Local News

Wednesday, October 24, 2007 Todd County Board of Commissioners "The Santuary" is put to rest with a 3-2 vote by Karin L. Nauber The time had not started yet for the discussion on the development called "The Sanctuary." But during the break, Robert Brophy, one of the developers was heard to ask Commissioner Randy Neumann why they had to read about their development in the newspaper and why their phone calls were not returned? When the break was over, Neumann began the discussion by reading into record a letter from the Sauk Centre Public School's Transportation Director Duane Vornbrock which basically said there was a state regulation and for safety reasons new developments, in order for a school bus to pick up children, a cul-de-sac of at least 120' in diameter be placed at the end of a dead-end road. Neumann then said that in 2005 there were four developments that all had cul-de-sacs, in 2006 there were the same amount and in 2007 they did just one that required a cul-de-sac. The concern that Neumann expressed was that they (the board) weren't aware of it because the plat showed an L-shaped turnaround. Neumann felt there were issues to the north of the road including a steep grade. There is no curbing on the road yet. Norby Holm and Dale Ahrens, Birchdale Township supervisors, were at the meeting, as well. Holm said that the original plat had two 120' cul-de-sacs and had made the suggestion that they bring the road in another way and then they would only need one cul-de-sac. He said he had been out to the development and that he couldn't turn around because the area was not big enough and it was a safety issue. "They did a great job on the road, except for this," said Holm. Commissioner David Kircher asked, "If they don't correct it, will the township take over the road?" Holm said they would not. Ahrens said that the road had been built up and there could be issues because of the drop off created. Kircher said, "It is incumbent upon us to make sure regulations are met." The developers Brian Drown, Roger Haller and Brophy came forward to present their information about the development. Drown said that they have built the development as approved on the plat. Brophy said they had built this turnaround as a temporary turnaround for a number of reasons. One reason was because of the expectation that the property to the north would be developed and then the road can just be added onto. Another reason was because the end of the turnaround is right on a natural watershed. In order to make the cul-de-sac at this point, Brophy said that they would have to take out about 100 trees. Brophy said the temporary turnaround does work. He said they have been trying to get all the issues resolved for about eight months now and have met with the township three times. "I've legally never heard of a demand beyond the preliminary plat specs," said Brophy. "If this was an issue, why was it not brought up eight months ago? This is unheard of for it to take three years for a preliminary plat to be passed." Haller said that the issue with the road was between the county and the township, not the developers. "My issue is approving the final plat," said Neumann. "You guys created the issue with the township, not us," said Drown. Brophy said the subdivision was built in accordance with all the requirements and it was approved by the planning commission and the county board. "This is a county issue," said Brophy. "We want to get this done. We want to record our final plat. That is not an unreasonable request." Neumann said he thought they could put conditions on the final plat. "You can't. Well, you can, but you will not win (in court)," said Brophy. "Now you are telling developers they have to go to the school board to plan their roads?" asked Brophy. "You can't even give answers. We've had no responses to our calls. If it wasn't for the newspaper we wouldn't even know what's going on," said Haller. Holm said that the issue was safety and that they had an old plat at the first meetings. Brophy said that had not been a plat, it had been a concept. Changes had been made all along on the original concept. Haller said to Holm, "It sounds to me like you have the same problem with the commissioners that we do." Brophy said that this was not fair (to not approve the development) nor was it competent and that future developments should not have to go through what they had to go through. "Brian had to sue the county for another development because of incompetence," added Brophy. "The temporary turnaround has specific requirements. It is not as safe as needed, but we went beyond the plat requirements and made it bigger. You will have to instruct people on how to use the temporary turnaround," said Brophy. "Why would you approve this if you didn't want it? This was a screw up by the county," said Haller. Neumann said, "We were looking at the issues with the dock, not paying attention to the road." "Not paying attention," said Brophy. "The last thing we want to be accused of is not paying attention to the safety of children. But this is just a bleeding heart attempt to stop this development," said Brophy. "We are not trying to stop it. You can't turn around there," said Neumann. Brophy said, "You take a bus up there and if you can't turn it around we'll build a cul-de-sac. We are here to get our plat approved today." "If the cul-de-sac had been required, we would have done it," said Drown. Haller said they would be more than happy to grant the county an easement so the county could put in a cul-de-sac. Chair Mark Blessing asked if the final plat had been approved with the turnaround? Planning and Zoning Director Andrew Dahlgren reminded Blessing that they had not approved the final plat yet. "This would be an after-the-fact thing then?" asked Blessing. "Yes," said Dahlgren. Blessing said, "I don't think we can (make a change now). They have fulfilled their requirements and can be approved if agreeable. We can attach an easement request to put in the cul-de-sac. From what I see they have met everything." "We are not going to hold you up on an easement," said Haller. "We have no legal counsel here or anyone to ask. I don't want a situation here like we have in Little Sauk. The people there are paying $5000 in taxes a year and getting no services (on their road). They met all the criteria in Little Sauk, too (different developers)," said Neumann. Brophy said, "We built the road to township specs. In a court of law they will take over the road. This is just more fluff to hold up our project. You approved it, Randy. You can't say much because you were on the planning commission and approved it." Dahlgren said that if they expanded to a cul-de-sac it would affect the environment. He gave a brief summary of the work that the developers had to do with the Sauk River Watershed to get their plans approved. "Why did you design a turnaround?" asked Holm. Brophy said that their engineer had suggested it. After some further discussion Holm commented, "So taxpayers will pay for the cul-de-sac." "The developers would have if they had been told to do so during the process," said Brophy. "They have followed everything they were asked to do. This came up after the fact," said Blessing. Brophy said they would meet with the county on options. "Everything is very environmentally friendly. We went beyond what we had to do. We will give you an easement. We hope you don't use it. We don't think you will need it," said Brophy. Blessing said, "We would not have a leg to stand on to not approve this." The agenda was amended to allow for a motion to approve the final plat. Neumann was opposed to amending the agenda. The motion was then made by Commissioner Gary Kneisl to approve the final plat. Commissioner Mark Nelson seconded it. Neumann said he was against it due to the safety issues and that the township did not have to take over the road. Holm reiterated that they would not take over the road. The motion passed three to one with Neumann and Kircher opposed. Kircher said that they needed to be consistent with developers and that the planning commission needed to get their stuff together.