November 15 City Council Meeting

The City Council will be holding a Public Hearing on the proposed 2006 street repairs. This is an important meeting. If you have received notification of a street repair in your neighborhood you should attend this meeting.

We will also be discussing the realignment of Credit Union Drive. This is another instance of past poor city planning. Credit Union drive has two almost 90 degree curves. If this road is straightened is can also be link across 5. The issue again is the rights of the land owners the proposed route would take. The Credit Union has asked for compensation for this realignment. The road which now passes to the east of the credit union would be moved to the west. The buildings entire orientations will be 180 degrees in the wrong direction.

The Council will discuss the driveway width ordnance. The proposed ordnance would allow driveways to be a maximum of 30 feet at the road. The current ordnance states 20 feet. The city of Isanti has had one of the most restrictive ordnances in the area. I have heard from a wide range of citizens including seniors and those with boats that need a larger entrance to their 3 car garages. All agree that widening the driveway would allow for easier access. This is the first of what will be many ordnances reforms coming from the Planning Commission.

The Fire Board which helps operate the City of Isanti Fire Department has proposed Fire District Joint Powers agreement with the City of Isanti and the Townships of Bradford, Stanford, Athens, Spencer Brook, Oxford and Isanti. I just received this information on November 10th. The general concept I think is a good one. The current agreement leaves the City of Isanti with the liability of the Fire Department without proper authority. The details of the proposed Joint Powers agreement however have a long way to go. I will discuss one in this posting and will detail more as the agreement develops.

The main issue is proper representation. I will strongly fight to have the percentage of votes equate with the percentage of funds paid. This means if the City of Isanti pays 25% of the budget then Isanti has 25% of the votes. The proposed agreement gives one vote to the City and one vote to each of the 6 Townships. This is not fair to the taxpayers of Isanti. This will be an evolving process to reach a proper agreement. I will as always keep you updated.