Working for the County

I am proud to be a part of the positive change the Winona County team has made since I took office. The board sets the vision and goals; the staff gets us there. 

Check the facts.

Winona County Achievements since 2009.

      

Reduced tax levy trend every year since elected, reversing 15 years of increases. 
2010 : 0%, 2011: - .83%, 2012: -  4%    

From  '00 - '09, our county saw an 86% increase in the Levy! Had we not addressed our structural deficit and worked to reverse this trend, Winona County property taxes would have increased 7.7% every year.

 Reduced annual structural deficit from $2M+ to less than $500,000, with reductions continuing. 

      Done while adding on to our County Office Building, which generated local jobs and improved service to citizens in a difficult economy.

  Reduced the size of our County Government by 35+ FTE positions (w/o layoffs or reduction in services). Consolidated departments (from 23 to 13).  

        Improved efficiencies. Cross-trained employees.

v  Implemented the LEAN model (process improvement), resulting in $150,000+ yearly savings from 7 projects.

v  Adopted a new zoning ordinance that reduced variances in favor of CUP's for greater flexibility (building on less than 40 acres) and planned development.

v  Adopted a Silica sand mining CUP, for intensive use mines, that balances economic development with road use and environmental protection.

v  Cooperated with Fillmore Co with a shared Community Services Director. Incorporated

E-Docs (computer software) leading to more cooperation among counties.

 

Association of MN Counties (AMC):

My Leadership positions in the Association of MN Counties (AMC) show the confidence fellow commissioners have in me.

Ø  AMC Board of Directors; Chair Environment & Nat’l Resource Policy Committee; District 9 Vice Director; Past Vice Chair Agricultural & Rural Issues Advisory Committee

Ø  FUTURES Task Force member: Statewide Think Tank of County leaders bringing forward ideas to redesign government.

Ø  Greater MN Advisory Panel (GMAP) (1 of 3 Commissioners on the panel) Panel made up of Local Gov’t, Legislators, and Governor’s Office.

AGRICULTURE & BUSINESS LEADERSHIP

v  Co-Own 5th Generation Family Farm

§ Purebred Beef Cattle Producer

§ Agriculture Products Export Co.

v  Minnesota Agriculture & Rural

Leadership Program (MARL) Class IV

v  Promote MN Agriculture worldwide

v  MN Dept of Ag Excellence Award for International Marketing

v  Food & Hotel China Trade Show delegate

v  Minn. Corn & Soybeans Associations

v  Local, State & National Cattlemen Assns.

v  Farm Bureau

v  Re-Elect  Winona County’s Promoting Modern Ag Charter Committee

BACKGROUND

v Century Owned Farm & Ag Export Co-owner

v Mathematics BS, Colorado State Univ.

v 7-12 Mathematics Teacher

v St. Charles Borromeo Church

v 2 sons  - Cliff (23) and Seth (21)

v Celebrating 25 years of marriage to Ralph

Seth, Ralph, Mena, Cliff

 This site is paid for (although there are no costs) and approved by, Mena Kaehler.

Winona County Commissioner District 3

 

Thank you, District 3, for your confidence in me. 

On Tues, May 22, 2012, I filed for re-election to County Board. 

I ask for your support in the August 14th Primary.

The last 3.5 years have been very rewarding. I choose to run in 2008, not because I had a personal agenda, but because I feel all citizens should give back to their communities.  Some serve through the military; civil service is my venue.

There is much going on in the County. We have made some huge strides in the last three years. There is a great synergy between the board and staff. The board set the policy, but the staff made it happen. We have a stellar staff working for the county.

Since taking office in 2009, my primary communication (beyond meetings) to the citizens has been through my "Commish's Corner" starting my first month in office. It is published in alternate weeks by the St. Charles Press and Lewiston Journal. 

My blog writings will increase, due to the speed with which I can respond to information during my quest to continue to serve Winona County. 

Good governance is making the difficult decisions for the best of the community, while limiting individual disruptions, rather than invoking fear and grandstanding for votes.

Please contact me with any questions, concerns or issues. 
Good communication is essential. Only through citizen input, can our county work for us all.

Thanks again,
Mena

July 28 Commish Corner

CRP Ground Released & County/City Farm2Rail

            What a pleasant way to end July – much of the county got a needed rain last week.

