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| Breezy Point Detachment Ruling in Favor of LandownersBy Paul Boblett, Editor Judge Barbara Neilson of the Office of Administrative Hearings in Minneapolis ruled January 15, 2010 that over 500 acres of land, once belonging to the City of Breezy Point, are no longer part of the city. The action, effective January 22, 2010 was initiated by two groups of property owners who petitioned the city in January 2009 to detach their property. Council denied the petition in March 2009 and the matter went to the Office of Administrative Hearings in Minneapolis. Minnesota Statute 414.06 states that property situated within a municipality and abutting the municipal boundary, is rural in character and not developed for urban residential, commercial, or industrial purposes may be detached. The two groups, referred to in the court documents as ‘Ebnet’ and ‘Rach et al’, have a combined total of approximately 560 acres of land. The ‘Ebnet’ group is comprised of Mary Ebnet; her sons, Ted and Pat Ebnet, and their spouses Kimberly and Kelly. Their land totaling 248.28 acres will now be included as part of Ideal Township. The other group represented 312.79 acres that now belongs to Pelican Township. Property owners include Doug and Billie Jo Rach, Lou Ann Owens, Joseph Zwack, Thomas and Mavis Thompson, Jodell Rau, John Berry, Larry Rassmussen, and Diane Cleveland Airhart. According to the city, at the time of the detachment petition the estimated market value of the ‘Rach et al.’ properties was $1,004,900, and the ‘Ebnet’ estimated market value was $1,133,900. The tax loss to the city caused by detachment is approximately $5480; $2,820 for ‘Rach et al.’, and $2660 for ‘Ebnet’, less than one half of one percent of the city’s tax revenue. In addition to the loss of tax revenue, the city attorney fees total $17,735 through December 2009. However, according to the court document, the detached property owners are still responsible to pay for their share of the outstanding bonded indebtedness. ‘Rach et al.’s total will be $8337.42 and ‘Ebnet’s will be $8800.62. In a prepared statement Breezy Point Mayor JoAnn Weaver stated, “Please recall that when this issue came before the Council, we voted unanimously to oppose the [sic] petitions for detachment. I firmly believe this was the appropriate position for the city to take.” “As an individual, I do not agree with the judge’s decision,” continued Weaver. “Unfortunately, this has been a very costly endeavor for all parties. The option to appeal the decision remains open until February 12. The Council has taken no action at this point.” Breezy Point City council member Otto Schmid said, “I am obviously disappointed, and part of it was a precedent issue. The integrity of municipal boundaries have remained intact for years and years with very few changes, and as a council we felt compelled to try and uphold the integrity of those boundaries.” “I think [the fight] was justified, but this [was] a real tough one,” Schmid explained. “The city did something through an action and we end up facing litigation. This entire thing was motivated by two parties - The decision was based on a statute that I personally believe is flawed.” Doug Rach said, “We petitioners are very pleased, we feel the judge was very thorough in her opinion.” A special closed council meeting was held Thursday, January 28, 2010 to discuss the litigation but no action was taken. The item was on the Feb.1 regular monthly meeting agenda. The city has until February 12, 2010 to appeal the OAH decision. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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