Cook County Planning and Zoning Director Tim Nelson is going to bat for the property owners of Cook County, and the county board is behind him. On Tuesday, May 24, 2011, commissioners approved a letter Nelson wrote to the Association of Minnesota Counties in response to its request for counties to weigh in on changes in Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) septic rules.
The MPCA came out with new rules in 2008 and gave counties until 2010 to adopt local ordinances in conformance with them. The rules added oversight requirements that would be costly to counties, and counties protested. Only 21 of Minnesota’s 87 counties adopted those new ordinances.
The rules were amended in 2010, and counties were given until 2012 to adopt local ordinances. Counties have still not been happy with the new rules and asked to have until 2016 to work out their own ordinances. Nelson reported to the county board that the counties have now been given until 2014.
The new rules will add about $500 to the cost of installing new septic systems plus whatever fees the county may impose for inspecting those systems. Nelson said the county’s cost for enforcing the new rules, which require more in-depth assessments, will be $320 per system or about $38,000 a year.
At the May 10 county board meeting, a West End resident had complained about being assessed a $300 fee for a septic inspection he was required to get in order to get a permit to build a woodshed on his property. He said G & G Septic showed up one day to pump his system although he had not authorized the work. At that meeting, Nelson said he believed Environmental Health Inspector Mitch Everson called for the septic to be pumped because that was necessary for the inspection.
The property owner took issue with being charged for the inspection when other departments, such as the Highway Department, don’t charge individual residents for their work. Commissioner Jim Johnson responded by saying that when a job is done for the general good, such as plowing a public road, no special fees are charged. Work that is done for a specific piece of property is charged a fee, however, he said.
West End Commissioner Bruce Martinson said the property owner represented the frustrations of many West Enders. He said he would like to see flexibility in the amounts assessed in fees with smaller project slike decks.
At the May 24 meeting, Nelson said the county is committed to water quality. In a separate phone interview, he explained that his issue with the new rules is that while the rules give counties flexibility in adopting their own ordinances, this flexibility does not apply to shoreland areas or properties that offer food, beverages, or lodging – and this applies to much of Cook County. Nelson told the county board that the MPCA rules are supposed to be “minimal” requirements, but they seem to be moving more in the direction of “preferred” standards.
On May 10, Commissioner Fritz Sobanja said implementing some of the state’s new rules would cost counties money. “I think it’s overkill, personally,” he said. On the other hand, he said the topography of Cook County is in the top 1 percent of the nation in terms of beauty. “This is a primo spot to be,” he said. “What happens? You have to pay for it.”
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