Family farmers urge council help after permitting delays for Sherber Morning Star property

During open forum multiple members of the Sherber family raised concerns about a prolonged and confusing permitting process for land they own in the Rogers/Corcoran area. Melissa (last name transcribed inconsistently in the record), who said she purchased a portion of the Sherber Morning Star Dairy farm in 02/23 and plans to build a single‑family home, described repeated changes in staff requests that she said amounted to moving “goalposts.” She said an originally requested north‑south easement was later changed to east‑west and that she received a bill for additional engineering time and asked for an accounting of charges.

Family members James Sherber and Quincy Schmidt spoke in support, saying the farm is a multi‑generation family operation and they want the property to remain in active farming while allowing a single house to be built away from wetlands. Neighbors including Dean Barenkamp described frustration and offered to help mediate with staff.

Council response: The mayor and staff said open forum is not a time for extended dialogue but agreed staff should follow up with the applicants. Assistant or department heads confirmed that department heads had reviewed job descriptions (a separate consent matter discussed in the meeting) and that staff would follow up offline with the Sherber family to provide a substantive answer rather than a verbal response at open forum.

Ending: No formal action was taken during open forum; council directed staff to follow up with the family after the meeting to clarify the permitting requirements, cost questions and next steps.