By Aaron Vehling

The North Branch City Council passed an ordinance Monday night that will penalize those whose automatic systems trigger false alarms.

The ordinance is a response to a growing number of false alarm calls to which the police department has responded.

In 2000 police responded to 270 calls and by 2004 that number was up to 345. From 2000 to 2004 the police department responded to a total of 1,563 emergency calls. A majority of those calls, according to a staff report from Police Chief Jules Zimmer, were false because of owner or user error, carelessness or defective equipment.

If a home or business owner has between zero and three false alarms per calendar year that person will not be charged a fine. A fourth false alarm fine is $100. Beyond that the fees start to pile up. A fifth or subsequent false alarm is the previous fee plus an additional $100. In other words, a fifth false alarm will cost $200 but a sixth false alarm is $300.

When police or fire department crews receive a false alarm they will bring a copy of the ordinance with them to the scene, said City Administrator Joe Lynch at the meeting.

Also at the meeting Patrick Anderson, formerly of North Branch and currently a developer in Madison, Wis., presented to the council his plans for a residential and commercial development on the corner of Highway 95 and Falcon Avenue.

Anderson discussed what comprises the development and the planning commissions recommendations from an earlier meeting.
Anderson intends for the 40-acre development to be anchored by a grocery store and augmented with a sit-down restaurant, gas station, fitness center, office space and bank. The original plan calls for 15 acres of condominiums that Anderson said could be senior or multi-family housing.

ìI am flexible at this point,î he said. ìThere is a market for both.î

Anderson said the planning commission was apprehensive about having so much residential. The commission also said that the access onto Hwy. 95 was too close to the intersection with Falcon Avenue.

ìI am proposing to move the access onto 95 further west,î he said, which would remove a retention pond. ìIíd sacrifice the fitness center for now, move the bank center and commerce back, thus reducing the residential side.î

Anderson told the council that a city the size of North Branch could use a development like this. He said a city of 10,000 can use more than one grocery store.

The main problem that Mayor Gloria Karsky saw with the plan was access and traffic flow, otherwise she was pleased with it.

ìI like the plan a lot,î she said. ìIt looks like a great addition to the city.î

Councilmembers Kathy Blomquist and Theresa Furman did not like the amount of residential the development had to offer. Andersonís original plan called for 200 units, but he said he could reduce it to 125-150 units. He said that the idea was to have a place where people could walk to retail interests.

The dynamic between city officials and Anderson grew more contentious when he asked the council to submit an application for a traffic study for him, a move which would show the Department of Transportation the cityís support for the project, he said.

ìThe Department of Transportation is asking that the application for the driveway permit come from the city,î he said. ìDoing so starts the process of the traffic study.î

City engineer Julie Dresel said that the typically the roadway process comes about through the planning process.

Anderson said that Mn/DOT is requiring him to get a traffic study before he can go ahead with an access point on Hwy. 95.
ìIf I cannot get access off 95 then the retailers I am talking to wonít come to the site,î he said.

The council voted 4-1 to send a letter to Mn/DOT saying that it supports the concept of access on Hwy. 95 contingent on a plat. Blomquist was the sole dissenter.

Also at the meeting:
ï Ecumen withdrew its rezoning request for the Green Acres property. Steve Mork, the companyís representative, said in a letter to City Planner Alan Cottingham that Ecumen appreciates ìthat the city has tabled this request as an acceptable development plan has been pursued.î

Mork said in the letter that Ecumen looks forward to introducing to the planning commission a ìdeveloper that has a positive record of working with other cities in various north-metro communities.î

ï The council 4-1 to pass a resolution which calls for no parking on either side of 392nd Street next to the new Abundant Life church. Councilor Larry Erickson was the sole dissenter.

City engineer Julie Dresel said that the road was not designed to accommodate people parking on both sides of the street. She said that parking is already forbidden on the street as part of the conditional use permit for the youth center, but the resolution would ensure that signage would be placed up to inform people of the parking ban.

ìThe 24-foot wide rural street was never intended for parking on both sides,î Dresel said. ìWhen people park on both sides of the street it is difficult to get through.î

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