Our Program on Tuesday, November 12th was Police Chief of SLMPSD Mike Meehan. The Chief explained that the South Lake Minnetonka Public Safety Department (SLMPSD) serves Excelsior, Shorewood, Greenwood and Tonka Bay and ha
s been in existence since 1973 providing good service to the area. Mike’s last appeared at our Rotary Club a couple of years ago when body cams were just being added to the force. Currently all vehicles and officers have body cams that are synced-in with the police vehicle’s video cam and audio system. The SLMPSD appreciates the investments the community has made and all officers have them to engage when making an active call at their discretion. Thus far all officer complaints have supported the officers’ conduct in making calls in active situations.
s been in existence since 1973 providing good service to the area. Mike’s last appeared at our Rotary Club a couple of years ago when body cams were just being added to the force. Currently all vehicles and officers have body cams that are synced-in with the police vehicle’s video cam and audio system. The SLMPSD appreciates the investments the community has made and all officers have them to engage when making an active call at their discretion. Thus far all officer complaints have supported the officers’ conduct in making calls in active situations.Chief Meehan focused on three topics: Joint Powers Agreement, staffing and fundraising. The Joint Powers Agreement expires on Dec. 31, 2023 and up for renewal at that time. He hopes that it will continue and that will be up to the Coordinating Committee that is made-up of the four mayors and then approval of the new charter and funding by the four city councils of SLMPSD.
Staffing is a current need and concern for SLMPSD. Research shows that police officers are highly respected but recruitment and holding officers continues to be a challenge for for the SLMPSD for several reasons. One critical factor is the ratio of officers to population with SLMPSD being 1.5 and lowest in the lake area. Another reason for officers leaving for larger departments is because they patrol alone without the support of a partner. When there is a crisis the SLMPSD has to rely on mutual aid from other departments which takes time and can be risky.
Chief Meehan talked about the latest fundraiser to provide a digital information board trailer for various situations and events and thanked the community for their support in raising funds to provide that service.
Finally the Chief took questions. Recent trends include car and home invasions and robberies, group robberies, and political attitude issues. Other questions related to the assault of a truck driver, Teamster representation for officers and the desired staffing and the Chief would like to improve the officer to population ratio by have a force of 17 officers if funding is available.
Our Program on Tuesday, November 5th was Darel Leipold speaking about “Our Club in Past Days” and delivered in the form of a poem about the club’s beginnings, its founding members and the Excelsior Rotary in those early years. Our Club was founded in 1949. For Club historians the 1st organizational meeting was held on Monday, April 19, 1949 in Superintendent Bill Neilson’s office with Mpls. #9 Club sponsors. Then on April 25th 11 men signed the charter with 7 names added prior to submitting application to charter. The charter was issued on June 30, 1949 and the Charter Night and Dinner was held on August 22nd at the Sampson House with 124 people in attendance. The new Excelsior Rotary started with 31 members. Darel’s fun poem listed many of the founders’ names and their business classifications. The first president was Ray Johnson (NSP) and the other charter mem
bers were the who’s who of the City of Excelsior. Along with Ray Johnson were Art Anderson (Finance), Vic Arnold (Clothing), Archie Cochrane (Const./boats), Joe Colihan (Amusement Park), Pat Cunningham (electrical Repair), O’Neil Grathwol (Lawyer), Norbert Grathwol (Liquor Retail), Ralph Kueken (NW Bell), Harold Larson (Principal), Maurice Leach (Retail Hardware), Bud Long (Accounting), Don Lyman (Retail Lumber), Anson Mase (Construction), Ray Mason (Auto Retail), Bill Nilsen (Education), Red Smith (Retail Shoes), and Howard Wendt (Dry Cleaning).following Darel’s poem he spoke about his connections with the founders and club members also added their stories about various early members of the club.
ated from Minneapolis Roosevelt High School in 1951 and then attended the University of Minnesota. He faithfully served his country in the United States Navy during the Korean Conflict. A Memorial Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Thursday, October 17, 2019, 11:00 AM with family receiving friends 10 - 11 AM all at Guardian Angels Catholic Church, 218 West Second Street, Chaska. There will be a private family inurnment at Lakewood Cemetery, Minneapolis, MN. Survivors include his wife, Diane; daughters, Cheryl (Lyle) O'Bannon of Shorewood, Lori (Gary) Berg of Elk River, Darcey (LuVerne) Seifert of St. Anthony; stepchildren, Jennifer (Matt) Evjen of Edina, William Shaw of Florida; 7 grandchildren, Dain (Niki), Christopher, Stephanie, Corey, Brady, Severin and Simon; 2 great grandchildren, Henry and Leo; brother, Larry (Patti) Engen of Lakeville; sister, Connie (Andy) Elasky of Apple Valley; other relatives and many friends. Thursday, October 17, 2019 11:00 AM Guardian Angels Catholic Church 218 W 2nd St Chaska, MN 55318 Family will receive friends 10 - 11 AM at the church on Thursday.
partners around the world, and someone to advocate for you. She listed many locations with tips to enhance your travel experience such as reserving tour tickets in advance of your trip, stay the night before your tour and beat the crowds that come later, and get an open travel visa for countries with travel bands. Another interesting tip was to get “skip the line tickets by booking ahead and use a local guide to take you around your destination to maximize your experience. She suggested the “Whatsapp” on Wi-Fi to keep you on track and call anywhere in the world. Cathy also suggested a wonderful service that Pique Travel offers that is “Wander List” that allows a more global approach to long range travel service planning so that you can get to all the things you want to do on your bucket list.
on how Minnetonka Schools stack-up in comparison to other districts and schools in Minnesota and the Nation and even the World. What was amazing was how many times we heard #1 in Minnesota and high rankings in the Nation. Here is a graphic look at Minnetonka’s rankings:
Metro Bus Depot to attend the evening game with the White Sox on Wednesday, Sept. 18th. The weather was fantastic and everyone had a great time. At that point the Twins were six games out for the division. Unfortunately we lost 3 to 1 but it did not dampen our spirits. Thanks Molly and if you didn’t go make sure you get signed-up for next year’s great Twins outing!
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