For anyone looking for some light weekend reading with lots of bullet points, I've uploaded the Executive Summary prepared by the facilitator following our February 5th council/staff retreat.

Labels: council politics, events, process

Posted by John Nephew at 3/06/2010 09:03:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

On Friday, February 5th, a long overdue City Council-Management Team retreat was held all day at the fire station on Clarence Street. The purpose of the retreat was threefold: to set council direction and goals for the next 2-3 years, identify short-term priorities, and build trust and better ways of working between staff and council. While we await a written report from the retreat facilitator, I thought I'd briefly write up my own notes from the day.

In the morning, the city council reviewed the city's assets and obstacles. Using a list of goals assembled from questionnaires the council had filled out prior to the meeting, we discussed and ranked those goals. The following emerged as our top seven:

1. Re-establish Maplewood's Reputation — restore trust and respect between the citizens, staff, and elected officials, restore a positive image with our residents, the media and other government entitites

2. Good Government — Make city government transparent and accessible, and operate with an environment of efficiency and mutual respect. Welcome and encourage citizen involvement, but not let the city's path be dictated simply by the loudest and most persistent voices that show up at city meetings.

3. Parks Department — Reorganize, re-establish, revitalize; possible joint venture with neighboring communities

4. (tie) Environmental Planning — Further develop processes for “going green”; enhance and fund open space management; includes follow-up on Fish Creek commission recommendations

4. (tie) Fiscal Responsibility — Manage the city's finances and financial planning effectively, with an eye to providing stability and maximum value in the long term for our residents

6. Complete the infrastructure upgrade process

7. Redevelopment

In the afternoon, city department heads joined the retreat. Each councilmember and staff member in the retreat was asked to identify ten short-term objectives or priorities. The following items were on the list of majorities of both group (three or more councilmembers, plus six or more of the eleven management team staff):

• Maintain Quality Services
• Integration of Parks and Recreation; Parks Funding
• Economic Development
• Investment in Redevelopment
• In-depth survey of citizens
• Investment in infrastructure

With nine hours of work and discussion, there was a lot more to it than these two lists, but this provides at least some idea of the areas of consensus that emerged from the retreat. It was time well spent, and I look forward to working with my fellow councilmembers and the staff in going forward to achieve these goals and objectives.

Labels: council politics, events, process

Posted by John Nephew at 2/09/2010 11:13:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

Tomorrow (Saturday, Feb. 6th) is the monthly Citizens Forum in the Maplewood Room at City Hall from 10:00 AM to Noon. I will be hosting the event, and the featured department or theme is Community/Economic Development. City Manager Antonen will be on hand, as well as Dewey Konewko, the city's Director of Community and Parks Development. Everyone is welcome to attend, so please stop in for a cup of coffee, say hello, and share your thoughts on city-related matters!

Labels: events

Posted by John Nephew at 2/05/2010 07:45:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

Tomorrow, February 2nd, is precinct caucus day for the major political parties in Minnesota. Caucuses are a great way to meet your neighbors and get involved in politics at the grassroots level.

You can get a primer about precinct caucuses on the League of Women Voters website, or the FAQ on the Minnesota Secretary of State's site. The Secretary of State also offers a caucus finder.

If you live in Maplewood, these are the caucus locations tomorrow night, depending on your political party of choice:

Constitution Party:
The Miracle Centre Church
125 21st Avenue S
South Saint Paul MN

Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party:
North High School
2520 E. 12th Avenue
North St Paul MN 55109

Green Party:
White Bear Lake City Hall, upstairs meeting room
4701 Highway 61
White Bear Lake MN 55110

Independence Party:
Mahtomedi District Center
1520 Mahtomedi Ave.
Mahtomedi MN 55115

In addition to the "in person" caucuses, the Independence Party is holding an online caucus (see their website for more information).

Republican Party:
For House District 55A (Maplewood Precincts 1-11):
John Glenn Middle School
1560 County Road B E
Maplewood MN 55109-3609

For House District 55B (Maplewood Precincts 12-16):
Tartan High School
828 Greenway Ave. N
Oakdale MN 55128

Labels: campaign 2010, events

Posted by John Nephew at 2/01/2010 11:19:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

Senator Chuck Wiger (Minnesota Senate District 55) and Representative Leon Lillie (House District 55A) will be holding a town hall meeting tomorrow morning from 9:00 to 10:00 AM at the Maplewood City Hall. Sen. Wiger represents all of Maplewood, and Rep. Lillie represents the northern part of the city (as well as North Saint Paul).

From 10:30 to 11:30 AM there were be another town hall meeting at the Oakdale City Hall, hosted by Sen. Wiger and Rep. Nora Slawik, whose district 55B includes Maplewood's south leg.

Labels: events

Posted by John Nephew at 1/15/2010 09:13:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

The City of Maplewood website doesn't yet have all the links and directions in place, but streaming of live and archived Maplewood meetings is in fact available now.

Here are links to the archived Maplewood City Council meetings of the year to date:

January 4th Special City Council Meeting
January 11th City Council-Manager Workshop
January 11th Regular City Council Meeting
January 12th City Council-Manager Workshop

Tonight's workshop, in which we will be interviewing a lot of candidates for the new Business & Economic Development Commission, begins at 5:00 and while it's going on it should be viewable online. Later it will also be available as an archive, with those handy agenda links embedded to make it easy to find whatever specific item on the agenda you may be interested in.

Labels: events, media, video

Posted by John Nephew at 1/14/2010 12:58:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

Rather quietly, online streaming of city council meetings began last night. It was hard to find the link in the city council page, and I didn't actually realize it was being streamed live (or nearly live, with a delay of a few seconds for the video feed to be processed into the format for streaming over the internet) until City Manager Antonen mentioned it in mid-meeting.

Presumably this evening's 5 PM workshop about the interim council appointment will be streaming as well at the same web address.

All of this year's meetings will be available in an archive online for on-demand viewing, starting in the near future.

Labels: events, media

Posted by John Nephew at 1/12/2010 09:51:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

Councilmember Kathy Juenemann takes the oath of office for her third term:


Councimember James Llanas takes his oath of office:


Mayor Will Rossbach takes his oath of office:


The 2010 Maplewood City Council (at least until we fill the empty seat):

Labels: campaign 2009, events, photos

Posted by John Nephew at 1/06/2010 09:29:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

This afternoon Maplewood was honored to host a well-attended meeting of Senator Al Franken with city, county and state representatives of Maplewood, Oakdale, North St. Paul and South St. Paul. It was an opportunity for the local elected officials to tell Sen. Franken about the issues our communities are facing and propose ways the federal government might help. An elected official from each city gave a brief presentation about their cities' issues and priorities, as did state Reps. Slawik, Hansen, and Lillie, and Ramsey County Commissioner Reinhardt. There were some responses from Sen. Franken, leavened with the usual wry sense of humor, but he was clearly there above all to listen.

