The City of Albert Lea is now the owner of a soon-to-be-demolished house at 722 S.

Tuesday, January 29, 2002

The City of Albert Lea is now the owner of a soon-to-be-demolished house at 722 S. Washington Ave., as the former owner signed over the deed before Monday’s council meeting.

As the public hearing on the demolition was set to begin, the council heard from Steve Schwab, city attorney, that Juan Juarez, the owner of the property in question, had met with city staff with his own interpreter on Friday to discuss options for the property.

The city gave Juarez two options, Schwab said: He could either turn the property’s deed over to the city or he could let the demolition proceed and have the costs assessed back to the lot. He decided to let the city have the property.

&uot;He just wanted to get rid of it,&uot; said Schwab.

The city will complete an asbestos study tomorrow, on both the S. Washington site and the house around the corner on Third Ave., and submit a report to the Environmental Protection Agency, said Richard Sydnes, Albert Lea Fire Chief. The soonest the demolition could begin is 10 days from the date the asbestos study is submitted, he said.

In other action, the council:

– Voted to oppose state proposals to cut local government aid.

With Bill Schmidt sitting in for City Manager Paul Sparks, the council unanimously approved a resolution strongly objecting to Gov. Jesse Ventura’s plans to make permanent cuts to Local Government Aid as part of the proposals he made in response to the state budget deficit.

Schmidt pointed out that Albert Lea will lose 4 percent of budgeted revenue for 2002 if the proposal is adopted, with more to be cut the year after that. Mayor Bob Haukoos added that he sees these cuts as being unfair and harder on many communities in Greater Minnesota. The problem is one that the state got into on its own, he said.

Council members and city staff will be taking this up with legislators from the area.

– Voted to proceed with the annexation of property owned by Dan DeBoer, owner of Pro Trucking. The property is located just to the east of the Trails Travel Center and west of the old Starlight drive-in movie theater. The request now goes to Albert Lea Township, and city staff will find out how much sewer and water extensions for the property will cost. The council also accepted the Minnesota Department of Transportation’s recommendations for the layout of roads and driveways around the truck stop.

– Approved a rental contract for use of the City Arena by Albert Lea Hockey Schools, run by Roy Nystrom and Joe Dragich. The amount is $4,800 and the contract runs from July 15 to July 28, 2002.

– Presented the Award of Excellence in Financial Reporting to John Bennet, city finance director, and his staff. The City of Albert Lea is one of the 3 percent of cities that earn the award from the GFOA, Haukoos said.

– Approved a number of appointments and reappointments to city boards and commissions for 2002.

Brian Paul, Jay Dopplehammer and Sue Zimmerman were all reappointed to the Parks and Recreation Board; Joyce Erickson-Olson was reappointed and Arnold Biederman and Kyle Olson were newly appointed to the Planning Advisory Commission; Jon Lindeman was reappointed and Chuck Foster was newly appointed to the Airport Advisory Board; Kenwood Bertelsen and Harlan Bang were reappointed to the Library Advisory Board; Art Smith was newly appointed to the Board of Zoning Appeals; George Marin was newly appointed to the Housing and Development Authority; and Dennis Dieser and JoAnn Barr were reappointed and Gen Olson was newly appointed to the Human Rights Commission.