Posted: 3/7/06
County to update land use
By David Heiller
Argus News Editor
Houston County commissioners hired a Green Bay, Wisconsin firm on February 28 to update its land use plan and zoning ordinance.
The contract with Foth & Van Dyke and Associates will cover issues such as municipal growth areas, economic development zones, river corridors, prime agricultural areas, blufflands, state forest areas, and county water plan elements.
The $51,200 project will take take up two years to complete. There will be meetings with agencies such as the county planning commission, Root River Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) and Natural Resources Conservation Service. Open houses with the public will take place too.
The company will also formulate a new county water plan with the SWCD.
Commissioner Kevin Kelleher said he would like to see a definition of farm buildings in place immediately.
William Burke, a senior planner with the company, responded that Foth & Van Dyke will use a double-tracking process so that commissioners will not have to wait 24 months to learn of the countyís priorities.The project will be managed from Fothís La Crosse, Wisconsin office. Warren Shuros will coordinate the project, with technical assistance from Nic Sparacio.
Insurance report
In other business, the board heard a 30-minute report from Bob Goede and Kevin Balfanz representing Minnesota Counties Insurance Trust (MCIT), St. Paul. The company handles the countyís property/casualty and liability insurance.
Houston County paid $211,687 to MCIT last year and received a dividend of $78,737. This yearís contribution is $229,639. The 2006 dividend isnít known yet.
The majority of property/casual claims in the county is from automobile accidents at 57 percent.
The county is 19 percent below the state average in workers compensation claims compared to other MCIT members. Goede said that means the county takes workersí safety seriously.
He added that MCIT has hired new adjusters to try to settle old workers compensation claims.
Three people from BOR-SON Construction in Minneapolis asked the board to considering using them as general contractors for the proposed criminal justice center.
Greg Franzen said that BOR-SON was doing $170 million of construction this year. Some jail-related projects that they have done include the Goodhue County law enforcement center and the Prairie Justice Center in Worthington, Minnesota.
Ed Stec, a senior project manager, said that BOR-SON would do cost analysis for the options that Houston County is considering. He said he would be willing to meet with community groups, and would be willing to attend the community meeting set for March 16 at no cost.
Tom Hendel, an on-site construction manager, said the county needs to hire a company that it can trust.
Is it too early to start now, commissioner Larry Graf asked.
Not at all, Hendel answered.
Stec said that BOR-SON would work for a fixed fee at first, then would establish a rate schedule for the project.
Commissioner Dave Corcoran said it would be good to get a construction team in early to make sure that architectural plans are practical.
Feedlot runoff help
Commissioners approved a letter of support for a Clean Water Act project. Zoning officer Bob Scanlan said that the Southeast Minnesota Water Resources Board has been approved for a $300,000 grant for nine southeastern Minnesota counties to control feedlot runoff.
The letter of support from Houston County states that the county would provide in-kind technical assistance to producers. Farmers would be given cost-share assistance up to $2,000 to correct and treat polluted run-off, which the farmer would have to match.
Houston County is in a good position to receive a lot of the money, Scanlan feels, because it has more than 400 open lot agreements, the most of any county in Minnesota.
Scanlan gave The Argus the following additional information about open lot agreements:
An open lot agreement is a document that was signed by a producer that basically says that the feedlot has a potential to pollute water and that the farmer has agreed to fix the runoff problem completely by the year 2010. Last year was a preliminary deadline for producers in that they were to begin work on reducing runoff from their lots. Diverting roof water from an open lot by installing gutters on buildings is an example of this.
A few producers have done this type of work, but there is still a lot of work to be done. The next deadline is October 2010.
Houston County was real progressive back in 2001to 2003 to educate and work with producers on their open lot run off problems and get them signed on to the open lot agreement. Most of these producers also have plans on paper to correct these runoff problems. Now itís a matter of getting these plans on the ground.
Other business
ï Personnel: The board approved adding Teresa Rollins and Brenda Rosendahl as roster nurses to be used as needed for home care.
ï Assessment change: County assessor Tom Dybing told commissioners he would like to drop the assessment charges to townships and cities and assume the charges in the county budget.
It makes sense because the county levies from the same taxpayers, Dybing said. ìThe payment comes from the taxpayer,î he said. The new system would save billing costs, and it doesnít matter if townships, cities, or counties collect it, Dybing said. The board approved Dybingís request. He will now send letters to city and township officials to get their input.
ï Flourescent bulb contract: The board approved a contract with Onyx Environmental Services of Port Washington, Wisconsin to handle the bulb collection. The tentative date is April 8.
Caledonia Argus
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