Residents bring safety issues to council

By Danielle Strenke
Harris residents brought issues of safety and livability to the city council at its meeting April 8. The meeting was moved from its regular date, April 3, due to inclement weather.
Several residents voiced concerns at the meeting as well as through previous phone calls to city hall about the deteriorating condition of some gravel roads. The quick thaw brought frost moisture out of the ground to wreak havoc on gravel roads all over the area.
Richard Helle, who lives on 443rd St., told the council the road has been impassable on several occasions. ìMy biggest concern is the lack of access by emergency vehicles, when they canít get back there in a timely manner,î he said.
Councilor Dan Walton said the problem of excess moisture on that particular road is made worse because it was questionable whether it was built to code in the first place.
ìThe development was built on a swamp, and back then the city never assessed what kind of road was needed,î he said. ìWeíre going to have to bring it to code.î
Helle said the problem of a faulty road should not be a burden to the people who live there. ìAs taxpayers, the city has some responsibility to us to provide passable roads all of the time ñ not some of the time.î
Now that the spring thaw has come and gone, Helle said the crisis has been averted this year. ìBut what can I tell my neighbors about your plan for the future?î he asked.
Mayor Richard Hanson told him the worst areas of the road would be marked this spring by maintenance supervisor Mike Kriz to work on at least ensuring it will be passable through next spring.
ìWeíll then plan on getting it into the budget next year, and work on these roads over the next couple of years,î he said.
Another resident said he would like to see Georgia Avenue improved so we doesnít have to worry about his wife getting stuck on her way home. He is in the National Guard, and will be leaving the state later this year.
City Attorney Kevin Shoeberg told them that the council has started working on a five-year capital improvement plan for all city roads.
Other residents voiced safety concerns with a home in their neighborhood. ìI have questions about the drug house on our street. Thereís a lot of activity in my neighborhood,î he said.
A Chisago County Sheriffís Deputy attending the council meeting said his department knew about the house and others in the city.
He advised all residents to call the sheriffís department to report any suspicious activity, and to document all actions by writing down license numbers, vehicle descriptions and types of activities they are seeing.

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