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APPROVED: Goodwill a go on Centerville Road PAGE 11A
Lake lawsuit trial appears imminent BY DEBRA NEUTKENS EDITOR
ST. PAUL — Due to a deadline that likely won’t be met, the lake level trial scheduled next March is expected to proceed. Parties involved in the lawsuit filed by the White Bear Lake Restoration Association against the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) met July 12 at DNR headquarters to discuss the looming deadline in the settlement agreement. That agreement, which put the lawsuit on hold for three years, included a stipulation that the DNR support a legislative proposal to fully fund the feasibility and design of a project that would move six communities to a surface water supply system. Those six communities are White Bear Lake, White Bear Township, Mahtomedi, North St. Paul, Shoreview and Vadnais Heights. The deadline is Aug. 1, 2016. White Bear Lake City Attorney Roger Jensen said the DNR called the meeting to discuss the likelihood the Legislature would go into special session by Aug. 1 and if it does, the likelihood a provision would be included to fund the surface water feasibility study. “If that funding doesn’t happen, the settlement will be terminated,” Jensen pointed out. “The consensus was that won’t happen so it appears apparent we will go to trial next March.” The group also discussed “mundane things” like submitting a report to District Court Judge Margaret Marrinan in advance of an upcoming status meeting. Deadlines were considered on pre-trial
PAUL DOLS| PRESS PUBLICATIONS
Water walkers
Above: Some of the approximately 60 participants in the Walk for Water carry various sized jugs filled with water along a 5K route down Lake Avenue in White Bear Lake Saturday, July 16. The first-time event was organized by White Bear Lake Area High School student Sydney Peterson and Mahtomedi High School student Isabel Birkeland to raise funds to help drill a well for a primary school in the Ugandan village of Orapado. The event exceeded the goal of $1,500 set by the organizers. At right: With White Bear Lake in the background, Mya Geiger and Genna Viggiano carry water jugs back toward West Park. The jugs, which can weigh up to 40 pounds, were used to illustrate the amount of water villagers carry every day.
SEE LAKE LAWSUIT, PAGE 9A
Air assault by helicopter BY DEBRA NEUTKENS EDITOR
DEBRA NEUTKENS | PRESS PUBLICATIONS
The Minnesota Mosquito Control District uses Benson Airport as a staging area for aerial application of BTI, a natural product containing bacterium that wipes out larvae.
Last year was a record year for mosquitoes. “They just kept coming,” recalled Mike McClean, public affairs coordinator for the Metropolitan Mosquito Control District (MMCD). “We treated more acreage last year with a helicopter than ever before.” And this year? “We’re on the same pace,” he said. “There’s been a lot of good rainfall. When that happens, there is significant mosquito production. We’re hoping the second half of the year is drier and more typical.” An inch of rain prompts a call to the helicopter service contracted by the MMCD. Benson Airport serves as the staging area for mosquito control. Hoppers on the helicopters are loaded with organic granules made from ground-up corn cobs. The dry product, called BTI (Bacillus thuringiensis israel-
ensis), contains a natural soil bacterium that kills mosquito larvae lurking in swamps and other areas of standing water. The control product poses no risk to humans or animals. The MMCD pays close attention to mosquito species before treatment. Inspectors sample known breeding sites to identify species after each rainfall. If the species is a human biting mosquito or a species that has potential to spread disease, the site will be treated. “We only treat when we find those mosquitoes,” McLean said. Of the 51 species in Minnesota, most are rare. The most common is Aedes vexans, a mosquito that breeds in depressions that fill with rain water. “Few that are abundant are important,” noted University of Minnesota entomologist Roger Moon. SEE MOSQUITOES, PAGE 8A
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