Chameleon Theatre Circle presents a ‘nightmare of insanity.’ See Thisweekend Page 7A
Thisweek Burnsville-Eagan MARCH 18, 2011
VOLUME 32, NO. 3
www.thisweeklive.com
Opinion/4A
Announcements/5A
Real Estate/6A
Sports/8A
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A NEWS OPINION SPORTS
Public Notices/13A, 14A
And then there was one Two Cedar Grove businesses have chosen not to appeal court decision; only U-Haul will push ahead by Erin Johnson THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
File photo by Rick Orndorf
Charlie Crichton, center, is pictured with two City Council colleagues — Dan Gustafson, left, and Dan Kealey — at the opening of the Burnsville Performing Arts Center.
Burnsville’s veteran fiscal hawk Crichton dies at 83 by John Gessner THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
Burnsville City Council Member Charlie Crichton pounded in the campaign signs for his sixth and final election, even though he was 82 and in weakening health. He was slow to climb the stairs at his house on Manor Drive, but still energized by doing the peo-
ple’s business. “If a citizen called or something came up for the council, he’d lose 10 years instantly,” said Crichton’s wife, Terry. “In other words, he was strong – he was all ready to get up and go. That was his life. He loved this city with everything in him, and he was so proud to be a part of it.” Crichton, the council’s
resident fiscal hawk for nearly two decades, died Sunday, March 13, at St. Francis Regional Medical Center in Shakopee. His death followed a brief illness for which he was hospitalized in early February. First elected in 1992 and re-elected for the final time last November, Crichton, See Crichton, 3A
Two of three businesses in the Cedar Grove redevelopment area that sued Eagan over eminent domain have agreed to let the city purchase their properties, leaving only U-Haul to pursue an appeal. The owners of Competition Engines, Randy and Sandy Quam, reached a settlement agreement with the city March 15 after dropping their appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court. The Quams agreed to sell their current property to the city for $880,000 and relocate their business to the soonto-be-vacant fire station on Lone Oak Circle, which the city will sell to them for $450,000. The Quams will remain in their current building until the new fire safety campus, which will replace the fire station, is completed this spring. “I’m really pleased we’ve come to an agreement and settlement, in particular with the Quams,” Mayor Mike Maguire said. “They are longtime residents of the city of Eagan, and it is good that they will be remaining both as residents and keeping their business here.” Larson Automotive owner Jerry Larson has also agreed to withdraw his appeal and allow the city to buy
his property. He has since closed his business and has no plans to relocate. That leaves U-Haul as the only remaining business continuing with an appeal to the state’s highest court. The Supreme Court already ruled in favor of the city last August, but then sent the case back to the appeals court, which it said had failed to rule on all of the issues. The appeals court ruled in favor of the city in December, prompting the three businesses to again appeal to the Supreme Court. Now two of the three have dropped their appeals. The Supreme Court determines which cases it hears, and it has not yet announced whether it will hear U-Haul’s petition. Quam said for his part, settling with the city has been a relief. “I feel like a giant weight has been lifted from me,” he said. “I’m just happy that we’re going to be able to stay in business and stay in Eagan.” Quam said he’s glad the fire station became available, because he was having trouble finding a location within Eagan that could accommodate an automotive shop. “The big problem wasn’t that I wanted to stay here,
but that I had nowhere else to go,” he said. The station is located in an industrial area and already has garage doors, bays, and floor drains. But it will still need quite a bit of work to turn it into a functioning auto shop, he said. He said he only wishes the building had been available three years ago. “We could have saved a lot on lawyer’s fees,” he said. The three businesses sued the city in 2008 when it initiated a quick-take condemnation of several properties for a planned urban village. An initial court ruling sided with the city, but an appeals court reversed that decision. The city appealed the decision to the Supreme Court, which sided with the city, then sent it back to the appeals court, which also sided with Eagan. Maguire said the city is encouraged by the settlements with the two property owners. “We’re hopeful that we’ll be able to come to the same kind of amicable agreement with the one remaining property owner in Cedar Grove and remove the legal uncertainties around that redevelopment,” he said. Erin Johnson is at eagan. thisweek@ecm-inc.com.
