TO THE EDITOR:

The citizens of North Branch are not being asked by their elected and non-elected city government officials if they are in favor of subsidizing Chisago County in their attempt to locate a new $2 million building in the high valued city owned land being developed north of town at 400th Street (ESSBY). While it may seem to some to be productive in this attempt to get the ball rolling with this initiative at ESSBY, I for one who pay property taxes in North Branch and this county would favor a land sale that would keep this high valued land on the property tax rolls.

The Chisago County board has been wrestling with locating a new home for its Health and Human Services department for over a year, and had shown some interest in another property for sale in North Branch as early as May of 2005. The property is 20 acres in size and is located at 38180 Hemingway Ave.

The building which is located on this property is known by many area residents as the Living Branch Church. Recently we read comments in this paper by Ms. Sheehan, the newly hired director of county HHS, where the building being planned for by the county board was referred to as a ìSardine Can.î

If $2 million of taxpayer money will only build a Sardine Can, what is the actual amount of tax money that the county board will spend in order to build a building that HHS can operate in for many years?

Though the 38180 Hemingway building contains larger square footage than the county board has planned for at ESSBY, and was designed and built in 2001 for commercial multipurpose use, the owner of 38180 Hemingway has never heard back from county officials beyond the physical inspection of May 2005.

North Branch taxpayers are going to be force-fed a county subsidy if they do not make their voices heard soon, and county taxpayers as a whole are going to find that their county board does not plan the best use of their hard-earned tax money when they decide to enter into the commercial building construction business. Best use of North Branch and county tax money would be for the county to enter into transactions for purchase of lands and buildings that are already removed from the tax roles and that offer HHS space to plan their growth for years to come, that is of course if these type of properties are available.

Peter Schaps
North Branch