By Sara Strong
The Land Management programs that Rock County is so proud of could be on the line.
The state funnels money to Rock County to administer local feedlot permits and inspections, and $49,000 could be lost.
Beyond that, the entire office could lose $98,000 in other environmental programs such as well protection and monitoring and the tree planting program.
The County Board’s issue is this: Should it pay for programs that it used to get paid by the state to provide? Meanwhile, counties that didn’t help the state provide environmental services aren’t losing out.
If the county doesn’t decide to take on the cost of these programs itself, the state would make it up to some extent.
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency would handle all feedlot permits, for instance.
Local producers would rather work with local inspectors, but besides that, the MPCA doesn’t have the staff to inspect feedlot or issue permits in a timely fashion.
Commissioner Jane Wildung said, "What we’re talking about is quality of service to producers, who will end up waiting for inspections."
Commissioner Richard Bakken said the county is constantly worried about water supplies and is even a part of the Lewis and Clark Rural Water System for backup needs. He said the local permitting and feedlot inspections keep the water safe for the entire county.
He said, "Look at how far we’ve come in the last 10 years. I don’t want to give it up."
Not all counties are able to permit outside of MPCA like Rock County is. If the county took on the total cost of the program, it could be considered "bailing out" the state, according to Administrator Kyle Oldre.
Counties that don’t do the legwork for the MPCA (in the way of inspections) aren’t in jeopardy of losing anything. But counties with active Land Management Offices are.
Level III inventory
Considering program cutbacks and the strain they’ll put on the county, Rock County Attorney Don Klosterbuer has been in contact with the Assistant U.S. District Attorney Henry Shea. Shea worked on the plea agreement that is helping to fund the total feedlot inspections.
The Level III inventories are about one-fifth complete and with other state money being lost, the county is in a bind to finish the inventories without a higher price tag.
The county’s responsibility in the Level III costs comes to $23,348.37 as of the last report.
Bakken said, "It’s in the county’s favor that no huge infractions were found to this point, so maybe they’ll be willing to postpone us having to complete this."
The Level III funding comes mostly from Global Ventures owner David Logan, who paid $160,000 to cover the inspections as part of a plea agreement.
About $130,000 went to the Board of Water and Soil Resources for actually conducting inspections. (BOWSR’s funds are also on the program cutting board.)
Global Ventures, Pipestone, was involved in fraud and bribery crimes that were connected to the former Rock County Land Management Director.
To remove suspicion of inappropriate handling of Rock County’s feedlot program, all livestock facilities are going through the Level III inventory.
Klosterbuer said that it’s probably in the county’s favor that it wasn’t a part of any crimes and wasn’t named as a defendant in any of the related trials.
The U.S. District Attorney’s Office has asked that the county compile a complete cost summary of the inventories to this point, along with a summary of findings.
