Posted: 11/10/04
By Aaron Vehling
The Chisago County Board of Commissioners decided last Wednesday to table a vote on the purchase agreement with Ecumen and set up a special meeting tonight to discuss the issue further.
John Racek, of Larson Allen, met with the board to discuss the Ecumen Purchase Agreement and the countyís liability in regard to the Green Acres Country Care Center (GACCC).
Commissioner Rick Olseen offered a motion to approve the agreement, pending review from County Attorney Katherine Johnson.
He said that having a nursing home and assisted living complex would be good for North Branch.
ìYou canít put a value on having these services available,î he said.
But a few issues kept the board from welcoming the purchase agreement with open arms.
Commissioner Ben Montzka was concerned that the lease was inadequate.
He said in a phone interview that he felt the current lease agreement is drafted to allow Ecumen to ìhave their cake and eat it too.î
ìThey are getting land and not releasing us from a multi-million dollar penalty we have under the lease agreement,î he said.
Attorney Johnson expressed some concern about the agreement as well, during the meeting.
Eventually, Olseen and Gustafson removed their motions to approve the agreement and the decision was made to look at the issue further during tonightís (Nov. 10) meeting.
Though the board did not decided on the purchase agreement, they did vote unanimously to have the county attorney seek a complete opinion from the attorney generalís office regarding the issue.
In other news, Commissioner Lori Walker led the board in a unanimous vote to form a resolution to request the Minnesota Department of Transportation to do a speed limit study on Forest Boulevard from 375th Street to Hwy 95 in North Branch.
Walker said a constituent prompted her to look into this. The person was concerned that the speed limit was not appropriate for the area.
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