This is the latest in a series of these gatherings, where Senator Franken has brought together the leaders of several neighboring communities to listen to their concerns and ideas. The event also introduced us to the senator's local staff.

Thanks to our city staff, who not only helped coordinate the event but came in to work on a Sunday to make it happen.

Labels: events, photos

Posted by John Nephew at 11/15/2009 11:05:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

I'm home from an election night gathering, where we saw Will Rossbach win the race for mayor by a huge margin, Kathy Juenemann retain her seat on the city council for a third term, and Jim Llanas win the seat that Erik Hjelle will be leaving in January.

While it soon seemed clear that Juenemann would hold her seat, the race for the second council seat was a nail-biter. The first precincts to report were ones where Dave Hafner, who ultimately finished third in a field of four, did well. But three of the last four precincts to report — P3, P6 and P7 — were ones where Llanas' primary vote totals were around three times Hafner's. As those precincts came in the tide turned, and the end result was a solid win for Llanas.

Here are the total votes as reported by Ramsey County, for mayor:

WILL ROSSBACH	3080	51.26%
DIANA LONGRIE	2348	39.07%
Write-in Votes	581	9.67%

and for council:

KATHLEEN JUENEMANN	3023	26.73%
JAMES LLANAS	2801	24.77%
DAVE HAFNER	2648	23.42%
REBECCA CAVE	2368	20.94%
Write-in Votes	468	4.14%

Here's something striking: incumbent mayor Diana Longrie received fewer votes than any of the four candidates on the ballot for City Council.

Labels: campaign 2009, events

Posted by John Nephew at 11/03/2009 11:40:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

As I post this, the polls have just closed. Now it's just a matter of waiting for the results to be tallied and reported.

If you'll be at a computer this evening, the place to watch results as they come in is the Ramsey County Elections web page for 2009 election results. This will be updated with new totals as the precincts report. (There's also a link to the Ramsey County page from the top of the Maplewood website's elections page.)

On the Minnesota Secretary of State website, you can also find election results. If the past is a guide, this information will not be as up-to-date as the county page, but will have more details when it does appear (such as precinct-level totals).

If you have cable TV and live in Maplewood, I've heard that the city's Channel 16 will also be showing election results. (Right now my TV screen tells me that it's about to rebroadcast the 10/26 council workshop, so maybe that's not going to happen after all, or at least not in real time.)

Labels: campaign 2009, events

Posted by John Nephew at 11/03/2009 08:03:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

Today is Election Day. Have you voted yet?

If you don't know where to vote, visit the Ramsey County Precinct Finder to identify your polling location. The same page will show you your precinct's sample ballot.

Are you not registered to vote? In order to vote, you must be:

• 18 years of age or older;
• A United States citizen; and
• Have lived in Minnesota for at least 20 days by Election Day.

If you are eligible to vote, you can register today at your polling location. The Secretary of State's website has information on how to do this, including a list of documents that you may use to verify your residence.


I've made no secret of my own choices on this ballot — Rossbach for Mayor, Juenemann and Llanas for City Council. All three represent common sense and a strong commitment to the common good. In my time on the council, I've had policy disagreements and voting differences with both Rossbach and Juenemann, but I know that we disagree in good faith while sharing a commitment to the good of our city. The same will be true of Jim Llanas.

Maplewood needs to move past the failed leadership of Diana Longrie, whose position as mayor has given her a platform to perpetuate divisiveness and dysfunction in our city even while the election of 2007 removed a lot of her ability to do damage. While she and her partisans try to distract you with lies about Will wanting to take away your fire pit and other silliness, remember how much she has cost our city — the hiring of her utterly unqualified crony, Greg Copeland, as city manager; the unnecessarily large (10.2%) tax increase of 2007; the excessive and avoidable lawsuits that nearly left us uninsurable; the use of the city newsletter for electioneering; her sabotage of our legislators' bill to fund conservation in Fish Creek; her promotion of the conservation easements gimmick while eliminating the Parks & Recreation Department; and so much more.

After losing reelection in 2007, Rebecca Cave vanished from sight. Now she's on the ballot again. While she seems to have put some distance between herself and Longrie, she can't escape the legacy of the 2006-2007 period and all the city problems created by her being the third vote on so many issues with Longrie and Hjelle — appointing Greg Copeland, passing the 2007 budget with its 10.2% tax increase and its staff reorganization with illegal retaliatory firings, land use decisions that led to costly lawsuits, etc. She may have the political sense not to link herself publicly to Longrie during this campaign, but is there any reason to think she would govern differently than she did in the past?

Dave Hafner tries to portray himself as being apart from Maplewood's political divisions, but his record shows a rabid partisan for Erik Hjelle, Rebecca Cave, and Diana Longrie, as seen in his letters to the editor, visitor presentations, and other public statements from before he was a candidate. He even had public praise for the 10.2% levy increase of 2007. Given how he overrreacts to issues on the campaign trail, voters might question if he has the temperament to handle the criticism and even personal attacks that we routinely receive on the city council. I think of Hafner as being like Erik Hjelle, but without the refined diplomatic skills.

The 2007 election was a major step in returning Maplewood to normalcy, but there's much more to be done. Today we need to continue the changes of 2007 by electing Will Rossbach as our new mayor, returning Kathy Juenemann to the council, and bringing Jim Llanas on board. Do your part by voting, and remind your friends and neighbors to vote. Help rebuild a Maplewood we can all be proud of.

Labels: campaign 2009, events

Posted by John Nephew at 11/03/2009 10:03:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

Tomorrow is Maplewood's Fall Clean-Up Day, taking place at Gethsemane Lutheran Church, 2410 Stillwater Road. Besides accepting many other types of waste, the city will be collecting bicycles in any condition for recycling by Re-Cycle. Donations for the Second Harvest Food Bank will also be accepted.

For more information, see the flyer on the city website. (Printed copies of the flyer have been available in City Hall, too.)

