Legalectric

This Circle Lake residential development, over in Forest Township, is one of the Rice County issues that stands out, from the clear cutting of trees, to the filling of wetlands without a permit in ways that just happen to look like pads for houses, the shutdown by the Army Corps of Engineers, to the County’s multiple violations of EAW process rules, and take a look who’s building there! Ray Cox!

Follow the trail from the Kuyper’s to Circle Lake Estates to Northfield Construction.

More to follow AFTER I get this whirlwind CLE tour of Minnesota out of the way.

Bruce Moreland had a comment recently:

I am concerned about the use of unfunded eminent domain, by which I mean the situation when a city zones land for a use that essentially locks the landowner out of using their land as they might want. In particular, although I am very proud of the Dundas-Bridgewater Annexation Agreement and the fact that it identifies and protects bluffs, I also have to reconcile that with the fact that we have effectively taken the land from the landowner since they can no longer develop that land.

It looks to me like what he describes as “unfunded eminent domain” is a constructive taking, where the government in this case makes a land use determination that prohibits many uses (any use?) of the land by the landowner. Can the landowner use it at all? How are landowners compensated for this? They’re not. Hmmmmmm… sounds like a problem to me.

FYI – eminent domain is used to take land for public use, emphasis on use of some sort or another. This Bridgewater example sounds like a conservation easement of sorts.

Here’s some food for thought from today’s STrib on-line:
Developers eye Mojave land
In my past life in a Petercar, I spent a lot of bleary-eyed Sunday nights and Monday mornings in the Mojave desert, roaring down Cajon to deliver in the wee hours, loaded out and back up the hill Tuesday afternoon, and I grew to appreciate its subtle and fragile beauty.

Back to Minnesota, I have problems with the Dundas-Bridgewater agreement because it’s just too much, too big, it welcomes pressures to develop beyond what the infrastructure, and ultimately the land itself, can support. I’ll see if it’s on-line, I have a hard copy — everyone should take a look at the wastewater agreement between Dundas and Northfield, because under that agreement, Dundas cannot provide sewer services to this big of an area with this large anticipated use. Another problem… they should have negotiated this prior to the annexation.

Question for the Truth Squad: I heard a rumor that Rice County has asked Northfield to bring sewer out to the County 1 and County 46 intersection! Like the corporate welfare that Owatonna gave to Cabela’s! Is this true? What did the City have to say?

Northern Rice County Watershed Alliance celebrates Earth Day and National Volunteer Week with a spring clean-up of Interstate 35 near Hwy. 19.

The Northern Rice County Watershed Alliance (NRCWA) is holding its “Adopt-a-Highway” cleanup event today, Saturday, April 23, 2005, just north of the Big Steer. Highway clean up will be followed by a picnic.

Here?s a car-load of volunteers who were eager to get moving on this brisk morning.

NRCWA is an association of Rice County residents interested in environmental and land use issues, and is one of 700 organizations that has ?adopted? a section of Minnesota highway. Miles 73-75 of I-35 is NRCWA?s territory — that?s a 2-mile stretch from about the Highway 3 bridge near Webster going north to the County Road 86 bridge). The DOT provides safety training, orange vests, and trash bags. After the clean-up, the DOT maintenance crews pick up the bags on the roadside.

NRCWA gives special thanks for the Church of the Annunciation, on Co. Rd. 46, for gathering space and bathrooms, and to McDonalds, Cub Foods, James Gang Coffee Shop and the Big Steer for sustenance for the road.

If you?re interested in helping out with the next clean-up, contact Ed & Bonnie Olson 507-664-3874.

If your group is interested in adopting a stretch of Minnesota highway, contact the DOT.

A few facts provided by the DOT web site via Ed Olson:

Litter Facts:

* Adopt-a-Highway volunteers pick up litter on more than 12,000 miles of Minnesota roadways.

* Adopt-a-Highway volunteers pick up approximately 26,000 tons of litter every year.

* During a one-time sweep of Interstate 35W in Minneapolis, Adopt-a-Highway volunteers picked up 192 tons of trash in one day. The quantity filled 16 Mn/DOT tandem trucks and represented approximately 6,000 filled trash bags.

* Researchers calculate that 55% of all littering is done intentionally by people who drop or discard products.

* 45% of roadside litter occurs unintentionally when trash blows out of uncovered trucks or falls off of unsecured loads.

* Experts estimate that approximately 80% of all littering is done by males.

* Food and beverage packaging constitutes 51% of roadside litter.

* A conviction for littering is a misdemeanor that is entered on the offender’s driving record. A second offense requires a minimum fine of $400 and a maximum of $700. A judge may require the offender to pick up litter along public roads or impose a jail sentence. (MN statutes 169.42 subd. 5)

* Mn/DOT can bill an individual for retrieving and disposing of illegally dumped items like tires, appliances, furniture and hazardous waste.

Next week… I’m going to obediance school!

Last night, my conference room was packed with Rice County residents who have participated in land use issues in rural Rice County. It was a diverse group, ranging from “the usual suspects” to farmers, lake residents, and everything in between, and they are all frustrated with the procedural improprieties of the Rice County Board of Commissioners and the Rice County Planning Commission.

The Rice County Commissioners for each of the Districts are:
District 1 – Jake Gillen
District 2 – Jessica Peterson
District 3 – Milt Plaisance
District 4 – Steve Bauer
District 5 – Jim Brown

Here?s what the Faribault Daily News had to say about a citizen’s legitimate Environmental Assessment Worksheet Petition in Rice County:

Facility met environmental guidelines

Sunday, March 13, 2005

When additional environmental study is warranted for a project the
county board shouldn’t hesitate to demand it happen, but then again,
when a project meets the state and county environmental guidelines
the board has an obligation to let the project happen. That’s what
they did in the case of Hanson’s hog facility.
====================================================
Here’s more information on that particular Petition. The Cannon River Watershed Partnership had concerns about the environmental review and entered comments on the record.

The Northfield League of Women Voters have an observer at most local governmental meetings, and the observer’s comments are posted. County Board meeting attendees have observed regular violation of the state’s rules regarding EAW Petitions, and as noted in the LWV observation of the April 5 meeting, above, important items are regularly not on the agenda and there is no way for citizens to know if an item of interest will be discussed or acted on. Recently, a citizen was lambasted at a Planning Commission meeting and in the Northfield News by the Planning Commission Chair for asking questions! GASP! A CITIZEN ASKING QUESTIONS???? Can’t have that, now, can we!

Disdain

Carol A. Overland
Attorney for a number of EAW Petitioners in Rice County

So what were we planning last night? Stay tuned…