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<br /> <br />Gem Lake News Page 2 of 6 <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />Jim served as the Chairman of the Commission. At <br />the time, one of the biggest projects involved t he <br />Hillary Farm Development, on Scheuneman Road. <br />The project involved the redevelopment of the <br />large tract of open land that made up the old <br />Judson Bemis Estate. <br /> <br />Jim was elected to the City Council in 2008, 2012 <br />and 2016. He then ran for the open spot on the <br />council that was created as a result of an <br />unexpected opening on the council. He was <br />elected by special election on February 9 of this <br />year. This means that, with the exception of one <br />month, Jim has served his community continuously <br />for over 22 years. <br /> <br />Jim’s favorite accomplishments to date include <br />things like getting to 2008 Gem Lake <br />Comprehensive Plan approved through the <br />Metropolitan Council, while he served as the chair <br />of the Planning Commission. He is also proud of <br />creating the city’s Consolidated Land Use <br />Ordinance, by merging zoning, subdivision, tree <br />preservation, telecommunications, shoreline, etc. <br />rules into one consolidated ordinance document. <br />“This project started as an idea, while I was on the <br />planning commission, and upon hearing the <br />frustration developers expressed over conflicting <br />language in several ordinance, I decided it was <br />time to pull all these together and root out conflicts, <br />to make one stand-alone ordinance related to land <br />use.” <br /> <br />In addition to serving on the council directly, Jim <br />has served Gem Lake by getting involved in <br />related activities. These include involvement in the <br />local watershed organization. The watershed <br />district that Gem Lake belongs to is the Vadnais <br />Lakes Area Watershed Management Organization <br />(VLAWMO). Jim served on the Technical <br />Committee from 2008-2016 and then became a full <br />board member in 2016. He is now Chairman of the <br />Board of Directors of VLAWMO. <br /> <br />His favorite VLAWMO accomplishment was <br />working to get Gem Lake (the lake itself) off the <br />impaired water list, as well as working with <br />VLAWMO staff on water improvement projects <br />across the organization. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />Jim has two adult children, one son and one <br />daughter. Now that he is semi-retired, he has <br />had a little more time to enjoy hobbies such as <br />history research, hiking, bird watching and <br />photography. <br /> <br />His newest hobby is cooking with his Instant Pot <br />pressure cooker. “I started out with just cooking <br />rice and boiling eggs, but have advanced to <br />BBQ ribs, various Asian meals, an awesome <br />mac and cheese, gyros and lots of chicken <br />meals. No recipe intimidates me, though I learn <br />something with each meal I cook.” <br /> <br />When it comes to history, Jim is always writing <br />something, including three articles that were <br />printed in the Ramsey County History magazine. <br />“I love all history and haven’t really found an era <br />or topic that is uninteresting. I am currently <br />working on an account of Colonial Jamestown’s <br />relations with indigenous natives, with the intent <br />of having it printed in a national magazine.” <br /> <br />Here is an odd fact about Jim: “I have a master’s <br />degree in history, as well as a State of <br />Minnesota Chief Boiler’s license. I just may be <br />the only such person in Minnesota with this <br />combination. This means I can operate any low- <br />pressure steam boiler in Minnesota of unlimited <br />horsepower, and recount the Anglo-Dutch rivalry <br />in Colonial New York at the same time!” <br /> <br />Jim Linder: Serving Gem Lake Since 1998 (continued from pg. 1)