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CITY OF HUGO <br />RESOLUTION 2008-50 <br />A RESOLUTION REQUESTING THAT THE STATE LEGISLATURE RECONSIDER <br />OR DELAY CHANGES IN THE MINNESOTA "GREEN ACRES" LAW <br />WHEREAS, the Minnesota State Legislature, as part of the 2008 tax bill, made <br />significant changes to the "Green Acres" law; and <br />WHEREAS, the City of Hugo's current and proposed new comprehensive plans both put <br />a high emphasis on agricultural land preservation and open space preservation; and <br />WHEREAS, a significant percentage of the agricultural land and open space in the City <br />of Hugo is currently enrolled in the Green Acres and Agricultural Land Preservation Programs; <br />and <br />WHEREAS, the proposed law requires all land owners to reapply to stay in the program, <br />and it changes the payback rate and years of payback; and <br />WHEREAS, The City of Hugo would benefit from the required paybacks if the law is <br />implemented as scheduled; and <br />WHEREAS, Washington County held an informational meeting October 1, 2008 for <br />affected land owners, a large number of which were from the City of Hugo; and <br />WHEREAS, many questions at the October 1st meeting were unanswered, but time is <br />short and land owners need to make decisions with some of their questions unanswered; <br />NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City of Hugo requests the <br />Minnesota State Legislature delay implementation of this law until January 1, 2010; and; <br />BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the City of Hugo respectfully asks the Minnesota <br />State Legislature, with the leadership of State Representative Bob Dettmer, State Representative <br />Matt Dean, and State Senator Ray Vandeveer, to rewrite the law to deal with whatever egregious <br />situations it was trying to correct, and to allow reasonable applications of the law which would <br />allow for the preservation of agricultural lands and open space in communities such as Hugo. <br />Adopted and passed this 17m day of November, 2008 by order of the Hugo City Council. <br />ATTEST: <br />Michele Lindau, City Clerk <br />