08-10-2015 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, August 10, 2015 7:00 o'clock Pm. 4. REQUEST FOR ADMINISTRATIVE APPEAL: NYGARD FENCE VIEWING (continued) Barnhart stated Staff would prefer the City Council provide direction on this matter and that Staff can come back with an approval or denial resolution. Mattick noted the decision would be made tonight, with direction to Staff to prepare a resolution, Cornick asked if the City has any other reasonable option than to do what they are doing right now. Barnhart stated he does not know the answer to that question. Cornick stated it appears the City is at the end of the rope and that there is not much the City can do. Mattick stated the record supports, and Mr. Nygard does not dispute, that this fence was never ordered to be a partition fence and that there is no evidence it was ever a partition fence, which would mean it was never subject to those rules or regulations. Mattick stated there is also no evidence that the Nygards ever contributed to the maintenance of the fence and that the fence is located entirely on the neighbor's property. Mattick stated while that is not the sole determinate of this, the neighbor has indicated he has no desire to share the costs with Mr. Nygard and that he considers it his fence. Mattick stated as it relates to Mr. Nygard's complaints that it is not code compliant, that is a zoning issue, and whether the fence complies with City laws has nothing to do with the partition fence laws and is a separate issue. Nygard stated the City Attorney has just made all that up. Nygard indicated he has not seen any statutes, any case law, or anything behind what the City Attorney has just said other than just words. Nygard indicated he has submitted the MN House of Representative's research department's interpretation of the statute and that Mr. Mattick is simply talking. McMillan asked when that information was submitted. Nygard indicated just a few minutes ago. McMillan noted the City Council has not had a chance to review that. Nygard indicated he understands that. McMillan stated her understanding is the statute applies to barbwire. McMillan stated she does not know when that statute was written. Nygard stated it does not matter when it was written and that the statute applies to all properties. McMillan noted the statute describes four different types of fencing and that they all related to barbwire. McMillan questioned whether the statute is more for agricultural and rural areas and the keeping of animals. Page 6 of 32