News from the Rum River Watershed

Development in Isanti County

Volume #2 Issue #6
November/December 2006

Contents:
• This Issue: Three Perspectives on Development
in Isanti County
• Vision/Mission Statements of NRRW and FRR
• Signing up for the NRRW newsletter
• Internet link to the NRRW newsletter A new water tower near the Rum

Upcoming Issues:
• January/February: Special Creativity Issue!
• March/April: Phenology! On the Timing of Things
• May/June: Environmental Groups in the Rum River Watershed and Neighboring Watersheds

From the Editor:

How will we cope as the world’s population approaches 7 billion, or even the 9 billion predicted
within our lifetimes? How do we maintain the agricultural and natural resources necessary to
sustain life, given such population pressures? Do we control population pressure by giving in to
allowing genocide or letting other people populations become devastated by hunger and
disease? I am sure none of us really think so – but what is the solution?

I didn’t pose these questions in exactly this form to the following three writers. I only asked them
to analyze the impact of development on Isanti County from their own vantage-points. This
editorial just crystallized as I was trying to fall asleep tonight – and couldn’t! You know how that
goes. But, these are the concerns I think we all need to address in some way or another in our
personal lives.

I think even more important than “saving the world” is each person’s personal battle and victory
in working to figure things out and act where he or she is. We may not be able to solve the
problems of the whole world, but in solving some of our own challenges at the personal and
local level, the world will benefit. Remember, each little watershed ties into a larger one, and the
largest one of all is our Earth.

As Hillary Clinton once said… “It takes a village…”

Working on Industrial Park #3

in Cambridge
News from the Rum River Watershed November/December 2006 2

Views from the Community

John Schlagel
John Schlagel is well known throughout the Isanti County community – most often seen
washing up the dishes at the numerous community fundraisers held at the Christ the King
Parish Hall in Cambridge. He was responsible for founding and developing “Schlagel Inc.”, and
in his retirement does such things as sit on the Cambridge City Council and, on the side, has
posed for a calendar…

When Kriste Ericsson contacted me about writing this article, I asked her what she was wanted
the article to cover. She asked that I write the article from the viewpoint of being an elected city
official and how I view the following:

• The advantages and disadvantages of development

• Development in general
• How development affects the environment and the health of our watershed area

So to start off, I am a member of the city council in Cambridge. Please keep in mind as you
read this that I am NOT speaking for the Cambridge city council nor the City of Cambridge. I
am only giving my personal opinions.

When a city official is elected, they take an oath of office. A condensed version of that oath is:
“I solemnly swear to support the Constitution of the United States, the Constitution of the State
of Minnesota, and to discharge faithfully the duties of the office of this city to the best of my
judgment and ability, so help me God.”

From the League of Minnesota Cities handbook you will find the following: “Council members
should devote their official time to problems of basic policy and act as liaisons between the city
and the general public. Council members should be concerned, not only with the conduct of
daily affairs, but also with the future development of the city.”

So what does this mean? To me it means that I am responsible to the City of Cambridge first, in
accordance with the laws of our nation and our state. If I was a township supervisor then I
would be responsible to my township first, in accordance with the laws of our nation and our
state. Neither of these mean that an elected official shouldn’t also look at the “bigger picture”,
indeed we should.

The advantages and disadvantages of development.

If you think about where you or others you know work and shop, the most likely answer will be in
a city. For thousands of years cities have been the centers for areas such as trade, education,
and health care. The higher densities of both population and land use in cities create a natural
attraction for these. A rule of thumb for non-Metro counties is that 2/3rds of the population
chooses to live in a rural area and 1/3rd in an urban (city) area. Even if you choose to live in a
rural area, you would find it difficult to live without the amenities and jobs a city provides.

Most every city wants to attract businesses and, if they are large enough, will devote some city
staff time towards this. Some cities do actively work to attract residential development but
normally this only occurs because the city is in an area that is losing population.

