03-13-2023 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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March 9th, 2023 Unfortunately Lisa and I cannot be at the City Council meeting where our “after the fact” variance at 2815 Casco Point Rd in Orono is on the agenda. We have an extended family vacation at this time that had been delayed twice due to COVID that is scheduled at the same time as the City Council meeting. We thought it might be helpful to provide some background on the situation - although many of you probably have heard about the tragic events. Lisa and I purchased this property in April of 2022. The prior property owner pleaded for us to allow her to rent back the property very short term as she did not have a new home to move to yet.  She was getting divorced - and her kids were coming home from college for the summer.   This was not something we wanted to do, but we reluctantly agreed, provided she move out as soon as humanly possible.  We soon realized she was in no hurry; we were very frustrated and asked her repeatedly to leave.  In late July her kids had a bonfire that got out of control.  There was a full gas can in the boat house that acted as an accelerant to further fuel the fire. Thankfully, the fire department did a tremendous job in putting out the fire and containing the fire to only our property. If it had not been contained, there would be even more damage to the hill and the bluff.  Obviously, this isn't something that we wanted on our plate as new homeowners, but we continue to deal with all of this the best that we can.  As another point of background, we currently reside on Cooks Bay in Mound. We built this home and truly have an appreciation for the lake and the amenities it provides and the care that is required of us as homeowners to preserve this wonderful natural resource. In fact, we have planted well over three dozen trees on our property and have done significant landscaping to protect the environment around us and also to blend in with the neighbors on both sides. This is our 3rd lake home, and we love the life that it offers us.  We support community initiatives like Johnny and the Westonka Walleye Program benefit with jewelry for the raffle at Back Channel every year to help stock walleyes within lake Minnetonka as we truly believe in preserving this lake and everything about it. As we step back further in time as a point of reference, I - Mark Thostenson grew up in Mound and am a 1978 graduate of Westonka high school.  And, for those of you that have a sweet tooth, I actually worked at the Navarre Dairy Queen for five years in the late 70s.  In fact, a number of classmates from high school lived in the Casco Point area while growing up so I'm very familiar with the neighborhood. We’re here for approval for an “after the fact variance” for the retaining wall that was destroyed by the prior owners. Unfortunately, this has been a lose-lose proposition for us, but we're trying to remedy this situation and make it better than it was prior to the fire. Someone mentioned we should have “hand dug” the wall.  The truth is the contractor did do much of the most critical work by hand, with picks, shovels and 5 gal pails – to least disrupt and protect the most critical slopes and areas. Some of the neighbors have been suggesting that we re-do the wall. That would perpetuate the very thing that they have been complaining about – Again disturbing the soil, which would be ridiculous. I don’t believe people understand this situation was an EMERGENCY.  Obviously, it never could have been complete by the snowfall, and I can’t even imagine what a disaster we would have on our hands