Reading the Highland Villager #171

[Basically the problem is that the best source of Saint Paul streets & sidewalks news is the Highland Villager, a very fine and historical newspaper. This wouldn't be a problem, except that its not available online. You basically have to live in or frequent Saint Paul to read it. Until this newspaper goes online, sidewalk information must be set free. See also: Three Reasons Why I Re-Blog the Highland Villager.] 

Headline: City officials wrestle with Little League's future on Ford site; Local sports organizations seek a shared use of fields [LOOK O MY GOD THIS IS THE SAME ARTICLE AS THE ONE IN THE 1951 IMAGE!]
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: There is a debate about whether the parks and fields that will be part of the development on the old car factory should be only for little league baseball or for little league baseball and also other types of athletic activity such as lacrosse etc. Article includes history of little league baseball [see Highland Villager from the 1950s in above image]. Quote from a railroad official, on whose property the fields may be located: "No one has approached us with any viable plan to turn our property into fields for a nonprofit organization. I really have misgivings about the way this is being portrayed." People who play soccer also want to play on the green green grass.


Headline: Council adopts a city budget with $31M in contingency; Uncertainty over street maintenance fees leaves new initiatives up in air
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: The City Council voted to adopt a city budget but there some question marks [because decades ago the then-mayor decided to try and get non-profits, schools, and government agencies, of which there are many, to pay for street maintenance by assessing an annual fee]. There are two pending lawsuits from upset property owners like churches, for example, so the city has put in a bunch of loopholes into the proposed budget in case the money disappears. [Should this come to pass, it would really suck. I am skeptical that the City Attorney has this in the bag.]


Headline: Minnesota United breaks ground on prop soccer stadium in Midway
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: There was a ceremony in an old parking lot where hundreds of people weilded shovels in a symbolic manner. [Seems awfully cold for a "groundbreaking" IMO. Isn't the ground frozen?] There are lots of unclear details like something called a "plat" and the fact that no "permits have been pulled" as of yet. The team still needs to buy the Rainbow Foods [and put a bulldozer through the front door]. There are negotiations between Supervalu and the strip mall owner. Nobody knows when this would happen or when the stadium will be done, though it will take over a year. [So basically this is a total mess slash game of chicken between a bunch of rich guys trying to make as much money as they can.] Nobody knows when or if it will receive a property tax exemption.The stadium will be bowl-shaped but "more rounded and less boxy." [Phew!] Also it will be covered in colorful LED lights. [Why? Why not? I don't know.]


Headline: Fee or tax: City reassesses right-of-way maintenance charges
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: [See budget story above.] There is an ongoing dispute and debate over whether the city's "street maintenance fees" are legal and there are lawsuits and options and judges and courts. It might take a few years for the issue of whether these fees are legal to be resolved. There was a "closed door" City Council meeting to discuss the issue.


Headline: Commission lays over request for Quarry Farm Park on West End
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: There is a [heated!] debate over what to name the park that is part of the development between West 7th Street and the river. The neighborhood group wants it to be called "Quarry Farm Park" but the developer would like it to be called "Victoria Park." Another lady wants the neighborhood to be called "River Bluff Village." [Reminds me of the shenanigans over the proposed names for neighborhoods in Edina, like "Dressage Glen."] Quote from a local historian: "People have never been happy with the name Victoria Park." [Can't argue with that!] Article includes some history of the area. [Fuel Tank Farm Park seems like the most historically accurate name, though "too polluted for housing park" would also work. Or "Exxon/Mobil Liability Park"?] There is a petition to keep the name as is. One of the parks commissioners is named John Mountain. [WOW! The best parks commissioner name I have ever seen, second only to little known 19th century commissioner, Forest Q. Riverbottom.]


Headline: University Ave. bars are fined for failing compliance checks
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: Saint Paul Police officers ordered beer at two dive bars and then walked out with their beer and came back in. Both bars have been fined and will install new cameras etc. [These two bars, Hot Rods and The Trend, were both on the Green Line Dive Bar Tour.]


Headline: City waives vacant building fee for North Garden Theater
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: The couple that have spend a lot of time [forever, it seems] fixing up an old theater will get more time to finish without having to pay a fine. Neighbors are concerned about noise and parking. [There are currently three old theaters being remodeled at great time and expense in Saint Paul. I am putting odds that this one comes in Second Place.]