Location: Peace Plaza Downtown 1st Ave SW & 1st St SW, Rochester, MN 55902
Feb. 9-11, 2012

Time: 4:30-9:00pm

Price: Free Admission

Featuring over 200 ft. of ice, SocialICE will be once again the largest outdoor ice bar in the upper Midwest. The layout will expand this year and will include up to eight additional satellite ice bars. All satellite bars will be themed with various beverage distributors and specialty drinks. Enjoy the ambiance of the ice and lighting as you sit in the ice lounge, drink from real ice glasses, and enjoy the live music.
SocialICE will offer live music from 7-8:30 pm each night and a live DJ from 4:30-7pm & 8:30-9:00 pm. All entertainment will perform live in the skyway over the Peace Plaza with music streamed out onto the Plaza for the ice bar attendees to enjoy.

I am passing along a new Sidewalk Snow Removal Enforcement policy(attached) that Rochester Public Works will be enforcing. You can use the link below for online reporting: http://www.rochestermn.gov/contact/Default.aspx?department=Public Works

Policy: Sidewalk Snow Removal Enforcement – PSA (011912)

Clean and safe sidewalks are an important part of keeping our neighborhood walkable, and your Postal Carrier will thank you too!

A public meeting will be held on the design and impact of a new 6^thStreet Bridge that will be replaced between Slatterly east and west sides of the neighborhood crossing Bear Creek on Tuesday January 17.  This is an opportunity to give feedback on a once in a lifetime project that has an opportunity to aesthetically improve our neighborhood, and set the stage for future connections in the neighborhood.   Here is a post on the 4th Street bridge replacement, some things to keep in mind: http://designadvocacyforum.org/posts/10

Tuesday January 17,  6:30pm

Room 104 of the Government Center

As a downtown neighborhood Slatterly Park residents have a say in the future of our downtown, as it directly affects the vitality of our neighborhood.  Take the a few minutes and express yourself by completing this survey “About You”, as it will help identify what you want to see in the future in Rochester.  It’s your hometown connect:  www.aboutu.org 

Slatterly Park has been working with the City of Rochester Public Works Department on the alternate side parking and snow removal plan for our neighborhood over the past month and half.  In a recent meeting with Public Works, and our city council member Mark Bilderback our neighborhood board has agreed to suspend the alternate side parking rule for this year, in lieu of Public Works stepping up the enforcement of the already existing 12 hour parking rule, especially during snow events.  Check out this note from the Public Works Dept. (click twice on PDF link to open) Alternate Side Parking Update

Public Works has offered us the opportunity to review our current street grid and decide what we would like to see in the future from everything from stop sign locations, bus routes, safe walk to school routes, complete streets, and parking restrictions, since all signage must be changed by 2018 by federal standards.  The Imagine Slatterly process and its three whole neighborhood meetings, has gathered a large amount of this data already and is in our vision plan already.  That plan will be reviewed by the Slatterly Board and Imagine Leadership and be given to the Public Works Dept. for review. A general neighborhood meeting will be hosted late winter/spring to unveil any new changes to the vision plan in regard to public streets within the neighborhood for comment.

The Slatterly Park Neighborhood Association board after much consideration, and with the best interest of the neighborhood has endorsed a plan with the City of Rochester Public Works Dept. to try winter alternate side parking in our neighborhood for snow removal.  A similar agreement has been made with two other downtown neighborhoods Eastside & Kutzky Park neighborhoods. We have agreed to the one year trial period to see if this helps alleviate the congested streets, and the difficulties for the plows in the winter. 

Rochester is about the only city in the upper Midwest that does not have an alternate side parking or snow emergency management plan in place, which is pretty amazing.  The current plan calls for alternate side parking from 7:00am -7:00pm to allow for snow removal.  On odd days street parker’s must park on the odd numbered side and even days on the even side December 1 through April 1, a pretty simple concept.  The entire Slatterly Park neighborhood will be affected by the alternate side parking which is bound by  4^th Street on the North, 15^th Ave on the East, Hwy 14 on the South and Broadway on the West. The city plans to communicate with all neighborhoods through the following:

1. We will be sending out a postcard mailer to residences in the zones.
2. Website link will be developed to communicate alternate side parking on city website www.rochestermn.gov
3. Slatterly Park website will have information and a link to the city website www.slatterlypark.org

* On streets where no parking signs are already posted the signs overide the alternate  side parking, thus parking is allowed on the unmarked side 24 hours a day.

As a part of the education/public information process, the city will be giving out “warning” tickets from Dec 6^th to Jan 2nd to cars that would be parked illegally.  There will be no fine just information on the ticket.  Please let me know if you have any questions wflock@hga.com

Map of affected zone:

Great News: Slatterly Park was the recipient of the 2011 Fall Tree planting from the RNeighborWoods Tree grant that we applied for!   The 20 trees will be planted around Hawthorne School, and on 4th/5th Ave & 7th Streets SE.  We’ll meet in the Hawthorne Education Center parking lot at 9:00am.   Please bring shovels, pail for water, and a wagon if you have one!

Thanks to all who came out and helped, what a great crew!

Check out the link below for “Making it Better”, and click the thumbs up tab next to the Facebook logo to up our chances of winning! 

Slatterly has entered its tree planting initiative in the competition.

http://makingitbettermn.org/the-challenge/challenge-submissions/slatterly-park-neighborhood-revitalization/

 Be a part of something great!