Labels: environment, events, public works

Posted by John Nephew at 10/23/2009 08:12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

The local League of Women Voters is sponsoring a candidate forum for the Mayoral and City Council races. The forum will be on Thursday, October 22, at 7:00 PM, in the city council chambers at Maplewood City Hall, 1830 County Road B East. The forum will be recorded and rebroadcast on cable TV. I would guess it that it will also be broadcast live, given that it's easy to do that in council chambers.

Labels: campaign 2009, events

Posted by John Nephew at 10/06/2009 10:31:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

Many folks have told me they were surprised to hear that Mayor Diana Longrie sought a Resolution of Support and then the endorsement of the DFL Party in her campaign for reelection. This comment was often accompanied by curiosity about what she would say in an effort to woo party delegates.

To satisfy that curiousity, here are two video clips from Thursday's endorsing convention. Each candidate was given two minutes for a short speech, and then there were ten minutes of questions and answers.

First, here was Diana's two-minute pitch to the Democratic delegates:



Two of the randomly-drawn questions in the Q&A session aimed at the issue of the candidates' party involvement. The questions were, "When did you become a Democrat?" and "What involvement have you had with other political parties in the last ten years?" Here are Longrie's responses:

Labels: campaign 2009, events, video

Posted by John Nephew at 9/19/2009 08:36:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

Last night an endorsing convention of the Senate District 55 DFL party gathered at the Ramsey County Library to consider endorsements for this year's Maplewood Mayor and City Council races. (Before the primary, a smaller group — the Senate District Central Committee — had met to decide on Resolutions of Support.) Fifty credentialed delegates, all of whom had been elected as Senate District delegates at the 2008 caucuses, attended.

Seeking the endorsements were council candidates Jim Llanas and Kathy Juenemann, and mayoral candidates Diana Longrie and Will Rossbach.

Due to timing, Llanas and Juenemann were not present to give speeches. State Senator Chuck Wiger nominated Llanas and spoke for him; Peter Fischer did the same for Juenemann. Llanas was out of town (he was able to call in at one point and speak to the delegates via cell phone held up to the microphone). The three seated members of the council, plus yours truly, were late due to our special council meeting and workshop.

When I arrived, the endorsing convention was well underway, although it appeared that it had been moving slowly. I was told this was due to one particular delegate's procedural questions/demands and her wanting to make various modifications to the convention rules (possibly just in an effort to stall until her candidate, Mayor Longrie, was able to arrive in person).

For the council endorsement, where there were two candidates and the option of endorsing both, a voice vote was called. (If the voice vote had failed to get the necessary 60%, then it would have been necessary to use the more time consuming paper ballots for each candidate.) The vote was overwhelmingly in favor of endorsing Llanas and Juenemann together. I heard only one nay vote — from delegate Frederica Musgrave, who of course is well known as one of Diana Longrie's most vocal and partisan supporters.

Since the mayoral candidates were at that point present, each was invited to give a two minute speech, followed by ten minutes of questions and answers. Paper ballots were issued to the delegates, who had the option of voting for Longrie, Rossbach, or "No Endorsement." The results were overwhelming -- Rossbach received 94% of the vote (47 of 50) on the first ballot, far more than the 60% needed.

I was not surprised to see Rossbach endorsed, but his margin was higher than I expected. I had thought that Longrie had recruited more of her supporters, like Musgrave, to become delegates. For whatever reason, they didn't turn out. It was also striking that there were zero votes for "no endorsement."

Labels: campaign 2009, events

Posted by John Nephew at 9/18/2009 09:52:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

As I write this, polls will be closing in just 40 minutes. A good place to see results come in, in real time, is the Ramsey County Elections web page for elections results.

Labels: campaign 2009, events

Posted by John Nephew at 9/15/2009 07:21:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

For those who do not have access to cable TV or have not had a chance to catch one of the rebroadcasts, I have (with permission from the Cable Commission) uploaded a recording of the entire mayoral candidates' forum from last Friday so that it can be viewed over the internet.

Here it is:



[Note: This was posted 9/14/2009 at 1:52 PM; I edited the date/time to keep it as the top entry on the website during election day, and then returned it to its original chronological order.]

Labels: campaign 2009, events, media, video

Posted by John Nephew at 9/14/2009 01:52:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

At yesterday's forum, each mayoral candidate was allowed two minutes for an opening statement. Here is Will Rossbach's.

Labels: campaign 2009, events, video

Posted by John Nephew at 9/12/2009 01:50:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

This morning at 7:30 AM, a mayoral candidates' forum was hosted by the St Paul Area Chamber of Commerce in the St John's Hospital cafeteria. Six of seven candidates were in attendance, and their answers to diverse questions gave the audience some idea of the common ground among various candidates as well as their differences on policy questions.

Here's the replay schedule. If you have cable TV in your home, you will have numerous chances to see it between now and Tuesday's primary. It will be appearing on both Channel 19 (On Location TV) and also on the city's government access Channel 16.

Channel 19

September 12 @ 11:30 a.m.
September 13 @ 10:30 a.m. and again at 3:00 p.m.
September 14 @ 9:30 a.m. and again at 7:00 p.m.
September 15 @ 3:00 p.m.

Channel 16

September 11 @ 8pm
September 12 & 13 @ 12am, 4am, 8am, 12pm, 4pm and 8pm
September 14 @ 11am
September 15 @ 12am, 4am and 12pm

Thanks are due to the staff at Channel 19 for recording and broadcasting this event, and also to city staff for coordinating the appearances on Channel 16. Appreciation should also be extended to the Chamber, St John's, and moderator Ted Lillie.

Labels: campaign 2009, events, media

Posted by John Nephew at 9/11/2009 05:21:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

The St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce is hosting a forum for mayoral candidates on September 11th at Saint John's Hospital. Here are the details:

Make plans to join us for a Maplewood Mayoral Candidate Forum on Friday, Sept 11 at 7:30 am. Co-sponsored by St. John's Hospital, this event will provide a chance to get to know the candidates and their views on the issues before the September 15 primary election. Location: Cafeteria, St. John's Hospital, 1575 Beam Ave, Maplewood. Cost: Free, but please register here.

Labels: campaign 2009, events

Posted by John Nephew at 8/28/2009 03:09:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

Yesterday was Johnny Appleseed Day, an annual event hosted by the Maplewood Area Historical Society at the Bruentrup Farm. MAHS events often bring some of the oldest and youngest residents of Maplewood together for fun in celebrating the community's heritage.

One tradition at Johnny Appleseed is the hayride across the Prairie Farm Preserve.


