City of Isanti purchases property for Highway 65 sign

Isanti City Council will purchase property to potentially install a sign along Highway 65 as part of its meetings held Tuesday, April 2.

During its Economic Development Authority meeting, which followed the regularly scheduled council meeting that day, the seven-member board discussed the purchase of a parcel at the intersection of Highway 65 and Heritage Boulevard.

The EDA originally discussed the purchase at its Feb. 6 meeting, and set a price of $9,000 for the property. Since that time, the seller approved the purchase price; the money for the sale will come from an unexpected carryover among from the 2023 EDA budget.

EDA Commissioner Dan Hinnenkamp asked how much carryover there was from 2023, and Community Economic Development Director Stephanie Hillesheim placed the amount at more than $50,000.

She also confirmed that MnDOT has approved construction of a community sign on that site, assuming that proper permitting is received.

Mayor Jimmy Gordon noted that there is another location where the city was hoping to place a sign, and that site would be closer to the city’s liquor store.

“From our understanding, a sign would not be allowed to go at that location,” Hillesheim said. “But we’re still looking into it.”

City Administrator Josi Wood added, “We’re working with the county – currently the county owns the easement for that section we’re talking about. We’re working with them on that, but there is a caveat: There is language about that easement that it can be used for street right-of-way purposes and such.

“We’re digging into that further. But right now, we’re trying to get the property from the county.”

The motion was approved 6-1, with Gordon the lone no vote.

“I wanted to wait to be sure we know the plan for the other site before we moved on this,” he said in explanation of his opposition. “We may not want to advertise there, so we may not use the site we have purchased.

“But this is not the worst money the city has spent.”

Council member Luke Merrill said he and the other committee members approved it to place the sign in a high visibility spot.

“What else would someone use [that property] for?” he asked. “It’s a good spot for a sign; I think it’s so much better a location for that sign.”

Merrill asked if there was any planning on the sign to be placed on the site; Hillesheim said the focus was on securing the site before working on the sign.