By Sara Strong
Rose Dell Township has imposed a temporary hold on open lagoon and concrete manure storage facilities for livestock producers.
The Rock County Board of Commissioners discussed how that action might impact county operations at its Tuesday meeting.
Board members learned from County Attorney Don Klosterbuer that townships can choose to regulate zoning requirements within already established countywide ordinances. Both counties and townships have to follow state and federal regulations.
Townships that pass their own zoning ordinances follow them, but still abide by county ordinances that aren't specifically spelled out by the townships. Rose Dell Township is essentially tailoring county ordinances to fit its residents' needs.
If a township chooses to enact specific zoning rules, it must also make provisions to enforce them, including covering the related legal or other personnel costs.
Randy Muller, Rose Dell Township board member, said residents' concerns about setbacks from homes to confinement barns spurred this ordinance to be passed.
"PeopleÕs homes are their main investment, whether they live in town or out in the country," he said.
Muller said the township hopes to form a committee to review the setback requirements. That committee may further restrict confinement structures and address other quality of life concerns for township residents.
Rose Dell Township can't do the actual permitting for feedlots because it doesn't have that authority designated by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. It can just place restrictions that must be met by new confinement facilities in order to get a permit from the county.
Land for development
A soccer field owned by Rock County will be sacrificed to help keep 130 W.R. Berkley Corp. employees in Luverne.
The Rock County Board of Commissioners Tuesday approved of furthering negotiations for a lease with the city of Luverne to use the field as a parking lot.
The county land discussed is a 70 by 400 foot strip of land.
The lot will allow enough spaces to accommodate the upcoming expansion of Berkley Technology Services, which will house Tri-State employees when they vacate their building in January.
Berkley Corp. is the parent company of Continental Western Group (formerly Tri-State) and Berkley Technology Services (formerly Berkley Information Services).
The county comes into the picture because its land is needed for additional parking space. The County Board was first asked to donate the land to the city, but board members passed a resolution in favor of a $1,000 per year lease agreement instead.
The County Board preferred a lease in case the business left after 10 years and the county wanted the land for other purposes.
Commissioner Jane Wildung said, "That would be my only concern, is that we can expand on that campus in the future."
Keeping an extended property line may help for zoning permits if the Human Services building is ever expanded, for instance.
The board wanted the lease to be clearly stated as renewable for an indefinite amount of years so the city would feel secure in the countyÕs intention to help with the business deal.
The Luverne Economic Development Authority recommended the following to keep the companies in Luverne:
LEDA will add 8,500 square feet to the existing 20,000-square-foot BTS structure.
CWG employees will move into the BTS building. There are about 100 CWG employees, including 20 who will move back to the Luverne location from Sioux Falls.
Berkley Corp. will donate the vacated Tri-State building to the city of Luverne.
The agreement was signed contingent on the City Council's approval of $700,000 in financing at its Aug. 13 meeting.
Rural road signs
Rural residents will have their new addresses by next spring, County Engineer Mark Sehr reported to the County Board Tuesday.
The majority of road signs in the county are completed. The next steps are mapping individual home addresses, getting Post Office approval and bidding for those sign installations.
People have been concerned about what their new address will be, but no one at the county can answer those questions until it receives Post Office approval. Residents will be notified of their new addresses by mail.
Citizens have been concerned about what address to put on new check blank orders or Christmas card prints, but even after the addresses are set, the Post Office will honor both old and new addresses for a year.
Sehr and County Board members have gotten phone calls on the new signs, and most have been more positive than negative.
Sehr said the signs were set at a height 5 feet taller than the road surface for easy reading. The signs have been higher in other counties, but Sehr said the shorter posts save money in purchasing and are more stable.
The new road signs are out of the way of farmers and drivers, because they are installed in the ditch and are set at about the same distance from the road as regular traffic signs.
In other business Tuesday, the board:
Declared the county a disaster area because of the expected crop losses from lack of rainfall. This declaration is a necessary step in applications for state and federal disaster funding, if needed.
Supported the Pool Commission's recommendation that the city of Luverne and Rock County reopen advertising for bids to sell, lease or manage the Rock County Pool and Fitness Center.
As joint owners of the facility, the city and county have to both approve of advertising the request for proposals in order for it to continue.
Presented Assistant County Attorney Terry Vajgrt with a plaque from the Southwest Minnesota Opportunity Council for 12 years of serving on that board.