ORR- The Orr City Council on Tuesday walked back the idea of filling the council seat vacated in May by Lloyd Scott by election, choosing instead to accept applications for the position.
At the September meeting, the council passed a resolution calling for a special election to fill the remaining one year on Scott’s term beginning in January.
But on Tuesday, City Clerk Angela Lindgren walked the council through multiple logistical issues that would make it extremely unlikely that such an election could be held before February at the earliest.
The clearest barrier to having a November election is something Lindgren discovered while reviewing requirements for a special election.
“There was some verbiage that 74 days prior to having the election I need to notify the county,” Lindgren said. “We’re past that timeframe. So, it really doesn’t seem feasible.”
Another challenge to having a special election is that as city clerk, Lindgren must attend training to be able to administer the election. Lindgren indicated it would not be possible for her to get trained in time for a November election.
Council member Bruce Black also raised the issue of cost.
“Can we figure out how much it’s going to cost us?” he asked. “If you do it you’re going to have to have ballots, you’re going to have to have voting judges, you’re going to have to have this room.”
After additional discussion, the council agreed to post and advertise the position to be filled by application. They established a deadline of the Wednesday before the next regularly scheduled council meeting on Nov. 13 to receive applications. The council will hold a special session that day to review the applications and select someone to fill the remaining year of the council seat.
Those interested in the council position should contact Lindgren at city hall for information on how to apply.
Blight situation
An old unresolved issue continues to haunt the former neighbors of Jeremy Morris, now serving a ten-year sentence in federal prison on a drug-related conviction. That issue is the condition of his property at 4720 Pine Dr., which was cited as a blighted property in 2020 and has been an ongoing issue ever since.
While some cleanup occurred last year, the blighted condition has not been resolved to the satisfaction of at least one neighborhood property owner who recently sent an email to the city complaining about it. While the sender’s name was not disclosed, the text of their letter was included in the council’s packet.
The writer contended that the property had been taken away from Morris several months ago by his father, who had according to the writer made the claim via payment of money owed the city. The writer said Morris’s father promised to renovate the property to make it suitable to rent. Little progress has been made on that promise, the writer claimed.
“For the life of me I can’t believe any decent person would live in that hovel,” said the letter. “I am way past being patient with the problem and so is everyone else on this street. If we don’t force Mr. Morris to bring the property up to standard then I and everyone else will be looking at this garbage pile all winter.”
The writer asked for a formal response from the council including a time frame in which the issue would be resolved.
“We do have a blight ordinance and it needs to be enforced so that law-abiding folks are not forced to keep their properties looking good and clean having this continued dump across the street.”
Black asked if the owner paid all the back taxes. Lindgren did not know the answer to that.
“Can you send a letter to him?” Black asked.
“We can send a letter to him,” Lindgren replied. “I’m also wonderding since there has already been active blight attempts on this property and the city attorney has been involved, it might be recommended to go forward with the city attorney.”
Lindgren asked if the council wanted her to look into the back taxes owed on the property before moving ahead, as she said she was unsure when the property switched to Morris’s father.
The council agreed to have Lindgren check the ownership status of the property, and if the owner is Tommy Morris, Jeremy’s father, then she will send a blight notice if the property taxes are paid. If the taxes are unpaid, then she will refer the matter to the city attorney.
The Timberjay checked property records available through the St. Louis County Land Explorer on Wednesday and discovered that Jeremy Dale Morris and Eliana Villele are listed as owners of the property while Tommy D. Morris is listed as the taxpayer. 2023 first half taxes of $808 were listed as paid, with $808 due for second half taxes.
In other business the council:
• Approved the 2024 Fire Protection Services Contract in the amount of $12,821 with the county for coverage of Unorganized Townships 63-19 and 66-20.
• Reviewed and updated the city’s Data Practices Policy.
• Accepted a donation of $500 from Stuart and Mary McKie for the Orr Ambulance Service.
• Approved a request from Ambulance Director Donna Hoffer to obtain bids for snow removal service for the Orr Ambulance garage.
• Approved removal of the ice machine from the kitchen at the Orr Muni.
• Removed from the agenda an item related to recommended pay raises for muni manager Laura Manai and bartender Marie Cloyd. The raises were discussed and tabled at the September meeting until better information was available on how the budget would be impacted by the raises.
• Heard that because a new visitor center for Voyageurs National Park is being built in Crane Lake, Crane Lake is pulling out its support of the Tourist Information Center in Orr. This will be a financial loss of $3,000.