THREE RIVERS PARK DISTRICT TRADES PROPERTY
"IT'S CLEARLY GOING TO BE AN ISSUE"
Mike Miles, resident at Parkside Estates, spoke on behalf of his Victoria neighborhood about the recent "trade" of adjoining Three Rivers Park property in Victoria to a private developer who now proposes to build 13 homes ranging in price from $400,000 to $700,000 on the 8.2 acre parcel.  The property is located near Highway 5, just off Park Drive near Schutz Lake.  It is zoned agricultural, which permits parkland.
Said Mike, "That property has been owned by the Park for the last 30 years.  Our neighborhood is highly troubled by this.  It caught us by surprise." 
It was pointed out that the city's Comprehensive Plan shows the parcel to remain parkland.  Asked Mayor Jerry Bohn, "We would have to amend our Comp Plan.  Is this appropriate to have us amend our Comp Plan?  Are we forced to do this?  Are we being forced to remove parkland from our Comp Plan?"
Mayor Bohn also pointed out that the issue is before the Victoria Planning Com-mission at this time, in the sketch plat phase, and asked City Attorney Laurie Miller, "So how do you recommend we proceed?"
Attorney Miller emphasized that "there is no formal question before the council right now, but this is already out in the open.  It is clearly going to be an issue.  Unless the Comprehensive Plan is amended, a residential development cannot go forward on that property ... The parcel was traded for other land that the Park District apparently thought was more desirable." 
In responding to a "likely challenge" from the developer and current owner, the city attorney said, "The city cannot take property from private parties ... The city can zone property ... The sketch plat pro-cess is rather voluntary and doesn't trigger the same [response] deadline, but the de-veloper at some point is entitled to some feedback."
Said Councilmember Richard Tieden, "It seems unusual that the Park bypassed the city in this.  It seems they could have consulted with us.  What a way for us to find out."
Replied the attorney, "The Park Dis-trict has its own inventory and from their standpoint they're trying to manage their own resources."
Councilmember Terry Bishop asked if a court decision on the matter could supplant a city council decision.
Replied Attorney Miller, "The poten-tial you run is denying an opportunity for the developer to make an economic profit on that property.  I'm only surmising the likely scenario ... Yet a developer should not expect they can turn it into something other than parkland."
Stated Councilmember Bohn, "I'm simply wondering if we should stop the process at the Planning Commission."
City Planner Mark Kaltsas informed council that the developer's application is not complete, "but it's my opinion we're in the 60 days response deadline."  He added that extensions to that deadline are possible, however, and more or less rec-ommended allowing the Planning Com-mission to finish the sketch plat stage and make a recommendation to the city council.  "It would be considered a minor amendment because it's under 50 acres," said Mark.  "It takes about 4 to 5 weeks."
Councilmember Tieden asked the city attorney to research how this all came about without the city's knowledge, and the propriety of it.
Agreed Councilmember Bishop, "As a matter of courtesy, it would have been nice that the Park had notified the city.  I don't know what they can do with their land."  He suggested that the city attorney also research the city's insurance cover-age "if actions are brought against us."
Meanwhile, he made a motion, which passed unanimously, that the attorney re-search the city's right to keep land zoned as it is zoned, as well as the pros and cons if there is a proceeding for inverse con-demnation. 

RECOGNIZING MARY MEUWISSEN
In awarding a plaque on January 9th to outgoing Mayor Mary Meuwissen, Mayor Jerry Bohn said he considered it an honor to present the following resolution:
Whereas Mary Meuwissen's leader-ship was critical to achieving the follow-ing accomplishments: 
Held the tax rate steady.  The taxes on a $200,000 home are less today than when she took office.
Developed 400 acres on the east side of Victoria including a new Catholic high school and over 400 housing units where clustering and open spaces demonstrated leading edge land planning strategy.
Laid the groundwork for downtown redevelopment that resulted in two new buildings, a bridge, and three major projects in the final planning stages.
Acquired and developed a major new city park that includes a field house, ice arena, and softball, baseball, and soccer fields.
Now, therefore, be it resolved, the in-coming mayor and city council have passed this resolution to publicly acknow-ledge your contributions to the City of Victoria and to thank you for your tireless efforts, enthusiasm, and boundless energy you have committed to your job as mayor for the past eight years.
In accepting the plaque from Mayor Bohn, Mary spoke to each of the council-members individually.  "Mary Thun, I'm happy that you ran for office.  Rick Tieden, continue to treat people as cus-tomers.  Jerry Bohn, you'll do an out-standing job as mayor.  If you do well, you'll get to be on the front page of the Gazette.  Dave Lindgren, you are a great connection to Old Town Victoria.  Terry Bishop, we are thrilled to have you on the council.  You work for a very fine firm.  And thank you, staff -- Steve Sarvi, you've listened to my voice for hours and hours and hours, and Mark Kaltsas and Jylan Johnson and everyone -- Victoria is very fortunate to have you."

COUNCIL INVITED TO JOIN COUNTY LEADERSHIP PROGRAM

Ken Essig, chair of the Laketown Township Board, spoke at the January 23rd council meeting in Victoria, stating that he was representing the Carver County Elected Official Leadership Pro-gram, and inviting Victoria councilmem-bers to join the program and attend the meetings.
"I can't say that you're drastically lacking in leadership," said Mr. Essig, "but there are issues in the county where others can benefit from you.  I'd like to encourage all or some of you to attend."
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