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HONORING OUR HEROES: Recognizing servicemen and women PAGE 8
City moves forward with acquisition of Hammer property BY SHANNON GRANHOLM MANAGING EDITOR
WHITE BEAR LAKE — The city is one step closer to acquiring property located at the southeast corner of Bellaire Avenue and Spruce Place. The Planning Commission has found that the acquisition of property is consistent with the goals and policies of the 2040 Comprehensive Plan. The requirement for the Planning Commission to review the acquisition is detailed in Minnesota Statute 462.356, Subd. 2, and is one of the last “due diligence” steps necessary before following through with a purchase agreement for the property. Last September, the City Council approved entering into a purchase agreement with Hammer Northeast Residence Inc. Hammer expressed a willingness to sell to the city because it has no need for that part of its parking lot, which is not utilized and is not required for the site to comply with the city’s off-street parking requirements. The parcel is adjacent to the city-owned property at 2511 County Road E. The subject site is zoned B-2 (limited business) and is guided commercial in the city’s 2040 Comp Plan. The city-owned lot at 2511 County Road E, which was purchased in 2016, is located directly to the south of the subject site and is zoned B-3 (auto-oriented business). The parcel is
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On Memorial Day, Monday, May 26, the city of White Bear Lake will honor one of its own, Major Curtis Donald Feistner — a 1986 White Bear Lake grad who died at the age of 34 in a helicopter crash in the Philippines in 2002. This collage was made by a member of Task Force 160th to honor Curt.
White Bear Lake honors one of its own this Memorial Day BY SHANNON GRANHOLM MANAGING EDITOR
American Legion 168 is pulling out all the stops to honor one of its own this Memorial Day. Each year, the VFW Post 1782 and American Legion alternate on which organization plans the Memorial Day events. In 2025, it’s the American Legion’s turn. About a year ago, Legion members received a phone call from White Bear Lake Area Schools. As district staff were going through items during construction of the unified high school campus, they stumbled upon a plaque, flag and photo that were given to the district in honor of Major Curtis Donald Feistner — a 1986 grad who died at the age of 34 in a helicopter crash in the Philippines in 2002. “We both looked at each other and said, ‘We’ve got to do something,’” said Gary Carlberg, American Legion 2nd Vice Commander. Curt was raised in Birchwood Village. He earned the rank of Eagle Scout and was a three-sport athlete in cross-country skiing, tennis and soccer. John Doherty, a 1988 White Bear High School grad, was on the cross-country ski team with Curt. “I was a terrible skier … I was the worst skier on the team.
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There was a group of skiers that would bring (the younger) skiers on the weekends when they went to state parks to go ski. And he was one of those people,” he recalled. “Looking back now, that tells you even more about his character for someone who was willing to do that.” Doherty says Curt was an inspiration to the younger skiers on the team. Curt’s senior year, he won regions and sectionals. After he graduated, Curt decided to follow his brother, Alan Feistner, to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. His freshman year, he wrote a letter to the White Bear ski team back home. “(The coach) read that letter to us as inspiration,” Doherty said. “He was a great skier. He was a great athlete.” Scott Storkamp, a 1985 White Bear Lake grad, got to know Curt really well while they attended West Point and skied on the ski team. (Their paths continued to cross, as they were both stationed in Hawaii at the same time years later.) “He was a great dude. He was as all-American as you can get,” Storkamp recalled. “He was a great guy and extremely good at what he did.”
guided as neighborhood mixed use, which “is intended to be for commercial retail or service businesses and offices serving the local community, and medium- to highdensity housing. This district should lean towards residential …” That property is also identified as a redevelopment opportunity SEE ACQUISITION, PAGE 20
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The city continues to move forward with acquiring property located at the southeast corner of Bellaire Avenue and Spruce Place.
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