Posted: 1/23/07
Hours extended for
zoning office worker
A larger workload in the county zoning office prompted commissioners to keep employee Holly Feltenís full-time equivalency (FTE) at .7 for another six months on January 16.
Feltenís FTE was increased from .5 to .7 in August.
Environmental services director Rick Frank told the board said that Felten has been doing work such as overlaying feedlots on maps. The goal is to have that information in the latest draft of the new land use plan, and Felten is still finding feedlot things to input, Frank said. "This is kind of an on-going project," he said.
Zoning administrator Bob Scanlan agreed with that, and added that Felten has been working on reports for Section 319 of the federal Clean Water Act. "Reporting is just getting ridiculous," Scanlan said. "I donít have the time."
Commissioner Ann Thompson said the work was time-consuming, but added, [It] Depends on whether you have it in the budget."
Scanlan replied that money from a $10,000 Large Subsurface Wastewater Treatment Systems grant from the MPCA can be used to pay for Feltenís extra hours. This money is used to regulate and enforce the MPCA septic program in the county. The MPCA has a set of rules that govern septic systems for individual houses and we are burdened to enforce them at the local level.
Most of this work consists of reviewing new designs that come in and then following up with an inspection on all new systems. Scanlan told The Argus on January 17 that the county is also required to document all of its findings, issue permits, look into non-conforming systems, and report this information back to the MPCA.
Houston County is currently under four 319 grants, with another one slated to start in 2007. This is federal money with a big share of it mandated to go towards technical assistance to help feedlot operators design plans and bring their lots into compliance with runoff standards.
A lot of this work is done by SWCD staff with some of the footwork done by Scanlan, and all of the documentation and reporting done out of the zoning office.
The reason for applying for these grants is because feedlot operators are under the gun by MPCA to bring the open lot runoff under control by 2010, Scanlan said. Ninety percent of these operators have a design done but few have actually implemented the design to bring their lots up to date, he said.
ï Other personnel business: The board also approved making human services accountant Linda Bahr from probationary to regular employment. Graf said there had been lots of positive changes due to Bahrís work. He didnít specify what they were.
Caledonia Argus
314 West Lincoln St.
P.O. Box 227
Caledonia, MN 55921-0227
507/724-3475
E-Mail: editor.argus@ecm-inc.com