Ahh, Friday the 13th. What does that mean to me? Another South Metro News Roundup, that’s what! I scoured local media, blogs, and more to bring you a couple of random links which I found interesting this week:
1. Valley Natural Foods has a tasty looking holiday salad recipe which serves 8 to 12 and includes plenty of root vegetables and even kale.
Now that is my kind of salad…seasonal, huge, and one that looks amazing!
2. Thisweek reports that the Lakeville’s City Council has done enough stupid shit this month but at least they got their heads out of their assess over the draconian regulation that the Lakeville Police Department wanted to have regarding selling tobacco related products.at the end of October.
According to the article one resident said, “This is America. Police shouldn’t keep records of consumers of legal products.” Fuckin’ a right it is. I thought we did away with this sort of gestapo bullshit back in January.
3. According to the Pioneer Press, MnDOT and Dakota County may consider a moveable lane which would be changed depending on the majority flow of traffic. A meeting open to the public to gain input will be held next Thursday from 6 until 7:30 at the County building in Apple Valley.
More lanes, as long as they aren’t handled by MnPass is something I can definitely get behind.
4. Gorgeous photos of a vegan seitan puff. A nice holiday cooking display and one helluva interesting twist on “stew”. Speaking of stew I saw an awesome recipe for Guinness beef stew this week too.
5. The Pioneer Press reports that Farmington’s ice arena needs $800k to $1.2 million in repairs and the city is requesting help from the school district and the Youth Hockey Association as they are the biggest users of the facility. Either way, the taxpayers of Farmington are going to get fucked, again.
Well that’s it for this week’s roundup. I’m mostly interested in your thoughts on ice arenas. According to Apple Valley City Council member Tom Goodwin, these are inevitable money sinks that will never, ever, ever make a profit. Because of that, the taxpayers just have to bite the bullet and absorb the high costs associated with the operation of the facilities. Do you think it’s fair for the city to have to raise its tax levies in order to repair these structures or do you think that they should be paid for entirely by their users?
Whatever you have to say about any of the topics above or even if you have some seasonal holiday recipes you’d like to share, feel free to comment on below as I’d love to hear what you have to say!
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BPAC Financials Archive
November 13th, 2009 at 7:40 am
The City of Burnsville is facing the same problem, with theirs costing quite a bit more to repair.
I think the facilities are all showing their age & years of not necessarily neglect, but not quite the level of maintenance they should have had.
It’s a Catch-22 for the cities, though. Do you keep throwing good money after bad, or do you finally throw in the towel and close the facility. Of course, we know what the answer will be in Burnsville. Farmington? Who knows. I’m betting they’ll spend the [my] money to fix it, but maybe they can get a bit creative & get some of the other interested parties to help with the cost.
November 13th, 2009 at 8:07 am
No we didn’t get rid of the gestapo BS. Just the list of people who are troublesome changed. Although it seems to be expanding more and faster under Obama than it was going under GW Bush.
November 13th, 2009 at 9:00 am
All of my three kids have been hockey players. I still have one playing at the high school in Apple Valley. Hockey is a very expensive sport to play. When they were in the association level, the costs were in the $1,000 – $2,000 a season (winter only) range plus the sign up fee. I think that was a couple of hundred. I have a hard time believing that the associations could come up with enough money to pay for the repairs or a new facility. They fundraise like crazy just to keep the costs where they are at now as a non-profit organization. I believe major benefactors will be needed to either repair or build the facilities (Examples: Hasse and Ames Arenas in Lakeville). At one time there was talk of a 4 sheet facility in the south metro to help support the high schools and youth organizations. That fell through.
There is also a shortage of ice in the south metro. We have had to travel to Minneapolis, So. St. Paul, Edina, Richfield, etc. just to find practice ice. And sometimes the only available times were late night starts at 9pm on a school night to boot. Apple Valley and Eastview share the two rinks in Apple Valley. That must support two youth organizations and eight high school teams (both girl’s and boy’s varsity and junior varsity).
By the way, the Farmington rink is in rough shape. I agree those tax payers will probably get hit again. I do like the old school arenas though. The ones in northern Minnesota are a slice of our state’s history.
November 13th, 2009 at 10:59 am
I live in Farmington, and to be honest, I feel that a hit for the ice arena is justified. I’ll pay that tax, and I don’t even use the ice sheet. What disappoints me is that cities, counties, states are not properly setting aside reserve funds to cover the maintenance on their capital expenses. Condo Associations/management companies do a better job of managing savings for long term maintenance and replacement.
