Star Tribune
St. Louis County marks the end of project that brought fixes to 21 bridges and culverts
RICE LAKE, MINN. – Before and after photographs decorated the side of a construction vehicle parked in a St. Louis County Public Works garage Wednesday morning, marking the ceremonial end of a years-long project to replace aged bridges and culverts within northern Minnesota.
The more than $25 million bridge bundling project, a collaboration between the county and the Minnesota Department of Transportation, brought fixes to 17 spots in St. Louis County and four in neighboring Carlton County. The finale was a bridge on West Skyline Parkway leading to Spirit Mountain, which opened in mid-October — a month earlier than expected.
It was the largest road and bridge construction contract that this county has seen, according to 5th District County Commissioner Keith Musolf, who chairs the Public Works and Transportation committee.
“Replacing these bridges has made our region a safer place, strengthened our ability to withstand the environment of northern Minnesota’s weather and the events that have occurred over the past few seasons,” he said during a press conference.
The partnering entities started collecting funding for the project in 2018 when the Federal Highway Administration solicited applications for a project that would bundle bridge work, with a goal of demonstrating cost savings, according to Matt Hemmila, St. Louis County’s deputy director of engineering.
They were able to secure $10.2 million, then tacked on more federal, state and local funds for the rest. Hemmila estimated they saved between 10% and 15% on the cost of bridge fixes by not tending to each individually.
“So I think the program was a success,” he said.
Areas that saw upgrades, starting in 2022, include a spot on Normanna Road, over the French River, Munger Shaw Road over Shaw Bug Creek, and Three Lakes Road over Boulder Creek. There were two projects on Kensington Drive and two on Hwy. 210 that cross the Tamarack River. The only project this year was over Knowlton Creek on West Skyline Parkway, which included stream restoration work. St. Louis County has a two-minute video that shows before and after photos from each location.
Star Tribune
Vandals uproot 60 new trees on St. Paul riverfront tossing many in the Mississippi River
Sixty newly-planted trees along St. Paul’s riverfront were uprooted Wednesday night, and most were tossed into the water, in an act of vandalism costing tens of thousands of dollars.
“I’m incredibly sad. It’s hard to fathom,” said Karen Zumach, the director of community forestry for St. Paul-based non-profit Tree Trust, which contracted with the city to plant the trees with the help of high school students in October. “I like to think that trees are the least controversial thing we deal with these days.”
The trees were planted over two days along Shepard Road, in the area of Upper Landing Park and the Sam Morgan Regional Trail.
Photos taken by city staff Thursday showed a long row of piles of upturned dirt circling around holes in the ground where the trees once stood. All but 14 of them were tossed into the Mississippi River, rendering them unsalvageable, Zumach said.
The St. Paul Parks and Recreation Department estimated the damage comes to $40,000.
The St. Paul Police Department confirmed Thursday it received a report of the vandalism and an investigation is ongoing. The city parks department said in a statement the vandalism is believed to have occurred overnight.
The 14 trees that did not end up in the river have been reinstalled, Zumach said. The process to replace the others has yet to be determined, but the planting season has already passed.
About 25 high school students helped plant 250 trees while school was out during the annual MEA conference for state educators in October, Zumach said.
The Minneapolis City Council was unable to override Mayor Jacob Frey’s recent veto of an ordinance that would give some organizations first dibs on buying certain rental housing units in an effort to preserve affordable housing.
Under the proposal, if the owner of certain rental units wants to sell, they would have to give certain “qualified organizations” the first shot at buying their property, with exceptions for sales to renters or family members, for example.
Frey wrote in his veto letter that “now is not the time to make it harder to invest in our city’s housing stock.” He said while he agrees with the goal of preserving affordable housing, he doesn’t believe the ordinance will accomplish that in the current housing market.
“I appreciate the intention behind this ordinance, and in a different housing market when investment was more free-flowing, I may have a different perspective,” he wrote.
Supporters said the proposal would keep thousands of units of affordable housing available and prevent large investment firms from gobbling them up — and potentially hiking rents to reap profits.
The council voted 7-5 to override Frey, but needed nine votes.
Council Member Jeremiah Ellison, who co-authored the ordinance, argued when it was before the council on Oct. 31 that it would help small, local developers buy property that’s now being bought up by national investment firms or hedge funds.
Council Member Linea Palmisano said she was torn on the ordinance when it was before the council, saying the city has an affordable housing crisis, but that she was concerned about unintended consequences, such as whether first-time home buyers wouldn’t be able to compete. She voted for it then, but voted against an override on Thursday.
Hills-Beaver Creek held off a late Mountain Iron-Buhl rally to win the first Nine-Player state semifinal Thursday at U.S. Bank Stadium, 26-20.
The Patriots had a 26-14 lead late, but fumbled the ball away at their own 5-yard line. Mountain Iron-Buhl capitalized on the turnover and scored right away, making the score 26-20.
Mountain Iron-Buhl got the ball back with 43 seconds remaining and moved into Hills-Beaver Creek territory, but Sawyer Bosch intercepted a pass to end the threat.
Hills-Beaver Creek will face the winner of the Fertile-Beltrami-LeRoy-Ostrander semifinal in the state championship Saturday, Nov. 23 at 10 a.m.
