EUREKA NEWS!

                    EUREKA TOWN BOARD MEETING - AUGUST 10, 2015

                                                  BITS AND PIECES                           

TRANSFER OF BUILDING RIGHTS:

     

The Town Board approved a Building Right Transfer from Terri Petter (represented by Butch Hansen) to Eureka Properties, LLC. (represented by Darrin Giles), 23545 Cedar Avenue South.

The Town Board also approved a Building Right Transfer from a property owned by Jerome and Jeff Phillipe to an adjacent property owned by the Phillipes.


Ordinance 3, Chapter 3

SECTION 10. DEFINITIONS. The following words and terms, whenever they occur in
this Ordinance, are defined as follows:

Cluster –the act of transferring a residential building right.

Residential Building Right – the eligibility to build or place a single family
dwelling on a qualifying buildable property as described and under the conditions
of this Ordinance.

Residential Building Right Transfer – the act of moving a residential building
right from one property to another within Eureka Township.

 SECTION 8. RECORDING OF APPROVED TRANSFER
A. The landowner(s) shall execute a Residential Building Right Transfer
Agreement with the Township, which shall be recorded by the landowner(s)
within ninety (90) days of its approval by the Town with the Dakota County
Recorder. The Agreement shall be recorded against all properties required to
be identified in the Agreement. Written proof of such recording shall be
presented by the landowner to the Town Clerk within one hundred and twenty
(120) days after the approval of the transfer agreement by the Township.
B. The Residential Building Right Transfer Agreement shall identify the Pre-1982
Lot of Record or the parcel and quarter-quarter section from which a building
right has been transferred, and shall state that any residential building right on
that Pre-1982 Lot of Record or parcel and quarter-quarter section no longer
exists and has been transferred onto other property. The agreement shall
identify by legal description the parcel to which the residential building right
has been transferred.
C. The Residential Building Right Transfer Agreement shall be executed and
recorded by the landowner(s), and written proof of such recording presented Ordinance 3 Ch. 3
to the town clerk, before the Township will consider any application for a building
permit, or before transfer of any of the lands described in the transfer
agreement, whichever occurs first. 

SECTION 9. VIOLATIONS AND PENALTY
A. VIOLATION. Failure to complete any transactions and recordings required after
Town Board approval of a Residential Building Right Transfer or a Clustering
Agreement and associated Town Board Consent of the Clustering Agreement
shall nullify the approval and the residential building right shall revert to the
original sending parcel.

The procedure for Transferring of a Building Right can be found on the Eureka Township website.

SCOTTS MIRACLE- GRO:

Representatives from Scotts Miracle-Gro Company requested a change in hours of operation

to include 24 hours of operation 6 days per week. The business is located at the corner of 225th Street and Highview. The representatives stated the equipment would be located outside the building. Allowing the hours of operation change would have the potential to create additional noise, number of employees, traffic and possibly outdoor lighting during all hours after dark until dawn.

On November 14, 2005, the property owner at this address requested a permit for a 120' x 180' pole shed which would not be winterized and the processing of soil would not be done in the winter. The equipment would be located inside the building. The number of employees indicated was 6-8.

In 2006, Country Soil and Stone of Minnesota operated on the property, bagging decorative stone, soils and colored mulches.  It employed around 22 employees.
Country Stone stored heavy equipment and thousands of bags of products on pallets outside the building. Eureka Township brought a lawsuit against Country Stone stating the Company had violated the Township Ordinance. An out-of-court settlement with specific conditions placed by the Township allowed Country Soil and Stone to continue its operation.

Currently, Scotts Miracle-Gro leases the property located at 225th Street and Highview.
The representatives stated the Company supplies products to companies throughout the State of Minnesota.

After considering the request for hours of operation to increase to 24/6, the Board voted on a motion to NOT allow the request.  Supervisors Miller, Behrendt and Jennings voted yes to the motion.  Supervisor Budenski voted to allow the increase in hours and Supervisor Rogers abstained without offering a reason for his abstention. (He did not vote). For those who voted yes after Board discussion, it was felt that Scotts Miracle-Gro should continue to operate under the conditions set in the Country Stone lawsuit agreement applicable to the property, which dictates hours of operation and takes into consideration the effects on a residential 
neighborhood. The Supervisors voting to deny the increase in hours of operation expressed that there is no benefit to the Township; they would not want it next to them.

POLITICAL WILL:
"Political will" refers to the fact that when passing any law there may be some political cost as the law may upset some people and please others. "Political will" refers to that collective amount of political benefits and costs that would result from the passage of any given law. (Will Wister, Political Data Gatherer.)

Thank you to the Township Government Officials who are willing to put aside their personal agendas and political concerns to make laws and enforce them, while protecting the  welfare of Township citizens and promoting well managed and staged development of residential, commercial and industrial areas. 

Research, objectivity and an intellectual thought process transcends politics and should never be confused with being "condescending."  This seems to be a continued trend used to bully public officials during Planning Commission and Town Board meetings.

Perhaps at some point in time the Township will consider commercial development and its compatibility with different land uses.

SOLAR ENERGY MORATORIUM:

The Board agreed to place a moratorium on solar energy within the Township. The moratorium will allow the Planning Commission, with the assistance of TDKA,  to study this use and write appropriate ordinances.  The following notice was posted by Clerk Mira Boyles.  Please refer to the Eureka web site.  

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN: A public hearing will be held before the Eureka Township Planning Commission on August 20, 2015, at 7:00 PM. The purpose of the hearing is to consider a change to the Zoning Ordinance, adopting an interim ordinance to allow for a study of commercial solar energy. All persons wishing to be heard on this matter will be allowed to address the Commission.

