Yeah, I’m lazy and I needed another post today so you get your weekly dose of a Roundup. For those of you unfamiliar, this is just a quick list of links which I found interesting in the local media this week:
1. Last week I noted the strange fact that emergency sirens were going off in Dakota County again. We have discussed many times how ridiculous Dakota County’s choices of when to sound warning sirens are so I figured this was nothing more than a squirrel being hit by a car or the report of a cat prowling an abandoned field. While the siren I heard was coming from Eastern Apple Valley or Rosemount, according to both the Pioneer Press and Star Tribune, Lakeville was also having some issues with their sirens the next day and the day after.
I really think it’s time that the county gets a handle on this and stops allowing them to go off unless it’s a real emergency. You know, like North Korea finally develops a rocket that can reach further than they can throw stones or Dorthy actually goes flying by.
2. The Star Tribune reports that people are still pissy about Burnsville’s water situation which officials claim is safe to drink. More from Thisweek too!
Safe sure, pleasant, no. I didn’t get a chance to watch the Burnsville City Council meeting since they postponed it due to their lack of understanding of how elections work so I wonder if they were still drinking water from the tap unlike Apple Valley?
3. According to an article in Thisweek, Buck Hill gets their way and receives a zoning variance which will allow them to store vehicles in their lot during the summer off-season.
While I fully understand and agree with the reasoning behind the variance, I have to say that it’s a little sad that a for-profit business gets what it wants while a non-profit did not.
4. Thisweek reports Apple Valley’s Cedar corridor will not become a tunnel like the City Council originally feared because the feds agreed to only require one wall.
I want to know why the one person changed their minds. I’m guessing financial incentives or some other form of coercion.
5. And Thisweek’s The Show covers “Dakota Future”, something which I find to be the most worthless bunch of shit ever and believe is being pushed so heavily in our area because of Apple Valley City Councilmember Sharon LaComb’s conflict of interest with the group.
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I’m mainly interested in your thoughts comparing the Buck Hill variance to the denying of the MVHS zoning change. Are they the same thing? Should this have passed in favor of Buck Hill? Is this nothing more than tax generating businesses getting what they want while non-profits get screwed? Whatever you think about any of the links above, go ahead and comment on and share your opinions!
Related posts:
Dakota Complaints Map
Dakota Inmate Dashboard
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Lazy Lightning Gear
BPAC Financials Archive
November 6th, 2009 at 11:34 am
It’s nothing more than common sense-There is a vacant parking lot for 9 months of the year, and a car dealership with extra cars that need to be parked. Why would anyone think that allowing parked cars in an existing parking lot doesn’t make sense?*
I don’t agree with the City’s rejection of the MVHS application, but that issue was much more complicated and out-of-character with the zoning. At least, according to the City.
(*Full disclosure:I am a Buck Hill employee.)
November 6th, 2009 at 1:31 pm
I agree with whatever Greg has to say on this issue.**
(**Full disclosure:I am a Buck Hill employee and Greg is my boss.)
The lot is already there, parking cars on it or leaving it empty is going to make no difference in the amount of rain water run-off.
Buck Hill has planted a gazillion trees in the past several years and they get all their electricity from wind power. They are a very responsible business and a value to the community.
November 6th, 2009 at 1:56 pm
Glad to see all of the Buck Hill representatives here!! Now I will know when I come over to ski with the kids to just ask for the Dave and Greg Free Lift Ticket Special coutesy of LazyLighting!! By the way, the City of Burnsville put in place a lousey storage ordinance which some council members choose to follow to a T no matter the PUD before them and had some really stupid stipulations (medians, landscaping, separte lots) for Buck Hill which Kealey nixed three of them which was warranted in my opinion.
The MVHS would have reduced the tax income to Mayor Kautz by $100K a year and she has already taken this to the bank to pay for the PAC. They really should have approved the MVHS PUD amendment but the mayor needs to pay for her mistakes and the MVHS is paying the price as well.
November 6th, 2009 at 3:12 pm
I’m surprised the partial acquittal of Pass didn’t make the roundup. That whole story is just crazy.
November 6th, 2009 at 3:13 pm
Being able to park cars there and generate some revenue all year round is great use of the space, and Buckhill is one of the few things people from out of town might come to Burnsville for, so anything that keeps the place open and viablle is a good thing imo.
The council screwed MVHS. Plain and simple.
November 6th, 2009 at 3:15 pm
Joey,
I thought about it but I will eventually post the links on the post which brought it up earlier in the week: http://www.lazylightning.org/burnsville-police-officer-fucks-up-murder-trial
November 6th, 2009 at 3:18 pm
Yeah, I figured that may have been part of the reason it was left off here. Unbelievable to see the huge turnaround in the trial based on the evidence that had been left out. Based on the evidence in the news stories I don’t think I could have convicted the guy either.
November 6th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
For the record, Buck Hill is only looking at parking cars from the dealership during the summer months when they’re closed, not year-round.
November 6th, 2009 at 4:31 pm
Greg,
For the record my post states that already (emphasis mine):
November 6th, 2009 at 5:41 pm
Right, sorry, I was responding to the comment from Chad above.
November 7th, 2009 at 3:58 pm
Oh, sorry, confusing thought train. I meant that the place already generates revenue in the winter, so adding the off season parking probably adds another revenue stream, thus giving them some form of revenue generation all year round.
