Football Tigers Come Through in the End
City Council Okays Separation Agreement
BPHS
Volleyball Team Improves to 4-0 Page 15
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ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-SECOND YEAR
BELLE PLAINE, MINNESOTA, SEPTEMBER 11, 2013
75¢ SINGLE COPY
NUMBER 37
Many Step Up in Opposition to City’s Sidewalk Proposals Council Crosses Off Some of the Walks in 2014 Project But Not All by Dan Ruud When the topic of city sidewalks came up at last Tuesday night’s Belle Plaine City Council meeting, in the air was a feeling of discontent. The public hearing, which was attended by over three dozen people, was in regards to the 2014 street and utility improvement project, which will include the reconstruction of Raven Street between Meridian Belle Plaine natives Kevin and Suzanne O’Brien started Greystone Construction in 1987. To- and Walnut streets, Chestnut day, the company is moving out of recession and has several high-profile projects underway, Street between Park Street and including Our Lady of the Prairie’s new Parish Life Center. Commerce Drive, and Cedar Street between Park Street and Commerce Drive. The complaints from the 14 people who addressed the council were not about the planned
To North Dakota and Back, O’Brien Knows Why Greystone’s Successful Company Building New OLP, Dem-Con Buildings, Has Roots in B.P.
There’s a reminder of the early days on a counter in a workroom on the third floor of Greystone Construction’s corporate offices in Shakopee. The old IBM Selectric electric typewriter is no longer used, but
it definitely serves a purpose. It reminds Kevin O’Brien of how far his company has come. “It was one of the first checks I ever wrote. It was $350 and I think it was used,” he said. Today, a collector can buy one online for about $200. Plenty has changed since 1987 when O’Brien and his wife Suzanne (Schmit) opened their first office in 600 square feet of rented office space on Fourth Avenue East in Shakopee, about two blocks from the upscale office’s O’Brien’s company built
Runners, Vols Sought for Scenic Byway Races The third annual Belle Plaine Scenic Byway Half-Marathon and 5K races are set for Saturday, Oct. 12. The half-marathon will start at Court Square Park in Belle Plaine and continue along the Minnesota River Valley Scenic Byway loop. Both the half-marathon and 5K courses are USATF certified and chip-timed, making this event a great, competitive running opportunity among the peak-of-harvest beauty along the Minnesota River Valley. Funds raised from the race will go toward promotion of Belle Plaine and its unique location as the last stop on the Minnesota River Valley Scenic Byway, as well as environmental projects, including the ongoing Minnesota River Valley Cleanup Project. This project has a longrange goal of extending biking and hiking trails from the Twin Cities to Mankato. Anderson Race Management
will help organize the events, which include awards, medals and a post-race party with food, entertainment and kids activities at Court Square Park for participants and families. The half-marathon starts at 9 a.m., while the 5K race gets underway at 9:20 a.m. Awards will be given for the top male and female in 10 age categories in both events, and the top Belle Plaine male and female finishers in both events. Special custom medals will go to all halfmarathon participants. Once again, a Kids Run (approximately a half-mile) will be offered at 11:30 a.m. All participants will receive a finisher medal, as well as the top Belle Plaine male and female finishers. The fees for the races are as follows:
Races
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BPFD Street Dance Saturday The Belle Plaine Fire Department Relief Association will hold its annual street dance outside the fire hall at 720 East Main Street this Saturday from 8 p.m. to midnight. The band SideFX will provide the music. There will also be activities during the afternoon, including a bean bag tournament. Registration opens at 2 p.m. with the
first toss slated for 3 p.m. The cost for the two-person team tournament, which is limited to 30 teams, is $20 per person. You can preregister at belleplainefiredept@gmail.com. Food and beverages will be available at the beer garden starting at 2 p.m. Sober rides home will be available free of charge .
in 2004 and occupies today. He was the company’s sole employee then. Suzanne and her sister helped him paint and wallpaper before they moved in. She helped with the books and answered the phone. Today, there are 71 employees. Greystone was new in the construction management business. It would not have the crews to work as a general contractor until the early-1990s. Today, emerging nicely from the great recession of 20082011, Greystone is one of the area’s top general contractors. It is the general contractor for several high-profile projects in the area, including Our Lady of the Prairie’s new Parish Life Center here in Belle Plaine, Dem-Con’s recycling facility along Highway 169 in Louisville Township just this side of Shakopee, Chart Industries’ expansion in New Prague, Rahr Malting’s new offices in Shakopee and expansion of Koda Energy’s facility in Shakopee and other storage space for the Shakopee Mdewakanton Dakota Community. The project in Belle Plaine, OLP’s new Parish Life building, is one of the most important to O’Brien and his wife. He grew up attending Sacred Heart Catholic Church. His wife’s family attended Sts. Peter & Paul, a traditionally German Catholic church. The two Belle Plaine churches and their parishioners merged in 1972 when both Kevin and Suzanne were in their junior high years. With the O’Briens and Schmits still in Belle Plaine, O’Brien was asked a few years back to participate in the planning process for improvements to the old school, a process that eventually led to the decision to build the new facility and raze the old school. Greystone was one of the companies asked for bids to build the new school. O’Brien made sure the company’s pencil was razor sharp. Admittedly competitive, he badly wanted the chance to lead the construc-
Greystone
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Belle Plaine Man Injured in Crash with Semi on Hwy. 60 A Belle Plaine man remained in critical condition Tuesday after he was airlifted to St. Mary’s Hospital in Rochester following a crash Thursday (Sept. 5) around 1:40 p.m. on Highway 60 west of Lake Crystal, Minn. Thomas L. Cody was driving
a street sweeper eastbound on Highway 60 when a 1997 Peterbilt semi truck driven by Justin Grimmius of Lake Wilson, Minn. crashed into him, according to the Minnesota State Patrol. The impact sent the 1986
street sweeper rolling into the center median. Cody, 53, was ejected from the vehicle. Grimmius, 25, suffered no apparent injury. The Minnesota State Patrol is investigating the crash.
