Finance Specialist

With an employee moving on to other pursuits we advertised to fill the position of Finance Specialist.  Replacing any employee takes time, generally about 3 months at a minimum.  The process of advertising, interviewing and transition from a previous employer to a new one each has its place and time lines.  We have recently gone the course and have a new employee as the Finance Specialist.

Kari Jacobson was hired to fill that position.  She comes to us with a wealth of experience.  She was the Clerk Treasurer for Kiester, MN for 11 years and worked for the city of Hermantown, MN as an accountant.  Recently she was the Clerk Treasurer of Hayward, MN while also owning and operating a liquor store.  She has an accounting degree and has spent the majority of her career dealing with numbers.  Her background includes payroll, accounts payable, accounts receivable, general ledger, and utility billing. 

She has big shoes to fill but we feel she is more than capable of filling them and then some.  She has friends and relatives in the area.  She has always wanted to live in this area. She is excited to be in Breezy Point.   We are very pleased to welcome her to city hall. 

Shared Responsibility

Breezy Point and Ideal Township have worked together to deal with public service issues for a great many years.  The city at one time had contracted with them for fire service.  We have continued a relationship of sharing responsibilities for roads that abut both jurisdictions with an agreement.  The shared road service agreement has worked well.  This agreement is periodically renewed as it extends for a period of time. 

The past agreement expired at the start of this year.  We worked together to renew the agreement.  The agreement was working well as written but Ideal Township had ideas about making changes.  The past agreement provided for the city plowing and maintaining Buschmann Road and Ideal Township plowed and maintained Ossawinnamakee Road and Forest Knolls Road.

Under the new arrangement a somewhat different approach was defined.  Breezy Point will accomplish plowing and maintenance of the shared portion of Buschmann Road.  We will only plow the Ideal portion of Buschmann Road.  The city will also take on the plowing of Wild Turkey Trail.  Ideal Township will in turn do plowing and maintenance of Ossawinnamakee Road, Graf Road and Forest Knolls.  They will also plow Sunset Strip. 

                  

With this change there was some concern that property owners who abut these roadways should be made aware of the change.  A letter was sent out and asked if they had any concerns with the change.  Some responses were received indicating they didn’t have any issues with it.  The agreement provides for a fairly equitable arrangement.  It provides for some time savings for both parties.  The Breezy Point City Council approved the agreement at the October meeting.  Ideal Township subsequently also approved the agreement.   

Lot Trade

Once in a while the city finds itself with property that is more valuable to another property owner where a trade in lands makes sense.  This doesn’t happen often.  It has occurred now on two occasions in the last couple of years.  The first time it occurred there was some confusion about public improvements and ownership of property.  There may also have been an issue with an owner that couldn’t be found.  The result was a trade of lots that resulted in a benefit to both parties. 

Recently a situation occurred with a property owner who owned two lots that were separated by two lots owned by the city in between. The property owner has a home on one lot and the other is vacant. He wanted to build a garage on this other lot but as a non-contiguous property they could not be combined.  The city does not allow for the construction of accessory buildings such as garages without a home on the site.  Without this rule the city would probably look similar to a storage facility with garages all over the place.

The property owner requested to purchase the two lots the city held.  The property held by the city was reserved for parkland so it is not for sale.   The property owner came back with another suggestion which was a great idea.  He suggested he trade the lot the city holds next to his home in exchange for the vacant lot he owns.  He was willing to pay all the expenses associated with the trade. 

This was a win-win for both parties.  The property owner will get a lot that is contiguous to his home which when combined allows him to build a garage.  The city retains the same amount of space in lots that is currently held after the trade.  The change in lots provides for a better configuration of lots with a proposed garage being a buffer from the future parkland use.  The resulting lots the city holds better fits the parkland configuration of other lands held by the city. 

The city council approved the trade in lots and we’re now in the process of making that transaction.