Terry Traver
Scandia Reporterbroadstreet.zone(48036);
The Jan. 17 City Council meeting in Scandia was the first led by newly elected Mayor Christine Maefsky and attended by newly elected Councilman Steve Kronmiller.
Rural event ordinance
The first item was amending the city’s development code related to rural event sites. Led by the work of the Planning Commission and Scandia City Planner Sheri Buss, changes were made to specific sections of the ordinance.
A rural event site is now called a “rural event site activity area,” which is defined as the specific area within a property that operates as a rural event facility on which any of the activities associated with the facility area are likely to occur, including parking areas.
The application for an annual operators permit for a rural event facility must be filed with the city at least 60 days prior to the expiration of the current annual operators permit.broadstreet.zone(50962);
The operator must submit an annual report
Category: The Latest From Forest Lake Times
Two face off in belated District 32B election
Laurie Warner and Anne Neu
On Valentine’s Day, voters in Minnesota House District 32B – including the residents of Wyoming – will finally get their chance to belatedly send a representative to the State Legislature.
Though the Legislature has already been in session for a few weeks, the district hasn’t had anyone to send. The election results for the district race were preemptively nullified in September 2016, when the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that the district’s former representative, Bob Barrett, did not actually live in the district, thus rendering his then-current re-election bid ineligible. Given the proximity to the election and the inability for ballots to be updated, state law required that the votes in the race between Republican Barrett and his Democratic challenger Laurie Warner be nullified.broadstreet.zone(48036);
A new election day for the race was set for Feb. 14. After the election, political strategist Anne Neu won the GOP endorsement to face
An important conversation about public safety
Ben Winnick
Guest Columnistbroadstreet.zone(48036);
One of the most fundamental things that local government must always do is find the best way to keep the people who live and work in a community safe. This has always been “job one” for the Forest Lake City Council, but the threats we face today and the challenges we have to resolve are growing much more complex.
It is because of the growing complexity of these challenges that we have begun asking some important questions. Is there a better way for the city of Forest Lake to make sure its residents are safe and protected? Does it make sense to build partnerships with agencies that, because of their size, have access to more resources? Or do we continue to use the same old approach to this critical service?
These are questions we must always ask and never be afraid of the answers. This is why the city of
Contract law enforcement news and opinion roundup
Here is some of the latest news and opinions around Forest Lake regarding the city’s request for a proposal for contract law enforcement through the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.
The city has scheduled a special work session at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 6 that will include a discussion of the city’s guiding principles while it engages in process of evaluating contract law enforcement. The agenda packet for the meeting is available on the city’s website.broadstreet.zone(48036);
On Jan. 29, Councilwoman Mara Bain wrote a letter to the commissioners of Washington County regarding the contract law enforcement request. In the letter, she discussed the nature in which the request was made and urged the commissioners to listen to public feedback about the request. Her letter is available here.
Local readers began writing letters to the Forest Lake Times last week regarding the issue. These letters can be found in The Times’ Feb. 3 issue and online
Lois Vietor (Nee: Hopkins)
Loving Mother, Grandmother, Great-GrandmotherLois Vietor, age 96 of Hugo, passed away peacefully surrounded by family on February 1, 2017.
Preceded in death by husband, Henry; son-in-law, William C. St. Sauver; grandson, William H. St. Sauver; and siblings.
Survived by daughter, Ellen St. Sauver; granddaughter, Julie (Mike) Fulton; great-grandchildren, Madison St. Sauver, Nellie Fulton, Henry Fulton, Mikey Fulton, William Fulton; nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.
A Celebration of Lois’ Life will be held at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, February 5th at Faith Lutheran Church, 886 N. Shore Dr., Forest Lake, with visitation beginning at 12:30 p.m. until time of service. Interment at a later date in Rutherford Cemetery, Stillwater.
Ranger records fall at True Team state meet
Will Chatwin and Connor Klein react after seeing their personal best times on the scoreboard. TT
Photos by Brad O’Neil, Stuart Groskreutz, and Tara Thompson.
Forest Lake places eighth, sets four new varsity marksbroadstreet.zone(48036);
The Forest Lake boys swimming and diving team put together one of the greatest evenings in team history at the True Team state championships at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center on Saturday, knocking off four school records en route to an eighth-place finish.
“Up and down the pool, the most perfect set of races by any Forest Lake team,” head coach Joseph Mau said. “We supported each other and were engaged in the meet, and our passion for racing came out. Our eighth-place finish was a total team effort.”
Forest Lake finished the night with 1,177.5 points. The Rangers qualified for the True Team meet as one of eight sectional champions. Four wild-card squads also qualified for a total field
Girls basketball sees improvements in 2016-17
Kenzie Stumne drives for the basket against Woodbury on Jan. 27.
The Forest Lake girls basketball team suffered through a 7-19 season last year, with many freshmen in the regular rotation. The upside to that season is that the Rangers have been able to field a crop of experienced sophomores this year, who, working with the upperclass leadership, have brought renewed success to the program.
“Last year, a lot of kids were playing roles they hadn’t played before, and for a lot of them it was their first year on varsity,” head coach Jen Wagner said. “The other teams are scouting you and watching film on you. It was a learning curve, but now we have kids who have been in their positions and are a little more comfortable and familiar with their roles.”broadstreet.zone(48036);
Among the sophomores making major scoring contributions have been Abigail Groenweg (11.2 points per game), Lexie Hultman (9.4), Kenzie
Gymnastics contends for state bid with C-I score
Photos supplied by Lindsey Pierron
144.3 tally smashes season high
The Forest Lake gymnastics team competed in an individual all-around invitational at Cambridge-Isanti over the weekend, claiming five of the top 11 places in a field of more than 60. Sophomore Sofia Dodge (35.9, fifth) was the highest scoring Ranger, just ahead of sophomore Julie Godar (35.85, sixth) and junior Faith Pleski (35.8, seventh). Freshman Sydney Nenn took ninth (35.6) while senior Hailey Nenn placed 11th.broadstreet.zone(48036);
The Rangers had a different high-scorer on each apparatus: Dodge on vault (9.35), Pleski on uneven bars (9.3), Sydney Nenn on balance beam (9.4) and Hailey Nenn on floor exercise (9.1). The Rangers attained 11 different individual performances of 9.0 or better, and head coach Lindsey Pierron was especially pleased that her team stuck seven of nine beam routines.
As an individual meet, team scores were not officially tallied. Calculating the scores as they would have added up
Sports Briefs – Feb. 2, 2017
Photo by Brad O’Neil
Shooting for a conference championship
Maddie Kolbow, pictured, and the rest of the Ranger girls hockey team blazed through three Suburban East Conference opponents last week, never trailing at any point. After fighting past East Ridge 3-1, the Rangers beat Cretin-Derham Hall 3-0 and Mounds View 5-1 to sweep past the two teams in the SEC standings and take sole possession of first place with a week to go. Madi Nolan (three), Kayla Kasel and Kolbow (two) and Breija Parent, Kenzie Rugland, Ellen Nelson and Sydney Rydel (one) were the goalscorers; goaltender Josie Bothun allowed only two goals on 80 total shots. The Rangers were 11-3 in SEC play at press time, ahead of Mounds View and Cretin (both 10-4) and White Bear Lake (10-5); the Rangers played Woodbury (0-13) on Tuesday and can confirm their conference championship with a win over Stillwater (5-8-1) on Saturday, Feb. 4.broadstreet.zone(48036);
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