Bradbury Township

Mille Lacs News

Onamia Mayor

Larry E. Milton

Council Members

Bill Hill Jr.

Robert Mickus

Mark Loch

Jerome Kryzer

Zoning

Mickey Carter

Clerk

Kathleen McCullum

Questions for the Onamia City Council

1. Who is the current Onamia City Planning Coordinator and what are his or her qualifications and duties?

2. Without a current city plan, is the Onamia City Planning Coordinator adhering to the rules set in “Growth Management System for City of Onamia” set forth by the East Central Regional Development Commission, and published in 1978, especially in regards to zoning and annexation, which clearly prohibit you from doing exactly what you are attempting to do in this aggressive Bradbury annexation/rezoning takeover?

3. Who is responsible for the decision for Mille Lacs Academy, a juvenile sex offender treatment facility owned by the Nexus Corporation to relocate onto 38 acres in Bradbury Township?

4. City of Onamia representatives totally disregarded the citizens of Bradbury Township prior to signing a purchase agreement; no contact with any member of the Bradbury Township Board, the owners of three day-care centers in the vicinity, adjacent land owners, or any neighbors. We found out about it only if we happened upon an article written by Bob Statz in the April 18 edition of the Mille Lacs Messenger entitled, Nexus finds new home in Onamia. Why were Bradbury residents denied any knowledge of what the mayor and council intended to do to our township?

5. What was the role of the Mille Lacs Area Community Development in finding a new location for the Nexus institution?

6. Who is the President of the CDC?

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1. Please explain the incongruity of the City Council Minutes with regards to Nexus. Why are there minutes from Friday, February 16 inserted into the Wednesday February 14 report?

2. Why are our copies of the official City Council Meeting Minutes unsigned?

3. Where are the City Council Minutes and tape recordings for closed meetings, including negotiations, as mandated by the Minnesota Open Meeting Law  [Minn. Stat. 13D.05 Subd 3]?

4. There are two Bye properties. Which was discussed in the February Minutes, and where is it located?

5. The March 1 City Council Minutes discuss the purchase of the Vanderpoel property as well as other property options, however there is no mention at all of any properties owned by Steve Bye. Yet, in the March 14 Minutes, it is recorded that “Council agreed that City will pay all expenses incurred for Bye property annexation.” Does this still refer to property in Onamia Township?

6. Where is the money coming from to pay all expenses for annexation, and why isn’t Nexus, which has a $38 Million budget per year paying anything?

7. The purchase of the Steve and Loretta Bye 38 acres was announced in the April 11 Minutes. When and where did negotiations take place regarding this property?

8. How many closed meetings took place between February 14 and April 11, 2007?

9. Where are the Minutes and tape recordings from open and/or closed meetings which discussed the purchase of the 38 acres in Bradbury Township, as mandated by the Minnesota Open Meeting Law [Minn. Stat. 13D.05 Subd 3]?

10. In the April 18 issue of the Mille Lacs Messenger, Bob Statz mis-reported that 140 Nexus jobs were being saved. Kevin Anderson later raised that figure to 170 jobs. In the May 16 issue of the Messenger, Vivian Clark also mis-reported the number of jobs as 121, following with a breakdown of the communities where staff resides. Her list, however, added up to only 95 jobs. Including the 15 employees Dellececca, the Executive Administrator of the Mille Lacs Academy said would be terminated at privatization, it still comes to only 110 jobs. None were reported as living in Onamia. Dellacecca, reported only 30 employees in our surrounding communities. The question is: 170, 140, 121, 110, 95, 30 or some other random number, how many jobs were Steve and Loretta Bye told they would be responsible for losing if they did not sell his 38 acres to the city for the displaced Academy boys?

NOTE: According to Minnesota State Laws, if there have been any misrepresentation or improprieties in the law, including the Open Meeting Law, a purchase agreement is immediately null and void. The “done deal” is undone.

1. Was the Bye 38 acres ever listed on the open market?

2. Did Steve Bye initiate petitioning for annexation on his own volition, or was he approached by agents of the City Council?

3. Who negotiated the deal with the Byes?

4. Who wrote up the purchase agreement?

5. Did the Byes have legal representation present when they signed the purchase agreement, and if so, who?

6. Bye’s 38 acres is currently assessed at a market value of $48,500. Purchasing it at $3900 per acre, it is now valued at a level different from similar property in the area.  With the purchase price of $150,000, how does the City of Onamia explain and justify paying more than three times its assessed value?

7. Where is this money coming from?

8. What price has Nexus agreed to pay for this property?

9. Why is the City of Onamia also “earmarking” $50,000 from their economic development fund to “help get the construction project off the ground”?

10. What is the total amount of taxpayer dollars that the Onamia mayor and city council will be handing out for the Nexus Corporation project?

11. We have been told time and time again that this is a “done deal” and there is nothing that we can do about it. What was your motivation in misleading the community to believe that this deal had already been finalized?

Minnesota Statute 274.13 Subdivision1. (7.) [concerning the county board]“The board does not have authority to grant an exemption or to order property removed from the tax rolls.”