NOT WATER UNDER THE BRIDGE...

At the January 9, 2017, Town Board meeting, the Town Supervisors passed a resolution to return the watershed permitting authority to the Vermillion River Watershed Joint Powers Organization (VRWJPO), thus reinstating the Township's original position on this issue. As you may recall, Eureka was the only township out of the thirteen in Dakota County which declined to adopt the Watershed Ordinance in the first place. It did, however, adopt the Watershed Water Plan, which it is required to do.

I believe that there was an erroneous thought by some at that time that if Eureka did not adopt the ordinance, then the ordinance requirements would just "go away." This was and is erroneous thinking because all this legislation "flows" from the Clean Water Act passed in 1972. What that faulty thinking may have been based on was the fact that once one Local Government Unit (LGU) dropped out of the Watershed Management Organization (WMO), the body was defunct. However, the the powers exercised by that body would still be exercised, in the Vermillion's case by a Joint Powers Organization of Scott and Dakota Counties. In contrast, the North Cannon River is still managed by a WMO. Your Township representative to that body has a direct vote in how that body moves forward, within certain requirements. The VRWJPO Board is what has that vote for the Vermillion.

I just attended the January meeting of the JPO Board. Present were Dakota County Commissioners Slavik (Chair) and Holzberg, Scott County Commissioner Wolf, watershed staff, Assistant Dakota County Attorney Brosnahan, Manager Brian Watson of the SWCD, and a few more people in the audience. At this meeting, the JPO Board passed their resolution taking back the watershed permitting authority for Eureka.

Note that this is the permitting authority for the watershed portion of permitting, NOT the Township's permitting under its zoning authority. This means that permit applicants first will be required to receive a permit from the VRWJPO before they come to the Township for its permit.

Two things are important to note:

1. The Township is not to pass any permit contingent upon the VRWJPO's permit. If an applicant has not received the JPO's permit first, Eureka will not go ahead with its permitting process. In the past, there have actually been instances whereby a Township permit was passed contingent upon the other, but the landowner proceeded with excavating before receiving the watershed permit as he was supposed to. Oversight appears to have been lost. Thus the order of permits.

2. The VRWJPO meets on the fourth Thursday of each month, at which time permits can be approved by the Board. The Commissioners briefly discussed the future possibility of approving the simplest permits administratively (outside of their monthly meeting), but if and until that procedure is actually implemented (more discussion to follow), applicants must have their paperwork in in time to be processed at that fourth-Thursday meeting before coming to the Township. This is effective now.

If a landowner plans appropriately, this process can be smooth and not take up extra time. Conversely, submitting paperwork, say, the day after the VRWJPO Board meeting would naturally extend the time involved for approval as the paperwork would have to wait until the next month's meeting before even coming to the Township. That element is largely in the hands of the applicant.

I believe the rationale behind this move is that Town Boards come and go; Planning Commissions come and go. The VRWJPO has professionals such as Watershed Specialists who are well-versed in the Vermillion Rules, Water Plan, Ordinance and the technicalities and who do not have to be repeatedly trained as they enter office such as local officials would have to be.

Therefore, Vermillion River Watershed permitting will be handled by the JPO in a process similar to how the County deals with Shoreland and Floodplain. The latter is quite familiar to residents.



The VRWJPO is also going to look more closely at how other townships have been handling watershed permitting as it recognizes that the process has not been consistently enforced by the various bodies. This underlines that it may be best for clean water that the VRWJPO handle the permitting, rather than pass it to the townships whose roster of officials is subject to change every year.

FURTHER AIRPORT ANNEXATION UPDATE

The Special Meeting of the Planning Commission, the Town Board, Township attorney, Chad Lemmons, and TKDA Planner, Sherri Buss, was held on January 5, 2017. It was deemed by those bodies and persons and at least one member of the two-member audience to be very productive and informative. The information gathered by Ms. Buss included how other municipalities, including townships, have dealt with similar matters.

The different options as cited in the previous blog post were discussed and clarified. Supervisors Behrendt and Jennings will be meeting with Lakeville to first start discussions about a possible Joint Powers Agreement (JPA) between the two municipalities. The hope would be that Lakeville could sell sewer and water to the airport, the Metropolitan Airport Commission would receive the sewer and water that is called for under its policy, and Eureka would retain the airport within the Township. If this were to be agreed upon, the three entities would each come away with a "win."

Whether this goal can be reached or not is a matter of the discussions to follow. If ultimately a JPA cannot be entered into, then the Town Board would look into moving to another possible agreement to satisfactorily resolve this issue. Those in attendance at the meeting were of the opinion that the JPA would be the ideal solution.

YOU MAY HAVE BEEN WONDERING...

On Thursday, January 5, 2017, the Planning Commission and the Town Board will have a special joint meeting with the Township Attorney and Sherri Buss of TKDA, the Township's planning and engineering firm.

At an earlier Board meeting, following the airport's request to be annexed by Lakeville coming to light, the Board tasked the Commission with looking into the different options open to the Township in response. The Commission asked for and the Board intended that this study be undertaken with professional assistance. The group examined Joint Powers Agreements (JPA), incorporation, orderly annexation, and zoning strategies to discourage annexation in the future. (Some of these zoning strategies have been discussed during the Commercial/Industrial Study as well.)

The special meeting was set up by the Planning Commission to share its findings in person with the Board (always better than just reading reports) and to provide a timely venue for any additional questions that might be asked and recommendations to be made. It is the Commission's intention that the Board act at its January meeting to proceed with the short-term possible solution, that is, a JPA, before the Board changes composition.

When Supervisors Cory Behrendt and Carrie Jennings were designated by the Board as a body to meet with Lakeville officials to discuss this development and did meet with them, a number of things were reported to the Board.



One was that this annexation request is solely on the instigation by the airport, the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC). Lakeville simply received the request.
   

Another was that Lakeville has no plans, at least for the immediate future, to annex any part of Eureka. It feels it has "plenty on its plate" right now.
     
     

A third very important one is that Lakeville stated that it would certainly look at any formal proposal for a JPA with Eureka. (This, by the way, is 180 degrees from what had been reported to the Board earlier: "They'll never do that.") Of course, there were "no guarantees" offered, but at least Lakeville indicated it was open to examining the idea. A JPA could be so worded and agreed upon to keep the airport in Eureka, while yet providing for it to receive sewer and water in line with its (MAC's) policy. Lakeville could provide the city services and collect the monies.

   

 It was also noted that it would not take a lot to extend the lines for the airport (stub under runway) and that the airport would not be a high-use customer.

Whether Lakeville would actually be willing to proceed with this effort is uncertain, but it would be a good answer to the airport's concerns and the concerns of Eureka citizens to retain the airport that were expressed at the Annual Meeting in 2016. The Commission agrees, in fact, that a JPA would be an ideal solution to address the immediate issue. Looking at other, much more involved, strategies could still be dealt with down the line.


      Stay Tuned for Further Developments