News from the City of Lake Elmo
June 15,  2018
Meetings next week:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Monday, June 18th: Planning Commission Meeting 7:00 p.m.
Tuesday, June 19th: Finance Committee Meeting 5:00 p.m.
 
 
 
 
Tuesday, June 19th: City Council Meeting 7:00 p.m.

Links to the 2018 City Meetings, Agendas and Meeting Minutes: 

City Meetings
 
                                                                               

6/18 - Planning Commission Meeting Agenda
 
6/19 - Finance Committee Meeting Agenda
 
6/19 - City Council Meeting Agenda
 
Permanent Water Use Restriction

To encourage water conservation, the following water use restrictions have been in place in the City of Lake Elmo since 2010.

(1). Odd/Event Sprinkling Restriction: Property owners having even numberd postal addresses may water, sprinkle, or irrigate their lawns, only on even numbered days, and property owners having odd numbered postal addressses may water, sprinkle, or irrigate their lawns only on odd numbered days.

(2). Time of Day Sprinkling Restriction:  Property owners are prohibited from watering, sprinkling, or irrigating their lawns between the hours of 10:00 AM and 5:00 PM daily.

CSAH 15 (Manning Ave.) and CSAH 14 Realignment

Project Schedule:

Last Week
  • Reclaim work continued on.
  • Crews started grading the northbound side of Manning Avenue.
  • Sanitary sewer installation began.
This Week
  • Utility relocations will continue on.
  • Crews will continue installing sanitary sewer.
  • Crews will work on excavating and grading the subgrade.
  • Dust control will be put in place.
Upcoming Work
  • Storm sewer installation will start up next week south of 40th Street.
Access
CSAH 14 (40th Street N) east of CSAH 15 (Manning Avenue) to McFair Avenue is closed to all traffic. The detour route is shown below.
Closures at 34th/Jamaca/Stillwater Blvd. Roudabout

The material has arrived for the roundabout project, and work is scheduled to begin on  Monday, June 18th . County crews have been placing targets this week in preparation.

East-west traffic will be maintained through the roundabout during the work, but drivers should expect delays as the road will be reduced to one lane.

Because the flaggers will be directing traffic onto the opposite side of CSAH 14 running traffic backwards through the roundabout itself, the north and south legs of the roundabout must be closed to all traffic while the work is taking place.  33rd Street North will also be closed at its intersection with CSAH 14 for the same reason.
Lake Elmo Rotary's Kindness Campaign

"Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves." 
 - 
James Matthew Barrie

June is here and brings with it lots of sunshine as we approach the first official day of summer! The fantastic May weather provided plenty of time to help a neighbor with yard work. Some of you enlisted the help of your children and turned this challenge into a family event - way to go!! Thanking those in uniform for their service often ended with them thanking us for thanking them! More magical conversations happening that normally would have gone unspoken.
 
For our June challenge we are turning the tables and asking you to do something kind for yourself. We are all so busy meeting the demands of work, family and all the other stuff life throws at us that we don't have much time to be good to ourselves. Happy summer - I hope you will make time to eat a Popsicle, listen to the birds and watch the sunset.

As always, we'd love to hear what you do this month! You'll find a link to email us at  www.lakeelmorotary.org
 
Always remember...kindness is contagious!
Oliver Towne Visits Lake Elmo 
 

( Reprint of St. Paul Pioneer Press, Thursday, October 5, 1961) 

"In the Fall of 1961, Gareth D. Hiebert, the St. Paul Pioneer Press columnist who wrote under the name "Oliver Towne," visited the sleepy village of Lake Elmo. This column was published on Thursday, October 5, 1961. Here is the last portion of this column."

Louis Schneider and American Farmers Mutual Insurance

LOUIS SCHNEIDER, the village blacksmith, has been looking out on main street for 84 years. Louie's shop is she
altered by an awning of elms he saw planted 70 years ago - "no bigger than a pitch fork handle. Get two cord of wood out of them now." Louie looks across the street at the collection of half-century stores and in one sees the seeds of Mutual Service Life Insurance Co., now a giant along St. Paul's University Ave. When Sam Dornfeld, Ray Kern and Col. R. A. Wilkinson founded it, they named the original company American Farmers Mutual.

Louie lived when the two, big hotels stood along the northeast curve of Lake Elmo, the ones with the wide, glassed-in verandas. They brought vacationers on weekends by train, 12 whole miles from St. Paul. The hotels also brought Lake Elmo the first electric street lights west of Chicago.

There were three lights - one hanging over the depot and two more along the wooden sidewalk that ran from the depot nearly a quarter of a mile to the hotels," says Louie. The generator was a steam thing inside the laundry building. The laundry building is all that's left of the big hotels, which burned in the 1880s. The hotels had drink parlors and big dinning rooms, whose provisions often came from the Schneider farm.



