Serpent Lake district scuttled by county board
The fate of the Serpent Lake Improvement District hung on one commissioner's decision Tuesday at the Crow Wing County Board meeting.
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After the board indicated it was split 2-2 over the issue in July, a decision was postponed until Commissioner Phil Trusty could be present.
The Serpent Lake mascot stood beneath the summer sun Tuesday in Crosby. Brainerd Dispatch/Kelly Humphrey » Purchase reprints of this photo.
"I guess everyone is waiting for me to speak," Trusty said, noting he received numerous calls and e-mails on the question. One caller told Trusty he should make the decision with his heart.
"With my heart, with my gut and with the facts we've got here I want to be comfortable walking out that door and right now I cannot support the LID for Serpent Lake."
In the end, Trusty joined Commissioners Paul Thiede and Doug Houge in denying the petition. Commissioners Rachel Reabe Nystrom and Chairwoman Rosemary Franzen were in favor. It is the first LID petition the board has denied. Six others were previously established and two more are in the process.
A boat went sailing on Serpent Lake Tuesday in Crosby. A resident petition to establish a Serpent Lake Improvement District, largely to combat curly-leaf pondweed in the lake, was denied at the Crow Wing County Board meeting Tuesday. Brainerd Dispatch/Kelly Humphrey » Purchase reprints of this photo.
The district would have put a $50 annual tax on lakeshore property owners to fund efforts combating invasive aquatic species in Serpent Lake with an approved herbicide, particularly to fight curly-leaf pondweed. The district hoped to raise $13,500. The petitioners began their effort when they went before the board in the fall of 2008.
Nystrom said the LID petition met every board requirement. Houge, who represents the Crosby area, said fulfilling all requirements shouldn't mean a petition is automatically approved.
"This isn't about not caring for the lakes," Houge said, adding he thought of it as a fairness issue. Houge contended the DNR should be responsible for the lakes and the cost shouldn't fall back to residents. "I think it's totally the wrong way to approach a serious problem."
At Sibley Lake, Nystrom said a third of the lake was unusable and now the LID is in place and it's working beautifully. Nystrom said it's critical to the area economy and the future that everything is done to preserve lake quality and clarity.
"If we wait for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to step in and step up, by then how much of Serpent Lake will be unusable and the property values and then it's way too late," Nystrom said.
Trusty said, right off the bat, he preferred the petition had more signatures and he wondered about the gap. Petitioners, 174 of 296 property owners on Serpent Lake, requested the district. Volunteers reported putting in hundreds of hours on the petition process.
"Is it the best interest to force somebody else to make a payment?" Trusty said. "If there is a big majority, yes. ... But with these economic times I would like to see the numbers higher of people around the lake that would support it."
Steve Crum, Deerwood, said volunteers went door-to-door with the Serpent Lake petition and missed people who weren't home. Crum said the 62 percent represents a percentage of property owners those volunteers talked to, not the upper limit of those who may be in favor.
"We want to be taxed," Crum said. "It's been overwhelmingly something we do want. We want to be taxed. ... It's a $50 tax. We want to protect our lake. It is so simple."
Tuesday commissioners noted they received e-mails from a few people who wanted to remove their signatures from the petition. Thiede said he would like to see how the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment fund develops and monitor the LIDs that are now in place.
"If it's not illegal, immoral or unethical I intend to support the voters," Franzen said, noting the majority wants the LID. "... They've done absolutely everything we have asked. ... It may be just a Band-Aid until something else comes along, but it's a Band-Aid that's needed. We can't allow these lakes to lose their vitality. ... We are here to represent the people and not our own agendas and the people want this."
Thiede noted he received e-mails from people citing the Founding Fathers and a democratic republic as they referenced Tuesday's vote.
"That doesn't mean we have to vote with 62 percent or 70 percent or 98 percent," Thiede said, adding the board is elected to make judgments. "We're not a democracy, the number of votes cast does not necessarily make the best public policy that's why the Founding Fathers of this country made us a republic.
"... Mob rule has never worked and I just want to be clear that's how I feel passionately about our form of government and why we sit at this table and why I have not been invited back to some positions I have held because I believe I have tried to stand on my principles when I stand for election."
Nystrom said: "Gentlemen when this vote is taken today I don't think you're going to have to worry about other lake improvement districts coming before you. ... You are sending a very clear message not just to the eastern part of this county but to every part of this county that you are not interested in lake improvement districts."
RENEE RICHARDSON may be reached at renee.richardson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5852.