Board looking to relocate district office

The Thirty Lakes Watershed District Board has looked at relocating its district office to make its location more visible to its watershed constituents.

For the past six years, the watershed office has been located on Commercial Park Road, a few miles north of Baxter off Barbeau Road, which is west of Highway 371.

The watershed board, which currently consists of four managers - one manager seat is currently vacant following the death of Bruce Yund - conducted a public hearing Monday on adopting a resolution to move its office farther north along Highway 371 to the Lakeview Center Office building, across from North Long Lake. The building currently is the site of Deborah Schey Salon and Car-Col Construction.

The public hearing came after an October vote where the board of managers voted to secure a three-year contract with Corky Smith, owner of the Lakeview Center Office building, that would allow the watershed to sub-lease the premises.

The watershed district would pay $1,200 a month for the office space. Currently, the watershed pays $900 a month, but its lease expired in March and the district has been paying for the space on a monthly basis, Marty Peisch, director of the watershed, said in an interview.

Peisch said the board wants to change its location - to give the Thirty Lakes district more exposure and for it to be easier for constituents to find. Peisch also said the board wants to have its office located within the watershed district boundaries to abide by state law. Peisch said the current location is six miles outside the watershed district boundaries.

The watershed district in west central Crow Wing County covers approximately 70 square miles, of which 60 percent of it is covered by surface water. The district's main watershed includes Clark, Edward, Gladstone, Horseshoe, Hubert, North Long and Pelican lakes.

After a lengthy discussion, the board members voted to table the resolution to give themselves more time to talk to the landlord of the building to see if the board could add a stipulation to the lease agreement. Manager Gordy Hardy wanted the agreement to include wording that would allow the watershed district the option to get out of the agreement with a 90-day notice.

During the public hearing, there was discussion between the managers regarding the resolution on the lease agreement. Hardy and manager Mark Young said they were "feeling left out" and that they "don't hear anything" about issues. Hardy and Young questioned why Ken Svee, the president of the watershed board, signed the lease agreement and questioned if it was legitimate.

Adam Ripple of Rinke Noonan Attorneys at Law of St. Cloud, which represents the watershed district, said the board's October resolution on the lease agreement stands. He also said that it is normal to have one person, mainly the president or the chair of a board, to sign contracts. Ripple said even though the lease agreement has been signed, the board still has to make a final vote on the move. Ripple said there will be legal ramifications for the board on the contract with the Lakeview Center Office building if the managers deny the resolution to move to the new location.

"It wasn't illegal on how you did it," Ripple said. "But it might have been better for you to wait until after the public hearing today, but it was not improper (on how you did it.)"

Hardy, who also discussed leasing space in Merrifield, said, "We're not here to pick a fight with Ken. We're just looking out for our taxpayers and they are wondering if we're looking out for their interests."

Peisch said watershed staff looked at 24 properties with three different real estate agents to find a place for the office to relocate.

"I think we made an effort to find a place," said Peisch. "We shopped for a good location. We're not having budget issues, not like other entities are. We have two years to the good with the money (to pay rent on the lease)."

Al Cibuzar of A.W. Research, who also works for the watershed, said the watershed's past locations have been difficult for people to find. He supported having the watershed office located within the watershed boundaries.

In other business, the board took no action on appointing individuals to the 2010 Advisory Committee. Individuals recommended to sit on the committee were Robert Albrecht, Coralee Fox, Rosemary Franzen, Scott Lucas and Victor Peterson.

Hardy said he wanted to interview the individuals, so he would know who the individuals were before he could vote them into the committee.

JENNIFER STOCKINGER may be reached at jennifer.stockinger@brainerd dispatch.com or 855-5851.