South news briefs: Rosemount looks at four senior housing plans

The city of Rosemount has released concept plans for future senior housing and a public activity center in moving forward with its plans to develop the former site of the St. Joseph's School.

The development would be on city-owned land, just north of the Steeple Center.

An open house took place July 11, when the project's developer, Stonebridge Communities, and city staff introduced plans to the public.

For more information, contact Rosemount's community development department at 651-322-2051.

The Dakota County Community Development Agency (CDA) will host a free information session about foreclosure on July 22.

The session is set for 6 to 7 p.m. at the CDA's office at 1220 Town Centre Drive in Eagan.

The presentation will include information about the foreclosure process and possible loss mitigation options. Certified housing counselors will present the information, and individual appointments can be scheduled following the event.

After registration, visit the CDA's website at www.dakotacda.org/homeowners.htm to download a foreclosure counseling application and authorization forms.

Homeowners should e-mail, fax or drop off the completed documents at least 24 hours in advance of the information session.

Documents can be e-mailed to sgerving@dakotacda.state.mn.us, faxed to 651-287-8026 or dropped off at the CDA's office.

If homeowners are unable to submit documents beforehand, they can arrive at the session at 5:45 p.m. to complete the paperwork.

Folks wanting to follow the action at Shakopee City Hall can now do so a lot more easily.

And they can do so on tablets or smartphones, not to mention that additional software is no longer needed to watch the videos on a computer.

Links from meetings since June are at http://agenda.ci.shakopee.mn.us.

Filing starts for elected offices in Shakopee on July 30, with the mayor's job and two council seats on tap. Filings close Aug. 13 for a two-year term for mayor and four-year terms for council.

The Shakopee Chamber of Commerce is offering a free workshop for people interested in running for any public office.

It's being called Public Office 101, and starts at 6 p.m. July 24 in the Shakopee police training room, 475 Gorman St.

Hastings Police Chief Paul Schnell is resigning from the department to become chief of the Maplewood Police Department. His last day is July 21.

Schnell, 51, has served in Hastings for three years. Before that, he was a sergeant at the St. Paul Police Department for 12 years. He said he is "deeply indebted" to the community of Hastings for the support and kindness residents have shown.

"It's been a great community to work for, and we've had some really great successes," Schnell said. There were big changes in personnel with officers retiring, causing the department to start "bringing in the next generation" of the force, he said. "The department is poised for the future quite well," Schnell said.

In his resignation letter to City Administrator Melanie Mesko Lee, Schnell wrote, "I want to be explicitly clear, Hastings had a great police department before I arrived and will long after I'm gone."

Maplewood — almost twice the size of Hastings — will give Schnell more opportunities to work with agencies on public safety issues, he said. Schnell will be taking the place of Dave Thomalla, who retired last November after a decade as chief.