Alice Pickering
Linwood Area Reporter

Linwood Town Board supervisors have approved a final extension for the completion of Lyons Street in the northern part of Linwood Township. Action came during the town board meeting on Tuesday, June 26.

Tom Carlisle one of the developers of Lyons Den requested the extension. In 2006, Buck Broadbent had requested an extension for road completion. Approval was given then for an extension to the end of June this year. There appears to have been some miscommunication about this extension, supervisors pointed out.

Carlisle claimed finishing work began when the road restrictions came off in spring. Regarding the street project, he also claimed there “was some stuff being shoved in that I did not know about.”

Tied up in his request were questions about other requirements for road completion, among which were paved shoulders on the east side of the street and mail boxes. The street forms part of the border between Anoka County and Lent Township in Chisago County.

Engineer Craig Jochum told the town board that he was still waiting for the final plan from Carlisle’s engineer. He said none of the comments about the project are new.

There was also a question about a culvert. Jochum told the board that in street projects, every effort is made to maintain natural drainage.

There remain a number of items on the project punch list which need to be completed.

Carlisle’s original request was for a 30-day extension.

Comments

Town Board Chair Mike Parker told Carlisle that it would have been better to come in sooner.

Supervisor Howard Holm asked if 30 days was realistic. Supervisor Phil Osterhus proposed a penalty for each day the project goes over the deadline.

Attorney Gerald Randall told the board that the township could pull the letter of credit for the project at any time.

Both Carlisle and Jochum believed questions about the unfinished items could be clarified. The board authorized Jochum to work with Carlisle and to use his “discretion” in decision-making.

The board approved a 45-day extension for completion of Lyons Street with a $200-a-day penalty for each day over the deadline. The vote was 4-0. Scott Bailey did not attend the meeting.

In a separate action, Carlisle withdrew his application to rezone property located at 21873 Typo Creek Drive NE, original family home, from residential to commercial. Research showed that the land had already been rezoned to commercial.

The public hearing fee is to be refunded, minus administrative costs to the township.

Other topics

The town board approved the property combination application for Tom Docken, 23131 West Martin Lake Drive NE.

This means his four half-lot sections on the west side of the road, and two lots on the lake side of the road are to be considered as one piece of property. The deed requires that all lots be sold together.

The action was recommended by the Linwood Planning and Zoning Commission. The vote was 4-0 in favor of the action.

The board approved the list of new fire department officers. These are Joe Dolphy, Chief; Ken Minske, Assistant Chief; Darryl Ballman, 2nd Assist. Chief; Steve Erickson, Fire Officer Capt.11; Jim Stockinger, Fire Officer Capt. 12; Tom Lukkonen, Medical Officer/Treasurer Capt. 13; Jeff Wilcocks, Assistant Medical Officer Lt. 23; Cary Shepard, Safety Officer Capt. 14; Mike Sonnek, Assist. Safety Officer; and Adam Dohm, Secretary. Tom Bever, Dohm, and Dustin Bonoit are members of the auditing committee.

Other business

In other business, the board:

•Voted 4-0 to accept the bid from Ronnie Bowman to replace the town hall septic system at a cost of $4875.

•Learned that letters about site restoration have been sent to Birchwood Circle residents.

•Learned that letters about 2007 street overlay project have been sent to Paradise Point residents.

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