Voted down earlier this month, a request to designate 153 acres of land as a Wildlife Management Area passed this week after a county commissioner changed his vote from yea to nay.
On a 3-2 vote at its meeting Tuesday, the Meeker County Board of Commissioners rescinded a Dec. 7 decision rejecting the DNR's request to establish the outdoor recreation area in Ellsworth Township.
Commissioner Mike Huberty noted that, after he got home from the Dec. 7 meeting, he simply did not feel good about his nay vote on the wildlife area and asked that it be on the agenda again.
Huberty offered a motion to reconsider the issue, with a second from Commissioner Joe Tacheny. The motion passed on a 4-1 vote, with Commissioner Mike Housman dissenting.
Then, on a motion to reverse the Dec. 7 decision, Huberty, Tacheny and Oberg voted in approval, with Housman and Commissioner Brian Larson voting no.
According to minutes from the meeting, Housman said the decision "sets a bad precedence," since the DNR already has 4,000 acres of land in Meeker County, and "enough is enough."
By a similar 3-2 vote, the request was originally rejected Dec. 7, with commissioners Bryan Larson, Mike Housman and Mike Huberty voting it down.
Housman felt that wetland acquisitions by the state in Meeker County have cost much in lost taxes. He said it is not good government to continue that trend. Larson cited his long-time concern with the ineptness of the DNR as the basis for his nay vote.
“Money isn’t everything in these discussions, and if the family wants to turn the land over the DNR, I don’t think the county should stand in its way,” Oberg said Dec. 7.
Commissioner Tacheny said people without ties to rural property should have a decent place to hunt and noted that hunters contribute in positive ways to the rural economy.
The 153-acre tract that will be converted to public recreational land is known as the Emma Boll farm and has been in the Boll family for more than 100 years. Family members attended the Dec. 7 county board meeting but were not given an opportunity to speak.
Under state law, county board approval is necessary before a wildlife management area can be established.
According to information from the Minnesota DNR, Wildlife Management Areas are part of the state's outdoor recreation system and are established to protect those lands and waters that have a high potential for wildlife production, public hunting, trapping, fishing and other compatible recreational uses. The DNR says they are key to protecting wildlife habitat for future generations; providing citizens with opportunities for hunting, fishing and wildlife watching; and promoting important wildlife-based tourism in the state.
COMMISSIONERS' SALARIES TO INCREASE
In another action resulting in a split vote, the board approved a motion to increase commissioners' current $24,000 salaries by 2 percent.
Commissioners Oberg and Larson voted to keep the salaries at the current level.
Considering most county employees were getting a either a 1 percent or 2 percent pay boost, Housman asked why commissioners shouldn't have the courage to include their own salaries in that boost.
A motion to increase commissioner salaries passed on a 3-2 vote, with Housman, Tacheny and Huberty voting in support and Oberg and Larson voting against the proposed raise.
COUNTY SETS BUDGET AND LEVY
Commissioner approved setting the 2018 budget and levy.
The 2018 levy was set a $14.170 million, 3.5 percent over the 2017 property tax figure.
The county’s total budget for 2018 was set at $30.285 million, a $691,812 boost from 2017.
IN PERSONNEL-RELATED ITEMS:
- The board reappointed Don Dufner to a four-year term as veteran’s service officer.
- The board approved hiring Amy Inglett as a social worker.
- The board accepted the resignation of full-time sheriff’s deputy Shane Johnson.
- The board appointed Kiza Olson to the hospital board.
- The board named Karen Langmo, Michael Lies, Stephen Plaisance and Mike Solbrack to the aquatic invasive species committee.
- The board named Kimberly Hempel to the Board of Adjustment.
- The board appointed Paul Johnson and Kimberly Hempel to the Planning Commission.
- The board named Hugh Wagner to the Public Health Advisory Board.
