Comments on: South Metro News Roundup: June 18th, 2009

By: TCM

TCM — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:59:14 +0000

The Cedar BRT slides are now up, with renderings of the streetscaping:

April 2009: http://www.co.dakota.mn.us/NR/rdonlyres/00002e29/ydyqpnfautnlyddwyakevrhyiligyoid/CedarPowerpointHandout04162009.pdf (PDF file, 1.7 MB)

May 2009: http://www.co.dakota.mn.us/NR/rdonlyres/00002e2a/hvvgfdgsahmuoabudkthcvuyyrddmbew/CedarPowerpoint05212009.pdf (PDF file, 1.1 MB)

June 2009: http://www.co.dakota.mn.us/NR/rdonlyres/00002e2b/fukbqaakhxweffjbrvvuwovzacreoigd/CedarPowerpoint06182009.pdf (PDF file, 1.1 MB)

By: bb stacker

bb stacker — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 00:30:19 +0000

duke, bill…..bill, duke. awesome exchange, thx to the both of ewe, great info!

By: Mikeh

Mikeh — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:48:56 +0000

I guess I see value in the Kramer water to the city idea. I couldn’t find clear information, but I believe the major DNR issue with the water discharge is not where it’s being placed, but where it’s coming from. i.e. the local aquifer. Due to the permits that Kramer has for the depth it is allowed to dig, they gained more and more impact into the aquifer. They could try and come up with a system of loop, where water pumped moved out of where they are digging is put into a holding pond, that allows the water to leach back into the aquifer, but in the end came up with a different idea.

I don’t appreciate the B.s. the politicians and government employees use when trying to spin such projects. i.e. it’s not costing taxpayers anything. (do they forget, that their very existence costs taxpayers something.) But in the end, all they did was divert water so it could be used in lew of the city pumping more water out of the aquifer itself for household and business uses.

The BRT looks odd. They are going to put the bus in the right lane? So they loose their BRT lane as they approach lights and that lane turns into a Right Turn Lane? Right of the bat I’m looking at it and thinking, why? It sure doesn’t seem like a retrofit on the existing roadway is going to work very well.

By: Duke Powell

Duke Powell — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 15:02:05 +0000

Have it your way, then. It’s your blog. I still appreciate your efforts. Keep on keeping their feet to the fire. Take Care

By: Bill

Bill — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 15:01:15 +0000

Hence, the litigation being discussed at the next closed session of the city council, since Ms. Kautz has now gotten her cake (the water) and now she wants to eat it too (get the land early by keeping Kraemer from mining its property as deep as it wants).

That is what I have heard as well but I haven’t been able to verify it from enough other sources (due to the litigation discussion being closed for obvious reasons) to ensure that it’s correct.

By: Bill

Bill — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:59:02 +0000

Mr. Powell,

I have a very hairy ass and I’m showing it to you right now as I still decline your pointless offer.

By: Duke Powell

Duke Powell — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:57:38 +0000

I don’t know about “Choose Your Own Adventure,” but I do know this: You don’t have a hair on your ass if you won’t at least agree to sit down with me to discuss this issue.

BTW, the voters showed me the door in ’06 and I ain’t going back.

By: Whit o' wit

Whit o' wit — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:56:29 +0000

From my understanding of the Kraemer water issue, Mayor Kautz was stuck between a rock and a hard place (no pun intended). She needs the water because the state wont allow Burnsville to build any more wells. But if Kraemer is allowed to pump more water out, they can then dig deeper and therefore mine for a longer period of time. This prevents Ms. Kautz from getting her hands on the land for her next pet project, the “Minnesota River quadrant” redevelopment where she will spend even more exorbitant sums of our money than she did on the HOC. Hence, the litigation being discussed at the next closed session of the city council, since Ms. Kautz has now gotten her cake (the water) and now she wants to eat it too (get the land early by keeping Kraemer from mining its property as deep as it wants). My understanding could be wrong, and I’m sure DP will correct me if I am :)

By: Bill

Bill — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:52:23 +0000

I want everyone that reads this blog to know this: Bill is absolutely right.

That is why I got into politics and it is also why the insiders wanted rid of me.

Heh, Mr. Powell, politicians all say that too. Is there a “Choose Your Own Adventure” handbook you are supposed to follow when you get voted in?

You are now a politician serving the interests of the public and you have to give information to the public. Do you give it through a filter of your own choosing or do you give it through a filter of your own choosing? If you want to look strong and stay in office go to page 12. If you are now out of office but want to get back in go to page 15.

I tease.

Again, I appreciate your offer but based on what I’ve already read, what I know about the relationship between Kautz and Kraemer and the potential outcome of what amounts to nearly free parkland with a large and deep lake that the City of Burnsville is already touting as the next best thing to sliced bread when it’s decades away, I have to say that this is nothing but “you scratch mine, I’ll scratch yours.”

By: Duke Powell

Duke Powell — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:46:43 +0000

Bill,

You say:

“Politicians donâ€™t give facts Mr. Powell, they give information through a filter of their own choosing. I watch it every time I sit down at a city council, school board, or other government informational session.”

I want everyone that reads this blog to know this: Bill is absolutely right.

That is why I got into politics and it is also why the insiders wanted rid of me.

Be that as it may, the Kraemer project is still a swell deal.