Zipper lanes? Are you kidding? Isn’t there a bridge somewhere that is about to fall down that the money could be spent on? Cedar wouldn’t be such a mess if they would spend some money on Hwy 3. North/South traffic is a mess, and much of it is due to extremely poor/unfortunate planning by the county and the cities.
I don’t recall who the goofball in Lakeville was that came up with idea of having folks sign and give contact information when buying smoking supplies. But that really highlights the mindset of some in government/law enforcement. The idea that protection of the public should come at any cost, without the recognition that many of the bad things in our society are a result of the very freedoms our society demands.
November 13th, 2009 at 11:04 am
Why the fuck does it have to be a moveable concrete barrier? Isn’t there a better way to do this? I swear it was just some hair-brained idea to waste more taxpayer dollars and give kickbacks to engineering/design firms.
I grew up in an area where there was exactly one ice hockey team in a 30 mile radius. If you wanted to play you went to private school and played. I don’t really understand the whole 10000 ice arenas thing. Yeah, we’re the State of Hockey, yeah, it’s popular here but as many of you know I’m not fond of paying higher taxes so someone else can do triple toe loops after scoring a goal. If you want to play, find the money yourselves and leave the rest of us with better fire and police protection. Thanks.
November 13th, 2009 at 11:24 am
greg puts it so well!
“It’s a Catch-22 for the cities, though. Do you keep throwing good money after bad, or do you finally throw in the towel and close the facility.”
you are referring to the P.A.C. of course:)
bb
November 13th, 2009 at 1:42 pm
Oh I forgot to mention…there are two free concerts being held at the PAC to up their meaningless attendance numbers:
1. Tops in Blue from the Air Force
2. GB Leighton who is described as a “rocker” but is really a country music singer.
—
And while it’s not free, it should be, Rob Schneider will be doing comedy at the PAC and is charging nearly $37 to see him not be funny. Awesome.
November 13th, 2009 at 1:56 pm
The GB Leighton thing and the Air Force thing are both pretty cool.
November 13th, 2009 at 2:27 pm
thanks for posting my seitan puff. :)
November 13th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
Chad, I can’t tell if you’re kidding or not.
zeenes, it looked so tasty I couldn’t pass it up!
November 13th, 2009 at 2:57 pm
Well, I am thankful that the city has provided places for my kids to learn many life lessons, excel at a sport or activity, meet friends that have lasted past high school, created wonderful memories, learn to overcome obstacles and provide a place for them to spend time instead of walking the streets with nothing to do. It is all perspective, Bill. I will gladly pay taxes for providing constructive activities for the youth of my community whether the actual expenditure directly affects my family or not.
November 13th, 2009 at 2:59 pm
You’re right, it is all perspective. Strangely enough I had all of those same experiences and my tax dollars didn’t pay for any of it.
November 13th, 2009 at 3:26 pm
I was being serious. Both of those events look like something worth going to, and the price is right. Its a bit sad that we are actually paying for them anyway, possibly to the tune of a nearly 10% tax hike next year, but at least they are using the place. Getting people in there, etc.
I am not trying to pick a fight, I dont play hockey, and I dont really care either way about the rinks, but I am curious if the pools you swam in were community pools Bill?
November 13th, 2009 at 3:32 pm
I figured a question like yours would come up as I was pretty thin on details:
1. The ones I trained in day in and day out for the majority of my career were not. When I got to HS I trained, by State athletic association mandate, in the HS pool for 1.5 hours a day. I don’t consider the high school’s pool a “community pool” however. I would guess that the school district pays for that themselves–but I could be wrong and I’m not about to go researching that. If I was wrong, shoot me.
2. Now that’s not to say that I didn’t swim in a variety of public pools for competition. I have to assume that during those times that I did, whatever entry fee I paid went to cover the costs associated with renting the pool from the appropriate municipality. Generally when I was a pool like that, it was only during the outdoor season and even then it was rare. Most of the pools we swam at were colleges, high schools, or private. There weren’t many community pools where I lived and where there were, they were open air.
November 13th, 2009 at 4:32 pm
Two of my kids happened to find a place for themselves at a hockey rink and at a soccer field. And one happened to get a free college education because of it And she gives back to the community with volunteer coaching on the soccer field. Bill, you seem to have the answer to everything or else complain about everything, perhaps you should run for public office.
November 13th, 2009 at 4:42 pm
Oh give me a fucking break. Just because you don’t like my opinion doesn’t mean that you need to resort to personal attacks.
You haven’t proven to me why residents paying MILLIONS of dollars for a hockey rink is something better for the community than increased police and fire protection.
