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Thank you Commissioner Miller
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To the Editor:
Hurray hurray and big thanks and admiration to the ONE county commissioner who dared to bring up an issue to save us taxpayers some much needed hard earned cash!!
I heartily agree that yes perhaps the highway project should wait. It isn’t like anyone lives in that “water filled basement”. So I say.... think about it again all commissioners and table it for now since we will be strapped with some high taxes with the new criminal justice center.
I admire Commissioner Miller for bringing up an issue on his own and stating his opinion. All the commissioners need to be more “independent liberty poles” and thinkers as a wise old nun once told me in Crucifixion School. Guess I took her advice to heart huh??
I have been attempting to contact and let the commissioners know of a horrendous tax dollar waste in Houston County. To my dismay it has fallen on deaf or too busy ears. However, I will attempt to contact Commissioner Miller to let him know about this tax dollar issue and see if he can get them all together to discuss this. I do want to thank my commissioner, Tom Bjerke for following through in the past on issues. I know you “new” commissioners are also over taxed (as one could say) by being on perhaps “22 committees” but hey.... you wanted the job and I really don’t see that as any excuse in not following through with what you say and do. Even if it be a phone call.
Kudos to The Argus as well for printing this article and not hiding it in the minutes. We all know how much they are read!
Danielle R. Burg
Caledonia, Minn.
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Thank you Commissioner Miller
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To the Editor:
I would like to thank Commissioner Jack Miller for bringing before the county board a motion to put the new proposed Highway Building on hold if the stimulus money doesn’t come through. I was disappointed another commissioner would not second it. Asking the tax payers to fund a Criminal Justice Center and new Highway Building in economic times like the one we are in is asking too much. I feel we are in times where we have to choose between wanting and needing.
Our Gov. Tim Pawlenty is using onetime monies to balance the states budget. With that in mind, in 2011 the state will have more of a problem with its budget. Counties will continually receive less state aid. That means the only way for the counties to keep running is to raise real estate taxes. The state legislators can put on levy limits to help the burden but this project is exempt from that cap.
Personally my wages have been frozen for the next two years. I am still very fortunate to have a job.
I would encourage taxpayers to let their commissioner know times are tough. Is this something we need or just want?
Loren Lapham
Caledonia, Minn.
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Please help with letter carriers’ food drive this Saturday, May 9
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To the Editor:
With so many people out of work or with hours cut, and the legislature in St. Paul bringing taxes instead of relief, it is time to do what we “can.” It is time to restock the local emergency food pantry. Higher taxes aren’t going to help the person who’s struggling right now, but the ability to feed their families might.
As they have in the past, the National Association of Letter Carriers will be working hard to make the 17th annual National Food Drive the best ever. In 2008 the food drive collected 73.1 million pounds nationwide. The demand on food pantry is growing.
The items most needed include cereal, peanut butter, tuna, soup, pasta and rice. Also needed are non-food items like diapers and personal care items, such as shampoo, toothpaste and deodorant. Non-glass containers are preferred. Postal customers should leave items in a visible place by their mailboxes before 8 a.m. Saturday, May 9. Letter carriers will collect the food as part of their regular routes.
Just as a friendly competition, why don’t we see which community can produce the most per person? Wouldn’t it be great to say our community is the most caring? You can’t solve all the problems, but giving food “can” help!
Paul Ibisch
La Crescent, Minn.
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Zoning issues addressed
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To the Editor:
We feel that all property owners be informed about the Zoning Department Public Work Session on April 23, 2009. The notice given in the newspaper was so brief that no one in the public, whether he was a farmer, lawyer, or board member, knew what was to be discussed at the meeting. The Zoning Administrator, Bob Scanlan, brought a proposal (numerous pages) that would require more permits, fees, inspections, limitations, annual reporting… (The proposal actually was a section copied right out of the Sherburne County zoning manual.)
