WILLMAR -- After negotiating for 15 months and having a court date on the calendar, the Kandiyohi County Board of Commissioners agreed Tuesday to grant a conditional use permit for Jay Morrell Building Investments LLC to operate a demolition landfill in Roseville Township.
The commissioners had denied the request on Oct. 18, resulting in an appeal by the company to the Minnesota Court of Appeals.
After a closed meeting with Stephen Andersen, an attorney with Ratwik, Roszak and Maloney, the commissioners agreed to settle the issue by granting the company the conditional use permit with a list of conditions.
As part of the conditions for the Class 1 demolition landfill, the county is requesting that no more than 45 loads per week be taken to the site, that only Jay Morrell Building Investment LLC dispose of materials there and that only acceptable materials that are approved by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency be put in the landfill.
Another condition will require the company to allow Roseville Township supervisors onto the site to conduct inspections.
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The township supervisors and residents of the northern Kandiyohi County community had objected to the landfill, in part because of concerns about water contamination to the shallow drinking wells.
Andersen will take the county's offer to the company's attorney. He said it's hoped the company will drop its appeal.
The company must also obtain state and federal permits to operate the landfill.
Also Tuesday, the commissioners took action to assume the responsibilities for building a 16-bed psychiatric hospital in Willmar. The Kandiyohi County and City of Willmar Economic Development Commission had been coordinating the project. The county opted to take over the responsibility after it was discovered the county, and not the EDC, would have to carry the tax-exempt financing for the project.
A site for the residential facility for adult mental health programs has not yet been selected. Once the facility is built, the county will lease it to the state. The hospital is part of the state's plan to close the Willmar Regional Treatment Center and replace it with smaller, community hospitals.
The county will use the same architect and financial institution to obtain funding. But instead of issuing a bond, the county will secure a lease-purchase agreement with Wells Fargo. Once the final payment is made in 16 years, the county will own the building.
In other action Tuesday:
- The commissioners approved a bond sale to Piper Jaffray & Company to refinance 1998 and 1999 bonds for the law enforcement center. The interest rate for the $7.2 million combined bond is 3.91 percent.
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- Recognized Marilynn Tiede for 22 years of volunteer service on the Community Corrections advisory and executive committees. Tiede has retired from the committees.
- Approved easements for a 140-acre wetland restoration project in Gennessee Township called the "squashed frog project" that was conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
- Heard a report on the 2006 activity at the Prairie Lakes Youth Program facility.
