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What officials had to say
By Steve Morris
 The first three days of the hearing dealt with testimony from Chisago City, with the final days set aside for Wyoming Township.
Administrative Law Judge Steven Mihalchick heard testimony from the Stacy mayor, Stacy’s certified public accountant and Stacy’s engineer in the morning session. Stacy city planner Phil Carlson testified in the afternoon session.
Stacy Mayor John Daher testified at the annexation hearing March 27 at the Wyoming City Hall. Daher said it was his understanding the judge has up to 90 days to give a ruling.
The fourth day of administrative hearings to consider annexation of
Wyoming Township by Chisago City, Stacy and Wyoming continued on March
27 at Wyoming City Hall.
A small group of people were present to listen to the proceedings as
the morning session was loaded with testimony from people with Stacy ties.
See also: Annexation under considerat ion: Public comment
A team of lawyers were present to represent each city involved, asking questions about reports, infrastructure and taxes.
Certified public account Joe Rigdon kicked off the day at 9 a.m. with his account of annexation from his professional accounting background. It was Rigdon’s second day on the stand, having testified two days prior on March 25. Representing the city of Stacy was annexation lawyer George Hoff, from the firm Hoff, Berry and Kozar in Eden Prairie. Hoff questioned Rigdon about his accounting report on Stacy, focusing on taxes and local government aid.
“There will be no impact on the amount of local government aid received if this annexation happens,” Rigdon said.
Rigdon further testified Stacy was not projected to increase in population by more than 5,000 people and that population prediction is used to get a figure for local government aid.
“If Stacy’s local government aid gets cut, it might have a significant impact on the Stacy’s budget,” Rigdon said.
Next on the stand was Stacy Mayor John Daher.
Hoff asked Daher about contracts the city has.
Daher testified Stacy has a contract with Metrowest inspections to handle the city’s inspections.
“In the annexation is granted, we will continue with them,” Daher said.
Daher further testified about a petition organized and mailed to homes in the annexation area by the former mayor. He said about 30 letters were mailed.
Concluding the morning session was Stacy engineer Charles Schwartz.
He testified on Stacy’s infrastructure capacity and what would be needed if the annexation of Wyoming Township were to happen. Schwartz said to fully serve the south area, one or more lift stations would be needed. He also noted the sewer line is currently running at about 39 percent capacity, or at about 80,000 gallons a day.
Schwartz said Stacy currently has sewer and water infrastructure about 800 feet from the annexation area. Wyoming, Schwartz said, has water and sewer infrastructure about 8,000 feet away.
Schwartz also talked about environmental issues and said the soil in the annexation area is susceptible to pollution. He said some of the soil in the area is not good for septic systems.
In an interview after the trail, Daher said he was happy with how Stacy’s day in court went. He said it was his understanding the administrative law judge has up to 90 days to make his decision. The trail started March 24 and nine days were scheduled for it, Daher said.
Daher said it was unfortunate the case had to come to trail. He said the process has cost Stacy about $120,000.
“I would have liked this not go to court because it has cost both entities a lot of money,” he said.
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