HomeMy WebLinkAbout1993 [06] Jun 21
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Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the st. Joseph City Council,
st. Joseph Planning Commiss.ion, st. Joseph Township Board, and st.
Joseph Township Planning Commission met in a joint session on Monday,
June 21 , 1993 at 8:00 p.m. at the st~ Joseph Township Hall.
City Counci 1 Members Present: Mayor Donald "Bud" Reber. Members of the
Counc i 1 Ross Rieke, Stephanie Hazen, Bob Loso, Ken Hiemenz.
Clerk/Administrator Rachel Stapleton.
City Plannin~ Commissioners Pre.sent: Chair Hub Klein. Commissioners
S. Kathleen Kalinowski, Marge Lesnick, Dan Nierengarten, Andy Brixius.
Secretary of the Board Judy Weyrens.
Township Board Members Present: Jerome Salzer, Joe Becht.old, Bernie
Schloemer. Towoship Clerk ,Anna Reischl.
Township Plannin~ Commissioners: David Thralow, Ralph Eiynck, John
Schroeder, Fred Reber.
Others Present: Bob Heim, Fred Sandal, B i 1 i Wasner, Leon Hoffmann, Paul
Kollman, Gary Heltemes.
The purpose of the speci a 1 meeting was to continue discussion on the
possible merger.
Jerome Salzer introduced Bob Heim, a representative from Le Sauk
Township, and turned over the meeting to him.
Bob Heim stated that he worked with Le Sauk Township in their
consolidation efforts with the City of Sarte 11 . Berore meeting with
Sartell, Le Sauk compiled research for approximately three years.
Research included revlewlng every annexation brought before the State
of Minnesota Municipal Board for 25 years. The actual process began
after the data collection and extended for a period of 21 to 24 months.
Le Sauk Township and Sartell started their discussion with the thoughts
or merging. After- discussions and research, the concept or merging was
dropped and they established a joint orderly annexation agreement. All
the residents were asked face to race what municipality they wanted to
be a part of. A 11 but one area or Le Sauk Township expressed wishes to
become part or Sartel1.
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The biggest. strugg 1 e throughðut the' process was educating the
res i dents. ~. Three rourths or the committee I s time was spent squelching
rumors and ~orrecting misinformation.
At this time Bob stated that he could better give the Township and City
information by answering their questions.
Councilor Hazen: Where do we start? What is the first step, do we
work on Ordinances and Policies or do we address merging?
Bob Heim: The City and Township must rirst determine what is in
the best interest of their residents. When Le Sauk and Sarte 1 )
looked at their Ordinances and Comprehensive Pian, they
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determined that they were very simllar. There wi 1 1 be times
during the process that wi i i become very trying. It is extremely
important to remember not to let any one issue side stop the
process.
Township Commissioner Reber: Did Le Sauk and Sarte 11 have any natural
barriers dividing the property?
B. Heim: Le Sauk Township contained approximately 1ï.3 sections
with both a rlver and Highway 15 being natural barriers.
Supervisor Bechtold: Did you discuss serVlces during the planning
stages?
B. Heim: During the process, residents had a hard time separating
the concept or annexation and services. Even though residents
were a l~ready annexed to the City, they had to request serVlces.
A tiered system was estab 1 i shed as follows:
1 . Fu 11 Service Area - received a 11 City serVlces to include
utility, police, fire, and snow remova 1 .
2. Urban Service District: surrounding area without fu 1 1
serVlces. This area is taxed differently and residents
would have to request services, includlng po 1 ice protection.
3. Agricultural Preservatlon District: Taxes are averaged on a
non metro rate structure. ThlS dlst.r;ct. functions with a
seven year contract. The contract cannot oe broken durlng
this time and must be renewed. For example, if a developer
wanted to develop a portion or land in this district, s/he
would have to wait unit the seven year contract expired.
Supervisor Schloemer: How did Le sauk and Sartel i handle re-zoning
requests?
B. Heim: A joint Planning Commission was established with three
members rrom each municipality. The recommendation from the
Joint Commission would go to the municipality in which the
property requesting re-zoning is located.
Supervisor Schloemer: How did you handle zoning?
B. Heim: Any land that was annexed that was zoned industrial or
commercial would come into Sartell 1 n the lowest classification
of indus-trial or commercial, depending upon what they were
originally zoned. Al1 other properties come in as R-1.
