The Treasurer reported that escrow was returned to a homeowner who cleaned up their property. A citizen in the audience asked why the city was paying part of the fees instead of taking all costs from escrow money. (i.e. attorney fees, compliance officer fees, etc.) This will be reviewed with the city attorney for future situations involving ordinance compliance.
During the Planning Commission report two variance requests were reviewed. One was a 15- foot easement for a business to build an expansion next to an existing building, which was approved. The second request was for a garage with a 1- foot easement, and was not approved. The minimum easement is fifteen feet.
A resolution was approved to change the polling place back to Grey Cloud Island town hall.
Tom Schmidt, General Manager at Holcim reported that they have invested $75,000
to reforest land along the Mississippi river. They have cleared buckthorn, planted 12 oak trees, and 15 woodland trees in an effort to meet the requirement for the 2023 mining permit application section J. Holcim was asking permission to invest another $15,000 in this area in 2023. The Board reminded Mr. Schmidt that they have 1.5 years to complete the full reclamation plan. A meeting was held with County Commissioner Bigham, Washington County, and Grey Cloud Island Township. Some of the recommendations from that meeting did not meet expectations of the Grey Cloud Island City Council. Members of the council want to ensure that the voice of the community is heard during upcoming meetings with Washington County, Grey Cloud Island Township and Holcim.
A request was made to investigate updating codes, ordinances and statutes for Grey Cloud Island Township. Ordinances are usually copied from other cities and updated to meet the township’s needs, but they are difficult to find, difficult to understand, and do not cover new items such as solar panels. A recommendation was made for a fee increase that would cover the cost of hiring a company to update these items. The cost would be recouped over a few years and should not be a burden on citizens. Grey Cloud Island Township has some of the lowest fees in the state. Research on fees charged by other cities was approved to be rought back at the October 11th meeting.