Metro briefs: Plymouth's Fire & Ice festival to return in 2022

Following a year of at-home activities, Plymouth's Fire & Ice festival will return with live programming and events Feb. 5.

The 33rd annual celebration at Parker's Lake Park will feature recycle bin races, a youth ice fishing contest, horse-drawn trolley rides, pony rides, miniature golf on the ice, snow bowling, box hockey, recreational skating, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing.

There also will be a bonfire with with s'mores while supplies last, food trucks and a fireworks finale at 6:30 p.m.

Free shuttle service to and from Parkers Lake Park and the Huntington Bank Corporate Center at 1405 N. Xenium Lane will operate from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m.

In conjunction with the celebration, the city Fire & Ice Medallion Hunt will begin Jan. 6. Clues will be posted on the festival's webpage and the city's social media platforms each Thursday through Jan. 27 or until the medallion is found. The finder will win $250.

Tim Harlow

New grant program launched to help small businesses

The city said it will support 10 to 15 businesses with $10,000 grants funded in part from the American Rescue Plan Act.

Economic Development Manager Bill Neuendorf wrote in a news release that the program was created to help small businesses impacted by the pandemic.

Eligibility requirements include a physical address in Edina with annual sales revenue under $1.5 million. National chains and franchises are not eligible, but home-based businesses are.

Applications are available at EdinaMN.gov/TAPApply and the deadline is Jan. 16.

Kim Hyatt

The County Board approved the project as part of its transportation improvement plan. Staff will complete environmental analysis, preliminary design and community engagement through 2023. Crews will start construction in 2024.

Shannon Prather

Rosemount has debuted a new online tool aimed at residents who want to report a problem related to almost any area of city services, from snowplowing to code enforcement to issues with a city street or building.

Residents can also report concerns with trails, sidewalks, water or sewer service, parks and trees.

The new citizen reporting tool can be accessed from the city's homepage via a green circular icon. Clicking on the icon brings visitors to a city map where they can point out the location of the problem.

The website also says issues with streetlights should be brought to either Dakota Electric or Xcel Energy depending on which entity serves the location of the light.

The service allows residents to report a problem 24 hours a day without having to make a phone call, said Mayor Bill Droste.

"It just makes sense in today's electronic world," he said.

Erin Adler