In Minnesota, for every dollar value of your home, a business typically pays 50% more in
property tax for that same dollar value. This means that if you paid $2,000 in property taxes, a
business worth the exact same amount as your home would pay $3,000. That same business
will normally have much less service needs than the residential home so you can see why most
News from the Rum River Watershed November/December 2006 3

everyone wants to attract businesses. To attract the typical business you need to have a labor
force (employees) and customers. This means that business and residential development
normally occur together.

Development in general.
When a typical development occurs, the developer contacts city staff to find out things like
zoning, access to water and sewer, building requirements, etc. This is true whether it is a
residential, commercial, or industrial development. The developer is only looking to build
because of a real or perceived need. The staff gives the developer the information based on
the various local and state requirements. There is no involvement by elected officials (city
council) or appointed officials (planning commission) until later in the process.

Suppose you wanted to build a $160,000 house and you went to the appropriate government
unit in charge of zoning and planning in your area. Let’s say you are told the following:

• There will be a $2,770 building permit fee

• There will be a $1,560 park dedication fee
• There will be a $2,163 sewer access charge and a $1,958 water access charge
• You must provide a complete set of drawings, including showing where water drainage
from your property will go and that it won’t harm other property owners
• Etc., etc., etc. (there will be LOTS of etcs.)

So you leave mad, confused, and frustrated. You complain about the bureaucracy of it all, that
they are just trying to get rich, that they don’t want development, and finally “I am going to build
someplace else!” I only use this example so you can see that if you make things more
restrictive and expensive than other communities, then you as a community are not competitive
and you probably will not attract development. It also means that you as an elected official or
government employee have a fine line to walk and it always comes down to some type of
compromise between money, environment, and personal freedom.

How development affects the environment and the health of our watershed area.
It may exist but I cannot think of how any development cannot have a negative effect on the
environment and our watershed. This is true for any development, be it commercial, residential,
farming, and so on. If you live along a river or lake, is that water really better off because you
and other houses built next to it? If you build a house or business and have rain running off it
and your driveway or parking area, where do you think the water finally ends up? Do you think
the entire state of Minnesota should be the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness? If you
think development is just bad, do you think the state or federal government is going to pass a
law forbidding development?

When a county, township, or city official is elected, I am not aware of any mandatory training or
existing experience required that will help them in carrying out their duties. If you are willing and
able, you can attend workshops, where you can learn more about specific subjects. You can try
to be proactive and visionary but this almost always takes money (taxes) and will result in some
loss of personal freedom (no, you can’t just do whatever you want.)

To me, public opinion is really the main influence as to what we as elected officials do. If the
public says we need to do a better job protecting the environment, then most likely that will
indeed happen. If the public says nothing, then we will assume things must be okay.

I think a great example of “public opinion” was when the lake associations near Cambridge
complained about city development occurring near their respective lakes. While they may still
feel frustrated, they still brought about change. The City of Cambridge did adopt higher
News from the Rum River Watershed November/December 2006 4

standards than required by the state, and elected officials and staff are more knowledgeable
about the issue.

I will end by restating the two most important things I wrote in this article.

• Public opinion is really the main influence

• It always comes down to some type of compromise between money, environment, and
personal freedom

George Johnson
George Johnson is a developer par excellence in the Cambridge area. He is also co-founder
and on the board of READ Ministries, a group which helps churches in the Ukraine establish
libraries of religious literature used by ministers and the public. As a hobby he lends a hand
providing building materials for log cabins at Trout Lake Camp, located north of Lake Mille Lacs.

In 2005 the City of Cambridge commissioned the demographer most frequently used by
commercial developers and leading retailers to study the future growth potential of the greater
Cambridge area retail market, and area that includes Pine, Kanabec and Isanti Counties, and
portions of Mille Lacs, Anoka and Chisago Counties. The report projected substantial growth
over the next decade.

