Dakota County
Tribune
Farmington | Rosemount and the surrounding areas www.dakotacountytribune.com
NEWS Footgolf comes to local golf course
March 26, 2015 • Volume 130 • Number 4
Health of Vermillion River on the mind of many Efforts underway to heal waterways
Apple Valley Golf Course offers hybrid sport. Page 3A
OPINION Cautious approach Proposed changes in Minnesota’s teacher layoff process have merit, but they need a thorough review. Page 4A
THISWEEKEND
by Andy Rogers SUN THISWEEK DAKOTA COUNTY TRIBUNE
The Vermillion River is still too dirty. The water in the popular trout-fishing river, running from Scott County to the Mississippi River, has improved significantly since the 1900s and incrementally in the past 10 years, but is still contaminated with E. coli bacteria and has lowdissolved oxygen and cloudy water. The fish and macroinvertebrates have been labeled unhealthy, as well. In the south branch, east of Farmington, there’s been a noted increase of nitrates found in the surface water, which gets into the groundwater, according to Travis Thiel, watershed specialist with the Vermillion River Watershed Organization, and that’s not good. There are actions residents can take to help, including reusing stormwater for watering lawns and gardens, minimizing the use of fertilizers with nitrogen and phosphorus, and reducing excess water Efforts are in place to curb stormwater runoff into the Vermillion River, which still has higher levels consumption. of pollution than officials would like to see. (Photo by Andy Rogers) See RIVER, 6A
Longtime CDA director’s contract terminated Artist in the spotlight The Wescott Library in Eagan is hosting a meetand-greet with artist Julie Prairie to mark the completion of the library’s new mural. Page 17A
SPORTS
Eastview girls basketball second at state Lightning finish in top four for fourth year in a row. Page 10A
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PUBLIC NOTICE The Dakota County Tribune is a legal newspaper for the Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan School District.
INDEX Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . 4A Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 10A
Mark Ulfers removed from post after workplace complaints against him were reviewed by Tad Johnson SUN THISWEEK DAKOTA COUNTY TRIBUNE
Mark Ulfers, the executive director of the Dakota County Community Development Agency since 1986, had his contract terminated for cause after CDA board members reviewed workplace complaints raised against him. The termination, which passed by a unanimous vote of the CDA Board comprised of all Dakota County commissioners, was effective 60 days after notice was provided March 3, a provision that was set forth in Ulfers’ previous employment agreement. During a closed executive session at the special meeting, the board conferred with members of the Dakota County At- Mark Ulfers torney’s Office to obtain advice with regard to the workplace complaints. Prior to giving notice of intent to terminate the contract, the board approved Ulfers’ 2015 contract with a base salary of $161,250. Ulfers had requested a 2015 salary of $164,678. Asked about Ulfers’ reputation as a
leader in housing and economic development and his stellar 2013 job review, Dakota County Board Chairman Tom Egan said: “In terms of his technical performance, it’s been outstanding. The dismissal was for other reasons than that.� Board members started the annual process to evaluate Ulfers’ job performance during its Nov. 18, 2014, meeting. After a closed session at that meeting, the board voted to continue the performance evaluation. The performance evaluation was not reopened at the board’s next three regular meetings in December, January or February. Ulfers wrote in his Jan. 20, 2015, report to the board: “With 2015 now underway the agency will no doubt face new challenges as well as old ones. One thing is for certain and that is it will be a productive year that will leave our county in a better place.� He said the agency has “one of the premier senior housing programs in the See CDA, 7A
Farmington man charged with robbing juveniles with BB gun A Farmington man juveniles. was charged with felony Gilbertson was deaggravated robbery in the tained by the Farmington first degree by the Dakota Police a few hours later County Sheriff’s and admitted he Office following was walking his an incident on dog in the area. March 13 where He claimed his he allegedly used dog had barked a .117-caliber BB and scared the jugun to threaten veniles. He said and take money he asked them for from three juve- Joseph money and then niles in Eureka Gilbertson gave it back. Township. He denied using Four juveniles said a gun, but later admitted they were walking along he had a pellet gun that he a path near the intersec- threw in the water and said tion of 205th Street and he was intoxicated, so he Colorado Avenue, north didn’t know exactly where. of Farmington, around He admitted it looked like 9:30 p.m. when a male ap- a big revolver with a long proached them from the barrel. train tracks, shined a light The following day, offiat them and stated he was cers located the gun under a police officer. One of some large power boxes on the juveniles ran to tell his the train tracks. parents. The charges carry a According to the crimi- maximum sentence of 20 nal complaint, Joseph years in jail and a $35,000 Wayne Gilbertson, 20, fine. pointed a black gun at His bail was set at three juveniles and asked $100,000, and his omnibus them for money. hearing is scheduled for Gilbertson took money April 14. but later returned it to the — Andy Rogers
Farmington district still hoping for a general fund increase School Board hears from community, administration on budget cuts by Andy Rogers SUN THISWEEK DAKOTA COUNTY TRIBUNE
in realignments earlier this month to make up for the estimated $700,000 hole in the 2015-16 budget. There are a number of other less-discussed proposals being considered, such as selling the District Service Center. The Farmington School Board made its final decision on cuts during a special session Wednesday night, after the newspaper’s deadline. To read an update, visit www.sunthisweek.com/ tag/farmington.
The Farmington School Board heard hours of proposals on how to fix a $700,000 projected budget deficit from citizens during three community roundtables and from several administrators during Monday’s board meeting. Cutting elementary band and middle school athletics along with increasing class size and one-way busing proved just as unpopular with the board as it did with members of the district Budget formula and community. Unless Minnesota’s The board was given general education forthe job of making ap- mula changes or an opproximately $1.2 million erating levy passes in the
fall, any budget items that were spared would likely be back on the list of cuts next year, Superintendent Jay Haugen said. Minnesota’s education budget formula still could change. Gov. Mark Dayton’s proposal in January included a 1-percent increase to the general formula, which doesn’t keep up with inflation, Haugen said. Haugen said the increase has averaged about 1 percent per year in the past decade, which has put the district in a hole. Dayton released last week an updated proposal, which did not include additional funds for the general formula. The proposal did fund
prekindergarten, something that Director of Finance Jane Hauska said sounds like a wonderful program, but could become an issue. “When we added allday kindergarten, that took a lot of our space,� Hauska said. It also added $4 million in additional special education funding, but Hauska was unsure how funding would be divided up and what that meant for Farmington. Both the Minnesota House and Senate were scheduled to release their budget proposals this week, and the Minnesota Legislature won’t make a final decision until at least May.
A 1 percent increase in the general education formula would equal approximately $450,000 for the district. District officials say they can’t afford to wait because it would limit staffing options and might force the district to make larger cuts in the future. “I think we have to be as frugal as we can be this year because next year the cuts will be even more painful,� Board Member Laura Beem said. During the roundtable discussions participants spoke of mobilizing the community to encourage the state to use the surSee 192, 6A
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