THE BIG HOLE IN VICTORIA
NEXT TO THE FIRE STATION ON HIGHWAY 5
Tall cranes and huge piles of dirt greet people driving into Victoria from the east.  It's a combination expansion project of the Victoria Fire Station and construc-tion of a Victoria Water Treatment Plant just south of Highway 5.  Groundbreaking occurred this spring.  Completion should occur in 2006.
Hidden behind the huge dirt piles is a crater that is deeper than some of Vic-toria's lakes.  According to Tom Gray, Victoria Building Official, the big hole is 30-feet deep and 150-feet wide at the top.  The orange silt fence surrounding much of the 1.83-acre site of city-owned hill property and some of the nearby privately owned "valley" property present a colorful, rather striking exhibit of "Men and Work" in Victoria.
The dirt piles are visible from the highway; the hole is not visible except from unusual angles.  In the editor's adjacent panoramic photo you can get a good perspective on size by noticing the miniature men working in the big hole.
According to Tom Gray, the contrac-tor and the landowner to the east have an agreement that much of the dirt will be left on the field, later leveled out and made "pretty."  However, the topsoil will be trucked back up to the water treatment plant/fire station site. 
General contractor on the job is BOR-SON, a company out of Minne-apolis. 

PREPARING TO ANNEX 500 ACRES
FROM TOWNSHIP INTO CITY OF VICTORIA
On May 12^th Council tabled a reso-lution that will annex 490 acres of Lake-town Township into the City of Victoria.  The tabling motion resulted in order to clarify and define rural and urban tax rates for the various township properties being annexed. 
As City Administrator Steve Sarvi said, "It would be good for Council to ratify a course of action as to what trig-gers urban from rural.  I think that'd be in fairness to the people getting annexed and also to the residents of Victoria."  In clari-fying the difference between rural and urban tax rates, he said the question that needs to be answered is, "What's the level of service they would receive?"
Added Steve, "I don't expect this will all be resolved in two weeks time."
The annexation will include 295.4 acres owned by the Hartman-Pemtom developers that will become the Krey Lake Subdivision; 83.3 acres owned by Lyman Development that will become the Rhapsody Subdivision; and 111.7 acres partly owned by Hegers and partly by Waterbrooke Fellowship.
Regarding the annexation itself, City Planner Eric Zweber stated, "The proposal will bring in a number of existing houses.  Tellers Road would be annexed and paved.  Krey and Maple Avenue would be annexed. " He said the existing Maple-Krey exits to Highway 5 will be removed with recommendation that a new exit be constructed to the east.
Township resident Mike Heger was surprised that his property was being in-cluded in this current phase of annexation.  "My wife and I own two properties there.  We were told to our face that our property would not be annexed.  We understand your reasoning to include our property at this time, but I believe we were misled.  We wish this would have been communicated from day one."
Replied Mayor Jerry Bohn, "We do have to apologize.  We should have talked to you in advance.  We could have done a better job.  This is your opportunity to speak."
Councilmember Kim Roden asked for something in writing, to be included in the next council packet, to explain how the lack of communication occurred with Hegers.  "I know Mr. Heger from my time on the Planning Commission," said Kim.  "He has been here.  He has been in-volved."
Former City Planner and current Planning Consultant Mark Kaltsas will be consulted on the issue.
It was pointed out that there is no-thing to stand in the way of any of the land annexation, and that the tabling is to have time to understand the difference between urban and rural tax rate as it relates to the properties about to be annexed.
A total of 1,300 acres of township land will be annexed, over time, into the City of Victoria as part of the Master Plan Area and as part of the 2005 amendment to the 1976 Orderly Annexation Agree-ment.  According to this agreement, the property owners being annexed are not required to agree to be annexed and have no legal recourse to stop the annexation if the Victoria City Council approves the annexation.

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