Posted 9/12/01 N. Branch Council approves 146-lot development Preliminary plat gets 4-1 vote, Oehlers dissents By Jason Sileo The North Branch City Council gave 4-1 preliminary approval Monday night for a planned 146-lot residential subdivision to be constructed on a 98-acre parcel off Hemingway Ave. in the city. The preliminary plat of the Woodduck Ponds subdivision received the councilís approval by a 4-1 vote, with councilor Amy Oehlers dissenting, after a stalemate, 2-2 vote on the issue two weeks ago when councilman John Pace Jr. was absent from the proceedings. Prior to approving the preliminary plat for Woodduck, the council voted, also by a margin of 4-1, to approve the rezoning of the property in question from a rural residential to a single-family residential zone as the cityís planning commission had unanimously recommended. Citing concerns regarding an overburdened city infrastructure, overcrowded schools, traffic congestion related to the I-35 bridge, and the cityís review of its comprehensive plan, Oehlers initially moved to deny the rezoning request, but her motion died on the floor for lack of a second. Councilman Rodney Lofquist moved to approve the rezoning shortly thereafter, seconded by Pace Jr., and the motion passed by the 4-1 margin. The preliminary plat for Woodduck was approved in much the same manner, with city planning director Alan Cottingham explaining that issues such as the paving of portions of Hemingway related to the project were taken care of, and the removal of three lots which apparently were putting wetland areas at risk. Oehlers asked if the North Branch schools were well aware of the situation and Cottingham said the schools were remaining neutral on the issue. ìTheyíre staying neutral on it,î Cottingham said, referring to school officials. ìThey donít want to get in the middle of ëshould we, or shouldnít we?í Theyíre saying, ëif the homes are built and the kids come, we can handle it,íî he said. Cottingham indicated, depending on the economyís direction, the entire project could take as few as three or as many as 10 years to complete if and when it receives final plat approval from the city. After the councilís approval of the preliminary plat, a number of disgruntled and grumbling members of the audience rose and left the council chambers hastily. One woman, as she left the room, thanked Oehlers for her efforts to deny Woodduckís progress. Preliminary budget talks The council also approved a preliminary tax levy of about $1.88 million for the cityís next budget year. While that figure may be an estimated 65 percent higher than the budget approved last year, it was stressed by the council that the large figure is by no means final and probably not even realistic when considering a final levy figure. The council agreed to approve the preliminary figure by a 4-1 vote, again with Oehlers alone in her dissension, with the understanding that the figure could only be lowered in subsequent talks leading up to a final budget approval. Councilor Lofquist made the motion to approve the preliminary figure, ìbeing that we have so many unknowns with the new tax coming in from the state and also that we have a chance to lower our request rather than raise it, I would like to make a motion that we assess for the maximum... and I hope that we can do much better by [December] 15,î when final budgets must be approved. Councilman Roger Else seconded the motion, saying, ìThere is no way in this world that I would ever vote for that ñ we can always lower that. We will lower that.î ìIím strongly opposed to setting the maximum amount,î Oehlers said of the preliminary budget figure. ìI donít think itís realistic,î she said. ìI think thatís the purpose of the preliminary budget - to get a realistic estimate of what you plan on doing in December.î Mayor John Pinsonneault called for a calm, patient approach to a process only now in its infant stages. ìThe part I just want to reiterate is that we donít know where the state is right now,î the mayor said. ìIf we cut our levy too short for this year... itís just going to come back to haunt us again next year, is what it boils down to. Better off being safe now, taking our time and planning this out carefully ñ we have to the middle of December to get this [done].î ©Post Review