Pinball on a stick, anyone? A Farmington man is sharing his passion for all things pinball with guests at this year’s Minnesota State Fair. SEE THISWEEKEND PAGE 9
Thisweek Farmington-Lakeville AUGUST 20, 2010
VOLUME 31, NO. 25
www.thisweeklive.com
Opinion/6A
Public Notices/7A
Announcements/8A
Real Estate/11A
Classifieds/13A
Sports/18A
Community cleans up after early morning tornado strikes Farmington Where were the sirens? Farmington residents say tornado struck without warning by Derrick Williams THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
Photo by Derrick Williams
Photo by Derrick Williams
Debris and broken trees lined 193rd Street West in Farmington just hours after a tornado ripped through town during the early morning hours on Friday, Aug. 13.
More than 120 homes were damaged, 13 of which were destroyed, by an early morning tornado that struck Farmington on Friday, Aug. 13. The neighborhood along 193rd Street West, east of Pilot Knob Road, where this house is located, was among those hit hardest.
Neighborhood comes together after twister by Derrick Williams and Aaron Vehling THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
It was a tornado, not straight-line winds, that damaged more than 120 homes in northern Farmington during the early morning hours of Friday, Aug. 13. That news came as no surprise to residents who live near 193rd Street West and Pilot Knob Road, one of Farmington’s worst hit
FARMINGTON neighborhoods. “People heard a freight train,” said Kerry Rustan, alluding to the sound a tornado emits as it approaches. Rustan had a tree tossed through his house by the twister, he said. He also lost some apple trees from his yard, one of which landed in a neighbor’s yard nearly 500 feet away, he said. Rustan said he knew the storm was more serious when he heard a loud bang around 3:30 a.m. “We didn’t get a chance
to run into the basement,” he said. His house lost power soon afterward. Though the siren didn’t go off until 45 minutes later, Rustan said he doesn’t blame those in charge. “It happened so fast,” he said. In all, the tornado damaged 124 homes – 13 so badly, they’re uninhabitable, Farmington Police Chief Brian Lindquist said. There were no injuries, Lindquist said. “In my 13 or so years here, we’ve had a few events that resulted in tree
loss, but never a tornado,” Lindquist said. And in the immediate aftermath of the storm, Lindquist said he and people from the National Weather Service incorrectly thought the damage was caused by straight-line winds. “I was up in a chopper that morning to look at the damage,” Lindquist said. “Everything on the ground, to me, and others who came to the same conclusion, was that it appeared like straight-line winds.” But the NWS two days See Tornado, 3A
Kerry Rustan said he didn’t know he should be seeking shelter from the storm until it was too late. “We didn’t get a chance to run into the basement,” he said. “It happened so fast.” Rustan, who lives on 193rd Street West near Pilot Knob Road in northern Farmington, said a tree was tossed through a wall of his home by a tornado that touched down around 3:30 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 13. The weather sirens, Rustan said, didn’t go off until well after the twister. Lisa Schmit, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, based in Chanhassen, acknowledged no tornado warning was issued for the storm. “The unique thing about this storm is there wasn’t immediately any indication on radar of a tornado,” Schmit said. After looking back at radar replays, Schmit said the tornado signa-
FARMINGTON ture was apparent, but only briefly, yet long enough for the twister to touch down. “There just wasn’t an
Photo by Derrick Williams
Sirens never sounded and no tornado warning was issued, despite a twister damaging more than 120 homes in Farmington on Friday, Aug. 13. ability to get a warning out,” Schmit said. In all, the twister damaged 124 homes – 13 so badly, they’re uninhabitable, Farmington Police Chief Brian Lindquist See Sirens, 3A
Council OKs Cedar Avenue transit, highway improvements Construction will take two years, but highway will be wider, accommodate expanded bus services by Derrick Williams THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
Dakota County is all set to give Cedar Avenue a massive makeover. The Lakeville City Council this week – and Apple Valley’s City Council last week – provided the green light for the county’s $49.1 million reconstruction of Cedar Avenue. The main purpose of the project is to make Cedar Avenue a slick, Bus Rapid Transit corridor, linking Lakeville to the south with Apple Valley, Eagan and other communities to the north. Kristine Elwood, the county’s Cedar project
LAKEVILLE manager, said all of the rights of way for the project have been acquired. The two-year highway improvement project will begin this fall, with utility work starting as early as September. In March of 2011, major construction will begin south of County Road 46, and major work north of County Road 46 in Apple Valley is expected to linger through 2012. “It’s exciting to be here,” Elwood told the Lakeville City Council on Monday, Aug. 16. “This project is becoming a reality.”
