Wireless Communications

Back in 2000 the city was concerned about telecommunication towers and had recently seen the construction of the KLKS radio tower.  At that time the city established an ordinance that regulated the location, size and siting of these types of facilities.  The regulations reflected many concerns of unknowns at that time as mobile phones were starting to become popular and having large towers all over the place was disconcerting.

An ordinance was established that provided limited accommodations for these with the mindset of being restrictive.  Today these concerns have changed to the accommodate communication towers as the majority of the population utilizes wireless technology.  The issue of capacity to handle wireless traffic becomes more important while the advent of communication towers is not seen as being as detrimental as they were once thought of in the past.  That being said there is still a need for regulation but also a need for reasonableness in providing service.

The Planning Commission, after receiving a request for a cellular communication antenna, recognized that the current regulations no longer met the needs of the public or the industry providing the service.  They noted that the current regulations were not codified in the code so it was time to update the regulations. They also recognized a need for communication towers to serve public safety needs. 

The Planning Commission was grateful to have discussed the issues of regulations with Rick Adams of Mid-Country Tower Services giving them insight into the issue.  With additional work over a period of a few months they were able to recommend a revised ordinance to the city council for adoption.  Ordinance 14-06 was presented and approved establishing section §153.102 in the zoning code.  The section is entitled: Governing Telecommunications Towers, Antennas, and Related Facilities.  The city council adopted the ordinance at their September 2, 2014 meeting. 

Edgewater Inn

The city was approached by the owners of the Knoxies/Edgewater Inn building which is located on the south side of town along Co. Rd. 4.  This building has stood vacant for a good number of years and attempts to sell it have not materialized with a buyer.  The building may be sound but a commercial use of it requires a great deal of health and building code compliance issues which further frustrates its purchase and use. 

The offer the owners made to the city was to donate the property and building to the city with no strings attached.  They would like to see the building put to a public purpose but the city would be faced with the same building code issues.  Remodeling a building can be as costly as building a new facility.  At this time the city isn’t in a position to expand public facilities or use the building. 

The city council reviewed the property owner’s offer of this donation.  They did not feel a reuse of the building was feasible but did feel they could accept the donation.  With this donation they also agreed to remove the building and clear the site.  They hope to complete this transaction and have the building removed by the end of the year.  The removal of the building carries some costs which the city is willing to assume as the building has sat vacant and continues to decline with the passage of each year.  

The city greatly appreciates the intended donation from Vine Hill Investors and more particularly Jeff and Nancy Schoenwetter.   

2015 Preliminary Levy

Each year the city works on a budget starting in June or July for the following year.  A budget includes both revenues and expenditures.  Expenditures are listed by department such as police and public works.  Revenues come from a number of sources such as permits and licenses and funds from other governmental units such as the state.  The largest revenue source is from property taxes which is the tax levy.  

Cities are required to certify a preliminary levy to the county each year.  The deadline for this used to be the 15^th of September.  This year the legislature modified this deadline to September 30^th.  With the certification given to the county it uses that amount to indicate the level of taxation in the notice sent to all property owners.  The notice concerns the pending tax levy and the public budget hearing to be held in late November or December.  

The Preliminary Levy certification carries another significance aspect.  It becomes the maximum amount the city can levy for taxes.  As the year progresses the city fine tunes the budget to recognize any adjustment that can be made to various line items in both revenues and expenditures.  The levy can then be adjusted downward if possible but adjusting for an increase in levy is not possible.  Setting the Preliminary Levy is important in managing the finances for the following year.

 

For 2015 it was proposed the levy be set at the same amount as that of last year.  The city has worked very hard to manage its finances and has recently paid off two debt instruments which have improved our bottom line.  With this, some funds were made available to do additional public improvements without the need for debt service.  In discussion it was felt an additional $5,000 should be included in the preliminary levy to offset an unexpected cost.  If this cost can be assumed with fine tuning the levy will be reduced however if not the funds will be available.

 

The final total Preliminary Levy for 2015 is $1,758,080 while the total budget for 2015 is proposed at $1,946,258. 

burial above ground

The City of Breezy Point owns the Pelican Woods Cemetery and Nature Trail.  This is a unique cemetery as it was set up to take advantage of the woods and lands in a park like setting with a walking trail that surrounds the cemetery property.  The cemetery has been in existence since about 2000. 

To date 92 lots have been purchased and 53 persons have been laid to rest there.  Currently the cremains to traditional burials ratio is running about 68% cremains.  This trend is increasing with a state average of 53%. With cremains there are options.  Ashes can be scattered about, they can be buried, and some people prefer a Columbiaia placement.  

The Breezy Point Cemetery Commission has wanted to establish a columbarium for some time approaching the issue about 5 years ago.  At that time funds were limited and details hadn’t been sorted out so the issue did not move forward.  However the Commission revisited the issue this year towards the establishment of a columbarium.   

A couple of proposals were received for prebuilt columbarium that is trucked to the cemetery and installed on site.  The columbarium selected is considered a 48 niche columbarium but actually has 60 niches.  It is built with 24 double occupancy spaces on each side with bonus single occupancy niches of 6 on each end making the unit a 60 niche columbarium. 

The vendor awarded the contract for this is Clearwater Stone and Columbaria of St. Cloud, MN.  The cost for the slab and unit combined is $10,900.  Some additional installation costs will be incurred. It is anticipated that the columbarium will be available around the end of October of 2014.  Niche sales will commence shortly before installation. 

Public Works Supervisor

The city of Breezy Point has a limited number of staff and with that every person is very important to our operations.  With the age of a number of staff persons we are seeing some retirements.  One position that was recently vacated through retirement was the Roads Supervisor.  This position was held by Dave Szymanski and his final day of employment with the city was August 8^th, 2014. 

The city undertook a process of hiring a replacement for him starting in May.  Job descriptions were reviewed and updated.  The job title was changed to Public Works Supervisor as the job involves more than just maintaining roads.  Advertisements were made in trade organizations and the local press.  Applications were collected until June 13^th.  A total of 20 applications were received of which included a good number of people who could fill the position.  Five of these were selected for interviews. 

The city was faced with a number of very qualified individuals which was great news for us.  The downside to that is that only one candidate is offered the position.  The person selected to replace Dave Szymanski is Bryan Merta.  Bryan comes with a wealth of experience.  He has operated all sorts of heavy equipment.  He has surveying experience and he is a civil engineer.  He also is a resident of Breezy Point. 

The City Council hired him at their August 4^th meeting and Bryan started on the 5^th of August.  Bryan is getting accustomed to his new role and looks forward to the challenges it offers.  Although working in Public Works is a somewhat new role for him he feels he has the experience and qualifications to accomplish the job.  We are pleased to have Bryan Merta join the staff of the city of Breezy Point.