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Page 2 - SUMMER, 2011
<br />IMPORTANT CITY INFORMATION
<br /> ANOKA COUNTY HELP ME GROW (Cont’d)
<br />VOLUNTEERS ARE WELCOME!
<br />As a part of the screening, children my be observed in their own home or other
<br />The Centerville Parks and Recreation Committee wel-
<br />comfortable setting by a child development professional.
<br />comes the opportunity to work with you or a group to de-
<br />A screening may be helpful if a child has:
<br />sign and implement volunteer activities within the City.
<br />
<br />Hearing or vision concerns
<br />There are several activities possible for individuals or
<br />
<br />Trouble talking or communicating
<br />groups, below are a sample:
<br />
<br />
<br />Trouble with coordination, walking or crawling.. Just to name a few.
<br />Spring cleanup of parks and trails
<br />For more information go to www.anokaareahelpmegrow.org or call 763-323-KIDS
<br />
<br />Adopt A Flowerbed
<br />(5437).
<br />
<br />Assisting with an upcoming event
<br /> SCIENTISTS LINK INVASIVE JAPANESE BARBERRY
<br />
<br />TO LYME DISEASE
<br />We also welcome new ideas or areas of special interest that your group might have.
<br />Deer are hosts for adult deer ticks and Japanese barberry provides
<br />We'd love to hear from you. Volunteers must be at least 16 years old unless volun-
<br />them a nursery….
<br />teering as a team with an adult.
<br />
<br />In the eastern part of the U.S. the Japanese barberry shrub has taken over for-
<br />RECREATIONAL FIRES
<br />ests. Whereas that isn’t the present situation in Minnesota, let’s keep it this way.
<br />Recreational fires must be contained in a fire pit or a portable fireplace
<br />
<br />and may not exceed 3x3. You may only burn clean firewood and
<br />Japanese barberry is an increasingly invasive plat that forms dense canopies in
<br />please remember to keep your fire pit at least five (5) feet from the side
<br />forests-particularly those with high deep populations that eat most every other
<br />lot line and ten (10) feet from the rear lot line.
<br />plant. Japanese barberry also creates moist, cool shelters that harbor ticks that
<br />
<br />carry the Lyme disease bacteria, research has shown. Hot, dry conditions sup-
<br />Please check with City Hall or the DNR website: http://dnrstate.mn.us/
<br />press tick populations. But this year is a great year for ticks.
<br />foresty/fire/index.html to determine if there is a burning ban in effect.
<br />
<br />Deer serve as hosts for adult ticks, while the barberry functions as a nursery for
<br />FREE PARKING PERMITS
<br />ticks in their juvenile stages. In Connecticut where the research was completed
<br />Did you know that parking on the streets between the hours of 3:00 a.m. and
<br />and where Lyme disease was discovered, tick abundance in barberry-infested
<br />7:00 a.m. is prohibited? Did you know that Centerville’s parking permits are
<br />areas is 76% higher than those where native plants are predominant. Also, the
<br />free?
<br />percentage of ticks that carry the Lyme bacteria is higher—126 infected ticks per
<br />
<br />If you anticipate that you will have overnight guest's) or your own vehicle will
<br />acre versus 10 per acre in barberry free areas. After barberry removal, tick popu-
<br />be temporarily parked on the street, please contact City Hall and we will be happy to
<br />lations drop as much as 80%.
<br />provide you with a FREE parking permit. Please be prepared to provide license
<br />
<br />Reservoirs surrounded by dense barberry also have diminished water quality,
<br />plate #, year, make, model and color of the vehicle that will be parked on the street
<br />because the local ecosystem it creates promotes more soil erosion than areas
<br />overnight.
<br />with more native trees and shrubs. Researchers are recommending the removal
<br />LAWN & GARDEN WATERING
<br />of this shrub because doing so has a real, positive impact. “It depresses wildflow-
<br />Lawn and garden watering may only take place before 10:00 a.m. or after 6:00 p.m.
<br />ers and native trees, and by controlling barberry you can have a real impact on
<br />from May—September. The odd/even rule applies for all watering. If your address
<br />human health”.
