More Backup from Our State Senator

Nobody has been a more consistent supporter of our beleaguered lake, over the years we’ve lived here, than Senator Bev Scalze. She has gone after state bureaucrats, local officials, and other state politicians any time we have asked for her help. This time, she is asking Department of Transportation Charles Zelle and Governor Dayton why the construction project in our backyards is so different from any other freeway project in past history. MnDot has clearly decided that Little Canada is a non-entity and that our city and neighborhoods are their dumping ground. In this election year, I’d expect to see some kind of response from Governor Dayton that would reflect evidence that he has some comprehension of the damage his MnDOT goons are doing to our neighborhood.

Personally, after the “Unweave the Weave” project turned out to be such a fiasco and contributed nothing but confusion to the intersection of I35E and I694, I’d like to see someone with actual freeway construction skills oversee any major project undertaken by MnDOT. Based on my own travel experience and the sorry mess our freeways have become tanks to MnDOT’s inabilities, I have to suspect that few MnDOT “engineers” have ever visited cities that have actual traffic congestion.

Thank you, once again, Senator Scalze.

Confirmation, Finally

One of the things “Transportation Ombudsman Officer,” Marcell Walker (marcell.walker@state.mn.us, 651-366-3340) had promised back in early August was a letter from MNDOT confirming the construction schedule and informing residents of the noise expectations. He'd said that MNDOT's procedure was to make that announcement before construction began, but since they failed that he promised that he'd do what he could to make it happen eventually.

All last week, I'd considered calling or emailing Marcell to see if he'd found any of the construction schedule information or managed to raise a living mind at MNDOT to get that letter sent. I received my copy ("to current resident") on Wednesday. Now, we have a couple of things: including the "project website" mndot.gov/metro/projects/35estpaul, the nightwork project schedule mndot.gov/metro/projects/35estpaul/nightwork.html, a project hotline (612/284-1781), and confirmation of the noise wall schedules.

Stay Tuned, Things Might Get Better

About the time it seems things could not get worse, that view turns out to be wrong. Like Mark Twain's condition and to paraphrase his response, the report of our lake's sad fate may have been an exaggeration. The complaints from our neighbors about MNDOT's abuse of the lake with the freeway drainage plan some carefully planted suggestions that our business neighbor, Gopher Electronics, has been less than environmentally conscious has drawn the attention of an otherwise slumbering bureaucracy, the DNR.

A few weeks ago, Rocky Waite dropped by and introduced someone from the DNR office who had seen the articles on this blog regarding MNDOT's drainage damage. She made a lap around some of the lakeshore and found enough evidence of abuse to recommend work be done on the lake. Who knows, we might even have some help, finally, with the Eurasian Watermilfoil and nonnative waterlilies. It's pretty obvious that efforts to control those species are failing in Gervais Lake and a lap around our lake would demonstrate where the seeds for the downstream contamination are coming from.

Rocky has put a lot of time, thought, and effort into getting attention for our lake and we all owe him a big "thanks" for his work. He has been a persistent advocate for Savage Lake and our neighborhood for the nearly two decades that I have known him.

At any rate, it sounds like we might see some serious dredging action where the freeway has filled the lake with silt and freeway runoff. The drainage problems from Gopher Electronics might get addressed, too.

The freeway construction project seems to be making a reasonable effort to contain construction noise late at night and that has brought back a little peace and quiet to our neighborhood. Our state representative, Jason Isaacson (rep.jason.isaacson@house.mn), has been extremely helpful in getting some attention brought to this issue and it wouldn't hurt to let him know we appreciate his efforts.

Today’s Abuse

The noise pollution from today’s environmentally irresponsible MNDOT abuse of Savage Lake came from a giant pile driver inserting these pieces of steel into our side (the west side) of the lake. Nothing good can come from this, I suspect.

