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Know Your Como: Rescue is My Favorite Breed
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By Sonjie Johnson
Meet Stella. She’s a 12-year-old Springer Spaniel, adopted by Jim and Melanie Salasek in 2019, from Pet Haven, (Minnesota’s first, and oldest foster-based animal rescue.) Their five-mile daily walk includes the Como Lake paths. Always eager to greet both two and four-legged friends, Stella is an early morning favorite. It wasn’t always that way.
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Garbage & Recycling Pick Up
Last week we shared messaging about garbage and recycling pick up being delayed or cancelled due to the snow storm. Apparently some of the haulers chose to disregard the city's messaging and pick up trash anyway.
D10 staff reached out to Public Works staff who confirmed extra materials will still be picked up this week, as previously indicated.
If you have extra materials for collection on Friday, March 3:
• Place garbage in sealed plastic bags next to the garbage cart.
• Place recycling in paper grocery bags next to the recycling cart.
• Wait to set out extra materials until the night before or morning of to reduce the risk of
blowing or animals ripping into bags.
Residents can bring extra materials to the recycling drop-off site for free. For more info, location, hours, and a list of accepted items, visit https://www.stpaul.gov/.../recyclin.../recycling-drop-center. Questions or Missed pick-ups can reach out to garbage@ci.stpaul.mn.us.
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Request a Ballot for the D10 Election
Ballots for the April election can be requested on our election page (ballots won't be made available until after the candidate filing period has passed). Community members can vote from home: either online, or by returning a paper ballot through the mail.
The first step in voting is to request a ballot. To get your ballot, fill out a ballot request form. We’ll send ballots beginning Friday April 8.
Who is eligible to vote: Renters, homeowners, and other residents of District 10 who are at least 16 years old can vote. So can representatives from business, nonprofits, or other organizations with a physical presence in District 10.
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Join the D10 Como Community Council Board in 2023
The D10 Annual Election is coming up in April. Any community member in District 10, age 16 or older, is eligible to run. The board is made up of volunteers like you, elected by neighbors like you.
In 2021, the board made a change to designate board seats for renters, youth (16-24), and senior (62+). That change began to roll out in 2022 with a senior and renter seat (now filled), and continues with this April’s election with 1 renter seat and 1 youth seat on the ballot, in addition to seats for the 4 sub-districts and 3 at-large positions. If you fit these criteria, please consider running, we’re holding a seat for you! (Renters, youth, and seniors can hold other seats as well!)
All of our board and committee meetings are open to the public and agendas are posted in advance in this newsletter. We encourage you to come to some of our meetings and get to know us!
To get on the ballot, submit a board member application.
The filing deadline is Sunday April 2. The election results are announced at the April board meeting. You can view some basic information about the election here. If you have any questions or would like to know more about being a board member you can reach out to D10 Como Park at district10@district10comopark.org.
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Recorded Presentations
Dale Street Road Diet 2/21/23
At the February 21, 2023 D10 Land Use committee meeting we heard from Luis Flores, Ramsey County Project Manager, about an upcoming Dale Street lane conversion project.
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MN SEED Update – 3/1/2023
At the March 1, 2023 D10 Environment committee meeting we heard from Dawn Lamm about MN SEED and the Como Community Seed Library work over the past few years as well as their plans for 2023 and ways community members can get involved.
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Como Community Blood Drive
Wednesday, March 8, 9am-3pm @ Como Zoo
D10 Como Park is partnering with the American Red Cross and the Como Zoo & Conservatory to host a community blood drive at the Zoo Wednesday, March 8, 9am-3pm. Space is limited, reservations required.
Please consider giving blood, with so many still working from home, workplace blood drives have all but vanished, these community drives make a huge impact!
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Pothole Patrol
Potholes are turning many local streets into slalom courses. You can report potholes in the following way, depending on whether they are on a city street, county road, or state highway:
Reporting Damages from Potholes
If you believe your vehicle was damaged due to a pothole, you can submit a claim form to the City of Saint Paul at stpaul.gov/departments/city-clerk/claims.
Please note that for claims the City must have received prior notice of the pothole/street defect and then failed to correct the defect in a reasonable period of time based on the available crews.
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Parks Seeking Performers for 2023
Saint Paul Parks and Rec and Como Pavilion Management are seeking performers for the 2023 Music in the Parks series:
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St. Paul Public Schools 2023 Applications
Are you looking for an amazing school and wondering about the choices available in Saint Paul Public Schools? Visit spps.org/apply to find a collection of school tour videos to spark your interest. We are accepting applications for Fall 2023 for all grades. We look forward to welcoming you to our schools.
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Como Zoo Summer Youth Program - June-August, grades 8-12. Application deadline is April 10.
Como Parks & Rec Programming
North Dale Rec Center (1414 N. St. Albans)
Northwest Como Rec Center (1550 N. Hamline)
*Registration Required
St. Paul Parks & Rec Fee Assistance Program
The City of Saint Paul operates a special program that helps families pay for Parks & Recreation youth classes and activities. Fee Assistance can be requested by families who meet program requirements when registering for youth activities. To be eligible for the program, youth must live in Saint Paul, be 18 years old or younger, and qualify for free and reduced lunches.
