Since the post asking "What is your true agenda St Paul City Council?", which received no response from the City Council (hard to believe I know), several things have happened.
First Mr Adams house was set for demolition, and according to an article in the Lillie Suburban Newspaper titled "Despite pending appeal, 676 Wells goes down" (Larkin, 2015), offers that the demolition would cost someone $9800, adding that Rayco Excavating, the contractor with the winning bid, came in at half the price of all other bidders out of sheer dislike for Mr. Adams. Now, you want to remember that figure because this is where the story gets good...
Second as you may recall, the property that the city had listed as abandoned city property adjacent to Mr. Adams house was transferred to the Department of Parks and Recreation. This property, which contained the legendary work of art known as "The People's Park" was leveled along with Mr Adams home.
Third is the rezoning of the property. It seems to me that while the home was razed, the land still remains property and possession of Mr. Arjo Adams. The city has seen fit to rezone the property as RT2 which according to St Paul Municipal Code 66.214 is designated to residential townhouse districts. This tells me, that the city has decided that the City of St Paul has an intended purpose for the property that rightfully belongs to Mr. Adams. I do not recall any portion of this whole scenario to include the forfeiture of the property to the City of St Paul. Do you?
Fourth and Final is the receipt of the bill for the demolition of Mr. Adams home, and the adjacent art park by Mr. Adams. Imagine his surprise when he opened a bill from the city to the tune of $18,581.36. Well, now that is different than the bid they awarded. Different from the quoted price in the newspaper, and different than the City shows as paid for this demolition. Where is the $9681 charge in question coming from?
I ask you again...What is your true agenda St Paul City Council.
I demand transparency
References
City of Saint Paul - Assessments. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://eproperty.logis.org/stpaul/assessments/list?pid=292922420223
City of St Paul Municple Code 66.214 (66.214). (n.d.). Retrieved from City of St Paul website: https://www.municode.com/library/mn/st._paul/codes/code_of_ordinances?searchRequest=%7B%22searchText%22%3A%2266.214%22%2C%22pageNum%22%3A1%2C%22resultsPerPage%22%3A25%2C%22booleanSearch%22%3Afalse%2C%22stemming%22%3Atrue%2C%22fuzzy%22%3Afalse%2C%22synonym%22%3Afalse%2C%22contentTypes%22%3A%5B%22CODES%22%5D%2C%22productIds%22%3A%5B%5D%7D&nodeId=PTIILECO_TITVIIIZOCO_CH66ZOCOONDIUSDEDIST_ARTII66.200.REDI_DIV166.210.IN_S66.214INRTTOREDI
City of St Paul. (2016). Property Information (292922420223). Retrieved from St Paul One Stop website: https://www.stpaulonestop.com/AMANDA5/eNtraprise/StPaul/m3list/e_web_listsubmit.jsp?pagename=a_PickProperty.jsp
Larkin, P. (2015). Despite pending appeal, 676 Wells goes down | Lillie Suburban Newspapers - LillieNews.com. Retrieved from http://www.lillienews.com/articles/2015/04/05/despite-pending-appeal-676-wells-goes-down
Post from August, 2013:
Tonight's defeat in the hearing of the appeal of Ronald 'Arjo' Adams of both the fencing and the boarding up of the house located at 676 Wells, it was suggested by one brave man in a rather choked up voice (thank you Greg Copeland for your will to come to the aid of Mr. Adams) that there may be another agenda driving the council's vote. I agree.
What is your true agenda St Paul City Council?
Do you wish only to take that property?
I for one demand some clarity.
The meeting can be seen in video form here:
The facts:- Mr Adams has had permits for every bit of work that was to be done on that house. What hindered his progress is the condemnation of that property after he purchased those permits. Because the property was condemned, you refused to inspect those permits. Mr Adams was not given a refund for the price of those permits.
- You say this has been going on over a year? You are correct. Because your inspectors refuse to step foot into his home and inspect the work done under the permits that were pulled over a year ago.
- You want a $5000.00 deposit to pull a permit for any work done on this 'vacant building'. The amount of work left to be done on this so called disaster waiting to happen is less than $2500.00
- The city of St Paul has a project that runs along this property, and the city owns the property to the left and to the right of Mr. Adams. Arjo's home is smack in the middle of a city project. It is my feeling and that of the nearly 260 people that have signed the petition to save it that you want to demolish this house under the rule of eminent domain.
- You say the retaining walls and the steps are dangerous. Is it not true that one of your own inspectors gave that wall and staircase a thumbs up in 2006? Of course it is. I offer a copy of email correspondence that you posted on your own site between Dave Thune and Mike Grealish that states clearly that this property's retaining walls are safe and should be left intact as per Tom Riddering - building official, City of St Paul. This was an in response to a request sent by Dave Thune to Mike Grealish in an attempt to gain clarity to take a position in the matter of condemnation and possible demolition of this home and property in 2006.
- In his own words, in 2006 Dave Thune said, "I understand that somehow coincidental with the recent Pioneer Press article about R Joe Adams park and public sculpture the city has leaped into action to save us from something or other, possibly imagined".
If you are as outraged as I am email the council members for ward 6. Tell them we want change!
Marcia Moermond - Legislative hearing officer
Councilmember Amy Brendmoen
Councilmember Nathaniel Khaliq
Councilmember Russ Stark
Councilmember Dave Thune
This could be your mother's home, your daughter's home, your home for that matter. Don't take this lying down. Stand up for what is right!
I have always been of the belief that what is done in the dark will always come to the light.
Kudos to you Mr. Dan Bostrom for having the good sense and the strength to vote against both of these motions.
It is unfortunate that the others on your council do not have the same clear conscience tonight. I hope they sleep well knowing Mr Adams will not.
What is your true agenda St Paul City Council?
marcia.moermond@ci.stpaul.mn.us
Council President Kathy Lantry
kathy.lantry@ci.stpaul.mn.us
Councilmember Dan Bostrom
dan.bostrom@ci.stpaul.mn.us
amy.brendmoen@ci.stpaul.mn.us
nathaniel.khaliq@ci.stpaul.mn.us
russ.stark@ci.stpaul.mn.us
dave.thune@ci.stpaul.mn.us
Councilmember Chris Tolbert
chris.tolbert@ci.stpaul.mn.us
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