Bradbury Township

Mille Lacs News

News

Monday, February 25, 2008

Onamia Council:

Penny Wi$e, Pound Foolish   

Mille Lacs News Staff Writer

When it came to handing over $405,000 of your taxpayer money in tax abatement for NEXUS, a multi-million dollar corporation based in Golden Valley, Minnesota, the Onamia city council's vote was unanimous. Aye, aye, aye, aye, and aye. The abatement was given to NEXUS, which made over $4 million in profits last year, to help them build a large, unlocked sex offender facility on land annexed by the city from Bradbury Township. Ignoring vigorous protests from citizens who oppose the forced insertion of sex offenders into their neighborhood - next to three daycare centers, next to elderly widows, next to vulnerable disabled adults, and next to children, the  Onamia city council bent over backwards to keep sex offenders in the area.

They also honed down a building permit fee from $10,000 to a mere $500, citing the lack of a city building inspector as the reason. Years ago, when one of the councilmen owned the town lumber yard, the Onamia city council opted against following a building code. Ironically, one of the property owners opposed to the blatant spot-zoning proposed by the city, is himself a building inspector.

Another $50,000 gift to Nexus was handed over by the city as an incentive to help them get their five building sex offender institution off to a good start.

In return, Nexus purchased 38 acres of the "finest swamp land this side of the Mississippi" from the city for $150,000. But the city didn't get to keep that money either. That money went to the Byes, the previous owners of the wetlands which has caused so much controversy in the past year.

But don't think that the Onamia city council is stupid or irresponsible when it comes to your tax dollars. There was much discussion about charging citizens 25 cents per page for meeting agenda packets and city council meeting minutes. Other cities, as well as counties provide these to the public for free. Most cities encourage people to get involved in their local government. Not Onamia. It saw where it could make a few more bucks off of the citizens. And of course, according to city clerk Kathy McCullum, the only people who buy the agendas and minutes are the Nexus opponents from Bradbury Township.

Councilman Bill Hill suggested that the agendas be free and available to everyone. Councilman Bob Mickus (left) disagreed. He thought it would be alright for Onamia city residents, but not for outsiders. In this case, outsiders would include property owners adjacent to the sex offender facility, citizens who have attended every meeting this past year while trying to stop this grave injustice imposed by Councilman Bob Mickus et al.

Watch the video!

In last month's Onamia City Council minutes, among a long list, the following expenses were reported:

*Bonestroo,Rosene & Anderlik - NEXUS

$528.00

*Phil Gravel is Councilman Hill's cousin.

_______________

Couri, MacArther & Ruppe - Attorneys - rewriting ordinances to accommodate Nexus. Sitting in for the ever-absent Councilman Kryzer?

Jan: $1,225.00

Feb: $1,813.96

______________

David Drown - Nexus Tax Abatement

$2,794.00

________________

Mille Lacs Messenger - the other news...

$1,042.34

_______hmmm______

INCOME from selling copies of the public meeting agenda

$23.00

Its much worse than I thought.

You mean the city council's  irresponsible handling of tax payers money?

Well, that too... I meant the mean, nasty, small-minded prejudice of that a**hole Bob Mickus.

Oh yes! He IS awful. Crashing our neighborhood and then calling us  "outsiders". Who invited HIM to OUR neighborhood?

Not I. Its not like I even had a choice to vote for him, not that I would if I could.

What's his party?

I don't know. I'm waiting for  the lab results.