Alice Pickering
Wyoming Area Reporter

Wyoming City Council voted Wednesday, Aug. 8 to petition the Minnesota Supreme Court to review the Court of Appeals decision about the merger petition submitted by Wyoming Township and the city of Wyoming.

The decision came after a closed session near the end of the council meeting.

Tim Sime, the attorney who represents the city and township in this action, and Roger Elmore, chairman of Wyoming Town Board, also attended. The meeting was closed, but council reconvened to take action.

The vote was 4-1, with Council member Gary Menne voting against the action, expressing concern about additional legal costs to residents.

Case history

Action began when the city and township jointly began merger negotiations in the fall of 2005; papers were filed for joint annexation on December 7, 2005, and a public hearing in late December 2005.

In January 2006, the city of Stacy filed papers to annex portions of the township and Chisago City filed papers to annex more township land.

In Feb. 2006, the city and township together, filed a petition with the Minnesota Office of Administrative Hearings, asking the agency to order the annexation of a portion of Wyoming Township to the city. Under Minnesota Statutes, the OAH is allowed to review and comment, but is required to order the annexation under the terms of joint resolution.

The city and township petition was for a timely decision about the merger request, with the prescribed 30 days of submission. This request was denied by the state.

In the summer of 2006, city and township officials filed a Writ of Mandamus asking Ramsey County District Court to tell the OAH to act on the annexation request. A Writ of Mandamus is a document filed when a group, believes an agency has a legal obligation to do something and is not taking the action it should.

The judge acting on the case denied the request.

The city and township chose to appeal this decision to the Minnesota Court of Appeals. The appeal was recently denied.

In effect, this means that the Court of Appeals affirms the Ramsey District Court decision not to order the OAH into action.

Sime said the difficulty in resolving the issue is two different statutes. The city and township petitioned under Minn. Stat. 414.0325 subd. 1 which says in part if “a joint resolution designates an area as in need of orderly annexation and states that no alteration of its stated boundaries appropriate, the director may review and comment, but may not alter the boundaries.” This means the OAH could make comment but must act on the petition.

The one on which denials appear to have been made, Minn. Stat. 414.031, subd.3, says that regarding annexation requests, “the director shall designate a time a place for a hearing.” In this interpretation, OAH hears all the petitions on equal footing and weighs their respective merits.

Sime said he believes the petition is reasonable as is a request for the Supreme Court to consider reviewing the case. It is a relatively short process to prepare the paperwork. He said the final outcome is important and will have impact throughout the state.

Other business

Other business Aug. 8, the council:

•Approved Police officer Rachel Moen as a regular employee of the Wyoming Police Department. Recommendations for a change of status from probationary to regular employee came from Acting Police Chief Scott Dexter and Administrator Craig Mattson.

•Changed the status of public works maintenance employee Chase Cofell from probationary to regular employee. His combination of part-time and seasonal work for the city has cumulatively met the criteria to be a full time employee, according to Mattson who recommended the change in status. Bill Eisenmenger, public works supervisor, supported the action.

•Tabled discussion and decision on use of the Chisago Lakes Joint Sewer Commission Compost Site.

Top of Page