints about the former police station and wanted to let the community know the city is practicing fiscal responsibility. The property, located across the street from City Hall, has been vacant for more than two years. Bellows has also indicated he wants to pursue all options
for repurposing or selling the property. Representatives from the senior center and the Lakeville Area Historical Society have been conducting analyses and surveys to determine the viability of both entities occupying the former police station. The City Council and those representatives have been talking about this possibility since fall 2009. Little, Rieb and Swecker all said they voted to table the motion to sell because of those pending analyses. “Patient, thorough analysis needs to be done before we vote on the sale of part of our civic campus,” Little said in a statement issued via Facebook the morning following the City Council meeting. Bellows said putting the property up for sale does not mean those groups still can’t do the work to determine the feasibility of the site for their uses. The city also has been looking into using the former police station as a new location for the current Heritage Commons liquor store, once that $14,600-amonth lease expires.
Is it viable? The building, located at the northern gateway to Lakeville’s historic downtown, was appraised at $1.6 million. To put it up or sale and contribute that money to the city’s coffers sounds appealing to many, but questions persist: Would anyone buy it? What would a developer do with it? Roz Peterson, a Lakeville School Board member and commercial real estate developer, thinks the site has potential if the city were to put it up for sale – the location, if not the aging building. “It’s definitely one of See Station, 11A
A NEWS OPINION SPORTS
Classifieds/7A
Meeks finalist for Stillwater superintendent by Laura Adelmann THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
Farmington Schools Superintendent Brad Meeks is one of seven finalists vying to lead the Stillwater Area Public School District. By Wednesday night, after this edition went to press, the Stillwater School Board was to name two or three c a n d i d at e s asked to return for interviews with both the pub- Brad Meeks lic and the board during the week of March 21. The board will name its new superintendent March 24. “The board hopes to have a contract approved by March 31,” said Carissa Keister, communications coordinator for the Stillwater Area Public Schools. During a special meeting Monday night, the Stillwater board selected Meeks and six others as finalists: Craig Menozzi, superintendent, New Prague; William Laney, assistant superintendent, St. Louis Park; Deb Henton, superintendent, North Branch; Troy Miller, assistant superintendent, North St. Paul/ Maplewood/Oakdale; Corey Lunn, superintendent, Montgomery Lonsdale; and Rod Thompson, superintendent, St. Anthony New Brighton. Consultants from School Exec Connect, an executive search firm, recommended the finalists after reviewing 34 candidate applications for the position. Attributes desired in the new superintendent include a leader with high integrity and values, excellent interpersonal skills, and a collaborative consensus builder who is capable of working with others. In addition, the superintendent Stillwater seeks is a leader who brings a “customer service” focus and has a strong understanding of school finance, according to the Stillwater School District website. That district has been searching for a new superintendent since January. Apparently, competition for the position is strong; in its original plan, the board intended to select five or six candidates to continue in the process. “I think (board members) just thought there were some really good candidates, and they wanted to interview as many of them as possible,” Keister said. Meeks has led Farmington since August 2003, receiving consistently favorable job reviews by Farmington School Board members. However, there has also been public criticism that the district lacks transparency, and under Meeks’ leadership, the district went through a divisive and expensive year-long legal battle regarding the high school’s location. The district has also been publicly criticized for a lack of transparency regarding the level of information it shares with the public. Meeks resigned his position Feb. 28, but under an agreement with the Farmington School Board, has an option to remain on the job to train his replacement until Aug. 31, 2011. Laura Adelmann is at laura. adelmann@ecm-inc.com.