improvements to their streets and infrastructure, but rather the proposed construction of sidewalks on both sides of the 200 and 300 blocks of Cedar and Chestnut streets, and East and West Raven streets, as recommended by the Belle Plaine Park Board. Pat Krant, who was one of 39 people who signed a petition opposing the sidewalks, was the first to address the council. “A petition doesn’t do much good without bodies, so here are the bodies,” said Krant as she turned around and pointed toward the packed council chambers. Krant went on to say that the neighborhood would lose “many beautiful trees,”
which would become a theme for the rest of the hearing. “This would be such a waste of beautiful trees for a sidewalk nobody is going to use,” said another petitioner. Another property owner said the only people to use the sidewalk would be kids going to Dairy Queen and that they would “just walk on the street like everyone else,” sidewalk or no sidewalk. Another resident said that many of the people in the neighborhood are elderly and on fixed incomes, which will result in financial burden for some. “You put those sidewalks in, I’m going to lose half my lawn,” said another resident. “We feel the money would be more well spent resurfac-
City Council
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Belle Plaine Taking Aim at New Archery Range on County Land Administrator’s Departure May Set Fall Opening Back
If all the details come into focus yet this fall, bow hunters and archers will have a place to make sure their aim is right on before heading out in search of the big one. The city and county are working on the creation of a public archery range. The county board recently approved the city’s request to use just under two acres of the 24 acres the
county owns on County Road 6 (Union Trail/the Blakeley road) just beyond Belle Plaine city limits. The city council OK’d using the land at its Aug. 6 meeting. Now, the city needs to create a design and operations plan. A subcommittee of the Belle Plaine City Council and Parks Advisory Commission plans to talk with a group that operates a public archery range in Mankato on the details of running a facility, said Chelsea Alger, Belle Plaine’s director of Community Development. “I know people have been wanting this for a long time,” Alger said. “As with anything,
we try not to reinvent the wheel.” A similar range is in Shakopee, just below the County Road 101 bridge on floodplain. Chris Kehr, chairperson of the Belle Plaine Parks Advisory Commission said the city has received several requests over the past few years from archers and bow hunters who want to see a similar facility built here. “It’d be nice to have something here so we can have people coming into town rather than people leaving town,” he
Archery
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Emma Krumbee’s owner Phil Morris and two employees sifted through the straw Tuesday morning to ensure that no other objects (sticks, etc.) will make their way into the Giant Haystack Jump for the 30th annual Great Scarecrow Festival that begins this Saturday.
Emma’s 30th Annual Scarecrow Festival Starts Saturday Over $6,900 in cash awards will be awarded when Emma Krumbee’s Restaurant and Orchard opens its 30th annual Great Scarecrow Festival this Saturday. The festival will continue through Oct. 27. Some 100 unique, handcrafted scarecrows are entered and displayed each year at the festival. Brochures and entry rules are available at the restaurant or at www.emmakrumbees.com, from which you can also register online. You can also call 952-873-3006 for more information. The entry deadline is today (Wednesday). Judging will begin at noon Saturday and awards will be presented at 2:30 p.m. All judges are volunteers and are not em-
ployed by Emma Krumbee’s. There are three age categories for the contest – Youth (preschool to grade 6), Teen (grades 7-12) and Family/Adult (18 years and older). Each of those age groups can select from three prize categories – Traditional Harvest Figures, Humorous Scarecrows and Celebrity Scarecrows. First-place winners in each age division and category will receive $400. All second-place contestants will receive $200, while third and fourth place entrants will get $100 and $75, respectively. All entrants are responsible for bringing their fully-assembled scarecrows to Emma Krumbee’s parking lot. You can
do so from 1-6 p.m. this Friday or 9-11:30 a.m. Saturday. All entries must be on display by noon Saturday. Admission to the festival is $5 per person (children 2 and under are free). Daily admission includes entrance to the Scarecrow Display, Farm Animals, Giant Haystack Jump, Tombstone Forest, All-Terrain Farm Trikes, Emma’s Mountain Slide, Wagon Ride, HalfPeck Play Area, Pirate Ship, Duck Race and more. Special Saturday and Sunday attractions include pony and camel rides, the Barrel Express and live music.