Centerville Tidbits
Regular Field Maintenance To Continue
At its October 10 meeting, the Centerville City Council approved the Centennial Lakes Little League's use of Laurie LaMotte Park next year and agreed to continue to drag the ball field at the park four times a week. However, the council rejected the league's request for a $1,000 donation that would have gone toward financing a celebration in recognition of the league's 50th anniversary.
City Administrator Dallas Larson acknowledged that city staff had discussed the possibility of reducing the number of times a week the ball field is dragged.
"We have talked about reducing the frequency of dragging the field.the question is how much staff time we can devote [to dragging]," Larson said. In recent years, dragging the field four times a week throughout the late spring and summer has resulted in the city dedicating about thirty-six hours of staff time annually to dragging.
In response, Pat Mahr, representing the league, said that dragging is "a safety issue and it should be a pride issue for the city of Centerville - other communities drag [their ball fields] every day."
In addition, Mahr said that the league was willing to purchase a new $1,700 skid for the tractor used to drag the ball field.
Council thanked Mahr for offering to buy the skid and agreed to continue financing dragging four times a week.
"We own the parks, and we should maintain them," said Mayor Mary Capra.
However, council rejected the league's request for the donation for the league's 50th anniversary celebration.
"We can't set that precedent - we don't have the budget to do that," said Council Member Tom Lee.
Council Member Michelle Lakso was absent from the meeting, making the vote to deny the request 4-0.
Two New Businesses Set To Build
Two new businesses are just about set to begin building in Centerville.
The council approved site plans for Multi Web Converting at 6939 20th Avenue and Creative Kids Daycare at 6907 20th Avenue South.
According to its Web site, Multi Web Converting is a "narrow web specialty converter with a concentration in security label applications."
A representative of the company said that they hope to start building on the site next week, pending the approval of a building permit.
No time frame was given as to when Creative Kids Daycare will begin construction. Council seemed pleased to open the door to two new businesses in town.
"It'd be nice if this happened every council meeting," Council Member Jeff Paar.
In other action, the council:
. Directed City Administrator Dallas Larson to send a letter to Anoka County asking them if the road barricade just west of Interstate 35E on CSAH 14 could be moved further west. The barricade is meant to deter thru traffic from driving down the portion of Highway 14 that is under construction, but Mayor Mary Capra said local business owners have expressed concern that the barricade is deterring potential customers from accessing local businesses.
. Approved the payment of Centerville's share of the Centennial Fire District budget. According to city documents, Centerville pays $24,737.50 quarterly. The district includes Lino Lakes and Circle Pines in addition to Centerville, and Centerville supports about 13% of the district's total budget.
. Approved a resolution to combine the Old Mill Road, Fairview Street, and CSAH 14 improvement projects into a single improvement program. The change was made because the city is planning one bond issue to finance all three improvement projects.
. Approved a resolution establishing minimum charges for those who want to hook up to the city's water and/or sewer mains. The minimum water main connection charge is now $6,042, while sewer is $7,420.
. Approved the Centennial Youth Hockey Association's request to use the Laurie LaMotte Park hockey rink for the 2007-08 season.
. Approved a pay request from Andrew Ross Concrete and Masonry for work completed on the city's 2007 sidewalk project. The request was for $13,459.50.
. Approved the purchase of two 2008 Ford F250 4x4 Super Cab trucks from Elk River Ford. Including trade-ins, each truck costs $5,239.77.