INFORMATION #2 03-01-1993 - Laserfiche WebLink

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INFORMATION eounty board, Elk River considering joint venture on area watershed district By Frand Kmiecik StaIT Writer The Sherburne County Board of Commissioners will explore the possi- bility of forming a joint powers board with Benton County to conlrOl the Elk River watershed. Bill Kiffmeyer, a representative of the Sherburne County Soil and Water Conservation District, met with the board Tuesday to discuss the possible formation of a joint powers agreement. The mission of a joint powers boar,; would t'c to protect :lOd enhance th; waters and wetlands of the Elk River watershed. Goals of the board include finding ways to protect and improve the quality of surface water, ground water and wet- lands, to prevent flooding and erosion, to protect and enhance fish and wildlife habitat and water recreational facilities and to reduce public capital necessary to control excessive run-off. The commissioners are faced with three options when dealing with the riv. -'rperson Leslie Schumacher said ~ first option is the formation of a lake improvement district. Several commissioners expressed concern that this was not what their constituents wanted for the area. A second option is the formation of a watershed district. Schumacher said that she believes a number of people are ready with the funds and signatures reo quired to form a watershed district. This district would have taxing authori- ty and take decision making powers away from the county board. . "I don't think that is necessarily in the best interests of the people," said Schumacher. The final option is to unite with Ben- ton County in a joint powers agreement The combined board would be overseen by the two county boards who would retain decision making responsibilities. "We're not talking about any new governing bodies. It's just a question of combining their water plan with our water plan," said Kiffmeyer. "It's two counties working together to do what they can for the river." Kiffmeyer also said that forming an agreement with Benton County could increase the chances of receiving state or federal grant money. Benton County has not officially an- . nounced their participation in a joint powers agreement yet. They are at the same point in the process as Sherburne County and will be discussing the plan at their meetings. However, while there has been no formal indication of sup- pon, individual commissioners have ex- pressed interest in the project. Commissioner Ray Friedl reminded board members that joint powers agree- ments have worked in the past, citing the two counties' joint powers agree- ment with their health boards. Friedl said that he was pleased with the progress made through that a~!reement and expressed his interest in exploring the same possibility for the watershed. The commissioners also held a ditch authority meeting in conjunction with their regular meeting this week. A petition regarding Ditch 15 was presented by Linda Kozak: of Elk River. In the petition, residents affected by the ditch asked that it not be cleaned out by the county. The petition states that Ditch 15 has returned to its natural state creating a wetland which supports vegetation and wildlife native to such an environment. It also states that a hydrologist from the Army Corps of Engineers has inspected the site and said that, even with mainte- nance and repair, the ditch will revert back to its present state. Petitioners are also concerned with the cost effectiveness of cleaning out the ditch, since they feel that no one has shown what will be gained by the re- pair. Kozak said that requests to clean out the ditch have been brought before the board by only one man and his family over the past 20 years. She said the pe- tition has been signed by all of the oth- ers who are affected by Ditch 15 (ex- cept for one land owner who lives out of state) and they want their opposition to be heard. Kozak cited a number of letters and articles stating the need for wetlands in the state and the fact that the govern- ment is now searching for ways to recreate wetlands. "It's hard to understand why you want to spend time, money and energy to destroy what maybe three to five years down the road you may want to create again: said Kozak. "We're ask- ing you to leave us alone." The bOard moved to accept the peti- tion. Ditch 15 will be discussed further at future meetings. The next ditch au- thority meeting is scheduled for March 17. Korsunsky, Krank and Erickson Ar- chitects (KKE) also made a presenta- tion to the board this week. KKE is the architectural firm hired by the board to aid them in their possible expansion of the government center. The board has decided to sell the ad- ministration building in downtown Elk River and move the offices to the gov- ernment center on Hwy. 10. An update of the master plan was shown to the board and explained how the architectural fmn would accomo- date for the six additional departments from the downtown location moving into the government center. Their plan involves the use of existing un[mished space in the government center and some expansion. In addition to finding room for the six departments, KKE has also created, within the master plan, projected space requirements through the year 2012. In order to facilitate the move and to plan ahead for future expansions, Ron Erickson from KKE suggested several actions that the county should take. They ii1clude initiating a detailed study of the jail, the purchase of land adjacent to the government center arn:i the ap. proval of the long range plan. No action was taken by the board.- Their next meeting with KKE is sched- uled for March 9. County Auditor Dale Palmer brought his concerns to the board. He feels that the suggested asking price of $300,000 for the downtown building is too low. Palmer said that other buildings in the area that are older and smaller than the administration building are being listed at much higher prices. "My personal feeling is that we will be doing the residents of Sherburne County a great disservice by allowing it to be sold at that price," he said. Several other matters were consid- ered by the board this week, including the installation of "panic buttons" in the commissioners' meeting room. A system of panic buttons is already in place at the government center. Each court room has a button which, if acti- vated., alerts the sheriffs department of a problem within the building and gives an exact location. Because the commissioners' meeting room is used for several functions; in- cluding some child support hearings, a requ~st was made to install two panic buttons in the room. County Coordinator David Loch ver- ified that there have been problems in the past with people becoming violent and causing concern in the board room during court proceedings. The board approved the request Don Strei, director of social services, also requested that a panic button be in- stalled at the rc~.cption desk in ihe so- cial service department, saying that people have also caused problems in that department and have even made threats to employees. Loch asked the board to also consid- er an additional button to be installed at the switchboard. The board will consider the addition- al requests after receiving a supplemen- tary bid. The social service department also requested that the board approve the hiring of an additional social worker. This would be a new position within the department The person hired will act as a liaison with the county's school districts and would case manage school-age emo- tionally and mentally unstable children. Strei said that the schools have been requesting such a liaison so that they have one specific contact at the county leveL This person would also help to coor- dinate a crisis nursery with Wright County. Funding for the additional staff member is in the department's plan for the year and included in the budget. The board approved the request. The dates for County Government Week have. been changed. It is now scheduled for the week of April19. It was originally scheduled for the previ- ous week, but it coincided with Easter week and' was changed nationwide. Schumacher reported that plans for activities during the week are proceed- ing. Area schools will be participating in the program and Schumacher said that she has been recieving positive feedback from the schools. \ West S'l,u b.....\"'e. Trlbune...Feb. 2O,1993...page 1.