South metro news briefs: Burnsville moves up start of City Council meetings an hour

Beginning Oct. 24, Burnsville City Council meetings and work sessions will start an hour earlier, at 5:30 p.m. The City Council voted unanimously Oct. 3 to approve the change.

Council members had discussed the change at a work session earlier this fall, noting that other types of city meetings held earlier in the evening had better attendance, and that business people and developers have said they prefer earlier times.

Meetings sometimes had lasted until 10 p.m., forcing some people to leave before an item of concern to them is discussed. City meetings already must end by 11:30 p.m.

City staff found that Burnsville will be the only one out of 20 cities surveyed with meetings at 5:30 p.m., though six cities start work sessions at that time or earlier.

Erin Adler

Eagan unveiled its new logo Oct. 3 after two years of work determining how to best represent the city. Residents first suggested a logo in 2015 as part of a community visioning process called Eagan Forward, a city news release said.

The new logo, a simplified deciduous green tree with graphic, prominent branches and leaves enclosed in a circle, replaces the city's previous logo, which was also a tree.

That symbol, a more realistic green tree outlined in black, was in use since 2004. It was sometimes compared to a stalk of broccoli.

A prominent graphic designer who lives in Eagan, Allan Peters, designed the updated logo for $75,000.

The city unfurled a large banner and new city flag at the unveiling ceremony, and displayed a fire truck bearing the new symbol. New "welcome to Eagan" signs and park signs will be switched out next month. Replacing the logos on all of the water towers will take until 2019, the city said.

The city is on its fourth logo since the 1970s, each featuring what the city called a "strong, independent tree."

Erin Adler

Art Works Eagan will hold an open house Sunday from 6 to 9 p.m. to mark its grand opening at 3795 Pilot Knob Road, the old Eagan fire administration building.

The event will feature a gallery exhibit titled, "The Unexpected Application of Skill," and tours of the performance space and ceramic and artist studios.

ERIN ADLER

The annual winter drawdown of the Lake Byllesby reservoir in Hastings and Cannon Falls began two weeks ago, according to a county news release.

The lake's water level will be gradually lowered 3 feet from its summer elevation of 853.7 feet above sea level to accommodate agricultural needs.

The lowering takes the water down to just below the sill of Byllesby Dam. About one inch of water is released daily.

The water will remain at the lower level until May 15 when it will be refilled to its summer elevation.

Erin Adler

DARTS, a nonprofit serving seniors and their families in and around Dakota County, is seeking homeowners and volunteers for its Fall Clean Up event.

Homeowners will be paired with groups of volunteers who will rake leaves and do other light yardwork in October and early November. The time and date of the service will be arranged by both the volunteers and the homeowners. Clean-up assignments may take up to three hours.

In the past, teams from 3M, Thomson Reuters, Girl Scouts and Blue Cross Blue Shield have participated.

An AARP study indicates that 90 percent of adults over age 65 would prefer to live at home as they age, but being an older homeowner or one with health issues can make outdoor seasonal work challenging. To sign up, e-mail Jennifer Myers at jen.myers@darts1.org or call 651-234-2254. Cleanup dates will depend on when leaves drop.

Erin Adler

West St. Paul has placed Republic Services, also known as Allied Waste Services of the Twin Cities, on a provisional license for the rest of 2017 and through 2018 after the trash hauler was found violating the city's ordinance stating that trash pickup not begin until 7 a.m. in residential areas.

The City Council voted unanimously Oct. 9 to make the change.

"We're just trying to send a message," said Police Chief Bud Shaver, who saw and stopped all three trash haulers for violating the ordinance on his way to work in the morning.

That ordinance exists because residents have complained in the past that garbage trucks made too much noise too early in the morning, city staff said.

Switching to a provisional license was also proposed for two other trash haulers for violating the trash pickup time ordinance at the same meeting.

Representatives from two other waste haulers — Aspen Waste Systems and Highland Sanitation and Recycling — attended the meeting and vowed to improve their practices and comply with the city ordinance. Each was allowed a chance to make changes without being put on a provisional license.

They must provide documentation that their drivers know about the ordinance and that their customer routes don't include picking up garbage within 500 feet of a residential area before 7 a.m.

Representatives of Republic Services did not attend the meeting.

The provisional license requires Republic Services to create a mitigation plan showing that all its drivers know about the ordinance. Additional violations could result in the suspension or revocation of the company's license.

Erin Adler