Households in the retail trade area have increased steadily over the past thirty years. This
trend continued between 2000 and 2004 when households increased from 30,749 to 36,430,
and annual growth rates of 4.33%. Between 2004 and 2009, households are expected to
increase to 46,105, a growth rate of 4.82 percent. Beyond 2009 growth will continue.

Residential growth drives the need for infrastructure such as water, sewer, storm drainage as
well as schools, medical, professional and other services. Developers need to know as much as
possible about future growth trends to determine when a market is ready to support a particular
kind of business.

People often ask “when we will have an Olive Garden, Red Lobster, Kohl’s, or Best Buy?”

The answer is, “As soon as the market can support it. We’re getting closer.” Office Max is
building now. County Market is changing to a full-blown CUB. Isanti has some very choice
commercial sites. Some of the commercial development that will be serving this area will locate
in Isanti. A new McDonalds and motel are on the drawing board and new banks are opening
soon in Isanti. There will be more commercial development in both Cambridge and Isanti.

Commercial development is significant because that segment of the economy yields far more
tax revenue than the costs of servicing. Communities with little commercial tax base will have
fewer services or higher taxes or both.

On the other hand, residential development has a negative tax/cost ratio. It generally costs more
to provide services from the Cities, Townships, County and School District than the residential
sector provides. A community that has a large, growing commercial sector alleviates tax burden
on its residents, and provides the funds needed for services that would not otherwise be
available.

Cambridge also has a very substantial industrial sector. THE CAMBRIDGE BUSINESS
DEVELOPMENT COMPANY was established in 1956, just 50 years ago. This group of
interested community leaders have acquired three different industrial parks and provided the
foundation for steady growth in good manufacturing jobs for the region. Industry not only
provides much needed tax base, but our manufacturing jobs provide the source of revenue to
News from the Rum River Watershed November/December 2006 5

sustain the economy as a whole. Every manufacturing job supports several jobs in the service,
education and professional sectors.

In recent years the cities of Cambridge and Isanti have worked to develop provide sites and
other support for industrial growth. That planning has paid off with a steadily growing industrial
sector. Two new industrial buildings are under construction in Cambridge. Each will bring new
jobs and families to the area to sustain a steady, healthy growth.

Some of the earlier industries to come to Cambridge were Schlagel Inc., TEAM Industries,
VanPro, Cambridge Metal and Plastics, Arrow Tank, and Utility Chemical. These all started with
three to six employees. Today these and other industries in Cambridge provide thousands of
jobs and millions of dollars in payroll that flows through the entire local economy.

Environmental Impact
Is development polluting our rivers and lakes? Fortunately the DNR and the cities that issue
permits for development are looking after the environment. Developers are required to provide
erosion control, adequate sewage disposal and to manage rainwater run-off to prevent negative
impact on the ecosystem. Everywhere you see significant residential, commercial or industrial
development you are likely to see a either a natural holding pond or a man-made pond that has
been designed into the project to control run-off. The ponds function to control the flow of run-
off, thus preventing overburdening of city storm water systems. They also serve as settling
ponds, allowing the heavier contaminates to sink so the run-off that finds its way to our rivers
and streams is cleaner.

County Economic Development Authority

Some of the choicest industrial sites in Isanti County are not in any incorporated city. Some
industry needs rail siding. All industry needs good all-weather roads, and adequate water for fire
protection. The incorporated cities cannot provide those infrastructure needs outside of their
corporate limits.

It is very gratifying to know that Isanti County is moving toward the establishment of a County
E.D.A. The County can now participate in nurturing the growth of industry and jobs in an orderly
and controlled fashion that also protects our quality of life.

Some observations by Aldo Leopold:

“We Americans have not yet experienced a bearless, wolfless, eagleless, catless woods.
We yearn for more deer and more pines, and we will probably get them. But do we
realize that to get them, as the Germans have, at the expense of their wild environment
and their wild enemies, is to get very little indeed?” (1936) – 7\

Leopold, Aldo. 1936. Naturschutz in Germany. Birdlore 38:102-111.

