Last month I attended the City Council meeting
where two developers requested the City Council consider moving their request
along by taking their petition for annexation to the State. Their request was
prompted by the lack of movement from Wilson Township and the City Council
to move quickly on an orderly annexation agreement.. I was happy to see
the Council not react directly and say they will take it
into consideration. The City and Township are currently trying to
come up with an orderly annexation agreement. These two developers want to
be excluded from this agreement and be able to move on with their
developments. The Phillips property is one and a half miles from City
boundries. Originally he proposed to the City that he would have 150 or
more developable acres. The City based their decision (in part) on the tax base
this would bring to the City. As time has gone on, due to environmental
concerns, Jason Phillips is now down to 80 acres or less of his developable
property. The reduction of his developable acres is based on his engineers
proposal. To my knowledge the DNR and other Environmental agencies that
will eventually get involved, have not stepped in yet to have their say.
They will be looking at this from a much more critical eye than a developers
engineer. How many other acres will be deemed undevelopable after they step
in? How much more tax base will dwindle from this
development?
There have been a number of us who have pushed
against this annexation due to environmental concerns, cost, safety
issues, and quality of life in Pleasant Valley as well as the affects on all of
Winona. As you can see from the information stated above, we are not
blowing smoke! Our concerns for this development are legitimate.
Before, I get blown out of the water about being anti-development, I want to
state, I am not anti-development. I am for responsible, sensible,
financial and feasible development. I am also for preserving our Townships which
boils down to preserving the environment and a different lifestyle
choice.
I understand that in a recent
letter, the City Council attorney has encouraged them to
move forward with pursuing a State arbitrator to step in for these two
developer's requests. I have asked this before, can anyone tell me where I can
find out the amount of tax payers money to settle the Winona Township
annexation?. I have heard upwards of $800,000.00. I will predict
this battle with Wilson Township will cost the taxpayers more. I hope the
taxpayers of Winona are paying attention. They will be paying for this developer
to line his pockets. They will be paying for infrastructure and services
for his development. And for how many acres??? And for what logical
reason???
This developer has the right to develop. He
bought his property in Wilson Township one and half miles from the
City. He should be developing with the Township at this point if he wants
to move his development along without waiting for an
orderly annexation plan. His attorney stated he is loosing money
with the hold up. Yet he is proposing the City tax payers pay for an arbitrator
to step in. How much money should the tax payers loose on this development?
Money that could be spent for far better purposes.
Smart planning on the developers part should have
been looking into the annexation issues prior to buying if he wanted to
develop with the City. Now he requests the City to speed his annexation
petition along and exclude him from the orderly annexation plan. Why
should he not have to play by the rules? What about the next developer
that comes along that doesn't want to be included in the orderly annexation
plan? The City Council will be setting a precedent on how they move
forward with this request. If they allow Phillips and Sweetwater to move
outside the orderly annexation, it will be hard to deny another developer. How
many litigations do the tax payers want to pay for? Granted the orderly
annexation agreement is not yet in place, but it has been a proposal long
before Sweetwater and Phillip's request. The Township is looking for
something reasonable from the City. The last plan given to the Township
basically puts the entire Township under the City Councils rule, no development
in the townships unless it is annexed. Oh come on!!!
Let your City Officials know how you feel about
this. Don't waste your taxed dollars. Growth, annexation,
development can happen without this financial battle. It can happen
in a responsible, orderly and financially feasible way. The orderly
annexation plan is a huge step. It is not going to happen over night, nor
should it. The plan should be well thought out and agreed to by both
sides. There needs to be time for our local governments to
work on this without a threat from developers and the State The
Township and the City are both on the extreme ends right now with the orderly
annexation plan, they need time to meet in the middle. Granted this time
does not work to the benefit of these two developers, but what is the best
interest of EVERYONE and for the long term not the immediate future!
Janice Turek
Contact Your Local Elected Officials
Just click on the email link to automatically open an email to the
selected official.
1. City Mayor Jerry Miller
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
507/452-5996
265
West Broadway
Winona, MN 55987 |
2. City 1st Ward Councilman Allyn Thurley
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
507/454-3993
1566
Heights Blvd.
Winona, MN 55987 |
3. City 2nd Ward Councilman Gerry Krage
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
507/452-4404
420
Sioux Street
Winona, MN 55987 |
4. City 3rd Ward Councilman Chris Arnold
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
507/458-5216
660 Lafayette Street
Winona, MN 55987
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5. City 4th Ward Councilman George Borzyskowski
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
507/454-4463
128
Lohse Drive
Winona, MN 55978 |
6. City At-Large Councilman Thomas G. (Tim) Breza
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
507/454-4881
1341 Skyline Drive
Winona, MN 55987
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