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