7.1 Staff Report- St. Croix River Partnership Team
Staff Report
Date of Meeting: February 1, 2017
To: City Council
From: Neil Soltis, Administrator
Re: St. Croix Partnership Team
Background:
Christine has been contacted by Natalie Warren, of the St. Croix River Association, regarding
participating in the St. Croix Partnership Team. The following information regarding the Team
is an excerpt from Natalie’s email:
The Partnership Team is a group comprised of 35 communities/agencies in both
Minnesota and Wisconsin that gets together to discuss land use and surface water in the
Lower St. Croix. The Partnership Team consults the Lower St. Croix River Commission
(DNRs and NPS) on land use and water surface issues.
The Partnership Team just started meeting regularly again to review the resources that I
am building for the riverway and to provide feedback and suggestions to improve
educational materials that we will be putting out this year (this includes clear and
orderly processes for zoning applications, so perhaps a planner or someone on the
planning commission would be ideal to have on board). We also discuss slow no wake
issues and review any after the fact land use decisions in the Lower St. Croix River. It
would be great to have representation from Scandia in these discussions.
The Partnership Team has floundered a bit over the last few years so I am not surprised
that fewer and fewer local governments are represented at the meetings. However, I
have taken the charge to rebuild Partnership Team attendance to support the work I am
doing and to get proper feedback from the communities along the river.
Following this report are the agenda for their 1/31/17 meeting and a copy of their bylaws.
Below is a listing of land use issues within the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway that have come
before the Planning Commission and Council.
Year Address Type Applicant
2012 none
2013 21205 St. Croix Trl. CUP for Zavoral mining Tiller Corp.
16963 197th St. Variance for well & septic Thomas & Angie Conley
2014 16987 197th St. Variance to replace cabin Mark Holloway
20789 Quint Ave. Variance for acc structure Etzwiler
21795 St. Croix Trl. Variance for septic holding tank Rudy Sundberg
2015 none
2016 21205 St. Croix Trl. CUP for solar garden Argo Navis
16970 St. Croix Trl. Variance for acc structure Hedelson
20919 Quint Ave. Variance for acc structure Pam & Michael Smith
Partnership Team is scheduled to meet quarterly with Land Use Review Committee meetings
also quarterly. Natalie is seeking participation from Scandia on the Partnership Team.
Issue: Does the City wish to appoint a member to serve on the St. Croix Partnership Team?