Speaking of youngest and oldest, at one point the city's brand new electric GEM car was parked next to a collector's Model T Ford from nearly a century ago.

Labels: events, parks, photos

Posted by John Nephew at 8/16/2009 10:11:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

Tonight the Senate Transit Subcommittee is holding a community meeting in Maplewood, in our City Council chambers, to get input from the public on our state's transit budget. The meeting is scheduled to take place from 6:30 to 8:30 PM.

Labels: events

Posted by John Nephew at 3/05/2009 12:27:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

Today the three candidates for City Manager are being interviewed over at City Hall by the two panels, one made up of residents and Maplewood business owners, the other city employees. The day's events culminate in a social reception at the Maplewood Community Center, from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm. The interviews and the social reception are open to the public, and I'd encourage members of the community to come and get a first-hand impression of the candidates.

I'm looking forward to meeting the candidates, and I hope that one of them will be the perfect fit for Maplewood's future.

Labels: events, manager search, process

Posted by John Nephew at 1/06/2009 10:51:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

On Saturday, October 4th, Maplewood is running a "Nature in the Neighborhood" workshop, with a focus on south Maplewood. The city's press release reads:

Nature in the Neighborhood Workshop

The City of Maplewood and its partners present Nature in the Neighborhood: A Workshop and Field Trip. Join us October 4, 2008, 9:00 a.m. - 2:30 p.m., to explore natural resources in a suburban neighborhood and learn how homeowners can protect and enhance backyard habitat. Call Maplewood Nature Center (651-249-2170) to register. $10 fee, includes lunch.

The workshop will focus on a neighborhood in south Maplewood but the information will be applicable to much of the metropolitan region. It includes classroom sessions, field trip and lunch. Dr. Kim Chapman from Applied Ecological Services (AES) will present sessions on neighborhood ecology and enhancing backyard habitat. Sarah Strommen from Minnesota Land Trust will present a session on conservation easements for private landowners. On the field trip, participants will visit the “grand canyon” of Fish Creek and a tour a home on Snake Creek where the owners are enhancing backyard habitat.

This workshop is made possible by a grant from Embrace Open Space. Workshop partners include City of Maplewood, Ramsey County, Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District, Applied Ecological Services, and Minnesota Land Trust.

Embrace Open Space is a collaborative that serves as a catalyst for greater citizen and elected leadership to conserve and steward natural areas and parks, lakes and rivers in the eleven-county Twin Cities area.

There is also an informational flyer that you can easily download and print out for yourself or to share with neighbors.

This workshop extends the city's efforts from earlier this year regarding Natural Greenway Corridors, which has been part of our comprehensive plan update process. At a joint commissions meeting on March 18th, we learned about the city's greenway corridors and the idea of preserving and enhancing those corridors across public and private land. This workshop and field trip takes the discussion a step further, by actually visiting properties in one of the identified greenway corridors.

Labels: environment, events

Posted by John Nephew at 9/23/2008 03:53:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

This Saturday, September 20th, the Friends of Maplewood Nature are holding their 2nd Annual Picnic & Fundraiser from 10:30 am-1:00 pm. at the Bruentrup Farm. The purpose of the event is to increase the Friends Group membership and raise funds for the new Outdoor Nature Play Area kids climbing rock.

The schedule of events includes a "Protect Your Trees from Winter Class" by a certified arborist; a picnic lunch; a silent auction; and a farm tour, including a short hike into the Open Space Prairie.

The event is free to all Friends Members. New members are welcome to join at the party; membership donations are $15 for a household. RSVPs to the nature center are encouraged (651-249-2170, or contact Oakley at Oakley.Biesanz@ci.maplewood.mn.us), and I'm sure it will help them plan the right number of picnic lunches. But if you're reading this late and don't have time to RSVP, you should just stop by the event anyway.

Labels: environment, events, parks

Posted by John Nephew at 9/18/2008 10:20:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

Going out of town means I'm not just missing tonight's comp plan meeting; there's also A Town Forum: Immigration and Building Healthy Communities, at Arlington Hills United Methodist Church. This forum is sponsored and organized by Arlington Hills, Galilee Lutheran Church (Roseville), Roseville Lutheran, Bethany Baptist Church, ISAIAH NE Region, and the Karen community. All citizens and public officials interested in immigration trends in Roseville, Little Canada, and western Maplewood are invited to attend. It sounds like there will be a particular focus in this meeting on the Karen refugees living in Maplewood and Roseville. Registration (and Karen music) begins at 6:30 this evening, and the program starts at 7:00.

Labels: events

Posted by John Nephew at 9/16/2008 10:10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

On Tuesday, September 16th, the Planning Commission will be holding another hearing on the city's Comprehensive Plan. This hearing will focus on issues in the South Leg, particularly the future land use guidelines. It looks like the commission's discussions with staff and the consultants will revolve around the question of density for the Rural/Low Density Residential land guidance category.

The issue is made more complex by the change from gross acreage to net acreage for density calculations. The terrain of that neighborhood means that there is a big difference between gross and net acreage. The report to the commissioners uses an example of one actual lot of land in the area at issue. This lot is 6.9 acres (gross), but only 2.9 net acres after slopes, wetlands, etc., are excluded. So under the old idea that the neighborhood should have two-acre lots, this land could have had 3 homes built on it. With a new standard of simply 0.5 units per net acre, it would only be able to have 1 home on it (in other words, no change from its current use with a single house).

This is a difficult policy question, and the Planning Commission will be trying to come together and make a recommendation to the city council on what to do. If you are interested in this issue -- especially if you are a south leg resident in the area where the new land use category will apply -- I strongly encourage you to attend the meeting and share your views. While I unfortunately won't be able to attend this hearing in person (I will be out of town on business), I will be paying close attention to its outcome and to all of the citizen comment that is received.

Labels: development, events, process

Posted by John Nephew at 9/12/2008 04:44:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

Last night, supporters of County Commissioner Victoria Reinhardt and State Representative Leon Lillie gathered at a local restaurant to watch their primary returns come in.

Michelle snapped a picture of me with Victoria Reinhardt and Franni Franken.


If we look happy, it's because the results from the polls were good -- Victoria got 68.22%, and Leon got 73.37%, so both advance to November's election in very strong positions. I did some volunteering for both campaigns, and was very happy to see the hard work and planning of the candidates and their campaigns pay off.

