By MaryHelen Swanson

Multiple groups involved in studying the future of Chisago County are finding out one important thing - that they have much in common.

That commonality would be the preservation of the good life in this rural, but growing, community.

Last week, a group calling themselves the Gateway Community Work Group, appeared before the county commissioners.

Partnered with the group calling themselves Chisago Taxpayers for Responsible Land Use, these people have come up with some ideas for the future care of the county they wanted to share with those preparing the revision of the countyís comprehensive plan.

Another group, the Land Use Steering Committee, which was commissioned by the county board to prepare a revised comprehensive plan, has been working for almost a year now on that revised document.

On hand last week from the Gateway group were Bill Neumann, Jeremy Kalin and Wade Vitalis.

Neumann talked about the positives and negatives surrounding growth in the St. Croix Valley. He said there was a lot of unplanned development in the area and that in 2001, the St. Croix was considered one of the most scenically threatened rivers.

Kalin reminded the commissioners that Chisago County is considered a top county for day trip destinations and that tourism plays an important role in the economy of the area.

Kalin summed up the Gateway groupís concerns in three Cs: communication, compensation and conservation.

The Gateway groups says it wants ìto protect and save open space while enhancing the value of rural land and the natural physical and environmental qualities of Chisago County.î

To do this they encourage cluster development and the use of transfer of development rights (TDR).

Following are the ideas the Gateway group wanted shared with the county planning commission and comp plan steering committee:
ï expansion of the TDR program countywide (currently it is only used in the Chisago Lakes school district area);

ï facilitating the viability of a TDR program by establishing a public or private non-profit TDR bank;

ï pursuing flexibility in density ratios and minimum lot sizes beyond those currently available to enhance the contribution to open space creation that innovative clustering patterns can achieve; and

ï innovating creative ways to provide financial incentives and volunteer opportunities for preserving open space such as, but not limited to, annual payments to farmers or other large tract landowners who agree, for a predetermined period, not to sell their land for development and, where appropriate, allowing the needed time for public and non-profit interests to generate viable funding for purchase of development rights or conservation easements.

Julie Runkel, Chisago Countyís on-staff planner, said the steering committee has addressed most of the groupís issues.

She said the steering committee is planning to wrap up its work in August. Runkel said she believes the outcome of all the groups will be similar.

The information the Gateway group has provided, she said, can be submitted to the steering committee, but there will not be any more public input meetings right now.

She also noted that a big meeting is coming up in September during which the steering committeeís research and conclusions will be shared.
The commissioners accepted the Gateway groupís report and agreed to forward it on to the steering committee.

In other business, the commissioners:

ïDiscussed and heard a presentation on County Based Purchasing (CBP) for the Health and Human Services Department. Director David Sainio said moving the county to CBP would be a big step and the process needs to be completely thought out. CBP would allow the county to purchase services for public assistance clients while allowing for more flexibility in how the money is spent. Sainio noted that $17 million flows in to the county for client assistance programs. The presentation was from Metropolitan Health Plan, a not-for-profit, state-certified health maintenance organization, and enterprise initiative of Hennepin County. They provide third party administrative services to four metropolitan counties and eight outstate counties under the name PrimeWest. The board adopted a resolution to advance with the study of the CBP system. The county needs to let the state know it is considering such a change in service systems.

ï Approved hiring an additional appraiser to the assessorís office. The need arises, according to assessor John Keefe, from a mandate from Chisago City that the county does a complete reassessment of properties this year and issues raised during discussion with state revenue department staff concerning the countyís assessment practices and procedures. County Administrator John Moosey said if the county doesnít do the appraisals right, the state will come in a do them at a potential cost of a half to three-quarter million dollars.

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