Posted: 4/21/04
By Barbara Brown
The Stacy City Council is entertaining the idea that a proposed casino could be built within the city should the plan be approved by the state.
The council received a letter from County Commissioner Ben Montzka, presented at the April 13 council meeting, about a casino that could be located within 45 to 75 miles of the 494/694 interchange.
The council was excited to read about the plan of the Red Lake and White Earth tribes which want to build a 500 room hotel, 68,000 square-foot convention center and a casino with 4,000 slots on a 100-acre parcel and install 5,000 parking spaces.
It would bring about 3,000 jobs with an average pay of $30,000 after the casino opened and could take 4,900 workers to build.
It could bring in nearly $4 million in property taxes each year and three percent of the casinoís profit would be shared with the city and county. According to recent estimates, Stacy could expect to share about $4 million each year with Chisago County with another $90 million going to the state.
While the council did not make any decisions on the project, the members indicated they would like to hear more about the project to determine whether they should nominate Stacy as a location.
The state Legislature first must approve the request, submitted through bill HF2135. The casino would operate in conjunction with the Minnesota State Lottery.
New water meters approved
The council also agreed at the meeting to implement a plan to change water meters throughout the city.
City water usage readings have been inaccurate for more than a year. In a recent move, the maintenance staff began using outside meters that can be read remotely using radio frequencies.
However, remote meter readings still were impossible on about 50 accounts and several other accounts continue to show distinct differences between what usage seems typical and what the readings show.
The council voted to allow a private firm, RMR Systems Total Turnkey Solution, to install new indoor water meters in every home in the city for a cost of about $200 per meter.
The city currently owns 100 meters and needs to buy 125 meters at a cost of about $25,000. The city plans to pay $31,000 up front for installation of the new meters and then recoup that amount over one year by charging customers by installment.
The city will give each household a $100 credit toward the meter as a deposit that would be returned should the person sell the house. The remaining $100 would be charged by installments.
City tests on five of the meters that will be installed showed 85 percent accuracy. The cityís revenue from water bills could increase 10 percent to 15 percent because readings will be more accurate.
With the average water bill at about $116 per quarter, with $57 toward water and $59 toward sewer, annual revenue could increase for the city by as much as $10,000.
Mayor Michael Carlson said the meters were necessary because the cityís water and sewer systems were consistently operating at deficits and it is important that the systems be self-sufficient, if only to help the council get a better idea about actual water usage and future needs for the city.
Other business
The city also approved a two-year lease on a 2003 John Deere 1145 Series II tractor mower for $4,047 per year. The mower would replace the cityís current mower which cost $3,834 per year but needs a new set of blades.
Also at the meeting, the council discussed a possible project that would realign some pipes in the Sunrise Pines area that would prevent sewer backup into residential buildings during times of heavy rainfall.
A backup occurred in about five houses March 21 on Fenway Court. After examining the piping under a manhole in the road, city engineer Chuck Schwartz determined that two pipes were not aligned properly and that caused runoff to flow over a concrete barrier in the manhole and overflow or back-up.
The city will hear options on repairing the situation; including whether the city should simply realign the pipes or build a second concrete structure under the street to control the situation.
For now, the city agreed to have the pipes in the system in the Fenway Court area cleaned. The council believed the pipes had not been cleaned since their installation about 35 years ago.
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