Labels: events, photos

Posted by John Nephew at 9/10/2008 02:21:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

The 2008 Taste of Maplewood celebration will take place this Thursday, June 19th, at the Maplewood Community Center from 5 to 9 PM. The council has gotten reports of the very high level of interest in the event, with more than 50 vendors participating.

To accomodate the potentially large turnout, there will be overflow parking available at Aldrich Arena and shuttle service to and from the community center.

Be sure to come by and check it out!

Labels: events

Posted by John Nephew at 6/16/2008 10:37:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

Last Thursday, Michelle and I had dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings up by the Maplewood Mall. Besides being an occasion to enjoy a very tasty Caribbean jerk sandwich, we were there to support the "Tip a Cop" program. Maplewood police from rookie officers all the way up to the police chief were busing tables and soliciting donations to support the Special Olympics. This was one of two "Tip a Cop" evenings at Buffalo Wild Wings in May; between the two, our police raised over $1,700.

This coming weekend brings another fundraiser, the "Cop on Top" program with Rainbow Foods. Maplewood is home to one of thirty metro-area Rainbow grocery stores where police officers will be up on the roof to raise money again for the Special Olympics. In our case, Lieutenant Mike Shortreed and Officer Joe Tran will be braving the elements and the altitude for this worthy cause.

If you are able, stop by to support Officer Tran, Lt. Shortreed, and the Special Olympics. If you'll be out of town for the weekend (up at the cabin, maybe?), you can still pledge your support through the Special Olympics website.

Labels: events

Posted by John Nephew at 6/04/2008 09:58:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

It's difficult to overstate the importance of the "comp plan" for city planning and the related recommendations and decisions made by city staff the the city council. In the Twin Cities metro area, Minnesota state law has given a special role to the comp plan. The comp plan not only involves our vision for our community, but the update process engages neighboring communities and political subdivisions, so that development will occur in a way that is mindful of regional needs.

The City of Maplewood is hosting an open house for the public to review and comment on the proposed 2008 update to our Comprehensive Plan. It will take place at the Maplewood Community Center (2100 White Bear Ave.) on Thursday, May 22, from 6 to 8 PM.

Labels: development, events, process

Posted by John Nephew at 5/18/2008 01:42:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

Our planned city council goal setting session did not actually take place.

While the notice of the meeting was posted on the city website and notices were mailed to the list of people who have requested such mailings, this one meeting among the several called for today was inadvertently not posted on the bulletin board in City Hall three days in advance as specified by the Open Meeting Law (see Minnesota Statute 13D.04 Subdivision 2).

The city attorney had advised the council earlier in the morning that due to the unintentional nature of the oversight, the fact that people were generally notified via the website and mail (a newspaper reporter and a private citizen with a video camera were even in attendance), and because the meeting was being audio recorded and the recording would be available to the public upon request, his opinion was that the meeting could proceed in spite of the clerical error.

Once we were gathered at the Maplewood Room, Mayor Longrie stated that she would not participate in the meeting because of this error in notice. I agreed that it would be better to err on the side of caution. I also felt that it was important to have full council participation in order for the session to be useful.

We all pulled out our calendars, and rescheduled for Saturday, April 12th.

Labels: council politics, events

Posted by John Nephew at 3/24/2008 01:59:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

At the community center tomorrow, starting at 2 PM, there will be a gathering to celebrate the end of a year of recognizing Maplewood's 50 years, plus the 150-year anniversary of Minnesota's statehood. You can find a schedule on the City website, and I encourage everyone to attend!

Unfortunately, I don't know if I'm going to be able to make it. I'm a delegate for the DFL Senate District 55 convention, which is also being held tomorrow. Because there are some competitive endorsement contests, I really have no idea how late it might go in the day.

Labels: events

Posted by John Nephew at 2/22/2008 03:38:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

On Monday, January 7th, I took the oath of office as a Maplewood City Councilmember. I was happy to see a full audience turn out to celebrate this event with me and Councilmember Rossbach, who took the oath for his second term the same evening.

Labels: events

Posted by John Nephew at 1/13/2008 07:11:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

Labels: events

Posted by Michelle N. at 1/09/2008 12:45:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

Labels: events

Posted by Michelle N. at 1/09/2008 12:42:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

Photo courtesy of Jon Brandt.

Labels: events

Posted by Michelle N. at 1/08/2008 11:28:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

Minnesota Statute 412.02 Subd. 2 states, "Terms of elective officers shall commence on the first Monday in January following the election at which the officer is chosen." And now it's officially on the calendar: I will take my oath of office in City Hall on Monday, January 7th, at 7:00 in the evening. Everyone is invited.

I am also pleased to announce that my oath will be administered by Judge Gary Bastian, who served as a Maplewood Councilmember from 1980 to 1990 and Mayor from 1990 to 1998.

This is my first time being elected to office, but many others have gone before me in our city's 50 years, and helped build Maplewood into the community we enjoy today. I am grateful for all the good my predecessors have accomplished, and will do my best to live up to the high standards of service they set.

Labels: events

Posted by John Nephew at 12/21/2007 09:39:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

Last night the League of Women Voters hosted a candidate forum at the Maplewood Community Center, with all four candidates for Maplewood City Council in attendance. The debate was broadcast live, and also recorded for later rebroadcast.

Each candidate was given the two minutes each for opening and closing statements, and in between answered questions submitted by the audience, with 1 1/2 minutes for each question. Here are the remarks I prepared for my opening and closing statements.

Opening Statement

Good evening. My name is John Nephew, and I'm running for Maplewood City Council. I'd like to thank all of you for attending this forum, and the League of Women Voters for hosting it.

Since you may not know me, I should begin with a quick biography. I grew up in Duluth, and graduated from Carleton College in 1991. I majored in Philosophy with a Concentration in Medieval Studies. I started writing professionally in high school, and used my freelance writing and editing to pay my way through college. Before graduating college I began my publishing company, Atlas Games, which I still run today. Michelle and I were married in 2000, and we moved to our home in Maplewood in 2001.

Creating and running my own business has given me a diverse range of skills. In particular, I would highlight my experience with communication, negotiation, customer service, and finance. These skills directly apply to the responsibilities of a city councilperson.

Most importantly, running my company has honed my ability to acquire new skills, to absorb and analyze information quickly, and react to changing circumstances. I believe that these traits are what best suit me to serve on the city council.

