(Arnolds Park)– A controversial development under construction on the southeast side of East Lake Okoboji is now a part of Arnolds Park.
Meeting in special session Thursday, the Arnolds Park city council voted four-to-one to approve the annexation of Bridges Bay. Mike Koppert cast the dissenting vote, siting environmental concerns, saying quote “we shouldn’t inherit this mess”…unquote. Representatives of several environmental groups on hand for the meeting sited similar concerns.
City Administrator Ron Walker says having the property on the city’s tax rolls will generate the revenue necessary to address some of the issues. He added the city plans to get a low impact development plan from the developers as part of a development agreement.
The vote to annex the land into Arnolds Park means Dickinson county is now out of the picture when it comes to the proposed development. It was made possible when the board of supervisors last year approved rezoning the 70 acres of land from agricultural to resort enterprise.
A developers agreement with the county stated the development would never be annexed into the city of Arnolds Park. That was later dropped by the county at the developer’s request when issues arose over extending water service and fire protection to the development.
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