2019 Vol.13 Issue 3 June - Laserfiche WebLink

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Gem Lake News Page 4 of 6 Household Waste Drop off Information Various forms of hazardous household waste can be dropped off at locations around Ramsey County. The chief location is at 5 Empire Drive in St. Paul. From April to November, they are open Tuesday through Friday from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. In July there will also be a mobile collection site at 352 Ben Franklin Road, Arden Hills. They will be open Friday 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Saturday 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. You will need a photo I.D. in order to drop off anything. For a list of what can be accepted at drop off sites, consult the Ramsey County Web Site under Recycling and Waste. Impressive Recycling First Quarter 2019 A total of 91.37% of Gem Lake households participated in city wide recycling in the first quarter of 2019. This is an impressive percentage of the 282 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 9.6 tons of materials were collected between January and April. This broke down into the following categories: *5.7 tons of newspaper *1.2 tons of glass *0.4 tons of aluminum and steel cans *1.4 tons of cardboard and mixed paper *0.3 tons of plastic *0.1 tons of scrap steel *0.6 tons of residue Residue refers to material that was put in the recycling container, but was not able to be recycled. Watch your newsletter or the Gem Lake website for recycling dates. Rush Line Update By Jim Lindner, Gem Lake City Council and Policy Advisory Committee vice chair Future regional economic competitiveness. This is a primary goal for the Rush Line Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project being implemented by the Ramsey County Regional Rail Authority. Keeping the Highway 61 corridor economically viable in a City News Page changing demographic landscape is an emerging theme of the BRT Policy Advisory Committee (PAC) as it progresses through the development phases of the project. The BRT PAC met most recently on May 30 and heard reviews of recent activities by county staff and their supporting partners. This included a recap of a recent bus tour of the proposed route that included Ramsey County commissioners, Met Council members, PAC members, local state legislators and elected city leaders, and congressional staff. Many said they were impressed with the route and project scope. Kathryn Hansen, senior project manager for Metro Transit’s office of Transit Oriented Development, informed the PAC that auto ownership on average costs drivers around $8500/year for gas, repairs, insurance, and loan payments. This cost can be particularly burdensome for low income and younger drivers who may lack the financial resources others may have. Recognizing this situation, many employers look to attract workers by offering transit-related benefits such as free or reduced cost transit passes. Employee transit perks also means employers can have fewer parking needs, which can be beneficial in urban settings . As spring transitions to summer, Rush Line staff is out at community events doing public engagement activities. Bruce Vento Trail users will find Rush Line staff at various locations throughout June during the “Tuesdays on the Trail” program. This will help explain to trail users how the trail right of way will be shared by the BRT and the general public. Gem Lake residents wanting to learn more on BRT can attend MarketFest on July 25. Other concurrent activities include engineering review of the proposed station locations and coordination with the Lower Phalen Creek Project and the Capitol Region Watershed District. Visit https://www.ramseycounty.us/residents/roads- transit/transit-corridors-studies/rush-line-brt- project for more information.