Pelican Woods Cemetery Grounds Maintenance

The city contracts the landscaping work and lawn maintenance for the cemetery since its inception.  Grass Master has provided this work and has been a good partner with the city working with the cemetery volunteers in directing efforts in the various gardens and doing miscellaneous landscaping work. The arrangement has worked out well. 

 

The service offered by Grass Master has been done through a two year contract.  This year the contract provides for a 2% increase in costs but looking back on contract costs with them the cost of service has remained relatively flat.  In review of the cost for mowing of the cemetery since 2007 up until this contract the increase has been only $4.28.  The labor cost increases for landscaping work has only increased in that time $0.56 per hour. 

A contract for cemetery services of landscaping work and mowing has been approved.  The contract covers 2015 and 2016.  The contract for services in the cemetery will increase $4.37 for mowing to $222.65.  The labor rate will move to $30 per hour.  In the grand scheme of things we’ve seen good value from Grass Masters with minor increases in the budget.   

Road Improvements

The Roads Committee of the City Council has been working towards road maintenance and improvements within the City of Breezy Point.  This year some maintenance efforts were undertaken with a good deal of seal coating being accomplished.  This was done jointly with the county including our work under their bid.  Seal coating involves the rejuvenation of the asphalt with a thin layer of asphalt/oil mix, covering it with an application of rock, and in this situation a fog seal that holds the materials in place.  This prolongs the life of the asphalt and is used only when the pavement will benefit from the application.  Streets that have alligator cracking or are crumbling will not benefit from this treatment.  

The other project that was undertaken was the mill and overlay of Breezy Point Drive.  This was done from the gates to the parking lot area of the resort.   This roadway receives heavy use and had been overlaid once so pavement thickness was adequate to do a 2 inch mill and resulting overlay. 

 

For 2015 the city is interested in trying to complete a couple of asphalt paving projects in addition to continuing to do seal coating.  The city council looked at three roads to consider for paving however the budget does not allow for all to be completed.  A feasibility study was ordered in October and reviewed by Council at the November meeting.  The study looked at Snowman Circle, Shady Trail, and Rainer Drive.  Rainer Drive and Shady Trail are both shown in the Comprehensive Plan for sanitary sewer extensions.  Sewer isn’t practical for these roadways at this time. 

  

The costs for these improvements are proposed to be assessed to the benefiting property owners.  Accomplishing an assessment involves a process to be used as dictated under Minnesota Statutes 429.   Accomplishing all the steps takes about five to six months at a minimum. In some situations it can take up to a year.  It is a formalized process that needs to be undertaken to meet statutory requirements.  The process can be halted at any time which results in the improvements being abandoned.  

The council determined that we would move forward with Snowman Circle and the west half of Shady Drive for paving projects for 2015.  An open house has been scheduled for November 20^th from 6:00 to 7:00 pm to address questions concerning the project.  A Public Improvement Hearing has been scheduled for December 15^th  at 7:00 pm.  At that point the city will make a decision as to whether or not to move the project forward. 

Development

In the past the city had established a Five Year Road Plan and attempted to get roads within the city paved.  The idea was good but getting there had its pitfalls.  The plan was conceived with very large expenditures to be accomplished annually.  Doing this required bonding and the required annual debt payments.  The economy saw a slowdown which stopped development and started a reduction in property values.  Assessments and taxes weren’t being paid.  A tax appeal was filed by the largest tax payer and the feeling of caution swept in.  

The Five Year Plan was abandoned.  The city rode the storm of decreasing taxable values.  Finances were shored up and discussions were had about continuing to accomplish some improvements.  It was recognized that at least one of the policies of the city was difficult to deal with.  Streets were not to be paved until there was sanitary sewer installed.  It was recognizing that we have many lots already with sanitary sewer.  There are areas where sewer will probably not be possible or needed in the distant future.  It was felt some paving should be an option ahead of sanitary sewer.  

The development of Whitebirch Village was approved but given the economy was put on hold.  This project was conceived with the understanding that it would be constructed with sanitary sewer.  As this project started to come together a different approach to their plans was recognized.  Utilizing an existing lift station and expanding the project area provided for a more economical approach so two goals could be accomplished; sanitary sewer and paved streets. 

Working through this plan the city was able to address an improvement project.   The project included sanitary sewer in Creek Circle and portions of Whitebirch Drive.  Creek Circle and portions of Whitebirch Drive were also paved. The city has accepted the improvements.  The project has been completed and is considered a success as two of the units built in Whitebirch Village have sold.  

Limited growth and development have returned to Breezy Point.  So far in 2014 we have seen 11 single family residence building permits being issued.  Other construction activity is seen throughout the area and contractors say they are busy.  The economy may not be booming but it has turned in the right direction.

Whitebirch Drive

Whitebirch Seven Addition was originally platted with a road access known as Shawnee Pass.  This roadway came off of Robin Lane just off Co. Rd. 11.  A portion of Shawnee Pass still exists as the access to the golf course maintenance facilities. Shawnee Pass was proposed to be vacated with a new roadway to be established.  The new roadway is currently the entrance to Antlers restaurant, known as Whitebirch Drive.

The replacement roadway became an issue for a number of reasons and the issue of its development took on a life of its own.  Without going into details the city took exception to the “island” that was developed in the middle of the roadway.  This island includes vegetation, a sign and perhaps a light standard.  The city eventually acquired an easement for the roadway to provide ingress and egress but refused to maintain it.  The roadway easement was needed to provide access to properties to the west of Antlers restaurant. 

With the development of Creek Circle and another portion of Whitebirch Drive the issue of right-of-way and maintenance was discussed.  Additional development occurring in Whitebirch Seven Addition required improvements to be made to the adjoining roadway.  It was felt the issue of access needed to be resolved.  Part of the resolution to the issue included an easement document that couldn’t be recorded as the reference legal descriptions have changed and the copy was not properly signed.  Other concerns included roadway location and the need for an accurate description of the right-of-way.  

The new description for the easement was accomplished and the city council considered the acceptance of the easement and related maintenance of that portion of the roadway.  At the October City Council meeting a decision was made to accept the easement and maintenance responsibilities for this section of roadway.  This section of roadway now is under the control of the city and the issue has been resolved. 

One change that may be noticed is the stop sign stopping traffic on Whitebirch Drive will be moved to stop traffic coming out of that parking lot so Whitebirch Drive is free flowing to Co. Rd. 11.  Making this change however has caught some people off guard.  They assume oncoming traffic will stop where the sign was previously located. This has resulted in some near accidents.  Hoping to solve this, a sign will be installed that informs people that oncoming traffic does not stop. 

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.