Monitor In A Minute

Sustainable St. Paul honors given

Area residents and groups are winners of the 2016 Sustainable St. Paul awards. Mayor Chris Coleman and City Council members presented the awards Apr. 20, just before Earth Day. This is the tenth year for the awards, which are given to salute energy efficiency, natural resource conservation, environmental education, beautification, youth leadership, and environmentally sustainable partnerships.

Chris Duffrin was honored for energy efficiency and conservation. Duffrin was executive director of the Neighborhood Energy Con­nection (NEC) for eight years. Under Duffrin’s leadership NEC, 1754 University Ave. W., expanded residential energy audits, energy-focused home loans, and the HOURCAR car-sharing program.

Frogtown Park and Farm was honored for natural resources conservation. The project is the culmination of a multi-year, multi-partner effort that started with a neighborhood dream to create an urban farm. The result is a 13-acre neighborhood park with a play area, nature sanctuary, and urban demonstration farm in what was Saint Paul’s most park-poor neighborhood. The Frogtown community now has a park with a farm situated on top of a hill, which will serve as a hub for health, recreation, local food, and a connection to nature. A new playground will be completed later this year.

Places to gather

Watch in the future for “lawn chairs” of a different type. One of the St. Paul civic projects that won a Knight Foundation Knight Cities Challenge will transform the front lawns of homes and apartment buildings into places where people can gather. The grant for $82,400 will be used at a couple dozen Hamline-Midway and Frogtown area homes, and will be partnered with the Friendly Streets Initiative.

The project is the idea of Max Musicant, a Minneapolis resident and founder of the Musicant Group. He wants to transform what are often empty spaces into places where people can meet and gather. He will offer advice and kits to help neighbors transform their front yards.

Shared-use trail eyed May 18

A dirt path along Pierce Butler Rte. could become a shared use trail. The St. Paul City Council will host a public hearing at 5:30pm on Wed., May 18 on the proposed trail, which would run from the southeast corner of the intersection of Pierce Butler Rte. and Dunlap St. to the shared-use trail along the west side of Lexington Ave.

The public can testify for or against the project. It would be city-funded, to the tune of $160,000 in capital improvement bond dollars. Neighbors would not be assessed.

Pierce Butler Rte. is an east-west arterial roadway with one lane of through traffic in each direction. There are dedicated bicycle lanes in both directions and a two-way left turn lane. There is already a shared-use trail along the west side of Lexington Pkwy. from Minnehaha Ave. to Horton Ave., at the Como Park Zoo. Both Lexington Ave. and the shared-use trail that runs alongside it are grade-separated over Pierce Butler Rte.

The new trail would be paved with bituminous material and would be on the south side of Pierce Butler. The St. Paul Department of Public Works sees it as a needed connection between existing bicycle facilities. Bicyclists, walkers, and joggers already use the dirt trail.

Construction would take place later this summer or fall if it wins City Council approval. Any nearby ash trees would be removed, along with one or two coniferous trees and some shrubs. Two large deciduous trees that are near the trail’s path would remain in place.

Compiled by JANE MCCLURE