Children's medical campus moving in Woodbury

Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota will relocate next fall to a new building in the Tamarack Hills development in Woodbury, officials said.

Children's will vacate its location at the Woodwinds Health Campus, at 1825 Woodwinds Drive, and move into a yet-to-be-built 20,000-square-foot office building at 628 Bielenberg Drive in the Tamarack Hills development. That area has already spawned a hotel, restaurant and office space.

The project cleared a major hurdle when the city's planning commission approved developer MSP Commercial's site plan at its Nov. 4 meeting.

"The services offered will initially include endocrinology and diabetes, occupational therapy, physical therapy and speech language pathology – all currently offered at Woodwinds," Children's spokesman Justin Theodotou said.

"Children's will be leasing all 20,000 square feet in the new building, but will initially only use 15,000 square feet. This gives us the capacity to expand our services, but we have yet to determine how we will do so."

Countywide, it was a quiet year for city elections, with only one contested race. That happened in St. Paul Park, where incumbents Sandi Dingle and Jeff Swenson were re-elected. They defeated challengers Darrin Smith and Nathan Koftis.

The other Washington County race, in Mahtomedi, was uncontested. Lael Ramaley and Joel Schilling were re-elected.

Cottage Grove native Becca Doten has been accepted into a prestigious Fellows program in June, sponsored by the Shafik Gabr Foundation. She is one of only 12 Americans who made it through a competitive selection process. The 12 American and 10 Egyptian Fellows toured Egypt for two weeks in June and are now touring the United States for two weeks.

Doten works as chief of staff to a Los Angeles City Council member. She manages staff at four offices, oversees the legislative and constituent service agenda for the member, is a key strategic adviser for politics and policy, and handles media and communications.

She holds a bachelor's degree in film production from the University of Southern California. She was born and raised in Cottage Grove.

The snack shop inside Woodbury's Central Park, Cups 'n' Scoops, has closed. Depending on negotiations, food and beverage service at Central Park might not be available until the first quarter of 2014.

The city's lease with Cups 'n' Scoops expired at the end of October. The city is seeking a food and beverage vendor to occupy the space adjacent to the R.H. Stafford Library inside the popular indoor park. Cups 'n' Scoops has provided food and beverage service at Central Park since 2003.

City staff interviewed the finalists the week of Oct. 28 and soon will select a vendor and begin negotiating a lease. City Council approval of the agreement also is required.

Questions should be directed to Parks and Recreation at 651-714-3583 or parks@ci.woodbury.mn.us.

Although winter doesn't officially start for another month or so, Woodbury is reminding residents that winter overnight parking regulations have begun.

From Nov. 1 to April 1, parking on city streets is banned between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. to "facilitate plowing." Motorists should be mindful that on-street parking is prohibited whenever two or more inches of snow accumulates.

Officials warned that parking regulations will be "strictly enforced throughout the winter season to help ensure the city can provide the most effective snow and ice control service possible."

The Washington County Sheriff's Office will include Birchwood Village in its contracted police services to Mahtomedi, Dellwood and Willernie after the County Board approved contracts with the cities Nov. 5.

Law enforcement services will be provided around the clock by five licensed deputies, Sheriff Bill Hutton said. The contract starts Jan. 1 and ends Jan. 1, 2016, with an automatic renewal of one year. Cities will pay the county the actual direct costs and expenses for the services provided to them, Hutton said. The fee for 2014 will be $569,500.

The Washington County Board will change its meeting schedule for the first two weeks in December to accommodate residents who want to speak on the proposed 2014 budget, and also because of a statewide meeting.

The Dec. 3 County Board meeting will start after 6 p.m. to conduct a final hearing on the budget. Because of the Association of Minnesota Counties annual conference Dec. 9-11, the Dec. 10 board meeting will be canceled and rescheduled for 9 a.m. on Dec. 12.

The lease for the Washington County License Center in Stillwater's Valley Ridge Mall was extended by the County Board on Nov. 5.

Office space rented will increase to 6,469 square feet effective Jan. 1 to allow the license center to meet federal homeland security regulations related to the processing of passport applications and other identification documents.

The rent for 2014 will be $1,913 a month.