County wants to buy land for CR17 ramp

By MaryHelen Swanson
Chisago County residents looking for relief from the I-35/ Hwy. 95 bridge congestion in North Branch hope that a new interchange at County Road 17 will be created.
The county has been talking about establishing the interchange and providing a park and ride at the intersection.
They will need to buy land to do this.
There is land for sale in the area of where a new CR17 ramp would meet I-35, but the price has already doubled from February 2002.
The 9 acres in question have a $118,800 price tag right now, or $13,200 per acre. In Feb. 2002, the price was $6,500 per acre.
Pole buildings on the property are estimated at about $80,000. The current total asking price would be about $350,000 versus approximately $223,500 in Feb. 2002.
The countyís right-of-way consultant, Carol Johnson, suggested the county consider buying the land now to stave off cost increases that naturally come with in-demand property.
County Administrator John Moosey said at last weekís board meeting that the timing is not good for purchasing this land, but he said the land owners are anxious to sell.
In a memo to County Engineer Mic Dahlberg, Johnson reminded him that the landowners have been ìin limboî for a couple of years waiting to find out what the county plans to do in the area.
Johnson said a public hearing would be necessary to make the county eligible for state or federal reimbursement for the land purchase.
That public hearing will be held Sept. 17 at 7:15 p.m. in the Chisago County government center.
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Dahlbergís suggestion is to use reimbursements for right-of-way from the CSAH 23 project to pay for the right-of-way needs at this location. He said if the county gets reimbursed from the state or federal government, that money could be used for other right-of-way needs such as the second half of CSAH 7,CSAH 14 or CSAH 9 meaning there would be no net levy increase for these right-of-way costs.
Consultant Johnson said the county could stay on its schedule to hold a public hearing on this land purchase in 2004, but by then the landowners could have built a new, more expensive house on the property and the price to the county could go up.
The board directed county staff to obtain an appraisal on the property before the public hearing.
Another land purchase approved
The board took action to purchase a 1.5 parcel of land at the entrance to Checkerboard Park from Arlene Nelson.
The price of $27,000, determines through an appraisal by Richard Koons of Chisago City, will be paid from park acquisition monies.
A small home on the property will be demolished.
Park Director Laird Mork told the commissioners that if, at a future date, the county opted to offer camping at the Checkerboard Park, the land could be used as a home site for a caretaker. That person then could oversee both the park and the county parkís shop building to the north of this property.
In other park business, the commissioners approved seal coating of the Sunrise Prairie Trail anticipating a $107,000 reimbursement from the Department of Natural Resources.
They also approved paying no more than $5,000 for an archaeological survey at Frandsen County Park on the north end of West Rush Lake.
The Minnesota Historical Society believes there is a good probability that unreported archaeological properties might be present in the park area.
Mork noted that following the report of the study, special adjustments may be needed to the plans for improvement at Frandsen Park to avoid disturbing sites identified in the project area.

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