Posted: 12/14/04
Crooked Creek Watershed district may hire advisor
By David Heiller
Argus News Editor
Houston County Commissioners heard about plans from members of the Crooked Creek Watershed to hire an advisor.
Richard Stemper, who had been a member of the watershed board until November 30, has agreed to take the job.
It would be done as needed, and fits in with his full-time job as a district technician for the Root River Soil and Water Conservation District. His position is funded by state and county. Money from the watershed would take pressure off those sources, he told the board.
Stemper has been doing a lot of watershed work as a board member and that expertise is still needed now that he is no longer on the board, fellow board member Maynard Welscher told commissioners.
ìThereís a lot of stuff almost on a day to day basis that I receive over there,î Welscher said. Money for the position would come from the watershed district and not the county. Watershed funds come from levies on property within the district.
Commissioners spoke favorably of the idea, and asked the men to come up with a specific plan.
They also approved the appointment of Robert Mireau to replace Stemper, who has moved out of the district and is therefore not eligible for reappointment.
Stemper said that the watershed has done surveying on the South Fork Lake project, which was built in 1969 at a cost of about $340,000. The watershed needs to clear up a land dispute with a private landowner, Terry Bartels, in order to be able to do maintenance work on the dam, Stemper said.
The dam, known as R-3 in the watershed plan, is the largest of the four floodwater dam in the watershed. It is 46 feet high, and contains 230,000 cubic yards of earth. The permanent lake behind the dam is 30 acres in size, and covers 90 acres during flood periods. It is located in section 27 of Mayville Township.
The watershed paid for damages on the disputed land on the western shoreline of the lake, but it apparently wasnít recorded so there is no deed, Stemper said.
The watershed district does not have a legal dispute with Bartels, Stemper added, but board members have contacted an attorney.
(Editorís note: Bartels filed a lawsuit against Mayville Township in October 2002. He is claiming that the township abandoned the final leg of Link Hill Road from the parking area 385 feet to the shore of south Fork Lake. The township is denying that the road has been abandoned, and that the suit should be barred by the statute of limitations. A settlement conference on the case has been set for March 22, 2005 in Third District Court in Caledonia. If it is not settled, it will go to a jury trial.)
Drop site fee increase coming
In other county board business, the board also approved a recommendation by environmental services director Rick Frank to raise the monthly fee for maintaining the drop site program from $2 to $2.50. It was last raised two years ago.
Cities collect the money on utility bills, and townships assess it through property tax levies. It is paid to the county quarterly.
The increase is due to higher costs in disposing of material, more material coming in, and higher fuel costs, Frank said.
ï The board passed a motion recommended by personnel director Tim Comstock to move deputies Brian Swedberg and Tracie Erickson from promotional probationary status to regular status.
Comstock also asked for permission to search for a replacement for Carolyn Harms, a full-time public health nurse who is retiring in three months. The board approved his request.
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