R ICHFIELD ✹ D ECEMBER 16, 2010
SPORTS
SUN CURRENT 75¢
Vol. 40, No. 50
In the Community, With the Community, For the Community
Richfield Foundation awards $10,300 in grants
Nine Mile Creek Watershed District aiming to cut salt use by 60 percent
Foundation doles out awards to 11 organizations at Dec. 14 meeting
BY KATIE MINTZ • SUN NEWSPAPERS
ROAD SALT: TO PAGE 10
PAGE 31
www.minnlocal.com
Cities cut road salt with new techniques
This winter, snowplows across the metro are trying new recipes to fight poor road conditions. To reduce use of salt, which melts ice but also impairs natural water bodies, municipalities are adding new technology and treatment techniques to the mix. In Richfield, for the first time, the city is pre-wetting roadways with a brine mixture, which helps salt stick to the road and increases the activation rate so less is necessary. Edina and Richfield are also outfitting snowplows with GPS devices to track the amount of salt, or chloride, used. Both cities received $20,000 matching grants from the Nine Mile Creek Watershed District this fall toward the effort. Kevin Bigalke, administrator for the Nine Mile Creek Watershed District, which is on the state’s list of impaired waters for chlorides, said salt will have to be cut by more than half in coming years to meet
Spartans boys hockey squad off to 3-1 start
BY NICK CLARK • SUN NEWSPAPERS
A feast for champions Jim Waterman of Richfield (left) scoops rice while Elmer Hanson of Richfield waits his turn for the Mexican fare offered during the City of Richfield Neighborhood Champions 2010 celebration Dec. 9 at Oak Grove Lutheran Church in Richfield. Medals and certificates were given to dozens of people who have helped make Richfield a better and safe place to live. The award presentation was organized and sponsored by The Family Partnership, which helps families in the Twin Cities improve their lives through a variety of services. More on Page 30. (Photo by Mike Hanks • Sun Newspapers)
As caretakers to their own endowment fund, the Richfield Foundation has been setting itself up to award monetary grants to programs that focus on youth, families and community activities for more than a decade. This year, that came in 11 separate grants totaling $10,300 that were awarded to a number of charitable organizations during the Dec. 14 Richfield City Council Meeting. “It’s a chance for us to find a way to give back to the community,” said Richfield Foundation board member Gordon Hanson. “We’ve focused on awarding grants to non-profit agencies and community projects that focus on youth, and also make Richfield a welcoming community for all people of diverse populations.” Each of the award winners had submitted an application to the Richfield Foundation, from which an all-volunteer board narrowed what was an original GRANTS: TO PAGE 11