The success I have enjoyed in life also has been motivation for public service. As a small business owner who built a company from scratch into something that can support my family, I take pride in the success of my company. But I also realize that I can't claim all the credit. I wouldn't be where I am without the support of family, teachers, mentors, and many more – even competitors, who challenge us always to do better. And I couldn't be here without the opportunity that America gives each of us to achieve our own potential.

I am at a point in my life where I want to give something back, to ensure that the opportunities that I have enjoyed are available to others now and in the future. That's why I offer myself as a candidate for city council, and ask for your vote so that I have the chance to use my talents for our common good.

Closing Statement

My campaign has had three central themes.

The first is fiscal responsibility. As a business owner, I am well acquainted with financial planning and analysis, and I think it's important that we take a long-term view for the city's budget, rather than swinging from one extreme to another year to year.

My second theme is good government. We need to approach policy decisions by defining a problem, exploring the possible solutions, and building consensus as we make policy decisions. We need to respect and value the professional staff of the city and the talented and diverse volunteers who serve on citizen boards and commissions.

My third theme is pride in Maplewood. We've been in the news a lot over the past 18 months, and most of the coverage hasn't been flattering. While there have been unpleasant truths behind the headlines, we Maplewood residents understand a deeper truth about our community: that Maplewood really is a great place to live. Let's come together to fix our problems and reclaim the pride Maplewood so well deserves.

This is a very important year for our city. I urge all residents to go to the polls on November 6th, and I ask that you give me your vote and the opportunity to serve.

Labels: campaign 2007, events

Posted by John Nephew at 10/31/2007 10:17:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

The other day I ran into Carolyn Peterson of the Maplewood Area Historical Society (among other hats she wears), and she gave me a flyer about an upcoming event at the Bruentrup Farm. Details:

BOOYA & BLUEGRASS AT THE BRUENTRUP FARM

Sponsored by the Maplewood Area Historical Society and the Maplewood Historical Preservation Committee. The City of Maplewood is celebrating it's 50th year.

Saturday October 6, 2007
Noon to 4:00pm at the Bruentrup Heritage Farm.
2170 East County Road D., Maplewood, MN 55109. Near Maplewood Mall.

Historic displays and artifacts, Live music, tractor wagon rides and much more.
Extra parking at the Salvation Army lot (Woodlyn & Ariel). Ride the hay wagon to the farm.
For more information Contact Carolyn at 651.748.9009.

I'm not sure if I can make it, due to conflicting commitments on that day, but it looks like it will be a fun event for the whole family!

Labels: events

Posted by John Nephew at 9/28/2007 11:36:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

The Moose Lodge at Frost and English is hosting a happy hour this evening from 4:00 to 6:00, for residents to come together and discuss Maplewood issues and even meet some candidates. I have a 4:30 meeting so I'm not sure when I'll be able to get there, but I do plan to stop by, and with luck other candidates will be in attendance as well.

More details are available on the Maplewood Voters Coalition webpage.

Labels: events

Posted by John Nephew at 9/27/2007 08:12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

Hey, it's election day! Did you vote yet?

Labels: campaign 2007, events

Posted by John Nephew at 9/11/2007 08:42:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

At some point in the future, the Maplewood Voters' Coalition candidate forum will be broadcast on one of the cable access channels. But for those who couldn't make it to the event, don't want to wait until after the primary for the broadcast, or don't have cable, the MVC has posted a summary and audio of the event on their website, along with some still images.

While I'm on the subject, I also thought I'd post the prepared remarks I wrote for opening and closing statements at the MVC forum. At the actual event I wound up speaking more off the cuff, but I think my written remarks are worth sharing, especially on the eve of the primary election.

MVC Forum Opening Remarks

Let me begin by thanking the Maplewood Voters Coalition for their endorsement, and for hosting this forum.

There's a funny thing about campaigning for Maplewood City Council this year. We candidates get to stand up for the most common-sense things that everyone should agree with – for example, to say that the city should produce its budgetary documents and financial reports on time; or the city should not retaliate against workers who exercise their legal right to organize. This year, those common sense things that should go without saying actually need to be said, because they do in fact distinguish us from the majority that currently runs the city council.

This evening provides a wonderful change of pace. I think that in this company, with the engaged citizens of the Maplewood Voters Coalition, and this panel of candidates who have met the MVC's expectations, we share a common understanding of things gone wrong in city hall. So here we get to take the conversation a step further – away from critiques of the present, and into our visions for the future.

I am honored to have the endorsement of the informed and engaged members of the MVC. It is an honor to be here with other candidates that have received the MVC's seal of approval, and I look forward to this evening's forum.

Closing Remarks

For my closing remarks, I'd like to tell you what I've seen on the campaign trail. I decided to run back in February, so it's been almost seven months now for me. I began door-knocking on July 1st, and I've now visited every precinct and neighborhood in the city, to bring my message to voters who care about city government. I have to tell you, everywhere I've been in Maplewood, I have found voters ready to hear my message of restoring pride in Maplewood through fiscal responsibility and good government.

Something voters want is hope. Tonight, I'm here to tell you that there is good reason for hope. All over Maplewood, voters are overwhelmingly unhappy with the direction of the city, and ready to vote for change. Most of the candidates in this race, including my worthy opponents on this panel, offer a better future for Maplewood than the majority that controls the city council today. I am doing my very best to win, and I do want you all to vote for me as the very best candidate. But I have to tell you that I believe, even if I am not on the ballot after next week's primary, or not on the new city council in January, I believe that democracy will work, and the voters of Maplewood will vote for the positive change that this city longs to see.

Thank you again, and good night.

Labels: campaign 2007, events

Posted by John Nephew at 9/10/2007 09:32:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

The St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce website has posted the questionnaires completed by four of the candidates in the city council race, including yours truly.

Also, remember to check out the broadcasts on Channel 19 of the forum hosted by the Chamber, and tell your friends neighbors to tune in as well!

Labels: campaign 2007, events

Posted by John Nephew at 9/09/2007 11:06:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

Good news -- if the audio clip a couple days ago wasn't enough for you, the Chamber of Commerce candidates' forum is now on the broadcast schedule. (Thanks to BM for the tip!)

On the Channel 19 web schedule, the forum is listed as "Mplwd Forum." Broadcast dates and times are:

Saturday, September 8th: 3:00 PM
Sunday, September 9th: 9:30 PM
Monday, September 10th: 8:00 PM
Tuesday, September 11th: 5:30 PM

That appears to be all the showings before Tuesday's primary. There is also one I see scheduled for after, at 9:00 PM on Friday, September 14.