Mira Broyles, Clerk                                                       

Posting Date: 8-6-15

                   

DEADWOOD APPEARS TO BE PRO-ACTIVE IN PROTECTING ITS CITIZENS!

'Fur' sale

Fur-Ever Wild business property listed for sale

Posted Saturday, August 1, 2015, 6:30 A.M.

By Jaci Conrad Pearson Black Hills Pioneer ! Posted 3 days ago

DEADWOOD ---- In town fewer than four months, in business for little over two, the

Fur-Ever Wild business property that houses wolf pups and other wild and exotic animals, and that has come under intense scrutiny by members of the community, is listed for sale.

"Fur-Ever Wild has decided to sell our location in Deadwood, South Dakota, because of the 

changes in rules, regulations, and ordinances from the City of Deadwood and the Animal Industry Board," said Fur-Ever Wild owner, Terri Petter. "The Deadwood facility was bought after the City of Deadwood gave us permission to open a facility with no city restrictions."

However, a recently approved ordinance in Deadwood prohibited the business from increasing the number of animals it could house, and the State Animal Industry Board denied Petter her plans of allowing the public to pet the young animals. 

"After the new ordinance was approved prohibiting us from change or growth, making us keep the same amount of animals and the same species year after year, would be catastrophic to our selective breeding program," Petter said. Not to let a business change or grow is the death to any business and the City of  Deadwood knows this. Two City Council members even refused to come out and see the facility; their minds were already made up before even seeing our facility or talking to us."

Deadwood businessman, Greg Vecchi, who owns the property at 305 Cliff St. in Deadwood and has a contract for deed arrangement with Fur-Ever Wild owners, Petter and Dan Storlie,

verified that the property has been listed for sale. "Essentially, I still own the property. 

It is on a contract for deed," Vecchi said. "They're putting it up for sale with my permission.  I have given them permission to put it up for sale and they can keep it for sale, as long as they follow the provisions of the contract for deed. Right now they are following that."

Petter said that for months, the State Animal Industry Board told her that pet-n-plays were possible if she followed certain guidelines. "The facility was bought knowing that these guidelines were met," Petter said.  "At the end of the Animal Industry Board hearing, after being told there weren't any issues, the head vet changed his recommendation to not allow public contact with certain animals, even though other facilities have been doing it for years

and can be documented. Both changes in opinions and regulations are sad for both the State

of South Dakota and the City of Deadwood who allows rodeos and circuses, who is proud of the beef and other agricultural industries, who invite tourists in to take their money,  doesn't want kids' educational attractions, but backs casinos and other non-kid friendly attractions."

The business, headquartered in Lakeville, Minn., met resistance locally from people opposed to keeping wild animals in captivity and living conditions they alleged were substandard at the Minnesota facility.   

(Information copied from the above indicated site).                                                                  

DAKOTA FREE PRESS WEIGHS IN ON A EUREKA ISSUE

Township Orders Removal of Exotic Animals from Minnesota Fur Farm

Posted 2015-06-12 07:38 by caheidelberger 60 Comments

Minnesota fur farmer Terri Petter won a state license to display her wolf pups in Deadwood last month, but she may need a new place to breed and skin her critters.

Eureka Township, MN, Resolution 2015-11, signed by Eureka Town Board Chair Brian J. Budenski 2015.06.08. (Click to embiggen!)

At its Monday, June 8, meeting, the Eureka Town Board approved Resolution 2015-11 directing its attorney to start the process of ordering the owners of the property at 10132 235th Street West, Lakeville, MN (that’s Petter’s 57-acre Fur-Ever “Wild” fur farm) to “permanently remove all exotic animals.”

The resolution responds to an April 27 ruling by the Minnesota Court of Appeals that Eureka Township improperly rejected a nuisance complaint from neighbors of the fur farm. The Court of Appeals found that the township misread its own animal ordinances. The town board had previously ruled that Petter’s wolf-skinning counted as fur production from livestock, allowable under the township’s “right to farm” rules. However, the Court reminded the township that its own definition of “livestock” explicitly excludes “exotic animals.” The town board had also accepted Petter’s argument that her state game-farm, state fur-farm, and USDA exhibitor’s licenses. The Court said such licenses do not trump local ordinance.

The Court of Appeals remanded the case to district court to determine whether the township’s grandfathering exception would allow Petter to keep her critters. Eureka Township adopted the ordinance in question on June 7, 2005; the board became aware that Petter was keeping exotic animals in 2006. The grandfather clause would allow Petter to keep the number of animals she had prior to the ordinance, but as the Court of Appeals ruling notes, Petter appears never to have provided the town board with an accurate, dated list of the number of animals on her fur farm before or after 2005.

The township appears not to be waiting for a district court ruling; Resolution 2015-11 focuses on the language of the agricultural and exotic-animal ordinances, with no mention of the grandfather clause.

Based on health and safety concerns published here on May 19, the Animal Legal Defense Fund asked the USDA to investigate possible violations of the Animal Welfare Act at Fur-Ever “Wild”, an exotic-animal fur farm in Eureka Township, Minnesota. On June 3, Petterposted a letter from the USDA indicating that animal care inspector Kimberly S. Miller had found “no noncompliant items” during a routine inspection on that day:

Fur-Ever “Wild” apparently cleaned up its act after an unofficial visit by a South Dakota animal control officer earlier this spring revealed unhealthy and unsanitary conditions. Clean and healthy or not, the township ordinance on exotic animals now appears clear: Petter must remove her wolves and other non-domesticated, non-agricultural animals from the property.