Representatives from the cities of Brainerd and Baxter met Wednesday to discuss the issue of annexing the Brainerd Public Utilities Service Center on Highland Scenic Drive from Baxter into Brainerd.
At Monday night's Brainerd City Council meeting, Mayor Ed Menk called the meeting an informal get-together. The groups are putting together their concerns, he said, which is a slow process.
Tuesday, Jim Thoreen, Brainerd City Administrator told the Brainerd Dispatch the Brainerd contingent consisted of Menk, council member Chip Borkenhagen, City Engineer Jeff Hulsether and himself. They met with Baxter Mayor Darrel Olson, council member Todd Holman, and Baxter staff members, Kelly Steele, acting city administrator, and Trevor Walters, public works director.
The agenda for the meeting consisted of reviewing the legal process of detachment and annexation, discussing each city's concerns, the timeframe and cost of the process, Thoreen said. The meeting lasted about an hour.
The group felt it wasn't prepared to offer a recommendation to each city, Thoreen said, so it didn't. There's no other meeting planned to discuss the issue further, he said.
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"No decisions," Thoreen said. "Progress, in that there were people who could respectfully talk to one another."
Tuesday when Olson described the meeting to the Baxter City Council, he agreed, saying it was a frank discussion of concerns and a blunt conversation on the core issues that generally went well. Olson said Brainerd is pushing for a quick answer while Baxter's council hasn't really talked about the subject. At the end of the day, Olson said he thought one or two Brainerd council members were threatening to go for court action. One of the issues, Baxter noted, is basically the address of the plant in Baxter instead of Brainerd, although the plant benefits both cities and is financially supported by both as well.
Olson said the Brainerd contingent wanted to forge ahead and have Baxter provide its list of concerns before Brainerd initiates court action. A key concern for Baxter is what will happen to the neighborhood next door to the wastewater treatment plant.
The group spent some time talking about conditions attached to a conditional use permit issued by the city of Baxter years ago, Thoreen said. The previous wastewater treatment plant had generated complaints about odors, he said, so the city of Baxter attached a list of conditions to the conditional use permit issued for the new wastewater treatment plant.
If the facility moves into the city of Brainerd, the city of Baxter wants to make sure those conditions are still followed, Thoreen said. Some of those conditions may not apply now, he said, so each city needs to see which conditions are still relevant.
Olson said the questions before the city of Baxter is whether to defend against a Brainerd lawsuit, let a Brainerd lawsuit go or work out a contractual agreement that is enforceable and avoids those added court costs.
Council member Todd Holman said there isn't an interest in making a change from Baxter's perspective. Those wanting a change and to annex the wastewater treatment plant are in Brainerd, Holman said.
In 2008, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency approved a permit to Brainerd Public Utilities for a $30 million wastewater treatment facility expansion project to serve Brainerd and Baxter. The permit allowed the treatment center to expand from treating 3.6 million gallons of wastewater a day to 6 million gallons a day. Baxter contracted with Brainerd to use the treatment facility and paid a third of the expansion costs. One of the concerns for Baxter was a growing community and potentially stifling growth for residential and commercial interests because of a lack of treatment capacity.
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Conditions placed on the plant grew from real neighborhood concerns, including odors and screening, Olson said. Baxter residents live around the plant and have the greatest interest and stake if things go bad. The Baxter council wanted to gauge interest and concerns from those neighborhoods.
Baxter City Council member Mark Cross noted one concern was to make sure all the conditions with the conditional use permit are part of an agreement. Cross also lives in the area.
Cross noted a joint commission was supposed to be formed with the joint venture but never was and before things go further, that commission needs to be in place and current conditions maintained no matter which city the treatment plant is in. Cross said he didn't care which city it was in as long as the zoning and conditions created to protect the neighborhoods aren't changed.
"I think that should be our starting point," Cross said.
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Baxter City Council member Mark Cross noted a joint commission was supposed to be formed with the joint venture but never was and before things go further, that commission needs to be in place and current conditions maintained no matter which city the treatment plant is in.
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Olson said the issue of the commission, not unlike the fire advisory commission, was brought up in the discussion. Olson said at the rate the two cities are growing or not growing, there was a thought at one time Baxter may become a 50 percent ownership but Brainerd didn't want any part of it. Olson noted a joint wastewater board wouldn't have authority over Brainerd Public Utilities.
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Cross said there needed to be something in place to deal with complaints, which tend to be diluted when they come through committees and a board basically separate from the council except for budget talks.
Baxter City Council member Steve Barrows said they needed to stick with the term conditions and a contract with legal definitions to ensure it continue into the future. The Baxter council agreed to call a neighborhood meeting for people living a quarter mile from the plant.
The council set a 6 p.m. June 29 date for the neighborhood meeting, which will precede a city council retreat.
Recent Brainerd discussion
At the May 16 Brainerd City Council meeting, council member Kelly Bevans brought up the annexation issue. City Planner Mark Ostgarden had provided council members background on the detachment and annexation process as laid out in state statute.
Council President Gary Scheeler told the council the issue had been ongoing since last summer. He also mentioned the BPU's purchase last fall of property at 13021 Eagle Drive.
When the BPU facility was expanded and renovated 13 years ago, Scheeler said, it required about $275,000 in permit fees.
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"And they said basically there was no neighbor discounts," Scheeler said.
Since the fall, there's been a few meetings with Baxter Mayor Darrel Olson about the issue, Scheeler said. He mentioned a Dec. 31, 2015, letter from Olson about Baxter's willingness to proceed with the detachment and annexation.
