Projects still on hold due to wetlands, By LISA KACZKE, Staff Writer

Of six cease-and-desist orders issued in May and June to International Falls property owners suspected of violating Minnesota wetland laws, one has been rescinded, according to Conservation Officer Darrin Kittelson.

City property owners Steven Bjorkquist, Jim Miggins, Keith Horne and Thor Thompson received cease-and-desist orders in May and June based on suspicion of violating state wetland laws. Kittelson declined to identify two of the six property owners issued the orders because the suspected violations are not as great as others and therefore a mitigation plan is not being developed by Koochiching County Soil and Water Conservation District staff.

Steve Bjorkquist

Bjorkquist, a landowner in International Falls, was issued a cease-and-desist order in June after he started filling in land behind his home.

After SWCD staff visited the site the following week, the order was rescinded because it fell under the de minimus exemption of 10,000 square feet, he said.

Jim Miggins

Miggins’ expansion of his International Falls business is at a standstill, he said.

Half of the property he had proposed to expand upon is wetlands and unusable, he said after meeting with staff from Benchmark, a consulting firm hired by International Falls to assist property owners with wetlands regulations.

Miggins said he is now waiting for the Koochiching Soil and Water Conservation District to develop a restoration plan.

If he wants to expand the business further, he will have to buy more land, he said.

Thor Thompson

The order issued to Thompson at the Rainy Lake Marine building on Highway 53 in June has not be rescinded, he said. Monthly meetings have been held to discuss it, but nothing has changed, he said.

Thompson’s project is completed, so the order has not delayed work.

However, prior to completion of project three years ago, it was given an OK from a former district technician with the Koochiching SWCD, he said. A soil survey of the land below the building was conducted prior to construction, he said, noting that the information from the survey has been passed on to International Falls officials.

Staff from Benchmark visited the site before Thompson received the cease-and-desist order and they have visited once since the order was issued, he said.

Thompson said he hopes the issue is resolved as soon as possible because all work there, such as parking lot maintenance, is on hold because of the order.