In September (of 1936) Leopold took a pack trip along the Rio Gavilán in the Chihuahua
sierra of northern Mexico. “It was here that I first clearly realized that land is an
organism, that all my life I had seen only sick land, whereas here was a biota still in
perfect aboriginal health. The term ‘unspoiled wilderness’ took on a new meaning.”

Leopold, Aldo. Forward. Unpublished manuscript, Aldo Leopold papers, Series 6,

Box 17. University Archives, University of Wisconsin, Madison.
News from the Rum River Watershed November/December 2006 6

George Wimmer
George Wimmer is a relative new-comer to Isanti County, but has become very active at the
local level, participating on the Isanti City Council, and now mayor-elect for that City. He was
once co-chair of the Isanti/Cambridge Bike/Walk Trail Committee, and tells me he was a
sponsor for the Artic Plunge Fund Raiser (the what?!! Tell us more, George!)

Isanti County is a partially blank canvas that many developers, cities, property owners and the
County Government are all painting on. One may paint a residential development here and an
industrial park there with a commercial zone thrown in. Developers and private business need to
maximize profits and landowners are looking to cash out and live off of the nest egg they have
been nurturing. The City and County Governments are trying to plan for “sustainable
development”.

That term “sustainable development” is difficult to define. When we add environmental concerns
to the mix it gets even tougher. I have been working on the Isanti City Council and Planning
Commission as we have been shaping our comprehensive plan. Areas of land are being zoned
as residential, industrial, commercial, public/semi-public and open-space/wetland.

The tough part is open space, including wetlands, which may affect landowner’s property value.
This is where government entities have to put their money where the priorities are. There are
numerous programs I will not go into at this point that help compensate landowners for property
left in a natural state.

Now we are back to that pesky term of “sustainable development.” The City of Isanti is currently
not land-locked by other municipalities. This has opened up a wide range of territory to develop.
The only current boundaries are the lines of demarcation with Cambridge and the Rum River.
The Rum could be crossed but the cost is prohibitive. This has lead to some expansion to the
north and south of the City core and dramatic potential future growth to the east of Highway 65.
The limit on growth is currently viewed in light of the sewer and water capacity standard.

Sustainable growth must be married to a livable community. We could easily put row after row
of high density housing along our streets. It would be easy to service and maintain. This,
however, would not be a livable community. That type of city would eventually crumble under its
own weight.

A livable community must incorporate open space and bring balance to our need for housing
and the natural environment around us. Any future development must provide a functioning
ecosystem that helps protect our drinking water and natural resources.

Isanti is blessed with several brooks that flow through the city to the Rum River. This gives nice
natural buffers between some developments. We need to extend and increase these natural
areas throughout the city and especially as we grow east of Highway 65.

As a city, Isanti can work with developers to create model developments. An example would be
light commercial development abutting County Road 5, blending into town homes, with open
space and wildlife corridors buffering single family homes. The open spaces and wildlife
corridors need to connect throughout the city of Isanti and eventually meet up with the Rum
River. This is a working example of sustainable development.

Having open-space abut residential areas will help maintain property values. This leads us into
a critical part of sustainable communities. A city or county must generate enough of a tax base
to pay for the services needed by residents. Commercial and industrial development provides
the majority of this tax base in a financially healthy community. Commercial and industrial
development can also do their part to ensure ecologically sound practices. Rain gardens, green
roofs and renewable energy sources can all be part of sustainable business development.
 News from the Rum River Watershed November/December 2006 7

We need to remember that once a building is constructed, that parcel of land will more than
likely never be reverted to open space again. Ensuring open spaces today will not only protect
our environment but will also have strong financial benefits by maintaining property values. We
must always keep in mind what we want our community to look like for generations to come.

