Posted: 11/26/03

Town board acts on July Avenue needs

Lou Michaels
Wyoming Township Reporter

After discussion, the Wyoming Town Board on Nov. 19 decided to go out for bids for the cost to replace July Avenue. July Avenue is one of the worst roads in the township because it is so old. This road will need to be replaced from the foundation up and cannot handle any more traffic.

The Birch Lake Preserve housing development is located off of this road. The developer of Birch Lake Preserve hasÝagreed toÝpay for the cost of blacktopping July Avenue up to the entrance of the new development.

The township agreed to pay for the costs of digging up the existing road and the foundation.

The township board debated the merits of looking for bids for July Avenue butÝeventually directed Township Engineer Mark Erichson to do some preliminary work and seek out bids for the project.

CRD contract

The Center for Rural Design, from the University of Minnesota was hired to prepare a comprehensive plan for new zoning ordinances.

The proposed plan was broken into three phases. PhaseÝI, recently completed, included a set of maps depicting the land as it exists, documentation, inventory and analysis of critical natural and cultural areas and citizen values.ÝThe town board discussed how to proceed with phases II and III and where the funding will come from.

Phase II defines development scenarios to determine a preferred policy on land use. Phase III will gather information from PhaseÝI and II and provide information back to the township.Ý

A citizens committee has been investigating the possibility of obtaining matching funds in the form of grants to help fund this project.

After discussion, the board approved a motion authorizing the spending of up to $15,000 if there is also some matching funds available

Supervisor Scott Walberg opposed this decision and said he felt the township should not authorize these funds without approval from the residents.

Heath Road

The board then heard from township resident Jim Tate about some flooding taking place near Heath Avenue. There has been previous attempts made by the property owners to solve the flooding problems. These attempts have been disallowed by the DNR in the past.

The boardís hands are tied because of the DNRís past opposition. The board decided to authorize the township Engineer to write a letter to the DNR on behalf of the township and its citizens.

The letter will request the DNR either allow the necessary repairs to take place or take other action to alleviate the issue.

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