---

Center City’s acquisition of the former county Heartland Express garage, meant for a new Center City city hall,  is being delayed by technical difficulties.  Earlier hopes of the city council to get administration into the building by wintertime, now seem overly-optimistic.  

City council members met in special session Friday, Nov 13 (member Madonna Higgins absent) to try to move this along.  The neighboring property owner isn’t on-board with the proposed resolution settling an unclear lot line and fencing placement, however, so the meeting ended pretty much back at square one.  
 The neighboring landowner, Kris Jensen,  said he was planning to consult with an attorney.

The issues stem from when Chisago County built the Heartland Express garage for highway equipment storage about 50 years ago. (Heartland Express has re-located to the old ambulance base in North Branch.)

In the 1960s a segment of Grand Avenue, that runs all along the east edge of this residential area, was supposed to have been vacated for this garage project.  That didn’t happen the way it was planned and deed records illustrate a different picture.

Now that the county wants to convey the garage site to the city,  the title needs to be cleared, so future city officials know exactly what the city owns.

Adding to the confusion is a private fence that’s standing several feet over the (paper) lot line and closer to the Heartland Express structure than code allows.  Plus there’s a remnant triangle of old Grand Avenue the county accidentally left inside of Jensen’s yard.

Fence owner Kris Jensen said he isn’t in favor of clarifying the lot line or moving the fence.

Center City Mayor Larry Houger and the three council members at the meeting explained they support creating a straight lot line on the north side of the new city hall. This allows for space between the properties for building maintenence and setback conformance,  and for a new handicap accessible entry to be added into the future city hall.  

The lot line legally already exists, according to the city, but Jensen maintains he’s losing the strip of land from where his fence is to where the lot ends.  He  won’t “give up” the square footage he believed he bought when he moved in about seven years ago.

 Council member Lloyd Vetter explained Jensen isn’t “giving up” anything. Due to the inaccurate placement of a fence Jensen’s yard simply looks bigger than it is platted.

Under the city’s resolution proposal,  Jensen would have a clear property description;  with a defined lot line and that small triangle of unvacated and still platted Grand Ave.  would be legally included into his lot.  (Normally, when a vacation of a right of way happens-- one half of the right of way goes to each abutting property owner.)

The city council will give the property owner time to digest the proposals and this will be on the agenda for the next regular council meeting in December.

---