The other day, Rocky Waite brought a representative of the DNR to look at the sorry state of our lake. He’s trying to convince the Powers That Be that the lake height is unnaturally low and that is contributing the lake’s demise. Fifteen years ago, our lake had a small spring near the north eastern corner. In most years, even when the water level was “low” (for the time) that corner of the lake didn’t freeze over until well into the winter. After the mess the Watershed District made of the drain on the east side and the water level dropped dramatically, the spring seemed to have re-routed itself. MNDOT followed that with the entrance ramp and bridge drain near the middle of the south-bound entrance ramp. That drain dumped tons of sediment into the lake until it overwhelmed itself and clogged with its own sediment. That turned the spring corner into a silt island, which the Watershed District has been ignoring with its pointless measurements and water samples for a decade.

With the latest MNDOT addition to the freeway, the irresponsible I35E drainage is bound to be even more aggressively harmful to the lake and our peace and quiet. I suppose this is pretty much what it feels like to be a second-class citizen. I suppose the only thing MNDOT and the Watershed District will have left to do to our lake will be to install a rest stop along the lakeshore with toilets that dump directly into the lake. I can hardly wait. 

Getting Attention

I have always been a believer in “you get the government you deserve.” Americans are well known as being one of the most pacified, conservative (timid), and easiest to fool citizens in the industrialized world. In simple terms, we’re whipped.

After my rant about the freeway construction last week, I decided to do the least “something” I could manage and I wrote a letter to our state representatives:

From: Thomas Day
Sent: Monday, July 28, 2014 2:02 PM
To: sen.bev.scalze@senate.mn; rep.jason.isaacson@house.mn
Subject: Little Canada noise

It is pretty obvious that Little Canada residents are considered to be throwaway citizens, based on the indiscriminate noise generation of the current I35E construction and the "plan" to widen the freeway without consideration for the noise pollution we'll suffer as a result. If the state had a functional EPA that actually monitored the noise level highway construction and freeway expansion in neighborhoods, we might be receiving some protection from the uncontrolled, irrational expansion of our barely-taxed (as in overbuilt) freeway system and the multiple pollution sources that idiocy generates. Since we seem to be barreling toward becoming another Texas, in every moronic respect, citizens are constantly out-voted by special interests.

Having been kept awake almost every night for the last two months by the unregulated, inconsiderate construction schedule just across Savage Lake from I35E, I have about had it with Minnesota and, especially, the Cities. Residents of the other side of the lake are even closer to these vandals and corporate criminals and they have all of my sympathy.

Why this place would want to model itself after Houston, Dallas, Chicago, and other mismanged urban hell-holes is beyond me, but it appears that is the direction our quality of life is degrading. If I thought we had a functioning civil court system, I'd consider hiring a lawyer to shut this project down until some semblance of sanity raised its head out of the muck. Minneapolis is regulating noise in night clubs while St. Paul is turning into a noise pollution nightmare. Clearly, the closer to the state government one lives, the dumber the environment. I'm only 66, so I'm not old enough to remember a time when this country was a "nation of laws," but at one time I believed Minnesota was a place where government served the people instead of itself. I've lost that faith along with several months of reasonable peace and quiet.

Sincerely,
Thomas Day

Yeah, I admit I was a little over the top. A couple weeks of little-to-no sleep will do that to me. I also pretty much assumed that my note would vanish into the void of state government. So, you might assume I was surprised when I received a call from the “Transportation Ombudsman Office.” Marcell Walker (marcell.walker@state.mn.us, 651-366-3340), the MNDOT representative, asked if we could meet so he could hear my complaints and any suggestions I might have to mitigate the intolerable noise in our neighborhood. Monday, Mr. Walker and I spent several hours in our backyard discussing the noise, what could be done to moderate it or make it less offensive, and other issues regarding our neighborhood and the freeway. True to form, he said I was the only person from Little Canada to complain about the construction noise. He admitted that isn’t unusual. He offered to do some investigation into the construction schedule and get back to me with what he learns. So far, I haven’t heard back from him, but if some of you were to offer some verbal or electronic input we might learn something.