Source: Memories of Lake Elmo, collected and authored by Gloria VanDemmeltraadt.

Help Eradicate Buckthorn From Sunfish Lake Park

                                                                                  
Sunfish Lake Park is being overrun with buckthorn. Join the Friends of Lake Elmo Sunfish Park on June 30th from 10 am-noon to begin our work on this problem.
 
Please bring gloves, something to cut buckthorn, if you have it, and water. We will have coffee and a lunch at the Sally Manzara Nature Center after the event.
 
This is the first of many regular Adopt A Park events we have planned for Sunfish Lake Park.
 
For more information, or to be put on our mailing list for future events, contact George Johnson at 651-757-5610 or gjohnson2020@gmail.com.



Upcoming Events at the Sally Manzara Interpretive Nature Center

                                                                                  
Audubon Bird Walk with Linda Keller
Saturday, June 16th, 7:00-10:00 AM

Celebrate Father's Day at the Nature Center
Give your father the gift of nature. Take a trail walk and stop at the nature center for a continental breakfast. 
Sunday, June 17, 9:00 AM - 2:00 PM

Senior Mondays 
Guided Trail walk for seniors followed by coffee, refreshments and conversation.      
Mondays beginning June 18, 9:00 am - 11:00 am

Buckthorn Removal in Sunfish Lake Park 
June 30th 9:00 am - 4:00 pm

Beginning Watercolor painting class with Artist Julie Schroeder
Friday, July 20, 1:00 PM - 3:30 PM

The Sally Manzara Interpretive Nature Center at Sunfish Lake Park will also be offering mini-camp adventures during the month of July.  Stay tuned for more details.  Visit www.sminc-lake-elmo.org for more information on the nature center and programming. 
Spot spraying for noxious weeds to begin in Washington County June 19

                                                                                  
Washington County staff will begin spot spraying noxious weeds in the more than 220 miles of rural roadsides June 19 through October.

This is being done to help comply with the Minnesota State Noxious Weed law administered by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture. The chemicals to be used are Escort XP, Milestone VM, and Liberate.

Property owners who do not want their roadside sprayed or mowed, and are willing to take responsibility for controlling and eradicating noxious weeds on the adjacent roadside, may visit the Washington County North Shop at 11660 Myeron Road in Stillwater Township to obtain signage, or call 651-430-4300. Be prepared to provide an address, the nearest cross street, and a description of where DO NOT SPRAY signs will be located.

Washington County Parks are featuring "Passports to Parks" through Nov. 1

Visit at least five Washington County parks and answer the questions as you go. Bring your completed passport to any park office to receive your prize. Park offices include Big Marine Park Reserve, Historic Courthouse, Lake Elmo Park Reserve and St. Croix Bluffs.

Scavenger Hunt will begin on Explore Your Parks Day, June 2, 2018 and will be collected through November 1, 2018. Follow all park rules including vehicle permit requirements and park hours (6:00 AM - 10:00 PM)



2017 Consumer Confidence Report Now Available

The 2017 Lake Elmo Consumer Confidence Report regarding the City's drinking water quality is now available. The full report can be viewed here:  http://www.lakeelmo.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/2017-CCR-newspaper.pdf
Campfire program continues with "Reptiles & Amphibians" June 23


The Carpenter Science Center will present "Reptiles & Amphibians" at 7:15 p.m. Saturday, June 23, at Lake Elmo Park Reserve.

Lake Elmo Park Reserve is at the intersection of County Road 19 and County Road 10 (one mile north of Interstate 94) in Lake Elmo. The program will be in the campground amphitheater. Call 651-430-8370 or see www.co.washington.mn.us/parks for additional information on this and other programs.

Follow Washington County Parks on social media at @WashCountyParks.
Enjoy guided fitness hike June 28 at Lake Elmo Park

Explore the Washington County Parks trail system with guided fitness hikes, with the next hike at 9 to 10 a.m. Thursday, June 28, at Lake Elmo Park Reserve.

The one-hour hikes involve a warm-up and fitness challenges along the way. Trails are a mix of turf, gravel, grass, snow, and pavement depending on trail conditions, time of year, and location. Plan to arrive 10 minutes early. If light rain, hike will go on as scheduled. The program is for those ages 13 and older. All minors must be accompanied by an adult.

All guided fitness hikes are at the Lake Elmo Park Reserve Thursdays from 9 to 10 a.m. and will meet at the Nordic Center. The continuing 2018 schedule is:
  • July 12
  • July 26
  • Aug. 9
  • Aug. 23
  • Sept. 6
  • Sept. 20
  • Oct. 4
  • Nov. 1
  • Dec. 6
These programs are free with a parks vehicle permit ($7/day or $30/annual) with the exception of Free Tuesdays.   Follow Washington County Parks on social media at @WashCountyParks.