How can Bob Scanlan, after the County Commissioners voted unanimously on Oct. 15, 2008, to keep the current Land Use Plan, propose additional “pages” of requirements and regulations be added to the Houston County Zoning Ordinances?
We who attended the meeting hold private property as in inalienable right; that with ownership comes personal control of that property, the right to profit from one’s labor on that property, and the responsibility not to be a detriment to the use and enjoyment of adjacent properties. The purpose of the government - The Zoning Department - is to secure our rights, not to take them away with regulations. We attended the April 23 work session because of our interest in our property rights and our concern for Houston County’s government. We want to express strong disapproval for all the proposed changes presented in the handouts, read, and discussed that evening.
If any Houston County resident is interested in the 18 page document that Mr. Scanlan presented and Mr. Corcoran promoted and defended, please talk to any one of the undersigned who attended the April 23 meeting. In these difficult “economic times,” some are attempting to downsize the government, while others continually wish to see it grow.
Conrad Curren
Black Hammer, Minn.
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Civil rights squeezed again
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To the Editor:
What part of “leave the county’s land use plan as it is” (unanimous board vote Oct. 15, 2008) does Bob Scanlan not understand? He also apparently didn’t get the memo about the national economic crisis. He’s again attempting to tighten the screws on personal freedoms in Houston County with 18 pages of land use restrictions borrowed directly from Sherburne County; a county suffering explosive growth and a poor model for Houston County.
Sherburne County is adding 8.6 people per day while new Census numbers show Houston County losing 29 people per year. Scanlan and the Houston County commissioners have managed to turn our traditional growth rate into economic and population stagnation and now finally, for the first time ever, an actual population loss.
Here’s how Scanlan shortchanged the taxpayers this time. April 8 and 9, Scanlan placed an obscure notice of an “informational meeting and workshop” following a public hearing for Milestone Material’s quarry expansion. The notice went on to state, “We will begin discussion and review of state mandated changes to MN statue (sic) 394 pertaining to Interim Uses.” This is not the type of concise and informative notice that conforms to the spirit of public notice laws. This notice really gives no clue as to the gravity of the subject matter and the regulatory control proposed; to anyone other than Commissioner Dave Corcoran and Scanlan himself.
If the state is mandating something, what’s to discuss? Well at the meeting Scanlan backpedaled on just how mandated these changes are. He presented an 18-page Sherburne County document on interim permits on which 80 hand written notes, underlines, strikeouts, arbitrary numbers and ruminations were written by Scanlan. The document was hardly the concise properly prepared work the taxpayers might expect from a land use professional.
Scanlan continues to misinterpret the role of county government. County government is an extension of state government. State government gets a very limited authority to perform certain functions by the Minnesota constitution. Scanlan feels his role is to regulate, control and restrict. The proper role of government is to assure that individual rights, including property rights, are assured, protected and enjoyed to the greatest extent possible through a set of agreed upon rules.
Houston County continues its tradition of heavy handed zoning regulation that will continue the population slide that it has initiated and the economic stagnation that results from population loss. The Solum case has become the icon for a recalcitrant County Commission that would rather dig in its heels and force its will against the people, at any cost, in spite of the growth and economic opportunities lost. The county order for the young Solum family to destroy or move their home over a matter of arcane soil classification has blighted Houston County nation wide. It’s time for the people to put Houston County government back in its constitutional canister.
Chris Von Arx
Caledonia, Minn.
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Let them live in peace
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To the Editor:
Our community has been expressing concern about how to keep families employed and living here. It seems ironic that in this time of crisis some of our elected officials seem to be spending an inordinate amount of time and resources discouraging one stable young couple from establishing a home on their property.
Matthew and Beth Solum are not asking for government help. They simply desire to live peacefully on the property they have purchased without interference. They are an asset to the community. They are already employed and paying taxes. Isn’t this the freedom most of us expect and take for granted as American citizens?
Dennis and Betty Holty
Spring Grove, Minn.
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