Trial opens in wetlands violation case
On trial Tuesday for violating a DNR-issued cease and desist order concerning a wetland he is accused of filling in Garrison Township to make a road, Father Steven Solors reiterated claims that the state of Minnesota has no authority over his property.
"I'm not aware of any evidence demonstrated to me that the land had been granted to the state," Solors said in the opening remarks of his trial on the misdemeanor charge.
Solors represented himself in the trial.
John Sausen, Crow Wing County assistant attorney, said the authority lies within Minnesota statute, which states the commissioner of the DNR shall enforce all laws pertaining to groundwater, wetlands and waters in the state of Minnesota.
"There's the jurisdiction," Sausen said.
Steven Solors
Sausen called three witnesses to the stand: Julie Olson, a DNR wetlands enforcement specialist; Greg Verkuilen, a DNR conservation officer; and James Chamberlin with the Crow Wing County Soil and Water District.
Solors, 50, of Deer River, is a priest at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Ball Club in northern Minnesota. In 2006 he started constructing a Christian resource center, what he calls the Blessed Sacrament Center, in Garrison Township, but never obtained a storm water permit from the state or a building permit from the county.
The witnesses testified Tuesday that Solors filled in a wetland to create a road without getting a permit, without seeking other options or seeking an appeal. He was issued a restoration order from CWCSWD and a cease and desist order from the DNR. Across both he wrote: "Your documents are timely refused for cause without dishonor to me."
Solors never questioned the state's witnesses and several times stated he challenged the subject matter jurisdiction of the court.
Crow Wing County Judge David Ten Eyck made no ruling Tuesday and said he would take the matter under advisement with a decision to come in a timely manner.
Solors faces two other misdemeanor charges - violating the county's zoning ordinance and violating a cease and desist order - relating to the building he is constructing on his Garrison Township property.
Ten Eyck said those cases would be put on the court's calendar for trial as soon as possible. Solors said his defense would be the same: that the court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over his property.
In U.S. District Court in November Solors filed a civil lawsuit against several county and state officials claiming they are interfering with his land projects.
In the suit, Solors argued the defendants were members of a foreign state and are attempting to coerce him into following statutes, rules and regulations foreign to Solors and his private property. He said by doing so they were violating protections guaranteed by the Fourth, Fifth and 10th Amendments of the Constitution.
Solors seeks a judgment that no further interference be made to his land project. The case is scheduled to be heard by the court in early 2009.
MATT ERICKSON may be reached at matt.erickson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5857.