JanFeb

FROGTOWN NEWS
Ignore Snow Emergency? You Might Get
Whacked with Higher Towing Fees
A word of warning about ignoring a St.
Paul snow emergency: it’s going to cost
more. In December, the City Council
raised the price of a tow to $1 75, a hike
from the previous charge of $90 to $1 20,
depending on the company that towed
you. Tack on the St. Paul police fee of
$80, $20 in taxes, the $56 parking ticket,
plus a $1 5 per day impound storage fee,
and now you’re looking at $346 for
failing to move your vehicle.
The reason for the price hike: the
contracted tow firms weren’t earning
enough money to retain the subcontractors
who towed cars. As a result,
too many cars remained improperly
parked, making it tough for city plow
teams to clear the streets.
Avoid the city’s towing charges by
getting advance notice of a snow
emergency.
• Phone app: Get it free by searching
for St. Paul Winter Snow Parking.
• Voice: Call 651 -266-PLOW for a
recorded message about snow
emergency status.
• Sign up for email or text messages at
https://tinyurl.com/snowtowSP
POST ELECTION, BACK INTO THE FIRE: A few days after the November election,
re-elected city councilman Dai Thao held a celebration at Frogtown Community
Center to get the low-down from neighbors. Above he gets an earful from Norbert
“Rocky” Sarzoza, a Capitol Heights resident and retired Public Works employee
who had a few opinions about snow plowing. “It’s poor plowing,” he said. “They
need to do a better job.”
Thao won the Ward One seat for the third time, gaining another four-year term. He
edged out his closest rival, Anika Bowie, by 371 votes out of 6,61 4 ballots cast,
after votes for Liz De La Torre and Abu Nayeem were redistributed as part of the
ranked-choice voting process.
Bowie carried the area from Lexington to Dale between Laurel and University, and
from Dale to Rice between 94 and University. Everywhere else, Thao ruled.
His top priorities for the coming term: affordable housing, public safety and
economic development including small business.
Dale St. Bridge Redo: Detours & Closures
When Construction Begins in February
Get Help for Your Asthmatic Kids
In case you needed another example of
health disparities, metro area health
workers recently served up a Frogtown
session on the radically different rates of
asthma among area racial groups. The bit
of silver lining here: you can get free help
to reduce the risk for kids in your home.
Incidence of asthma is 47 percent higher
in African Americans compared to whites,
said Healthy Homes program staffer Dana
Janowiak. In Hennepin County, health
stats show that kids in low-income areas
are almost twice as likely to be diagnosed
with asthma compared to those in higher
income neighborhoods.
What triggers asthma attacks? It’s a long
list. To name a few — pets, pollen,
chemical fumes, household bugs, fungus,
spores, dust, smoke, pollution, anger,
stress, air fresheners and cold air.
“A lot of things are not in the child or
parent’s control, especially in they’re
renters,” said Janowiak.
You can get free help to get a lid on
asthma attacks in Ramsey County if your
child has been diagnosed with asthma or
has respiratory problems. The Healthy
Homes program offers a visit from an
environmental health specialist and a
public health nurse. They’ll help you
identify asthma triggers in your home,
and provide free products to make your
home safer. The giveaways include a
HEPA vacuum cleaner, air purifiers, bed
and pillow encasements, cleaning
supplies, a radon monitor and asthma-safe
pest control products. Contact the Healthy
Homes program at 651 -266-11 99.
Get set for some Dale St. detours in
February, as reconstruction of the 59 year
old bridge gets underway.
The $1 4.7 million project will result in a
wider bridge with better sight lines and
longer turn lanes to reduce rush-hour
jams. Pedestrian/bike ways on each side
of the bridge will be 1 6 feet wide,
festooned with art work and separated
from traffic lanes by a four-foot shoulder.
Medians, bump-outs and zebra stripes at
key intersections between Iglehart and
University will make crossing Dale seem
like something other than a death
sentence. And a gently sloping sidewalk
on the east side of Dale, north of the 94
ramp, will make it possible for people in
wheelchairs to descend the slope.
The Dale St. freeway entrance and exit
ramps will be closed throughout
construction, which is slated to be
completed by August of 2021 . Traffic
along the Dale construction zone will be
reduced to one lane in each direction for
much of the build out, and portions of St.
Anthony and Concordia will be closed.
Get a detailed view of scheduled detours
and an interesting animation of traffic
flow over the finished bridge at
https://tinyurl.com/dalebridge.
At a November meeting at Rondo Library,
residents pressed for details on minority
and neighborhood-resident hiring for
construction jobs. Federal project funding
specifies hiring goals of 32 percent
minority and 20 percent female workers.
“I’m distrustful of minority hiring goals,”
said Melvin Carter II (the mayor’s father).
“What if they don’t meet the goals?”
Contractors must show a “good faith
effort, and prove they’ve taken reasonable
steps to meet hiring goals,” replied county
workforce development staffer John
O'Phelan.
The redone Dale bridge: longer turn lanes, wider sidewalks, safer for pedestrians.
“We need to make certain that good faith
efforts really are good faith efforts,” said
County Commissioner Toni Carter, who
represents the construction-zone district.
As for hiring generally from the
neighborhood, Noel Nix from the mayor's
community engagement staff, said he
called federal authorities to see if hiring
standards could include quotas of workers
to be hired Frogtown, Rondo and Summit
U. The answer, said Nix: No.
Frog Food by Z Akhmetova
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020
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