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Rising costs of the Old Towne Road Trail Extension to Ojiketa Regional Park have sparked concerns from members of the Chisago City Park Commission. At its March 26 meeting, the Chisago City Council was asked to consider the city engineer’s recommendation for a revision of the Old Towne Road Trail Extension project that would help stem rising costs.

Background:  In 2023, Chisago City was awarded a $250,000 matching grant from the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to help extend a bituminous trail from 276th St. and Old Towne Rd. south along Lofton Ave. and into Ojiketa Regional Park. Since that time, according to park commission minutes the city’s share of proposed trail costs have risen to $341,000, not including grant funds. 

On March 26, Administrator Pechman presented the council with the city engineer’s recommendation for revising the Old Towne Trail project, and mentioned two reasons for the rising costs.

The city’s grant agreement with the DNR included an evaluation by the Minnesota State Historical Preservation Office which mandated an archaeological survey of the planned trail within the park. The DNR reportedly did not accept the archaeological survey completed when the park was created and the cost of a new survey is estimated at $30,000. 

Because of concerns about added costs, and the risk of disturbing historical artifacts in the park, the city engineering firm Bolton & Menk now proposes ending the trail at the Ojiketa Park entrance on Lofton Avenue. The paved trail would link to an existing gravel path leading into the park. City Engineer Jake Guzik states that the DNR has approved the change to the trail if the city decides to proceed with the revision.

Pechman also told the council that costs of the trail extension rose when engineers recommended building a retaining wall along one area of Old Towne Road to prevent the trail from encroaching on private property. Eliminating the wall reportedly would reduce the cost of the project by $100,000. 

Two members of the city park commission spoke to the council voicing their concern about the high overall cost of the trail project and the possibility of it completely draining the city’s trail fund.

“Are there other monies that could be spent on this project other than trail fund money?” they asked. 

“The other possibility is the gas franchise fee,” Pechman responded. He also said that if all money in the trail fund were spent,“the remainder would have to come out of the park dedication fund.”

Park Commission Member Bill Mack then asked, “What’s out there to replenish that trail fund? Cleaning it out is going to put us in a kind of precarious position (for future park projects).” He mentioned the future need to connect to the Highway 8 trail and pending projects on Liberty Lane. “We’ve got to pick our priorities,” he told the council.

“If you want to bring it back to the park commissIon, we can revisit it and take a look at priorities,” Pechman said and added, “I don’t know when or if the Highway 8 trail will be built.”  In order to meet grant timelines, the Old Towne Road Trail Extension must be completed by next year.

The council took no action on the city engineer’s recommendation to terminate the trail at the entrance to the park, but will put it back on the agenda April 23. In the meantime, discussion of the trail costs will go back to the park commission to review trail priorities and possibly ways to reduce the cost of the proposed retaining wall. The park commission meets April 11.

In other business, the council:

- responded to an urgent plea from Lakes Area Police Chief Bill Schlumbohm to allocate $20,500 from the one-time public safety funds cities received in 2023 in order to provide hiring bonuses for new police officers and retention payments to existing officers. (Story in Chisago County Press March 21 from police commission meeting.) Schlumbohm said he is making the same request to the City of Lindstrom. The two cities jointly finance the Lakes Area police force.     

Schlumbohm explained that, due to the severe statewide shortage of police officers, new law enforcement personnel coming out of school in Minnesota have accepted job offers even before they graduate from training. As a result, departments across the state have resorted to luring experienced officers away from other agencies by offering significant hiring bonuses.

“Two of our officers have notified us that they are going to leave our agency and work for the Chisago County Sheriff’s Office,”Schlumbohm stated in a letter to the council. He stated that the county sheriff’s office now offers a $7,500 bonus to new hires and a financial reward to deputies who recruit new personnel.

“My intent is to offer $4,000 for new hires and $3,000 per officer retained to be paid in December 2024,” Schlumbohm stated.

After some discussion, Mayor Bob Gustafson’s motion to approve Schlumbohm’s request was unanimously approved.

- approved a preliminary plat for Kichisaga Development, an area comprised of three light industrial lots on 20 acres adjacent to the Chisago City industrial park. The land is owned by the Chisago City Economic Development Authority.  

Building plans have not been submitted for the property at this time. While no sidewalk is proposed for the development at this time, an outlot exists which could be used for a future trail. The EDA is asking that park and trail fees normally charged to developers be waived since the EDA already provides $40,000 annually to service debt on Ojiketa Regional Park.

