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The normally brief public comment segment of Chisago City’s regular council meeting dominated discussion on the night of Sept. 24. Four individuals brought a wide range of issues to the council. 

- Chisago Lakes Superintendent of Schools Brian Dietz outlined the schools’ programing and future plans.. emphasizing its focus on students as individuals. “We have systems in place k-12 so that no one gets lost. We’re one of the few districts that has a four-year plan for kids, starting in the ninth grade.”

Dietz cited the school’s performance in state test cores and graduation rates, adding that Chisago Lakes’ literacy program is used as a model for schools in the rest of the state.

“There are many ways to get success in life,” said Dietz. Chisago Lakes offers six career pathway programs. Chisago Lakes High School students can attain a two-year associate’s degree without leaving the high school campus or missing out on the normal high school experience. 

Dietz then explained that the school district has launched a long-term facility study and brought in a team of experts to review all school facilities, determine needs and prioritize those needs. 

The district then will convene a group of community stakeholders to receive and discuss the information and bring a recommendation to the school district and board on how to move forward.  Dietz said the advisory group will represent “all walks of life.”     

“Our intention is to deliver a solution that solves our issues for the next 1t to 20 years,” Dietz said.

- Mark Legan, 10875 Stinson Avenue, came to the open microphone to explain that the curb stop for city water service at his seasonal home vanished when Stinson Avenue was improved a number of years ago. Both Legan and Chisago City Public Works Superintendent Jason Lind have searched for the curb stop without success. (A curb stop is necessary to turn off water at the street in the event of a water line leak or to prevent the possibility of contaminated water flowing back out into the public water system.

Legan has been told that repairing a curb stop is the private property owner’s responsibility; however, he explained that he had a functional curb stop before the street was improved and afterward he didn’t have one. The Stinson Avenue road improvement was completed by Chisago County several years ago. The county then turned the improved road over to Chisago City to maintain. 

‘It’s not my doing it was lost,” said Legan. “It wasn’t the city’s fault either., but now that the city has taken over that road, you’ve inherited it.”

Mayor Jeremy Dresel acknowledged Legan’s concerns but put the dilemma back in the hands of Public Works Superintendent Jason Lind, saying, “We’ll keep working on it and try to find a resolution for everybody.”  

- Third up to the microphone was John Henrikson of 10931 Stinson Avenue. Henrikson owns residential property abutting Paradise Park, which was once Paradise Resort. He explained the history of a ditch which currently runs from Chisago Lake over his property, under Stinson Avenue, across Chuckie Lundquist Park and then under Highway 8. The ditch is currently designed to carry water from Chisago Lake to Wallmark Lake when lake levels get too high. 

Back in the 1950s, the ditch was built by his father, Harland Henrikson, and the owner of Paradise Resort to drain water from what was swampy land into Chisago Lake in order to allow extension of city water and sewer lines across the property to rental cabins at the Resort. (Editor’s note: During the Dust Bowl years of the Great Depression, local lake levels fell dramatically. After World War II, various methods were employed to raise lake levels. Not only was water drained into the lakes, but a pump was installed in South Lindstrom Lake to pump water into the Chisago Lakes chain. It operated for many years. In the 1980s, lake levels began to rise dramatically, with many lakeshore properties flooded and many more in danger of flooding.)

Henrikson explained to the council that it was then agreed that the same ditch which once had channeled water into the lake would be reversed and used to drain water out of Chisago Lake when it exceeded the Natural Ordinary High Water Mark (NOHWM) controlled by a system of weirs managed by the Lake Improvement District. He said a three-foot culvert was installed when Stinson Avenue was rebuilt several years ago, but this year the system stopped functioning properly.

“This year with all the rain, water that usually flows out of Chisago Lake to Wallmark Lake has started running backwards and fills up the ditch with stagnant water that breeds mosquitoes,” Henrikson explained. He said the Lake Improvement District’s box culvert may be blocked and that the ditch and weirs need clearing and maintaining. He said so much water is collecting in the area that a beaver has taken up residence.

Henrikson said, “I’d like to get rid of the ditch on my property (which uses a 25-foot easement granted by Henrikson’s father decades ago) and move that ditch over to land that the city owns and the Lake Improvement District would be responsible to keep it clear.”    

Public Works Director Lind told the council that the Lake Improvement District “essentially owns the ditch,” and that he has called them several times about coming out to clear trees and keep the ditch flowing.“They’re wanting me to figure out the problem for them, and they keep pushing Mr. Henrikson back to me,” said Lind, “but it’s not our ditch.”

Henrikson said he realizes this matter will not be resolved quickly but he is getting older and would like the problem resolved. Henrikson said he had brought the same message to the Lake Improvement District and would bring it back again. “I’d really like to get that water off my property,” he said, adding, “I’d like to be mowing there rather than paddling.” Mayor Dresel suggested Henrikson speak to his county commissioner about the situation.

- Fourth to appear at the open microphone portion of the meeting was Mary Monica Tosteson, an avid walker on the Old Towne Rd. bike and walking path, who expressed a safety concern. Tosteson said that cyclists rapidly approaching walkers from behind without calling out their presence pose a hazard. “It’s just a matter of time until an accident happens,” she said. She suggested signage, lines on the path to separate walkers and cyclists, and researching what other communities have done in similar situations. 

In other business, the council:

- authorized the Chisago City Fire Department to enter an agreement with MacQueen to lease18 self-contained breathing apparatus (SBA) including a frame, face piece and two cylinders for every firefighter at under $10,000 per   firefighter. The first lease payment won’t be due until September 2025 and the full lease may be paid off at any time.  Also approved were replacement of the lighting control panel and tinting the bay windows at the fire hall at a total cost of $12,296 from the building fund.

- accepted a $4,000 grant from the St. Croix Valley Community Foundation to be used exclusively for the Peace Trail Project in Rotary Park at 10340 Liberty Lane. 

- approved extending the timeline for Chris and Sheila Baldwin, 28845 Park Place, to submit a variance for approval by the city planning commission to expand a nonconforming structure on their lot in the Chisago City Shoreland Overlay District. The deadline for the city to approve or deny the variance is now Jan. 29, 2025.

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