08-23-2021 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, August 9, 2021 6:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 4 of 13 14. LA21-000029 – ROBERT ERICKSON, 365 WESTLAKE ROAD., STREET VACATION – RESOLUTION NO. 7211 – Continued $153,000. He showed a photo on screen of cattails 8 feet high and noted the access has not been used in the 18 years he has lived there because it is unusable. The water depth in the area is in inches and the bottom consists of silt and muck, and the vegetation is too dense for any human activity. Mr. Erickson said the best thing they can do for this neighborhood is to accept the donation and the land so that neighbors can benefit from an appropriate terminal for the safe and convenient reversal of traffic. At the same time, Orono residents can enjoy lake access improvement in a more appropriate location. To accomplish this, item #4 in the findings of fact for the approval of the vacation needs to be deleted. It states that Mr. Erickson approves of a 20-foot right-of-way to the lake for public access; he stated he has never approved of that and it is not a fact. In its place, Mr. Erickson suggests language such as: the Applicant agrees to provide the east ten feet of lots 4, 5, and 6 (Block 2, Hillside Park) as a boulevard reserve. Jim White, 3516 Ivy Place, said there is no public purpose here, this is simply a land sale creating another lakeshore lot. Second, the DNR has review of this for a reason. When this law was passed in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s it was because City Councils all over Minnesota were giving insiders public property – specifically lakeshore – all over the State. He noted people would be on the City Council one day, the Planning Commission the next, and all of a sudden “Bill had a deal with his pal.” He noted some were contributors, some were neighbors, and some were relatives, so the State changed the rules about that. He stated when these things are done, they must be for a very specific and important reason. Mr. White noted they have about 33 of these in Orono and if they start getting tipped over, what will happen to all the public accesses, and is there a real public purpose here? He said those are ethical issues, and all of that land is entirely wetland which is not to be disturbed without a good purpose. Mr. White has watched people dredge swamps and the lake quality falls apart; he stated no one has a clue as to what this development will be, and one does not get rid of or tear off a piece of the property before they know the whole picture. This property is large enough that one ought to know that first and if one does not, then their standards are too low. He said when these things change, they change for everyone for a long time and the public purpose has to be “sold” first. He believes this will come back to bite them and told the City Council to be careful. Mayor Walsh asked Mr. White if he is trying to sell Mr. Erickson any land to get his support. In other words, is he trying to sell Mr. Erickson any land and then he would support it. Mr. White replied there is no land sale on his side of it. Gabriel Jabbour, 985 Tonkawa Road, wants to give some background. Mr. Erickson hired Len Levine who is a former DOT Commissioner to change the highway to benefit him, and he went to Washington D.C. and got Mr. Oberstar to try to interfere with MnDOT. Mr. Jabbour met with Mr. Erickson at that time and told him that he is really holding 125 families hostage until they determine where the corridor is and neither Orono or Long Lake was interested in his proposal. Mayor Walsh asked what that has to do with anything as it seems like hearsay. Mr. Jabbour replied records would show Mr. Erickson was the first to testify in public comments. Mr. Jabbour asked to finish without interruption and noted he met with Mr. Erickson who made a proposal that he would withdraw all of his objections if they vacate that. He said that is not hearsay, it is a fact, and