Chanhassen history Growing up on the Kerber Family Farm
Page 5
CHANHASSEN
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2011
$1
www.chanvillager.com
Villager Similar Walmart proposal coming back to city hall
EARLY SPEED
On Nov. 28 City Council agenda
Chan freshman wins two state swim titles
BY RICHARD CRAWFORD
editor@chanvillager.com
BY ERIC KRAUSHAR scores@swpub.com
Kaia Grobe watched as girls walked up to the top of podium during past state swimming meets, wondering what it felt like. The Chanhassen freshman set her sights on finding out firsthand. On Saturday, during the Class AA State Meet, Grobe experienced that feeling twice. The Storm all-state swimmer took first place in both the 50- and 100-yard freestyle events. Both fi nishes were with All-American times. It is the first state titles for the Chanhassen swimming and diving program. “The 100 free was filled with tough competition. With an incredibly explosive start, she swam her heart out and finished first with an amazing automatic All-American time. She was four-tenths of a second off of the Minnesota all-time state record. That will be next year’s goal,” Chanhassen Head Coach Kristen Nicholson said. In total, Grobe collected four state medals on Saturday. She helped the 200-yard medley relay to a fifth-place finish, while the 400yard freestyle relay was seventh.
FOR MORE ON GROBE AND MINNETONKA’S SECOND PLACE TEAM FINISH AT THE STATE MEET, SEE PAGE 9, 10.
A proposed 120,000-square-foot Walmart store is slated to be on the Chanhassen City Council agenda on Nov. 28, but there have been no major changes to the plan this month, according to city officials. On Nov. 1, the city’s Planning Commission unanimously recommended against the proposal after several hundred residents came to city ha l l to primarily speak FOR DETAILS against the idea of REGARDING THE CITY Walmart locating STAFF REPORT near the intersection of Highway 5 www.chanvillager.com and Powers Boulevard — the site of a vacant Teleplan building. Walmart is seeking conceptual approval for the project. The city’s existing zoning rules don’t account for a proposal of this size. However there remain several concerns with traffic, architecture and parking issues with the plan, Chanhassen City Manager Todd Gerhardt said Tuesday. The number of parking spaces in the existing plan is 58 short of what the city would like, Gerhardt said. Last week, city staff members met with Walmart engineers and made a few changes to the plan, including moving a retaining wall and addressing some landscaping issues, Gerhardt said. Walmart representatives haven’t responded to inquiries from the Villager. If the City Council votes against conceptual approval of the project the city would prepare fi ndings of fact to support denial and it would be up to Walmart to determine whether it would submit a different plan, Gerhardt said. If the City Council approved the project, Walmart would still have to submit fi nal plans for city consideration. Gerhardt said the staff report on the proposal was expected to be on the city’s website on Wednesday, after this edition went to press due to the Thanksgiving week.
MORE ONLINE
PHOTO BY DAN HUSS
Kaia Grobe is all smiles receiving her second gold medal during the Class AA State Swimming Meet Saturday at the University of Minnesota. The Chanhassen freshman finished first in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle events. Minnetonka’s Isabel Wyer placed second.
Yellow Ribbon strives to connect military families with resources BY RICHARD CRAWFORD editor@chanvillager.com
For Cara Rainey, wife of Sgt. Colin Rainey of the Army Reserves, starting the Beyond the Yellow Ribbon (BTY R) program in Chanhassen should help make families of military members feel like they matter all the time — not just on Veterans Day or the Fourth of July. She knows what it feels like to go it alone. Her husband has been deployed three times. Lit t le t hi ngs, such as having someone to talk with or go to a movie with can make a big difference, said Rainey, a Chanhassen resident. Rainey joined local public officials, military members and Chanhassen residents on Saturday to officially kick off Chanhassen’s Beyond the Yellow Ribbon effort. The goal of the organization is to support area service members and
Beyond the Yellow Ribbon To learn more about Chanhassen’s Beyond the Yellow Ribbon effort or to offer support … Facebook: Chanhassen Beyond the Yellow Ribbon Gary Boyle, BTYR steering committee chair , Phone: (952) 934-6677 Bob Ayotte, BTYR steering committee, e-mail: colrents@aol.com Terri Cheung, BTYR steering committee, e-mail: terricheung@mchsi.com
their families during and after a deployment cycle. The organization will solicit volunteers to support families with everything from snow shoveling to health services. Lt. Adam Kedrowski, a Yellow Ribbon outreach coordinator, said a recent survey of Iraq veterans found that their No. 1 concern during a deployment was, “Who is taking care of my family?” Chanhassen Mayor Tom Furlong
said he can only imagine the frustration military members feel when they’re halfway around the world. “We’re here and we can help,” Furlong said. While the number of military families is difficult to quantify because of data privacy rules, members of the Chanhassen BTYR steering committee believe there are several hundred
Yellow Ribbon to page 2 ®
PHOTO BY RICHARD CRAWFORD
Chanhassen Cub Scouts help draw names of winners of American Flags during the Chanhassen Beyond the Yellow Ribbon kickoff event Nov. 19. Lt. Adam Kedrowski, Chris Tjornhom and Chanhassen Mayor Tom Furlong look on.
VOL. 25 ISSUE 8/47
INSIDE OPINION/4 OBITUARIES/6 FAITH /8 SPORTS/9 CALENDAR/14 CLASSIFIEDS/19 TO REACH US SUBSCRIBE: (952) 345-6682 EDITOR: (952) 345-6471 OR E-MAIL EDITOR@CHANVILLAGER.COM.
JoeAndCindy.com Joe and Cindy Welu Team@JoeAndCindy.com
Free Market Analysis • Free Short Sale Consultation
125 homes
© SOUTHWEST NEWSPAPERS
SOLD this year! ADVANTAGE PLUS
952-943-1324
Voted #1 in Overall Customer Satisfaction – J.D.Power and Associates