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The Chisago City Council on Oct. 28 approved a cooperative agreement with Chisago County for the improvement of County. State Aid highway (CSAH) 19 scheduled for next summer. The project will include construction of a roundabout at the intersection of Lofton Ave. and CSAH 19, a new bike trail to be maintained by the city, and reconstruction of CSAH 19 east to CSAH 14 in Lindstrom.

As part of the project, the county will be removing and reinstalling a Chisago City watermain around the new roundabout, and the city will extend water and sewer to a five-acre parcel it owns nearby. 

In other business, the council:

- voted not to grant a request by developer Don Skelly and High Pointe Land LLC asking Chisago City to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to transfer the permit for a problematic filtration basin, at South Lindstrom Shores development to the city. The filtration basin, which serves a handful of lots in the development, was completed in October 2022, but does not drain as designed. The bottom of the defective basin has been scraped three times in an attempt to fix the problem without success, leaving the permit holder, High Pointe, and two adjacent property owners in violation of MPCA regulations. 

The plan had been for the developer to turn the completed infiltration basin over to the city for ongoing maintenance once it was up and running successfully. 

The city had released some funds it holds in escrow for the developer to try to resolve the problems. “We held the escrow in case there were some problems we would have something to work with,” recalled Council Member Craig Meyer. “We tried to do him a favor by allowing release of some of that money.”’    

Early on in the project, inadequate erosion control allowed runoff to enter the filtration basin clogging the filtration medium.  

City Engineer Nate Stanley said they have done a some research, and It may be that a different design, or possibly a “wet pond” rather than one that is supposed to drain dry, may be necessary. The filtration is supposed remove phosphorous from water as it drains through it, but has become clogged by vegetation and sand. 

Council Member Mark Anderson said his recommendation would be not to accept the developer’s request that the city take over the faulty basin. His motion to deny the request passed unanimously.

“I don’t think it was our intention to take it over without a working pond,” said Mayor Jeremy Dresel.. The mayor also said, “We need to ask a few more questions about what is needed, and what it would take to get it in compliance (with the MPCA.). I’m not going to just say, no we won’t help.” 

City Administrator Pechman said after the meeting that he believes talks will continue in an attempt to resolve the issue.

- approved a design review requested by Northern Natural Gas for construction of an 80 sq. ft. building at 8443 Wyoming Trail. The building will house a relocated rupture mitigation valve and other equipment related to the existing natural gas line on the 63-acre property owned by Lorelei Giddings. The new rupture mitigation valve is part of a Northern Natural Gas project that involves removal and replacement of 2,200 feet of the 24-inch Farmington-to-North Branch gas pipe line with1,460 ft of that line located within Chisago City. 

- on the recommendations of the city’s new law firm, Flaherty & Hood, and city staff, approved an ordinance which amends existing zoning codes, zoning permits and related processes, especially as related to variances. City administrator John Pechman explained that a review of the city’s existing codes found that conditions to grant a variance were excessive, and related written resolutions were longer and more redundant than necessary and provided no recourse for making an appeal.  

The ordinance amendment is intended to streamline the variance application process and the Planning Commission will serve as the city’s Board of Adjustments and Appeals.  The amended ordinance is available for viewing at city hall.

- authorized Chisago County to proceed with an addressing/readdressing project within the corporate limits of Chisago City that will be coordinated by the Chisago County Environmental Services Department.  This is an update of the original street naming agreement approved in 1997 when Chisago County pursued a countywide street naming and numbering system.  

Council approved street names recommended for three new streets that will be created as part of the anticipated Highway 8 reconstruction project from Chisago City west toward Karmel Ave. Pechman explained these are new “connector” streets that will be added when some existing streets will no longer connect directly to the highway. Three options were proposed for each new street. The council approved the recommended street names of:  Jade Court or Circle; Juniper Avenue or Court and Kasota Lane. No map of the proposed new streets was provided as they do not currently exist. In moving to approve the names, Council Member Craig Meyer said he liked the fact that the new names were “shorter rather than longer.”

- passed a resolution lowering the city’s 2026 debt levy for its 2016 General Obligation Capital Improvement bond from $183,461 to $158,130, a $25,000 saving for the city’s property taxpayers. The city was able to reduce the levy thanks to a favorable return on investments and proceeds of leasing some city owned land.

- authorized the Fire Department’s use of $4,300 from Fund 23 (charitable gambling) funds to pay for a new commercial refrigerator. The department’s  refrigerator could not be repaired.

- granted City Engineer Stanley’s request to make the final payment of $2,956 to Dresel Contracting for the Old Towne Road Trail Improvement Project. Mayor Dresel abstained from the vote. The project was funded by a combination of city funds and a Department of Natural Resources Trail Grant. Stanley will now accept the completed project on behalf of the city which he said will release the final reimbursement funds from the DNR.

In voting to approve the final payment Council Member Meyer said, “I think it ’s a good project. There are always people on that trail every time I drive by there.”

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