Dear Editor,
John Haack is right, there are not “50 automobiles that never existed” on his property at 110 Birch Ave. in our downtown Maple Lake business district. There ARE at a minimum 20 vehicles that do exist and do violate the city ordinance B-1 section 28 of Prohibited Vehicle Use. The same ordinance covers Outside Storage/Display. John’s property is in violation of many portions of the ordinance. Please don’t take our word for it…see the photo posted multiple times on the facebook Maple Lake Community site or google Wright County and view a satellite photo of any Maple Lake business address.
As business owners in Maple Lake, we applaud the City Council’s efforts to hold John Haack accountable to these ordinances. Additionally we understand that their compassion towards John has contributed to the length of this battle. We are small businesses trying to succeed in a challenging environment where first impressions are invaluable. Many of us have been asked repeatedly by out of town customers about the “Museum” and “Flea Market” after they followed John’s many signs posted on Highway 55 to the property at 110 Birch. There is no good answer to their questions. According to public record, there has never been a certificate of occupancy for the building that John calls a museum. Due to health and safety concerns, John is the only person allowed to enter that building other than city inspectors. Flea Markets are not a permitted use of a business property according to city ordinance B-1…but anyone who followed the signs to his flea market has been disappointed to find that on most weekends it consists of zero or one vendor.
The “secret meetings” that John refers to in his letter to the editor are actually City Council Closed Sessions. The city is required to call a closed session when lawyer/client privilege is invoked to discuss the legal considerations of a case. According to public record, the city offered John the opportunity to waive the 90 day storage provision of the judgement at the end of 2023. This would have given him an additional 90 days to comply with the ordinance and relocate, sell, dispose of the items outside of his property in whatever manner he wished. And it would have saved the city approximately $100,000 in removal/storage fees. He refused this offer. Instead he chose to use that time to accumulate more items and to file numerous extensions and appeals with the courts – many of which were thrown out due to merit or inability to comply with requirements of the court – yet were still very costly to the City of Maple Lake in legal fees. Approximately two months ago John was again offered the opportunity to waive the 90 days of storage to save the city approximately $100,000 in costs and to prevent the assessment of those fees against his property. Again he declined. All of this from a City Councilor who claims to want to save the peoples hard-earned tax dollars.
As small businesses of Maple Lake, we need to attract and retain new customers to keep our doors open. As a community, we need to attract new small businesses for our town to grow and thrive. We are not “haters” – we want successful small businesses that are accountable to one another and to the city.
Patricia Murray – oTc Vintage
Katie King – Kings 46 Wine Bar & ML Makers and Growers
Russ Orson – Lightbulbs & More, Inc
Jason Stensland – A Plus Performance
Lorie Hegle – Hegle Door Sales
Connie Munstenteiger – Shear Attitudes Salon
Denise Blizil – ML Makers and Growers
Jennifer and Ryan Smail – Cuddigan Leather
Daryl, Kathy and Brad Hennen – Maple Lake Lumber Co.
Tricia Manuel – The Costume Shoppe
Marilyn Groth – (Semi) Retired Owner of Book Break
Tracy Jansen – IAM
Dear Editor,
My name is Lawrence Manuel, and I am a lifelong resident of Maple Lake. My family and I have been taking care of Bolduan Park for over three decades, (mowing grass, maintain the ball field playing surfaces, building a concession stand, working tournaments, etc.), and I would like to share some things happening at Bolduan Park in the recent months.
Let’s begin with an encounter I had with a Maple Lake council woman and her significant other. I was wrapping up prepping the fields for little league games and I noticed a pickup truck pull up and park alongside the storage building. I saw the council woman, her significant other and their dog as they got out of the truck and began to walk down the side of field one and then into left field with the dog following behind them (in violation of the City’s leash ordinance, as the dog was clearly not in control of either owner because the dog was following behind them).
Since I had noticed the three of them out on the fields on other occasions, I felt I would take the opportunity to address an issue. I walked towards the group (and the dog was the first to greet me) and asked the council woman to come over to me. “I asked if she could Please keep her dog off the playing fields.” The council woman’s immediate response was, “I Pay Taxes in this town, this is a city park, and I can do what I want!” She then held up a bag and said,” I pick up the droppings too!” Trying to get my point across, I said, “Let’s say your dog pooped right here and you picked up the droppings. Would you lay on the ground and slide your arm in the area where you just picked up the droppings?” The council woman said “No, would you?” I responded, “No and I wouldn’t expect a kid or an adult playing ball to either.” To which she repeated. “I pay taxes in this town, this is a city park, and I can do what I want!” I then pointed with two fingers toward the side of the playing field and said about four times in a row, “keep your dog over there.”
At this time, her significant other called me a “(expletive).” Taken back a bit, I asked her. “What did he say?” The council woman said. “He called you a “(expletive).”
Not needing or wanting a confrontation, I turned and walked away thinking to myself, is this how an elected city official talks to a tax paying citizen and volunteer.
On top of this encounter, I was watching the city council meeting and listening to the Park Board meeting summary. It seems like the Park Board would like to have the bathrooms at Bolduan Park open all the time. This caused me to think, if the City has bathrooms open in the Community Park, which are visible from multiple angles and those are being vandalized, how does it make any sense to have bathrooms open in a secluded Park? The Park Board must have some excess funds they need to spend. These bathrooms haven’t been vandalized since they were built.
A point was made that the bathrooms are in a public building, why can’t they be open? My thought is, City Hall, the Fire Station and Jude Hall are all public buildings, so following the logic presented at the Park Board meeting, these bathrooms should be open to the public at all times also. Since Laker Stadium is a public park, we should open the gate so the bathrooms can be open all the time, and we can let dogs run and do their business on the playing field. Our elected officials need to use some common sense, just because it is a publicly maintained building, does not mean access be granted 24/7. Members of the City Council also have a DUTY to protect the City’s assets.
Finally, there was discussion about a certain gentleman (me) who is allowed to schedule the use of Bolduan Park, and someone asked why he is allowed to do the scheduling? It comes down to how the baseball/softball fields came into existence (Bolduan Park history to follow in a coming article). Over 35 years ago, before Bolduan Park was a city park, it was owned by the Maple Lake Jaycees, and “this person” (me) was involved in preparation of the land for use as playing fields. In my time volunteering at Bolduan Park, I have run three nights of softball leagues and hosted softball tournaments to raise funds to build a concession stand, build dugouts, add bathrooms, erect lights, etc. for the park. The little league and others were inquiring about using the fields/park and I started doing the scheduling. Once the City purchased the park, they asked if I would keep doing the scheduling. If anyone called inquiring about using the park they would give them my phone number. As far as I can recall, I have never turned anyone down if the schedule was open. One less thing taxpayers had to pay City staff to monitor. (back then, to use the park you had to pay a $150 deposit in which $100 would be returned if the park was clean and nothing was damaged.)
After 35+ years of service, and by the way, I am not too fond of my new name, (expletive).
Now channeling my inner Jack Nicholson. I would rather my elected officials, and their significant others just say Thank You. Otherwise, I suggest you come help run, maintain and answer the alarm calls in the early hours of the morning. Either way, I do not care what you as a taxpayer think you are entitled to do in a public park.
I do my best as a citizen to follow rules and treat other citizens with kindness and respect. The treatment by this elected official and her significant other, is a clear example of the problem with our world today.
Most respectfully,
Lawrence Manuel, President: Maple Lake Softball Association