We are tired of talking about S*!T
Do you recall the scene in Apocalypse Now when Colonel Kurtz reiterates the words "horror" all the while rubbing his bald sweating head. This is a good segue into this next blog. Unlike the famous line in Dragnet, the names in this blog have not been changed to protect the innocent. I will do my absolute best to keep this story arc from turning into a dynamic conflation of events and dialogs.
In the beginning you recall that we made several calls to "people" at the county. We resolved the issue of the lake shore property relatively quickly when it was discovered that we owned 155 feet of lake shore and only needed 150 to proceed. We then embarked on the mission of getting a septic system. In the process of contacting four different professionals we set about the business of hiring Brad Nygaard from JBN Inc. He submitted the design and application to the county for approval. Once we received our permitting number, Brad was able to move forward with the construction of the mound system.
Thursday Brad called and told us they were at the land and constructing the mound system. He told me that they needed to take down an additional 30 trees, and we lost one of the big cedars. I get that we can't have a tree on every piece of the land, but I wanted to save as many maples and cedars as we could. So Kelly and I drove out there to assess the damage.
Grab your favorite adult beverage for what follows:
While at the land, Brad called me and asked if I was sitting down. Brad then shared with me that the inspector from the county (Tyler) was out at the land and proclaimed that this property was a wetland. Brad went on further to explain to me that he thought Tyler was not going to make the trip out to the land on Friday for final inspection. Tyler wanted a wetlands delineation done on the parcel. I asked Brad for advice on how to proceed. He asked if I knew anyone who could help us. I told him that I once called Keith Nelson a commissioner for St.Louis County and he was very responsive. Brad told me to call him ASAP. I know another commissioner, Paul McDonald, from the past. I got a hold of Paul and shared with him the current situation and asked him what I should share with Keith. Paul informed me that Keith sits as the chair for the septic systems committee in St. Louis County. Keith called me back in less than 30 minutes. I tried to be as brief as possible with Keith. Keith then shared with me, that he was going to call someone in Duluth and have a different inspector come to the property on Friday. Fifteen minutes after I get off the phone with Keith a gentleman named Matt calls me from the county. He asks me some questions about the land and where we are at in the process. I share with Matt my appreciation that the county is sending up someone new to inspect the property. I shared with Matt my frustration at this entire process. We hired a contractor, he submitted the docs to the county, the county approved the system and issued a permit number. Now the county wants a wetland delineation and a halt to the project. Matt echoed my concerns about the process, and reassured me that we would be able to move forward.
Kelly and I had a meeting with the builder that day in the late afternoon. We shared with Greg Billman the latest woes of our build and then my phone rang. I took the phone call thinking it was a client..it was Tyler. Tyler introduced himself and told me that I had escalated this up the chain. I told Tyler I talked to 3 different people at the county, looked at GIS maps, looked at the wetlands maps on the Wetlands Mapper, investigated the flood maps, and all signals pointed to the very tangible fact that this property is not a wetland! We even contacted NTS Services about a wetland delineation, but were told by a county representative we didn't need to spend $3000.00 on that process. Tyler than states that the property had black ash and cedars, Tyler than tells me that those maps are not accurate and not reliable. He shares with me that he and someone from the county are going to go out to the property on Friday and conduct a wetland delineation. This entire time I am thinking how much more money are we going to hemorrhage due this obfuscation of wetlands definition. I questioned him as to what more I could have done to ensure I was following everything correctly. Tyler then continues on his sermon about the county process and then shares with me that he can shut this project down. We can be fined. We can be held financially responsible for reconstituting the wetland and habitat. I have no idea how we would do that. He states that if a conservation officer sees what we are doing he can issue a cease and desist order. Tyler infered that we are in harms way at this stage. I reiterated my tenets of concern. We hired a contractor, he took soil samples, he submitted required paper work and fees. The county issued the septic permit number. The project moved forward with that number.
This part of the narrative is comprised with some second hand information. Friday morning Keith Nelson, the contractor, Tyler, and a new inspector visited the property. The new inspector commented that you can't make a correct assessment of the parcel, and make a wetland determination by merely looking at trees. The process requires a deeper analysis of vegetation and soil composition. The new inspector signed off on the project and declared that the property is not a wetland, and we didn't fill in any wet lands. The septic was signed off on and the certificate of compliance will be issued from the county. There is a part of me that envisioned him with fist to the sky proclaiming the righteousness of the project and build. I suspect it didn't play out that way, but a guy can wish. The good news is there is more than 12 inches of sand to support the mound system which is the minimum. We have limited modeling of soils and over 2 feet of sand. I have to note that the county did require a larger concrete tank. Brad installed a larger tank and didn't extend the charges to us.
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