Dodge Nature Center Faces 30-Year-Old Mendota Heights Bill

A 30-year old assessment for a Dodge Nature Center property has the feel of a classic Shel Silverstein poem about the discovery of a library book decades past due —except it's not a poem—it's a whopping $32,911.50 bill. 

Dodge Nature Center's request for the city to waive 30 years' worth of interest accrued for the Lilly Cabin at 555 Huber Drive was denied Dec. 7 by the Mendota Heights City Council. The council recommended that staff and Dodge Nature Center work out a payment plan instead.

The five-acre property was formerly owned by Richard Lilly. In 1980, utility upgrades were installed but not connected to the 1930s-era log cabin. According to city records, Lilly disputed the assessment for his larger lot, which at the time did not have an access to Huber Drive, and the city reduced the assessment from $20,162 to $8,895. Lilly then deferred the assessment, putting off  payment until the property was further developed or connected to city utilities.

In the meantime, that $8,895 began to gather interest at a rate of nine percent.

Dodge Nature Center bought the property in 1984, and now runs programming from the log cabin and five acres of outdoor trails.  Donors and members can also rent the cabin for overnight stays.

In the late '80s, a driveway was constructed to Huber Drive, but no discussion of the assessment took place, according to Allan Klein, Dodge Nature Center's building and grounds committee chairman.

David Napier, building and grounds director, approached the city in September about hooking up the property to city water and establishing a new sewer and water connection, which is when the 30-year-old assessment came to light. City engineering staff initially calculated the interest based on today's standard rate of six percent, which put the bill at $16,011. Napier wrote a letter to the city explaining that the interest would prevent the project from moving forward.

Now, the city has discovered that the original rate set in 1980 was actually nine percent, snowballing the payment to $32,911.50.

"We won't be able to hook up at nine percent," Klein told the council, "We just can't."

Klein asked that if the council would not waive the interest entirely, that they waive the interest that has accrued since the driveway was installed.

"The interest is a real hurdle for us to overcome," said Klein.

While council member Sandra Krebsbach said she was sympathetic to the proposal, Mayor John Huber spoke against any forgiveness of the interest.

He said he could not recall a situation when the city had forgiven an interest payment, and said the precedent may encourage other people to claim they forgot to pay their assessments in hopes of getting out of a bill.

"I'm sorry that's their problem, not ours," said Huber.

The council directed city staff and the nature center to develop a payment plan and renegotiate the interest rate moving forward.

"This obligation is to the residents of the city," said council member Jack Vitelli. "We're speaking as a council, but the residents of this city are owed $32,000."