Reading the Highland Villager #238

[A Villager in a dive.]

[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: St. Paul reduces street work bills; but lawsuit seeks to move mill-and-overlay charges back onto property taxes
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: [Strapped for cash] back in 2003 Saint Paul had changed how it did assessments for repaving, but people got expensive bills in the mail and the city is reducing those amounts. Article claims that "St. Paul does mill-and-overlay work on busy arterial streets every 10 years or so." [Emphasis on "or so".] Article includes history of Saint Paul trying to get people to pay for street work. [I for one want to find a legal way for the city to assess non-profits again.] CM Noecker is one of the people who have been trying to get the changes done.Assessments are done by the linear foot of street frontage.  There is a website apparently of people pissed off who live on Victoria Street. There is a lawsuit. [There is always a lawsuit.]


Headline: [speaking of lawsuits] High Court to hear city's appeal of trash referendum; Mayor will keep organized trash collection in place at city's expense if appeal fails
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: There is a court case involving organized trash collection. [Can we use the "precedent" of every other major city having this service?] The judge seems to want to have it on the ballot. The trash will still be picked up. [Meanwhile, yet another of the"small haulers" has sold their route to a big company. The idea that a) the city should use small businesses because they are somehow morally good and b) that they were going to negotiate in good faith were both misplaced notions. Maybe some small businesses are great, but others are not, and in any case, the negotiations were certainly not a done in a way that was best for the city as a whole because of the need to be nice to Mike & Sons Trash Co. I look forward to this case being thrown out and everyone forgetting about it.]


Headline: City approves one, rejects another permit parking area near stadium
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: Neighbors are concerned about traffic and parking. Some people can have rules so that only they can park on their street, but others cannot. Some soccer fans drive cars and park them on streets for a while. Article includes the word "thwarted." Some people are noisy.  CM Jalali Nelson is quoted saying "we need to see what this first soccer season is like and come up with some intervention before going to a much more permanent and more far-reaching solution." Businesses are upset about the new districts because they will make it harder for people to go to their businesses. 


Headline: Fourth time is charm for housing proposal at Laurel and Dale
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: A developer can build a five-unit cluster of homes on a vacant lot. Two apartments will be above a garage.


Headline: Council declines appeal, allows plan for fourplex to stand at 2150 Grand
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: A developer can tear down a single-family home and build a four-plex on Grand Avenue. CM Prince voted no. There were two variances. Neighbors are concerned about traffic, parking, and students.


Headline: Opus begins final design for senior housing along Lilydale bluffs
Author: Kevin Driscoll

Short short version: A five-story apartment will be built on the bluffs in Lilydale where a weird strip mall used to be. [Apparently, Lilydale has a City Council.]


Headline: Neighborhood STAR board takes shine to several local funding requests.
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: [There's a competitive process for a small pot of money to get grants from the city to fix up stuff.] Article lists some of the high-scoring submissions for funding. The St. Vincent Thrift Store on West 7th got some dollars, as did a bike shop and a board game store.


Headline: City looks at streamlining regs for complex Class N business licenses
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: CMs Noecker, Prince, and Thao want to make it easier for businesses to get liquor licenses and sidewalk signs, especially around petition requirements with neighbors. [Seems OK to me.]


Headline: Sandstone walk ends in Ramsey Hill
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: The owner of a fancy old house is gong to change their historic sidewalk from sandstone to concrete. [Amazingly] the HPC approved it. Quote from preservation person: "aesthetics are bumping into safety." [I hope safety was wearing a helmet.]


Headline: St. Paul adopts new regulations for harnessing solar, wind power
Author: Jane McClure

Short short version: The city is trying to make it easier for people to put solar panels or small turbines on their roof.