by Dennis Dalman
A request by a company in Sartell to have an avenue named after itself was nixed by the Sartell City Council at its last meeting.
The roadway going past the building into which CH Robinson is relocating is now designated as Medical Arts Avenue S. The avenue and the company are located in Sartell’s medical-campus area near Connecticut Avenue. The request was for the avenue to be re-designated as “Robinson Way.” CH Robinson is a cargo and freight company.
Requests for street-name changes are “not terribly uncommon” in the city, said Sartell Planner/Developer Anita Archambeau.
A consensus of the city council was that changing names of street signs is not a good idea because it could set a precedent for a series of name and street changes that could cause hassles for mapmakers and others – perhaps even 911 dispatch functions. It was also noted many street signs in Sartell are named after individuals or families that have passed on or moved from the city. Again, there was a council consensus that such signs should remain as they are even if people no longer know to whom the signs refer.
The street sign request was voted down 4-0. Council member Ryan Fitzthum recused himself from the vote because he is employed by CH Robinson.
Author: Dennis Dalman
Dalman was born and raised in South St. Cloud, graduated from St. Cloud Tech High School, then graduated from St. Cloud State University with a degree in English (emphasis on American and British literature) and mass communications (emphasis on print journalism). He studied in London, England for a year (1980-81) where he concentrated on British literature, political science, the history of Great Britain and wrote a book-length study of the British writer V.S. Naipaul. Dalman has been a reporter and weekly columnist for more than 30 years and worked for 16 of those years for the Alexandria Echo Press.