Abby Nadeau
Staff Writer

Seven days after a judge denied the city of Forest Lakeís request to annex the I-35 corridor of Columbus Township, the city has filed a motion for reconsideration.

The city is asking Administrative Law Judge Beverly Jones Heydinger to reconsider her decision, made on July 6, based on new information about the townshipís wells, among other items.

Heydingerís ruling denied Forest Lakeís request to annex land from neighboring Columbus Township, but allowed Columbus to become a city.

The judge stated in her ruling that over the past several years Columbus Township has participated in several highway corridor studies, while Forest Lake had only showed interest after a group of property owners, along the corridor, asked to be annexed into the city.

While Heydinger believes that Forest Lake is competent enough to run the corridor, she believed the city could not ìprovide the necessary level of attention to the area at this time,î based on the cityís own submission.

Council member Susan Young testified at the hearing and noted a few projects, including the West Broadway and Headwatersí project, that would not allow the city to spend as much time as needed on the eastern I-35 corridor.

Now the city claims Columbus Township is not able to provide enough municipality support to the I-35 corridor.

On July 13, on behalf of the city, City Administrator Chip Robinson said in an affidavit that ìthe record and statements made by the township engineer subsequent to the hearing in this case clearly show that Columbus Township is unable to meet the water demands and needs for fire suppression and commercial development in the I-35 corridor.

ìThe city on the other hand, is willing and in a position to better provide municipal water to the I-35 corridor.î

New Evidence

The reports that Robinson is referring to revolve around June 14 and July 12 township meetings in which Town Engineer Larry Bohrer presented reports to the board.

Prior to the meetings, during the judgeís hearing between Columbus and Forest Lake, Bohrer stated that the township would need two wells to reach 1200 gallons per minute to service the municipal area.

In Robinsonís affidavit he points out that actually the townshipís 2003 municipal water feasibility study stated the area would need 1250 gpm to ìestablish the [water] system, and provide minimum fire flow demands.î

Following the hearing, in the July 12 report, Bohrer stated that the townshipís well number oneís capacity, on the west side of I-35, is at 400 gallons per minute, 200 gpm under their estimated capacity.

Bohrer went on to say that they were ìdisappointedî with the performance of well number two, and that ìthe township is looking for another site on the property to drill a test well.î

Based on the new evidence, and the new statements made by Bohrer, Robinson concludes the city can provide ìbetter, more cost effectiveî services to the entire I-35 corridor.

Robinson states that Columbusí efforts to provide the municipal water are ìduplicative, inefficient, not cost effective, will not meet the needs and demands for fire suppression and commercial development, and do not include treatment.î

The city also submitted a motion for rehearing, for amendment of the findings of fact, conclusions, and order and a motion to stay.

Heydingerís decision to the motion for reconsideration could come as early as Friday.

The council announced that discussion and possible action on the Columbus annexation issue will be on the agenda for Monday, July 24 at 7 p.m.

A council vote would be needed to appeal the ruling. The council has 30 days from July 6 to appeal the ruling.

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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