Abby Nadeau
Staff Writer

Donning stickers that read ìWeíll remember in Novemberî members of the Forest Lake Community Association and local residents filled Forest Lake City Hall Monday night to listen to the city council ìdiscussî the Duffy Development and Human Services Inc. lawsuit.

However, the only talking that went on during the special session was the attorneys from The League of Minnesota Cities who are representing the city in legal actions by a developer on the hospital campus site and the FLCA.

Clifford Greene, Robin Wolpert and Paul Merwin have all been assigned to the case.

As Mayor Terry Smith and other members of the council started the session it was announced immediately there would be no action taken and no public hearing, meaning the public was not able to speak or ask questions during the meeting

The council then presented the group of attorneys theyíve hired to defend the city in court, if necessary. The attorneys stood off to the side of the council members and described to the public what the city council was facing in legal matters.

Wolpert stated that ìthere are four claims Duffy Development and Human Services Inc. have against the city council.î

The first claim is that the ìCUP [conditional use permit] had been in the system so long that exceeded required time limit and was entitled to automatic approvals.î

The second claim was that the city council violated the Open Meeting Law by attendance at a planning commission meeting.

The third claim is that the city council denied the CUP for discriminatory reasons, ìwhich constitutes improper motive and unlawful discrimination.î

The fourth and final claim is that ìthe city council did not have appropriate reasons for denial.î

Greene, another attorney with the group, went on to describe what their roles were as attorneys in this situation.

ìWhat we do is defend cities and public officials,î Greene stated. ìWe are not squeamish about going to court. We take our marching orders from the city council. We want to help the city council with a win-win scenario.î

The group went on to speak to the public about the ìconsequences of winning and losing the case.î

ìIf the plaintiffs are correct, after one or two years of litigation, the plaintiffs may contend to build their development,î Greene said. ìHowever, they might not be able to build because of a loss of funding. The plaintiffs may ask the city to pay them for an otherwise successful development.î

Greene added that ìour role is your advocates, the city council instructs us.î

At the close of their presentation Smith announced the next ìdiscussionî date as 7 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 15. Prior to the open 7 p.m. meeting there will be a 6 p.m. closed meeting.

As some city council members got up to leave Richard Pecar, FLCA spokesperson, approached the public. Council members Susan Young and Dick Tschida stayed to hear what Pecar had to say.

Pecar noted that ìthe city had no right to zone the land. The other thing that was left out of this meeting is the fact that the land has (deed) covenants. Some people say that those covenants donít exist but we believe they do.î

The deed covenants that Pecar referred to are from a July 1976 platting of the District Memorial Hospital grounds. The land in which Duffy Development is being denied from is on those grounds.

Pecar is stating that the land has covenants that prevents the city from subdividing it.

While the alleged covenants on the land may be a factor in the legal battle, there might be larger issues the city council has to face.

In November of 2005 the city council denied, against their attorneyís advice, Duffy Development because of the existence of covenants on the District Memorial Hospital land.

Then, only two months later, on January 23, the city council approved the Lakes International Language Academy expansion to move onto a piece of the property Duffy Development was denied from earlier.

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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