City Manager Blog

COMMUNICATIONS AND NEWS FROM THE WEEK:  May 19, 2023

Meetings and Announcements:    

• The next regular City Council Meeting will be on Monday, May 22^nd.  We will have a workshop on May 22^nd at 6:30 to review the options for winter snow removal on trails and sidewalks.
• On June 12, we will host a workshop with the Met Council to discuss the WBA Purple Line Engagement Process. And at the Council meeting will hear about updates from MnDot on Highway 36 Improvement project. We will also have a report and discussion on bringing back Public Comment at City Council meetings. 

ADMINISTRATION

Update from Maplewood Mall Management

Hello Everybody,  This is our 5/18 update for ongoing projects at Maplewood Mall.  

Cleanliness of the parking lot & Landscaping

Trash removal is done. Our landscaping company will do another final sweep once the initial project is complete, which should be very soon. They are just about finished putting fresh mulch out 

Additionally, extensive parking lot sweeping was completed overnight on Monday and Tuesday night this week. Overall, we're very happy with how the exterior is looking! 

Potholes 

Pothole repairs in Barnes & Nobles parking lot were just completed. Repairs on JCPenney's will be scheduled soon. 

Security camera set up  

Still in progress, but we're working very diligently to get this done. Tech items for the setup, such as monitors and hard drives, have been delivered to our security company. We've had a few CCTV techs come to the mall this week to advise us on getting this done. Another tech is coming tomorrow to test whether or not old network passwords from Washington Prime Group will be a roadblock for us, or if everything was wiped and we can easily start fresh with a new network. 

For context, Washington Prime Group did have a security monitoring setup, but removed everything when the mall was sold. If getting into their network is an issue, I was told there are solutions. 

I will send another update next Thursday, May 25th.   Thanks, Elisabeth

From Communications

Leaving his mark on Maplewood 

When Randy Lindblom started as Engineering Technician back in 1988, the Engineering Department had one computer, no cell phones and used ink and mylar drafting.

Randy adapted to advances in technology and training and helped lead a team that is completing most projects in house with automatic computer aided design features, robotics and advanced GPS surveying. Read more about Randy’s career… 

National Police Week

Thank you to the Maplewood Officers who participated National Police Week events, they included standing guard at the Peace Officer Memorial in St Paul to honor fallen officers statewide and a ceremony Thursday for fallen Ramsey County Officers (Officer Mitch Condon and Sgt. Rachel Murray, part of our honor guard, are pictured left at Thursday’s ceremony). 

On behalf of our staff and council, I’d like to thank all of our officers for their daily sacrifice and dedication to professionalism.

In 1962 Congress and the Kennedy Administration established National Police Week and the Law Enforcement Memorial Day to pay special recognition to those law enforcement officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty for the safety and protection of others.

In the Community:
The City of Maplewood participated in Ramsey County’s youth career fair at the Maplewood Mall last week. We met with more than 50 students between 14 and 20 years old, many from our BIPOC Community, explaining how public service careers lead to making a positive impact for others and setting oneself up for a long-term livelihood with a secure retirement. This is part of an on-going collaboration between the City and the Ramsey County Workforce Development Office.  

Welcome to the Community, Kitchen Zone. The new restaurant had its grand opening ceremony Wednesday. It occupies the old Perkins just off White Bear and 7^th. It’s an extension of Unison Restaurant and Banquet.  

 PARKS AND NATURAL RESOURCES

Thanks for your participation at yesterday’s,  “Advance Meeting”. It was a productive day and so great to spend some informal time together!

See on Monday, Melinda

COMMUNICATIONS AND NEWS FROM THE WEEK:  May 12, 2023

Meetings and Announcements:  
Reminder that the City Council/Staff Retreat will be next Thursday, the 18th. We will meet at Wakefield Park Building and will start at 8 am with coffee and pastries. We will end around 4 pm.  A pre-work assignment has been sent out by Lois. Please return by 9 am on Tuesday, the 16th to Barb Strandell, our facilitator. Thanks.  The next regular City Council Meeting will be on Monday, May 22nd.  We will have a workshop on May 22nd at 6:30 to review the Snow Removal Policy.

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Community in Bloom
The Rice Larpenteur Alliance will be hosting the Community in Bloom event this Saturday from noon-2pm at Lake McCarron’s Park (flyer attached).  There are still opportunities to volunteer to help, so if interested, feel free to reach out to Danette and she’ll get you registered. 

The Asian Night Market will be taking place on May 19th from 9am -11pm and May 20th 9am-9pm at Aldrich Arena. This event was previously held at Unison in 2022. Business licensing, the Fire Department and our Community Development Health Division have worked with the event organizer to approve 41 food vendor applications. Guests will be able to enjoy a variety of food, concerts, talent show performances and a beer garden.

On June 3 from 4pm – 10pm, International Night Market will be at Aldrich Arena. In addition to the 32 approved food vendors, there will be arts & craft vendors and live music.

Staff has worked closely with the event planners to ensure these events have adequate parking, trash disposal & recycling, fire suppression, bathroom and hand washing facilities, mechanical refrigeration and proper waste water disposal. A lot goes into these events but we appreciate how the staff works to help pull it off. 

