Dakota County
Tribune
Farmington | Rosemount and the surrounding areas www.dakotacountytribune.com
NEWS Family business changes hands After 25 years, East Valley Chiropractic will change ownership from the Giliusons to the Heffernans. Page 3A
OPINION
October 9, 2014 • Volume 129 • Number 32
Pool plan becoming clearer in Farmington City looking for public input by Andy Rogers SUN THISWEEK DAKOTA COUNTY TRIBUNE
Nothing is official, but the vision of what Farmington’s future aquatic facilities is coming into focus. The Farmington City
Newspapers are community
Council didn’t approve any action regarding the pool situation during Monday’s meeting. City Administrator David McKnight updated the council that the city is moving forward with a two-part plan that includes gathering input from the public. “We are a long, long way from making a decision,� Mayor Todd Larson
said. A potential question of “Would you support or not support the closing of the outdoor pool if a splash pad/sprayground were constructed in its place?� will be included on the 2015 residential survey. Phase one of the potential plan is to close the Farmington Municipal
Swimming Pool, which is aging and in need of significant repairs, after the 2015 season and replace it with a splash pad in 2016. The construction timeline could be from September through May, according to McKnight, so the public wouldn’t be without it during the swimming season. The price tag is between
THISWEEKEND
Halloween at the art park The Outdoor Club in Farmington went snowshoeing last winter in Lebanon Hills Regional Park. Club members are anticipating more snowshoeing, cross country skiing and hiking trips in the future. (Photo submitted)
Farmington students unplug Outdoor Club at FHS inspiring students to explore
SPORTS
by Andy Rogers SUN THISWEEK DAKOTA COUNTY TRIBUNE
With an immense amount of entertainment options at students’ fingertips, they rarely need to leave the house. That’s especially true now that all Farmington students have iPads. But something instinctual is calling them back outside. About 125 students at Farmington High School participate the
Irish strong in bad weather The undefeated Rosemount High School football team looking for top seed in playoffs. Page 10A
ONLINE To receive a feed of breaking news stories, follow us at twitter.com/ SunThisweek. Discuss stories with us at facebook.com/ SunThisweek.
PUBLIC NOTICE The Dakota County Tribune is a legal newspaper of the Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan School District.
INDEX Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . 4A Announcements . . . . . 6A
See POOL, 8A
Help sought in identifying man found deceased
Newspapers aim to bring people together in many ways to help strengthen the community. Page 4A
Caponi Art Park in Eagan is offering trickor-treat tours of its sculpture garden later this month. Page 15A
$586,000 to $670,000 and it is estimated a splash pad could last 18-20 years. To pay for the project, the city could borrow from an internal city fund to be repaid in 15 years. It would cost about $600,000 to repair and about $1.2 million to renovate and expand the exist-
school’s Outdoor Club, which was formed less than a year ago — the first year of the school’s one-to-one iPad initiative. “Technology, as a resource, provides an innumerable amount of opportunities for those students, but sometimes it’s nice to power down and engage with the outside, the real world,� said Matthew Grove, Outdoor Club adviser and social studies teacher. Formed during the winter of
Youth in Music comes to Farmington
the 2013-14 school year, advisers created a club that would treat the outdoors as a classroom. Not all members participate in every activity. They pick from a menu of monthly adventures. The group has gone snowshoeing, hiking and rock climbing. Last month, about 30 students paddled 25-foot canoes they rented from Wilderness Inquiry. See OUTDOORS, 8A
The Hennepin County Medical Examiner is seeking the public’s assistance in identifying a man who was found dead on Sept. 29 inside a shed east of the intersection of 146th Street and Burnley Avenue in Rosemount. The man is identified as light skinned, approximately 5 feet 6 inches tall, with longer brown and gray hair, according to a Monday release from the medical examiner’s office. The man wore eyeglasses and a small hoop earring in his left ear. He was wearing Wrangler bootcut jeans, a Chaps brand button-down shirt, and a Wilson’s Leather Open Road motorcycle jacket. Papers at the scene suggest the man may have been missing since October or November 2013. The shed is the property of Canadian Pacific Railroad and is located east of the tracks. Those with information regarding the man’s identity should contact the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office at 612-348-3000 or the Rosemount Police Department at 652-322-4491. See SunThisweek.com for updates to this story. – Tad Johnson
Art takes flight
Metrodome’s loss is Tiger Stadium’s gain by Tad Johnson SUN THISWEEK DAKOTA COUNTY TRIBUNE
dication of success, the event has already sold out of all of its reserved seats. The gates open at 10 a.m. Day of show tickets cost $10 for general admission and $5 for student or senior general admission. The performance schedule is as follows: 11:15 a.m. – Blaine 11:30 a.m. – Pipestone 11:45 a.m. – Minnetonka 12 p.m. – Andover 12:15 p.m. – Anoka 12:30 p.m. – Coon Rapids 12:45 p.m. – Champlin Park 1 p.m. – Hastings 1:15 p.m. – Chippewa Falls 1:30 p.m. – University of Minnesota-Duluth 1:45 p.m. – Farmington 2 p.m. – Eastview 2:15 p.m. – Marshall 2:30 p.m. – Eden Prairie 2:45 p.m. – Rosemount 3 p.m. – University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire 3:15 p.m. – Awards More details about the event and ticket sales are at www. youthinmusic.org.
The Youth in Music marching band state championships are coming to Farmington this Saturday as the competition’s previous site of many years was turned to rubble. Youth in Music was held at the Metrodome site in Minneapolis during the contest’s 10-year run and was torn down earlier this year to make way for a new Vikings stadium. Brent Turner, organizer of Youth in Music and an Apple Valley resident, said he is happy to have the event in Farmington at the high school’s Tiger Stadium. The contest will feature three Dakota County teams, including host Farmington performing in exhibition, Rosemount and Eastview. Youth in Music organizers have been scouting locations for several months leading up to the event. It landed in Farmington after a previously selected site experienced problems and had to be shut down. Email Tad Johnson If early ticket sales are any in- tad.johnson@ecm-inc.com.
Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 10A
at
Children and their parents took part in the workshop Chinese Kites: Art Takes Flight on Tuesday night at the Robert Trail Library. The workshop in kite-making is one of the many events scheduled as part of the library’s One Book One Rosemount community reading program. The program is centered on the book “Where the Mountain Meets the Moonâ€? by Grace Lin. Events this week include Dragons, Flutes and Monkeys – a storytelling and musical tour of ancient Chinese culture – Saturday at 10:30 a.m.; storytime for ages 0-5 Monday at 7 p.m.; the One Book Discussion on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.; and a class in making papier-mâchĂŠ dragons Wednesday and again Oct. 22 at 6 p.m. Registration is required for the class. More events are at SunThisweek.com/ tag/One-Book-One-Rosemount. (Photos by Tad Johnson)
Classifieds . . . . . . . . . 11A Calendars . . . . . . . . . 15A News 952-846-2033 Display Advertising 952-846-2011 Classified Advertising 952-846-2000 Delivery 952-846-2070