Todd County denies DNR land acquisition

After hearing discussion from Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) personnel and Hartford Township members at their Jan. 17 meeting, the Todd County Board of Commissioners unanimously denied the land acquisition by the DNR of a property located about a mile and a half from Browerville.

Beau Liddell, the area wildlife manager, along with Rick Walsh and Susan Makki, also from the DNR, presented the DNR’s desire to purchase this landlocked parcel.

The parcel is located on County Road 14 and is 9.87 acres.

Liddell said they’ve been working over the past year to acquire the parcel as an addition to the 132 acre Sheets Lake Wildlife Management Area (WMA).

As background, Liddell explained that “WMAs are acquired and developed for purposes of protecting wildlife populations, as well as to provide compatible public recreation, such as hunting, trapping, wildlife-watching and hiking. Other activities such as horse, ATV and OHV riding are prohibited on WMAs.”

The DNR Section of Wildlife “presently manages 30 WMAs in Todd County encompassing about 7,526 acres, or 1.2 percent of the county land base, and has several interests in purchasing this tract as an addition to the Sheets Lake WMA,” wrote Liddell in a letter to the county.

Liddell further said that “the parcel, currently owned by JP Morgan Chase Bank N.A., entered foreclosure and has been vacant since 2012.”

It was argued that the property does not have any legal access, and is bordered on two sides by the WMA. 

“...access to the north end of the WMA has always been poor, acquiring this parcel would enhance public access for recreational purposes, and significantly improve (the) capacity to manage wildlife habitat on that part of the WMA,” wrote Liddell.

It was said that the previous owner was unsuccessful in selling the property prior to foreclosure and that the bank is not currently working with any other buyers.

“Due to the lack of legal access and the overall poor condition of the buildings, it’s highly likely that the property will remain vacant and continue to deteriorate. If the state is allowed to acquire the property, the DNR will pay all costs related to demolishing the buildings and sealing the well. Therefore, we believe that acquiring this property as an addition to the WMA would be the best solution to this situation,” said Liddell.

The DNR requires county approval to purchase the land.

Commissioner David Kircher said members of the Hartford Town Board were present and they were opposed to this sale.

He held discussions with Liddell and the town board on whether or not this was a landlocked property.

Liddell said that the legal description shows the property is landlocked. He said there would be no vehicle access, only on foot.

He added if the property were sold to another buyer, there would be no guaranteed vehicle access to it.

Also, the state was not in a position to provide vehicle access.

Eugene Irsfeld said the road that goes to the property off County Road 14 was kept open to the hay shed.

“We put gravel on it in 2010 because the DNR had torn it up,” said Irsfeld.

Liddell contended the access was never verified.

Walsh said they would have to  show that the access existed since at least 1940 which would be difficult for the bank or the previous owner to prove.

Wayne Carstensen said that the road in question had been used as a bus turn around for years and he had been in the area his whole life.

Liddell said that the WMA areas around this parcel had been purchased in 1963 and 1964.

“It’s still a road. You can’t take it from us just to take it,” said Carstensen.

Liddell said that it may be different if the land was public land or private land.

Carstensen said that they may own the land, but not the road.

“If it was your own road you could tear it up, plow it up, plant it, do whatever you wanted to with it, but that wasn’t done,” said Carstensen.

Makki said the “underlying fee owner would own the road.” The owner could grant easements.

“But there is no legal easement,” said Walsh.

“The intent is not to damage the township. Having legal access to the property would only increase the value of the property,” said Makki.

Commissioner Randy Neumann reminded the DNR members about the county’s 2005 No Net Gain policy.

Liddell said it was not legally binding according to the county attorney’s opinion at the time.

There was some discussion on the taxes that would or would not be paid on the property if the DNR had ownership.

County Assessor Chris Odden said the DNR would pay three quarters of one percent of the assessed value.

Liddell said there is no access easement to the other end of the property either. 

“It (our access) has been solely at the discretion of the landowner on that end. We don’t have access at certain times depending on the time of the year or other factors,” said Liddell.

One of the supervisors for Hartford said he hardly ever saw anyone use the property at any time of the year and he went past it every day. He added he felt it would be a waste of an opportunity for someone to live on the property.

Carstensen said he was “totally against them buying this land. Totally.”

Terry Rickbeil said in the Hartford meeting records, the township was in full support of the No Net Gain Policy and that was the position they were still taking.

Neumann commented to the DNR representatives, “At least you didn’t use Pheasants Forever to back door us on it.”

Neumann made a motion to deny the acquisition and to show support of the township which is against it.

Kircher made the second.

“I usually don’t oppose these kinds of things, but I will respect the wishes of the town board,” said Kircher.

A denial at this point would result in the DNR notifying the bank that they had not been successful.

Makki said the property had been listed since 2010. She said they did not know what the bank would do.

Liddell said in his letter that, “According to the bank’s attorney, it is not uncommon for large, national lenders to allow foreclosed properties such as this to go tax forfeit. If this acquisition isn’t approved and if the property enters tax forfeit status, not only might illegal activity on the tract increase, but the county would only receive an annual administrative PILT payment of $1.50 per acre, or $15 total for the parcel (based on 2016 rates). It’s important to note that if the DNR assumes control of property after going tax forfeit, only the lower administrative PILT would be received in the future as opposed to the higher hunting PILT.”

To this point, the bank has been paying the annual taxes.

Auditor/Treasurer Denise Gaida said that the county has had many calls on this parcel by people interested in purchasing it, but haven’t had clear direction on who to contact.

Kircher said that the big question remained on whether the parcel was landlocked or not. This will likely come before the board again, he added.

By roll call vote, all five commissioners voted to deny the acquisition.

In other business:

o Approved an agreement with Ward Township concerning the project administration, project engineering, construction management, cost participation and future maintenance of the proposed 2017 Ward Township road projects located on 340th St., 275th Ave. and 281st Ave.

o Approved the sale of two county parcels to Long Prairie Packing for $277,185 for two county owned parcels that contain the Sheriff’s Impound Lot, Veteran’s Service Garage and the Sentence to Serve Wood Sale Lot.The county will be leasing the parcels back from Long Prairie Packing until they have their new building(s) in place.

o Directly related to the previous approval of the sale of the lots, the board approved the construction of a building in the Long Prairie Industrial Park. The Todd Wadena Community Corrections Department will relocate the Sentence to Serve Wood Lot to an area located at the Todd County Transfer Station.

County Engineer Loren Fellbaum was appointed the County’s Project Manager with purchasing authority up to $25,000. He said he will use local contractors and suppliers as much as possible.

o Upon the recommendation of the Personnel and Coordinator Hiring Committees the commissioners approved the hire of Joseph Hatch for the County Coordinator position. His start date will be Feb. 27.

o During her report, Auditor/Treasurer Denise Gaida showed a $2.6 million increase in the general fund from the end of 2015 to the end of 2016. The cash balance on Dec. 31, 2016 was $17,132,872.01

Kircher commended the departments for their work on keeping their budgets down to manageable amounts.

“The county isn’t bankrupt. We are working at a good pace and getting our reserves up,” he said.