By Anne Thom

The condition of city utilities seemed to dominate the May 24 meeting of the Stacy City Council.

One order of business was referred to as the ìincident of yesterday.î City Maintenance Supervisor Tom Archibald was still taking water samples to monitor for contamination after a water main broke. He said the valve came right off the pipe. A few homes and city hall had been left without water for quite sometime. Archibald said ìall is well today, except for some brown water.î

Two Stacy residents, Barbara and Robert Wilson, were at the meeting and placed a medium- sized jar filled with watery, brown sludge on the council table. They asked what it was because it came out of their faucet after 90 minutes of running water.

The cause, it was explained, was a broken water main that backed up into homes on their side of Stacy Trail. The couple had asked Archibald the same question. Reportedly he told them, ìIíll let you knowî as he was awaiting a response from county health officials. Barbara Wilson asked the council three questions: What is proper procedure for broken main repair? (What are) the consequences of not following proper procedure? What is being done to correct the damage caused?

The mess ruined the Wilsonís water heater and potentially has done other damage to appliances throughout the mobile home park. The Wilsons maintained their property has been ruined and they cannot seem to get anyone to take responsibility for the events that caused this.

Mayor Michael Carlson sympathized, but explained the issue was much more complex than a broken water main owned by the city.

The jurisdictional issue is that the mobile home park is private property, therefore it was the responsibility of the owner to notify the tenants of the condition of the water which may have necessitated a shut off to protect appliances. While the area is connected to city water, the age and condition of the pipes and lack of upgrades may have aggravated the water conditions as the city attempted to flush out the brown water from the pipes.

Mayor Carlson said he had been in contact with everyone all day long, including the mobile home parkís owner/managers. Because there may have been a delay in communication or any party acting the water system was not flushed until the morning following the break. Robert Wilson said it wasnít right, to which Mayor Carlson agreed. The mayor maintained that unfortunately it is not the cityís responsibility for notification of each tenant. Councilmember John Walz told the Wilsons the city would try to figure out what happened and Councilmember Barbara Otterson sympathetically added, ìLet Chuck (City Engineer Chuck Schwartz) see if he can find out what happened and didnít happen.î

Both the Wilsons and the council then went on to cite numerous problems with the maintenance and oversight of the mobile home park, from the condition and unsuitability of the tornado shelter to lead in the water supply to lack of or inability to perform inspections. The council told the Wilsons they would have the county work toward some inspections. Otterson cited reports that emergency vehicles are unable to navigate the narrow streets.

Xcel safety issue
Archibald shared a letter from Xcel Energy. Xcel had sent the city a letter requesting they be allowed to install a new pole near the water tower. The council had directed Archibald to find out why. The response from Ron Johnson at Xcel was there is too much business to the existing transfer pole and that is a safety issue. Xcel wants to put in a new pole behind the well house and loop it around essentially serving as another transformer. The city will go forward barring objection from City Engineer Chuck Schwartz.

EDA draft presented
City Attorney Peter Grundhoefer presented a draft of the resolution for the establishment of an Economic Development Authority (EDA). The council will hold a public hearing on establishment of an EDA on June 14. Following the hearing the enabling resolution can be adopted. Grundhoefer said once the EDA is established, the council meeting can be closed and the EDA can be convened to elect officers and approve bylaws. Grundhoefer recommended the council as the EDA board members for the time being. Councilman Daher felt there would be people at that meeting who would serve.
Hockey assoc. to help

Councilmember Daher had the North Branch Hockey Association added to the agenda.

Representing the association was president John Henderson. Previously, the council had discussed moving the warming house and it was decided May 10 that the warming house was in disrepair and moving it would not be cost effective. Daher proposed to offer the building to the fire department for a training burn exercise. The other suggestion had been to allow someone to dismantle the building for the materials. The council had decided it would be a lot of work to move the structure and as much or more money to fix it.

Henderson said the hockey associationís main objective is to have a place for the kids in the community to play hockey and free skate. He said the hockey association would like to see a new warming house and a permanent site for the open skate rink and would like it to be available this winter. Engineer Schwartz asked to be involved in order to get water run to the site. The association has committed hundreds of volunteer hours, $5,000 and is working on obtaining additional financial resources for the project.

Henderson estimated the cost on this project to be around $35,000. The council said they would be sure to involve the Lions Club. They are heavily involved in community parks and recreation activities. Mayor Carlson proposed a meeting with the hockey association and the Lions and promised to look for available park and recreation funds that could be used.

Schwartz also spoke about parks later in the meeting. He asked if the city going to establish a park fee. Most cities have a set lot fee assessed to a developer for the purpose of funding city parks. All agreed the city has plenty of land that could be used as park land. Schwartz asked the council if the city should write a park dedication ordinance. It was decided to have planner Samantha Crosby come up with a draft such an ordinance for review.

New sign ordinance
There is a new sign ordinance with a provision for ball park signs. Otterson had a question for the Council then about the placement of the signs in relation to the field and sight lines of the players on the field. Otterson pointed out that the ordinance is confusing as it states you cannot have advertising in the outfield but that you can have advertising in right and left field, further, a percentage of the advertising fee that is charged goes back into the park for improvements. The discussion then switched gears to include mention of the Lions Club organization. The Lionís Club is a major user of the ball park as well as a major financial contributor to the park and the community. A motion then was brought forward to amend the sign ordinance to allow broader use of signage at the park and to amend the fee, depending on if the organization was for-profit or non-profit. Samantha Crosby advised the council that the change would take ìtwo secondsî to draft and a public hearing to be scheduled.

Saving trees
City engineer Schwartz presented and discussed a letter from his firm, Bonestroo, Rosene, Anderlik & Associates, regarding the sewer to the Chisago Lakes Joint Sewage Treatment Commission facility. The letter announced the award of the project to Richard Knutson, Inc, the low bidder at $1,666,349.60 and addressed the environmental impact on forestation. Richard Knutson, Inc. has offered to complete a portion of the project using a process that is less damaging to the surrounding landscape as it would save the cutting of approximately 250 trees. There would be an additional cost of $83,300 incurred for using this method however, Richard Knutson, Inc. would still be the low bidder by a margin of $59,700. The council was generally in favor of the opportunity to have less impact on the environment.

In other news:
Juveniles were apprehended following an incident of vandalism in the park. Archibald was able to remove most of the graffiti, but will need to repaint. The mother has contacted the city and wants the kids to pay restitution.

It may be time for a new sidewalk at Municipal Building since the parking lot is currently torn up. Archibald will look into pricing.
ï The crosswalks will be repainted with epoxy paint, less likely to wear off than the current paint. The city will also repaint yellow curbs.

ï A public hearing regarding Tax Increment Financing (TIF) is scheduled for June 14 at 7 p.m.

ï A letter was received from the Wyoming Township attorney Thomas M. Fitzpatrick, dated May 17 declining Stacyís offer to be involved in discussions between Wyoming and Wyoming Township surrounding a possible merger or orderly annexation.

ï A memo was received from the Rush Line Corridor Task Force soliciting project ideas for spending expected state and federal transportation dollars for such things as rights of way, park and ride and park and pool venues.

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