April 2012 Gem Lake Newsletter - Laserfiche WebLink

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Gem Lake News Page 4 of 6 BuBu yGer Rain RaRain Garden Maintenance Seminar Have you installed a rain garden or stored a shoreline but need to learn how to maintain your project? Learn how to keep that rain garden flourishing at a seminar on May 2. The seminar is sponsored by the Vadnais Lake Area Water Management Organization (VLAWMO) and will be held from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. in Vadnais Heights. This fun workshop will go over the basics for maintenance. Each participant will receive a copy of a handy guide to identifying weeds commonly found in the area. The cost to attend is only $5. To register, contact Kristine Jensen at 651-204-6074. Her email is: Kristine.Jensen@vlawmo.org City Clean Up Day-May 5 Please join us at Heritage Hall on May 5 at 9:00 a.m. Volunteers will have the chance to keep Gem Lake beautiful!! City Clean Up Day involves picking up trash that has been discarded along our roadways. Your participation is very welcome and much appreciated. Ice Out Date Sets Record Record warm temperatures in March led to a record setting date for the official "ice-out" on White Bear Lake. According to a local historian, March 19th, when all areas of the lake were navigable by boat, is the earliest date in recorded history. The last record was March 21, 2000. Gem Lake ice disappeared on the same date, a victim of the summer like temperatures that occurred that weekend. No one keeps detailed records for Gem Lake, so I could actually claim we beat White Bear Lake in terms of "ice-out" status. No one would be able to verify whether my pants were on fire or not. Alas, I cannot tell a lie, we lost our ice the same day. An Especially Bad Day to Drink and Drive St. Patrick's Day was a really really bad day to violate any traffic rule after leaving the huge parade in downtown St. Paul. The St. Paul Police hosted a high visibility DWI Saturation Campaign on March 17 from 2:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. During that time, 29 officers made 458 traffic stops. Out of that number nearly 221 citations were issued. That included 38 people who were taken into custody for one reason or another, 21 DWI arrests, 43 drivers who were cited for Driving After Revocation or Suspension, City News Page and 67 seatbelt citations. It didn't matter if your name was McNally or O'Flannagan, if you were a dope, you got a ticket. Vadnais Water Tower to Be Painted In April The City of Vadnais Heights owns and operates a 1.0 Million gallon water tower on the east side of International Drive between County Road E and Willow Lake Boulevard. They have contracted with a company to paint both the inside and outside of the water tower, starting in early April. The project is expected to be completed by the end of June. The water tower will be painted the same color as it currently is, but will also include the city's new logo. In order to contain the work area, a large shroud will be placed around the entire tower during the paint removal and prime coat application process. The existing paint will be removed with either abrasive sand or steel grit. Neither the existing or new paint contains lead and is not harmful. The shroud is necessary and required to contain particles during the removal and repainting process, as they can easily become airborne on windy days. As with any large scale painting project, however, it is impossible to capture all of the particles. All work is being done in accordance with Minnesota Department of Health requirements and specifications prepared by S.E.H., Inc., the consulting project engineer for Vadnais Heights. The City will have an inspector on site during the project. A project where an entire water tower is covered with a shroud is not something seen very often, so the City of Vadnais Heights wanted to give its Gem Lake neighbors some insight on what is being accomplished. Local Crime is Varied Although the crime rate in Gem Lake is low, incidents still occur here from time to time, Recently there was an incident of identity theft reported to the police by a Gem Lake resident. A car was stolen from 10 Below Auto on February 22. Also, license plates were stolen from Vera Auto on County Road E. This happened on March 6. The plates were recovered later on a vehicle that had been stolen in Maplewood and turned up in Iowa. Suspects are in custody in this matter.