The improvements have been some time in coming. For years, funding the transitway has been an issue, as have federal requests for noise walls and other project requests. But this summer it all came together, Elwood said. City Administrator Steve Mielke said Lakeville’s total cost for the project is $358,054, all of which will be paid with Municipal State Aid funds starting in 2014. “No property taxes are going to be used,” Mielke said. “The council made it clear from the onset that they didn’t want this on the
taxpayers.” But from Lakeville’s perspective, Mielke said, they’re looking at the project not as a transit improvement, but as much needed highway improvements. “Transit will be important in the future, but really, the highway improvements coming from this – it’ll make it much safer for the cars and highway users,” he said. Most of the improvements will begin at Cedar and Dodd Boulevard, and work north toward Apple Valley. In addition to adding lanes in both directions, intersections will also be
improved, Elwood said. Traffic signals will be added at Griffon Trail and Glacier Way, Mielke said, and the signal will be taken out at 162nd Street with that intersection becoming a three-quarter access. “The cost of the signals alone are much greater than the money we’re putting into this project,” he said. “Now put that together with some of the other amenities coming – fencing, increased landscaping, trail lighting, and intersection amenities – it’s a good project.” While a new and improved Cedar Avenue should be smooth, the path
getting there could become a transportation nightmare. “There’s going to be some pain to get this done,” Mielke said. “That’s the necessary evil to getting there.” That pain includes lane closures and other construction-related congestion that could last the majority of 2011 and 2012. For more information on the Cedar Avenue project, visit www.co.dakota. mn.us and then click on transit. E-mail Derrick Williams at: lakeville.thisweek@ecm-inc. com
Former PTO treasurer gets 30 days in jail, probation for theft Oak Hills elementary PTO coffers repaid after woman used cash for football tickets, hotels, spa treatments by Derrick Williams THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
The former treasurer of Oak Hills Elementary School’s parent-teacher organization was sentenced to 30 days in jail and seven years of probation for stealing more than $54,700 from the PTO’s coffers. Lisa Bostic Miller was sentenced Wednesday, Aug. 18, by Judge Caroline
LAKEVILLE Lennon. Miller, 45, pleaded guilty to one felony count and one misdemeanor count of swindling June 21. Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom said he is happy the case is closed. “We are pleased to have
a resolution for the community of Lakeville and the children and staff of this elementary school,” he said. Miller served as the PTO’s treasurer from May 2007 through May 2009. According to the criminal complaint, Miller began raiding the PTO’s bank account shortly after she lost her job in the banking
industry in October 2008. Between May and September of 2009, records show the Oak Hills PTO’s bank account was used to purchase season tickets for University of Minnesota football games, salon treatments, airfare, posh hotel accommodations in New York City and Breezy Point Resort in Brainerd, and cash withdrawals to-
taling more than $3,000, among other questionable purchases. According to a Lakeville Police Department search warrant, Miller was the only person with a debit card linked to the group’s account during the period when a number of “suspicious transactions” occurred. She also requested the PTO’s annual financial
audit, scheduled for last May, be postponed, the document said. The money has been paid back, but wasn’t until she was aware of a police investigation, according to the Dakota County Attorney’s Office. E-mail Derrick Williams at: lakeville.thisweek@ecm-inc. com
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