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9.g) Staff Report-Mike White� J SCANDIA Staff RepoVt Date of Meeting: April 21, 2015 To: City Council From: Kristina Handt, City Administrator Re: Mike White Well Background: Late on Friday, April 10, 2015 I received an email from a resident about Mike White having a backhoe and well derrick on City property abutting his lot. This is the fifth documented violation in Mr. White's property file. On Monday, April 13, 2015 Tim Kieffer and I visually inspected the property and found that there was well drilling equipment on the City property, Oak Lane, an unopened road. Pictures are included in your packet. We asked Mr. White about it and he said he had an easement from the City. I had a copy of the easement with me and told him it was only for the septic and was in a different location. A portion of the easement survey is included in your packet. It's a large map so if you want to see the original, please contact me directly. I told Mr. White if he had other documentation relating to the well he would need to provide it to me for verification. He said to just call Kevin Nikkelson and that he would remember. I told him we require documentation we don't go off memory. We had previously given Mr. White's contractor an exemption from the road weight limits conditioned on him letting us know when he would be doing the work. Mr. White's well was previously located in the house which is no longer code with the state. At the time of approval we were not given specific information on the new well location. The contractors called Tim Monday, April 13 as required and Tim let him know they couldn't drill on the City property. Mr. George Johnson and associate then came to talk to me. I had Mr. White's property file out but hadn't had time yet to go through it thoroughly. I showed them the easement for the septic (which also shows the well location on Mr. White's property 5 feet from the property line). Johnson said White told them the City just had an easement and so they assumed they were on White's property. They indicated there was nowhere on White's property to locate the well that would meet State Health Department setbacks. Johnson called White to tell him they could not proceed with the drilling. I agreed to look through the file right away to see if there was any permission given for the well on City property. I reviewed all files which included minutes, staff reports, variance and building permit applications, and the survey granting the easement only for drain field back up. The 1992 survey of the easement showed the well on White's property 5 feet from the property line and this was consistent with the minutes from the December 1991 town board meeting. Furthermore, the 1998 building permit showed the well location on White's property. Copy included in your packet. There was no other mention of the well location in any other documents. Staff even reviewed old files from former City/Township Attorney Dave Hebert and found no indication of approval for the well on City property. I sent an email to Mr. White on April 13, 2015 at 1:52pm informing him there was no permissions on file for him to put a well on City property. Possible alternatives suggested at the time were to connect to the 201 wastewater system and remove the septic facilities on his property that were making it difficult to locate the well or he could have a survey prepared and seek another easement from the City. On Tuesday, April 14th I was informed Mr. Nikkelson had been into the offices and looked at the December 1991 minutes. Mr. White had contacted the Mayor. The Mayor asked that I put this issue on the agenda for the next Council meeting. Issue: What action should the Council take regarding Mike White's proposal to place his well on Oak Lane? Proposal Details: Despite Mr. White's claims, all of the evidence documented in his property address file supports the fact that no easement was given to allow him to locate his well 8 feet east of the western property line of Oak Lane. It is not uncommon for small lake lots to have difficulty meeting all setbacks for water and sewer facilities. There are a number of options Mr. White can pursue that would not require the City to grant an easement or vacate Oak Lane. Given the large number of complaints from neighbors about Mr. White's personal use of public property and the City's long standing position of not vacating lake accesses, staff would recommend one of the alternative options be pursed. The first option would be for Mr. White to contact the State Health Department to ask for a variance to locate the well on his property. We recently learned from the County Planner that the state has done this for a couple of small lake lots on Little Carnelian Lake. The second option would be for Mr. White to connect to the 201 wastewater system. This would free up space on his property currently being used for his private sewer system. Options: 1) Direct Mr. White to seek a variance from the State Health Department to place the well on his property 2) Require Mr. White to connect to the 201 wastewater system 3) Begin proceedings to vacate Oak Lane 4) Grant Mr. White an easement to locate his well on City property Recommendation: Option 1 should be pursued first then then alternatives in the order they are presented above. Staff would not recommend granting another easement. If Mr. White is going to get to continue to use the City property for his personal use, the City should seriously consider whether there is a public purpose in keeping it. The easement would have to go nearly the entire width of Oak Lane so staff would question if the public could ever really use the property even if they wanted to. Also, there is a steep slope going down to the lake making it nearly impossible for public access as it is.