2020 Vol 14, Issue 1 February Gem Lake News

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Gem Lake News Page 4 of 6 There are Rules About Where Your Snow Can Get Dumped It is not permissible in Minnesota to plow your snow onto your neighbor’s side of the street or into the roadway or ditches in general. This was the subject of several complaints last winter. Due to the heavy snowfall that occurred in 2018-2019, there were complaints of what we will call “unfair snow rearrangement.” Last winter, some snow plowing ended up blocking several culverts. This prevented proper drainage and may have caused some flooding in yards and basements. Intentionally plowing or blowing snow onto a public roadwa y or culvert which results in any dangerous condition is a violation of Minnesota Statute #169.42 and Gem Lake Ordinance 86. Impressive Total Recycling Numbers for 2019 A total of 91.375% of Gem Lake households participated in city wide recycling in 2019. This is a significant percentage of the 290 possible pick up sites within the city, all remembering to put out their recycling containers every two weeks. The results of our recycling efforts were impressive, according to a recent report by Waste Management. A total of 31.6 tons of materials were collected between January and December, 2019. This broke down into the following categories: *18.6 tons of newspaper *4.1 tons of glass *1.3 tons of aluminum and steel cans *4.5 tons of cardboard and mixed paper *1.1 tons of plastic *0.3 tons of scrap steel *1.9 tons of residue Residue refers to material that was put in the recycling container, but was not able to be recycled. (Remember, plastic bags don’t belong in the recycling container and can cause a real problem at the recycling facility.) Watch your newsletter or the Gem Lake website for recycling dates. City News Page City Appointments Made for Various Positions As required by state statute, the City of Gem Lake formally appointed individuals and organizations to various city positions for 2020 at the January 21st City Council Meeting. This included things like appointing a back-up mayor, so meetings could be conducted in the mayor's absence. Some appointments are required by law, such as the city clerk, the city treasurer, the back-up mayor, and believe or not, a weed inspector. Other positions or appointments are usual and customary to assign to someone once a year in January. This would include things like naming an auditor, a sewer inspector, a building inspector, etc. With the exception of services the City contracts for, such as fire, law enforcement, zoning administration, animal control, city clerk, etc. most positions are what you call honorary, meaning there is no pay what so ever... Some highlights of the appointments include the following: Back-Up Mayor: Gretchen Artig-Swomley Acting City Clerk: Gloria Tessier City Treasurer: Thomas Kelly of White Bear Township City Engineers: Short Elliot Henderson (SEH) City Attorney: Kelly & Lemmons, P.A. Zoning Administrator: Robert Uzpen City Code Enforcement Officer: Michael Johnson of White Bear Township City Emergency Services Director: Jim Lindner Ramsey County League of Local Government Representative: Faith Kuny Law Enforcement Contractor: White Bear Lake Police Department Animal Control Contractor: White Bear Lake Police Department Fire, Fire Marshall and Paramedic Contractor: City of White Bear Lake Fire Department Official City Publication for Public Notices: White Bear Press A complete list of city appointments can be obtained at Heritage Hall.