All of the links I’ve previously posted about the construction plan and schedule have been taken down by the state. I can’t guess why. Mr. Walker suggested that, as property owners near this project, we should have received something more than the city’s notice that our noise ordinances would be ignored for an indefinite period. The reason the jack hammering is going on all night is because the construction company is concerned with flying concrete shrapnel from that work and is too unconcerned with our neighborhood’s peace and quiet to bother with putting up screens so that work could go on during the day. The rest of the noise they are generating could likely be modified with some motivation, but if we’re willing to put up with being abused I’m sure they will be willing to offer plenty of abuse.

I’d like to thank Representative Jason Isaacson (rep.jason.isaacson@house.mn) for forwarding my email to the department that might be able to help. I’d like to thank Marcell Walker for taking the time to seriously listen to the noise in our neighborhood and trying to help.

The High Cost of Non-Representative Government

A few months back, Savage Lake residents and (possibly) other Little Canada residents received a notice that the city would be ignoring the noise ordinance so that construction on the massively unnecessary I35E boondoggle could “progress” unimpeded by law, reason, or conscience. The city council and city management can do this sort of thing because some of those folks barely qualify as residents, let alone victims of their discriminating decisions.

It doesn’t take long to discover how much this construction damages Little Canada home prices. From every antle, Roseville prices are consistently higher, except immediately along Gervais Lake. In fact, if it weren’t for the pricy Gervais Lake properties, Little Canada real estate would more resemble St. Paul’s market than any of the more prosperous suburbs.

The first thing any prospective home buyer says when they step into most of our backyards is “How do you stand all that noise?” If I35E were an urban airport, the state would have to provide us with noise abatement resources; special windows, improved wall and roof construction techniques, and even financial considerations for those whose property values have been damaged by the airport traffic. Freeway construction, on the other hand, appears to be an uncontrolled Big Brother pork barrel party with no restrictions, regulation, or obligation on anyone’s part.

Contrary to uninformed popular belief, OSHA standards are not intended to protect workers from health injuries. Their real purpose is to provide protection from liaSbility for employers. It is common audiologist and scientific knowledge that the outdated OSHA standards have been replaced with NIOSH’s current recommendations. Currently, my backyard exceeds OSHA standards for factory noise safety. Regardless, there seems to be no concern for the health of Little Canada residents; physically or economically. In a participatory democracy, you would hope that would result in a complete overthrow of our current city government in the next election. It’s pretty obvious that Minnesota voters do not have enough energy or gumption to participate in their government. Personally, I’d vote for anyone opposing any of the standing City Council. In fact, I have written-in my own candidates in every election since

To be clear about this, the adverse health effects of noise pollution are not only well known, but they were identified in the 1950’s. One of the reasons Americans have not been up in arms about this aspect of our degraded quality of life is one of the effects of noise pollution is called “learned helplessness syndrome.” In fact, for many urban voters this might be the reason that rural areas tend to have a higher election turnout than urban areas; providing those places with a greater governmental clout than their populations and economies warrant. So, thanks to noise pollution, our kids are getting dumber and less healthy and energetic, adults are sicker and unmotivated to improve their environments or properly care for their children,

This is one of the many places where our status as “consumers” overwhelms our rights as “citizens.” The rights of the state, the county, our city government, and the corporation raking in construction profits blows city residents and our quality of life out of the water; literally. In the last 18 years, there haven’t been many things that have motivated us to leave our Little Canada house, except the freeway noise. It has exponentially grown worse over the years and is now intolerable. I’m sure there is reason to hold out some hope that the noise barrier, if ever built, will abate this mess somewhat, but at my age that won’t be soon enough. It would be interesting to learn what compensation the city received for the noise regulation allowance and even more interesting to know why the people most affected by this construction received nothing for their suffering.

