Glen Strandberg
Staff Writer

At its Feb. 14 meeting, the Columbus City Council denied a request by the Department of Natural Resources to obtain 160 acres located at the corner of Zodiac St. and 165th Ave.

This was the second time the council has turned away the DNR in regards to the same property, but after their first denial with a 3-2 vote on Jan. 24, Anoka County said if that’s going to be Columbus’s decision, then they must provide valid reasons.

That brought Dan Rhode, the DNR’s manager of the Carlos Avery Wildlife Area, back in front of the council. This time he was joined by Bob McGillivray of the Trust for Public Land as well as Gerald Dederick, the current owner of the 160 acres.

The Trust for Public Land is hoping to purchase the property from Dederick and then immediately sell it to the DNR. McGillivray said their option to buy ends on Feb. 28 and that Dederick’s land is listed at $1.6 million.

If the deal goes forward he anticipates his non-profit organization will pay less than the listed price.

He also mentioned that this acquisition had the support of the Rice Creek Watershed District along with many other parties.

“I guess the question I have,” Mayor Mel Mettler asked, “if we are the key to it, why didn’t you come talk to us before you went every place else?”

“Well, I have not run into a problem before where communities haven’t been glad to get the open space,” McGillivray said. “I didn’t anticipate there would be an issue.”

This prompted Mettler to ask another question. “You’ve never had any local governments say no?”

“On this type of an acquisition I have not,” McGillivray said.

The DNR and the Trust both said they were interested in protecting the habitat for wildlife, and that if the area were to be developed, it would limit hunting as well as harm the waterfowl population.

Council member Jeff Duraine pointed out how the DNR already has large amounts of land in Columbus, and at his first three meetings on the council, the DNR has been asking for more. He said that in January the DNR talked about squaring off boundaries, but now they are moving into residential areas.

“I can’t support it,” Duraine said.

The only portion of the acreage that can be developed is a small section in the southwest quarter.

“What wasn’t developable 20 years ago, is now,” Mettler said. “And not only that, people who want to live back in the woods, all by themselves and around the mosquitoes and stuff, pay a lot of money to do it.”

Dederick said that he has spent three years trying to market this property, and getting people to finally close has proven to be difficult. His thoughts on Mettler’s comments and speculation were, “Pie in the sky, pie in the sky.”

After the council denied the request by a 4-1 vote, Columbus will produce an official resolution for Anoka County, but the county still makes the final decision.

Council member Renae Fry opposed the denial.

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