Joe Drennan
Staff Writer

After reading a letter to the editor in the May 19 issue of the Forest Lake Times, Columbus Township Chairman Mel Mettler felt he needed to clarify some of his comments about the townshipís planning for a well at last Wednesdayís town board meeting.

In her letter to the editor Debra Davis wrote, ìWhen the question was asked: Has the project included a transportation study that considers future access need, such as a bridge?î ìMettler essentially answered no. Also, Columbus doesnít include a neighboring cityís development projections in its long-range studies.î

Mettler wanted to make himself clear, stating that the township may not have done its own traffic studies, but the issue has been looked at on a broader spectrum at different transportation committees the township is part of.

ìOver the past two or three years weíve attended several dozen meetings with the different groups concerning the I-35 corridor and talked about an access to the freeway at different places, including at the site of the old scales,î Mettler said. ìBasically that has never been an option because of the technical criteria they (MNDOT) use to design freeways.î

It was also pointed out by Mettler that the I-35E and I-35W merge is too close to that location for an entrance/exit ramp. Placing ramps there would cause traffic problems as people from I-35W tried to merge all the way to the right lane immediately after the junction.

ìFrom a technical standpoint, going to enough of these meetings there are a lot of professionals talking that know how these things work,î Mettler said. ìItís nice for Forest Lake and Terry Smith to say we have this plat (the Pratt development) and it would be nice to have an entrance to the freeway there. Forest Lake and Columbus doesnít decide that though, there are these coalitions and it takes an awful lot of time. All this stuff has been looked at.î

Hazardous building removal

The residence at 9256 181st Ave. had a fire back on Jan. 8 that destroyed the residence and has sat untouched since. Township code calls for the house to be removed within 60 days of a fire that destroys a residence.

Columbus building official Nick Schmidtz sent notice to the homeowner that they had 60 days to remove the building. The 60 day notice expired on April 23.

The township wanted to take action to make sure the residence is removed, thus removing potential harm to the community so they held a public hearing to consider moving forward.

The homeowner, Linda Beyer, apologized to the town board and the community for not having the building already removed but said she is working things out with her insurance company and has a meeting with them in early June to discuss the issue.

The town board decided to move forward with their order to remove the building, giving Beyer 20 days to take action. If no action is taken then the township will remove the residence and the cost of removal would be paid back by Beyer at any sale of the property

Public works building

Itís been a while since the town board heard about a new public works building, but the committee that has been reviewing options came before the board to give some of their suggestions so the township can possibly vote on the issue at the Aug. annual meeting.

The committee has heard from several vendors about different building material options and theyíve picked out the type of materials they think will best suit the township. The committee mentioned they tried to keep their recommendations in the middle of the road, not picking the high end or low end products if possible.

Not all Columbus residents think the committee is going about the planning the right way. Resident Carolyn Givens suggested the township take advantage of the possible lake views of Mud Lake and consider creating a town center.

ìI think youíre losing an opportunity with the lake,î Givens told the town board. ìWe can create a town plaza that can be used between ball games and I think a future town hall should be looked at with the plans for a maintenance building for the purpose of planning.î

Mettler said thatís what the committee did in the beginning and said theyíve come up with some ideas, but none of them are finalized yet.

ìWhat youíre asking for doesnít hurt anything,î Mettler told Givens. ìThe details of landscaping and driveways has not been planned yet. We started the planning with the town hall in mind but that didnít seem to work.î

Listening to the committeeís recommendations, the town board directed town manager Elizabeth Mursko to draft a request for proposals that include a site plan and building specs. The town board wants to see them at the next scheduled meeting though before theyíre sent out.

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