Labels: campaign 2007, events, media

Posted by John Nephew at 9/06/2007 04:10:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

No word yet on when last week's Chamber of Commerce candidates' forum will be broadcast, but there is an article about it in this week's Maplewood Review.

Labels: campaign 2007, events

Posted by John Nephew at 9/06/2007 08:00:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

While we wait to learn when this past Thursday morning's candidate forum will be broadcast on Channel 19, I thought folks might enjoy an audio clip from the event.

This clip begins with a question about the city's reorganization, asked by moderator Ted Lillie. To keep the file size and time down, I edited to just the remarks of Rebecca Cave (who declared that "city staff is very happy") and myself on this subject.

Click here to download the audio (MP3 file, 6.8 MB, duration 5:53).

Labels: campaign 2007, events

Posted by John Nephew at 9/03/2007 10:44:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

The next public candidate forum/debate coming up before the September 11th primary will be hosted by the Maplewood Voters' Coalition. Details provided by MVC Chair Bob Schmidt (lifted from Maplewood Voices):

Maplewood Voters Coalition hosts candidate forum
The Maplewood Voters Coalition is sponsoring a public forum with Maplewood City Council incumbent Will Rossbach and candidates John Nephew, James Llanas, and James Dykes at 7:00 - 8:30 PM on Wednesday, September 5, 2007, at the Maplewood Public Library (3025 Southlawn Drive, Maplewood). Issues to be discussed include parks, public safety, public works, and city management. Please visit http://www.mvc07.com for further information.

Labels: campaign 2007, events

Posted by John Nephew at 9/01/2007 09:12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

This afternoon, Michelle and I will be volunteering a shift at the mini-donut booth by the grandstand. I believe Rep. Leon Lillie will also be working the same shift with us. Stop by and say hi if you're going to be at the fair!

Update, 9/1: Photos of me and Leon Lillie working the donut assembly line!

Labels: events

Posted by John Nephew at 8/31/2007 08:38:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

This morning I was one of five city council candidates who participated in the candidate forum hosted at the Maplewood branch of the Ramsey County Library by the St. Paul Chamber of Commerce, numerous partner organizations, and sponsor Keystone Computer Solutions.

Cable channel 19 was taping the event for later broadcast. The camera person I spoke with was not sure when the broadcast would be scheduled — so watch their schedule to see when it appears. (From a quick look at their programming schedule, it will probably be played back more than once, too.)

Labels: campaign 2007, events

Posted by John Nephew at 8/30/2007 03:42:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

Thursday morning this week will be the forum hosted by the Chamber of Commerce. Whether or not you can make it to that event, be sure to mark your calendar with the next candidate forum, hosted by the Maplewood Voters Coalition -- next Wednesday evening, September 5th, from 7:00 to 8:30 at the Maplewood Public Library (3025 Southlawn Drive, Maplewood).

I believe the four candidates endorsed by the MVC are all planning to attend.

You may also be interested in the MVC voter guides. They have a summary version for quick candidate comparison, and a detailed version with questionnaire answers and press clippings.

Labels: campaign 2007, events

Posted by John Nephew at 8/28/2007 11:10:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

The Saint Paul Area Chamber of Commerce is planning to host a Maplewood City Council candidate debate on Thursday, August 30 at 7:30 a.m. I haven't heard the details yet (such as the location), but wanted to let interested folks know to mark their calendars for it!

Update: See comments for details on the event.

Labels: campaign 2007, events

Posted by John Nephew at 8/23/2007 05:08:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

Yesterday was the Senate District 55 DFL picnic just over in Oakdale. Besides the local party activists, the gathering included volunteers from the Hilary Clinton and Mike Ciresi campaigns, and a visit from senate candidate Al Franken. (Franken was also at the Maplewood endorsing convention, and even mentioned it in his campaign blog.) Also present, as you might expect, were State Senator Chuck Wiger (district 55) and State Representative Nora Slawik (district 55B, representing south Maplewood and Oakdale). Rep. Leon Lillie (55A, representing northern Maplewood and North St. Paul) stopped by the picnic early on, before Michelle and I had arrived.

Labels: campaign 2007, events, photos

Posted by John Nephew at 8/12/2007 01:22:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

Maplewood's Independence Day bash is at Hazelwood Park tomorrow, starting at 5:30 PM. I suppose I should be there in any case because I'm a candidate for office, but what sealed the deal for me was the report that deep fried cheese curds will be available for purchase.

Labels: campaign 2007, events, parks

Posted by John Nephew at 7/03/2007 12:52:00 PM | Permalink

Back in April, when we went to the Nature Center celebration, we picked up a kit for measuring trees and submitting them to the "Great Tree Search." Ostensibly this is a contest to find the biggest tree in Maplewood, but I think it's really about recruiting volunteers to document some of our city's oldest and most treasured trees.

One of the reasons we picked our house back in 2001 was because of its many trees. They are not only beautiful and majestic, but they provide wonderful shade, making it more pleasant to be outside in the yard in the heat of summer and also keeping our cooling bills lower. Trees are a multifaceted asset: ecological, environmental, economic — and just plain nice to have around.

This week we finally pulled out the kit from the nature center and took measurements of our four trees we judged to be the largest. Michelle and I figured out a useful trick -- lacking a tape measure long enough for the height of these trees, we put one of our long outdoor extension cords to work for measuring. We marked off 20-foot increments on a 100-foot cord. Michelle would stand at the tree, and I would pull the cord out to the distance for measuring the tree's height (using their handy triangle tool with the level and mirror). Then we just had to measure from the nearest 20-foot mark. This seemed to be more accurate, since we could see the cord was in a straight line, as opposed to walking away from the tree in smaller measuring increments (and inevitably zig-zagging a bit along the way).

I'm less confident about the accuracy of our crown spread measurements. Part of the problem is that three of our four trees have branches that go far over fences into neighbor yards, or in one case (our biggest tree in the woods in the back) it's hard to see up through the foliage of lesser plants below.

So here are our candidates, and their measurements today recorded with the Nature Center for posterity:

Tree	Circumference	Height	Crown Spread
Boxelder*	124 inches	74 feet	59 feet
Pin Oak	107 inches	79 feet	52 feet
Silver Maple**	89 inches	86 feet	50 feet
Pin Oak***	117 inches	92 feet	56 feet

*From talking with more tree-savvy people, we're not entirely sure this is a boxelder, given its size. We were basing its identity on the leaves, using the identification booklet that came in the Tree Search kit.

