Joe Drennan
Staff WriterA 4-1 vote by the Columbus Town Board Wednesday , Aug. 25 approved the North Metro Harness Initiativeís application for a harness racing track, 24/7 card room and a restaurant, with supervisor Tom Hefty as the only opposing vote.
The approval last week is the final step in the local review process but more state approvals are needed before the track can start construction.
The town board voted to rezone the property NMHI intends to build their racetrack on from commercial industrial to a Horse Racing (HR) district. The HR district would allow for standard bred horse racing.
Town planner Dean Johnson said that instead of using a typical entertainment district, the township was better off creating an entirely new HR district because it gave the township more control over what is allowed and what isnít. The new HR district prohibits such things as rock concerts and snowmobile races.
There was an amendment to Chapter 5 of the townshipís ordinances. Chapter 5 deals with morals and decency. A 4-1 vote put the word ìillegalî into the ordinance.
Hefty asked why the township asked for volunteers to give input on how to rewrite this ordinance, but now the board was ready to vote on amending it.
Town Board Chair Mel Mettler explained the township realized about two months ago that the code was not consistent with state law and something needed to be done.
ìOnce we know weíre in violation of an ordinance, we have to fix it,î Mettler said. ìWith things like the Sno-Barons Hay Days and church raffles we need to make a temporary change.î
The citizens will still have their opportunity to weigh in on the final amending of Chapter 5, but for now it has been temporarily amended.
In all, the town board approved the rezoning, the conditional use permit and the preliminary plat.
Money issues
One thing that has been the principle of debate at most meetings regarding NMHI has been its financial contribution to the township. In a letter NMHI agreed to pay $88,300 annually to the township for different uses along with a guaranteed $227,000 in taxes.
The $88,300 will be broken down to pay for additional cost associated with law enforcement, money for the purchase of fire equipment, gambling addiction, money for highway improvement studies, money for the Columbus Senior Center, the Columbus Economic Development Authority and the park fund.
Of the $88,300, $32,000 will help defray any additional costs associated with law enforcement, $23,500 will help with the purchase of new fire equipment, $10,000 to assist in I-35/CASH 23 road studies, $6,000 to the park fund, $3,500 to the Columbus senior center, $3,300 to the Columbus economic development authority and $10,000 to the township to help assist township individuals that need professional service related to gambling.
NMHI also agreed to pay a minimum of $227,000 to the township. NMHI could pay more than the $227,000 if assessed above that limit. In the event their assessment would have them paying less, NMHI would be required to pay $227,000.
Speed of proceedings
Hefty said he had concerns at how fast the town board was trying to move the application through to a vote.
ìWith all doue respect to the complexity of a $30 million project, I would like to table the voting until another night,î Hefty said.
Other board members thought the board had done its homework and looked at all the issues pertaining to the NMHI application.
ìThis is a fairly big decision and whatever we do here, I feel we have treated it thoroughly,î Mettler said. ìThe people that have tried to stop the project have certainly acted as a good check and balance. If we overlooked anything I donít know how it happened.î
NMHI still has to get approval for a Class A and Class B licenses from the Minnesota State Racing Commission before it can begin construction of the $30 million racetrack. The racing commission does not have a time limit in which it needs to make a decision and it is unclear when any decision may be made.
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