Week of January 13, 2019
At our council meeting last week, we learned that our 2019 Fire contract with White Bear Lake was going up over $4000, which is about a twenty percent increase from last year. We have always appreciated White Bear Lake’s fire and emergency services and their professionalism. We are told that the change in cost is a result of restructuring their personnel and creating an permanent on-call staff.
The unfortunate part is we were informed of the increase for this year well after the budgeting process locked us into the lower figure. The council felt it would be appropriate to review our options to make sure we are getting the best service we can. Please feel free to contact any of us on the council or leave a comment with our city administrator if you would like to be heard on this matter. We look forward to hearing from you.
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Week of January 20, 2019
A question came up recently as to whether a previously adopted city code had been properly published as a public notice. A little research was needed to make sure all was in order. So I went to the White Bear Historical Society as its archives house the old editions of the White Bear Press. I needed to look back to 2012. In the course of scanning the newspapers, I got sidetracked to the news of the day including the fact that the public notices sections were filled with about 20 notices of foreclosure…each week! These days we don’t see twenty such notices in a year. Looking back was a sobering reminder that it was not that long ago that we were mired in a recession that affected so many for so long. Let’s hope those days are in our rear view mirror to stay.
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Week of February 7, 2019
The city engineer and White Bear Township public workers official and I met last week to look at options to connect the sewer pipe at Birchwood Lane to the township. This would result in a gravity flow system to the township and allow us to take the Birchwood Lane lift station off line. That lift station is functionally obsolete. The new pipe will save us over $200,000 in lift station replacement costs along with thousands of dollars in annual maintenance expenses. A final design plan should be approved sometime this spring with construction starting as soon as possible.
Speaking of lift stations, two weeks ago a vehicle crashed into the lift station access tube at Birch easement. There is significant damage to the tube. The driver did not report the accident. Does anyone have a security camera that would have recorded the incident? Or does anyone know of a vehicle that sustained a significant amount of damage to its front end or undercarriage? Please contact our city administrator if you have any information.
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Week of March 24, 2019
It has already been a month since the Birchwood contingent made the annual trek to Cable, Wisconsin for the American Birkebeiner cross-country ski race. It was a fantastic day with lots of new-fallen snow. Those of us that use wax had a bit more difficult time. Nevertheless, congrats to Chris, Ginny and Andy Sorenson, Ben and Chris Creagh, John Wyland and Mark Glander…Can’t wait to do it all again next year.
But turning the calendar to March is even better. I love March–days are longer, birds are busy passing through or finding nests, and lots of folks are out walking the town again. Today I was out chopping wood and heard a flock of sand hill cranes fly over. That is my benchmark for claiming spring has sprung. And their excited chatter as they fly sounds like they are truly having fun. I hope you have time to enjoy the sights and sounds of spring as well.
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Week of April 7, 2019
We have had a lot of standing water in the Village this year, much more than normal. There was a large area of standing water at Cedar and East Line Road. Washington County is responsible for the culvert that was plugged at that intersection as well as the culvert under the driveway just to the north. Nevertheless, the city had a crew get a pump in place and took care of the problem. Going forward, we will be asking the county to address and correct the problem. The best solution going forward is for the county to install a catch basin and underground pipe. We will petition the county to do so when East County Line will be rebuilt, which does not seem to be soon enough.
Tighe-Schmitz Park also had a lot of standing water in March. The water was backed up into the Park due to the high water in Hall’s Marsh. At first blush, it appeared that the exit pipe from the marsh into White Bear Lake was restricted or clogged. We notified Rice Creek Watershed District and, fortunately, they sent out a crew immediately. It turns out the underground pipe was flowing at full capacity. The problem was just that we had too much water and frozen ground. So like many other communities, we had abnormal flooding.
The recent warmer weather accelerated the thaw and most of the area has returned to upland. Let’s hope the weather does not exacerbate the situation in the months and years to come.
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Week of April 21, 2019
Over a year ago I wrote about the fact Washington County required Birchwood to have a land line to transmit election data for our primary and election day results. The County informed us we had no choice. So for many years, that phone line has been sitting unused in our office every day of the year except those few minutes at election time. The line costs about $50 a month.
This waste bugged me and I again reached out to the county a few months ago and asked if the city could transmit the data via Mahtomedi’s or Willernie’s phone line after the election. The official said that would not work because those cities would be using the line as well. That seemed to be a rather weak answer, so I then suggested the data could be hand-delivered to the county for those two dates. The clerk did not think that was viable either because of the “unreasonable delay” in receiving the results. However, upon further research it turns out other communities including Marine on the St Croix have been doing just that for some time.
