Wyoming Council briefs...

BY DENISE MARTIN

The Wyoming City Council met last week and heard about an upcoming meeting the state has scheduled, to take public comment on access management along Highway 61 in town. MnDOT engineers will be at city hall from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 21. The state engineers are the process of updating "access management" planning along state highways. The review looks at trouble spots, visibility, and locations of future intersections in an effort to limit the number of access points to busy roadways.

Wyoming City Engineer Mark Erichson said notices are being mailed to property owners who may be affected along the corridor. Anybody who is interested is welcome to attend.

The city council, with all members present, also:
~ Approved accepting a state grant which the city will present to Xccent Manufacturing to use to purchase equipment for the new industrial facility on 257th.

~ Listened as Mayor Sheldon Anderson explained his push to re-name Railroad Park to honor Neil Gatzow, a former mayor and a longtime community activist. Mayor Anderson said the park board seemed receptive when he made a presentation April 5 to honor the past mayor. There is a site plan being drawn for park projects like a horseshoe pit, and then the park board will be expected to act on the whole package and the renaming.

~ An odor control system for the wastewater network was okayed by city council and the city authorized the sewer treatment commission to move ahead on acquiring a small piece of land for the bio-filter apparatus.

The Chisago Lakes Joint Sewage Treatment Commission installed a temporary odor control device to address complaints about smells associated with stagnant product that portion of pipe, and this final solution eliminates the use of costly chemical additives. Wyoming agrees to "commit" to the plan developed by the commission, through the resolution passed unanimously, according to City Administrator Craig Mattson.

The Joint Sewage Treatment Commission presumably will adopt the odor control plan at its April meeting.

~ WSB Engineering bridge inspection went well, Erichson explained. Council received a report and there are no glaring problems with three spans in Wyoming. The city bridge sites inspected were at Greenway Road, at 260th Street and at Viking Blvd. They all cross a Sunrise River tributary.

~ Council member Russ Goudge clarified meeting minutes from March 3. At the last council meeting he questioned a Roger Elmore motion, but Elmore was absent, so the discussion continued to the council meeting last week.

Council member Elmore explained that his motion was "in agreement" with prepared agenda language that the requests for funding "did not meet the test" for public expenditure by the city.

Goudge felt anyone reading minutes in the future could "misconstrue" this to infer that The Refuge and the Senior Center somehow weren't providing services or programs that would qualify for taxpayer support. Elmore said he was agreeing with staff, in his motion to deny the requests for funding, because there is no city contract for services with these entities. Plus the requests were not budgeted.

Clean Up around town

Wyoming and SRC have an agreement for various free debris disposal days in spring, allowing residents to discard vegetative matter they've taken from yards and gardens.

On the following Wednesdays and Saturdays city residents can dispose of yard debris at the landfill on East Viking Boulevard. April 28, May 1, May 5, May 8 and May 12.

The Saturday disposal runs from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesdays the SRC site is open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

There is NO burning allowed in town.

People who want to burn yard debris on lots that are at least one acre in size may check with city hall. At this time because of dry conditions NO burning is allowed but after green-up, the large lots may be able to accommodate a fire pile.

One more reminder-- Wyoming will sweep streets April 19 through 23. The city would appreciate it if vehicles were not left on the roadways when the sweeper's travelling the streets.