Metro briefs: Road project in north metro stalls due to issues between Brooklyn Park, Champlin

Brooklyn Park Mayor Jeff Lunde and other city officials said at a meeting late last month that they're ready to move on to other transportation projects, due to what they describe as a lack of progress on 109th Avenue.

Recent tension largely centers on a hotly debated fulfillment center proposed for a Brooklyn Park business park near Winnetka and 109th avenues. Project Hotdish has attracted fierce criticism from neighboring Champlin over safety and traffic concerns.

Brooklyn Park officials said they need to finalize an agreed-on layout for 109th Avenue with Champlin before work on the road can progress.

Hannah Covington

Annie Perkins, a member of Afton's planning commission, has been tapped to fill the City Council seat opened when Bill Palmquist was elected mayor.

Perkins, who was appointed last month, will represent the First Ward and serve out the remainder of Palmquist's term.

Perkins is senior director of strategic partnership at Sustainable Forestry Initiative, a Washington D.C.-based conservation nonprofit. She represents Afton on the Middle St. Croix Watershed Management Organization board, and has served on the city's natural resources committee.

Mara Klecker

The Maple Plain Fire Department has purchased grain bin rescue equipment with a $1,600 grant from the United Farmers Cooperative and a matching $1,600 grant from Land O'Lakes.

A person who falls into a bin of corn or soybeans can suffocate if not pulled out quickly, said Maple Plain Fire Chief Justin McCoy. In past rescues, the department has used plywood to form a wall to hold back the grain, but McCoy said the new equipment is more efficient and easier to carry. The department's service area includes five or six farms.

Mayer also received a $3,200 grant for grain bin rescue equipment, split between United Farmers Cooperative and CoBank. Henderson, Minn., and Silver Lake, Minn., received similar grants.

KATY READ

Three daylong street fairs near Nicollet Commons Park and Ames Center Plaza will be held June 6, July 25 and Aug. 22. The street fairs will feature food trucks, craft vendors and live entertainment, and replace the Wednesday in the Park and New Spaces Sunday Music in the Park events that were held last summer.

To vote on the name for the new festival series, go to tinyurl.com/BVFest and choose from among seven possibilities. The poll closes Monday.

Burnsville's International Festival will be held again this summer, on July 20.