<br />
<br />ends in a odd number, you may water only on odd numbered days. If you have newly
<br />How Did this Invasive Plant Get Here? With red berries in the fall and small
<br />installed sod, you are exempt from this lawn and garden watering
<br />oval leaves in green, red or purple, the shrub was introduced to this country as a
<br />requirements for a period of two weeks.
<br />landscaping plant more than 100 years ago. It was often planted as a hedge, its
<br />
<br />Violations are subject to citation or an administrative fine.
<br />thorny branches forming an effective natural fence. The berries, a popular food for
<br />birds, deer and small animals, hold seeds that are rapidly spread in animal waste.
<br />
<br />ARE PERMITS NEEDED?
<br />Voluntary Phase Out Barberry continues to be popular. Nation-wide there are
<br />Building Permit—Re-Roof, Re-Side, Decks, Finish Basements, Acces-
<br />some efforts in the plant industry to phase out its sale. Is your favorite nursery
<br />sory Structures (exceeding 10’ x 12’) & Garages
<br />selling barberry? Share this information with them.
<br />Zoning Permit—Fence, Beekeeping, Driveway Replacement & Acces-
<br />sory Structures (10’ x 12’ or less)
<br />Find out more at http://www.theday.com/article/20110620/NWS01/306209953/-
<br />Mechanical Permit—All mechanical work (including replacement units)
<br />1/NWS
<br />Plumbing Permit—Any plumbing work (including in-ground sprinkler systems) except
<br />installation/replacement of existing fixtures
<br />Students Research Low Lake Levels...
<br />
<br />Electrical Permit—Any electrical work
<br />For eight years now, people have been asking why has the water level in White
<br />Bear Lake been steadily dropping?
<br />ANOKA COUNTY IS PREPARING A FIBER OPTIC BACKBONE
<br />Has there been a "micro-drought" or a change in precipitation or amount of water
<br />Connect Anoka County, a cooperative project between Anoka County and Zayo
<br />reaching the lakes? Answer: No.
<br />Bandwidth of Louisville, Colorado, has received a $13.4 million grant from the Ameri-
<br />can Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to expand fiber broadband connectivity
<br />Was there something that "pulled the plug", broke the seal or caused a new sink
<br />across the county. This project will link 145 government locations with three core
<br />hole? Answer: Again, negative.
<br />rings, creating a 286-mile fiber optic backbone. This backbone will connect police,
<br />What is the problem then? White Bear Lake is down because the head in the Prai-
<br />fire, city and town halls, and county buildings. This network will provide a direct ad-
<br />rie du Chien-Jordan aquifer is down. This is a strong conclusion supported by
<br />vantage to local businesses, passing through the county’s key business districts and
<br />detailed analysis and quite a bit of data. In short, the head in the aquifer drives the
<br />economic development areas. The construction of the fiber is expected to begin this
<br />long term lake level.While more research is needed to find out why the head in
<br />
<br />spring and be completed in 2012. The countywide fiber network will be owned and
<br />the aquifer is down, increased pumping is speculated and consistent with the
<br />operated by Zayo Bandwidth, a private company, allowing service to local busi-
<br />data that they currently have.
<br />
<br />nesses.
<br />There has not yet been a regional groundwater model to validate the conjecture of
<br />ANOKA COUNTY HELP ME GROW
<br />whether the increased pumping could drop the head in the aquifer by 5 feet. Per-
<br />As parents watch their child grow and develop, they notice when their child smiles,
<br />haps another student of Dr. Randal Barnes' at the University of Minnesota will be
<br />rolls over, sits up, walks, plays, coos, cries, and talks. All children grow at their own
<br />able to shed some more light on this question.
<br />rate. Parents show are concerned about theirs child’s development may call Anoka
<br />
<br />Area Help Me Grow to schedule a developmental screening for their child.
<br />To find out more about the study, contact Joseph Fox: foxx0037@umn.edu orErik
<br />
<br />Brenna: brenn198@umn.edu
<br />
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