Brainerd City Council: Appeal delays vacant motel demolition

The process to remove a hazardous vacant motel building in downtown Brainerd may take longer than initially thought.

The owner of the motel building in downtown Brainerd at 507 South Sixth St. appealed the city's April 17 order declaring the building hazardous and requiring its removal. The building's owner, Julian Jayasuriya of DBM Two Partnership LLC, had 30 days to remove the motel or 20 days to answer or challenge the resolution.

Monday, City Attorney Joe Langel told the council Jayasuriya has challenged the resolution, which sends the process to Crow Wing County District Court. It's now up to the court to schedule action on the process, he said, which could now take up to 6 months or a year. How long the process takes depends on how much Jayasuriya wants to contest the resolution, he said.

"That fight is going to continue on," Langel said.

There is a safety concern related to the building being used by "non-paying residents," Langel said, alluding to people staying in the vacant building. This is a concern for law enforcement, he said, and the ongoing presence of fuel tanks related to meth use creates a hazard for the fire department.

"We're going to keep pushing this forward and try to get it to an end as fast as possible," Langel said.

The declaration includes the motel building and office building on the property, but not a garage building located on the property.

In other business, the council:

Received a presentation on the city's audit for fiscal year 2016 from Mary Reedy from CliftonLarsonAllen. There were no difficulties encountered when performing the audit, Reedy said, which resulted in a clean or unmodified opinion.

Learned from city Planner Mark Ostgarden there have been 19 new single-family housing permits issued in Brainerd in 2017. This is the highest number of permits issued in a single year since 2009, he said, with hopefully a few more to come before the year is over.

Advanced paid on-call firefighters Erik Flowers and Nick Haglin from probationary to regular firefighters. Flowers and Haglin completed their one-year probationary period on July 1.

Adopted a cross-jurisdictional maintenance agreement with Oak Lawn Township for roads shared by the city and the township. The agreement includes portions of Red Pine Road, Two Mile Road, Oakridge Road, Easy Street, Jordan Road, Wonderland Park Road, Wonderland Park Circle, Southeast 28th Street and Pine Shores Road.

The city in the past year has fielded complaints from a resident on Easy Street about township maintenance, council member Kelly Bevans said. The agreement should ensure the resident's property isn't used for stormwater runoff, he said, which was the resident's complaint.

Accepted a low bid from Anderson Brothers Construction to complete a reconstruction of the South Sixth Street East frontage road and 11 blocks of resurfacing in northwest Brainerd.

The South Sixth Street East frontage road project runs from Industrial Park Road to Wright Street. The resurfacing project includes portions of Northwest Eighth, Northwest Seventh, Northwest Fifth, Northwest Third, Williams and James streets.

The Anderson Brothers bid was $307,729 for the frontage road project and $465,373 for the resurfacing project, for a total of $773,103.

A bid from Borden Excavating bid was $321,501 for the frontage road project and $466,939 for the resurfacing project, for a total of $788,440.

A bid from Tri-City Paving was $331,931 for the frontage road project and $525,229 for the resurfacing project, for a total of $857,161.

The total engineer's estimate for both projects was $802,492.

Adopted an ordinance amending city code section 1205 regulating the issuance of 3.2 percent beer licenses. The ordinance amends the code to state the age to purchase, consume, sell or possess 3.2 percent beer is 21 years old. The current code uses 19 years old as the eligible age and does not reflect state law, which is 21 years old.

Set the details for a joint meeting with the Baxter City Council from 6-8 p.m. Aug. 14, tentatively at Prairie Bay in Baxter. The meeting will feature a presentation from Minnesota state demographer Susan Brower on population trends in the area.

Approved a new contractor license for 5 Star Heating and Air, St. Cloud.

Approved a new bulk plant license for Best Oil, LLC, 1202 Madison St., effective July 18.

Received a written report from Police Chief Corky McQuiston on the department's activity for the month of June. The department received 1,600 calls for service during the month. This compares to 1,554 calls for service in June 2016.

Approved a lawful gambling application submitted by Ducks Unlimited Frozen North to conduct off-site gambling at Barrett's Northeast Liquors, 105 Washington St.

Approved a lawful gambling application submitted by Lower South Long Lake Improvement Association to conduct excluded bingo Sept. 3 at Jack's House, 300 State Highway 25.

Approved donations to the city made between April 1 and June 30. There was $2,350 in donations to Legionville, $5,269 in donations to the Parks and Recreation Department, $650 in donations to the Brainerd Fire Department and $300 in donations to the Brainerd Police Department.

Approved an event application for Canoe Days 8:30 a.m. to noon Aug. 5 in Kiwanis Park. About 10 booths will be set up to present information on water quality, aquatic invasive species and recreation. At 10 a.m., those with non-motorized watercraft can paddle to Crow Wing State Park to a fur traders encampment.

Approved a street closure application for the Lil' Rubber Ducky Race Aug. 5 on East River Road. A portion of the road near Don Adamson Field will be closed from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. The event is put on by the Brainerd Jaycees.

Approved a final contractor payment to Anderson Brothers Construction for the 2017 crack sealing project in the amount of $16,040.

Approved a contractor payment to Tom's Backhoe Service for work through July 7 on the Brainerd Lakes Regional Airport utility extension project in the amount of $8,076.

Called for applicants for one term on the Charter Commission and one term on the Transportation Advisory Committee.