November 13th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
I don’t think he’s complaining about everything or that he has an answer for everything. Actually, I think what Bill tries to do mostly is bring an issue to light and start a discussion on the topic.
Like any other reporter (to group him in that class momentarily) he may give a hint of his opinion one way or the other in the initial report, but saves that mainly for the ensuing discussion.
November 13th, 2009 at 4:47 pm
And to give him extra credit, these are generally topics that no one else talks about. No other news media cares about the local goings-on of Dakota County, frankly, and if they do cover a story, it’s generally some fluff piece. The local media isn’t interested in stirring up a fight or bringing up controversial subjects. Not enough, anyway. Big stuff, yes, but the kind of news Bill posts is the little stuff other media doesn’t care about, but it’s really the stuff that affects people’s lives every day.
November 13th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
As the topic steers towards funding options/problems, I think that’s a new look at an old story. For years, these suburban cities have had money to burn as the populations exploded and revenues through building permits, etc. rolled in non-stop. They built every conceivable kind of public building and amenity. Now, their budgets are completely out of hand, and they are starting to cut essential services. Why, because of poor planning earlier. No one in government seems to ever be able to say no to anything, and so now we’re stuck with these problems. Yes, they [these facilities]are nice, and yes, they are great for kids, but no one ever stopped to look ahead to see how to pay for it down the road. They never thought the bottom would drop out.
And yes, the PAC is a current prime example of that. The biggest difference here is that it got built when everything was already tanking, and all the experts warned them not to proceed. Pure ego has driven that project, to the dismay of Burnsville taxpayers.
November 13th, 2009 at 8:36 pm
Chad, Well no wonder the sign said Tops in Blue was “sold” out.
I like free stuff as much as the next person but 1,000 free tickets to the Air Force thing plus another 1,000 FREE tickets to the GB guy plus all the free tickets to Jr. Claus and Chameleon shows and free space for community ed dance classes to boot. The *free* tickets are selling out indeed. And I thought the Illusion Theater was only on Hennepin Avenue but it turns out it’s also on Nicollet!
November 14th, 2009 at 10:46 am
Another lane northbound on Cedar Avenue? Are you kidding?
I was able to figure out that Cedar desperately needed a 3rd northbound lane fifteen years ago… When I was in Elementary School. How come it took MnDOT that long, if not longer, to figure out what I figured out before we started learning long division?
November 14th, 2009 at 2:49 pm
The PAC, at its current state of being, is like the new water treatment plant. NO ONE knows how to run it!! Even now the clothes are coming out of the wash yellow. How safe is the drinking water? Do you trust any of the answers from city hall?
November 14th, 2009 at 8:25 pm
I don’t recall seeing Farmington claiming they will need to cut fire or police services That would be interesting to hear about if it’s a fact. What I see is the city saying that they are not going to cut police or fire to fix the ice area, they are going to look to other sources for funding, including increased taxation. That’s what they should be doing. There is absolutely nothing wrong with disagreeing with how government spends your and my money. As long as you’re willing to understand that others may disagree.
My deal on the ice arena is that the time for debate was back when the fucker was built. Once something like that is built my attitude is that maintain the stupid thing so that it’s viable. If you’re not going to do that, you’re just throwing away all the money that was spent thus far. Personally I feel that there already should have been funds in the budget to cover the repairs there. It’s something that should have been being trickled in since the day that the facility was built.
November 14th, 2009 at 8:41 pm
Mikeh,
I wasn’t talking about Farmington. I was talking about all unnecessary publicly funded sports arenas which should instead be funded by private sources. No, if the city cannot fund the arena and cannot be trusted to handle its financial success then the only viable solution is to close it.
If ice arenas (or swimming pools or baseball diamonds or dog parks, whatever) are so very important to the Minnesota culture than the users of those facilities will be more than happy to find a way to fund them without tax dollars. And if they can’t, *shrug*, life will go on.
November 15th, 2009 at 4:03 pm
And of course, just because it is unnecessary for you or me, doesn’t really make it unnecessary for everyone else in the community. Similar to picking a house near railroad tracks, you have to pick the city/county/state you choose to live in.
November 16th, 2009 at 11:14 am
Mikeh is right; these places are built (and I’m not referring to pet projects like the PAC) usually because there’s a group of voters/taxpayers who want them. I think the spending on them is excessive, personally, but a lot of people disagree with me. That’s democracy for you.
November 20th, 2009 at 11:33 am
[...] too) that MnDOT is looking into ways to ease traffic congestion on Cedar (this was mentioned in last week’s roundup). The interesting this is that Mayor Mary claims Cedar traffic is the one thing that residents [...]