By Clark Natalie

The public must have been paying attention to the local activity at the Harris City Council meetings and taken heed of advice to attend the meetings. It was a packed house with every chair filled Monday, Aug. 8 as the council dealt with a number of issues.

Greg James, a resident for about a year, felt the speed limit on Harder Avenue, where he lives, is not safe. Harder is a gravel road with houses with small children. The speed limit presently is 55 mph.

James said the gravel makes vehicles hard to control at 55 mph, and with at least 8 children, some waiting for the school bus, James requested a speed study to lower the limit. City maintenance engineer Mike Kirz has ordered and will install school bus stop signs in that area, which may help. But Kirz said the city can not arbitrarily change the speed limit and needs to have the traffic study done before action can be taken.

Councilmember Doug Chaffee noted that Sheriff Todd Rivard and a county commissioner will attend a council meeting in September to discuss these types of problems. He urged James and others with concerns to attend.

ABCs of Wastewater
Although the City Engineer, Chuck Schwartz was unable to attend, he did forward a memo to Mayor Rick Smisson concerning the waste water project which said that Plan ìA,î which is to contract with North Branch, is not promising. The cost may be more than anticipated, which would make Plan ìBî more affordable. Plan ìBî is to construct a new pond system within the city limits.

The mayor brought up a Plan ìCî which had been recommended to him by Rep. Pete Nelson. Plan ìCî is a new process being touted by a Minnesota corporation. It would be a cheaper system. The company has had very good luck with the system, but Harris would be the first time the system is used for a community system. Minnesota Pollution Control has indicated the system, as first proposed would not meet there standards. The company is making changes to the specifications to bring the proposed system to meet the MPCA specifications. This will change the cost, but should still be cheaper than Plan ìB,î as explained in the engineer's memo.

The council will also have to compare the operating costs. The proposed system would be a Class A system which would require a full-time, licensed operator. This would increase operating costs over the long term.

The company will have the revised proposal to the council within two weeks so that the application for funding at a 1.5 percent rate can be submitted in a timely manner.

A driveway concern
Rodney Johnsonís property at the south end of Ginger Avenue continues to have problems. Chisago County has indicated that the entrance must be moved 300 yards to the west which would put it at the S & C Bank. The present location is too close to County Road 30. The county recently adopted a traffic plan which limits access to 300 feet, instead of 150 feet. The county engineer is concerned about traffic backing up onto CR 30. A meeting is set up with the county for Aug. 17 to discuss options. It was pointed out that if the road is deemed a ìPublicly Recognized Road,î the issue goes away. A Publicly Recognized Road is a specific definition. The question was who deems Ginger Avenue as such? That will be investigated before the 17th.

The Legion building
Ralph Carlson, commander of American Legion Post #139, shared the Legion's view of the use of the building that houses the Post. He brought a copy of the original lease signed by the City and the Post. It shows that the Legion has leased the property for 99 years, of which there are 66 yet to go. As lessees, they feel they can sub-lease the property to whom they decide. Although the city has the right to use the building when they need it, the income the Post generates from sub-leasing goes to the upkeep and maintenance of the building.

In other business:
ï Kirz brought up the repair of the cold storage building next to the fire hall. Someone had driven into the building, damaging some of the siding. Kirz had three unopened bids to present to the council. The bids ranged from $665 to $1,295. Only one bid offered to repaint the new siding to match the existing color. If this isnít done, the building will be three different colors. The council directed Kirz to have the companies rebid, painting the complete side to match the present color. Panels of the present color can not be purchased as that particular color was discontinued in 1985.

ï Heartbreakers was bought up in a positive manner. Chaffee said there had been three beer bottles in the parking lot. When mentioned to the Heartbreakers contact person, the parking lot was cleaned. The mayor noted that the communication system that was set up is working. He had received a call from Heartbreakers to let the city know that the business had been vandalized and the sheriffís department had been notified.

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