Two items today, but important issues. One is our lack of rain. On July 24^th, as a board member of the Association of MN Counties, I represented AMC at a USDA/MN Dept of Ag Drought meeting. Producer groups, Legislative personnel, and agencies attended. Among other things, we learned about the following actions by US Sec of Ag, Tom Vilsack.

On July 23^rd , Sec Vilsack, released some of the CRP lands to be opened up for haying and grazing. There are some restrictions, so if you have lands you wish to open up, please contact the FSA office in Lewiston to get things in order before Aug 2^nd. Sec Vilsack also decreased the payment reduction for haying and grazing from 25% to 10%.

If you go to www.usda.gov, to Newsroom, to Latest Releases, you will find the July 25^th Press release that outlines the relaxed requirements regarding loans, EQIP project completions, and much more.

The MN Beef Cattlemen’s Assoc. is encouraging those with CRP to work cooperatively with the Livestock Producers to assist in finding forage for the animals.

            Secondly, at a local coffee shop discussion group, local residents discussed Farm2Rail concerns with me. It reconfirmed the need to clarify the information from the Winona County perspective.

1)   At present, there is no proposal or permit request in front of the County.

2)   At the July 26^th board meeting, the Board voted to support the recommendation of our Planning Department to follow the County’s Comprehensive Plan with regards to this project. The following is our planning coordinator, Jason Gilman’s letter to the City of St. Charles after the board voted to support the plan:

 “The Board revisited and supports it’s guidance in the Comprehensive Plan, noting the Comprehensive Plan recommendations which include but are not limited to the following:

Winona County Comprehensive Plan 2000, Development Goals and Policies, Overall General Growth, p. 15, Policies:

6. Encourage the location of large scale development projects in communities that have the capacity to provide the necessary public utilities and urban services.

7. Coordinate County policies with the adopted policies of cities and townships for extension of their development into the rural County areas.

Winona County Comprehensive Plan 2000, Development Goals and Policies, Urban Expansion Area, p. 19, Policies:

3. Promote the transition of agricultural land to urban use in an orderly manner and in accordance with the local government’s plans for the extension of public utilities and services.

4. Pursue formal cooperative planning between the County, townships, cities and schools within the urban expansion areas, including negotiated orderly annexation agreements.”

           

The rationale behind encouraging the local municipality to take the lead is simple – the applicant has asked for urban services and the project is proposed within a City’s urban growth area, adjacent to a municipality it would greatly impact.  Therefore, those citizens should be the ones that oversee it to ensure the local impacts/concerns are addressed.

3)   The County’s 2000 Comp Plan lists the 300 acres as Agricultural Use. The City’s Comp Plan lists the area as future Industrial Use. These are interests that are dependent on the ultimate jurisdiction given each jurisdictions service provisions, and that brings up some of the confusion.

4)   F2R wants to use city services – such as sewer and water; therefore they would be annexed into the city eventually, as the County does not provide those services.

5)   If this proposal comes before the County Board, we will have one of 2 choices – either approve or deny.

a.     If the majority of the Board chooses approval, we would permit the project. If the land was later annexed into the city of St. Charles, it would be difficult and cumbersome to ensure the conditions placed upon the facility by the County could, or would, be enforced by the city, since they are separate permitting authorities.

b.     If the majority of the board chooses to deny, the F2R owners can either walk away, or they can submit the project to the City and request annexation at that point.

6)   If the City chooses to be the Responsible Government Unit (RGU) on the Environmental Assessment Worksheet (EAW) that is only one step in the process. That simply analyzes and looks for potential issues of the project. It does not take into consideration the wishes of the city council, the citizens or the developers and it does not obligate local government to approve the project

7)   The Winona County Planning and Zoning Department does the permit reviews Winona County and has been invited to assist the City in it’s permit review of the project. Their recommendations are based upon which entity’s comprehensive plan and regulations they are doing the review for, and it is ultimately up to the respective board or council to act on them.

8)    Farm2Rail has stirred strong emotions – At present, there is no permit requests for the project to address. The scope and information continues to change.

 Many rumors and inaccurate information are being circulated that many thought to be fact. I would encourage everyone to check the facts. Jason and his staff are available for questions and are responsive in returning calls and e-mails.

Please contact me on any items or concerns for the County.

Mena Kaehler

mkaehler@co.winona.mn.us