November 7th, 2009 at 9:09 pm
it is so tiring to read the crap from the city of burnsville about their water. Like the Dakota County 911 center, apparently none of these government employees understand that from the first day, the stuff has to work right. It would be one thing if it was jim and bob from around the corner that took some duck tape and a garbage bags and made a surface water plant. But this is a multi million dollar project with supposedly experts consulting on it, and they don’t even notice an algae problem until after people start bitching? They just now add systems that can help them make sure how much chlorine they add?
I just don’t get it. And if the mayor really wants to know what people need, they need to see her drink a cup of water that she took right out of the outlet from the surface water site.
Buck hill parking cars… go for it. sounds like a good idea. Any dollar a business makes in town, a piece of it goes to the town, so I say the more the merrier.
November 8th, 2009 at 9:47 am
What is odd about the water situation is this: From Savage, which gets water from the same treatment plant, we hear no complaints about the water. ZIP. So, is it the water or the delivery system/infrastructure which is the problem? It would be interesting to put some water from Savage taps in front of the newly formed Burnsville citizen tasting panel (really???) in a blind test and see if they complain about the taste.
I can think of some other panels that should be formed in Burnsville:
The BS Detector Panel: Meets and confers and throws the BS flag whenever the City of Burnsville looks at what surrounding communities are doing to support a decision the City wants to make; but refuses to look at the same communities decisions when it would not be in favor of what the City wants to do anyway.
The Odds-Making Panel – Sets odds for new Burnsville paylines, such as: Length of time of Wolf Larson’s employment. Or, guess which local company uber-businessman Dan Gustafson is going to “consult” for next and whether/not it will close and when (The panel will make the final call as to whether/not the Applewood gets to be counted twice). This same panel will let business owners in Burnsville know which way the prevailing winds are going to blow before filing a request with the City: will the City grant an exception to an ordinance (Buck Hill) or “stand their ground” (Minnesota Valley Humane Society). Step right up, place yer bets.
The Where’s Elizabeth Panel: Tracks Elizabeth Kautz appearances during election years (Hey! whatever happened to those fantastically successful “listening sessions” at JoJos that were all the rage pre-election? What – you don’t need/want to listen to us anymore?) and compares them to Kautz sightings when times are bad/there is no credit to be taken for “good” stuff (Kautz was all over that water treatment plant when it was constructed – now when there’s trouble, its Gustafson and Kealey on the front lines? Nice).
November 8th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
The water still stinks – I noticed it long before I heard about the flap and it hasn’t gotten better. I agree with Mikeh that the “experts” should know what they are doing, especially after spending so much money.
It kills me that they are working on the “taste”. Regardless of what they say, this water cannot be safe. Here’s a thought: Provide clean water and the taste will take care of itself. All of that chlorine is not a good thing. Does anyone get the idea that someone’s brother-in-law was in charge of this project?
Also, there was a truncated message on my home phone last week. It said that free water testing was being offered by the city for people in my area. The message was cut off (on their side) before any useful information was left for us. A quick internet search did not produce anything about this. Well done. I wonder how much that cost to screw up?
November 8th, 2009 at 12:41 pm
One more thing about the water and the “odor and taste” consultations. This reminds me of one of my favorite analogies: You can put frosting on shit, but it’s still going to be shit. You can add chemicals to swamp water to try to cover it up, but it’s still swamp water. Besides, isn’t it safer and cheaper to use UV rays to decontaminate water?
November 8th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
Before a chemist attacks me here, I know that my ignorance here greatly surpasses my knowledge. If someone not connected to the city wants to weigh in on the chemistry here, that would be great.
November 8th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
The smell of something, including water, can indicate the safety or lack there of, it is not a conclusive indicator. I have to assume they have done some sort of tests to ensure the safety of the water, though they do an extremley poor job of getting that information out.
It’s like they are trying to be all gee, shucks don’t worry, we’ll take care of it. And yet they neither seem to be taking care of it nor able to give anyone any confidence they are going to be able to do so, and this thing cost multiple millions of dollars.
I say take it off line (we’re out of the high water usage time anyway) and fix it. Of course, my guess is they can’t take it offline because Kramer can’t pump that excess into the river anymore. That was the point of this whole project.
an article on using UV. My guess is it’s quite a bit more expensive. I can’t imagine those uv bulbs are cheap.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=clean-water-technology
November 8th, 2009 at 5:30 pm
I’d start calling City Hall every fucking day asking for updates on the water issue. In addition I’d be e-mailing my City Council representatives several times a day with updates as to how shitty the water smells and tastes:
November 9th, 2009 at 10:24 am
Curious. What is your definition of “clean water”?
On the other thread, I gave a link to a Wikipedia narrative on water. After reading that I’d be curious to know what anyone considers “clean” water.
November 9th, 2009 at 11:41 am
Burnsville to get national award for surface water treatment plant: http://www.minnpost.com/politicalagenda/2009/11/09/13281/burnsville_to_get_national_award_for_surface_water_treatment_plant
November 9th, 2009 at 10:06 pm
MSPD – I think that I’m afraid to read your WIKI on water. The offspring started out in ChemE and did a water plant project – it was very scary. It just seems to me that working on taste and smell is akin to spraying your undergarments with Febreeze instead of laundering it.
November 9th, 2009 at 10:07 pm
Laundering them.
March 15th, 2010 at 7:31 am
[...] is that many other groups, much closer to home, are vying for Google’s attention including Dakota Future through Dakota Future Fiber and, yes, even our illustrious Apple Valley Mayor Mary [...]