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Shafer City Council met August 4 for a regular meeting.  All members were present, 26 people were in the audience.

Council opened the meeting with a public hearing of a request by PLC Towing to amend a CUP for their lot at 17638 Industrial Drive. The CUP states water and sewer utilities shall be extended to the property to facilitate the use of the building for maintenance operations.  PLC was asking for the water and sewer to be removed from the CUP because the property is just a holding lot for vehicles.  No one from the public spoke and the meeting was closed.  Council passed the request unanimously.

Council then officially accepted the resignation of maintenance supervisor Dan Cooper.  Cooper has held the position for the last nine years.

Council accepted a donation of 10 percent of proceeds from the Fire Relief Gambling fund for $538.18.

City engineer Dan Guzik then told the council he has received seal coat quotes from four companies and Gopher State Seal Coating came in the lowest at $6,810.  He recommended the council approve up to $12,000 in case extra costs arise.  Council passed the $12,000 unanimously.

Council then discussed some properties in the city that have been addressed prior, but in light of the recent arrests, residents were asking to speak to the council.  

Tina Hempel who lives on Ridgewood Avenue said, “We all know what’s going on at these properties, people are living at the junkyard, in garages, and in storage units, we as residents do not feel safe in our own town anymore.”  

Hempel asked if anything could be done with the CUP’s of the four properties in question.  Mayor Paula Hanson reminded Hempel and the audience, “What happened at the Creamery a couple of weeks ago had nothing to do with the CUP’s - that was strictly a law enforcement issue.  There have been multiple CUP violations and our attorney is currently drafting the next round of paperwork which will be sent to the property owner and then to the courts.”

Hanson also told the audience a violation at one property has no bearing on the other properties.

Hanson then asked for a show of hands in the audience of who owns a dog, which close to half raised their hands. “We only have eight licensed dogs in the city right now, we could write a violation for those of you who have not purchased one. It’s basically the same thing as the CUP violations,” Hanson said.

Hanson continued, saying, “Do I like that we can’t do much about it? No, absolutely not. Believe me when I say the entire council doesn’t sleep well at night worrying about this problem. We can, if you choose as taxpayers, to chase all of these properties in court, but that would come to thousands and thousands of dollars that would be passed on to you – the taxpayers.”

Former mayor, business owner and resident of Shafer Kyle Johnson told the council and the audience the majority of the CUP’s were in place for decades.  Johnson said these properties have been problematic “forever” and the residents and the council should work together to find a resolution.  “I just lost a renter from my building because they were uncomfortable with the property next door,” Johnson said. “If we choose to do nothing, we will have no businesses in Shafer eventually.  We need to hire a building inspector again like we had before.” 

The session then closed with no action being taken.

In the public works report, Cooper asked the council to approve the final payout for the sewer back-up that has since been fixed.  Council approved the $35,000 payout unanimously.

Cooper then told the council he received a letter from Xcel telling the city they could no longer hang decorations or flags on Xcel’s distribution poles.  Shafer only has distribution poles where other cities own light poles.  Mayor Hanson responded, saying, “Before we agree to any of this, they can come and fix the multitude of street lights out around town.”

In her report, city clerk Valerie Fox told the council MnDOT has denied direct access of Highway 8 at the old Shafer One Stop property.  The city has received an application to use that property from Dollar General.  After learning about the driveway closure, Dollar General has asked for a 60 day extension to look into the matter.

Council adjourned at 6:35pm.

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