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10.a Petition to Council regarding renaming Halfbreed Lake to Sylvan Lake Staff Report Date of Meeting: February 21, 2017 To: City Council From: Neil Soltis, Administrator Re: Renaming existing lake to Sylvan Lake Background: The City received correspondence from Washington County regarding a petition that was received requesting that a lake identified as Halfbreed Lake in the DNR waters inventory be officially renamed to its commonly used name of Sylvan Lake. A portion of the lake is in Scandia. Issue: Should the City of Scandia support the official name change. Proposal Details: See the attached information provided by Washington County. The County’s public hearing on the petition to rename the lake will continue on March 14, 2017 Fiscal Impact: None – all references maintained by the City use the Sylvan Lake name. Options: 1. Recommend that the County Board retain the historical and official name of the lake as Halfbreed Lake 2. Recommend that the County Board officially rename the lake as Sylvan Lake. 3. Provide no comments to the County Board regarding the issue. Recommendation: Option 2. Washington Chisago Forest Lake Bone Lake Comfort Lake Heims Lake Second Lake Halfbreed Lake First Lake Sea Lake Pine Lake Third Lake School Lake Moody Lake Nielsen Lake Birch Lake Clear Lake Shields Lake Ashton Lake Little Comfort Lake Elwell Lake Twin Lake Cranberry Lake Fourth Lake 0 0.8 1.60.4 Miles ÊLegend City of WyomingCity of Forest LakeLakes TMDLComfort Lake Forest Lake Watershed District Comfort Lake - Forest Lake Watershed District http://www.presspubs.com/forest_lake/news/article_87040166-ea58-11e6-8aba-3bd7d45174d6.html Forest Lake locals stir the waters at lake name hearing Halfbreed Lake name under question By Jackie Bussjaeger/Staff Writer Feb 3, 2017 STILLWATER — A public hearing to officially change the name of a small lake in Forest Lake began at a meeting of the Washington County Board of Commissioners Jan. 24. A petition signed by a minimum of 15 Forest Lake residents was submitted to the county board requesting to rename a small lake off of Highway 97. The official name of the lake is Halfbreed Lake, but it has been known as and referred to as Sylvan Lake for many years—many residents, including Forest Lake Zoning Administrator Donovan Hart, were unaware the lake even had another name. At this time it is unknown for whom the lake was named, but Hart and other petitioners believe it to be a reference to a person of mixed Native American heritage. Hart spearheaded the name change process when he discovered that the Department of Natural Resources and U.S. Geological Service had it officially recorded as Halfbreed. After the Forest Lake City Council approved the suggested change, it was forwarded to the county for approval. However, early into the hearing, County Deputy Administrator Kevin Corbid revealed that part of the lake is located within Scandia city limits. Since the change requires the notification of the city’s mayor, and the city of Scandia had not been contacted about the matter, a new date of March 14 was set to continue the hearing with input from Scandia city officials. During his research into the lake’s history, Hart sought more information from several locals familiar with area history, such as Craig Moen, who lives in Hugo but grew up in Forest Lake. “What I do know is that what Elsie Vogel put in her ‘Reflections’ book; it wasn’t quite the disparaging term 100 years ago that it is today,” Moen said. “According to Elsie, it was named after a ‘halfbreed’ who lived there.” Two Forest Lake residents who spoke at the hearing also referenced the local historical text, “Reflections of Forest Lake” by Elsie Vogel. The book tells briefly of the Native American presence in the Forest Lake area before white settlement. The first speaker during public comment was Mike Welsh, who owns property on the lake and spent many years vacationing there as a child. “For the record, I oppose the name change for historical reasons,” he said. “The petition states these people find the name offensive. But in the 1800s, the word ‘halfbreed’ was used in government, literature and politics.” He provided several examples, even pointing out that a political faction known as the Half-Breeds (in this case referring to their partial beliefs in Republican values) sought civil reform and helped elect President James Garfield in 1880. Since most of the lakeside property is privately owned, Welsh said he did not understand how changing the name would improve the “marketing” of the lake, since he does not consider it a major draw for fishermen. “I for one do not want to change history,” he said. “Yes, you have a right to free speech and opinion and petition, but you do not have a right to change history, and I cannot see the benefit in doing this.” Sandra Moszer, who also lives near the lake, also spoke against the change. “I do not consider the name of the lake offensive or derogatory,” she said. “There was a time that calling a person a ‘halfbreed’ would have been considered offensive; personally, I think it’s more offensive to the white man being intolerant ... at least the name of the lake brings to mind that in early days, the Ojibwe Indians did live in this area.” Currently, the Forest Lake zoning administrator and Pete Boulay of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources are working to unearth more historical details about the naming of the lake. County Commissioner Gary Kriesel also questioned whether any local Native American groups had been consulted about the change. County Commissioner Ted Karwoski summed up the goals for the continuation of the hearing, which include taking a closer look at the historical texts mentioned in the course of the hearing, conducting additional research behind the name Sylvan, consulting Scandia officials and reaching out to include Native American populations in the conversation. “The Native American contact that Commissioner Kriesel had asked about—I think it would be excellent to make some additional contact there,” he said. The research into the history of Halfbreed/Sylvan Lake is ongoing. If you would like to share any information about the lake’s history, contact Jackie Bussjaeger at 651-407-1229 or lowdownnews@presspubs.com. Note: An upcoming issue of the Lowdown will discuss this topic from a Metis (mixed Native American and European heritage) point of view.