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The luck of the Irish was with Taylors Falls City Council at their meeting on the day before St. Patrick’s Day.  Council learned the insurance premium is below-budget and the city got a grant from the National Association of Realtors that will save expenditures for finalization of an on-going city branding effort.

Jim Corradi, for Stein Insurance, presented the package for renewal and at this point it looks like the premium is several thousand dollars less than what had been projected.  

The League of Minnesota Cities has upped the deductibles which is a decision by the organization and out of the city hands, and the city will now cover $500 instead of $250.  Council pointed out some vehicle changes for the policy and asked the agent to clarify city building inspector coverage with a new contract in place with Chisago County for this service.  

The council approved renewal at about $40,000 and will adopt the final policy wording next meeting. 

The hire of consultant Alyssa Auten was approved, using a $15,000 grant from a national realtors’ group.  Council member Carol Schumann said she and land use advisor Todd Streeter  applied for the grant and just got word it was successful.

Taylors Falls will be spending some of its own money in the near future on the water tower (standpipe) and reservoir.  KLM is being contracted to do an inspection which Council member Tim Grote, who is public works liaison, stated he could find no records of ever having been done.  The work will run $60,000.

“We will need to assess their condition to create a plan (for future R and M),” Grote advised.

Council okayed purchase of a laptop from Easy I.T. for $1,471 to replace a failing device.

The down payment was approved to reserve a band for Wannigan Days.  Grote said the committee lined-up the 70’s Magic Sunshine Band for the featured event.

The fire department smelt fry was authorized for liquor sales. The smelt fry is always held on the first Saturday of May at the fire hall.

The farmers market is going to try a downtown spot this summer. Arrangements are in process.  The “MINNDOT Lot” has not sold yet and is open on main street and council supported relocating the market from Heritage Park on the overlook. 

The city is also doing testing of soils at this lot to be able to answer developer questions about any contamination as the lot stays on the market. Pro-Tech gave a quote of $6,629 for the testing.  The process is associated with seasons so the work is under time constraints but council runs the expense by the Economic Development Commission members to dip into the EDC budget.

The developer of Granite Ledge asked for a change to single family homes from townhouses in an area of the plat, which was earlier approved.  Density overall is not being impacted.

One person spoke during a public hearing, who lived in the neighborhood and supports the revision. Lots were also allowed to be redrawn to better site the houses.

Chris DuBose, on the agenda for the Chisago Lakes Rotary updated council on planned uses for the Chisago Lakes Foundation money the Rotary won in the competition for a ‘Big Idea Grant” and council was supportive.

The Rotary is providing mile markers and other amenities for the corridor of the Swedish Immigrant Regional Trail. The entire length is a $36,000 project and Rotary is working with Unruly Acres, a metal arts company located locally.  

The metal mile markers will be placed all along the trail from Taylors Falls to the far west side of the county. Council may also request matching bike racks.

Council will work with the parks commission to review design elements for “cutouts” in the metal works, to be customized to Taylors Falls.   The actual symbol will be decided later.  

With Council member Lee Samuelson absent the project was bolstered with city funding of $1,500 (from yet another grant)

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