Home Care In Bayport, MN

BAYPORT, Minn. -- Water levels continue to rise putting river cities along the St. Croix on alert. Bayport city leaders said the last time the city saw significant flooding was in 2019 when the St. Croix crested at 88.5 feet.

Currently, the water levels in Bayport match that of the St. Croix at Stillwater.

As of late Monday morning, the National Weather service reported the St. Croix reached moderate flood stage at 88 feet, and Bayport city leaders said they're expecting it will rise another foot and a half to major flood stage in the next couple of days.

Riverside Park has been a common place for people to stop and see the rising waters for themselves.

Currently, all the outfield at the baseball field and the benches are covered in water. Other park benches and grills are also starting to get submerged in water.

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Don Coakley has had a front row seat to spring flooding from his home in Bayport for nearly 30 years. He said he's seen the park flood often of times in the past but said this year might be different.

"Right now, if it gets that high it usually stays that way and then it recedes, but when it starts to cross the street it goes over that and then it will fill where the boats are here and then the water will start to come across the parking lot to towards our place and they're predicting it's going to get that bad," he said.

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City leaders said there's aren't many businesses right on the water other than marinas that would be affected by the rising water.

They said there will be some homes affected, but some of the newer homes here were also elevated when they were built, which should help.

People who live off of Front Street say they've seen flooding like this before. But as the levels continue to rise this week, there's concern that it could become historic, with major flooding here.

WCCO News' Derek James caught up with our very own Rebecca Kolls Monday, who is already having to take a different way of commuting to work: by canoe.

"A couple of years ago when the water came over the road, it was navigable by foot, except it was up to your knees, and all the carp would come in," Kolls said. "And that night, the carp munched on your legs, which was kind of really creepy."

Kolls is concerned for flooding like she's never experienced before.

"In 1964, the water was 689 feet…so that brought it into the house. This year, it's expected on Wednesday that it's going to crest at 689.5. That means I'll have over a foot of water in my lower level," she said.

And if you don't have a canoe, or it's too windy as has been the case the last couple of days, you basically ended up billygoating your way through your neighbor's yards to get home.

Kolls says she and her neighbors have been busy preparing as best they can.

"Quickly unloading the house and the garage and trying to save everything that's worth saving," she said.

Kolls' flood coverage kicked in just in the nick of time. But for others who don't have insurance, they're simply going to have to wait and see what the St. Croix does next.

A new report from the Star Tribune documents the 100 worst greenhouse gas polluters in Minnesota.

|Updated Fri, Mar 18, 2022 at 3:29 pm CT

BAYPORT, MN — One of the worst greenhouse gas polluters in Minnesota is located in the Stillwater area, according to a new report.

The Star Tribune on Wednesday published a story that documents the 100 worst greenhouse gas polluters in the state. Xcel Energy’s Allen S. King power plant in Bayport was ranked as the fourth-worst greenhouse gas polluter in the state, according to the Star Tribune’s report.

The King plant sits idle six months each year, after the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission approved a request from Xcel to operate it seasonally, along with the Unit 2 of the Sherburne County Station.

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Xcel Energy estimated the partial closure of the plants would reduce greenhouse gas emission by up to 4.1 million tons in 2020, with emissions to drop by up to 7.3 million tons by 2023, according to the Public Utilities Commission.

Find out what's happening in Stillwaterwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The commission said a decrease that large would account for about 20-25 percent of the statewide goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 23 million tons per year, bringing the state into compliance with its statutes.

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Those statutes require Minnesota to its reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent, based on 2005 levels, the commission said.

The Allen S. King coal-fired plant is due to close in 2028, with Xcel planning to replace the more than 500 megawatts of power it generates with wind and solar power, StCroix360.com reported.

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In 2019, Minnesota's 100 worst polluters added 40 million metric tons of greenhouse gases into Earth's atmosphere, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

See the entire list at the Star Tribune.

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Bayport Scout Troop 113 is proud to host a community-wide Open House and Alumni Reunion in celebration of the Troop’s Centennial year of service to the youth and residents of Bayport and the St. Croix Valley at large. All Troop 113 alumni, families, friends and the community in general are welcome to enjoy hot dogs, hamburgers, cobblers, and memories on June 25, 2022, from 10 AM to 1 PM at the Scout Building in the northwest corner of Lakeside Park. (96 Central Ave., Bayport, MN 55003). We will have fun and games set up to keep the next generation happy while we relive past glory. Commemorative can coolers will be given to alumni.

Scouting was brought to Bayport in 1917 by Rev. Carl Schaufuss, a student minister at the Peoples Congregational Church who served as the first Scoutmaster. Unfortunately, the Troop collapsed when Rev. Schaufuss was soon called to a different congregation.