In a related action, the council agreed to submit and act as the legal sponsor for a Business Development Public Infrastructure (BDPI) grant application in the amount of $249,271 to offset the cost of infrastructure necessary to develop the property. The city will be required to construct a small extension of roadway, storm sewer and municipal water and sewer to the properties at an estimated cost of $428,54.     

Pechman told the council, “By applying for this grant we are telling them that we have the money to pay for our portion of the cost.”

Councilmember Craig Meyer moved to approve the application. Councilmember Marie Rivers seconded the motion saying, “It is a way to reinvest in the town with the potential to get more jobs and more tax base. It’s the best way to go.” The motion was approved unanimously.

The EDA has received two letters of intent to purchase portions of the property, one from a local manufacturing facility looking to expand into a second building on Lot 1, Block 1, and the other from a new start-up agricultural processing facility on Lot 2, Block 1. 

The proposed road extension also will make the remaining five and half acre Lot 3 available for future economic development. The land sales are expected to close this summer with road and utility improvements completed this fall.

- listened as Chisago County Engineer/Public Woks Director Joe Triplett updated the cost of the underpass proposed at Jennifer Court as part of the Highway 8 expansion project. Triplett explained that the underpass for pedestrians and bicycles was now estimated to reach 200 feet in length and cost between $5 million and $8 million. If the underpass is constructed, he said Chisago City would be responsible for providing public safety, lighting and drainage for the underpass in perpetuity. The decision on whether or not to construct the underpass also impacts the highway’s overall design. “As we move into the final design standpoint this a pretty big deal,” Triplett told them.

Triplett also reported endangered species in the long-delayed highway corridor pushed the project back another five to eight months for plans to be made to avoid habitat. “We wanted to get this project bid out by this fall so we could clear out trees during the winter to avoid disturbing the long-eared bats, but that’s not realistic any more.”   To date, endangered species found in the Highway 8 project area include northern long-eared bats, rusty patch bumble bees and Blanding’s turtles.

- heard two residents of the Croix Estates Manufactured Home Park on Berglund Avenue in Chisago City present a litany of complaints about the park owned by Steve Witzel. Complaints included lack of a safe storm shelter, parking and sewer and water concerns. The residents said they had heard the park received a $294,000 grant for improvements (See Chisago County Press  Dec. 21, 2023.) and they wondered “what the agenda was” for those improvements. 

They were told by the city that Croix Estates  is privately owned, and that Chisago City played no part in the grant application. Administrator Pechman recommended that they contact a representative of the Minnesota Manufactured Home Community Redevelopment Program which offers the grant. Chisago County Commissioner Marlys Dunne,  at the March 26 council meeting, also spoke with the residents after the meeting and is looking into the issue. 

- approved use of $19,413 in park dedication fees for a new fishing pier at Paradise Park.  The park commission is recommending a light-weight, American with Disabilities Act-compliant pier similar to one at the Little Green Boat Landing. Also proposed is a blacktop trail leading to the pier estimated to cost $11,000, which would be paid from city trail funds.

- entered a new two-year agreement with Chisago County for emergency radios. The current Allied Radio Matrix for Emergency Response (ARMER) agreement with Chisago County expires on Dec. 31, 2024. The cost per radio will jump from $30 to $100 in 2025 and $125 in 2026. The Chisago City Fire Department uses 30 radios. 

- agreed to spend the majority of available road maintenance funds on crack filling and chip sealing of 260th St., James and Park Place, fog sealing of Jennifer Court and micro sealing of Eagle Ridge, Shoreline Court, and North Martha Lake and Ridge Point drives as well as adding two hammer head turn-arounds on both 302nd St. and King’s Bluff Road.  In total, $90,000 will be earmarked for repair and maintenance of paved streets, $88,500 for maintenance of Minnesota State Aid qualifying streets, and $25,000 for street sweeping, pothole repairs and other contingencies. The budget includes $47,000 for dust control on gravel roads within the city. 

Administrator Pechman asked for council guidance regarding several requests fo lane striping on rural blacktop roads within the city. July and Itasca avenues were mentioned as well as curved portions of Pioneer Road. Ultimately a motion to approve the 2024 street maintenance budget minus the striping was unanimously approved.  

The council was told the capital street budget, with a balance of $629,000, will not be touched this year as no major road construction projects are planned.

- issued an off sale liquor license to Prince Pal Singh, the new owner of Chisago Warehouse Liquors. After completing a criminal background investigation, Police Chief Schlumbohm reported he found nothing that would preclude issuing a liquor license.

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