BREEZY POINT — In its Monday, June 6, meeting, the Breezy Point City Council resumed discussions regarding short-term rentals.
The council used meeting time to review and assess revisions made to the draft ordinance the city has crafted. The ordinance as it is currently written would be more restrictive than what Crow Wing County has in place, and it would require all rental unit owners to obtain a license from the city.
It also restricts all short-term rentals to the commercial and resort/commercial districts.
“I understand that is not going to make everybody happy, but you can’t make everybody happy all the time,” Mayor Todd Roggenkamp said. “I don’t think we can meet everybody’s needs with this. Maybe we get something in place and we use it for several years, then we look at it and there is potential to come back and revisit it.”
The council voted unanimously to adopt the draft ordinance and will host a public hearing on the ordinance during its Tuesday, July 5, meeting. (The council will meet a day later than normal because of the July 4 holiday.) It then will likely vote on the ordinance in August.
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The council also tentatively agreed to hire an additional full-time police officer, effective Jan. 1, 2023. Police Chief Brian Sandell said the city operates with two fewer police officers than Crosby and one fewer than Aitkin, despite Breezy Point having a larger population than either of those two cities.
City administrator David Chanski said the additional officer would reduce the city’s overtime costs and alleviate some workload stress when paramedic officers are working their required shifts with North Ambulance. He said using part-time officers in this capacity is not ideal as the cost of their work time, training and equipment is significant, and those employees would likely leave for a full-time position elsewhere.
In other action Monday, the council,
- Approved a five-year contract proposal from Marco Technologies for the city hall copier, with a monthly cost of $241.45. The new contract marks a 30% decrease from the city’s previous contract.
- Authorized the sale of city property using a website called Municibid. The city had previously used eBay for the sale of city equipment, but Municibid is designed specifically for government entities.
- Authorized the use of American Rescue Plan Act funds to purchase a new police vehicle, issue a $1,000 essential employee payment to each eligible employee, purchase office equipment and partially fund the purchase of a dump truck.
In May, the Breezy Point Police Department responded to 281 incidents, an increase of 81 from May 2021. Among the incidents were eight traffic arrests, five crashes and one theft.
Dan Determan, sports writer/staff writer, may be reached at 218-855-5879 or dan.determan@pineandlakes.com. Follow him on Facebook and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/@PEJ_Dan.
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