In March of 1922 the Superintendent of Bayport Schools Mr. Halvorson brought scouting back to Bayport, serving as Scoutmaster and registering the Troop with the Boy Scouts of America with Bayport Schools as the chartered partner. He was replaced in the fall of 1922 as both Superintendent and Scoutmaster by Ray Cummings. H.L Rothschild and George Lennartson served on the first committee.

In 1929 Bayport American Legion Post 491 assumed responsibility for Troop 113. In 1930 Frank Slaughter became Scoutmaster. By 1935 through Slaughter’s efforts, Troop 113 had grown to be “one of the most outstanding Troops in the St. Paul Area” in the opinion of the Bayport Herald on Valentine’s Day of 1935. In 2002, Bethlehem Lutheran Church joined Legion Post 491 as chartered partners of Troop 113.

Troop 113 has always had a thirst for adventure. From six canoe trips on the St. Croix from 1926 to 2018, and week long raft trips on the St. Croix in 1959, 1960, 1962. Through National Jamborees in 1937, 1950, 1973, 1985, 1989, 1993, 2001 and four Icelandic National Jamborees from 2002 to 2012. Ninety mile plus backpacking trips at Philmont near Cimarron New Mexico in 1997, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2011, 2016. Sailing trips on Lake Superior in 1987, 2010, 2014 and the Florida Keys in 2013, 2019. Not to forget trips to London England in 2010, Black Hills of South Dakota in 2014, Thunder Bay Canada in 2015, Glacier National Park in 2017, to this year’s week long trip to Alaska.

Service to our community has always been an important part of Troop 113. Scouts have shoveled sidewalks for families with men serving in World War II and painted the log cabin in Lakeside Park. Last spring, scouts planted trees in Barker’s Alps.

Troop 113 meets weekly on Tuesday nights from six-fifteen until eight o’clock at the Scout Building from May to October, and at Bethlehem Lutheran Church from November to April. We do everything from service projects, game nights and rifle or archery ranges, to outdoor skills and Merit Badges. The Scouts plan the schedule and lead the meetings. If there is a decision to be made it is made by a Scout. The adults are there to monitor safety and provide logistical support. It is fun, hands-on learning and achievement that puts young men in the middle of the action and prepares them for today – and for life. Some of the skills have changed in the last 100 years, but the time proven method has not.

Troop 113 is proud of our 117 Eagle Scouts from Eldon Lomnes in 1929 to Joseph Casale in 2021. That is why we carry their names on our trailer wherever we go. The trailer will be on display at our reunion. Many stories are started by an alum seeing names they remember on the trailer. Joe Reding will be bringing his three patch blankets with 41 years of event and trip patches which should also spark some memories.

Cub Scout Pack 113 was founded in 1954. Today it serves boys and girls in grades K-5 in and around the St. Croix Valley. Kids are welcome to join any time. Meetings are held on Mondays during the school year. More information can be found at BayportPack113.org.

Scouts BSA Troop 113 serves young men who have completed fifth grade but are not yet 18 years old from Bayport, Lake Elmo, and the surrounding area. Scouts can start at any age, but everyone starts at the first rank of Scout and works toward the rank of Eagle. If five young women who have completed fifth grade but are not yet 18 years old would like to form a female Troop 113, we are anxious to hear from you. More information can be found at BayportTroop113.org.

Thanks to the generous support of the Bayport American Legion, registration in Pack or Troop 113 is only $60.

As river levels across southern Minnesota continue their slow, steady descent from major flood stage, rivers in the northwestern part of the state have their eyes on flood gauges.

So far, the effects of flooding on southern Minnesota have mostly been confined to road closures and other inconveniences, but given the unpredictable nature of a Minnesota spring, additional river crests are still possible.

The Red River of the North, which flows northward to Winnipeg, has hit what is classified as a moderate flood stage at Wahpeton, N.D., and is forecast to potentially reach a moderate flood level in Fargo by the end of this week.

MPR News reporters are monitoring rivers' rises across the state. Here's what we're seeing today.

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Bayport: 'A war between me and the weather'

Jane Keyes, 87, has lived in her Bayport home since 1982.

And when the waters of the St. Croix River start rising just a few feet away from her back porch, she knows she needs to prepare.

"For me, I think it's a war between me and the weather, and I intend to win," Keyes said. "If you live on the river you've got to deal with it, and fight it, and enjoy it, I guess."

The house sits at the end of Lake Street South, at the end of a peninsula. Its story has been intertwined with the story of St. Croix Valley floods, since her father-in-law built it in 1955.

