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North Branch gets new administratorBy Barbara Brown At Monday nightís meeting of the North Branch City Council, the council unanimously agreed to hire Joseph Lynch, formerly the administrator in Arden Hills. Lynchís base salary will be $65,000 per year. He will be given a $225 allowance per month for use of his vehicle on city business within the metro area and will be reimbursed for mileage outside that area. Lynch is expected to begin work at City Hall before the end of August. The council also voted to allow city engineering contractor WSB & Associates to start plans for street and utility improvements for the third addition to the cityís industrial park. The project could cost as much as $806,562, but much of that amount could be absorbed by grant money if the city is awarded a Minnesota business development public infrastructure grant for which it is applying. City engineer Julie Dresel told the council that allowing engineering plans to be drawn up does not bind the city into following through with the project. She said two requirements to apply for the infrastructure grant is that the project be an assessment project ñ more than $700,000 could be assessed to industrial park property owners affected by the upgrade ñ and that engineering documents would be finished. During the meeting, the city also approved the loan papers for $11.5 million from the Minnesota Public Facilities Authority at a rate of 2.34 percent per annum. The loan would be used to pay for sewer system upgrades that the council voted for at previous meetings. Another expense the council agreed to was $60,000 to pay for aerial topography maps by Horizons. The company would work with a ground survey crew to develop digital maps of a majority of North Branch including the municipal urban service area and adjacent property. Dresel told the council that the topography mapping is an essential part of quality, efficient and accurate engineering. She said the maps would be useful as the city takes on its comprehensive sanitary sewer plan update as well as future Economic Development Authority projects. The city also could sell digital maps to landowners or developers for up to $2,000 per section map ñ the amount they are sold for in Washington County. Also at the meeting, the council: ï Received an updated population count for the city from the State Demography Center which listed North Branchís April population at an estimated 8,978 and its household number at an estimated 3,160; ï Approved a ìNo Parkingî zone on both sides of Hemingway Ave. in the section north of Lincoln Trail (CR 14) as required by the state Department of Transportation; ï Approved spending the budgeted $150,000 for street overlay projects for Oak Ridge Drive, Oak Ridge Court, Birch Street, Crestview Drive, Pine Street, Third Ave. north from Maple Street to Hwy. 95 and Maple Street from CR 30 to CR 14; ï Agreed to let WSB & Associates prepare plans for reconstruction of the city-owned parking lot between the American Legion and the North Branch Post Office. City staff also will work on a plan at another time to help pay for maintaining parking areas within the cityís business district whether by parking meter or a fee to area businesses; ï Approved the conditional use permit for the Sunrise River School planned for a school district-owned lot east of Grand Avenue and just south of 381st Street; and ï Approved closing 4th Ave. between Hwy. 95 and Maple Street on Aug. 16 from 3 p.m. to midnight for a neighborhood block party contingent upon approval from the cityís police, fire and public works departments. ©ECM Post Review |