BACKUS - Cass and Crow Wing County Boards shared information Monday on a variety of topics at a joint meeting at the land department building in Backus.
Crow Wing Sheriff Todd Dahl and Cass Sheriff Randy Fisher reported the shared jail operation in Brainerd is running smoothly after nearly a year of operation.
Fisher said Cass deputies and Lake Shore and Pillager police appreciate being able to book prisoners into jail in Brainerd, saving the former long drive to Walker. Dahl said he has not found any other two counties in the nation who share a jail like Cass and Crow Wing do.
Cass Administrator Robert Yochum said his county is waiting for Minnesota DNR and the U.S. Forest Service to complete their trail plans before seeking increased all-terrain vehicle fees to cover trail maintenance like the state collects for snowmobiles.
Crow Wing Commissioner Paul Thiede said his county has had numerous delays from Mark Carey, whose firm is working on a juvenile detention survey for the county. He hopes to push the firm to make its report in early April rather than May.
While Crow Wing County has had a policy of retaining its landfill capacity for in-county residents, Thiede said he would not close the door totally in the future if Cass wants to consider the landfill as one of several options before Cass' current solid waste contract runs out in 2012.
He said one thing Crow Wing must consider, however, is the fact Cass is not the only neighboring county to have expressed an interest in bringing garbage to Crow Wing's landfill.
Both boards are looking at future needs for land to be used for spreading septage pumped from private septic tanks.
Cass ESD Director John Sumption said, if people maintained their individual sewage treatment systems by pumping as often as they should, there would be twice as much septage collected as is today.
Crow Wing County has been able to replace more government survey corner markers than Cass has, though neither board was certain of the percentage of actual monuments currently in place. Having corner monuments in each township section lowers private survey costs.
Yochum reported the Farm Services Administration will fly over both counties this year to create new aerial photographic maps, which will be available to the public in 2009.
Bill Brown reported on the progress for creating a buffer zone around Camp Ripley by the federal government offering easements or land purchases to willing current landowners.
He said there are 110,000 acres in the buffer around the 66-mile long perimeter. So far, 175 landowners representing 25,628 acres have expressed an interest in participating.
The Army Compatible Use Buffer around Ripley is unique in the nation. Brown said it is designed to discourage residential development in the area where noise, dust and smoke can travel outside the camp training area.
To Subscribe to the Brainerd Dispatch, Click Here.
Note: Comments are not edited and don't represent the views of The Brainerd Dispatch. Please read our posting rules in the terms of service policy. To report a post that may be inappropriate, click the triangle alert icon.