Scheeler said he had spoken with Mayor Ed Menk, who had indicated his willingness to meet with Olson before the next council meeting and to see if both cities could agree to begin the detachment and annexation process.
"I'll try my best," Menk said. "And if my best doesn't work, we'll move on."
Council member Gabe Johnson said he recalled Bevans was handling the annexation discussions. He asked Bevans for an update on those negotiations.
Olson has repeatedly stated his willingness to discuss the issue, Bevans said, but not his willingness to meet.
"As you know, in one of those conversations, there was some accusations of untrust," Bevans said. "I've been hesitant to push it any further."
Scheeler said he had been treated the same way when he was in charge of the issue, before the council passed it on to Bevans.
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There are so many opportunities for the two cities to work together, council member Mary Koep said, and the city has "barely scratched the surface." The two mayors meeting isn't the first step, she said, nor should the city take a hard line on the issue.
"It doesn't seem to me that's the kind of action that's going to benefit us in the long run," Koep said.
Koep suggested the city take the initiative and name a time and place to meet. The city has already sent a letter and done those things, Scheeler responded.
"It's real tough to be on a committee when you don't get a response," Scheeler said. "And I've made, personally, three phone calls and I didn't get no response."
The council unanimously approved a motion to send a letter to Olson inviting him to discuss the issue at 6 p.m. June 13 at the BPU service center. The letter would also outline other options if Brainerd's letter is ignored and allow Baxter to add other annexation-related topics to the meeting's agenda.
Baxter's view
At the May 17 Baxter City Council meeting, Olson said he didn't see the Brainerd City Council discussion but heard about it later and read the minutes and was contacted by others who did see it.
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Olson said the issue of the orderly annexation agreement came up when Crow Wing County, Brainerd and Baxter were discussing a new Dellwood Drive and which jurisdiction would annex what. Olson said they worked for a long time to get that hammered out and in the process found the orderly annexation agreement established in 2000 had expired in 2010. Multiple discussions followed, Olson said.
"Eventually, there was an agreement we would renew that agreement and drive on," Olson said, adding he was assured that would be done and then move to discussions about the wastewater treatment plant.
"So I was dealing with one of the council members for quite some time and that didn't seem to work too well so then it was given to another one who assured me we would get this whole thing done. So then they decided to tie in the wastewater treatment plant annexation to take that out and annex it into Brainerd as a condition for going along with the Dellwood scenario up there."
Olson said he first worked with Scheeler and then Bevans as a council liaison.
Olson said Bevans asked him to bring in two letters talking about the orderly annexation and then the wastewater treatment plant. "His comment was 'we'll get this one done first and then we'll work on the other one,'" Olson said of Bevans. "Well that never happened."
Olson said he and then city administrator Gordon Heitke signed an annexation agreement dated Jan. 5 and the agreement was hand-delivered.
"Supposedly we were going to work on that first, and then work on the discussion with the wastewater treatment plant," Olson said.
Nothing happened, Olson said.
Olson was home recovering from knee replacement surgery when he read in the Dispatch as both Scheeler and Bevans expressed concerns Feb. 15 about renewing the agreement. Scheeler stated he was concerned the original agreement wasn't attached. Bevans said he felt the agreement was premature as the impetus behind renewing the annexation agreement was to talk to Baxter about annexing the Brainerd Public Utilities Service Center, the wastewater treatment plant, into Brainerd. The tabling vote came after Olson said he was told it would take 20 minutes to get the agreement passed in Brainerd.
"That surprised me," Olson said.
Olson said he contacted Bevans and reiterated what had happened to date yet he continued to hear Brainerd council members tell people he never returned phone calls or responded to them in spite of delivering letters and correspondence.
"Apparently that comment was made again last night," Olson said of the May 16 Brainerd City Council meeting. "The only reason I am bringing it up is because my integrity is important to me and I have lived here most all of my life. I return phone calls and so I am a little dismayed because I did everything I was asked to do in my opinion and in my correspondence I said twice 'if this isn't true tell me right away so we can stop this'-the rumors and so on-and there has been no response."
Olson said he learned those same comments that he hadn't responded or returned phone calls were again made by Ostgarden that Brainerd hadn't heard from Baxter in three months.
Olson told the Baxter City Council the discussion was always to do the annexation agreement first and then talk about the wastewater treatment plant, which he had every intention of doing.
"It never happened," Olson said.
When Heitke's retirement approached on April 29, Baxter officials started to wonder about the open letter they signed to renew the orderly annexation agreement and left with the city of Brainerd. Heitke asked for the letter with their signatures to be returned. The letter, Olson said, was returned to Baxter on May 17 with the addition of the signatures of Menk and Thoreen.
"I just want you to hear it from me that what you are hearing is not really true and I've done everything they've asked me to do," Olson said.
With the fully signed letter as of mid-May, Olson said negotiations on the wastewater treatment plant could begin, but in the meantime Brainerd looked up what regulations allow and determined Brainerd could annex the wastewater treatment plant itself.
"So there is really nothing to stop them I guess from going ahead and proceeding with that," Olson said.
Baxter Council member Mark Cross said they now have a signed letter returned in May that was signed by Baxter representatives in January.
"It's really bothered me," Olson said. "No good deed goes unpunished. I tried to do what I was told to do. I tried to work with the people they told me to work with. So going forward it will be a little different story here."
SPENSER BICKETT may be reached at 218-855-5859 or spenser.bickett@brainerddispatch.com . Follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/spenserbickett .
RENEE RICHARDSON, associate editor, may be reached at 218-855-5852 or renee.richardson@brainerddispatch.com . Follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Dispatchbizbuzz .