"It came up to the mantle piece in 1965," she said. There was another major flood in 1969. "And he had just had it. So he raised the house 6 feet."

In 2001, Keyes watched as the water crept past the floor of a screened-in room in the house's lower level — and kept rising.

"It came up to here," she said, pointing to the line above the third concrete block from the room's floor.

This year, Keyes took no chances, putting sandbags over every drain in the lower part of her home to prevent floodwaters from rushing into the drains and sewage from rushing out. She took all the furniture off the ground in her lower-level room and had the toilet taken out of the house's downstairs bathroom.

This year, the St. Croix's rising waters have already engulfed her yard, so there's no longer any land between her porch and the river. They've turned the tree-filled peninsula at the far end of her lot into a temporary bayou, and they're beginning to inch up the stairs toward that screened-in downstairs room to just below the floor, bringing logs, branches and all sorts of debris into her yard.

But Keyes is already feeling some relief: The St. Croix River is expected to crest at 88.5 feet sometime between Sunday and Monday. It could have been much worse, she said.

Still, she's not taking any chances.

"I'm not going to put this stuff back until probably middle or end of May," she said. "Until I see some semblance of normalcy."

— Peter Cox | Bayport

St. Paul: Spectators survey the flooding

A steady stream of spectators gathered along the Mississippi River in St. Paul on Sunday to see the flooding at Harriet Island Regional Park and along riverside roadways.

As of Sunday afternoon the river was running just inches below its forecast crest of 20 feet — that's 6 feet above flood stage.

Conor Rose spends a lot of time on the river in the summer: He's an owner of Minnesota Adventure Company kayak tours. Around midday Sunday he took a kayak out to explore the flooded area around the playground, pavilion and concert stage at Harriet Island Regional Park in St. Paul.

"There's definitely a good current right now" in areas of the park that normally are dry land, Rose said after returning to shore.

"You know, it really puts you in your place. You know that the river is ... it's mighty, it's the mighty Mississippi," he said. "And when it's up like this it shows that it is definitely in control, and it's fun to be a part of that."

Views of Mississippi River rising at Raspberry Island in St. Paul #Minnesota over the past week. Top image is from March 22 when river stage was about 11 feet. Bottom photo is from March 29 with river at about 19.4 feet. Flood stage is 14 feet pic.twitter.com/LJhcj1ZRzK

— Andrew Krueger (@akpix) March 30, 2019

On the other side of the river, pedestrians gathered along the Wabasha and Robert Street bridges, and at downtown overlooks, to watch the flooding at Raspberry Island. The island's band shell was surrounded by high water, and the river was lapping at the Minnesota Boat Club building.

The river also has flooded a long stretch of Shepard and Warner roads below downtown St. Paul, and part of Upper Landing Park.

— Andrew Krueger | St. Paul

The Allen S. King Generating Station on the St. Croix River will close in 2028, Xcel Energy announced today. The move is part of the electric utility’s plan to close all its remaining coal-fired plants by 2030, 10 years earlier than previously planned.

Shutting down the King Plant in less than 10 years will mean the removal of a significant fixture on the lower St. Croix River, and help Minnesota move toward an energy system with far less emissions of the carbon gasses that contribute to climate change.

According to Xcel, the King Plant burns up to 300 tons of coal per hour, enough to fill 2.5 train cars. In 2017, that meant it released about 3 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

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Xcel plans to replace the coal power with wind and solar, and some natural gas in the short term. The plan calls for more than tripling the amount of solar energy generation capacity in the state by 2030.

“This is a significant step forward as we are on track to reduce carbon emissions more than 80% by 2030 and transform the way we deliver energy to our customers,” said Chris Clark, president, Xcel Energy – Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota. “Accelerating the closure of our coal plants and leading this clean energy transition would not be possible without the dedication and support of our key stakeholders. We thank them for their work to put us on a path to deliver 100% carbon-free electricity by 2050.”

The plan was developed in partnership with environmental and labor groups. It prioritizes training and other strategies to create new jobs in the development of solar and wind generation.

“The proposal announced today shows the company’s commitment to responding to the urgent threat of climate change in ways that save customers money and promotes local economies and jobs,” said James Gignac, Lead Midwest Energy Analyst for the Union of Concerned Scientists.

It was the construction of the Allen S. King Plant beginning in 1965 that spurred much of the action to protect the St. Croix as Wild & Scenic in 1968. Opposition to the proposal highlighted the lack of protections for the river, and galvanized environmentalists. The plant’s builder, Northern States Power, now owned by Xcel, donated tens of thousands of acres of land along the upper river to the National Park Service 50 years ago, after the river was designated Wild and Scenic by the federal government.

Xcel and its partners will submit the plan for approval by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission in July.