Interestingly, Ramsey County accepts encrypted internet data from its municipalities and has been for years. The City has had the same ability, but Washington County officials told us their system was not updated to that level, nor would it be for at least a few more years.
While the City was prepared to start hand-delivering election results to the County, it turns out that our tech advisor (that also provides tech services to Ramsey communities) was able to show Washington County that the encrypted data was transmittable as they intended.
We have now terminated our contract for the phone land line.
Persistence does pay….it’s just too bad we did not reach a mutual resolution some time ago.
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Week of April 28, 2019
In checking out some trees a few weeks ago, I saw this sugar maple tree with its bark stripped off from about 10 feet off the ground nearly to its top. There is only one creature I know that does this, but I had no idea that we had one in the neighborhood…a porcupine. It had one big happy meal eating the tree and in the process killing it. Yet it did not eat much of anything else nearby except a few linden branches (apparently not nearly as tasty).
Just a word to the wise, don’t let your dog out off leash. It is a big vet bill to have the quills extricated…as I learned with my last dog who found a porcupine in the north woods a few years back.
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Week of May 12, 2019
A few weeks back the City Administrator and I attended a Public Works Safety and Loss Control Workshop. We learned a number of things and have shared that with the council. There were two breakout sessions that were really insightful that you might find interesting as well:
THE BENEFITS OF INFRARED TESTING (This is Amazing) Roof leaks, mold intrusion, and electrical hotspots all can cause long-term health issues and/or expenses for any homeowner. An infrared thermography analysis can provide a definitive analysis of whether these issues exist when they might otherwise go undetected.
This is an indispensable tool for any building inspection, especially when remodeling or buying a home or other building. Knowing what I know now, I would not buy a house without this analysis.
PLAYGROUNDS
There has been some talk about the need to replace our playground equipment. There are playground inspectors who can make suggestions/observations about the need to replace. I met someone in attendance who is certified to perform such inspections. In talking with him, he told us that equipment does degrade with time, then added that one company, “Landscape Structures”, was the gold standard for longevity.
Last week I checked out what company manufactured our playground equipment. It turns out it is Landscape Structures! I then checked out their website and found they warranty their equipment for 100 years! That is amazing. Many thanks to our volunteer Parks Committee from 20 years ago that saw the value in buying a quality product that would serve us well for so many years to come.
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Week of May 26, 2019
For those of you who walk the streets around town, you might have noticed that there are survey stakes and flags around Tighe-Schmitz Park. The city is looking to improve the drainage on Lake Avenue and around the hockey rink parking lot and skating areas. This project is coinciding with the mill and overlay project for Lake Avenue scheduled for later this summer.
Our engineer noted that the water table is just below the surface which causes the road surface to deteriorate more quickly. So it is important to move the water away from the road. The good news is it appears that there is just enough grade change in the area to channel water to an existing drain.
As many of you know, the park was formerly a wetlands. The bad news is the recent, frequent rains will continue to saturate the rest of the park until we get drier weather.
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Week of June 2, 2019
Each spring I walk with bag in hand and pick up litter that has accumulated along our roads and in the wetlands. I hate looking at garbage and it takes just a few hours to do the job. It is strange what people dispose of. I suspect a “plastics archaeologist” would have a heyday analyzing all the refuse. Most of it is beverage containers (empty and unopened), but things like stereos, diapers and shoes were picked up as well. The wetlands get the bulk of the trash.
Maybe folks think if they can’t see it, it does not exist.
Fortunately, most people know how to dispose of their garbage properly. Thanks to all who do, including those who pick up after their dogs.
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Week of June 23, 2019
Last month I saw a hooded merganser in the back pond. I love the sight of these birds with their bright white head plumage. The other bright white-headed birds (bald eagles) were making frequent forays to the pond to snack on smelly dead carp that floated up as winter dead kill. Yum.
One of the plants I used to look forward to seeing is the yellow iris along the marsh edge. It is blooming now. They have large and stately blooms. That flash of color is one not usually seen in the wild. It turns out these plants are invasive and conservation groups actually plan outings along the St. Croix River to destroy the plants.
It is always something.
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Week of June 30, 2019
A group of us went to the Pigseye Sewer Treatment Plant last week. Our group thoroughly enjoyed it.
