Katie Morford
Scandia Reporter
The 2015 budget and tax levy was one several topics discussed by the Scandia City Council at the Dec. 3 council work session.
Currently, the budget includes a 2.14 percent levy increase for 2015. The total proposed levy is $2.22 million, up from $2.17 million in 2014. The work session included a public hearing on the budget and levy. Official adoption was set to occur at the Dec. 16 regular council meeting (after press time).
During the public comment section, Janie O’Connor and Brad Borg asked the council to dedicate money from the general fund budget to paving the parking lot at Lilleskogen Park.
Council members contemplated if they wanted to dedicate the funds, and if so, where the money would come from.
“Just to sit and let it languish in donations and volunteerism I don’t think is fair to the citizens who have put their time and donations into it,” said Councilman Dan Lee. Councilwoman Sally Swanson expressed similar sentiments.
However, the council members ultimately decided that they were not ready to commit money for paving the parking lot right away.
“I’m not ready to commit the money to the park tonight,” Councilman Chris Ness said.
The council did not direct staff to make any changes to the proposed budget, which were set to be presented to the council on Dec. 16. They could amend the budget in the future; they just cannot change the levy.
Another topic of discussion was the ongoing work by the Log House Landing Committee.
Mayor Randall Simonson expressed concern that some thought he would automatically adopt whatever the committee recommends. He said he would maintain an open mind and make his own decision.
“I never made a promise or commitment to accept whatever decision comes out of the committee,” Simonson said.
Chairwoman Christina Maefsky reported that things were going well with the committee. Since the committee is waiting for information from the county, the committee will not have its recommendations ready until January.
The council directed the Log House Landing Committee to have a finalized recommendation for the Jan. 20 council meeting. The mayor said that by the Jan. 20 meeting, the scope of the project will be up to the council to decide and that the time for public input would be done.
In other business:
- The council decided that the owners of historical buildings and structures who wanted to have a historical building that exceeded the city’s building height or square footage limits would have to receive a conditional use permit from the city.
- The council discussed what Scandia would do for building inspection services if Forest Lake, which the city currently contracts with, would not longer have the resources to fill an inspector position. Members decided that if such a situation arose, the city should look to make a similar agreement with another agency.