Illegal Dumping Along the Bluffs

On Oct 11, 2008 two local residents were walking in the woods of the bluffs around the Battle Creek neighborhood. They walked down the bluffs and by the large pipe leading to the head station along Hwy 61 and Pt. Douglas Road. There they were shocked to find PILES of electronic equipment discarded - hundreds of computers, keyboards, televisions, radios, and other electronic items such as fax machines. Many were damaged and lying around, some were loaded in boxes. The residents suspect that people are using this location as an illegal dump, or thieves are using it to unload what they have stolen after taking what they want, or that some recycler was not doing their job of removing materials but was just dumping there. Further down the way from this site, the residents found another dumping ground by an abandoned house. At this location there were hundreds of Yellow Pages books that had been dumped instead of being delivered. Other people had apparently been using this location for a garbage dump, too.
The residents called the Pioneer Press and a reporter went out there and agreed it was appalling and one of the spookiest things he had ever seen. He did some investigating and made some calls. The county purchased the abandoned house and property last spring for $276,000. Since the 11th, the county has started tearing down the house with the goal of turning the property into parkland along the bluffs.

The residents had also reported the dumping to the county who said that the dumping had all happened within the previous 3 weeks. Also, they knew about all the Yellow Books and garbage at end of road. They were going to have all of this removed at the same time the house was demolished. Then, there will be a fence/gate so that no one can even drive on the road. There will only be room for a truck to get to the head station. That way no one can even get in to dump. It will eventually all turn wild. In the long run, the county also wants to remove the asphalt of the old road in this area.

We all know that there are people who use parts of Battle Creek Park as their own personal dump site. Some residents have been such good neighbors that they have collected this stuff and taken it to be properly disposed of. But you can always call the City to get it removed (651.266.8989).

But as residents, you should know that you need to hire your own garbage haulers. If you want to arrange with your neighbors to do this together, that is a good thing. But we cannot have toxic stuff dumped in our natural areas!! Every year we do a Community Clean-up so there is no excuse for dumping in the woods. In addition, for electronics, every retailer who sells this stuff is supposed to take it back for recycling for free, so again, no excuses.

Here’s what the resident who found this mess had to say…“People are treating our natural resources in Battle Creek with disdain and harming the environment and what a message that speaks about the character of people who would stoop to such a thing. SHAME ON THEM. I don't care what the excuse is. SHAME ON THEM. Lazy stupidity and selfishness on their part, because it is not difficult to get rid of any of these items if you make a few phone calls or read your community newspaper. Yes, some of these things cost money to get rid of, but throwing them in the bluffs costs more money in taxes than just taking care of it the right way, not to mention the future legacy of pollution and mess we are leaving the community and the children.”

District 1 Office Hit by Burglars

Overnight on October 15, the Conway Rec Center and the District 1 office were hit by burglars. The thieves broke into offices at the Center and took computer equipment. The Community Council office was hit the worst with the loss of both our computers, our external hard drive and our wireless base station. Our printer/copier/fax machine was smashed and one phone was destroyed. A desk had some damage, too.

These are some of the basic tools that we need to do our work. We have limited staff, and even more limited resources. We had received a Bremer Foundation Capacity Building grant to purchase this equipment so that we could run more efficiently and work more effectively to provide service to our neighborhoods. This is definitely a setback for the organization.

The loss of the equipment was bad enough, but it was the information - the work - on the computers that is the real setback for us. Although our financial records were not included, everything else we did was on those computers -- and on the back-up system that was also taken... Our database of contacts was on the computer. That information was directory-type information, nothing that was personally sensitive, but we used it to keep track of issues that concerned folks, and how we could get in touch with people. We used it to mail out our fundraising letter, which should be underway now -- that effort is on hold until we can reconstruct the database. But postponing the fundraising puts our budget at risk for next year.

In all this bad news, there has been some good news, however. The support we've had from other district councils, from our members - your neighbors, from the city, and from other nonprofits has been deeply appreciated. Our insurance will cover replacement costs, so within a month we should have the equipment we need. Then it will be a matter of re-doing the work we have been involved in over the past year and a half...

Bear with us as we rebuild. Although these are tough economic times, if you can make a donation to the Council, please do so now, instead of waiting until we can get a formal request sent out. We've done good work in the past year. Let's not lose ground in that regard. Thanks for your support!

District 1 Clean-up Cleans Up!!

The neighborhood held another successful community clean-up on October 11 at Harding High School. We had fabulous help from our volunteers, including about fourteen young men from Boys Totem Town. What would we do without their energy and muscle power??!! And we had three crews picking up stuff from elders in the neighborhood – next year we’ll need a fourth crew, there was so much work to be done! What a fantastic job by the senior pick-up crews, the Totem Town crew, and each volunteer who spent a sunny Saturday helping make our neighborhood even more beautiful. Thanks to everyone for a job well done. Here is what we accomplished…

We managed to provide almost two full truck-loads of reusable furniture and goods for Bridging – the organization that provides a new start for women and families leaving abusive relationships. We also salvaged tools and supplies for the Totem Town Community Garden, and for local groups of kids who play hockey!!

We recycled almost two dumpster loads full of electronics, and thanks to the volunteers who were separating metals from plastics, we had more than a dumpster full of metal that will be recycled. We had 30 bicycles that will be donated to people who need a way to get around the city. And we had a record number of fluorescent bulbs that will be safely disposed of. Lots of tires were collected for recycling, and a truck full of old appliances.

Every year there seems to be particular type of material that everyone is getting rid of, and this year it was construction waste – drywall, plywood, cement debris and so on. But this also seemed to be the year for everyone to get rid of their old gas-powered lawnmowers!! Are we going back to hand-powered mowers, or is someone doing great business selling new power-mowers?

A special thanks this year to Little Oven, who donated the pizzas to feed the hungry hordes of fabulous volunteers, and to Culvers, who donated certificates for free frozen custard to a large portion of those who came to drop off stuff, as well as to our volunteers. We hope that our residents will stop by these businesses and thank them for their commitment to our beautiful corner of St. Paul.

Capital Improvement Budget Suggestions

Starting next January or February, the City of Saint Paul begins its two-year Capital Improvement Budget process. Residents from our different neighborhoods form task forces that help the city prioritize projects dealing with our streets/utilities, cultural sites (like libraries and parks), and economic development. Money assigned for building new projects, not for maintenance of existing buildings or structures - new construction that will represent long-term improvements to our area.

Each district council, and other organizations propose projects for prioritizing. In our area we have proposals we are developing for improvements at Taylor Park, at Highwood Hills Park, the Warner Road Bridge, for bicycle lanes along Ruth and perhaps a northern east/west route, bridge improvements over the freeway, and for the Pederson pathway through Conway Park.

Are there other projects you would like to see proposed for the district?