A reader who lives and votes in Minnesota House District 23B sent us an email of a link to a recent Mankato Free Press article with the subject line: "What's Missing?"
The email's author thinks it's his state representative, New Republican House Caucus Member Jeremy Munson, rural Lake Crystral, is missing in action on a measure important to Rapidan Township's struggle with FEMA, a federal agency. After looking at the issue, we think our reader is on to something.
In Rapidan Township seeks state help with FEMA, Trey Mewes reports at the Mankato Free Press:
Rapidan Township is reaching out to lawmakers this session to deal with a $238,000 bill from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Township officials have reached an impasse in a yearslong disagreement with FEMA officials over the 563rd Lane reconstruction project completed in 2014.
The road, which winds around the Maple River, needed to be moved west and northwest after a series of storms in 2010 washed away parts of the nearby riverbank. As part of a presidential disaster declaration, FEMA released funds to local officials in 2011 to begin construction.
The project had an extra bump to smooth over, however. Local officials needed to ensure the road wouldn't encroach on a potential nearby archaeological dig site.
County officials and engineering firm ISG say the road is well within its boundaries, but FEMA officials cross-checked the road position with Google Maps and declared the road project violated its standards.
ISG consultants and local officials say they hired surveyors as part of their effort to stay out of the potential dig site. Despite two attempts to appeal FEMA's ruling and repeated attempts by the township to get FEMA representatives to visit the road, federal officials stand by their ruling. As a result, FEMA is requiring the township to repay the federal portion of the $340,000 project — about $238,000.
"If they don't return it, they're not eligible for any funding in the future," Blue Earth County Emergency Management Director Mike Maurer told lawmakers in a Senate hearing earlier this month.
The documents about the appeal of FEMA's claims about the archaeologically sensitive site are available online here. The conditions are set by the National Historic Preservation Act. The Appeal Analysis notes:that the work was checked with "Google Images depicting the Facility’s location before the disaster and after completion of the relocation project":
Upon review of the second appeal documentation, FEMA concludes that the Applicant deviated from the approved SOW, in both constructing the retaining wall and moving the Facility 50 feet beyond that which was approved by FEMA.[11] In addition, excavation at specific locations cut into the archaeological site. This is confirmed using Google images depicting the Facility’s location before the disaster and after completion of the relocation project. As such, both federal Regulation and FEMA guidance required the Applicant to notify and receive approval from FEMA prior to the start of the additional excavation and construction. Regardless of the Applicant’s claim that it was instructed that it did not need to notify FEMA prior to the start of the additional work, and that it should wait until closeout to submit additional costs, there is no support that FEMA offered this advice, nor would such obviate the Applicant’s need to comply with federal law and FEMA policy.[12]
National Historic Preservation Act § 106 Compliance
When providing federal grant assistance, FEMA must consider EHP laws, regulations and Executive Orders that apply to the use of federal funds prior to the start of a PA project.[13] Pursuant to NHPA § 106, FEMA must consider the effects of proposed federally funded projects on historic properties prior to approving or expending grant assistance and provide the Advisory Council the opportunity to comment on the proposed actions.[14] At a minimum, FEMA must identify historic properties, evaluate the effects of a potential PA project on historic properties, and consult with the SHPO, Tribal Historic Preservation Officer (THPO), and other interested parties prior to the start of construction.[15]
FEMA alerted the Applicant to the archaeological sensitivities of the relocation project and the need to notify FEMA of any deviations of the approved SOW prior to construction. However, even if FEMA had not notified the Applicant of such historic preservation requirements, it is the Applicant’s responsibility to comply with all terms of the grant award.[16] Here, the Applicant did not notify FEMA of the additional work until after it was completed. The Applicant’s failure to notify FEMA that additional work was necessary prevented FEMA from completing NHPA § 106 requirements, thus, jeopardizing federal grant assistance.
FEMA had visited the site prior to the work, according to appeal documents online:
From September 22 through October 14, 2010, severe storms and flooding impacted Blue Earth County, Minnesota where the Township of Rapidan (Applicant) is located. As a result of the disaster, the Applicant’s roadway, 563rd Lane, (Facility) suffered severe embankment washouts in four different locations. Noting that the damaged road was in imminent danger of collapse and presented an immediate threat to safety as a result of the river changing course and cutting into the bank of the road, the Applicant requested that the road be permanently relocated 50 feet away from the river. After conducting a site visit, FEMA agreed that it was not physically possible to repair the road in its existing location. As such, FEMA prepared Project Worksheet (PW) 1485 documenting costs in the amount of $264,341.00 to employ contract labor and equipment to relocate the road and construct it according to the Applicant’s specifications and in compliance with all federal and state legal and regulatory requirements. Due to the Facility’s close proximity to an archaeologically sensitive site (“the hill”), FEMA predicated grant assistance for the Facility on further environmental and historic preservation (EHP) evaluations and consultations should the Applicant deviate from the FEMA-approved scope of work (SOW). This was documented in the FEMA Record of Environmental Consideration (REC).[1]
Sites such as these are not a matter of a potential archeological dig--as the Free Press puts it--but are culture for native people, I have been told by a Tribal Historic Preservation Officer here on the Lake Traverse Reservation when inquiring about another matter. The Appeal documents mention tribal interests several times, so this might not be a place for a "dig" but cultural use.
The Free Press article continues:
There's no timeline to pay the money back, but the township can't produce the cash on its own.
Senate Finance Committee Chair Julie Rosen, R-Vernon Center, is sponsoring the bill in the Senate [SF843] . Rep. Bob Guenther(sic), R-Fairmont, is authoring similar legislation [HF615 ] in the House.
"Those poor people," Rosen said. "There's no way they can foot that bill on their own."
Rosen and other local officials told lawmakers the township's disagreement isn't the first time FEMA has taken issue with local road projects. A similar situation occurred in Roseau County several years back, which Sen. Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks, said is still causing financial issues for local officials there.
Rosen's bill [SF843] is set to go to the Senate Rules and Administration Committee next, while its counterpart is set to go before the House Ways and Means Committee [no date for it yet on the schedule].
The Gunther bill was heard on March 13, 2019 in the Greater Minnesota Jobs and Economic Development Finance Division.
On her Facebook page, Rosen shared her committee testimony about the bill:
Bluestem understands Rosen's involvement in the township's request for funds, but we're curious why Bob Gunther, who represents the "A" side of Rosen's district. Rapidan Township is in the "B'" side of Senate District 23; slightly over 60 percent of the voters there cast ballots for Jeremy Munson, who was at the time elected as a regular Republican to represent Rapidan.
He has since become one of the members of the splinter caucus, the New House Republican Caucus. One can see his concerns on his Facebook page and on the New House Republican Caucus Facebook page.
There are only four items in Munson's "News and Views"-- including two from 2018-- and the nine bills for which he's the chief author concern such things as a vaccine resolution, a motor vehicle registration tax holiday for one year, and other such headline grabbers.
But those poor people in Rapidan Township? There's something missing. Our reader's on to something with his man in St. Paul.
Google satellite screengrab: Rapidan Township.
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