Washington County news briefs: Pizza Ranch wants to build in Oak Park Heights

Pizza Ranch eyes eatery in Oak Park Heights

A 220-seat Pizza Ranch restaurant proposed for Oak Park Heights would bring four full-time and 70 part-time jobs, according to information submitted to city planners.

The buffet-style restaurant has more than 170 locations in 11 states, including Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa.

The restaurant would open late this year or early in 2014 next to AmericInn on 60th Street N., and would be open for lunch and dinner seven days a week, according to a city planning report. Existing Pizza Ranch restaurants closest to Oak Park Heights are in Maplewood and Apple Valley.

The restaurant will be built along Hwy. 36, west of the portion that will be rebuilt as part of the St. Croix River bridge project.

The company didn't respond to a request for further information.

Washington County residents interested in becoming licensed family child-care providers can attend an orientation meeting from 1-3:30 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 9.

Meetings are in Lower Level Conference Room 14 in the Washington County Government Center in Stillwater. Use parking lot A on the south side.

Call Annie Walton at 651-430-6539 to register. There is no fee for this meeting.

Anastasi Jellum, a Stillwater law firm, raised $27,887 for charity at its 13th annual golf event on Aug. 22 at Hillcrest Golf Club in St. Paul. The event will assist the nonprofit agency FamilyMeans.

FamilyMeans provides credit and mental health counseling, and youth and senior programs, to individuals and families in Minnesota and Western Wisconsin. Money from the tournament will help pay for a new onsite building for the FamilyMeans' youth program in Cimarron.

FamilyMeans has had a year-round presence in Cimarron for the past five years, providing both after-school and summer programming for school-age children and teens.

The St. Croix River Association (SCRA) will be showing "The Price of Sand," a movie intended to show the dangers of unregulated frac-sand mining, on Thursday, Sept. 12.

This hourlong documentary was released earlier this year. "The goal of this project was to find the real price of frac sand," said Jim Tittle, the film's director, "not just in dollars, but in friendships, communities and the future of our region."

The evening begins at 6:30 p.m. for a tour of the SCRA office.

The screening will begin at 7 p.m. at 230 S. Washington St., Hwy. 87, in the library complex. Discussion will follow.

The program is free and open to the public, but reservations are encouraged to ensure adequate seating.

Children will get a look at the snowplows, dump trucks, tractors and mowers in the city's fleet. Other activities include a hayride, inflatable bouncer, balloon animals, face painting and henna tattoos.

The event is free, and food will be sold from 3-7 p.m.

The city of Woodbury has extended the deadline for nominations for the sixth annual Environmental Excellence Awards through Sept. 13.

The award was started in 2008 as a way of recognizing projects that promote sustainability. The competition features 10 categories: green building, green remodeling, waste reduction and recycling, water conservation, energy efficiency and conservation, use of renewable or alternative energy, sustainable business practices, environmental education and awareness, innovative stormwater management practices, and youth leadership, according to the city's website.

Those wishing to nominate a business, nonprofit, school or resident must mail a nomination form to City Hall — 8301 Valley Creek Road, Woodbury, MN 55125 — by the new deadline. Visit the city's website for more information or to download the form. Applicants can nominate themselves.

The DEA, from headquarters in Minneapolis, will investigate the diversion, illegal distribution, and theft of pharmaceutical drugs by doctors, pharmacies and other health care providers. The Sheriff's Office will provide one full-time deputy for the task force.

The term of the agreement is Oct. 1, 2013, to Sept. 30, 2014.

The Woodbury Public Works Department plans to start regular maintenance work in the city's neighborhoods, officials said.

The work will proceed, weather permitting, on Monday and is expected to continue through the end of week, between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. Residents are asked not to park on the street and to remove any other items, such as portable basketball hoops, that might interfere with street sweeping. Once that phase of the work has been completed, hydrant flushing will begin the week of Sept. 16.

For information about street sweeping or hydrant flushing, contact the Public Works Department at 651-714-3720.