PARKS AND NATURAL RESOURCES
Edgerton Community Garden
Garden season is finally here!  The Edgerton Community Garden open date was April 28.  Returning gardeners can reserve up to two plots, and new gardeners can reserve one plot.  This year the City modified the fee schedule with an increase from $25 for all garden plots regardless of residency, to a resident rate of $30 to $35 and non-resident rate of $35 to $40 depending on garden plot size.  We also offer a reduced rate of $15 for income-qualified households.  All 70 garden plots have been reserved with 57 gardeners (33 returning and 24 new).  Of the gardeners 23 are residents and 34 are non-residents, with six people on the waiting list.

Ten students from Jeff Korpik’s Century College biology class volunteered to help with some spring-cleaning at the garden as part of their service-learning project.  They helped with weeding, picking up trash, installing garden hoses, adding wood chips to the pollinator garden, cleaning out and organizing the Little Library, and more.  Maplewood has benefited from Century College’s service learning projects for many years.  The students are always very helpful and a true inspiration.  See attached photo of students and staff.

LOCAL NEWS
Star Tribune Update on Public Safety PTSD Legislation
Late last night, the Senate voted 40-22 to approve a bill to require public safety workers diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to undergo treatment before they can apply for pension disability benefits under the state system, Randy Furst and Kevin Duchschere report. A similar bill passed the House so a conference committee is needed, but Walz has said he will sign the bill. The Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA) has been inundated with PTSD-related disability claims, mainly by police, since 2019. The bill, costing taxpayers $104 million over the next four years, will fund treatment programs for public safety workers diagnosed with PTSD and pay their wages and benefits while in treatment, in hopes of putting more officers back to work and reducing the numbers who leave permanently disabled with payouts.

Have a great weekend. See you next Thursday.  Happy Mother’s Day to all the mom’s reading this.

Melinda

COMMUNICATIONS AND NEWS FROM THE WEEK:  

Meetings and Announcements:    

The next regular City Council Meeting will be on Monday, May 8^th.    

The EDA has a special meeting on May 8^th and the agenda will contain the following: 1) Consider modifications to the Reuter Walton Term Sheet and 2) Call for a special meeting of the EDA on June 26^th

ADMINISTRATION

Two community updates to report this week.   

3M Cutting 6000 Jobs - https://www.reuters.com/business/3m-cut-6000-positions-globally-2023-04-25/

Man charged with criminal sexual conduct and solicitation of ISD 622 girls - https://kstp.com/kstp-news/local-news/charges-st-paul-man-allegedly-solicited-sex-from-minor-girls-using-snapchat-and-email/

Parks and Natural Resources 

Sherwood Park Playground Update
Northland Recreation has begun to dig the container for the new playground at Sherwood Park! We hope to have the new playground installed (weather permitting) by the end of May. To save on installation costs, the Park Maintenance Crew will be removing the old play equipment, repurposing the sand and filling in the old site with the dirt from the new playground container area. 

Invasive Brush Removal at Gladstone Savanna
Buckthorn and other invasive plants at Gladstone Savanna Neighborhood Preserve are being cut and treated by a contractor this week. 

Some brush will remain on site to discourage camping in the area this summer. Some brush will be piled this fall by Century College students for pickup and some will be left to help fuel a future prescribed fire. Prescribed burning will remove built up leaf litter and grass thatch, improving growth of native pollinator supporting flowering plants and grasses. Our goal is to provide habitat for the Rusty-Patched bumblebee, Monarch butterfly and other native pollinators.

Recruiting AMPACT Community Forestry Member
Maplewood’s Parks and Natural Resources Department is recruiting a new AmeriCorps/ AMPACT Community Forestry member to replace Dani LeMire when her term expires in July 2023.

Community Forestry members assist the City with tree tasks such as pruning, inspection, planting, education, events and more! Please spread the word and the attached flier if possible.

Questions? Contact Carole Gernes at (651) 249-2416

Maplewood Spring Clean Up FYI
While the weather was chilly, we had a steady flow of Maplewood residents attending the annual Spring Clean Up on Saturday, April 22 at Aldrich Arena.  It takes many people and organizations to make the Spring Clean Up a success.  Thank you to all of the Maplewood employees, volunteers, and vendors who assisted this year.  

For the third year in a row, the City worked with Republic Services as its main contractor at the event.  Republic Services covers the clean up at no cost to the City, as part of the overall residential trash hauling contract.  Year’s past the City was spending close to $10,000 per year for this service.   

Other vendors involved in collecting items and recycling include Re-Cycle Bikes, Pete’s Small Engines, USAgain used clothing, Second Chance Recycling mattress and box spring recycling, Retrofit electronics and appliance recycling, First State Tire collects all of the tires after the event for recycling, and all of the large bulky metals get recycled.  This year the Ramsey-Washington Recycling and Energy Center have agreed to pay for the recycling of all of the mattresses.  Second Chance recycling usually charges an event fee and per mattress or box spring collected.  This is part of a larger program to assist cities in recycling more materials now that both counties have purchased and are managing the facility. 

The Police Department was also at the Spring Clean Up this year collecting unused and expired medicine.  Maplewood recently removed its drop off medicine recycling box in front of the Police Department due to challenges with the collection, so including the medicine collection at the Spring Clean Up was a welcome addition.   

Finally, Maplewood residents were very generous with food and cash donations to Merrick Community Services and local food shelfs.  There was 350 pounds of food and $757 in cash donations collected at the event!   

Check out a comparison of vehicles attending and items collected at the last four Spring Clean Ups below.  

*The number of tires in 2021 and 2022 included tires collected from illegal dumping, city vehicles, and the clean-up event.