Abby Nadeau
Staff Writer

The Forest Lake City council approved a $6.5 million operating levy during Monday eveningís council meeting. The approved levy will send property taxes up 20.9 percent from 2006.

The 2007 budget sets the cityís expenses at $8.4 million, $878,060 more than 2006.

However, most of what the city is spending is made up in its revenues. The city is estimating it will receive $8.3 million in revenues, roughly $1.2 million more than 2006.

The cityís revenues include $6.2 in property taxes, $732,289 in intergovernmental revenues, $555,810 in charges for service and $560,500 for licenses and permits, among other items.

Perspective

Although Forest Lake residents will see their taxes go up 20.9 percent, the city still ranks among the lowest in the area for property tax rates.

During the Truth and Taxation Hearing on December 4, City Administrator Chip Robinson handed out several sheets that showed where Forest Lake stands among other area towns that have a population between 10,000 and 25,000.

The average city tax rate for Forest Lake is 29.18 percent. For Lino Lakes it is 41.40 percent, for Stillwater it is 49.18 percent and for Anoka it is 38.74 percent. All three cities have similar populations like Forest Lakeís.

When it comes to the cityís certified tax levy both Stillwater and Lino Lakes are at least $2.5 million more than Forest Lake. The city of Stillwaterís certified city levy in 2006 was $8.8 million and Lino Lakesí was at $7.9 million. For Forest Lake it was $5.4 million.

Parking on Lake

Project Manager for the Broadway Reconstruction Task Force, Mike Rogers, presented the council with the latest parking impact study for the roundabout purposed at Lake St. and West Broadway.

Many residents are concerned about the loss of parking in the downtown area with the placement of the roundabout. The city engineers took on the task to find the best parking plan, all while keeping pedestrians and drivers safe.

Two weeks ago Rogers made a presentation to the West Broadway Business Task Force featuring four different options for parking along Lake and Broadway. However, during the meeting the Washington County engineers were told to ìsharpen their pencilsî and return with a better plan.

On Monday Rogers, along with Tim Chalupnik from TKDA, presented the council with two more options. Rogers offered option ìEî and option ìFî that provided more parking than options ìAî through ìD,î but had some sight distance problems.

And since Lake St./US-61 is a MnDOT road it needs to be evaluated by the department to see if the layout will even work.

Therefore, Rogers stated that they would be taking options ìEî and ìFî to MnDOT to have them evaluate the plans. Rogers said that once MnDOT has a look at it, possibly in early January, they will bring the options back to the Business Task Force in mid January.

The council could see a new parking impact study by the first meeting in February.

TruRing LLC

The city council also partnered with TruRing LLC to manage the Castlewood Golf Course. TruRing LLC, which is owned by Jim Trudeau and Don Ringstmeyer, entered into an agreement with the city to manage the course until November of 2011.

As a part of the contract TruRing will pay the city $10,000 per year for rent of the property. However, in 2007 the $10,000 will be paid in capital improvements to the golf course.

In addition to the rental, the contract states that TruRing ìshall pay to the city 50 percent of the net profit derived from the golf course operations in excess of the first $50,000 of net profit for the years 2007 and 2008.î After 2008 TruRing will pay the city 50 percent of all profits.

TruRing is also responsible for managing the entire golf course including ìgreens, fairways, tee boxes, and the city maintenance building.î

The contract listed a number of improvements that must be made in 2007 including the repair of the cart path, filling in ditches, planting trees, and putting up fairway distance markers.

The golf course will maintain its name of Castlewood Golf Course, but the nickname ìThe Rockî will also be used along with Castlewood.

In an effort to get a head start in the summer, TruRing has started preparing several landscaping projects and a large sign has been placed at the entrance of the course.

ìTheyíve made so many changes, you wouldnít recognize the landscaping,î said Council member Greg Ochs.

New Ordinance

Before parents purchase or give their children toy firearms, they should first check out the new ordinance the city of Forest Lake adopted. The new city ordinance focuses on the use of ìimitation firearmsî and how they are used within the city limits of Forest Lake.

Owners of imitation firearms cannot do any of the following:

ï recklessly handle or use a firearm, other dangerous weapon or explosive so as to endanger the safety of another;

ï intentionally point a firearm or other dangerous weapon, whether loaded or unloaded, at or toward another;

ï display in public any toy, look-a-like, or imitation firearm without the red or orange tip required by Federal Law at the time of manufacture.

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