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In The News!
NEWS BULLETIN- Sunday, July 29, 2007
Bostrom Opposes Closing Libraries
City Council Member Dan Bostrom will resist any effort to close the Hayden Heights Library on White Bear Avenue as part of an effort to balance the St. Paul budget next year.
“I do not support closing Hayden Heights or any other city library,” Bostrom said. The possibility of closing Hayden Heights and the Hamline Midway Library is raised in planning documents prepared by Mayor Chris Coleman’s staff. The information in the planning documents could change before Coleman presents his budget proposal in August.
“We have to look for other, more creative ways to solve the budget problem,” Bostrom said. “Closing a vital neighborhood resource – Hayden Heights Library – is not the way to solve the budget shortfall. I will work with my City Council colleagues and the mayor’s administration to find a way to keep that library open.”
Cuts in state aid to local governments since 2003 are the major cause of the budget shortfall.
We Need To Pay Attention To Phalen Park! (East Side Review- June 2007)
Dan Bostrom
Ward 6 City Council Member
The East Side is home to one of Saint Paul's greatest treasures - Phalen Regional Park. We tend to take the park and its beautiful lake for granted - perhaps because it has always been there and it fits so perfectly into our community's idea of what a park should be. It has changed over the years as it has accommodated new generations of Eastsiders and other Saint Paulites.
For those of us lucky enough to be raised on the East Side, Phalen was a big playground that never bored us. Just when we thought we had seen and experienced everything, we discovered something new and exciting. With all of the park's water birds and other creatures, visiting it was like experiencing the wilds of nature in the middle of the city. The changes of season unfolded before our eyes as we biked back and forth through our favorite childhood haunt.
There were spectacular sights we stored in our collective memory, such as1986, that wonderful year when the Winter Carnival celebrated its centennial by putting the Ice Palace right in the heart of the park, near the west shore of Lake Phalen. And we remember the not-for-the-faint-of-heart Winter Carnival ice-skating, ice fishing contests, and even car racing on the lake.
These memories are delightful, but we also need to pay attention to the park's present and future. As your Ward 6 City Council member and an active member of the Friends of Lake Phalen, I have been working hard to protect and enhance this tremendous East Side asset. When Phalen Park gets better, the entire East Side benefits.
Most of you probably have seen the progress on shoreline restoration around the lake and marveled at the returning wildlife that abounds there due to the protected and natural environment. About two miles of shoreline - two-thirds of the approximately three miles around the lake - has been restored since 2001. The work on Minnesota's largest lakeshore restoration project will continue this year and be completed in 2008. The Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District is coordinating the project.
Workers are regrading the shoreline and, in some areas, also moving rocks and adding soil. They are planting native Minnesota species, such as coneflower and bulrush, to prevent erosion of the restored shoreline. In some locations, attractive wooden, split-rail fencing has been installed to protect the plants and the shoreline.
The cost of the project is about $400,000, more than half of which came from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. The city contributed some sales tax dollars to the project in its early stages.
This year, we have once again included money in the city budget to control and remove invasive plant species on Lake Phalen. And the Ramsey Soil and Water Conservation District rain garden, planted a few years ago near the Lakeside Center to treat rainwater runoff from the parking lot, continues to be a success.
In 2000, Ramsey County Commissioner Jim McDonough and I joined together to seek city capital budget dollars to renovate and expand Phalen Recreation Center. Now the center and its new tot lot playground are realities. Every year, the center plays host to thousands of kids in hockey, baseball, basketball and soccer programs. These events attract visitors from all over Saint Paul and beyond.
I hope you have seen the two new Phalen Park signs installed in May of last year on East Shore Drive at Larpenteur and Arlington Avenues. These have their own history; they are made of Kasota limestone salvaged from the old Burr Street Bridge. On a rainy spring day, Mayor Coleman and I joined dozens of Eastsiders to dedicate these new entrance markers. A few years ago, new main entrance signs were installed at Wheelock Parkway/Arcade Street and at Johnson Parkway/Maryland Avenue. Both sign projects were made possible by funding from the city's STAR (Sales Tax) Program. These signs replaced outdated markers that were showing their age.
