Abby Nadeau
Staff Writer

The Forest Lake City Council started Monday nightís council meeting off with giving praise to four local firefighters.

Fire Chief Gary Sigfrinius awarded John Berken, Dan Bothman, Joe Strunk and Rick Ihlenfeldt, who was not present, with a public service award.

The four were awarded for their quick actions during a situation in Stillwater.

ìWe got an assistance call for the airboat from Stillwater on a victim that was in the river,î Sigfrinius said. ìThe crew located and approached the victim as he surfaced. He was pulled onto the ice and transported to local hospital. The rapid response of these guys resulted in saving his life.î

Just as the firefighters were given the awards, a rescue call came and all four rushed out of the room.

Park Board

Wendy Chelberg, co-chair, and Patrick Olson from the Park board approached the council on their recommendation for the park dedication fee on the Duffy Development.

The recommendation concluded to ìreaffirm their earlier recommendation for cash in lieu of park land at the current rate of $2000 per unit of housing.î

The board recommended taking the monies and using them to ìupgrade and develop existing nearby parks.î

City Attorney Dave Hebert stated that he received a phone call from Duffy Development who asked if the decision could be tabled until they are able to provide a possible park rendition to the council.

The council decided to make a motion of intent on the matter.

ìWe can make a motion to to table the official decision of the Duffy Development park dedication fee, stating we will accept the park board recommendations,î Young said. ìWe can wait to make a final decision until Duffy is available.î

Doug Borglund, Forest Lake Community Developer, presented the council with the Headwaters final plat and PUD.

After several questions about a the timeline of each phase and edition, the council approved the final plat.

The council also released more information about the interview questions that will be given to candidates for the vacant council seat.

Several questions specifically asks the candidate to evaluate the Capital Improvement Plan the city recently published. The plan addresses several community priorities over the next five years.

The questions are asked to think about what needs are not met in the plan and which items should not be considered a priority.

Interviews are scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, April 17.

The candidates are: Tom Lynch, Bo Bogotty, Dick Damchik, Alan Bakke, Greg Ochs, Anne Gabriel, Dave Verness, Stev Stegner, Ray Daninger, Gregory Reiter and Ed Eigner.

Daninger is a former mayor here. Lynch has served on the city council while Damchik was a long-time member of the Forest Lake Town Board of Supervisors.

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Forest Lake Times
P.O. Box 218
880 SW 15 St.
Forest Lake, MN 55025
651-464-4601
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