4. OPEN FORUM 08-18-2014 41 ,ndb U-7� + 1.
Good evening city council members and Mayor Dietz, 1 am here tonight as a representative of
the Pascal Street neighborhood.
Over the past 16 months our once quiet, middleclass, CRIME FREE neighborhood has been
poisoned by criminal activity perpetrated by the residents of 19055 Pascal St. On the morning
of May 13, 2013, while we were having breakfast, driving our children to school or heading off
to work, we witnessed the SWAT team; ERPD, St. Cloud Violent Offenders Task Force, Child
Protection and Sherburne County Drug Task Force execute a drug raid; serve outstanding felony
arrest warrants, remove several firearms as well as several children from this residence. As a
result of this action we discovered who was really living next door on our nice quiet street in Elk
River, a level two sex offender, an arsonist, a burglar and drug dealers. We like most up
standing citizens thought "Great" the police did their job and now they will go to prison. Oh
how naive we were, they were out of Sherburne County jail and back in our neighborhood with
in DAYS! In the months that followed we the honest hard working residence of Elk River were
sentenced to months of drug deals on our street, drug paraphi!ia in our yards, acts of animal
cruelty, child endangerment, gun shots, domestic violence, assaults, harassment, intimidation,
threats, and an increase in suspicious traffic, not to mention a tremendous decrease in our
property values.
Never being faced with this in the past 25 years of being a resident of Elk River we discussed
our concerns with the Chief of Police, the Mayor, the City Attorney, our Ward Representative
Stewart Wilson and the City Building Code enforcement department. On the recommendation
of the Chief of Police we organized a neighborhood watch group and stepped up our awareness
of suspicious activities. We worked tirelessly for months with the ERPD,we have made
countless 911 calls, we even assisted in the apprehension and arrest of Andrew Newell on an
outstanding felony drug warrant, we have gone above and beyond to reclaim our
neighborhood. We have been told that there have been an estimated 300 calls regarding
suspicious or illegal activity associated with the property at 19055 Pascal St. and that we are the
most patrolled neighborhood in Elk River.
Recently it appears that the house has become abandoned, we occasionally see beat up cars
drive up and drive off with unsavory looking people in them. P&Jj) jh �hat
v!!e� ===Oe re J gkg iipalb wity. To enlighten you
as to the conditions of the house at one point ELEVEN dogs, three goats, two cats and eight
people lived in this house single family home. At the time the property was abandoned they left
the property unsecured, ankle deep in garbage, holes in the walls, garage doors broken,
smashed abandoned vehicle in the front yard, old mattresses stacked on the side of the house
along with, broken TV's, couches, broken glass shower door, four large garbage cans over
flowing with garbage as well as other items that are strewn throughout the front and backyard
that have yet to be mowed this entire year. One of the most disturbing things they did when
they left was they left behind innocent pets to fend for themselves and if not for caring
individuals in the neighborhood would have surly meet their fate of death of being hit by a car
or from lack of food and water. The animals were returned to the property several times and
for at least a week they had no choice but to use the inside of the house as a bathroom. Most
recently we have learned that the property has no electricity, no running water or working
septic system. The people squatting there have asked neighbors for buckets of water to flush
the toilet.
When we elected you to office, we believed that this type of behavior would not be tolerated
by you. We believed you wanted Elk River to be a city for families and not a sanctuary for
criminals. A place where your children could play in their yards without fear of a them finding
crack pipes, watching drug deals, hearing vulgar language or gun shots, being attacked by a pit
bull, or having a sex offender stalk them as they played.
Why are the property owners Tom and Kathy Meyer and or the contract for deed holders Pacer
and Savannah Larson not being held accountable? Is it not the city's responsibility to take
action according to the ordinance that they have adopted?Why are you allowing people to be
squatters at a known drug house where there is no electricity, no running water, and no
working septic? Is this not an environmental hazard? We are requesting immediate action to
clean up this hazard and to understand what the City's path forward is?
Stop spending so much time and resources removing garage sale signs and start dealing with
REAL issues like this.
(06-10, 10-2-2006)
(Minn. Stats. Ch. 1688)
House Research Department Updated; July 2008
Minnesota's Public and Private Nuisance Laws Page 3
Unlawful activity involving controlled substances (drugs)
Unlawful use of a dangerous weapon-2