Fee Assistance can be used toward most recreational sports or activities offered by Saint Paul Parks and Recreation. To view the online catalog of all available activities offered, click here.
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Neighborhood Notes
Upcoming License Renewals
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New Gabes by the Park (991 Lexington Pkwy): Liquor, Gambling, and Entertainment Licenses are up for renewal on May 5. Anyone with input should email the Como Community Council or contact the office of Ward 5 Council Member Amy Brendmoen: ward5@ci.stpaul.mn.us.
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New Essence Event Center (1217 Bandana Blvd): Liquor and Entertainment licenses are up for renewal on May 6. Anyone with input should email the Como Community Council or contact the office of Ward 5 Council Member Amy Brendmoen: ward5@ci.stpaul.mn.us.
*While license renewal dates serve as community reminders, feedback on a business license can be submitted at any time.
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SPPS Educator Hiring Fair
Saint Paul Public Schools is hosting an in-person Hiring Fair on Saturday, March 4, 2023, from 8:30am to 12:30pm.
They're hiring for the following positions for the 2023-24 school year:
- Special Education educators (EBD, DCD, SLD, ABS, PI, DHH, D/VI)
- Speech Pathologists
- School Psychologists
- Counselors
- English as a Second Language educators (ESL/ELL)
- Social Workers
Sign up for a 30-minute interview: http://bit.ly/3Xrh3gk
Email careers@spps.org if you have questions.
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Start collecting food scraps for compost
Looking to do something good for the environment? Participate in Ramsey County’s free food scraps collection program. You’ll reduce your trash and put wasted food to better use. There is a collection site here in Como at located at 1115 Beulah Ln, on the West side of the McMurray Fields. The food scraps are processed into compost at an industrial compost facility and used in gardening and landscaping projects. All types of food waste are accepted, including meat, bones and dairy.
Collecting food scraps is easy! Just follow these three steps:
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Get equipped: Find a container to collect food scraps. Pick up a free compostable bag at the collection site.
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Collect food scraps: Line your container with the compostable bag and fill it with food scraps.
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Drop them off: When your compostable bag is full, drop it off at the collection site. Pick up a new bag at the site.
To learn more, watch this short video and visit Ramsey County’s food scraps webpage.
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Apply for Community Reparations Commission
The Saint Paul City Council has announced the launch of the application process for the Saint Paul Recovery Act Community Reparations Commission. This 11-member Commission will serve as an advisory body to the Mayor and the City Council on matters related to damage caused by public and private systemic racism in the City of Saint Paul which resulted in racial disparities in generational wealth, homeownership, health care, education, employment and pay, and fairness within the criminal justice system among the American descendants of slavery.
Apply on the city's website. Applications due by March 24th
For more information visit the city's Reparations Efforts webpage.You can direct questions to StPaulReparations@stpaul.gov.
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St. Paul PHA Multifamily Housing Waiting List Opening
The St. Paul Public Housing Agency (PHA) will begin accepting online applications for 0/1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 bedroom apartments beginning on March 1, 2023 and continuing until further notice. The Multifamily Housing program provides apartments with reduced rent (based on income) to households with low incomes.
All applications received between 8:00 AM on March 1 and 11:59 PM on March 7 will be randomly sorted (like a lottery), so there is no advantage to applying on the first day. Applications received after March 7, 2023 will be sorted by the date and time received.
More information about the PHA's Multifamily Housing program can be found at www.stpha.org and www.HousingLink.org.
Click here to view the Public Housing Multifamily Waiting List FAQs
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Chime In: All-Abilities 2050 Transportation Plan
Ramsey County is developing a long-range All-Abilities 2050 Transportation Plan that will guide transportation projects throughout the county. The goal of the process is to identify transportation needs throughout the county and work collaboratively to plan to address those needs.
They are currently in the first phase of the planning effort and are seeking input on how people currently travel and how the transportation system can better support their needs within the county.
Join an online community conversation
Take the Survey
All-Abilities 2050 Transportation Plan - Phase 1 Survey (surveymonkey.com).
The survey takes around 10 minutes to complete.
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SPPL's Read Brave Celebrating 10 years in 2023
Read. Talk. Act.
Read Brave is Saint Paul Public Library’s citywide, intergenerational reading initiative that centers the power of books to ignite empathy and help us think of big ideas to move Saint Paul forward. Read Brave connects readers of all ages to one another through one theme, five books and their authors, book-based events, and a call to action. This year's theme is mental health, and events will run from March 1 through March 15.
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What's Happening at the Fairgrounds? | |
Twin Cities Regional Science Fairs
March 3-5, 2023
DESCRIPTION
The Twin Cities Regional Science Fairs' mission is to provide opportunities for interaction with professionals, discussion of project goals, presentation of ideas, and project analysis for all youth in the Twin Cities nine county area.
LOCATION
Warner Coliseum
HOURS
Friday, March 3: 8 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 4: Volunteers only
Sunday, March 5: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
ADMISSION
Free
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Have something you'd like us to consider sharing in our newsletter? Email us at district10@district10comopark.org | |  |
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Support Community Engagement
Do you appreciate the work D10 Como Park does in the community? Consider supporting D10's work by making a tax-deductible contribution. Thank you!
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