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Regular City Council Meeting Monday, January 12, 2009 Page 10 plication, the City told them that they had other interests at the time. Mr. Albrecht noted that in the meantime, Paul Carlson did upgrades to his adjacent commercial property, but the rest of the commercial properties remained unchanged, with some now vacant. Mr. Albrecht advised that numerous real estate agents had originally expressed interest in the property until their clients realize the impracti- calities of the properties for use. Mr. Albrecht advised that his property taxes had increased 71 % last year; and advised that until the City provided direction as to where to go with these commercial properties, he had no other options. Mr. Albrecht advised that his was a landscaping business, and recognized that the property was in default. Mr. Albrecht continued to review those violations that had been resolved since this notice; noting that he had recycled 13 vehicles; that three others were gone; and that the fuel truck was being transferred to another site. Mr. Albrecht advised that he was concerned about living in Roseville and that he attempted to keep the property well-maintained by mowing the font lawn, owned by the railroad, and by grubbing out trees when necessary. Mr. Albrecht further advised that he had brought in recycling equipment, and they were 2/3 done with removing the soil piles at this time. Mr. Albrecht assured Council- members that we don't want to be bad neighbors; the situation is against us, but we don't want to be bad neighbors. Mayor Klausing clarified that the requested action from staff was related to a his- tory of unresolved code violations, not Mr. Albrecht's efforts to redevelop the property or his tax liability, while those were duly recognized by Councilmembers as stated by Mr. Albrecht. Mayor Klausing, while sympathetic to Mr. Albrecht's business constraints, advised Mr. Albrecht that staff was not in the business of do- ing private redevelopment, but was available to direct Mr. Albrecht to others who may be of assistance. Mayor Klausing advised that, when campaigning door-to- door in 2003, he was hearing complaints from adjacent residential property own- ers regarding code violations, noting that they were still ongoing after six years; and that Mr. Albrecht had yet to address his failure to comply with City Code. Mr. Albrecht alleged that the pictures displayed by staff of the southwest corner of the property were misleading, and that much of what was there was actually 15' from the property line, by his installation of hand-buried railroad ties to de- lineate the barrier; and that the reason for storage where it was located was his in- ability to function successfully as a nursery business, nor to use the rear 100 feet of the property. Mr. Albrecht advised that he was open to options for use of the property; and noted that his lot and storage was more visible due to the recent trimming of trees by NSP Power. Mr. Albrecht admitted that things had gotten out of control, due to his health problems over a three year period, and offered to remove additional items and clean up as much as possible. Mr. Albrecht questioned if the barbed wire fence that was there when he purchased the lot, was to also be removed; and advised