Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Eastern District Police Meeting/Picnic

Attention!! The June 20th 6:30 PM Community Meeting has been moved from the Eastern District building to the East Side Heritage Park at Neid/Phalen (about 3 blocks north of our building at 722 Payne Ave). This is a potluck event and we will provide the hamburgers and hotdogs. Feel free to bring a side dish to share! Seating liminted at the park so bring a lawn chair. See you there. Cmdr. Casper/McRae

Monday, June 18, 2012

Planning for National Night Out Continues

kids jump for joy at Faith Alliance NNO 2010
District 1 is partnering with the Conway Rec Center, Faith Alliance Church, Grace Lutheran Church, and Bradley House Apartments to bring a large community event to the neighborhood for National Night Out. This will be August 7 from 6-8p at Conway Rec Center. We have just received word that Allina Health will be sending a group of nurses to provide free health assessments that night.

And Ramsey County Environmental Health will be coming with educational games. We will have an opportunity to register to vote that evening, too.

And all this is in addition to free fun, games, and food. Local businesses are making donations, and our partners are bringing in bouncy castles and other games for kids.

It should be a fun gathering when neighbors can meet neighbors. Join us if you don't have a NNO event on your block!

Great River Park Plan Update


The Saint Paul Parks and Recreation Commission special meeting on the Great River Passage Park plan will be held on June 20th at the Phalen Golf Course Clubhouse beginning at 6:30 p.m. - Commission Chair Jonathan Carter has included a special message regarding meeting format on the agenda (agenda and resolution posted on Parks Commission website). Public testimony has already been received by the Parks Commissioners, so the next opportunity for public comment will be in front of the Planning Commission beginning next month.
See the updated approval process with key dates, and all documents provided to Commissioners here

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

More Work at Highway 61 Overlook

Last year MnDOT redid the Highway 61 overlook at Burns Avenue. They fixed the wall and updated the "furnishings". At that time, officials met with residents to discuss how to address the unwelcome activities that were occurring at the overlook later at night. The main thing that neighbors wanted was a gate that closed off the park at night.

Well, MnDOT has secured the funding and is in the process of getting a contractor on board to install a security gate, post signs about park hours, and to fix the pavement leading up to and in the parking lot. Construction will begin in mid August and probably take 2 months. There will always be a 5 foot gap in the gate to allow access to wheelchairs, other pedestrians and bicyclists.

This is another great success for community activists!! It takes people to recognize an issue exists, find the people in charge, make suggestions of how to address the issue, and keep communication lines open! Thanks to MnDOT and thanks to all the neighbors who spoke up about what was needed!!

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Teens' Jobs in Neighborhoods...

ROCK YOUR BLOCK -NEW SERVICE FOR TEENAGE NEIGHBORHOOD JOBS/INTERNSHIPS
Rock Your Block is an exciting new service that has just opened up to Twin Cities neighborhoods. It is a Facebook and mobile application that helps teenagers and youth find neighborhood jobs, part-time work and internship opportunities within their community. With the support of an adult or corporate/organization sponsor that agrees to support the teen in his or her entrepreneurial endeavors, teens can build a dynamic virtual resume, browse job listings in their network, and apply to jobs. 

Rock Your Block benefits communities by offering a convenient way for community members (especially seniors) to get help with small jobs as well as get to know youth in their neighborhoods. There is definitely no shortage of youth interested in doing work - the real need is connecting them with neighbors and local businesses that have work for them to do and are interested in supporting teens in their community. The application is currently in Beta testing, and there are over 500 teens in the Twin Cities signed up and ready to complete some work! If you have some work you need help getting done this summer, post a job on Rock Your Block and hire a local teen! You can sign up atwww.rockyourblock.com . 

Monday, June 4, 2012

Yellow Pages Opt-Out...


 Courtesy or RAM
http://www.YellowPagesOptOut.com provides an easy and secure way for residents to control the number of Yellow Pages telephone directories they receive or to stop directory delivery entirely.  It is a completely free service and the Local Search Association encourages efforts by municipalities and community-based organizations to make consumers aware of this important option.

The Internet-based tool is specifically designed to prevent directories from being delivered to anyone who doesn't want one while ensuring that they are delivered to the majority of consumers who continue to rely upon and use the print Yellow Pages to make purchases supporting the local business community and economy..  It is a significant and unified commitment on behalf of directory publishers of which the positive impacts are already being realized in many communities around the country.
As the industry's official website to manage requests, all Local Search Association and the Association of Directory Publishers member companies are committed to honoring requests made through the Opt-Out web portal. Information gathered through the site will not be sold to third-parties and will be used solely to update publishers' delivery information.
Simply go to www.YellowPagesOptOut.com, enter your zip code and follow the prompts to make your choice.  Once complete, you will be sent a confirmation email.  Click the link embedded in the email to confirm your request

Water Meter Replacement Update


We are finishing up installations on the east side of Saint Paul as well as Maplewood.
Residential meter replacement rates have remained steady at 1,200 - 1,400 per week.

Residential Installations
·        We are 90 percent finished with installations south of Holloway, west of Century Ave., east of White Bear Ave., and north of Conway.
·        Installation are more than 85 percent complete in an area bordered approximately by I-94 in the south, Arlington in the north, McKnight in the East, and Burlington in the west.  (Green area on map)
·        We are about 60 percent finished in Maplewood and Saint Paul, south of I-94 and bordering either side of McKnight road down to the southern edge of both cities. The area extends to the railroads in the west and Century Avenue in the east. (Pink area on map.)
·        We are 11 percent finished in area marked by White Bear Ave in the east, Point douglas Road in the SW, Burns Ave. to the south, and Earl Street to the west. (Red on the map.)

Please be aware that in a minority of cases, in which repeated attempts to contact the homeowner or resident have gone without response for at least two months, we have disconnected water services until we can arrange to have a new meter installed.

Information on the alternate metering systems
In our notification letters, customers are informed that there are alternate metering systems available. Property owners can select one of the alternate metering systems by calling our customer service reps at 651-266-6350 for an application or by downloading the application form from our website at https://www.saintpaulwater.com/meters/

As of May 31, 2012, SPRWS received 498 applications; of those, 314 selected the external radio-read metering system; 184 chose the touchpad. 

Find out more on our website
Information on the regulations we meet and many reports on FCC rules and regulations, FDA rules on radiation emitting electric devices (like radios and remote controls), radio frequency, electromagnetic frequency, and other topics related to radio transmitters from peer-based, scientific research also can be found at  https://www.saintpaulwater.com/meters/

There is a great deal of information on this project, including how to read the new meters, updates like this, and maps of the entire project area on our website at https://www.saintpaulwater.com/meters/

Submitted by the Information Service of the Water Utility...