Chaska Herald - City of Carver news - Comments

In this day of environmental

railroad169 — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 18:41:43 -0600

In this day of environmental impact statements why doesn't the city of Chaska need to get an environmental impact statement before pushing the abandonment of the rail line leading the United Sugars. Each train car holds 4 semi loads of sugar. 10 cars are brought sometimes 3 times a week in most times during the year. For those who hate pollution maybe you can do the mathamatics to figure out how much pollution the abandonment will cause not to mention the additional semi traffic through the city of Chaska. With the cost of oil increasing it also increases the use of diesel fuel for these additional trucks.

Mike Lehne

Jonathon Transload

patrick_dempsey — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 23:34:42 -0600

Jonathon Transload Facility

I thought the city was going to offer the Twin Cities & Western money to build a transload facility in Jonathon to help United Sugars get their beet shipments via rail. What happened to that plan? I've driven up and around the TC&W line between Chaska and Chanhassen and there is no transload facility and not even a reliable place to build such a facility.

The trestle that collapsed actually burned in a brush fire in 1950 when the Minneapolis & St Louis Railway ran the line. Unfortunately, when CN&W bought out M&StL in 1960, they asked many of their customers to move to the south side of the river to the old Omaha Road mainline through Shakopee so that CN&W could abandon the M&StL line from Chaska to Mpls - which CN&W did in 1991. Another crucial mistake by a myopic railroad.

One idea I have is to allow TC&W to build a connection from Cologne along the former Milwaukee Road right-of-way along the south side of 212 to Chaska so that United Sugars can continue operating and Chaska can still hear an occasional train horn in downtown...but, I know that will never happen.

I think United Sugars is screwed. But, I hope UP rebuilds.

In 1868, the Hastings & Dakota - one of the forerunners of the Milwaukee Road in MN - built their line through town (with the M&StL coming in 1870) beginning 140 years of railroading in downtown Chaska. Sadly, I think that era will soon come to a close for Chaska and railroading in downtown Chaska will be gone forever. To think, two Class I railroads used to pass through town on a regular basis. Now, most likely, the trainhorns and love affair many of us have had with railroads will come to a close in our fair city. Sad indeed.

True Wal-Mart isn't always

ThunderCAT — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 21:35:53 -0600

True Wal-Mart isn't always the most socially responsible company. But you cannot deny the amount of shoppers they will bring into the community. While they will most certainly undercut price, smaller niche companies that provide a MUCH higher level of service may actually benefit from the exposure and natural traffic draw a large retailer like Wal-Mart brings. It will most likely spur further economic and SMB growth.

I am optimistic that the addition of a large retailer(s) will have greater benefits to our community than negative impacts, especially since our community is so focused on historical preservation.

Additionally, and I am speaking off the cuff with know actual knowledge of the situation specifically, but wouldn't the local tax dollars brought in from a large establishment such as Wal-Mart potentially reduce the amount of annual taxes Carver residents face paying while also adding jobs and increasing property value for us all?

This is ridiculous. I really

Taylor Hubbard — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 15:28:40 -0500

This is ridiculous. I really hope that the community of Carver will take a hard look at what kind negative impact Walmart will truly have on the people and businesses in the community. For anyone who is interested go to www.walmartwatch.com.

Wal Mart and Fleet Farm in

leonakj — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 13:44:02 -0500

Wal Mart and Fleet Farm in Carver? There goes the neighborhood.

I hope someone wise is leading this process to ensure the new Highway 212 corridor in Carver County becomes a great destination, and not "flyover" country like the I-94 corridor northwest of the Twin Cities.

It's harder to do the right thing, than to do what is easy.

These Steamboat Days

Mark Olson — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 12:13:45 -0500

These Steamboat Days results came in this morning:

Car Show Winners
1st place: Wayne Thaemert’s 1970 Chevelle 454
2nd place: Jeremy Jensen’s 1973 Ford Torino Grand Sport
3rd place: Steve Kolbow’s 1961 Chevy Impala
4th place: Gary Frey’s 1969 Hurst Olds
5th place: Susan Proechel’s 1937 Ford Club Coupe

Burn-out contest winners
1st place: Brian Buetow’s 1972 Chevelle
2nd place: John Viszlay’s 1987 Ford Mustang

Those who noticed their

Mark Olson — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 08:00:55 -0500

Those who noticed their power was on yesterday, might have already guessed this, but the power outage was pushed back yet again -- 8-10 a.m., Sept. 5 is the new date, according to the city of Carver.

I agree. I grew up in Carver

KathrynR — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 11:49:24 -0500

I agree. I grew up in Carver and it would be horrific to have that crossing come through town. I am at a loss as to why the plan options did not include the more southerly route. It would have been the most logical choice by all concerned but, alas, no one has ever accused our state government of being logical. Far too easy I guess.
Look around the state. All of the exchanges flow through countryside and it does not seem to affect the farms/farmers adversely. What are our MNDOT officials thinking.

*If you change the way you look at things,
the things you look at will change........Kathryn Roman

This is an issue that will

Hepps — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 12:04:38 -0500

This is an issue that will continue to divide the community and cause problems. MNDOT, in their infinite wisdom, has decided on routes that cut through major and growing areas rather than going a bit further south/southwest of Carver. If MNDOT would even explore that option, it would find farm fields and low density populations compared to what they're recommending now.

But, since they did not, we are left with a battle that will only get bigger. No one in Carver wants a new highway to come through the middle of town, effectively neutering any sense of community we have. Chaska looks at that option as its preferred choice namely because it affects them the least.

Mayor Van Eyll can say anything he wants but the "easiest" choice for their council to make is the one which takes it off of their plate.

I'm sure our community in Carver will be run over, not only by the highway, but by our neighboring towns who simply want to take the issue off of their plate and right into our laps. They certainly don't have an objective viewpoint on this issue.