White Bear Press

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651-762-8040 carlsonchiro.net 4717 Clark Avenue White Bear Lake

VOLUME 119 115 NUMBER 46 26

White Bear Lake, White Bear Township, Mahtomedi, Hugo, Birchwood, Dellwood, Willernie, Gem Lake, Pine Springs & Grant WEDNESDAY, WEDNESDAY,SEPTEMBER JANUARY 26, 16,2011 2015

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News inside

Proposed figure is same as 2007, tax bill will decrease for most

See inside for the following news stories: city of White Bear Lake enacts new regulations on massage businesses, adopts Lake Avenue and Boatworks parking ramp assessments and approves Tower Crossings development on Centerville Road; White Bear Town Board approves maximum tax levy, hears parking concerns on Bartylla Court and opts against installing a new stop sign; Rush Line transit proposals narrowed and public meetings planned; and Mahtomedi National Guard member honored.

by Debra Neutkens Regional Editor

Upcoming events

Senior expo The annual senior health expo sponsored by Press Publications and the White Bear Area YMCA is 1-3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 16 at the YMCA. See inside for details.

Public notices See pages 4B-5B for public notices, including a new Birchwood regulation prohibiting parking in parks or open spaces.

Weather Tidbits

Week of Sept 16 - 22, 2015 Weather tidbit: A late season tornado touches down in Itasca County on September 17, 1985. No injuries were reported. Year Ago this week: Seasonable temperatures. September 20, severe storms hit much of the state with hail covering the ground and downed trees in southeastern Minnesota.

- Photo by Paul Dols

Township Tumbler While warming up before an early evening White Bear Township Day performance, White Bear Dance Center student Madeleine McCollough performs a flip on a grassy hillside in Polar Lakes Park Saturday, Sept. 12.

Teacher of the year engages students with discussion, humor and storytelling by Kristine Goodrich Editor Pass by John Taylor's classroom and there's a good chance you'll hear his students chuckling. Colleagues of the Mahtomedi High School English teacher say Taylor has a gift for using humorous storytelling to engage his students. “John uses humor as a part of his teaching. He is

a very funny man,” said guidance counselor John Akins, who nominated Taylor for the honor. “I am often in his class and he has the kids laughing about something. He has a gift of telling stories and the students love this.” Fellow English teacher Jackie Halverson recalled one day hearing multiple bursts of laughter from Taylor’s classroom. “This is nothing new

Weekly Averages High Low %Sun PCP 69° 50° 59% 0.75” (More weather on sports page)

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– Photo by Paul Dols

Teacher of the Year John Taylor has taught language arts at Mahtomedi High School for 16 years.

VT

75 cents $1.00

Tax levy conjures feeling of deja vu

At a

See inside for details on the following upcoming events: community solar gardens presentation, Cirque Zuma Zuma performance, White Bear Lake Area Emergency Food Shelf shortest marathon and open house, TRIAD senior picnic and Washington County Sheriff’s Office citizen academy.

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with John, but whatever was happening seemed bigger than usual,” Halverson said. “After class, I had to ask him what story he was telling or activity he was using. His response: 'We were learning about the parts of speech. It's a roller coaster of thrills.' Very few teachers and students see grammar as a thrilling educational experience. I wanted to be a student in his classroom.” Taylor's knack for storytelling is one of the reasons why his colleagues selected Taylor as the district's 2015-16 teacher of the year. His top teacher duties commenced with a speech to his colleagues as they prepared for the start of the school year earlier this month. It's not the first time Taylor has spoken to a district audience. Seniors have, on three occasions, selected him to give their graduation ceremony address. That's one of two prior honors of which he said he's most proud, along with multiple past invites from seniors to attend the excellence event with them. Taylor has taught English for 21 years, 16 of them in Mahtomedi. After a year as a substitute teacher, he spent three years at the Hubert H. Humphrey Jobs Corps Center. At the St. Paul center he taught older teens

Teacher/see page 7A

WHITE BEAR LAKE — The city adopted its 2015 preliminary tax levy and the news is not bad. In fact, the median value home will have a slight tax decrease under the proposal. In 2015, the median-value home was $181,300 and was taxed $327 by the city. In 2016, the median value is $184,700 and the tax dropped to $323. A review of property tax liabilities reveals that nearly all homeowners in the city will pay less property tax to fund city operations in 2016 than they did in 2007. Due to the city's fiscal policies and an increased tax base, homeowners will generally be paying between $45 to $85 or 10 to 20 percent less for city services than they did nine years ago. The levy was set at $4.9 million, which is a 1.69 percent increase over last year, or $82,000. City Manager Mark Sather told the City Council Sept. 8 that staff attempts to keep any increase in the tax levy in line with increases in residents' ability to pay. A memo to council indicated the economy continues to expand while inflation remains below the Federal Reserve annual benchmark goal of 2 percent. Real estate values, it was noted, are steadily improving. According to staff, the city's real estate valuation trends reveal the following changes from last year: • 52 percent of the city's housing stock increased in value between 0 to 10 percent. • Residential valuation overall increased 3 percent. • Apartment valuation increased 10 percent. • Commercial valuation increased 2 percent. • Overall market valuation continues to recover from the 2008 to 2010 period of declining or flat value. • New construction permits for 2014 exceeded $25 million in valuation. • The city expects to issue new construction permits during 2015 that will exceed $50 million in valuation. • The city anticipates 2016 new construction permits could exceed $30 million in valuation. • Modest growth in commercial property will result in a continuing "shifting" of the property tax liability from commercial property toward residential property. With residential valuations increasing, the taxation liability is "rebalancing." Sather told the council the city's interest earnings have dropped significantly over the past seven years as the Federal Reserve has actively influenced rates. The

Tax levy/see page 7A

Thanks but no thanks to Mighty Ducks grant WHITE BEAR LAKE — The $200,000 Mighty Ducks grant awarded the city in 2014 for its aging ice arena has been "formally and respectfully" declined. City Council agreed Sept. 8 to wait until next year to reapply for the matching grant. The money, awarded through the Minnesota Amateur Sports Association, is earmarked for rinks that need to replace obsolete R-22 refrigeration systems like the one used at the White Bear Lake Sports Center. Carbon emissions from production of R-22 are causing it to be phased out of production by 2020. The award of the grant was conditioned on the city executing an acceptance agreement and performance contract. Work funded was to have been completed within 18 months of signing the agreement. The city asked for time to evaluate options for improving the coolant system and cost sharing, but was advised the time extension is about to end. That meant White Bear must accept the grant, requiring replacement of the refrigerant, or decline the grant. "In terms of timing for this grant, we believe it best to decline the funding to put it back in the pool for the next round of grant applications, which we may or may not be prepared to apply for," said City Manager Mark Sather. "We have been told there will be opportunities in 2016 and 2017 to apply." Depending on which option is chosen, an upgrade to the refrigeration system is expected to cost at least $1.6 million. The city has yet to make a decision on whether it even will make the improvements. — Debra Neutkens

HOURS: MON - FRI 7:00 am - 6:00 pm • SAT 7:30 am - 2:00 pm • SUN CLOSED Sept. 28th Annual Golf Tournament! Call for details.

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