Response to Commissioner Duff's Letter to the Paper

I found Commissioner Duff’s letter to the paper on storm water ponds quite interesting. Mr. Duff wants homeowners to own the land that makes up these ponds. Currently the City owns this land. He states three reasons for this change of policy:

1. Residents can claim greater ownership of land
2. Residents are more likely to collectively protect the integrity of privately held land
3. City liability on these properties may be reduced.

I am on the Planning Commission with Mr. Duff and he has not had this issue on the agenda for discussion. I hope he would avail himself of the full Planning Commission to discuss this issue. I like new ideas. There seems to be four significant issues with this proposal however:

1. Residents may be able to claim greater ownership of land, they will however have no uses of this land as it is designated as a holding pond. This may give a false feeling of ownership.

2. The resident is to maintain their section of the holding pond. This is an unfunded mandate. Holding ponds gather water from a larger area than just the immediate neighborhood. The cost of its maintenance should not be on those that simple abut the pond.

3. If the land is owned by the resident they will be taxed on the land. These will set-up the owner of the land paying a significantly higher tax bill with no benefit.

4. I am hard pressed to see how the City would lose liability for a structure it is mandating be built. Resident ownership may lead to having liability in case of a lawsuit.

I hope Mr. Duff will in the future bring such ideas to the Planning Commission so we can have this conversation in a constructive manner. I also hope Mr. Duff will support the Ordinance reforms I have laid out in the past. The Planning Commission has reformed the Driveway Ordinance and is currently working on the Exotic Wildlife and Sign Ordinance.

George Wimmer
Isanti City Council Member