By Patrick Tepoorten

It took just a little over 10 months to arrive at terms, but Rush City and Rush City School District have agreed to a deal that will allow the district to place a bus communications antenna on the city's water tower.

In exchange, the district will make improvements to a parking lot across from city hall on Eliot Ave. The district will correct the elevations of concrete pads in the lot associated with cleanup of a long ago gasoline spill that occurred when the property was the district's bus garage. It will also cover the lot in class 5 gravel as needed and provide trap rock for the surface of the lot. The district has agreed to grade the lot as needed.

The lot's ongoing maintenance will be shared equally by the city and the district, and the city will plow the lot in the winter.

In exchange for the parking lot improvements, which are estimated to cost the district $2,300, the city agreed to allow the placement of a communications antenna on the city water tower, and provide the electricity to power the equipment at no charge.

The agreement between the two parties was expected to be effective July 1, and continue for five years.

A memorandum of understanding was approved by the Rush City Council at its June 26 meeting, giving the agreement the official blessing of the city. The district has yet to approve it, but is expected to do so. "There is no doubt the board will move forward as well," said district superintendent Vern Koepp.

In other city news:

• With the proper amount of time and notice having been given by Chisago County Auditor Dennis Freed, the property on Forest Blvd. known as the old Dairy Queen, is no longer private property. According to City Administrator Amy Mell, property owner Dennis Carlson elected not to pay back taxes of $32,443 in order to reclaim it.

There are still a host of formalities regarding the property as it must be deeded to the county by the state, and in turn deeded to the city by the county. But there can be no doubt what the city's plans for the property and existing structure are. Mayor Jim Ertz called for the city to start collecting estimates for tearing down the abandoned structure.

Another troubled property, the old Creamery building, is also receiving attention by the city. According to Chisago County code enforcement official, property owner John Kleithermus received a letter requesting something be done about the property in May of 2006. In the time since, no permits have been sought to make necessary repairs and the deadline given in the letter of 60 days has long since come and gone.

Schneider, who called the building "dangerous" in a letter to the city, has requested that the city now follow up with some sort of legal action as "we did impose a deadline."

Ertz directed city staff to contact Chisago County Sheriff's deputy Karl Schreck, who deals with solid waste violations and property complaints for the county, and have him start issuing tickets for any violations of city ordinance. "That's a way to put pressure on," said Ertz.

• Chisago County HRA-EDA director Chris Eng informed the council that a public hearing regarding tax abatement for purposes of financing the taxiway for Rush City Regional Airport had not yet occurred. He encouraged the council to hold that hearing and sign a resolution to that affect, into the record.

The tax abatement in question would apply to hangar owners at the airport, and the taxes collected (from hangar lease taxes since 2003) would go toward the local portion of a federal grant.

The total cost of the taxiway stands at $838,675 right now, but that figure, which includes only construction, is expected to rise over the next year. The local share, which was originally 10 percent of project cost, has been reduced by the federal government to 5 percent, according to Joel Dresel, of the city's engineering firm SEH. Right now the local match portion stands at $41,000, but, again, is expected to rise.

Pine City has already agreed to provide $40,000 and the county pledged $22,500, of the as yet unknown total local match.

The city could decide to pay for a portion of its share with abatement and use the general fund for the remainder, or use abatement to pay the entire bill. According to Eng, it has up to 15 years to collect the taxes necessary to pay off the taxiway.

A public hearing on the tax abatement is scheduled for the Tuesday, July 24 city council meeting.

• The council approved a recommendation by the airport board to accept a bid of $41,000 by Advance Framing Systems for the rehabilitation of the arrival/departure building.

• Ron Sellers was given the council's nod to fill a vacancy on the Planning Commission. He will take his seat at the Aug. 6 meeting.

• Street closure's were approved for the Rush City Music and Art Festival, Aug. 18 and 19. Dana Street will be closed from 4th Street to 2nd Street. That is slightly different than last year's closure, which occurred from 3rd Street to 5th Street.