Supervisor ~chloemer: Would it have been easier to merge than go
through orderly annexation?
B. Heim: Yes. He would st i 11 recommend merger, but that word
scared many of the residents. Merger 1 S an easier concept.
Counci lor Rieke: What percent of the residents were skeptical for
rínancial reason?
B. Heim: About 80 percent. The residents were arraid that there
would be a significant tax lncrease. Another rear was the
hookup fees for the uti llty serVlces.
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Supervisor Salzer: How did you handle road repairs?
B. Heim: The costs for some of the road repairs are through
a joint effort. They are bid as one project and the cost is
divided. The location and type of road determines the method of
cost sharing for repairs.
Commissioner Kalinowski: How did you approach the communication?
B. Heim: We had two rules or thumb:
1. To provide the services we can at the most economical
price. Long rang& planning was more economi ca 1 . Residents
knew when the service was available and what is was going to
cost them.
2. Keep your nose out of all other business.
Supervisor Salzer: Were you satisried with the consultants that you
hired?
B. Heim: Ed cheetah was very good at comp i ì i ng information in a
very professional manner. B 1 11 Hanson, APO, was the facilitator
and was excel lent. 8 i 1 ì provided direction and was able to
bring them back on track whenever they would stray.
Supervisor Salzer: would you do it the same way again?
B. Heim: One or the things that I would do differently 1 S to
educate the pub 1 i c for a couple of months first. The process
would rìow better if the direction lS a positive one and
illustrate it as the best solution for everyone.
Supervisor Salzer: Would you be willing to serve as a consultant ror
the City of st. Joseph and the Township of st. Joseph?
B. Heim: Yes.
As no one had additional questions, Bob Heim left.
Both boards discussed the possibility or hiring Mr. Heim as a
consultant. Supervisor Salzer stated that Bob would be willing to be a
consultant and wi 11 submit a fee schedule.
After discussion, all those present concurred to ask the Mayor of
Sartell, Bob Pogatshnlk, to speak at the next Joint meeting.
Supervisor Salrer recessed the meeting for 10 minutes at 8:50 p.m.
Supervisor sa..l zer reconvened the meeting at 9:00 p.m.
Fred Sandal - $t. cloud Area Planning Organization, discussed the
transportation plan or both the City and Township of st. Joseph. The
st. Joseph Planning Commission has omitted the portion of the
transportation plan which 1 s proposed to cross through the property
owned by the College/Convent of st. Benedict. At this time he asked
for discussion on this issue.
Township Members stated that they have spent much time dealing with
this issue and they have included the roadway in their comprehensive
plan. Town Clerk Anna Reischl read a letter dated ln 1988 at which
time a representative from the Col lege/Convent of St. Benedict agreed
to the roadway and looked forward to working with them. She also
stated that she had a copy of the Annexat.ion agreement between the City
of st. Joseph and the Township of st. Joseph, annexing the remaining
portion of st. Benedict, which states that the City of st. Joseph wi 1 ì
adopt the transportation plan as approved by the Township. This
agreement was contingent upon the Township slgnlng the Annexation
agreement, and was filed with the state of Mlnnesota Municipal Board.
Commissioner Bechtold stated that the Township feels very strongiy
about the transportation plan. Traffic along County Rd 121 1 S
extremely heavy ln the mornings, and the trafflC needs to be routed 1 n
an efficient manner. However, he stated that the Township would be
willing to look at an alternative plan if they City wiShed to provide
one.
Mayor Reber felt that there had to be an alternative route avallable,
as it seems unjust to cut ~t- Benedict's property i n two. He would
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also 1 i ke copies of the documents illustrating St. Benedict's
agreement to the proposed roadway made a va i 1 ab 1 e to the City
Additional ly, he requested information as to what type of roadway w 1 11
be constructed and how it wi ì 1 be control led. Counci lor Rieke felt
that the City needs to discuss this matter further among themselves as
a board, berore bringing ¡\..- to a joint meeting.
The next meeting date as established as elther September 8th or lSt.h,
depending on the Bob Pogatshn i k. ' s schedule, and wi 1 1 oe hosted by the
City, at the St. Joseph Clty Ha 11.
The meeting was adJourned at 9:30 p.m.
Respect fu 11 y Submitt.ed,
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Judy Weyrens
Secretary of the Board