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When Councilmember Paulsen said, “People won’t want to live next to Hwy 5,” the MnDOT person replied, “You can keep taking out another row of houses because someone doesn’t want to live next to a highway. You could never stop. But we can’t purchase houses that we don’t directly need.”

“So we’re left with deteriorating neighborhoods for a while,” said Jim. “What’s the status of this document?”

Replied Mr. Shorten, “It can lead you into mapping. There will be people who’ll say, ‘Buy me out now because you’ve just reduced my value!’ But there are willing buyers and sellers out there, outside of government. It leads to a process of commercialization. We’re seeing it happen over and over ... MnDOT owns the road so they’ll have a lot to say, too.”

He suggested there could be full signal downtown intersections along Hwy 5 at the Dairy Queen, at Floyd’s, and at the Fire Station -- with other accesses to Hwy 5 cut or limited. He suggested there could be difficulties for the Victoria Auto Haus without direct access to Hwy 5, but their traffic could be re-directed to 81st Street.

Mr. Shorten presented various options that councilmembers might consider for moving traffic through the downtown Victoria business district, “to make traffic flow without direct access to Hwy 5.” Some of the options involved the taking of additional properties.

GREEN CREST CHARGES UNFAIRNESS

WITH WATER RATES AT TOWNHOMES

Keith Geske, a resident at Green Crest Townhomes, spoke to councilmembers on March 27th about the new water rates in Victoria. His comments were related to the fact that a 2” line services the irrigation needs of the 29 townhomes at Green Crest, and that the larger 2” line automatically triggers a higher water rate than normal residential rates.

“At a recent meeting of our Homeowners Association, questions came up about water rates as you’ve amended,” said Keith. “There’ll be a tremendous increase in our water bills. We’re 29 homes consolidated into one line to service us. It’s an exorbitant amount that you’ll be charging us. Our sprinkler system is off nine months of the year. It’s a two-inch line. We’re not an industrial complex. We can only raise the association fees once a year. I feel this is an unfair increase. We’re trying to conserve all the water we can. We have a rain sensor. I ask you to think about this and see if you can’t lessen it for us ... We only use the two-inch line for irrigating ... We’re talking a lot of money here, not just nickels and dimes.”

He commented also on the city’s watering of its ballfields. “When I see that we’re sprinkling ballfields, it gripes me. Maybe conservation should be started here at home.”

Said Councilmember Tim Amundsen, “I think it’s important to get the facts about the city’s water utilization. I know we don’t water all of our fields.”

Administrator Steve Sarvi pointed out, “We have rain sensors and timers on our fields, but the traffic there is higher than for your average lawn.”

Said Councilmember Jim Paulsen, “I think it’s a question of fundamental fairness. The two-inch line is driving this ordinance. What if they had two one-inch lines? The same charge wouldn’t hold ... Is it not a surcharge on townhomes?”

Administrator Sarvi said, “There has to be an availability charge.” Agreed Councilmember Kim Roden, “We’re paying for consumption and also the water treatment plant. I’m not sure I have a solution tonight.”

Responding to the increase in water rates, Councilmember Amundsen said, “We’ve got a letter here from the DNR. We’re not making this up. We have to make the appropriate adjustments. This issue isn’t just for Victoria ... Nothing is perfect the first time around. I think we can look at townhome situations.”

City staff will continue to look at the new water rates and their various impacts.

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