By Anne Thom

Citizens in Stacy still have a big issue of pedestrian and traffic safety.

No matter how hard the city seems to try to work with the Minnesota Department of Transportation, it seems Mn/DOT is not sympathetic to community residentís concerns.

Chisago County Commissioner Ben Montzka and a host of Stacy residents had attended the April 24 council meeting to air their fears on cars that move too fast and a lack of pedestrian accommodations within the city.

Councilmember John Daher said he had spoken to developer Dan Birdsall because Daher said ìwe have talked about doing sidewalks in the past...î something considered an obvious solution to pedestrian safety in most cities. Daher reported that Birdsall doesnít want to pay for sidewalks and Daher said, ìMaybe we will require that in new developments.î

There had been consideration of installing speed bumps, a solution opposed by City Engineer Chuck Schwartz.

He is opposed based on reported data that says speed bumps do not work, and the trend in some metro communities to forgo speed bumps. Schwartz said ìThese things arenít warranted right now.î

Councilmember John Walz, acting as mayor last Tuesday evening said: ìHow do we communicate this to the people who are concerned about it?î

Walz wants the community to know the council will continue to look at the issue. The city works closely with developer Birdsall in development matters but in other traffic matters, it doesnít look good.

Schwartz reported that according to Mn/DOT representatives for this area, a traffic study was already conducted on roads into and out of Stacy and they donít want to do another one.

Schwartz said ìMn/DOT said thatís the speed it should beî and Mn/DOT is in charge of determining speed limits, currently 45-55 mph depending if you are coming through on Stacy Trail or Forest Blvd.

Schwartz further said that Mn/DOT representatives maintain that assigning a lower speed limit could create a hazard. He said, ìI find that hard to believe considering I drive home on 35-E where the speed limit (on the freeway) is 45 mph on a stretch.î He said that the community surrounding 35-E had lobbied for and succeeded in getting that speed limit reduced.

The council feels that without a fatality or injury, Mn/DOT wonít make any changes and they donít understand the logic behind that. The city is telling Mn/DOT right now that there is a problem.

Fire department does well on survey

There is good news in public safety in Stacy. The Stacy-Lent Fire Department recently participated in a Public Protection Classification (PPC) survey conducted by Insurance Services Offices out of Chicago, IL. ISO collects statistical, underwriting and actuarial information for property and casualty insurers.

The statistical measurements will be given to underwriters. The good news may be passed along to the community in the form of less expensive property insurance.

The survey and some actual testing of the cityís equipment and resources, were conducted over mid- to late 2005. A letter sent with the findings congratulated the city of Stacy on ì...your commitment to serve the needs of your communityís property owners and residents.î

Documents summarizing the findings were sent to the city along with a letter. The survey gauged such public safety elements as receiving and handling fire alarms, the overall staffing and operations of the fire department and the communityís water supply.

The Stacy-Lent Fire Department scored particularly high on equipment. The fire department has newer equipment in mostly good condition with which to fight fires but it was noted the rigs are not as well equipped as they could be. In supplying water to go along with the equipment it was noted that the capacity of the fire hydrants was average to low, but there are a sufficient number of hydrants and the hydrants are in perfect operation, that is to say the water would be available and delivered if a fire had to be fought.

The survey checked the cityís water flow at 7 different locations and found that could improve. Those results back up City Engineer Chuck Schwartz and City Councilmembersí contentions that a new water tower is needed and that it is an issue of having adequate water flow in the event of a fire. The ISO report in, the city is moving forward on a new water tower.

Schwartz reported bids will be sought in 1-2 months. Schwartz wants the council to award a bid by Aug. 8.

Because the city is still surrounded by rural landscape, there was concern in the survey about the distance and time it might take to reach some properties. ICS recommends that all sections of a fire district should be within 1.5 miles of a fully equipped engine company and 2.5 miles of a fully equipped engine-ladder.

That is difficult to achieve outside of metropolitan areas. It was recommended that the alarm system could use improvement. Adding an alarm dispatch circuit that would provide emergency power and there needs to be monitoring plan for that system to insure it is always operating properly.

The report recommended holding pre-fire inspections 2 times per year and greater emphasis on planning.

The results of the survey were that the area was given a classification of 7/10, which means the Stacy-Lent Fire Department passed the test with statistical evaluators and the community may see the results in lower insurance rates. The fire department improved from a 5/10 earned in a previous survey.