By Clark Natalie

The Harris City Council passed a resolution to adopt a preliminary budget of $623,890 at its regular meeting Sept. 11. This would keep the levy at the same figure as prior years, $292,953.

This means that with the increase in value in Harris, the tax rate would drop from 28.779 percent to 25.7550 percent. A decrease of approximately 10 percent.

The cityís Truth in Taxation meeting is set for Dec. 11 at 7 p.m.

Before the council approved the preliminary budget, it reviewed the different options that could or could not be included.

An item that may have to wait is the painting of the water tower. Maintenance Supervisor Mike Kriz said the bids on having the tower repainted were estimated at $300,000. To replace it was closer to $600,000. At the present time, the tower is not leaking, so it will wait.

Some of the other items being considered for the 2007 budget are a new or used grader, improving the ball field, with both lights and additional gravel and setting up an Internet Web site for the city.

One item that is being planned for, but not budgeted for, was the five-year plan to improve the gravel roads. On the proposed budget, Kriz had $51,000 for road maintenance. This figure is to continue what they have done, including the chloride treatments. To do the five-year plan, an additional $20,000 needs to be added to that figure. The council decided not to increase the amount, but if any funds could be freed up from other departments with grants or other income, it would be transferred into this fund.

The council listened to Chris Eng, the Chisago County EDA/HRA director, make a presentation on how Harris could start an Economic Development Authority (EDA). Eng said it is important to the county and to Harris to develop commercial enterprises.

Eng said that the EDA can help market commercial opportunities in Harris. Harris has a lot of open land for development. Commercial entities will move onto the land and pay to have the facilities improved to the area they are in. If there are certain areas that Harris has designated for specific types of commercial development, the EDA can be used to purchase land to hold for that future development.

The EDA can also be used to revitalize the downtown areas. Through grants, the EDA can set up a revolving loan fund to bring new commercial entities to Harris, or revitalize specific areas.

To create an EDA in Harris, the first step would be to pass a resolution to that purpose. Then an organizational meeting must be held. A public hearing has to be held and posting to fill the board positions must be made. Eng offered to serve as a non-voting member of the board to help Harris establish its EDA.

In other city news:

ï The council decided to hire the American Legal Publishing Corporation and the League of Minnesota Cities to codify the ordinances of Harris. This will put present ordinances into an accessible format. This action had been decided on at prior meetings, and this action was to approve the contract. The cost will be $9.870, spread over at least two years, possibly three. This will provide the update to the ordinances, publish 20 copies of the ordinances. The ordinances will also be on either CD or Internet, or both.

ï Fire Chief Will Lacina brought up the issue of raises for the firefighters. Earlier in the meeting, the council had chosen to increase the amount paid to attend fire calls to $14 in the 2007 Budget.

Lacina asked the council to consider applying that increase to those calls the firefighters had attended in 2006.

Lacina indicated that when raises had been discussed, it was conceived that it would happen when they got paid next. The firefighters have not been paid for 2006 fire calls yet.

The council said they would consider this and deal with it at the next meeting.