Metro briefs: Photographer to speak on Minnesota's vanishing landmarks

A historian and photographer who was spent the past 25 years documenting the vanishing barns, schoolhouses, courthouses and churches across the state will be the headline speaker at the Washington County Historical Society's annual meeting on March 23. The event is open to the public, but reservations are required.

Speaker Doug Ohman said he's photographed thousands of barns during his travels across the state, but there's far fewer still standing today as about 100 come down every year. "It just goes to show our history is vanishing," said Ohman, a New Hope photographer whose work was included in the Smithsonian Institution's exhibit Barn Again! Celebrating an American Icon.

The talk will be held at the Stillwater Event Center, 1910 S. Greeley St. Details are available at wchsmn.org, or at 651-439-2298.

Matt McKinney

Burnsville City Council will consider a plan to repair a "baffle wall" at the city's water treatment plant, a step that could improve how the city's water tastes and affects appliances.

The plan, which involved approving three contracts, will appear on the consent agenda for the next City Council meeting and likely be approved, said City Council Member Cara Schulz.

The city discovered the plant's baffle wall wasn't working properly during a recent check at the treatment plant that's done every 10 years.

A basin called a clearwell stores millions of gallons of treated water before it is distributed throughout the city. Within the clearwell, a baffle wall allows surface water and treated groundwater to mix, creating "a more blended and uniform water product," a city statement said.

The damaged baffle wall doesn't affect the safety of the water for drinking.

Burnsville residents have long complained about the city water's taste and the effect of minerals in the water on appliances like dishwashers, Schulz said. Repairing the baffle wall may improve both aspects of the water, she said.

Erin Adler

Residents of Anoka will decide if they want the city to implement organized trash collection or continue allowing them to choose their own hauler.

The City Council on Monday passed a resolution to place the question on the November 2024 ballot.

In a separate motion, the council passed a resolution directing city staff to notify residents and trash haulers of the city's intent to consider organized collection. But the city could only switch to an organized trash collection system if the ballot question passes.

"If 51% say we leave it alone, we leave it alone," Mayor Phil Rice said during the meeting. "If 51% say switch to a single hauler, then we get down that road."

Anoka had organized trash collection — meaning the city contracts with haulers — until 1991, when the city went to open hauling, when customers have the choice to pick their trash hauler.

In 2015, the city revised an ordinance limiting the number of trash haulers operating in the city to six and to not issue any new permits. The number of companies operating in Anoka has subsequently shrunk to four.

Tim Harlow

Eden Prairie's City Council put the kibosh on a large apartment development last week, after months of discussions and public hearings, over the proposed building's many deviations from city codes and concerns about how it would position future development in what is now a rural-zoned section of the city. The council voted unanimously March 7 to deny the developer's variance requests.

"The applicant is proposing a building that is nearly twenty feet higher than is permitted by City Code and that will not contain adequate parking facilities for residents and guests," a resolution read. In meeting documents, city staff said the site was hilly and included a wetland, which would have made building costly and difficult — so to make a profit, developer Ryan Companies would have had to build more apartments.

The building would have had 211 smaller apartments, studios and one- and two-bedroom units in a five-story building with one level of underground parking.

Josie Albertson-Grove