Sleepy Eye citizens upset with city street plan

By FRITZ BUSCH

Journal Staff Writer

SLEEPY EYE -- Twenty Sleepy Eye citizens on the south end of Third Avenue Northeast are so upset with the City of Sleepy Eye's 2001 street and infrastructure improvement plan, they signed a petition denouncing it and the city council.

The issue is expected to be brought up at the end of Tuesday night's regular city council meeting. Project opponents are expected to ask the council to hold a special meeting to discuss the issue.

The City of Sleepy Eye plans to tear up the street, curb, gutter, sewer and water systems and increase the load capacity of Third Avenue Northeast to nine tons.

A petition, written May 16, 2001, reads as follows:

"It should be understood by now that the council's street and infrastructure plan was the best-kept secret in town. We, the undersigned, are opposed to both the magnitude and proposed assessment method of this project.

"It is wrong to think that the information meeting in early April was approval by the assessed property owners in attendance. At that meeting, one of the councilmen mentioned that the project would need a case-by-case review.

"To ram this project through in its present scope is nothing less than raw, legislative arrogance.

"We who are the property owners at the southern portion of Third Avenue Northeast (Pine Street to the south edge of Emmerich), are satisfied with the condition of this section and oppose any reconstruction at this time.

"We insist that we meet with the council at a special meeting to discuss this. We also need an explanation of 30-year assessment deferments."

The petition was signed by Donald Schmidtknecht, Pat Davis, Edward Schottenbauer, Steve Braun, Roger Klein, Stanley Gunneson, Roy Jacobsen, Lisa Zuhlsdorf, Patrick Wurtzberger, Lenny Neid, Virgil Deibele, Richard Callanan, Todd Nachreiner, Marvin and Dorothy Sellner, Larry Moldan, Ruth Moldan, Agnes Fromm, Phil Heymans, Giat Pham and Jeff Cook.

Sleepy Eye City Manager Mark Kober said he, all city council members and the mayor received a copy of the petition.

"Many of the people that signed the petition came into our office to discuss the issue and some councilors and myself looked at the street with them," Kober said. "The subject will be part of the meeting agenda under miscellaneous correspondence (set to take place at 10:30 p.m. Tuesday in the council chamber).

Kober said the council already ordered the work to be done and he doesn't expect a special meeting to be held since a public hearing was held in April.

Councilman Harold Windschitl, who has often opposed the rest of the council on its sanitary sewer assessment policy, said he always felt that it and the way the city council deals with residents on street projects are unfair and unjust.

"If it was fair, maybe this petition wouldn't be circulated," Windschitl said. "The street really isn't that bad but the project is going on anyway. I don't know why they (the council) don't talk to people and see what they want before going ahead with the project?"

Windschitl said he would also like to see city council meetings broadcast on Sleepy Eye's public access cable television channel.

"I don't know why we don't do that?" Windschitl said. "That is what the public access channel is for."

Windschitl said he was interested in gathering more data on the Third Avenue project but hasn't seen it yet.

Sleepy Eye City Council President Wayne Novotny was not available by telephone Friday night.

Heymans would rather deal with the street issue at a special meeting rather than at the end of Tuesday night's council meeting.

"They'll (the council) will be so antsy late at night, they won't want to duke it out," Heymans said. "The assessments are ridiculous. The amounts are way too high."

Darroll Schmidtknecht, who recently bought a house on Third Avenue Northeast, and other residents of the street that signed the petition said the project is not needed.

"Why fix something that isn't broke?" Schmidtknecht said. "I don't think the street or sewer is bad. Why redo everything? How can somebody on Social Security pay for more than $5,000 for repairs? A few spots could be repaired for much less money."

Ed Schottenbauer feels his neighborhood is paying part of the bill for big, new $200,000 homes that were recently built in the northeast part of town.

"The only reason they (the council) wants to do is to make a nine-ton road. They are stiffing us," Schottenbauer said. "The road wouldn't have broken up if the city would have stopped the heavy trucks from using it. They ran over our street, wrecked it and don't have to pay for it. We do."

Bolton & Menk Inc. engineer Bill Helget verified that the new street will have a nine-ton capacity.

Lenny Neid said he isn't so upset that his house is being assessed. What is bothering him is that property that is shop is on, 400 feet from the street, is being hit with a sewer assessment.

"I don't think my whole shop lot should be assessed for it," Neid said. "I'm not too crazy about that."

Dean Deibele, representing his mother and father who live on Third Avenue Northeast, said he thinks the street project representing self-serving interests.

Third Avenue resident Steve Braun echoed that idea.

"This council doesn't represent the people of Sleepy Eye," Braun said. "Write this story up nice so everybody sees what is going on."