Pittman remembered
Backto-back
Kids make memorial for EPHS security guard
EP Legion team defends state title
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THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 2011
EDEN PRAIRIE
news
Krull: ‘I’ve got a year ahead of me’ Board to respond to resignation today BY LEAH SHAFFER lshaffer@swpub.com
Eden Prairie Schools Superintendent Melissa Krull has announced her intention to step down by the end of the 2012 school year. In doing so, Krull will be leaving in the middle of the K-6 transition for EP Schools, a process that has been the focus of her administration for the past year. “I just feel like there are so many
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things that are good in this district right now, everything is good,” said Krull, i n a phone i nterview Thursday. The schools are integrated and the [achievement] gap has been cut in half. And I Melissa think we’re so well Krull p osit ione d r i g ht now it just seemed like such a good time to move to the next thing.” What that next thing could be, Krull would not specify. “I’m really going to keep my eye
on the school district right now,” she noted. “I’ve got a year ahead of me and we’ve got work to do.” On the horizon are a School Board election and a referendum, set for Nov. 8. “I’m going to be keeping my eye on this transition process and this referendum,” said Krull. She added that she’s committed to keeping her focus on equity. “I’ll continue my work in that way, somehow, but that’s a long way off.” Carol Bomben, chair of the Eden Prairie School Board, declined to comment on the next steps for finding a new superintendent. The board will chime in on the
Board holds closed session The School Board held an emergency closed meeting Friday at noon to discuss “pending litigation, which is an unemployment matter,” with the district attorney, according to minutes from the meeting. The reasoning behind holding the emergency meeting was related to “pending litigation, previously unknown to the board and its counsel, which requires the filing of a request for reconsidering no later than Aug. 2, 2011.” At the meeting, the board passed a resolution authorizing its counsel “to see if the Eden Prairie District has a basis for reconsideration of unemployment judgment and seek extension of the Aug. 2, 2011 deadline.”
in 1999, and was appointed acting superintendent when Bill Gaslin’s contract as superintendent was not renewed in 2002. That fall the district sought a referendum. “I enjoy the work. I enjoy working
matter during its next meeting, to be held today at 3:30 p.m.
A LONG HISTORY WITH EP Krull has been with the school district since 1984, when she was hired as a special education teacher. She became an assistant superintendent
Krull to page 10 ®
City’s stormwater ponds get an up-close look this summer EP mandated to inspect all its ponds, wetlands and basins BY LEAH SHAFFER lshaffer@swpub.com
For the second year, Eden Prairie has been tackling the herculean task of sizing up the quality of its stormwater ponds and wetlands. All told, as part of a mandate from t he Mi n nesot a Pol lution C ont rol A gency, t he cit y w i l l be requi red to col lect data on a total of 942 water bodies that include ditches, creek segments and ponds. It’s a task that could take more than a decade, according to the city’s Environmental Coordinator Leslie Stovring. Much of the work involves gathering data to determine how much sediment has built up in the ponds. All those ponds, ditches, wetlands and basins, when doing their job correctly, fi lter stormwater runoff from homes and streets to reduce
polluted runoff going into lakes and rivers. For a city like Eden Prairie though, assessing all those bodies of water can prove to be a long, meticulous process. For the crew from Wenck Associates, the contractor handling the project, that means a long summer of slogging through ditches and other mosquito-clogged corners of the city. Wenck spent 2010 collecting data on more than 100 basins within the Staring Lake watershed. This summer, you might spot Carl Enzenauer, Chandi McCracken and Jacob Mock scanning the perimeters of wetlands and ponds within the Neill and Eden Lake water she d a re a s. S o fa r, t hey haven’t seen much wildlife. “A lot of garbage,” said McCracken. “The bugs are pretty thick,” noted Enzenauer. “We start pretty early and go until we feel heatstroke coming on,” he joked.
LONG PROJECT Ac c or d i n g t o S t ov r i n g , t he stormwater analysis started last year with the Staring Lake wa-
Stormwater to page 10 ®
PHOTO BY LEAH SHAFFER
Chandi McCracken, of Wenck Associates, pulls out some of their equipment used in measuring collection ponds.
PHOTO BY LEAH SHAFFER
The Peterson family of Eden Prairie has been named the Farm Family of the Year for Hennepin County by the University of Minnesota. From left, those pictured include Sever and wife, Sharon Peterson, son-in-law Mitch Michaelson, Lowell Peterson, Sever and Sharon’s daughter-in-law Nicola and son Aaron Peterson. The family is posed with a 1947 restored tractor.
Petersons a Farm Family of the Year Family gathering a heap of sweet corn for Lions Club Corn Feed
When: Starting at 10:30 a.m. until 6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 6
BY LEAH SHAFFER lshaffer@swpub.com
Where: Round Lake Park, at Eden Prairie Road and Valley View Road
Getting the Petersons together for an afternoon is no easy task in the summer. Every member of this year’s Hennepin County Farm Family of the Year is kept hopping during the peak of their season: With fields to harvest, produce to distribute, a corn maze to plan, weather to contend with, machinery to fi x. Ah, but the final product is oh-so-good – sweet corn by the bundles, destined for farm stands around the metro and grocery stores. This Saturday a big heap of the corn will be headed to the Eden Prairie Lions and Lioness Clubs Corn Feed at Round Lake Park. Every year, The University of
Lions and Lioness Club Corn Feed
$8 gets you all-you-can-eat corn (from the Petersons’ farm) sloppy Joe, or hot dog and chips Proceeds go to local projects like Camp Eden Wood, scholarships for local high school seniors, PROP (People Reaching Out to People), Camp Courage, Meals on Wheels,, Chrestomathy and Opportunity Partners. Minnesota selects farm families to recognize from each county (last year, another Eden Prairie family, the Pichas, was named family of the year for the county). The families will be recognized in a ceremony Thursday, Aug. 4, at the annual Farmfest near Redwood Falls. “It’s always nice to get recognized for your work,” said Aaron
INSIDE OPINION/4 OBITUARIES/6 SPORTS/8-9 CALENDAR/14 CLASSIFIEDS/20-23 LIVING IN EP/24 TO REACH US SUBSCRIBE: (952) 345-6682 EDITOR: (952) 942-7885 OR EMAIL EDITOR@EDENPRAIRIENEWS.COM.
Peterson. “All farm families work hard,” he added. Aaron is the fourth generation Peterson farmer. Their Eden Prairie farm was established by his great-grandfather in the late 1880s. Aaron’s parents, Sever and Sharon, have transitioned the business of
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Petersons to page 10 ®
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