Gaiter Lake project approved

“I understand there are risks,” said city council member Mark Christiansen as he defended his motion that the City of Waseca become the “developer” for about 52 acres of city-owned property within its southeast city limits.

“We’ve got to do something.”

Council member Stacey Schroeder, who seconded the motion, was adamant. “If we don’t grow, we die.

“We need to get more housing, more jobs, more businesses.”

When the motion eventually passed with 4 in favor and 3 against, it was after nearly an hour of heated discussion among council members and occasional disruptive muttering from 5 or 6 community members in attendance.

Council members James Ebertowski, Jeremy Conrath and John Mansfield, who eventually provided the three dissenting votes, spoke against the idea of taking a leadership role in developing the property, and even against developing it at all. 

“With how complex this would be,” said Ebertowski, “I don’t think we would be wise to take it on.”

Conrath, Ebertowski and Mansfield all suggested that the property should either be retained as farmland and rented out, or sold. “The DNR restrictions make some of the lots undesirable,” Ebertowski claimed:  DNR restrictions imposed on property within 1,000 feet of the lake’s historic high water line require that they keep at least 75% of their surface area “permeable,” to facilitate water movement.

The city has owned the Gaiter Lake property since 2016, when it was acquired because of DNR requirements surrounding city water management. Since its acquisition, the city has taken numerous steps to determine how it will be used. Public engagement hearings in 2018 led to a set of priorities that included senior housing, parks and trails, and a reduced number of buildable lots.

Concept plans were developed by not-for-profit agency Southwest Minnesota Housing Partnership and shared with the city council in 2022. The city has been seeking “requests for proposals” essentially ever since, but no private developer has stepped forward to work with the city.

Numerous discussions regarding the property have taken place at recent council meetings, culminating in a request that city staff assemble a straightforward summary of council members’ options for the June 6 meeting.

City manager Carl Sonnenberg presented three choices: sell or continue renting the property as farmland; continue seeking proposals from outside developers; or initiate city-led action to put streets and utilities in place that will help create buildable lots.

“It all comes down to a question of how the council would like to manage any risk,” summarized Sonnenberg.

Defending her choice of the highest-risk option, Schroeder told of someone she knew who was looking for a house in Waseca. “There was very little available,” she said. “The real estate agent took him to Owatonna.” 

City Economic Development Manager Tina Wilson had reported earlier in the meeting that an average of about 9 new homes are built in the city each year, and that only 3 building permits have been issued so far in 2023.

According to city engineer Nathan Willey, the council’s decision has authorized city staff to begin a planning process which will take considerable time to complete. Staff will begin by working with consultants to develop an action plan and timeline for the work. After that will come a concept plan that will include the layout of property lines, streets, and utilities for the city council to review.

Willey points out that the close vote by the council and the controversial nature of the decision indicate that the planning process will also encounter controversy.

Water Tower

Council members authorized city staff to apply for possible state funding available for the eventual construction of a 1-million-gallon water tower in the area west of Loon Lake. In response to council questions, city manager Carl Sonnenberg responded that the expected minimum usable time frame for large assets such as water towers is 65 years, and that, with regular inspections and maintenance, up to 100 years is common. 

Speaking of the water tower located near city hall, he said it is likely to last another 25 to 30 years, and so any “west” tower would not be meant to replace it. Instead, a tower to the west would be meant to support any expansion of housing, businesses, and industry that continue in that section of town.

Also authorized was a similar application for state money to support city work on its sewer “inflow and infiltration” system. The phrase refers to non-wastewater “inflows” into the sanitary sewer system.

Remote Cameras

Security cameras are already scheduled to be installed soon in Clear Lake Park. Action by the city council authorized spending an additional $16,000 to potentially speed up installing similar surveillance in Northwest, Trowbridge, and University Parks. Under an original schedule, one park per year had been scheduled for the installations, but, according to Sonnenberg, the level of vandalism at the parks may make it financially advisable to speed up the process, especially ordering the needed equipment, which may take extra time to be delivered “post Covid.”

Juneteenth

In compliance with federal law, the city added Monday, June 19, 2023 to its list of authorized staff holidays. This means city offices will be closed that day, not only this year, but for all “Juneteenth” holidays going forward, since the occasion was recently declared a national holiday: it honors the date slaves were declared free after the end of the Civil War.