New sustainable structure rises at Dodge Nature Center in West St. Paul

A new structure at the Dodge Nature Center in West St. Paul, built by a crew from Family Handyman magazine, will display some of the latest trends in sustainable building, including a foundation of steel piers, walls insulated with mineral wool, flooring covered in cork, siding made of compressed milling waste and repurposed doors and windows.

The $50,000 14-by-12-foot structure will star in a coming issue of the magazine, said senior projects editor Mike Berner.

"It's our take on a multipurpose building using sustainable materials," he said.

The building sits behind the barn at the nature center's main property, within earshot of the chicken coop, sheep pens and roosters. The magazine staff approached the nature center last winter with the idea, said farm director Don Oberdorfer. They wanted to construct the building on site, document the build with video and a magazine story, and then donate the structure to Dodge.

"How do you say no to that?" Oberdorfer said.

The building — its use has yet to be decided — will be formally unveiled this summer, said Amy Novak, the magazine's content director.

"There is a large misconception in the marketplace that sustainable products are all expensive and hard to find," she said. "As part of our larger commitment to sustainability education, we want to help demystify that and empower consumers to find new ways to embrace sustainable living."

Matt McKinney

The Dakota County jail in Hastings has signed a contract for new technology intended to make it easier to track inmates.

The jail already observes all inmates, gathering data on them every 25 minutes in keeping with state law, said Dakota County Sheriff Joe Leko. Higher-risk inmates are observed more frequently, he said.

The contract with Guardian RFID, which the County Board approved in April, is $75,338 in 2023 with a $29,195 annual renewal cost for 2024 through 2028.

The system will provide jail staff with a handheld device to record trackinginformation as they go, rather than logging it on a notepad and returning to their computer later to record it, Leko said. The jail won't be collecting any new data on inmates, he said.

"It's done in real time so we know exactly when that room was checked," Leko said.

Twenty-three other Minnesota county jails, including Sherburne and Wright, already use the system.

Erin Adler

The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) has extended the deadline to comment on plans to improve safety and mobility for drivers and people who walk, bike or use mass transit along Hwy. 252 through Brooklyn Center and Brooklyn Park.

The agency will accept input through Friday.

Four concepts have emerged from more than 40 ideas to transform the expressway that the agency had labeled "deficient" because of a high number of crashes and unreliable travel times during peak periods.

Options include a four-lane freeway with bus-only shoulders, a six-lane freeway with bus-only shoulders, a six-lane freeway with an E-Z Pass lane or leaving the highway as-is.

In a letter to MnDOT Commissioner Nancy Daubenberger this month, the Brooklyn Center City Council asked the agency to add options for a six-lane expressway and a four-lane low-speed freeway. The city also wants MnDOT to complete a "holistic environmental review" to study how each option would affect residents' health and the city's tax base, community livability and equity.

The Brooklyn Park City Council has discussed having the four-lane, low-speed freeway be considered.

Tim Harlow