Posted: 8/31/04
Old creamery gets a reprieve
by Jane Palen
Managing Editor
The city council has agreed to give the owner of the former creamery on Old Highway Drive some additional time to make repairs to the building.
The subject of the creamery came up at the August 9 meeting of the council when Mayor Robert Burns commented that a priority for the new police chief would be to enforce city ordinances, including those governing public nuisances. He named the creamery as an example of a public nuisance.
Owner Jeff Sheehan attended the meeting of August 23 to update the council on his progress. Councilmen Mark Schiltz and Paul Fisch had a look inside the project on Sunday, August 22, escorted by Sheehan.
ìItís a major, major project,î Sheehan told the council, adding that he has about two more weeks of demolition work to do before the rebuilding process can begin. Most of the work has been done inside, so it appears that there has been nothing done, Sheehan added.
Councilman Schiltz said he saw ìdefinite progressî inside the structure. Councilman Fisch agreed.
ìI didnít realize until I went inside how much work has been done,î he said.
Sheehan told the council that he plans to add a new green tin roof and two garage doors. The building will be used for a car business and eventually for his home, he said. He noted that he removed the chimney, which consisted of 25 tons of brick. He said he can salvage about half the rafters, and the rest will be new. The work is being done by Sheehan and some of his friends.
ìThe concern is that the building looks like it is going to fall down and we need to see some progress,î said Councilman John Klug.
Mayor Burns explained that he made his comments at the previous meeting because the creamery is the subject on which he gets the most calls. He said he would be willing to give Sheehan more time as long as progress is being made.
The council agreed that it would track progress on the creamery closely.
Once the new roof is on in about a month, the building will be sealed, Sheehan told the council.
City agrees to extension for sewer project
In another matter, the city agreed to a new date for substantial completion of the sanitary sewer rehabilitation project. The contractor, Badger Environmental, has experienced some delays due to a number of large open projects and will not be able to make the original completion date of August 31. Works remains to be done on Main and Winnebago Streets.
The city would have the option of imposing a penalty of $500 per day until the construction season ends.
After discussion, the council agreed that if the company begins paving in the fall, it may not finish by the end of the season, creating a greater inconvenience than would be experienced by simply waiting until spring. The council voted to change the date for completion until June 3, 2005. After that date, fines will be assessed.
City fields in demand
On another matter, the council has found itself in the middle of a dispute over use of city athletic fields. Both the youth soccer league and the CHS baseball program are interested in using fields at the Veterans Memorial Park. Several representatives of the CYSA attended the meeting of the 23rd to discuss the field rental.
Mike Stemper of the soccer association told the council, ìWe wanted your field back, but the school got it.î He said the soccer association was to get first chance at the field.
Another soccer parent, Nancy Messner, said that the soccer association had been told that it would get first opportunity to reclaim the fields. Last year, she said, the soccer association had the fields but let the school use them instead. League soccer was played at the high school, an arrangement that didnít work well for the soccer teams. The fields they played on were a long distance from the rest rooms, and one of the fields was on a slope. Another field held too much water and some games had to be cancelled. And because some of the referees are also players who are too young to drive, they often have to travel from the high school fields to fields closer in with very little time to spare.
Messner said that with 80 acres, the school should have plenty of room for all its spring sports teams without having to rent from the city.
ìIt upsets me as taxpayer,î she told the council.
The soccer league has a total of 24 teams. Each team practices twice a week.
Council members said that when they agreed to rent the fields to the school, they were told that that soccer association was in agreement with the arrangement. Mayor Burns suggested that representatives of the city, league and athletic department meet to work out a solution.
In other news, the city set its truth-in-taxation public hearings for November 29 and December 6, with finalization of the budget at its regular meeting on December 13.
Zoning matters
The council approved variances for Jessica Rommes and Charlie Reed, 514 West Lincoln, to build a shed on an existing concrete slab; and Adella Olafson, 124 No. Hokah, for a deck. The council unanimously denied a zoning application from Doug Ely, who owns two lots along Bush Street. Ely had planned to build an addition onto his home which would extend onto his second lot, crossing an easement under which is buried water and sanitary sewer lines for properties to the north.
Caledonia Argus
314 West Lincoln St.
P.O. Box 227
Caledonia, MN 55921-0227
507/724-3475
E-Mail: editor.argus@ecm-inc.com