Pat Tepoorten
Wyoming Township Reporter

The Wyoming Township Board received an update on the process of consolidation from Supervisor Mark Utecht during the course of last Tuesdayís regular meeting. Utecht, who attended a recent meeting including township, city, and legal representation, noted that both the city and the township had completed the initial phase of creating the proposal, and that the law firm hired to guide the process, Rinke Noonan, ìwants to start the process of formal negotiations.î

One of the primary concerns of the township board and residents who have contacted board members on the matter, is equal representation on a future city council. Utecht advised the board that it was Rinke Noonanís position that the issue of equal representation should be left until the process of creating the document was much nearer completion, and that it could be ìhammered out pretty quickly.î

Vice-chair Ron Swenson pointed out that the Rockville consolidation, which included two townships and a city, resulted in an agreement that allowed for equal representation for all three entities. Utecht responded that the Rockville consolidation occurred under the auspices of a different statute than the one that is being used in this case, and that the statute being used in this case, ìmight not have that flexibility on this issue.î Indeed, Rockvilleís consolidation, due to the participation of three entities, took place under a special statute, expressly created for that unique situation. Contrarily, the proposed consolidation between the city and the township is taking place under orderly annexation statutes which, although they make the process much simpler, also allow for less give and take regarding representation.

ìWhat I understood is that we could put in anything that we want,î responded Swenson.

ìMy understanding is different,î said Utecht, who noted that it is his belief that the council could remain five, or expand to seven. He further explained that the city has a vacant council seat, currently filled by appointment, and that the city had offered the possibility of leaving the seat vacant until the merger. Currently, the city is planning to hold a special election to fill the seat in early September.

ìThat would leave a third spot on a seven-member council,î explained Utecht. The makeup of a seven person council would thus be three representatives of the former township, three representatives of the current city council, and the Mayorís position.

Supervisor Pat Fandel noted that it sounded like the township would get the ìshort end of the stickî in representation under orderly annexation statutes.

Utecht explained that the issue of equal representation had not been dismissed by any means, but it was the feeling of Rinke Noonan that it should be put off until later, as it does not affect the ìmechanicsî of the agreement.

Taxes were also discussed briefly at the meeting as well, and Utecht noted that the plan for taxing is on track with what had been described, two tax rates based on city services.

ìThe two mill rates is a mystery to me,î replied Fandel. ìI donít understand how we can have two different budgets and two different mill rates.î

ìThat is why we are paying for Rinke Noonanís expertise,î responded Utecht.

ìI hope so,î replied Fandel.

ìIt (dual taxation) has to be answered before the proposal can be completed,î responded Utecht. ìAs far as Iím concerned it is the only non-negotiable item in the whole process.î

Swenson interjected that Rinke Noonan must be allowed time to process the information before the township will be able to answer some of the more complicated questions. ìWeíve got to let them take this information and run with it,î he concluded.

Utecht concluded the discussion on an encouraging note, advising the board that it was the first meeting in which there was ìactually progress and we could do business,î and added that there will be several more meetings of the same nature in the near future. He felt the next such meeting would be in about three weeks.

In other township news, Building Supervisor Fred Weck apprised the board that the Liberty Ponds development would be prepared for and seeking final plat approval in early November. He also noted a potential complication in that process. The proposed park-land dedication area for the development is currently occupied by the house of Don and Estelle Palmer, who have an agreement with developer Integra Homes to lease the property until construction of their new home is completed. The Palmerís lease with Integra expires in April of 2007, but it was reported that they hope to be off the property a full year earlier.

The reason that this complicates matters is that the township requires park-land dedications to take place at the time of final plat approval. That would put the township in the rather odd position of becoming the landlord of the Palmer property until such a time that the property became vacant.

Utecht asked if there was a way to approve the final plat while delaying the park-land dedication until the lease expired or such a time that the property became vacant, whichever ultimately happened first. ìI donít want us to have to make the Palmers make other living arrangements,î he noted, and added that Integra Homes had made many concessions along the way and that the township should try to accommodate the situation.

Township attorney Tom Fitzpatrick responded that he felt there would be a way for the township to approve the final plat while leaving Integra Homes as the landlord of the Palmer property, and also allow for a delay in the park-land dedication until such a time as the property became vacant or the lease expired. The board suggested that Fitzpatrick begin discussions with Integra Homes to that end, and Swenson added ìHopefully their house gets built sooner rather than later and everything goes as planned.î

Resident Russ Goudge addressed the board as a representative of the Ridgewater Association. That association, which meets once a year, asked Goudge to request that the board look into solutions for parking and traffic issues along W. Comfort Drive off 260th street. According to Goudge there are areas along the street where, for various reasons, both sides of the street are used for parking. This leads to a situation where the street becomes very narrow and does not allow ample room for traffic to flow normally in both directions.

Another issue created by the parking is that large vehicles, such as construction trucks and school buses, generally drive down the center of the road, creating a hazard for vehicles traveling in the other direction, a hazard that is compounded by the many curves along the street.

Yet another situation is created at a creek bridge along W. Comfort Drive, where area kids gather to fish or swim, creating another ìbottleneckî at the crossing.

The request of the association is that one side of the street be made no parking for its entire length, thus eliminating parking on that side of the street and allowing the street to maintain a proper width.

Although the board did not fulfill the request outright, it did instruct Public Works Supervisor Byron Olson to study the street and the parking situation and make a recommendation to the board as to the best way to address the problem.

The board also reviewed its insurance coverage and agreed to increase the coverage for the town hall from $188,000 to $250,000, and also agreed to have an evaluation done of the town hall and other buildings on the property to make sure they are insured to the proper amount.

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Forest Lake Times
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Forest Lake, MN 55025
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