Commercial and residential annexation of Don’s Steins land was discussed at the last Kimball City Council meeting Monday, Oct. 6. Tom Crouch signed an agreement to buy some of Don Stein’s land. Because the land is currently located in Maine Prairie Township, it needs to be annexed into the city. Crouch greeted the council and told about his background as a developer. “I have been a developer for 35 years and developed hundreds of acres. Most of this was residential, however some of it was commercial.” Crouch said he knows the Kimball area well as he often works in Annandale. He felt this area will be growing because it is very close to St. Cloud. He also said that he is excited about the opportunity for the land purchase. “I am excited to do it (develop this land). You seem to have a great community here,” Crouch said. The Council questioned Crouch’s plans for developing most of the area as residential. They had hoped that more could be commercial. Crouch replied that it is harder to develop commercial land. “Usually there is not enough interest in commercial land. I think that it would take a long time to fill this (commercial land).” Crouch suggested paying for a study to research the demand for commercial land in the Kimball area. The Council said some business prospects already approached them about land. Councilmember Andy Maus said, “There have been three manufactures in the last two years looking for at least 10 acres.” Mayor Karla Davis said she would like to see the study done to find out if businesses are interested. “The problem would be if we had more commercial interest [and no space for them].” The council agreed to look at this issue further after a study has been conducted. Research usually takes about one month to complete. Crouch said he would pay for the study and the council could choose the company to research the project. “We take pride in our projects. It is a fun and creative process. I want to do something the city wants,” Crouch said. In other business, the council • Heard from Reed Oster about a conditional use permit for the green building on Highway 15. This property is currently zoned as commercial. With a conditional use permit, Oster could rent out the property. “Basically the building is ready to [rent], I just need to put a kitchen in,” Oster said. The council questioned the trailer that is currently sitting on this property. “If we grant a conditional use permit, at what point and time would the trailer be removed,” Mayor Davis asked. Oster didn’t have a specific answer because he said the removal would depend on his finances. The council discussed the problems they have been having with the trailer home, specifically how the area outside of the home has not been cleaned up. City attorney Rhonda Pagel said the council does have the right to grant a conditional use permit with provisions. “You can attach those terms to the conditional use permit as long as you can come up with terms that the council and applicant can agree to,” Pagel informed. The council proposed granting Oster the conditional use permit if a privacy fence is erected to mask some of the cleanliness problems on the property. Oster said this would be too expensive. The council also wanted some sort of timeline as to when the trailer would be removed. Oster said he could not give this since he didn’t know when he would have the financial resources for this project. After much discussion, the council and Oster realized an agreement would not be reached. The council made a motion to table the discussion until their next meeting. • Adopted the new state building code, as suggested by Waldron and Assoc. “Basically the new code took effect March 31,” Paul Waldron said. “We are here before the council as a formality for the council to adopt this code.” The council also approved updating the current building fees which were using a 1979 policy. The new fees will be from the 1988 model. “Increasing these fees will pay to cover the cost of the inspector to come out,” Waldron said. • Granted a request from landowner Shannon Dahl to build a storage facility on his land off Highway 55, alongside of Playland Ballroom on the west side. For safety of the property and renters, the council asked Dahl to install four lights around the facility. • Noted that the newly hired public works director declined the position. The council granted the job to current Publi Works employee Dan Dawson on a one-year trial basis. The council decided to advertise for a public works employee to work under Dawson. • Questioned police chief Todd Rohloff on the administrative tickets that the department issues. The concept has come under scrutiny by State Auditor Patricia Awada. “Cities and counties may think this is a clever way to increase revenues in their coffers,” Awada said. “But the legislature requires use of a uniform state traffic ticket, even for traffic-related ordinance violations. By using their own local tickets, cities appear to be circumventing state law.” Rohloff told the council that this was just an opinion issued on the subject. He fully intends to keep using the administrative tickets until the state’s Attorney General can look at the issue. “I talked with the other chiefs; we are going to keep going with this until we hear otherwise,” Rohloff said. • Reviewed the monthly police reports from Kimball and Fair Haven. • Approved a contract for the Kimball Police Department (KPD) to work with the Kimball Public Schools. Under the new contract, KPD will work at the school two hours a day with a cap of 10 hours a week. Rohloff said that the hours will be flexible, meaning they can serve the ten hours any time throughout the week. For their services, Kimball schools will pay the police a hourly rate of $27. • Decided not to have a Truth in Taxation meeting for this year. Mayor Davis noted that the taxes were lowered this year which means the meeting is not necessary. Councilmember Steve Edwards questioned this thinking the city may feel that the council had something to hide. Mayor Davis agreed to publish a letter to the editor in the Tri-County News explaining where and how city money is spent. The council agreed this would be a positive solution. • Agreed to take money out of the reserve fund to pay for road repairs on 135th Avenue. The city worked with Maine Prairie to resurface the road. • Reminded everyone the cities week’s celebration will be from 4:30-7:30 Wednesday, Oct. 8 for the community. The city will serve a free meal at City Hall. Public works, the police and fire departments will be on-hand to answer questions. Kimball’s K-9 Viper will be introduced, and tours of the fire truck will be given.
