Koochiching County’s sewer treatment ordinance is moving towards adoption after a changes were made to a draft of the ordinance during a public hearing Tuesday.
County Coordinator Teresa Jaksa questioned whether the board could approve an ordinance after making changes to it during a public hearing. Jaksa said she was concerned about the process the board was using and recommended the ordinance be open for review by the public as a result of the changes.
The point of the public hearing was to hear comment from the public, Jaksa said. If the board is changing the ordinance, then the public is not commenting on an updated version of the ordinance, she said.
Environmental Services Director Richard Lehtinen said he believed there was not a legal issue with the board adopting the ordinance directly following a public hearing when changes were made. He recommended the board adopt the ordinance Tuesday as it was amended during the public hearing.
Commissioners also noted that there were no public comments on the ordinance. The board agreed to wait until its Aug. 26 meeting to adopt the ordinance to give the public the opportunity to comment on the changes made.
The ordinance at issue is the county’s subsurface sewage treatment system ordinance, which the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is requiring the county to adopt by Sept. 1, according to Lehtinen. If adopted, this will be the first sewage treatment ordinance adopted by the county. If the county misses the deadline, it is expected to not receive some funding, according to Chairman Wade Pavleck.
Written by the staff in the county’s Environmental Services Department, the ordinance follows state law and brings the county into compliance with the state, Lehtinen said.
A requirement outlined in the ordinance is a time line to replace systems that are failing. If a system poses an imminent threat, such as sewage leaking into the ground or water, the homeowner must halt sewage discharge within 10 days to prevent the further backup of sewage. The homeowner then has 45 days to submit a replacement or repair plan to the Environmental Services Department.
A second requirement is a permit for major repairs such as drain field or tank replacement. A permit will not be required for minor repairs. Pavleck said he was concerned that if a permit is required, there is a possibility that the homeowner won’t fix the problem.
The new requirement in the ordinance also affects holding tanks. After the ordinance goes into affect, homeowners installing tanks will be required to have a contract with a maintainer for the removal and proper disposal of the sewage.

Koochiching County Board news notes
• The Koochiching County Board set 6 p.m. Sept. 10 in the Ranier Community Building for a public hearing on the proposal to extend sewer east of Jackfish Bay.
Commissioner Chuck Lepper said he has received requests for sewer along Highway 11 West and plans to organize public meetings to discuss the requests.
• The board agreed to change its policy to not allow vacation of roads that lead to public waters. The board discussed the policy after it received a request from a resident to vacate a road that was a public access to water. The board then denied the request for road vacation.
As a part of the discussion, Commissioner Kallie Briggs said she would like the board to consider creating an inventory of the public accesses to the water in the county.
• The board reviewed the results of the August timber auction. During the auction, 18,393 cords were sold for a total auction sale value of $478,761. The total sale aspen price range was between $13.77 and $38.06. The average price for aspen was $29.42. The average of all species sold was $26.02.
• The board approved in a 4-1 vote the filling of a full-time public health nurse position in the Public Health Department. Chairman Wade Pavleck voted against the motion, stating the “tough” financial situation the county is expected to face as the reason.
• The board heard that the Lake of the Woods Soil and Water Conservation District technician is expecting to assist the Koochiching SWCD while it transitions to a new district technician. Ryan Heinen, technician with the Koochiching SWCD, resigned.
• The board approved Steve Lindberg to serve on the International Falls Convention and Visitors Bureau Board of Directors.