Why is OFD parked in Long Lake? 12 minute drive from Navarre?
Barbara Schmidt Barbara Schmidt

Why is OFD parked in Long Lake? 12 minute drive from Navarre?

What is happening during the day with the Orono Fire Department?

Why are they parked in Long Lake? Isn’t their coverage over in Navarre? That’s a good 12-15 minute drive.

More importantly, what is happening while you Sleep Navarre?

Again, your fire trucks are parked over near Orono High School in the Old Public Works Building just between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. This is at least a 12 minute drive over to Navarre after the fire fighters reach the station.

Does this sound unsafe?

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Breaking News: Summary Judgement DENIED in Defamation Lawsuit
Barbara Schmidt Barbara Schmidt

Breaking News: Summary Judgement DENIED in Defamation Lawsuit

Breaking News: Summary Judgement DENIED in Defamation Lawsuit

Defendants #dennywalsh and the City of Orono are going to trial 9//3/24

This is just one of several lawsuits pending against the City of Orono and also Mayor Walsh. In this particular case, a Citizen is suing the City of Orono and Mayor Dennis Walsh for defamation. The case goes to jury trial September 3rd.

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Orono Fire Chief James VanEyll Appears to Brush off Safety
Barbara Schmidt Barbara Schmidt

Orono Fire Chief James VanEyll Appears to Brush off Safety

Orono’s Chief #VanEyll brushes off Citizen SAFETY right before one of the biggest accident weekends of the year on Lake Minnetonka - 4th of July.

If you have a water related emergency, who is coming to rescue you? NOT Orono Fire because they didn’t plan short term or long term to cover their taxpaying public with service.

And yet, Orono is charging more than $11.800+ per service call. Stop #overspendydenny Stop #unsafeofd and renegotiate with Long Lake please - our Citizen’s health and wellbeing is more important than the #walsh #empire and control.

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Orono Fire Department is not Ready
Barbara Schmidt Barbara Schmidt

Orono Fire Department is not Ready

Not ready. Yet another part of the tens of millions of dollar Orono Fire not ready for service on the holiday with the most calls per year - 4th of July. Sadly we hope nothing happens due to the under equipped, understaffed and undertrained fire service that City of Orono is forcing onto Navarre residents. It’s not too late for Mayor Walsh to negotiate with Long Lake. It’s right thing to do for our Citizen’s safety.

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Who is creeping around your back door? #mariaveach
Barbara Schmidt Barbara Schmidt

Who is creeping around your back door? #mariaveach

Who is creeping around your back door?

It might be Orono Council member Maria Veach. Seems she's been emailing and apparently lobbying for Orono Fire behind the scenes with various Fire Fighter wives. Is Ms. Veach lobbying for herself? Orono Fire is the same department her husband works for and will receive a pension from.

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Orono Citizen writes concern about Orono's Fire Services
Barbara Schmidt Barbara Schmidt

Orono Citizen writes concern about Orono's Fire Services

10 Reasons why everyone should be paying attention to this issue and the lack of process, lawsuit, extraordinary expenditures without Citizen input and the clear taxpayer opposition to such a move.

If you have concerns, please comment below and share this article with fellow residents. It's never too late for Safety in our community.

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Were Citizens asked about the Duplicate Fire Service?
Barbara Schmidt Barbara Schmidt

Were Citizens asked about the Duplicate Fire Service?

Orono Citizens want to know why they haven't been asked if they want a fire department. At costs estimated in the tens of millions, many residents are saying no to duplicate fire service.

Please attend City Council meetings and make your voices heard on the public record.

#togetherwearebetter @friendsoforono

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Navarre and Surrounding Residents Should be Concerned
Barbara Schmidt Barbara Schmidt

Navarre and Surrounding Residents Should be Concerned

With the new Orono Fire Department July 1st start just a month away, a concerned Orono Citizen asked the biggest questions of all - "Who is going to show up if I call the Fire Department?"

Little information from the City of Orono is cited and fear of lack of Fire Department training also mentioned for this Navarre and surrounding area Orono Fire Department zone.

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Walsh, Crosby and Veach Break Open Meeting Law, Again?
Barbara Schmidt Barbara Schmidt

Walsh, Crosby and Veach Break Open Meeting Law, Again?

