By Anne Thom

Smelly water is still a concern in the city of Stacy.

Last week, maintenance supervisor Tom Archibald reported that he had looked into yet another issue with the water as directed at a previous council meeting. Archibald and other experts, including Chad Kolstad from Chisago County, who oversee the water safety, have determined that the lines on the outside edges of Stacy are not moving enough water or at least with enough force and that is causing the smell that residents of Haven Properties, a senior housing development, and the citizens of the Sunrise Mobile Home Park have complained about.

The iron content was also measured to be higher than expected indicating there may be deposits and build up causing the weak flow. Archibald will be working with City Engineer Chuck Schwartz to try to remedy the problems.

But Archibald has one more issue. He received a call from Mark Nelson from the Chisago Lakes Joint Sewage Treatment Commission (CLJSTC) plant.

Nelson reported there are rising flows coming in to the system from Stacy. Speculation on the cause immediately turned to the mobile home park. Faucets have been left on to prevent pipes from freezing. Councilor Barbara Avalos, a mobile home park resident, explained that in the older mobile homes, pipes were run on the outside of the home. Avalos admitted she does run her water in order to prevent the pipes from freezing. The added cost of paying for the water far outweighs the potential cost of frozen and burst water pipes.

Councilor Mel Aslakson concurred, "Water's cheaper than a freeze up," he said. Avalos said the pipes are wrapped with heat tape, but in the kind of subzero experienced over the early weeks of February, it isn't enough.

Later in the meeting, city engineer Chuck Schwartz reported the county and the CLJSTC have agreed to pay part of the cost of odor control equipment that the plant had installed when Stacy came onto the system.

The total cost is $77,000. The CLJSTC has agreed to pay $25,000; Chisago County will pay $13,000 leaving the remaining $39,000 to Stacy.

In other business, the council learned that the price of legal counsel will not be increasing for Stacy residents. City attorney Peter Grundhoefer spoke of the council's plan to have him attend only one meeting a month. Mayor John Daher said, "I was on the council when we tried that, we ended up postponing more and more things." He said ultimately it became frustrating and the council decided they needed to have Grundhoefer present at both meetings.

The city and Grundhoefer had agreed to try this as the budget had seen legal costs increasing, not necessarily due to Grundhoefer's bills but due to the city seeking legal counsel in specific areas of real estate law due to the battle over the annexation of Wyoming Township and employment law, as the result of litigation with a former city employee. The city budgeted $15,000 for Grundhoefer's services in 2005, $25,000 in 2006 and $20,000 for 2007 but an additional $20,000 is budgeted to cover other legal expenses.

Grundhoefer charges $95 an hour, which was quoted as below the standard attorney fee of $140-$220 hourly. He has not raised that rate in four years. City clerk Sharon Payne said she thought Grundhoefer's presence at both meeting actually saved the city money because he frequently reins in the issue immediately rather than letting discussion continue down a path that in the end would prove not feasible. Councilor Michael Carlson said the city should be doing quarterly reviews of the budget anyway and looking at areas that were either over funded or underfunded and adjusting appropriately.

• Councilmember Tony Olivolo, making a comparison to the booming Stars and Stripes establishment in Wyoming, asked about placement of some gaming machines in the city's bar. Accountant Amy Joslin assured Olivolo the machines are there and they do generate revenue. Aslakson requested the city do a postcard mailing to advertise the Stacy Bar and Grill. Aslakson said more than a year after the new bar and grill has been open, he is still hearing from people that they do not know food is served. When the grand opening took place in fall of 2005, there was a delay in the installation of the grills and some other kitchen equipment. The grill did eventually get up and running, but a chance to showcase that was lost. The city has considered holding a second grand opening.

• Residents of Foxtail Woods have complained about the lack of road plowing. The developer and not the city is responsible for the roads at this time because the city has not officially accepted the development project. Engineer Schwartz said the reason the project has not been accepted is the issues with the curb, gutter and the pavement that the developer has not corrected. The developer at this time was asking the city for a favor, the release of a bond back dated to 2006 in order to avoid paying a $10,000 premium for 2007. A motion was passed to release the bond in order to complete the public improvements on the condition the city could confirm the full $584,726 letter of credit is still in place, effective Nov. 1, 2006.

• A default notice has been authorized to be sent to the developer of King's Court for failure to reimburse the city $14,594. Schwartz told the council he heard they have no plans to move forward with a development.