With a long vision the city of Breezy Point developed its
City Hall, City Park and Public Safety Building with properties that were acquired
through outright purchase and Tax Forfeiture lands. In years past, the city had the ability to
acquire Tax Forfeiture property from the county at no cost if used for a
governmental purpose. Governmental
purposes included properties used for public buildings, parks and drainage ways
as examples.
At some time past Crow Wing County had determined that the
“gift” of tax forfeited properties to governmental agencies was not the right
way to go. Providing them in this manner
meant the properties essentially have deed restrictions. These restrictions were to be kept track of
and monitored as the governmental agency could only use them for their intended
purposes. Properties acquired in this
manner could not be sold or exchanged.
If the intended purpose was changed, it could result in land going back
to the county. The county had too many
of these types of transactions to keep track of. They decided the properties, if wanted by a
governmental body, could be purchased at a fair market value. This removed the deed restrictions and
obligations by the county in the future to monitor these lands.
Regardless of the county policy of disposition of Tax Forfeited
property the city had established a goal of acquiring the lots in the area of
the City Hall and Public Safety Building.
This goal was articulated in the Comprehensive Plan to acquire
properties within the boundaries of North Drive, North Spruce Street, and Co.
Rd. 11. The city has been acquiring
lands as they become available and recently Crow Wing County made all Tax
Forfeiture property in the area described available for purchase. A total of ten lots were on the county sale
rooster.
A price was established by the county for these ten
properties at $11,700. This may not seem
to be the market value for 10 lots but they are unbuildable due to access or
wetlands. The majority are also small in
size. The city council agreed to the
purchase of these properties making significant headway on achieving the goals
for property acquisition. With these,
and other purchases this year, the city still has additional lots to
acquire. That number however has shrunk to
12 lots held by private parties. It is
hoped these too will be acquired in time.
So you may ask what the city will do with these
properties. Our current needs have been
met but the area of the City Hall Campus will likely host a larger park
containing another ballfield, perhaps additional walking trails, and with time
and especially funding the vision would be to someday have a community
center. You start with a dream and
someday, with great effort, you hope to accomplish that dream.