Police detectives take a piece of history with them in retirement Tackaberry, Huberty began in old police-fire department by John Gessner THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
Newly retired Burnsville police detective Mike Tackaberry says he wouldn’t have traded professions or worked anywhere else. But every career has its baggage. Tackaberry gets a twinge whenever he drives past Burnsville’s Terrace Oaks Park, where a young mother “who did not deserve to die” was bound, robbed of her car and credit cards and strangled. “Over the years, those snapshots are in the head,” said Tackaberry, who investigated the October 2002 murder of Cheryl Lyn Thompson by a previously small-time crook named Brian Batchelor. “They never really go away. You
just learn how to deal with them.” Fellow detective Dan Huberty gained Batchelor’s jail-cell murder confession after the suspect had been arrested for using the victim’s credit card. Cops, Huberty said, “get to see the sad side of the world.” These two also witnessed local history in the making, and they’re taking a piece of it with them. Tackaberry, who retired Jan. 28, and Huberty, who leaves April 30, are the last Burnsville Police Department members to have also served as city firefighters.
End of an era Both became sworn officers on Sept. 1, 1978, when Burnsville’s Pub-
lic Safety Department was, according to Tackaberry, one of only two in the nation that combined police and fire services. “We would do a 12-week assignment on police patrol and then six weeks in the fire service,” said Huberty, 53. “And also carry fire gear in the police car,” added Tackaberry, 55. “A lot of the history will soon end,” Huberty said. Not that either cop is complaining. Both enjoyed firefighting, even continuing as fire reservists after Burnsville’s police and fire services Photo by John Gessner were split in 1981. Dan Huberty, left, and Mike Tackaberry are the last But few would question that both members of the Burnsville Police Department who fought See Detectives, 14A fires and patrolled the streets.
Performing arts center in Eagan? One resident is looking to make it happen by Erin Johnson THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
She’s not sure how to fund it or where to build it, but one resident is on a mission to open a performing arts center in Eagan. Amy Kamarainen, founder of the Young Actors Theater Company, recently posted an online survey to gauge public interest in an Eagan PAC. It would be a private venture, she said, and nowhere near the scale of the 1,000-seat PAC in Burnsville, a controversial project that cost $20 million and was funded by the city. Kamarainen envisions a smaller, 500-seat venue with retractable theater chairs that could serve multiple purposes. The facility could be rented for events such as weddings and receptions, concerts, proms, family reunions and dance recitals, she said.
Kamarainen points out that both Lakeville and Rosemount, which are less populated than Eagan, have their own PACs. So why not Eagan? “I’m pretty determined,” she said. Kamarainen runs an after-school drama program for students in kindergarten through fifth grade at three Eagan schools. She started the program at Pinewood Elementary in 2009 and got such an overwhelming response she soon had a waiting list of 40. “I realized there’s huge demand for this,” she said. But finding space has been an issue. Performances are currently held at the Mall of America or the Rosemount Community Center. “We’re making it work, but it’s not ideal,” she said. “Every time I try to book somewhere, it’s astronomically priced or already booked. It’s really hard to find anything, especially south of the river.” Kamarainen said she has heard of similar struggles from others in-
volved in local theater and even local choral groups, which leads her to believe there is definitely a need for such a facility. Kamarainen would like her theater business to anchor the facility, but said she doesn’t have the funds to do it on her own. She is looking for private investors, other businesses wanting to partner with her, possible grants or even a small-business loan. “Short of winning the lottery … I have to figure out how to fund it,” she said. She would like it to be a community facility, but the city makes it clear it is not at all involved in the venture. “It isn’t anything the city is looking to build. It’s not in our short- or long-term plans,” City Administrator Tom Hedges said. Kamarainen is also having trouble finding land. She’d like four acres, but needs at least 2.9, she said. See Arts Center, 3A
Burnsville couple allegedly locked 7-year-old in room smeared with feces A Burnsville couple allegedly maltreated their disabled 7-year-old son, who was found locked in a fecessmeared bedroom. Andrew Worcester, 31, and his wife, Delilah, 30, are each charged with one count of gross-misdemeanor child neglect. Burnsville police executed a search warrant of the couple’s townhouse at 1186 McAndrews Road E. on Jan. 28. The Worcesters live there with their four children, ages 2, 4, 7 and 11. According to criminal complaints filed in Dakota County District Court, the smell of urine in the townhouse was so strong officers had to periodically step out for fresh air.
They found the 7-yearold “locked and barricaded in a bedroom that had a tarp on the floor,” complaints said. The boy is “nonverbal with multiple medical issues” and “morbidly obese,” complaints said. He had sores on his head and body. The boy was wearing an overflowing diaper, and feces were smeared on the floor, walls and window coverings, complaints said. The odor of urine and feces in the room was “overpowering.” The townhouse was “filthy, with garbage and debris stacked throughout the residence,” complaints said. — John Gessner
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