**This is the tree pictured above.
***We think it's a pin oak, but we're not entirely sure because we couldn't make out the shape of its individual leaves from the ground.

Labels: biography, events

Posted by John Nephew at 6/23/2007 10:02:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

Last week we did go to the Taste of Maplewood event over at the community center. Some of the highlights we witnessed:

• The police department had temporary tattoos of the Maplewood Police Department shoulder patches, as well as MPD-branded highligher pens, pizza cutters, and chip-bag clips. I guess they talk to college students a lot, and these are especially popular items with that demographic.
  
• The councilperson dunk-tank looked like a success. We didn't arrive early enough to see Mayor Longrie in the tank, but Michelle and I did get to take a few throws at Erik Hjelle and Will Rossbach. (Sadly, we missed.) In the contest to raise the most money, Will won with his "make it up on volume" strategy of offering cheap throws. I think a lot of credit has to go to Erik, who bullhorn-amplified taunting attracted a lot of throwing arms for dunking Will.
  
• I found that just two chicken tacos from Acapulco was probably more meal than I even needed. Michelle enjoyed a prime rib sandwich from Gulden's. Party Time Liquors was giving away free samples of 1919 root beer, which was not to be missed. There were more food vendors (including Chicago-style dogs, ice cream, and coffee), making me wish I had room to eat more.
  
• Many local politicians turned out -- the whole city council attended for at least part of the evening, and I saw State Reps. Leon Lillie and Nora Slawik, and our Ramsey County Commissioner, Victoria Reinhardt.
  

I had fun, and enjoyed seeing familiar faces and meeting new ones!

Labels: events

Posted by John Nephew at 6/18/2007 11:04:00 AM | Permalink

If you're around Maplewood this evening, be sure to stop by the community center for the big Taste of Maplewood event, which runs from 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM. As I recall this was originally planned for several months ago, but the idea of it attracted more interest from the local business community. The result was to move it back to the summer here, in order for it to be bigger and better!

Besides food and other goodness, I hear there will be a city council dunk tank. The councilperson who raises the most money from people paying to dunk them gets to choose the charity to which all the money raised goes.

I'll be going to check out the event, and I hope to see a lot of folks there!

Labels: events

Posted by John Nephew at 6/14/2007 01:55:00 PM | Permalink

Next Monday, May 7th, there will be a special public meeting at the Maplewood Community Center, 7 PM, on the topic of the proposed developments at St. Paul's Monastery. The Benedictine sisters who call the Monastery home have found that it's more space than they need, so they propose building a new and smaller home for themselves; turning the existing building into a facility for the Tubman Family Alliance; and using another parcel of land for an affordable housing development in collaboration with Common Bond Communities. The plan requires approval from the Maplewood City Council.

I encountered five sisters from the monastery when they attended the Mayor's Forum at the start of April, where they had ready answers for all of the questions posed to them by fellow Maplewood residents, and additional information as well. Some of the information was surprising -- for example, the affordable housing income limit is somewhere around $43,000, if memory serves. Some citizens at the forum remarked in some amazement that they themselves could qualify to live there.

I know some neighbors have concerns about the development, about the effect on traffic for example, but what I've heard of the plan so far has made a positive impression on me. I admit I've always had a soft spot for Benedictine nuns (going back to when I was a little kid running around the halls of St. Scholastica, the Benedictine college where my dad is still an ethics professor, named after St. Benedict's twin sister). Sometimes people have an idea of the religious as being removed from the world in a kind of state of abstraction and disembodied prayer. In truth, these women have devoted themselves to bettering the world we live in, not just the world that may come hereafter; projects like this serve the living needs of the community, and thereby further the spiritual calling of the sisters as well.

If you have doubts about this project, you should attend in order to voice those doubts and see if they can be put to rest. (In fact, without waiting for the meeting, you might find that the monastery's web site already has the answers to your questions under the "Resources About the Planned Unit Development" section on its front page.) If the project sounds like a good idea, you should still attend, to learn more and to be visible in your support of the sisters' good works.

I plan to be there, and I hope you will be too.

Labels: development, events

Posted by John Nephew at 5/02/2007 05:31:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

Our day had an environmental focus yesterday. In the afternoon Michelle and I visited the Maplewood Nature Center for its Arbor Day celebration. We enjoyed a walk around the Nature Center paths, heard about the new purposes Wipers Recycling has found for old leather goods, bought a pound of shade-grown fair trade coffee, and came home with two trees for planting. Everyone who attended was offered a free tree to plant to celebrate the occasion; Michelle chose the swamp white oak, to complement the numerous pin oaks that already adorn our yard. We also won a drawing for another sapling, and for that Michelle without hesitation chose the pagoda dogwood.

While we were there we picked up our kit for Maplewood's Great Tree Search (info PDF). I doubt any of our yard's trees will make the #1 spot (though some of them are very tall and old), but it will be fun to measure their height and girth and make a record of them for posterity.

After we got home we even had an environmentally conscious DVD to watch — our current Netflix rental was Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth. It was a sobering film, but it also gives me hope — a world that successfully addressed the ozone hole can rise to this challenge as well, and a big part of the battle is just to spread the message that the problem can and must be addressed.

Labels: events, parks

Posted by John Nephew at 4/29/2007 03:41:00 PM | Permalink

Besides the Planning Commission meeting, last week I also attended the Parks & Recreation Commission meeting. One topic brought up by city staff at the meeting was news of heavy metals in the Gladstone Savanna. (Not a buried collection of Mötley Crüe albums, no, we're talking about arsenic and lead.) The city planned a public meeting to talk about the environmental consultant's findings and possible remediation plans.

Today the agenda and packet for the meeting, which will be held at 6 PM this coming Monday (March 5) in council chambers at City Hall, was posted to the city website. It includes some basic Q&A and a map of the site with the locations and results of various soil tests.

Labels: environment, events, parks

Posted by John Nephew at 3/01/2007 02:47:00 PM | Permalink

This afternoon, Maplewood kicks off the celebration of its 50th anniversary. The event will be at the Maplewood Community Center from 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM. I can't be there because I'm out of town today, but if you can make it, it sounds like a great opportunity to meet folks from all over Maplewood, learn about Maplewood's history, and eat some cake!

I know folks on the Historic Preservation Commission have been working hard to coordinate this event and more coming throughout the year. You can find a schedule of the planned celebrations on the city website.

Labels: events

Posted by John Nephew at 2/24/2007 08:51:00 AM | Permalink