Koochiching County commissioners Tuesday expressed cautious optimism about a review of the state’s wetland laws ordered earlier this year by Gov. Mark Dayton.
The recommendations include several that commissioners and staff say could benefit Koochiching and other counties with vast amounts of wetlands.
“I have to give Gov. Dayton credit,” said Commissioner Wade Pavleck. “When we heard about the review alarm bells went off. But he said he wanted to simplify the process and make it better and he really wanted to do that.”
Pavleck had been critical of the review, saying that he expected that it could result in recommendations that would make development in Koochiching even more difficult.
Board Chairman Brian McBride said all commissioners had their suspicions.
Pavleck said the recommendations were brought to Dayton Friday by the Minnesota Board of Soil and Water Resources. While the review took place under executive order, some recommendations will require legislative action to move forward; others may be put in place by Dayton.
“The governor has the final comment,” said Pavleck. “I think he looks at most, if not all, of it as favorable.”
Pavleck, Commissioner Mike Hanson and Environmental Services Director Dale Olson attended meetings held around the state during the review to provide input.
Discussions with state Rep. David Dill and Sen. Tom Bakk, who will represent Borderland at the Capitol beginning in January, indicate they are aware that state wetland rules make development in Koochiching County a challenging and lengthy process. “I think they like what they see” in the recommendations, said Pavleck.
Olson said the recommendations indicated “we gained ground rather than going backward.”
The recommendations would provide more flexibility, less restrictions and more money for counties like Koochiching, said Olson.
Justin Berg, Koochiching Soil and Water Conservation District technician, told the board that the recommendations involving value of wetlands versus acre-to-acre mitigation has been the biggest frustration for property owners and local officials. “We have higher quality wetlands compared to the rest of the state,” he said. “With (revision to the local plan) it would make it easier.”
Pavleck complimented local staff for their work in wetland issues and said “we’d be in a much worse position if we didn’t have this staff.”
The state Wetland Conservation Act requires disturbance of more than 10,000 square feet of wetlands in development to be mitigated through the purchase of wetland credits within the same watershed. Commissioners have said that 10,000 square feet, known as the de minimis exception, allows for a driveway and garage with little room for other development.
Pavleck outlined highlights of the recommendations that could benefit Koochiching by simplifying the process. Among those included coordination between the state Wetland Conservation Act and the federal Clean Water Act. He said county officials should provide input as the process moves forward. The recommendation would allow the state to handle local projects while the federal government would handle wetland issues involving larger projects, such as mining.
“This one has the most far reaching implications for us in simplifying the process, but the devil is in the details,” said Pavleck.
Another recommendation pushed by counties that contain great amounts of wetlands involves statewide mitigation versus mitigation within the watershed. “It’s what’s in the best interests for the state instead of tying it to the local watershed on type and value. It would make mitigation more practical and easier.”
Another recommendation involves establishing a central banking authority, said Pavleck. He said this recommendation would allow a project to move forward with payment for wetland credits while the authority would be responsible to find and target mitigation where it would do the most benefit.
In other business Tuesday, the board adopted the 2013 gross levy of $3.9 million, which represents a 1.5 percent increase over the amount collected from property owners this year. The levy supports a $25.9 million budget also adopted Tuesday. The budget includes directives that allows adjustments to respond to state or federal budget deficit resolution actions and calls for a hiring freeze of county staff. Filling vacant positions will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
