Lois Zellman of Belle Plaine was the honorary chairperson of the event. Here, she shares her story during the opening ceremony. Photo by Todd Moen (see mnsun.com for more photos)

By Todd Moen

Contributing Editor

After approving a purchase agreement for a portion of the Faxon Court property during its meeting on Monday, July 28, the Norwood Young America City Council more or less committed to locating the city’s new South Fire Station on the property.

The purchase agreement includes a $350,000 price tag for the property, which includes eight lots of the Faxon Court Manufactured Home Park (MHP) located on the east side of Faxon Road. The property is approximately two and a half acres in size. The 12 lots of Faxon Court located on the west side of Faxon Road are not involved.

In addition to the price of the property, the city will have to pay for the relocation costs of displaced residents. These costs could be around $30,000 for each of the seven lots (one of the eight lots is unoccupied), so this cost could be $210,000 or more.

As noted, the decision basically commits the city to putting the fire station on the site.

The reason for this is because capital improvement bonds would be used to finance the land purchase and relocation costs and the stated reason for the bonds is for the land acquisition of a municipal fire station. In addition, this funding scenario means that the city will likely have to cover some of the land purchase and relocation costs.

For example, if the fire station fills up six of the eight lots, the bond money could be used to cover the costs associated with acquiring those six lots — but not for the other two lots because they would not be used for the stated reason of the bonds.

So, if the land acquisition and relocation costs came to $650,000, for example, and six of the eight lots (or 75 percent) were used for the fire station, the bonds would fund $487,500 of the costs and the city would be on the hook for $162,500. City administrator Tom Simmons said the city has the funds to cover this scenario.

While the purchase agreement is fairly straightforward, the closing of a portion of a MHP is somewhat complicated. As explained by Dan Wilson of Wilson Development Services, there are a number of contingencies involved in the process.

For example, the residents have 45 days to match the city’s offer for the land and a public hearing must be held to consider closing part of the MHP — the city has planned a public hearing on the matter for Monday, Sept. 8.

Other public hearings related to the process will also have to be held.

The bonding could take place in October 2008 and with the closing happening no later than Dec. 31, 2008. The affected residents will have a nine-month closure statement, meaning their portion of Faxon Court would permanently close by May 1, 2009.

Other than Wilson, no one was present at the meeting to discuss the matter. However, the council was given a copy of a letter from a resident who suggested that the Oak Grove site might be a better location for the fire station.

Also during the meeting, Brian Shorten of SRF Consulting Group gave a presentation about the draft findings of the Trunk Highway 5 Corridor Study.

The study was conducted to find out what is needed for Highway 5 to best function as a safe, east-west roadway serving the growing communities of Chanhassen, Victoria, Waconia and Norwood Young America.

Shorten explained how the study identified solutions that would combat congestion, improve safety and provide the necessary improvements to maintain access and mobility for residents and businesses along the corridor.

The study included a number of perceived and documented needs for the communities served by Highway 5. In the Norwood Young America area, the needs include the addition of right and left turn lanes and a four-lane bypass that could start near Central Avenue N and connect to Highway 212 near Railroad Street W.

Shorten noted that MnDOT is not currently planning or allocating funds for any of the 15-20 projects suggested by the study. Furthermore, Shorten said that it could take 30 years before the main components of the study are completed.

However, since the study has been completed, it’s possible that work could begin on some of the projects as funds become available. Shorten said the projects that are deemed to most help improve safety would probably receive the initial attention.

At this point, MnDOT Scoping Studies will be the next part of the process.

In other matters:

The filing period for the Norwood Young America City Council will begin on Tuesday, Aug. 26 and end at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 9. A two-year Mayor term and two four-year council member terms are open. The filing fee is $2 and the filing location is Norwood Young America City Hall, 10 1st Avenue NE.

A change was approved in the temporary no parking zone associated with the Stiftungsfest Motorcycle Run. In the past, there was no parking allowed from the corner of Main Street to the end of the ballpark. Now, there will be no parking along Central Avenue from Main Street to the corner of 2nd Street SE.

The restriction will be in effect from 6 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 23.

Steve Grimm was appointed to the Public Works Seasonal Part-time Summer Help position, contingent on meeting certain conditions. The addition of Grimm was necessary because other part-time workers are not always available to complete the work.

The council’s next meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 11.

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