In the 1940s an older and wiser Leopold understood that the preservation of a few
museum pieces is not enough. He challenged us to a radical change in our thinking.

As we all know, the first rule in successful tinkering is to save all the parts. Wilderness
may be an uneconomic part, but it is not unimportant. “(R)aw wilderness,” wrote Leopold,
gives definition and meaning to human enterprise.” (see page 8 for citation.)

Now accepting submissions for our

Annual Creativity Issue!

Coming out in January/February 2007

We take submissions from all readers –
anything that can be put in a newsletter –
drawings, photos, prose and poetry –
you name it!

We have eight pages – if submissions snowball, we’ll

look for a place to include yours in upcoming issues.

Submissions due by January 7, 2007.

For more information contact
Kriste at [email protected].

A Couple of Definitions from the Internet

Sustainable Development: Development that meets the needs of present generations without compromising
the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Development that is not detrimental to earth’s
natural resources, or one which makes the use of renewable energy sources such as wind energy or solar
energy.
www.csbsju.edu/environmentalstudies/curriculum/greenbuildingplan/Green%20Building%20Plan%20p12.htm

Open Space: An undeveloped piece of land adding ecological, scenic or recreational value to an urban area.
Open space can be public or private. Examples include forests, marshes and wildlife sanctuaries.
www.opb.org/programs/oregonstory/land_trusts/glossary/

The main objective of a two-day conference in Paraguay, South America, was to clarify the difference in
the meanings of the two Spanish words ‘sustenable’ and ‘sustenible’, and determine which would be the
better word to use when dealing with development issues. “What is the American opinion?” – I was asked.

“Well, actually we have only one word to use for both in English….” I replied … KE - 2001
 News from the Rum River Watershed November/December 2006 8

Friends of the Rum River meeting: PANCAKE BRUNCH!! Saturday, January 13, 10:00 –
Noon, K-BOBs Cafe in Princeton (109 RumRiver Drive, or Main Street) This month special
speaker will be Len Price, Executive Director of the “Minnesota Conservation Corps”!! He will
speak on their work with youth throughout Minnesota, and we hear provide suggestions on how
their group can dovetail projects with FRR in the future! If you can’t make the morning meeting,
join us after for a hike along the Rum River in Pioneer Park, south of the bridge in Princeton,
down to the Princeton Middle School. Weather-permitting, we may even ski and snowshoe the
Rum! For more details contact Kriste at [email protected], 612-309-5838.

“(A) system of conservation based only on economic self-interest is hopelessly lopsided. It

tends to ignore, and thus eventually to eliminate, many elements in the land community that
lack commercial value…. It assumes falsely, I think, that the economic parts of the biotic clock
will function without the uneconomic parts.” Aldo Leopold, in the essay “The Land Ethic”

Leopold, Aldo, 1970: A Sand County Almanac: With Essays on Conservation from Round
River. Sierra Club/Ballantine Books, NewYork, New York. Original work published in 1949
and 1953. (Also source of quote on page 7.)*

*All quotes regarding Leopold in this issue of NRRW were obtained from Craig W. Allen’s essay,
The Leopold Legacy and American Wilderness, pp.25-38, found in:
Thomas Tanner, Ed. 1995. Aldo Leopold: The Man and His Legacy. Soil and Water
Conservation Society, Ankeny, Iowa. 50th Anniversary Edition, 175 pp.

Mission Statement:
To provide a base of knowledge that we can use to make wise decisions concerning the
Rum River Watershed, and to preserve, enhance, and enjoy its resources.

Vision Statement
To improve our ability to care for the Rum River Watershed
and all of the associated watersheds that make up the
Mississippi River system.

Contact Information:
Kriste Ericsson, Editor, PO Box 82, Grandy, MN 55029
[email protected]

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Online link to the newsletter:

www.millelacsswcd.org/water_group_news.htm

Cornfield targeted for development