When county officials began planning to expand the Government Center, their original intent was to consolidate county departments into a single location.
One of those departments is the county engineering/surveying crew, which is currently located off-site in a building the county owns on Jackson Street in Elk River.
But plans have changed.
“We were potentially looking to sell the property and move them into this building. But we’re going to keep the property and fix it up,” said Administrator Steve Taylor Tuesday at the board of commissioners meeting. “We just made the decision fairly recently.”
Instead of moving the department, additional space in the expansion project will most likely accommodate the Department of Motor Vehicles and the Soil & Water Conservation District (SWCD), said Taylor.
Tuesday, the board approved a request by the public works department to begin Torrens procedures to clean up the title on the property.
“We figured out there were some issues with the title and wanted to get the title cleaned up,” Public Works Director Andrew Witter told members of the board. “Informally, we have had conversations with all the adjacent property owners and have verbal agreements with them about the survey.”
County Attorney Kathleen Heaney said the Torrens procedure will create a more marketable title if and when the county decides to sell the property.
Taylor said the City of Elk River had once expressed interest in the property.
“They were looking at expanding the fire station,” he said. “But they decided not to do that.”
Planning and Zoning
The board approved a conditional use permit (CUP) for construction of a cellular tower for T-Mobile to improve their coverage along Co. Rd. 15 and the area north of Hwy. 10.
The property is located on a 40-acre parcel at 16455 211th Ave. NW (O’Bradovich property) in Big Lake Twp.
The overall height of the monopole tower will be 154’, which includes a 12-foot anti-climb device and a four-foot lightning rod. The structure will be enclosed in a six-foot chain link fence on the 60’x60’ area.
The tower is designed to accommodate three additional telecommunication carriers.
The project was recommended for approval by the planning commission and also approved unanimously by the Big Lake Town Board.
The board approved a request by Mies Outdoor to amend the Sherburne County Zoning Map to rezone the former Bristow’s property on Hwy. 10 and 32nd Street SE in Haven Twp. from industrial to commercial.
The board also approved an Interim Use Permit for Mies to sell recreational use vehicles on the 8.96-acre site.
Other Business
In other action, the board:
• Approved a gambling premises permit for the Central MN Noon Optimist Club at the Hideout Bar & Grille in Becker Twp.;
• Set a public hearing for Nov. 1 to consider changes to the county’s All Services and Fee Schedule;
• Approved the appointment of Roger Fellows as a temporary assistant county attorney;
The board approved a contract with VTI Security to add two servers at a cost of $56,653 to accommodate a future camera upgrade in the jail. They also approved a contract for VTI to provide and install seven 20MP Multi-Sensor cameras on light poles in the west and north parking lots at a cost of $49,635.
