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TUESDA Y. DECEMBER 23. 1997 COVERING THE COMMUNITIES OF: Arden Hitls, Falcon Heights, Gem Lake. Lauderdale, Little Canada. Mounds View. New Brighton. North Oaks. Roseville. Shoreview, Vadnais Heights. White Bear Lake. White Bear Township .' ~... : i~... ~ ijither hopes alcoholic son's story is wake-up call I. . ,..~: ""'ltle Anderson was looking hard last w~ for a bit of light in one of his fami-. ly's darkest montbs. His eldest son, BUI, had just been seD- ~ to two years in prison for shooting at a car on Interstate 35W. in Minneapolis last.:~er. Bill Anderson, a 1997 grad- ua~;.of RosevIlle Area High School, also was;Scheduled to appear in Ramsey Couilty District Court to receive a concur- renrsentence for shooting at a house in Little Canada. Bill, a young man with a talent for music and speech, an interest in law and the lpinistry and a history of alcohol abuse, had told authorities he was so drurik at the time of the freeway shooting he ricJuld not remember it. Tb,e spot of hope for Charlie Anderson was.that this experience will be a "wake- up ~I" for Bill to turn his life around - and'tbat Bill's story will serve as a wake- up ~ to other teens who drink. Father and son both "wish every teen in the state will hear about this incident, understand that alcohol caused it, and theri400k upon this as what could happen to ~ if they abuse alcohol," Charlie And$'son said "H even one kid stops, then~th Bill and I can find some sort of positi.~e outcome from it." A(.of last week, it wasn't certain where . Bill ::Anderson will serve his sentence. He is to:"go through chemical dependency treatment first, his father said It 'won't be the first time. The An~ns' story is probably similar to that:91many families who struggle to . find appropriate treatment for their cheriUca1ly dependent children and who endure. the pajn of relapses. Bill did go through a diversion program at Northwest Youth and Family Services and. years of private psychological coun- seling, Charlie said. "All of this was not without success, as we were able to get Bill" to give up alcohol for long periods," he wrote in a prepared statement. ' "But, after any treatment or counseling beciune effective, it would be reduced or ended - the insurance companies see to this: Then sooner or later something, either the wrong environment or the wrdng friends, would come along and rekindle the alcohol use." Tbe RosevIlIe Sc:hooIs were not much help, Charlie Anderson said, though the district probably is not unusual in that regard. During one of Bill's relapses in 1996. Charlie said, the family tried to get him chemical dependency counseling thrOugh the high school, but was told no one: was available because of the illness of Ii staff member. Charlie said he believes positive peer p~ure is the key to success for chemi- . .. , ., . ~....;. . COMMUNITY ROUNDUP cally dependent youngsters. He would like to see year-round programs within the school that build on that idea - perhaps classes, or an Alcoholics Anonymous group, or a system of mentors. Principal BobRygb said the school can't be a treatment facili- ty, but it bas support groups for chemically dependent students "that are ongoing . . . that were here then," when Charlie said the family was looking for help. Even with a counselor gone, "there were still pe0- ple working in some of those situations," Rygh added. Currently, he said, the school is trying to bolster positive peer pressure and sup- port through initiatives such as a new adviser-advisee program, Respect Retreats for ninth-graders, peer helper and peer mediator programs and health curricula. "Could we do more?" he said. "Well, you could never do enough. But I believe there's some real effort and energy going . " m. Last week Charlie Anderson also want- ed to express gratitude to the organiza- tion he said has helped his family. the most: the Rosevllle potlce. "Some of the Roseville cops should be commended for going out of their way when we were having trouble," he said. LINDA OwEN STAFF COLUMNIST Bad blood In Rosevllle ROSEV/LLE Could the history of bad blood between Everest Development Ltd. and . the city of Roseville lead to another lawsuit? It depends on whether Roseville offi- cials are willing to be "reasonable" about the firm's request to amend the city's comprehensive plan to allow an office redevelopment project on HamUne A venue north of the Ramsey County Library main branch, the firm's attorney said last week. If not, "We'd probably go to court," attorney George Ludeke said. "They'd be depriving us of the use of our prop- erty." The request, which still must go before the Roseville Planning Commission, has already mobilized neighbors who fought off a similar office project 11 years ago. But Ludeke complained last week that Roseville officials aren't playing SAINT PAUL PIONEER PRESS NORTH METRCJ fair with Everest. In fact, company officials have asserted the firm was "set up" for public embarrassment. Ludeke said city officials misrepre- sented the firm's plans, leaked details to stir .up the neighbors, and gave Everest inadequate notice that its pro- posal was on the agenda of a recent City Council work session - then cas- tigated the developer for not showing up. Contrary to a city staff report, Ludeke said, Everest has not requested tax increment financing for the pro- ject. The firm - which has criticized the city~s TIF practices - did suggest the city purchase the Brown-Wilbert vault company property at Hamline Avenue and Highway 36 to add to the 3.2 acres Everest already owns on Hamline. And the company noted that one way to pay for the land might be excess TIF funds generated by other projects, including Everest's own office-hotel development near Interstate 35W and County Road C, he said. In any case, Everest has since dropped discussion of the vault compa- ny property, Ludeke said. And it is now talking about an office building that would be no more than four stories high. The five- to seven-story office building cited at the work session was onJy a starting point for discussions, he said. "I don't want to look like I'm insensi- tive to the neighbOrs," he said. "but if it's done appropriately with appropri- ate buffers, there will be zero impact." Why would city officials go to such lengths to discredit' a developer? Ludeke points to the four lawsuits Everest bas filed against the city over the past several years - all of them "meritorious," he insists. "It's the history we're talking about. Those are the feuds," he said. Mayor Dan. Wall called that assertion ridiculous. "I never beard anything so crazy in my life," he said. "We have these things, we deal with them, we move on," Wall said. "Nobody sits here and thinks about how we can get back at Everest." His advice; "They ougbt to develop their property in a way that fits in with the comprehensive plan and the neighbOr- hood." Linda Owen writes about North Metro communi- ties and schools. Her column appears Tuesdays in the North Metro edition. You can write to Linda at the Pioneer Press North Metro Bureau, 470 W. Highway 96. Suite 180. Shoreview. Minn. 55126: call her at 481'()285; or send e-mail to I kowen@PioneerPlanet.infi.net.