"A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT"

First, apologies to Brad Pitt and any fly fishing aficionados out there!

An earlier post questions whether it is in Eureka's interests to adopt the Vermillion River Watershed Joint Powers Organization (VRWJPO) Ordinances.  This post gives some background and history on the subject.

I first heard of this idea to adopt the VRWJPO Ordinances -after all!- as an observer at a Planning Commission meeting. Commissioner Butch Hansen stated words to the effect that he wanted to bring this up and thought that this would be a good idea. This was of some interest to me as I sat there remembering Hansen's previous stance on the matter which was quite different if, as Supervisor Miller is so fond of saying, "memory serves."

Next, Supervisor Ceminsky brought it up at the following Town Board meeting.  He stated that HE thought it would be a "good idea" and that Brian Watson [of the Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD)] had told him that "Eureka 'should' adopt the Ordinances."  Ceminsky stated this, I thought, as though, since Watson had said this, that it should be a done deal, a no-brainer.  Really?  The County has always wanted the Townships and small cities to adopt this so that the County personnel wouldn't have to administer it themselves.  Always. Nothing new.

As a former Commissioner and Supervisor who has attended numerous meetings since 2004, I felt that perhaps the Board could use a refresher on how this went down in the first place.  (Since it didn't "go there" in response to Ceminsky's statements that evening, other than Supervisor Behrendt's objections to the proposal.) A "refresher" would be for those on the Board who were present in the Township when it happened. Supervisors Ceminsky and Madden had not been involved with it. Perhaps for them it would be new information.

Because of this, I made a statement during the Public Comment period at the next Board meeting.  What I said follows, with a few additions for clarity.  If you were not tuned in during this contentious matter, perhaps it will be of some assistance as we look to the future.

To the Board:
I have, by invitation, served on the (VRWJPO) Watershed Engagement Team for the past year along with Mike Greco of Eureka; Terry Holmes, Empire Board Chair; Mark Henry representing Pheasants Forever; Chris Shafer of Castle Rock Township; and several others.  We met monthly for an entire year, going over data related to Watershed status and how to engage the public and spread the information.

When this matter of the VRWJPO Ordinances came up the first time, I was on the Planning Commission.  I attended many meetings at the Castle Rock Town Hall with then-Supervisors Jeff Otto and Gloria Belzer, where representatives from various townships and small cities were in attendance.  This was part of the "Rural Collaborative" that has been mentioned here. We were all trying to understand this rather complicated topic.

I was at the public hearing held by the County.  The County always wanted the townships and cities to adopt the Ordinance as their own.  It was stated that way by Dean Johnson (Planner hired for the Rural Collaborative) from the very beginning.  It was "sold" as a "pass-through" to the applicants on costs. (No matter whether the Township hired an engineer or the County did, the applicant would pay the bill.)

I then became a Board member and attended the Eureka public hearing.  At both public hearings there was vehement and vociferous objection from Eureka citizens to Eureka's adopting the Ordinances. One person even testified at our local hearing, leveling his finger at each Planning Commissioner in turn, saying, "If you pass this Ordinance, I am coming-after-every-one-of-you!"  (Even as an observer, I found this alarming.) The Eureka hearing was so highly charged that the Planning Commission at the time did not even make a recommendation to the Board on the matter, one way or another!  They did not perform the duty, but left it totally up to the Board with no advice from them.  In the years I have been paying attention, this has never happened before or since.

It was always made clear to those in attendance that whether Eureka adopted the Ordinances or not, they would still stand.  It would just be the VRWJPO administering them and not Eureka itself.  It made no difference to the existence of these ordinances.  This was not a situation as in the past with a Watershed Management Organization (WMO) such as we still have with the North Cannon River.  If one community drops out of a WMO, the WMO dissolves. This happened before with the Vermillion; it's how we ended up with the VRWJPO in the first place.

Eureka "broke away" from the Rural Collaborative and pursued the matter extensively on its own with the Township Attorney, under Chair Otto. Because of this Eureka:

1) adopted the VRWJPO Water Plan, which it was required to do;
2) voted the VRWJPO Ordinance down, which was always optional even though the County strongly pushed for adoption by the Township;
3) engaged the SWCD to take the majority of responsibility for the Wetland Conservation Act administration and enforcement.  This was felt to be appropriate since they have the expertise: important point!

As a Township, we have spent considerable time and money on this matter. Nothing much has changed since that time.  The JPO is updating its Water Plan, which it must do every ten years. (Five Eureka citizens attended an open house in Farmington on this recently.  No Commissioner or Supervisor attended.) Eureka will be required to adopt the updated Plan at the appropriate time. As the Board contact person to the Vermillion, I had suggested to Joe Harris, Paul Krause, and Tom Wolf that they allow Travis Thiel, Watershed Specialist, to send the necessary letter to the Township on the less complicated applications, to speed up the process.  Otherwise, citizens would have to wait until the JPO Board held its monthly meeting.  At the time I proposed this, the Assistant Dakota County Attorney, Kathy Keena, said that would not happen as the County Commissioners were elected, held the authority, and would not give it over to Thiel in between their meetings. However, now it appears that that is exactly what has been happening.  Travis has sent several letters and no one is complaining about having to wait until the County Commissioners meet.


As has been expressed (by Supervisor Behrendt and others), this is a much more complex ordinance than the North Cannon, where Eureka remains a voting member of the WMO.  The Planning Commission and the Town Board membership changes frequently.  In the past, I have twice unsuccessfully attempted to make it a requirement that Commissioners and Supervisors attend, say, two training sessions during the three years of their terms. Government Training Services offer such trainings yearly. They would involve such things as basic planning and zoning, which are areas in which elected and appointed officials should be knowledgeable.  Yet this did not come to pass. Some persons attend one session and never do again; some attend many; many attend none. If we do not go the extra mile to ensure that we are informed on the basics, how informed will we be on the Watershed with its technicalities?

Because of these two reasons, I strongly favor having the experts at the VRWJPO handle this so it is done properly.  Thank you for allowing me to give my input.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT !  TROUT, ANYONE???

For more info: Vermillion website