During the "For Profit" Pavilion ground breaking, Mayor Walsh and Orono Council members #richardcrosby and #mariaveach decided to hold a quorum without notifying the Citizens of Orono.

This appears to be yet again another violation of Open Meeting Law https://mn.gov/admin/data-practices/meetings/rules/

This law is in place to protect the Citizens so that they can know what is happening and participate in the governance of their community.

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Chief Van Eyll blocks Citizens on Social Media
Barbara Schmidt Barbara Schmidt

Chief Van Eyll blocks Citizens on Social Media

Please see the official Orono City Council remarks with the count here: https://youtu.be/Ri4eozm-jL8?si=4QZks2lmt0MFnVVa This information has been available to all for quite some time.

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Why is Mayor Walsh Building without the Citizens?
Barbara Schmidt Barbara Schmidt

Why is Mayor Walsh Building without the Citizens?

Today is the day to write a quick email to Orono’s City Administrator Adam Edwards! aedwards@oronomn.gov

Tell him why this Pavilion or Lean-to as Mayor Walsh calls it should be on hold until Citizens can share their ideas and opinions.

Orono’s Public Golf Course is a historic property and should be carefully considered when planning major changes.

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Orono Mayor Denny Walsh appears to Break Open Meeting Law
Barbara Schmidt Barbara Schmidt

Orono Mayor Denny Walsh appears to Break Open Meeting Law

Orono’s Mayor Walsh breaks Open Meeting Law 4/29/24

Authors Uncivil comments to Citizen

Once again, we see the flagrant disregard for process and procedure by Mayor Walsh. He decided to blast an email to the entire City Council in response to a very kind request from a Citizen. By sending an email to more than one council member, Mayor Walsh is in effect creating a quorum, and therefore subject to a violation of the Open Meeting Law according to MN Statute 13D.015.

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Orono’s “Taj Mahal” Public Works Open House
Barbara Schmidt Barbara Schmidt

Orono’s “Taj Mahal” Public Works Open House

So here's the truth about the Taj Mahal and a budget overrun of nearly double: https://www.facebook.com/reel/297723062767698

This ridiculously large and frankly warehouse style building now sits as the monument to the Walsh regime. Unattractive? Too large for a City of around 3200 homes losing population for the last three years? No one wants to buy services from Orono now until there's a new administration City of Orono, Minnesota Government

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Breaking News: The City of Orono appears to break Open Meeting Law - again
Barbara Schmidt Barbara Schmidt

Breaking News: The City of Orono appears to break Open Meeting Law - again

Breaking News: The City of Orono appears to break Open Meeting Law - again

When will the City of Orono listen to and care about their Citizens? #dennywalshformayor blocks Citizens from his campaign page posting City Business and then forgets to inform them of upcoming public meeting? This administration appears to have a big problem understanding and respecting their residents.

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The Ugly in Orono - A New Series
Barbara Schmidt Barbara Schmidt

The Ugly in Orono - A New Series

The Ugly in Orono: Our Parks Lack Upkeep

Why are our parks not being kept up? Why does it seem the Orono Park Commission spends more time and money on feasibility projects than general upkeep of our parks? Tens of thousands of dollars have been spent on “study plans” - money that is going to consultants instead of investing in basic upkeep of our parks.

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Why has Maria Veach flip flopped on her opinion of Orono Fire?
Barbara Schmidt Barbara Schmidt

Why has Maria Veach flip flopped on her opinion of Orono Fire?

Is Maria Veach Misleading the Public?

When Orono Council member Maria Veach spoke on 4/8/24 at the Orono City Council meeting she read a document that we now have up on our website here: https://www.friendsoforono.org/maria-veach-1 There are many misnomers and several misleading statements that we will highlight throughout the coming weeks.

How can Ms. Veach advocate spending several times more for service that is essentially the same or that may be even less safe?

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Cutting Service? Understaffed? Temp Firehouses? Are they Serious?
Barbara Schmidt Barbara Schmidt

Cutting Service? Understaffed? Temp Firehouses? Are they Serious?

Are Orono residents getting the whole fire service story?

Orono’s new fire chief Van Eyll never hired one other paid on-call firefighter during their recruitment campaign other than those from the Long Lake Fire Department (LLFD).

Why is that? Because other departments and cities know about working with Mayor Walsh? Or was it because Walsh was trying to take over the LLFD? Or did outside firefighters not want to work with Van Eyll?

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