COKATO, MN - Cokato Council Member Butch Amundsen told the council he saw no need in selling the city parking lot shared by Forward Technology and the Iron Horse and the council unanimously agreed.
It was decided that the parking lot on Jenks Avenue, which has been in dispute for some time now between adjacent property owner Reed Carlson and the owners of the Iron Horse bar, would be retained by the city including the maintenance of it.
It never should have been offered in the first place. Publicly owned property such as this should never be offered to one individual (for $1 no less) without allowing all interested entities an equal opportunity.
Oh really! This is dishonest business by the city. Mr. Reed Carlson in good faith paid to have that ugly condemned building torn down with the understanding that when it was completed that he would be able to purchase the additional land for $1.00.
Where were all you people when that building needed to be torn down? That was not an inexpensive effort to have done.
Now the bar gets to reap the benefits of having an open lot to the south of their business. It was cheap for them to then go after what Mr. Carlson had been promised. This city needs to be held accountable to the promises that were made to Mr. Carlson. No wonder there were so many citizens opposed to liquor sales in this town. Could it be that maybe the council got more than what they are admitting from the bar to not sell to Mr. Carlson???
PS: to the owners of the bar…maybe more of your customers would park on the street in front of the business if you unlocked the front doors. I tried coming to your business more than once on a Saturday noon with my husband to have a burger,(I like to support local businesses)but the front door was locked. The sign said you were open at that time. Then I later found out that you have to go in the back door. Tacky! I haven’t been back since.
It sounds like the Mayor, some members of the City Council, and the City Administrator have reneged on a deal they had with Reed Carlson. Shame on all of you. When watching the council meetings on local access TV, it is quite easy to see how foolish you all look when you see-saw back and forth on deals that you made. The DC Mom was correct in stating that the council conveniently forgets to inform the public, at the council meetings, that Reed Carlson paid to have the condemned building taken down. I’m sure if the city had paid to have this removed, the costs would have exceeded what the land was worth. Mayor and Council, you should make it clear that there was a great effort on the part of Reed Carlson to remove this building, and you should thank him for taking down this condemned building.