Friends,
Today Senator Katie Sieben and I met with Congresswoman Betty McCollum and Newport officials to discuss flooding.
The levee that was installed on an emergency basis in the early 1970s was never meant to be permanent and has not had ongoing maintenance by the Army Corp of Engineers. The city of Newport has been working with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to obtain money from the legislature to help offset the costs of purchasing the homes that will be flooded if the levee fails.
We discussed short term and long term options in which Federal and State agencies can assist.
The Cottage Grove City Council will be meeting this afternoon (Thursday) to ratify the State of Emergency that Mayor Myron Bailey proclaimed earlier this week. Public Works Director Les Burshten said the water near Grey Cloud Island was up another 5 inches on Thursday morning. If the water rises a few more inches, the second of two roads to Grey Cloud Island will likely need to be shut down.
Another concern is the state of the sanitary sewer system in Newport. It is aging, and there is great concern that, if the water continues to rise and the equipment fails, sewage could back up into hundreds of homes.
Cottage Grove Public Safety Director Craig Woolery has asked citizens to sign up for the Code Red Emergency notification system. Cities and agencies in Washington County are able to communicate with residents on a mass scale to provide emergency information. This could be in cases of flooding or other weather-related issues. They used this emergency notice system this past winter to tell residents to let their faucets trickle water to keep their pipes from freezing. It’s the same system police use when they are looking for a lost child or wanted felon in a neighborhood.
You can find the link at https://public.coderedweb.com/CNE/5BD6DBCB2457. All residents of Grey Cloud Island Township, Newport, St. Paul Park, Cottage Grove and other areas in Washington County should sign up.
You can also find notices from the City of Cottage Grove on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/CottageGroveMinnesota or on Twitter by following @cottagegrovemn. The Cottage Grove Public Safety Department also has a Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cottage-Grove-Minnesota-Police-Department/147704903882.
Talks with Northern Tier
Senator Katie Sieben and I were joined by local officials from St. Paul Park, Newport and Cottage Grove for an informative visit with the new management of Northern Tier Energy refinery Tuesday. We toured the refinery, Super Mom's Bakery and the Friends in Need Food Shelf which is on the refinery grounds.
As many of you know, Sen. Sieben and I have been hearing a lot from the folks in District 54 about what they believe are unfair gas pricing practices. As long as I've lived here I've heard people express their feelings about gas prices being higher right next to the refinery than just a few miles away. We brought these concerns to new owners of Northern Tier, the owner and operator of Super America convenience stores. Prior to Northern Tier being purchased by Western Refining, communication with management was lackluster.
It was a fruitful discussion. We met with Dave Lamp, president of Northern Tier Energy, Rick Hastings, the refinery manager, and Paul Anderson, vice president of Investor Relations and Business Development.
Much of the discussion centered on how Northern Tier can play a positive role in our shared community. We were pleased to learn that its owners were committed to doing just that. For instance, they promised us that the company would donate significantly more to the food shelf than the previous owner.
We addressed our community’s long-term need for jobs. Northern Tier has moved administrative jobs out of our district. We talked about ways to bring some of these jobs back home and keep them here for the long term.
The issue of responding to emergencies at the refinery also was discussed. I stressed that, while Northern Tier calls St. Paul Park home, our surrounding communities – Cottage Grove and Newport – have a very big stake in safety at the refinery and a planned response to an accident. I was reassured that officials at Northern Tier are working with local public safety on this issue.
We brought up how gas prices at Northern Tier stores close to the refinery are higher than at stores miles away. We talked about the effect of those prices and having our citizens also do their shopping and dining in other communities where they stop to get gas. They acknowledged our concern, and we expressed this will continue to be an issue if the prices remain notably cheaper in Woodbury and Hastings.
I feel much better about the situation than I did just a few months ago. The new owners sound as though they are willing to find compromise where they can and are definitely aware of their responsibilities as a member of our community, as well as an employer. Dave Lamp told all of us they know it's a privilege to operate their business in our community.
I was also comforting to hear they are committed to continued supporting of the food shelf and they expect their local community giving to increase significantly over the previous ownership.
We plan to have regular contact with each other on this issue and others related to their operation. I will keep you updated.
Have a great weekend,
Dan