HomeMy WebLinkAbout1995-04-06 Pioneer Press Article611*6 SMI uado
w u px 'Cill : �� 01 � n n ea 1�5 n pac age.
JIM BROEDE STAFF WRITER
ow hear this. When Menard's
opens a new store in Oak Park
Heights, the announcement can
come over a public address sys-
tem.
But a city official wishes the
hardware retailer would be seen
and not heard too loudly.
City Council Member Janet
Robert objected to Men -
ard's plan to install the public ad-
dress system, which allows em-
ployees inside the store to speak to
workers in the outdoor storage
yard.
"We have plans for housing de-
velopments not far away from this
store," she said, "and I don't want
those residents having to come to
the city some day and saying `ft's
too noisy in our back yards.' "
Robert proposed an alternative.
"Let's require Menard's to use
walkie- talkies," she said. "They
are very efficient and accomplish
the job without the noise of a pub-
lic address system. Target and U-
Haul use them all the time."
But Menard officials say public
address systems have posed no se-
as
F
}
z
f
rious problems at their other 105
stores in nin Midwest states.
sC
So the City Council decided to
la
allow the public address system
is
of ter Menard's agreed to have it
B
removed if neighbors complain.
"They will complain," Robert
f
said. "I think it's a waste of money
to install a public address system
that will have to be taken out in a`
short time. But then, that's Men -
ard's choice. "'
Still, Robert said Menard's will
IT
be a welcome addition to the city
of 3,700 residents.
City of f icials also are negotiat-
ing with Menard's over signs at its
proposed 160,000 - square -foot store
a
southwest of Minnesota 36 and No-
it
rell Avenue.
Local ordinance allows only two
:Y
signs, but Menard's wants eight.
V.
City Administrator Mike Robert-
al
son said the city might grant a
inn.
variance for six signs in all.
Menard's plan calls for the store1
to open later this year. "The build -
v
ing will be similar in design but
= =:
15,400 square feet bigger than the
one we built recently in Hudson,
Wis.," company spokesman Gary
Colby said.