Posted: 3/1/06
Hockey kids thrilled with council vote
 Many young hockey players bearing yellow signs asking the council to adopt the resolution supporting an arena showed up at the NB council meeting Monday. |
By MaryHelen Swanson
ěGive us a chance to make this dream a reality,î said NB Hockey Association president Jeff Henderson as he talked to the North Branch City Council Monday night. The council was about to vote on a resolution of support of the hockey associationís dream of an arena in town. The room was filled to overflowing with hockey kids and their parents.
At the end of a lengthy discussion, the council came together on the resolution. When the ěayeî vote was called for, there were many little voices added to the councilorsí and the mayor gave a little chuckle at their enthusiasm. The vote was followed by loud applause.
The facility will cost $2.5 million to construct, Henderson noted, a figure the association plans to cover entirely. Annual operating costs could be around $230,000.
The intention is to have the facility be multi-purpose, six months of ice, six months dry.
The resolution allows the association to build the arena on city-owned property. No location has been set.
The resolution says that the city will provide infrastructure to connect the facility to the cityís utilities as well as provide landscaping, parking lots and sidewalks.
The resolution says the cityís attorney will draft a formal agreement between the city and the association regarding the obligations of both parties.
Added to the resolution was that the parties will work out a time frame for the project to be done, or the city could be sitting on land indefinitely.
And at the request of Councilor Kathy Blomquist, the resolution includes a note that alternate resources for financing recreation needs be researched.
The hockey associationís intentions are to turn the building over to the city when completed.
There will be questions about who will operate and schedule time at the facility.
The preferred site, according to City Administrator Joe Lynch, is the Williams Park property behind the fire hall.
Lynch also noted that if the city owned the building, it would be responsible for operations and filling the building.
If the hockey association owned it, that would be their responsibility.
Itís a first step and it made a lot of little hockey players very happy this week.
Development dilemma
Less happy were the proposed developers of the Green Acres property, Shade Tree Communities, who had to reconfigure their development after it was evaluated by the Chisago County Technical Evaluation Panel (TEP).
TEP had concerns with the filling of four wetlands in the south central portion of the development. The new configuration calls for more wetlands saved in that area.
To do this, Shade Tree came up with a plan that reduced the northern buffer area, requested by the council, to a 20í strip.
The new configuration offered by Shade Tree also was different in lot number. Last spring they proposed 145 lots, during the year the number was reduced to 138, the new number was 141.
Jeff Fertig, Chisago County Wetland Specialist, reminded everyone that TEPís business is to preserve quality and quantity of wetlands in the county. TEP decided it was better for the wildlife to have a larger area of wetland preserved.
Besides the TEP requested changes, the council dug in solidly on not reducing the northern buffer strip.
This did not please Shade Tree representatives who said there had been give and take between the city and them on this project.
He said it would not be economic for the developers to reduce lot numbers in order to leave the larger buffer area.
City Councilwoman Amy Oehlers was not interested in their economic situation.
Fertig said the developers should have gone to TEP earlier in the planning process.
The council moved to adopt a resolution that an environmental impact statement (EIS) was not necessary for the original Shade Tree plat, but they refused to come to consensus about changing the size of the buffer area on the north of the development.
Councilor Theresa Furman was also concerned about Blandings turtles and excavation during construction in the area of the old county poor farm cemetery which is being preserved in the plat process.
City Engineer Julie Dresel assured her and the other councilors that if any remains are uncovered during construction, the work is shut down and the Minnesota Historical Society comes in and makes decisions about what to do.
In other business,
ď The council approved performance evaluations for Erma Parsons, liquor store manager Tom Agnes, police secretary Kathy Minnichsoffer and planning director Alan Cottingham.
ď The council moved to go out for bids for storm sewer overflow pipe improvements for Gateway South.
ď The council learned that the cityís State Aid apportionment for 2006 is $372,767.
ď Approved the purchase of a skidsteer from Olson Power and Equipment for $2,212.22.
ď Set 7 p.m., April 12 as the date for the Board of Appeals on taxes. It will be held at city hall this year.
ď Received the January police report noting incident numbers down from January 2005. However some areas were up including speeding, DUI complaints and check fraud.
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