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At its Aug. 26 regular meeting, the Chisago City Council learned that, after 16 years of celebrating Falloween and the Ojiketa Haunt at Ojiketa Park, city staff and the park commission have decided to “take a new direction.”  

City administrator Pechman said that in recent years the Ojiketa Halloween projects, while highly successful, placed an overwhelming demand on staff and volunteers. The final blow came when this year’s spring thaw caused a backup in Strom Hall that flooded the “haunted house” causing removal of its temporary walls. It was then decided this year to create an interactive Halloween display and activities for adults and children at Moberg Park.  

The change will also mean Ojiketa Regional Park is available for October dates for weddings and event rentals. The council and staff expressed appreciation for all the efforts that have gone into past events, especially mentioning Council Member Mark Anderson who started the Ojiketa Haunt.

“We promise we’ll do our best to create a fun Moberg fall experience for our community,” Chisago City Parks Superintendent Doris Zacho stated in a letter to the council.

In other business, the council:

- rescheduled the regular Nov. 25 city council meeting for Monday, Nov 10.

- agreed to provide a letter of support for the Chisago Lakes Rotary’s application for the Chisago Lakes Area Foundation Big Idea grant. Chris DuBose told the council that the Rotary is seeking the grant for improvements to the Swedish Immigrant Trail that include mileage markers with historical descriptions at key points and QR codes with links to local businesses. Rotary-planted pollinator gardens along the route will also be possible. On behalf of the Rotary, DuBose is also requesting $1,000 donations from cities along the trail for a few specially designed bike racks at a cost of $3,000 each. The council decided to bring the $1,000 bike rack request to the city park commission before making a financial commitment.

- granted Fire Chief Zach Reed’s request to spend $15,319 from Fund 23 (charitable gambling proceeds) to purchase: an appliance for large diameter water transfer, 12 helmet lights, and thermal imaging cameras and related equipment.

- gratefully accepted the gift of a crystal apple, given as a symbol of friendship from sister city, Algutsboda, Sweden. The apple, made at the Algutsboda glassworks, was presented to the council by Gary Noren and Marty Harding of the Unexpected Company Chorale, which visited Algutsboda during a concert tour in May. 

Vilhelm Moberg (1898–1973), who wrote a series of novels (subsequently made into a motion picture) about early Swedish emigration to Chisago County, was born and grew up in Algutsboda, in the region called Småland. Moberg stayed in Chisago City while researching the lives of early Swedish immigrants to the area. Their personal stories became the basis for his fictional characters, Karl Oskar and Kristina Nilsson. Today, a bronze sculpture in Chisago City’s Moberg Park memorializes Moberg and the bicycle he used to travel the area while doing his research.

- after receiving no public comment at a duly called public hearing, passed a resolution approving the issuance of “a charter school lease revenue note” to Friends of Wolf Creek, a nonprofit corporation. The Trio Wolf Creek Project involves “acquisition of…real property…at 10363 Liberty Lane, Chisago City,” which is the current location of the Wolf Creek Online High School. City staff emphasized that the City of Chisago City is serving as a conduit for issuance of the tax exempt bonds and has no responsibility for repayment or bond financing which will involve the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED).

-  approved the following variance request and design review. Both projects received a positive planning commission recommendation following an Aug. 7 pubic hearing):

A variance was granted to Mark and Melinda Posner for a 420 sq. ft. addition and new deck to the second floor of their existing house on Kismet Isle. The variance allows the new construction to be 50 feet rather than 75 feet from the Ordinary High Water Mark as stated in city ordinance. 

The design of an accessory structure requested by the Chisago Lakes Baptist Church and School at 9387 Wyoming Ave. was reviewed and approved. The 16’x36’ prefabricated building will be 13 feet high, grey-brown in color, and feature a six-foot-wide, roll-up window for selling tickets, candy, and bottled water during soccer games and will also store field maintenance equipment. The Baptist school is located on 23 acres zoned for public/semi-public facilities. The project will not affect setback, impervious surface, or parking.

 - fined Chisago Liquors Store $500 for a first-time violation of municipal liquor laws governing sale of alcohol and tobacco to minors. During a routine compliance check conducted by the Lakes Area Police Department on June 18, a clerk at Chisago Liquors sold beer and a vape to an undercover buyer who was under the age of 21. Police Chief Bill Schlumbohm stated that prior to the compliance checks retailers had been reminded to educate their employees on their responsibility to check for identification and to verify buyers’ ages. 

    The penalty for violating the ordinance is a $500 fine or a 60-day suspension of liquor/tobacco license. According to Schlumbohm, there had been no compliance check failures by Chisago Liquors in the last three years. 

- approved a petition for annexation of 1.4 acres at 30979 Walmark Lake Dr., currently in Chisago Lake Township, to connect to Chisago City sewer. 

    City staff received the petition Aug. 19, and drafted a joint orderly annexation agreement which was provided to Chisago Lake Township the same day, and approved at the regular town board meeting that evening. 

On Aug. 26, the Chisago City Council directed the city administrator and mayor to execute the agreement and submit the joint resolution for orderly annexation approved by the city and the township to the State Boundary Adjustments Unit for review and approval. In that agreement Chisago City agrees to pay Chisago Lake Township $929 for loss of two years’ property tax.

-  voted to hire Aalyse Eik as part-time city administrative assistant. Eik was selected from 27 applicants for a new position created when former Executive Assistant Allisa Bodell was promoted to Deputy Clerk on the retirement of long-time Deputy Clerk Darlene Oehme.  At that time, Bodell’s full-time executive assistant position was eliminated and replaced by a part-time administrative assistant.

- was reminded of the Highway 8 Workshop scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Sept. 9 to discuss future improvements of Highway 8 from Karmel Ave. to Taylors Falls.

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