Over the past decade, the Bruce Vento Trail has been connected to Phalen Park. This provides access to a statewide system, which includes the Gateway and Munger Trails. You can walk, bike or skate to Stillwater or, if you're ambitious, to Duluth.
Since I joined the City Council, we made many other improvements to Phalen Park with the assistance of our many partners. A new roof on the Picnic Pavilion was installed with funding from the Metropolitan Council. Historic-style lantern lighting was added along Phalen Drive and in the parking lots. In 2005, we completed the resurfacing of the 3.2 miles of paved walking paths, again with assistance from the Metropolitan Council. Poetry Park, complete with musical benches, was a project shepherded by the East Side Arts Council with city help.
The work to preserve this jewel of our neighborhood will continue.
Planning is underway for a major project - the restoration of the historic Stone Arch Bridge. Built in 1910-11 and later clad with Kasota limestone, it spans a portion of the canals that form the picnic island. The bridge has deteriorated so badly that boats are not allowed to travel under it because of the danger of falling debris. When it is restored, canoes and other non-motorized watercraft will once more be able to navigate from Lake Phalen through the chain of lakes connected to it - Round, Keller, Gervais, Spoon, Kohlman and Willow.
This year, as part of Mayor Coleman's Energy Conservation Investment Fund, the Golf Clubhouse will be retrofitted for energy efficiency. The project will pay for itself in less than two years and save the city thousands of dollars annually.
City officials have also begun discussions with a group interested in forming a sailing club on Lake Phalen. I support this endeavor. It would provide new life to the park, fit well with the existing programs at the boathouse and add enthusiasm for future park investments.
Also under consideration is the reconnection of the waterfall on the walking path along the north side of the lake. Many Eastsiders have fond recollections of this now dormant park attraction. The project is being seriously studied for action in the near future.
I hope you will speak up in support of our efforts to reinvest in Phalen Park as these projects come up for consideration. And, as you enjoy the park this spring and summer, please take a moment to marvel at the generations of planning and careful maintenance that the Saint Paul Parks and Recreation Department has lavished on this parkdom, this jewel, our Phalen.
Dear friends,
The East Side has made momentous progress since you first elected me to the City Council. Together, our work has helped to bring hundreds of millions of dollars in private and public investment to our community.
Our largest redevelopment effort is the creation of the Phalen Corridor. We have attracted new businesses, created good jobs, built quality housing and added recreational and educational amenities for all Eastsiders. Redevelopment of the former 3M manufacturing site is a major opportunity along Phalen Boulevard. I am committed to making this a prime site for hundreds of new living wage jobs for our friends and neighbors.
I have worked hard to reduce crime and clean up blight in our neighborhoods. In January, we took a vital new step toward these goals with passage of an ordinance I coauthored. This new law requires city inspection of rental homes and duplexes. Now, absentee landlords will be held to community standards; problem properties will be cleaned-up and the safety and health of tenants will be protected.
As we rebuild our neighborhoods, we must turn more vacant and abandoned property into owner-occupied homes for families. We also need to create more opportunities for our children at recreation centers and improve library resources for all of our citizens.
We must make more progress on crime prevention and public safety. I will continue my efforts to increase the number of police officers patrolling our neighborhoods.
Your ideas, commitment and hard work were essential to the progress we have made so far. I hope I can continue to work with you as we build the future -together.
Thank you,
Dan Bostrom
St. Paul East Side / Bigger, better rec center plan gains momentum (Pioneer Press- March 27)
If the rec center project succeeds, it would be "one of the most important things to come to this neighborhood in a long, long time," City Council Member Dan Bostrom said. "When you have a nice facility in the neighborhood, it gives confidence to the people that it's a good place to live." (read full story about Arlington Recreation Center and Merrick Community Services at TwinCities.com)
"Once a Cop, Always A Cop" (Pioneer Press- Wed. March 18th)
City Council Member Dan Bostrom helps police pursue gun-toting youth to house
BY JASON HOPPIN- Pioneer Press
Dan Bostrom's colleagues on the St. Paul City Council may want to give the most senior member a new nickname — Action Dan.
