Ayres: County can do better job with plat reviews

Otter Tail County

By Tom Hintgen (Contact) | The Daily Journal

Published Monday, October 27, 2008

Jim Ayres

Jim Ayres, District 5 county board candidate that includes most of Fergus Falls, believes that being a county commissioner is about providing good service to the residents of Otter Tail County.

“I’ve lived a life of service by providing landowners with 32-plus years of conservation assistance on their land, helping them to improve and protect their natural resources,” he said. “I managed all of the USDA conservation programs for 1/7 of the state of Minnesota and administered, on average, a $5 million a year cost-share program.”

Ayres said he also managed an approximate payroll and benefits package totaling close to $3 million a year.

During the past 18 years he managed 17 offices in a 14-county area and directly supervised 50 NRCS employees in promoting the protection of soil and water resources. Ayres was directly responsible for providing all of the technical, administrative and financial assistance to those 50 employees as their assistant state conservationist for field operations.

“I’ve had over 32 years of extensive work experience with a multitude of federal, state and county units of government while working in Wisconsin, Nevada and Minnesota,” he said. “For all of these reasons, this is why I feel I would be able to do a good job of serving the residents of Otter Tail County.”

He believes the county can do a much better job by doing up front plat reviews and preliminarily lake shore plats by working with developers prior to the county board taking action.

“Our GIS department is one of the best in the state and I believe developers need to sit down with our GIS folks and review the potential development areas prior to submitting a plat proposal,” he said.

Ayres said that sensitive areas and erosional (steep) areas should not be allowed to have a lot proposed on those areas.

“One size does not fit all,” he said. “Each lot should be proposed on its ability to support a septic tank and filter field. There should be a minimal size set based on the soils capability to support a housing unit. If developers work with the GIS department, prior to submitting their proposed for plats, there will be a much greater chance that the plat process will be smoother for both parties — and the chance of approval much greater. We must start using our land according to its capabilities.”

He believes it would be prudent to have a certain level of county wide zoning as an overall umbrella for all 62 of Otter Tail townships.

“This would provide much needed consistency within the 62 townships while still allowing the townships to have even more restrictive zoning if they so desire,” he said. “That way, landowners would have consistent treatment from township to township.”

He said that, at present, each township board is struggling with allowable housing unit densities and there are inconsistencies. Many other Minnesota counties have county wide zoning, says Ayres, and it helps in assisting with land use decisions.

“I feel that treating every resident the same with what they can or can't do with their property is important. Everyone needs to be treated equally regardlessly of which township they live in.”

Ayres supports hiring a feedlot officer as a good step in preserving the livestock industry in Otter Tail County.

“The MPCA operates from a regulatory role position and is much less farmer friendly,” he said. “A feedlot officer would work collaboratively with the two OTC SWCD's and NRCS to help landowners solve their nutrient and pollution problems.”

This same feedlot officer, he said, would help livestock producers meet the requirements being imposed by the state and regulated by the MPCA so they could remain in operation.

“The MPCA does not provide technical assistance to landowners to help correct their current pollution problems. MPCA staff just evaluate and cite producers who are in non compliance.”

Ayres said a feedlot officer would be available to provide technical assistance to landowners and help them to get into compliance in a proactive, helpful mode. He says the county needs to help its livestock operators remain or get into compliance so they can continue to be a viable part of our local economy.

“Another reason that I'm also in favor of the feedlot officer is Otter Tail County will be able to leverage state dollars to pay for the position, thus costing the county taxpayers little or nothing,” he said. “With shrinking state allocations, I believe the commissioners need to continually look at leveraging additional outside dollars and seek out grants where available.”