Projects/Activities

 

Through a grant from the Initiative Foundation, LARA board members attended a workshop to assist them in revising the organization's Strategic Plan. Also, the board revised LARA's Vision and Mission Statements:


VISION STATEMENT

LARA will work to preserve and enhance the quality of Crow Wing County's lakes, rivers, wetlands, and groundwater.


MISSION STATEMENT

It is the mission of the Crow Wing County Lakes and Rivers Alliance to:

• Represent the interests of member associations to the county, regional, state and federal levels of government.
• Promote educational opportunities for member associations.
• Provide organizational support to existing and emerging lake and river associations.

In addition to its on-going activities, LARA’s key initiatives in 2006 were to:

• Promote shoreland Best Management Practices to Regulatory Governmental Units (RGUs) regarding planning and zoning issues within the shoreland districts.
• Promote Participation on local boards and planning teams by residents of Crow Wing County who support the Vision and Mission of LARA
• Provide educational information to member associations and the general public on water-related issues.
• Facilitate a speakers bureau to provide LARA member associations a resource to tap into for speakers on specific topics.

Worked and continues to ensure lake associations are notified by their regulatory government unit (RGU) of planning and zoning issues that affect their lake(s).

• Co sponsored the fourth annual Lake Friendly development Awards.
• Acted and continues to act as fiscal agent for the Shirt Lake Area Improvement Association.
• Provided or facilitated speakers, through its Speakers Bureau, for five lake associations.
• Presented its 2006 Water Warrior Award to Crow Wing County Planner, Bonnie Finnerty, for her work in getting the county Ordinance revised to better protect public waters.
• Attended County Planning Commission meetings from March through June to monitor the Commission's acceptance and usage of the new Shoreland Residential 2 (SR2) zoning district.
• Finding the new SR2 standards too restrictive and thus not used by P & Z staff or the Planning Commission, worked closely with the County Planner in drafting revised SR2 standards which are more reasonable and yet serve to reduce the density and impervious coverage of new shoreland development.
• Worked to get the revised SR2 standards adopted by the County Board as Ordinance.
• Monitored the County Planning Commission to ensure the revised SR2 zoning district was being used when appropriate for rezoning and creation of new shoreland parcels.
• Assisted the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) in finding potential volunteers to take Secchi disk readings on lakes no yet covered by the Citizen Lake Monitoring Program.
• Assisted the County Soil and Water Conservations District (SWCD) in distributing the Water Plan survey to lake associations as part of the 2007 update of the County Water Plan.
• Gathered data for the Water Plan Advisory Committee on which county lake associations are monitoring their lakes(s) for the water clarity (Secchi disk), total phosphorus and chlorophyll ‘a'.
• Sent two board members to the first annual Lake Leaders Summit, sponsored by Minnesota Waters.
• Continued and still have one board member on the County Board of Adjustment and one board member on the Nisswa Planning Commission.
• Made a presentation, in partnership with 1000 Friends of Minnesota, at the September Minnesota Water Conference in Duluth.
• Continued to maintain a web site.
• Began 2007 by promoting and supporting, with its own resolution and a letter to the Governor and the DNR Commissioner, the Resolution to initiate Statewide Rulemaking for Minnesota's Shorelands.

We hope you will join us in our efforts. LARA is an additional voice for you at the local and county levels, just as Minnesota Waters (formerly MLA) is your voice at the state level.