By Patrick Tepoorten

There was tension in the air at Mondayís North Branch city council meeting as the council was asked to pass multiple motions on Prairie Parkway Industrial Park, formerly ESSBY.

Specifically, a land use plan amendment that would change an area north of 400th street from IP (Planned Industrial) to LU2 and LU3 (Living Unit 2 and Living Unit 3 respectively) caused consternation for council members Theresa Furman and Amy Oehlers. Both voted against the change, which did receive three votes in favor. However, the proposed change required a super-majority and therefore was not approved.

Furman explained her vote by stating, ìthe city needs jobs not houses,î and added that her vote should not have come as a surprise since she has held that position all along. She also expressed frustration that requested police reports regarding LU2 and LU3 zoning were never delivered to her.

City Administrator Joe Lynch responded that Furmanís criticism was ìnot a fair statement,î and explained that he had informed Furman the reports would take time to compile. Furthermore, he stated that the council had decided at its last retreat not to collect that data.

Mayor Gloria Karsky suggested the issue be resolved at this Thursdayís work scheduled work session.

Oehlers explained her vote against in similar terms to Furman. ìThe whole purpose of an industrial park was to bring higher paying jobs,î she said, later adding that it was important to her that the city move on commercial and industrial areas before focusing on housing.

Other motions regarding Prairie Parkway, including various zoning changes, changes to the land use plan, the preliminary and final plat applications, passed.

In other city news:

ï Resolutions approving the preliminary plat, conditional use permit, planned unit development, and the final plat application for Oak Park Villas were passed by the council. According to Planning Director Alan Cottingham, concerns about tree preservation have been alleviated. He noted that a tree spade will be used to relocate some of the older trees.

ï A resolution approving a site plan for Joseph Carchedi was approved after discussion. Carchedi plans to transform a house on the corner of Elm Street and 7th Street into a cafe, complete with on site parking and a drive-thru. The council was concerned about a parking shortage in the lot and required Carchedi to find room on the property for two more spaces.

ï Lynch informed the council that BIKO Associates proposal to prepare the cityís downtown master plan totals $33,740. The council instructed him to continue negotiations with BIKO in the hopes of reducing that figure to no more than $25,000.

ï The council approved a draft of the Williams Park Referendum with 100 percent of the cost to be levied to taxpayers. Past discussions included the option of levying only 50 percent of the total cost, with the Park Dedication fund covering the rest of the cost. In a letter to the council, Cottingham stated, ìStaff has discussed this issue and thinks it may be better to have the taxpayers pay for the entire bond and that way the Park Dedication fund could continue to be used to make improvements to existing parks...î

According to Cottingham, the city has already been levying approximately $80,000 a year for park improvements, so levying the entire Williams amount, ($1.5 million over 20 years) would only raise those dedicated taxes by one-third, to roughly $128,000 annually.

Another reason given for not accessing the Park Dedication fund was that doing so would empty the account, thus halting any unrelated park improvements until the fund could be replenished.

ï The council approved the placement of a municipal well at Duck Creek Park.

ï The council reported that there has been 10 building permits issued in the second quarter. This follows a first quarter that saw only eight permits issued. Finance Director Dave Stutelberg was instructed to provide the council with ideas for covering the monetary shortfall for 2006, to be presented at Thursdayís work session.