As technology continues to develop, should the county spend money on it to enhance services to the public? On March 27, 2012, GIS Analyst Kyle Oberg, Assessor/ Land Commissioner Mary Black, Sheriff Mark Falk, Highway Engineer David Betts, and Planning & Zoning Director Tim Nelson asked the county board to authorize an expenditure of $187,000 for high-resolution aerial photographs of 775 square miles of county land.
The county paid for a set of images back in 2009, and GIS Analyst Kyle Oberg recommended that the county start replacing these images every three years. The proposed coverage area includes all private lands, Lake Superior shoreline within Cook County, the county road network, and other land considered of special interest to the county, such as gravel pits. The work would be done before the leaves are out. The county paid $33,975 for lower-resolution photographs of 755 square miles of land.
The images, taken from a plane by people who specialize in this type of work, provide much more detail than satellite images already available on the Internet. Pictometry International, the same company that provided images three years ago, is phasing out old equipment and replacing it with equipment that shows much finer detail. The difference in clarity, according to Assessor Black, is “like night and day.” Planning & Zoning Director Tim Nelson said the old imagery was “a bit of a disappointment.”
Various department heads gave examples of how this type of imagery is useful in their work. Assessor Black said it helps her staff be more equitable in assessing properties. Planning & Zoning Director Nelson said they can sometimes avoid having to go out into the field to answer questions for people asking about specific properties. Sheriff Falk said this imagery helps his staff prepare for safer high-risk entries and for search and rescue missions. Engineer Betts said the imagery helps his crew know where to go when a caller requests service on a certain portion of a road.
The public would be able to access the imagery on the county’s website. Sam Parker, a property assessor, said, “This is probably as much benefit to the private sector as the public sector.”
Commissioner Fritz Sobanja wanted to know if the county would capture any of its expenses through higher permitting fees or if the information would result in more work for staff. “I realize the value for Search and Rescue,” he said. “I somewhat question the value for the Highway Department.” He said the crews are out on the roads all the time anyway.
The imagery saves staff time, Engineer Betts responded. “It’s a huge deal for us,” he said. “It will allow us to work more efficiently. …It will allow us to do more tasks with the resources we have.”
Commissioner Sue Hakes asked if the county could share costs with another entity hiring out the same work. Oberg said no one in the area is doing the work this spring but they might be able to coordinate in the future with St. Louis County, which is proposing to get images annually to help with timber management.
Funding proposed by staff would take $10,000-$50,000 from eight different county funds. With Sobanja voting no on a 4-1 vote, the board approved the expenditure with a condition that other funding sources be explored as well. “I just don’t think the cost/benefit ratio has been fully analyzed,” Sobanja said.
Other departmental news:
. The board approved modification in a conditional use permit for a county gravel pit near Devil’s Track Lake. The permit was not renewed last December along with other gravel pit permits because of Planning Commission concerns about the size of the area that was open for mining the gravel and the setback distance from a pond on the site.
Upon further inspection, the Highway Department found that only five acres at a time were being mined, in accordance with requirements of the permit. The pond no longer exists, but Highway Department Maintenance Supervisor Russell Klegstad wrote in a letter to the Planning Commission that vegetation would be restored to the area.
The most recent Planning Commission report to the county board stated that a 100-foot setback from the pond had not been maintained for some time although nothing had been done about it. The commission’s December report to the board had stated that the pond was dry “but likely retains wetland characteristics” and had fill introduced into it.
The county board changed the permit conditions, allowing a 50-foot setback instead of a 100- foot setback.
Commissioner Jim Johnson said he thought it was “interesting” that the conditions had been set up in 1992 but then been forgotten over time. “I’m a little bit upset that the county was supposed to be setting an example…” he said.
“It’s true,” said Commissioner Bruce Martinson. “We have to be the leaders. We can’t be coming down on the private owners and be doing the same thing ourselves.”
. The board approved the purchase of five 53-foot used semi-trailers to be used for collecting recyclables throughout the county. They will replace five 48-foot trailers that no longer fit Minnesota Department of Transportation specifications. The cost is $4,500 per trailer for a total of $22,500 plus tax; $25,000 had been budgeted for the trailers.
Resorts and other businesses generate the most cardboard and glass for the Recycling Center, Planning & Zoning Director Tim Nelson said. He later told the News-Herald that the 420 tons of cardboard waste generated by the county in 2011 helped it qualify for renewal of an annual grant of $55,000 from the state. The county recycled about 16 tons of aluminum in 2011 and earned $20,000 for it. The only other earnings the program garnered last year were about $25,000 from the budget shop. Those three sources of income total $100,000, about onethird of the cost to run the program.
A decision on what to do with the old trailers has not yet been made. Director Nelson told the News-Herald they weren’t worth enough to use as trade-ins, but they could be put out for bid, sold at auction, used for scrap metal, or kept for spare parts.
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