The plant collects most of the sewer waste for the whole metropolitan area…averaging some 250 million gallons a day. It captures most of the gases generated so the smell was rather unremarkable. It burns most of the solids and cleans the leftover liquid to something clearer than the Mississippi River water it discharges into. There are built in redundancies to ensure the system works in all kinds of trouble, even during floods. And they are always creating efficiencies–they are now using 27% less energy than they were 20 years ago.
Surprisingly, once Birchwood’s waste is pumped up the hill by Century College, the sewage winds its way down hill all the way to a lift station just outside of the plant. Gravity is a good partner for making the system work well.
Also, it cannot be emphasized enough that “disposable” wipes and Swiffer cloths are a very costly hazards to the system. They bog down the system by clogging pumps. Those costs are passed on to us as the system is self-supporting through user fees.
Free tours are available to groups of ten or more. I recommend you “put it on the list.”
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Week of August 4, 2019
Two years ago the city signed up for a solar cooperative that allows government entities to participate in using solar power for its usage needs. The contract we entered guaranteed that the city’s rates will not increase when we went live, and then the rates would continue to go down over the next twenty-five years as the infrastructure was paid off. The cooperative went online recently. Our current power bills now show that half of the city’s power is coming from these solar panels. Another win-win for our community.
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Week of September 1, 2019
Recently our utility billing added a $2 per bill savings option for those residents that signed up for automatic withdrawal (ACH) for paying their utility bill. ACH reduces staff time and makes sure one does not suffer a late payment penalty. Residents still receive their utility bill and newsletter by mail. Their accounts are not debited
until the last day of the billing period. It is a win-win for all.
With the $2 savings inducement, the number registered has double. Now nearly a third of our residents are opting for this more efficient payment method. Thanks to all who have signed up, and if you want to opt in, please contact our city hall to sign-up.
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Week of September 15, 2019
To paraphrase one former council member years ago, we are just one sewer problem away from a disaster. Well, that time has come.
The Birchwood Lane lift station is down to one pump with no back up now and no replacements available; the station is falling apart from the inside out; and its design violates OSHA and MPCA minimum standards. And it only serves 14 homes–an extremely small group for a half million dollar structure.
Lift stations are great when they work well…but they require daily monitoring, frequent repairs, and are extremely expensive to replace. And the Birchwood Lane station needs to be replaced.
Fortunately, we have an alternative. Gravity. It works 24/7, does not need monitoring or repair, and costs nothing.
White Bear Township has made this solution possible by allowing us to connect to their sewer system creating a downhill run for us. It would have made sense to initiate this project in 1998 when the Birchwood Lane Lift station was completely rebuilt. That didn’t happen and we have since spent about three times what it would have cost to put in a gravity pipe way back when.
The new pipe will cost about the same to build as our annual levy. However, this is still much cheaper than a new lift station for both construction and maintenance.
As a result, the council decided to spend down our reserves to pay for the new pipe. We considered bonding for the project but since we earn virtually no interest on our money, and since we are told bonding alone costs $25,000, we decided we would loan ourselves the money and rebuild our reserves by increasing taxes the next four or five years. This will mean a substantial increase in your city taxes (about 30%) but it will be short term. We hope you agree this is the best resolution.
Please feel free to reach out to me, any staff, or council members if you have any questions.
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Week of November 24, 2019
The recent deer hunt has generated a number of comments sent my way.
One of those was a concern about other wildlife welfare: cats spending time at neighbors camped below bird feeders killing many birds. This is causing frustration. It can also escalate to an unhappy situation.
I recall thirty some years ago that the city wrestled with a cat leash ordinance. That did not happen. Perhaps times have changed and it is something the council should address. We would like your input.
Please feel free to reach out to any of us. In the meantime, for the safety of all, please keep you cats confined to your yard or inside.
Your neighbors will appreciate your effort.
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Week of December 1, 2019
By now we all should have received our Truth in Taxation Notice for 2020. As noted earlier, the city has incurred $400,000 in emergency sewer construction/deconstruction at Birchwood Lane. That cost exceeds our annual levy of $364,000. As a result, the city’s levy increase for 2020 is 30% higher. Please remember the city’s portion of your overall property tax is 25%….in other words this contributes a 7.5% increase to your overall tax bill.
(Your values may differ somewhat due to the peculiarities of tax rates varying relative to property valuation. Also, keep in mind property values have increased as well.)
The levy increase will need to stay in place for the next four years to recover the expense because this has consumed our entire “rainy day” fund. The good news is you can anticipate your property taxes going down after that.
A happy Thanksgiving to you and your families.
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