AUGUST 24, 2016
WHITE BEAR/VADNAIS HEIGHTS PRESS www.presspubs.com
3A
Medicine Chest entrepreneur laid to rest BY SARA MARIE MOORE VADNAIS HEIGHTS EDITOR
WHITE BEAR LAKE — Richard Sundt, pharmacist and owner of the Medicine Chest in downtown White Bear Lake, passed away unexpectedly at his home Aug. 16. The store has been an icon in the downtown area for 84 years. Sundt owned it for 39 years. He purchased it in 1977 when he was 34 years old. Sundt proceeded to add four businesses in downtown White Bear Lake. Sundt loved photography and invested in a professional photo processing center in the Medicine Chest, Sun Color Photo. For many years it carried a full line of cameras and photography equipment. He also had a photography business, Sundt Photographics, and did custom photo shoots for community members. Sundt also rented office space above the Medicine Chest and warehouse space next to Ace Hardware. In 2014, the Medicine Chest became the site of the Polar Bear Store. In the entry area of the drugstore stand sculptures ranging in size from several pounds to 640 pounds. Polar bear knickknacks and stuffed animals also fi ll the front entry. Sundt purchased the polar bear molds from Twin City Nursery, which was closing. Roger Bauer, nursery manager at the time, said he was glad someone bought all five molds for the bears. The statues sold out when the nursery announced it was closing, so the popular lawn ornaments would no longer exist if someone had not stepped forward. Sundt also came up with his own designs for White Bear Lake-themed
clothing in his store. “Dick, a very quiet person, was a very competitive entrepreneur, one of the two pharmacies to survive in White Bear Lake after the big box stores moved in,” said Gene Johnson, publisher emeritus of Press Publications. “Medicine Chest has been known for its customer service, careful delivery and explanation of prescription drugs dispensed.” The pharmacy even does home deliveries. “Over the years we have delivered to the senior homes that are in the local area at no charge,” said pharmacist Jim Polucha, who has worked there for 10 years. “We try to take care of people as we would like to be treated.” The Medicine Chest plans remain open, but will be closed on Aug. 25 for Sundt's funeral. “All of the staff here love working here and we all want to stay,” Polucha said. “We are all going to do what we can to keep the doors open.” Sundt's son Richard Johnson, of Texas, is working with current staff on the store's planned continuation. “His son is very in tune with what his dad wants, and that is to promote small businesses,” Polucha said. “His dad loved White Bear.” Polucha said one of Sundt's favorite phrases was, “We got to make it to 100 years.” Current staff members hope to make that dream of Sundt's come true in 16 years. Sundt would have been 89 years old when the Medicine Chest turns 100. “He was a great business teacher,” Polucha said. “He was successful — he listened to what his customers wanted and really focused on their needs.”
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Richard Sundt, longtime downtown White Bear Lake entrepreneur, passed away unexpectedly Aug. 16.
Eminent domain could settle airport safety zone lawsuit BY LOUISE ERNEWEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
WHITE BEAR TOWNSHIP — It's not often that a property owner asks a municipality to condemn their land. It's even rarer that the local government in question asks, "Where do we sign?" But that's about what has happened at 5685 Portland Ave., a former horse farm adjacent to Benson Airport. Former township residents Scott and Nanci Stoddard sued White Bear Township for failing to remove the airport safety zone around Benson Airport, impacting plans for development on their 22-acre plot of land. In her "prayer for relief" regarding the Stoddards' property, attorney Tamara O'Neill Moreland petitioned the court to compel the Township to commence eminent domain proceedings. Action taken by the White Bear Town Board Aug. 15 ensured that no such compulsion by the court will be necessary. All three board supervisors unanimously voted to pass a resolution ordering an eminent domain taking of the Stoddard property, using a Minnesota statute known as "quick take" to purchase the land for its appraised value of $528,200. "I will say, it's a unique method of dealing with a lawsuit," said town attorney Chad Lemmons. "[However], it's actually quite the norm if a property owner feels their property has been taken for public use. In this case, it's taken to provide an aircraft safety zone and they have the right to petition the court to commence condemnation proceedings." He stated that the justifications for the use of eminent domain in the case of the Stoddard property were twofold: to preserve the aircraft safety zone surrounding Benson Airport, which was necessary to ensure the health and safety of township residents; and to head off the possibility of future litigation against the township by the Stoddards. Board Chairman Bob Kermes expressed hope that the resolution would appease the Stoddards. "The Stoddards have requested that the town commence condemnation proceedings and we are responding to that. That's their idea," he explained. The Stoddards and their attorney, of Larkin Hoffman Attorneys, failed to respond to several
attempts for comment via phone and email following the decision. According to attorney Lemmons, the next step is for the township to fi le a petition with the district court for condemnation of the land. A hearing date will then be set, where the township must prove the public purpose and necessity for condemning the land. If the judge agrees with the township's reasoning, then White Bear Township will deposit the funds to purchase the property with the court. Although the $528,200 appraised cost of the land was not included in the town's 2016 budget, it could prove small change compared to the spiraling attorney fees involved with defending the township against ongoing litigation from the Stoddards. "The town has sufficient funds to cover the purchase," confi rmed Town Clerk Bill Short following the meeting. The dispute between the Stoddards and White Bear Township originated last October, when the supervisors rejected a request by the Stoddards' developer, Southwind Builders, to remove or modify the aircraft safety zone around Benson Airport, which would have permitted the construction of higher-density housing on the property. The retention of the safety zone meant that the Stoddards were restricted to building one home
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per 3-acre lot. Additionally, only 7.67 acres of the Stoddard property is considered buildable, since the remaining 14.64 acres is classed as wetlands, making the parcel fi nancially unattractive to develop with the aircraft safety zone in place. Action by the board in March to reduce the length of the safety zone did not lead to the abandonment of the lawsuit by the Stoddards, however, as a portion of the aircraft safety zone still overlaid a portion of their property, which the couple contend constitutes a taking of their property. Now, it remains to be seen whether the court agrees with the township that eminent domain is the best resolution to the dispute.
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