City Council Meeting Notes Catch-Up

The Little Canada City Council notes are always a little depressing. After years of monitoring our city’s management, not thinking about the direction our city is heading for a few months has been relaxing. I've been out of state for a while and this is the moment I have to catch up on the Little Canada City Council meeting notes regarding our lake and neighborhood. Here's a scattering of topics that have come up over the last year:

2014

Nothing new, so far, regarding any of the Savage Lake or I35E noise issues. Conversations about MNDOT’s noise barrier constructions along the new, widened I35E corridor have been notably absent. While I was in New Mexico, I received a call from a Star Tribune reporter regarding the comments I’ve made about the freeway noise in our neighborhood. After demoting/promoting me from an educator/engineer/acoustician into a “retired electrician,” the reporter briefly summarized our noise problems into a couple of sound bites. I guess some attention to our problem is better than none, but not much. The reporter semi-quoted me with, “’We’ve picked up 6 to 8 decibels [of noise] in our back yard just in the past few years,’ he [me] said. ‘When traffic is at its peak, you can’t have a normal conversation in our back yard. We have to shout at each other.’” Unfortunately, he left out the fact that the increases have put our backyards well above the sadly conservative and outdated OSHA guidelines well known to cause hearing damage and a variety of health problems.

To protect the noise-makers, OSHA and the EPA (and all MN state regulators) use “A-weighting.” A conveniently forgotten fact about the noise weighting curves is that they were designed to be used with specific noise levels; accounting for the fact that our hearing response is dependent on noise levels. Even more important to remember, all of the weighting curves were determined by sine wave testing, not broadband noise exposure. So, A-weighting was intended for “extremely low level” signals, –55dB unweighted and below. C-weighting is appropriate for 80dB and above noise exposure. The “advantage” of using A-weighting for everything is that A-weighting deletes/attenuates the low frequency content of the noise measurement, allowing for considerably more noise than is actually sensed (or causing damage) in the specification. If you look at the yellow graph line, vs. the red one, you’ll see that an A-weighted 30Hz signal can be ~25dB louder for the same weighting reading in C-weighting. The overwhelming majority of noises from roadway traffic are low frequency, especially at distance. While A-weighting makes reducing noise levels much easier for the noise makers and regulators, it is inappropriate in most public safety standards. If you still labor under the drunken delusion that government regulations hinder industry, you’ll have to ignore all of the above information to maintain your fantasies. Most regulations are intended to protect people with money and power from being sued by people without.

Stay tuned. I’ve started a 24-hour noise study in our backyard. I’ll post the results when I have some data to talk about.

2013

12/18/2013

“Brian Singletary indicated that his property taxes are doubling for 2014. Singletary asked the basis for this increase. He also noted that he lives near Highway 36 and expressed concern about the noise from this highway. The City Administrator noted that the increase in Singletary’s property taxes is the result of his new home reaching a fully taxed status for 2013, pay 2014 property taxes. The Administrator also explained that the City has no authority relative to sound walls along freeways, and this is an issue that is under MN DOT’s control. The Administrator reported that MN DOT has many standards in place that will trigger the construction of noise walls. He noted that given there are no changes proposed along this portion of Highway 36, therefore, MN DOT standards would not be triggered to put up a noise wall.”

11/25/2013

“. . . Mayor Blesener noted that the City hired SEH Engineering to conduct a traffic study on LaBore Road from Edgerton Street to County Road D. The City Administrator presented the results of that study at the last Council meeting. . . Sohrweide reported that studies have indicated that if drivers feel a 4-way stop is unwarranted, in time they will only slow for the stop sign or do a slow roll-through. Sohrweide also pointed out that this area of LaBore Road is basically a residential through street. . . ” Which begs the question, if we know pointless multi-direction stops get ignored, what’s the purpose of the trio of stop signs at Jackson and Lake Streets? Can you say, “Tax collection disguised as traffic violations?”