Joe Drennan
Staff Writer

Life is never boring in Columbus Township. First there was the debate over the North Metro Harness Initiativeís plans to build a harness racing track/card room. Now there is a group of landowners from the east side of I-35 that are approaching the city of Forest Lake with a petition for annexation.

Monday night Jerry Schmieg presented the Forest Lake City Council with a petition signed by 14 of the 24 land owners who own land east of I-35.

Schmieg, acting as the representative for the land owners who want to be annexed said itís mostly a matter of money.

ìThe figures weíve received from Forest Lake have our property tax about 15-percent cheaper than they are now with Columbus Township,î Schmieg said. ìThatís really not a big figure, but itís still 15-percent. Weíre also not too happy about the cost of the sewer and water.î

Schmieg says the landowners have already been charged a portion of the sewer installation that currently only services Gander Mountain, but if they petition the township to hook up theyíll have to pay again.

If the landowners want water theyíll have to not only pay to hook up like they would if they were part of Forest Lake, but theyíd have to help foot the cost of constructing the townshipís first two wells and water tower.

Some at the township offices are skeptical of the landowners reasons for petitioning for annexation.

ìItís my understanding that according to them (landowners) weíre not putting the sewer and water in right and weíre not telling the truth about the cost,î Columbus Townboard Chairman Mel Mettler said.

Mettler added that several of the landowners have been against development and then there are others that are part of an ìanti town boardî who opposed the harness track/card room and now the sewer and water issue is another thing for them to be against.

Schmieg noted that there are some landowners who may not be on board to develop right away as some of them have lived on their land most of their lives, but he says the majority of them are for development and making a buck off it.

One of Schmiegís biggest gripes about the sewer installation is the fact that Gander Mountain is the only property in all of Columbus Township that has sewer service at the moment.

ìFor most of us on the east side there is no need for us to have sewer hookup except for the few businesses,î Schmeig said. ìWe donít have the opportunity to sell our land before the sewer is in like the Gander Mountain property.î

When Gander Mountain purchased the land to build in Columbus, they worked a deal with the township to get sewer service, but they also paid their share to get the sewer and help the township start putting their plans of installing sewer service to the freeway district into motion.

ìItís not like weíre coming out of left field with this stuff (plans to implement sewer and water),î Mettler said. ìWeíve spent a lot of time setting this up right.î

Schmieg and other landowners obviously disagree with Mettler and other board members though and thatís why they contacted Forest Lake Mayor Terry Smith in March about the possibility of being annexed.

ìWe didnít pursue them,î Smith said. ìThe landowners came to us and asked questions about the tax impact and services. Nothing has been initiated from the Forest Lake side, we simply supplied them with answers to their questions.î

Smith informed the petitioners that state law requires only 20-percent of the landowners to petition for annexation. The petitioners have well over the 20-percent minimum as they have 58-percent.

ìI encouraged them to have a majority of the landowners sign the petition before they came to the city because I felt that was the best way for them to gain the cityís support,î Smith said.

One of the landowners who signed the petition happens to be Forest Lake City Councilman Dick Tschida. Tschida owns Forest Lake Arctic Cat, located at 15250 Hornsby St.

ìI support the issue because the township has down-zoned that area of the township since Iíve bought land there and theyíve assessed us for services that havenít been made available to us,î Tschida said.

ìUs business owners on the east side of the freeway feel like weíve been left out of the planning process. Weíve voiced our opinions but weíve obviously been ignored and weíre not getting as much attention paid to us as the west side.î

Annexation proceedings are not handled at the township or city level, but at the state level through the department of administration and office of strategic and long-range planning.

Top of Page

Forest Lake Times
P.O. Box 218
880 SW 15 St.
Forest Lake, MN 55025
651-464-4601
Fax 651-464-4605