While Cook County Planning & Zoning staff have been revising a septic ordinance draft to reflect public opinions expressed in a November 2009 public hearing, nothing further will be done at this time to implement it.
Planning & Zoning Director Tim Nelson told the county board Tuesday, January 19, 2010 that the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) is making changes to the rules it is requiring each county to include in its septic ordinance. At least 10 counties are opposing the MPCA’s new standards, Nelson said. Those standards would require many counties to hire additional staff to carry out enforcement.
A resolution by Polk County to not adopt the MPCA’s new rules states that they will increase costs for designing and installing septic systems, obtaining permits, and undergoing inspections, “all of which are borne by the resident or business.”
The revisions will also “substantially increase…staff time, resources, and funding requirements to implement, administer and enforce,” the document states.
“…Polk County opposes broad mandates placed upon all counties to address special needs and/or situations affecting only a few. How to address these issues is a matter best left to the individual county to resolve, with technical assistance provided by the state….
“Polk County encourages the state to increase its protection of water quality and the environment through a more aggressive, effective and efficient enforcement of the existing rules rather than exacerbating the problem through the creation of more complex and unenforceable rules….
“Polk County shall continue to enforce the current rules related to septic systems until … 1) the revisions are amended to address these issues, or 2) the MPCA notifies the county of its intention to assume septic system site evaluation, design review, permitting, inspection, public assistance, and enforcement duties….”
A letter to MPCA Commissioner Paul Eger from Polk County Environmental Services Administrator Jon Steiner states, “It has been stated the goal of the rule revision was to fix problems with the existing rule, clarification of current standards, and to protect the environment. However, it is Polk County’s opinion that the revision has impacts far beyond those goals.”
… “In the current economic environment [in which] we all find ourselves trying to survive, adding a new mandate should only be done in extreme circumstances where failure to do so would result in irreparable harm or a threat to…public health and safety.”
Steiner argues that much of what the MPCA is trying to accomplish could be done with more aggressive enforcement of current rules. “…Polk County feels that the best and most logical approach to protecting the environment is implementing and enforcing the existing regulations effectively, not creating new regulations to mask the ineffective application and enforcement of the existing rules.”
Cook County Commissioner Fritz Sobanja said to his fellow board members, “Everybody’s short on funds. What are we going to do?”
Should you force people to spend money to repair or upgrade their systems, Commissioner Jim Johnson asked, or should you encourage them through education?
Sobanja agreed to draft a resolution similar to Polk County’s. In the meantime, Nelson met with MPCA staff to discuss the minimum requirements of the new rules and the responses of other counties.
Nelson asked the board for their continued support of his advocacy at the legislative level on behalf of the county. He is the past president of the Minnesota Association of County Planning & Zoning Administrators and is completing his last year as chair of its legislative committee.
In a January 19 memo to the county board, Nelson wrote, “…I have been asked over the years by AMC [Association of Minnesota Counties] staff to testify before senate and house committees on certain pieces of legislation that directly impacted Minnesota counties with regards to land use issues. I am grateful for the support that I received from the Cook County Board of Commissioners over the years in allowing me the latitude to visit the capital when asked.
“I believe it is very important that the unique physical and social characteristics of Cook County continue to be represented in all forms in the development of potential statewide policies, rules, and statutes.”
“Our voice needs to be heard,” Nelson told the board. “It’s often overlooked down at the state level.”
Commissioner Hall said, “It’s important to be at the table.”
In related news, Nelson reported that Jerry Gervais has been appointed to the Planning Commission. After originally having no prospects for a commissioner to fill the seat vacated by Sam Parker, who has completed the maximum number of terms allowed, four applications came in from residents around the county. Gervais lives in Tofte.
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