Council approves garage permit, rezones two Utah Lane lots and votes certified letter over backyard chicken coop

MINNESOTA CITY — At its July 9 meeting the Minnesota City Council approved a garage building permit with a runoff stipulation, rezoned two recently annexed lots on Utah Lane to commercial, and directed staff to issue a certified nuisance notice related to a backyard chicken coop complaint.

Councilmember Emily Conners moved to approve a building permit for a garage addition at 130 Minnesota Street with the condition that drip edges on the roof be directed toward the street and creek; Councilmember Angie Bohnstengel seconded. The motion passed with Mayor Kelvin Penrod and the councilmembers present voting in favor.

Later in the meeting Conners moved and Bohnstengel seconded approval of a zoning change requested by Kohner Realty to convert two newly annexed lots on Utah Lane from residential to commercial. The council voted unanimously to approve the change.

On a separate item, council members discussed a complaint about a backyard chicken coop cited in the minutes as at 116 Iowa Street; minutes state a prior letter asked the homeowner to move the coop at least 5 feet from the property line but recorded no response as of the July 9 meeting. Conners moved (seconded by Bohnstengel) to send a certified letter notifying the homeowners about Ordinance #47 (Public Nuisance Ordinance). The motion passed unanimously. The meeting record also contains an inconsistent reference to '116 Minnesota Street' in the same passage; the council record does not clarify which address is correct.

Council noted that a creek bank clean-up will occur later this year and recorded that the Minnesota City Little League will mow the grass inside the baseball field fences. The council discussed possible new signs at the city's entrances but recorded no decision or funding for signage.