Between a Wednesday afternoon community meeting and an appointment at City Hall, the retired St. Paul police officer aided in the arrest of a boy suspected of brandishing a weapon on Edgerton Street.
Bostrom had just gotten in his car after a meeting at Merrick Community Center when he saw a gray Jeep speed down Edgerton on the wrong side of the road.
"This guy had floored it, and he was taking off," Bostrom said.
Looking back, Bostrom, 66, saw a boy standing in the middle of the street, pointing a gun at the car.
The youth didn't fire but lingered near the intersection of Minnehaha Avenue and Edgerton, pacing back and forth.
Bostrom called 911, but he saw the youth leaving the area before the police arrived.
That's when the old cop instincts kicked in. Bostrom turned his Crown Victoria around and tailed the suspect as he left the area.
"Didn't want to lose him," Bostrom said.
Bostrom was soon joined by a squad car, and he signaled to the officer in order to identify the youth.
"I don't know if he had any idea that we were following," Bostrom said.
Bostrom and the officer saw the boy enter a house on Reaney Avenue. About then, an onrush of police cars arrived.
According to Bostrom, police knocked on the door and were told that the youth, who had just entered, left through the back door.
However, it didn't appear there were tracks leaving the residence.
Police entered the house and asked Bostrom to identify clothing he had seen the youth wearing. The youth was then arrested.
St. Paul police confirmed the story and said a pellet gun was recovered at the house, but they did not release the juvenile's name.
Jason Hoppin can be reached at jhoppin@pioneerpress.com or 651-292-1892.
 Hazel Park Heights Grand Opening! (February 20, 2007)
Councilmember Dan Bostrom and Mayor Chris Coleman joined neighborhood leaders for the grand opening of the new Hazel Park Heights ownership condominiums at White Bear & Maryland Avenues. Read the Pioneer Press local news coverage article titled "St Paul/ Condos Cited As Good Development"
 Cub Foods Plans To Build In Phalen Village!
Councilmember Bostrom, in cooperation with neighborhood organizations, announced a $15- million investment in the East Side community.
January 16, 2007
Dear Friends and neighbors,
The most pressing concern in Ward 6 right now is, of course, the horrific attacks and rapes of the two women near Payne Avenue. My heart goes out to these women for what they’ve had to endure, and my pledge is to do everything in my power to empower Chief Harrington and his police department as well as folks in the community to apprehend this callous criminal and prevent anyone else from having to live through this unimaginable experience.
The first step in this process is communication. That was the main reason I worked with Ramsey County Commissioner Jim McDonough on January 11 to host a community meeting. At that meeting, residents were able to hear directly from Commissioner McDonough, Mayor Coleman, Chief Harrington, Sheriff Fletcher, and myself what resources have been redirected, and what work has been performed in order to catch this vicious criminal.
Also during the community meeting, many of you also had a chance to ask questions and voice concerns about your safety and that of your family. While the police and sheriff’s department are doing a great job, they were correct in pointing out that we need to look out for each other. I was pleased to see and hear many of our residents already doing that – neighbors walking home a neighbors’ daughter from the school bus, neighbors walking the street with a flashlight in the early morning and later in the evening. Facing adversity, the East Side continues to pull together.
We will continue to try to communicate and coordinate efforts at crime prevention through the Payne Phalen District 5 Council. They will be contacting everyone who attended the meeting and signed in and encouraging them to participate in a formalized block club. I have authorized an additional $15,000 of city funds to go toward that effort and perhaps help hire a staff member dedicated to that purpose.
If you have any questions or comments regarding these recent events, please don’t hesitate to contact my office at 266-8660.
Stay vigilant, stay safe.
Respectfully yours,
Dan Bostrom
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