Abby Nadeau
Staff Writer

Appeasing neighborhood concerns, the Forest Lake American Legion Post 225 and Forest Lake City Council came to an agreement on plans for next yearís 4th of July celebrations. Action came during the councilís regular meeting on Monday, Sept. 11.

Due to the 4th of July falling on a Wednesday in 2007, the council was concerned that the usual later closing times would not appeal to residents who will be working Monday and Tuesday of that week.

American Legion Post 225 Legionnaire Bob Flaherty took that information into consideration and presented the council with an updated version of the dates and times for the parade, carnival and concessions.

Flaherty, who has been helping with the 4th of July celebrations for the past 34 years, stated that celebrations will start on Friday, June 29 and run through Wednesday, July 4.

On Sunday, Monday and Wednesday bingo, and the carnival rides and games will shut down at 10 p.m. Concessions will close at 11 p.m.

Tuesdays close times will be the same as Friday and Saturday.

Flaherty also mentioned that the generator used to run most of the carnival equipment will be moved to the east side of the lot, mainly to lessen the noise for the neighbors to the west.

The council approved the earlier closing times unanimously.

Skating ordinance?

Since the new Lakeside Memorial Park has opened, more and more people have been enjoying the park.

With the larger amounts of people comes more wear and tear of park equipment. To try and avoid destruction of various park features, a skateboarding and roller skating ordinance is being considered.

The council looked at a possible ordinance at the meeting on Sept. 11 that all together prohibits skateboarders and rollerskaters at the Lakeside Park.

Park officials have stated that skateboarding and roller skating have damaged the brick pathway along the lake, and to prevent further damage they asked that an ordinance be put in place.

However, the council did not seem to fully agree with such an ordinance.

Council member Susan Young believed those skaters coming from the Hardwood Creek Trail system would not be able to take a break and eat at one of the local restaurants because of the ordinance.

Police Chief Clark Quiring stepped in and said that currently police have no way to enforce any type of discipline for skaters that are damaging property.

He said that the ordinance would allow his officers to ask those who are being damaging and disruptive to leave, but the officers would use their own ìdiscretionî with skaters who are merely stopping in or passing through.

Mayor Terry Smith brought up the fact there already is a skate park in the city.

In the end no decision was made, the council tabled the topic to ìget a better feel from the community.î

Budget talks

With the end of the fiscal year coming fast, the city of Forest Lake has been busy preparing for their 2007 budget.

Over the past month the council has been regularly meeting to discuss plans for the 2007 budget.

During Mondayís meeting, the council approved the proposed property tax levy certification for payable 2007.

The preliminary tax levy, to which the council cannot exceed, was set at $6,573,048.

The council approved the amount unanimously and will continue working on the cityís budget.

Other business

Judy Huntosh was appointed to the Forest Lake Economic and Development Association, to fill the position left open by the resignation of Jeannie McCarver.

Council member Judy Bull asked City Administrator Chip Robinson if he knew anything about the current watering bans and when they would end.

Robinson responded that because the city is saving 700,000 to 750,000 gallons a day with the restrictions, the city might look into adopting the restrictions permanently.

The city has been under watering restrictions since early July.

If a residentís address is an odd number, they can water their lawns on odd numbered days. The same works for even numbered addresses and even numbered days.

Then in July, the city added additional restrictions that on the days residents could water their lawns, they could only water from 4 to 6 a.m. and then from 8 to 10 p.m.

The next city council meeting is scheduled for Monday, Sept. 25 at 7 p.m.

Top of Page

Forest Lake Times
P.O. Box 218
880 SW 15 St.
Forest Lake, MN 55025
651-464-4601
Fax 651-464-4605