Briefs: CityPlace starting to draw tenants in Woodbury

Developers of CityPlace, the 100-acre site of the former State Farm Insurance Co. campus at Radio Drive and Interstate 94 in Woodbury, have signed three new tenants.

Verizon Wireless, Wedding Day Diamonds and Café Zupas, a restaurant chain based in Utah that is making its first foray into Minnesota, have signed leases. Last month, the partnership of Florida-based Elion Partners and Minnesota's Kraus-Anderson Cos. announced Whole Foods Market as an anchor tenant, and also signed a 116-room Residence Inn by Marriott.

"We are excited about the momentum building at CityPlace," said Juan DeAngulo, managing principal with Elion Partners.

The first phase of retail construction will be completed next summer.

A man who shot a Washington County sheriff's commander while hunting in Wisconsin has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of endangering safety with a dangerous weapon.

Anthony Peter Cardarelli, 29, of White Bear Lake, pleaded guilty Oct. 17 in St. Croix County Circuit Court in the 2013 shotgun shooting of Jerry Cusick, who had been scouting wild turkeys. Cusick, of Scandia, was hit with 58 shotgun pellets that sprayed across his face, shoulders and neck and knocked him unconscious.

Cusick was off duty from the Sheriff's Office when Cardarelli, hearing movement in the brush, fired.

Cardarelli also was placed on probation for a year.

HealthEast Woodwinds Health Campus in Woodbury has been named a 2014 "Guardian of Excellence Award" winner by Press Ganey Associates Inc. The award recognizes Woodwinds as a top-performing health care center that ranked in the top 5 percent of performance in serving patients.

"It's an honor to receive this Guardian of Excellence Award from the national leader in health care performance improvement," said Scott North, senior vice president of HealthEast Care System/president HealthEast of acute care hospitals. "We believe the award is a true reflection of the exceptional care our staff members provide to each and every patient, each and every day."

Washington County and the city of Stillwater closed Nov. 25 on the purchase of a premier 15-acre property for a new shoreline park on the St. Croix River in downtown Stillwater. The purchase price of $4.3 million was funded through a combination of county, city and state funds.

The county contributed $1.925 million from its voter-approved Land and Water Legacy Program. The city of Stillwater is contributing $1.125 million, and the state paid $1.25 million from the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund.

The property, now officially in public ownership, could provide recreational uses such as shore fishing, docks, boat launches, walking paths, nature observation and picnicking.

Washington County will work with the city of Stillwater to provide wastewater treatment for the county's Public Works North Shop.

The County Board approved an agreement with the city Nov. 18.

The North Shop, which will be rebuilt in 2015, uses a septic system. Current treatment of vehicle wash water is not environmentally sustainable and would not be permitted in reconstruction, said Don Theisen, the county's director of public works. The county will connect a private sewer line from the shop 3 miles to the city's water treatment plant.

"This project moves us forward 50 years," Theisen said.

G.F. Jedlicki, Inc., will stabilize the slope on County Road 21 in Afton after the County Board approved a contract with the company Nov. 18.

The project will take place about 1,200 feet south of River Road South. It will cost $297,240 and will be funded by money from the wheelage tax used for the annual pavement preservation program.

The project calls for reshaping the top of the slope, removing overhanging trees and vegetation, and installing wire mesh with soil and rock to "nail down" the slope.