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Chisago Lakes Improvement District allocates $60,000 to model North Center Channel; DNR review key
Summary
Ben Eiffel told the EDA the Lake Improvement District budgeted $60,000 to fund an engineer's flow model to assess whether widening the North Center Channel would change system function and require DNR permitting; landowner and township negotiations remain underway.
The Chisago Lakes Improvement District has budgeted $60,000 this year to fund an engineering flow model that will determine how proposed changes to the North Center Channel could affect water movement and lake levels, a district representative told the Chisago Lakes Economic Development Authority on Jan. 20.
Ben Eiffel of the Lake Improvement District updated commissioners on the long-running channel initiative, saying the district is still negotiating easements and access with landowners and the township. He said the district's engineers (EOR) will spend about four to five months producing the flow model that state regulators will use to assess whether widening or deepening the channel constitutes a change in function that the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources would permit.
"The DNR has very strict guidelines on how much we can change the function of a system," Eiffel said, noting that widening the channel could move water more quickly through the system and temporarily alter lake levels on both sides of the North Center Channel after large rain events.
Eiffel said the $60,000 allocation is "a huge step" because it is the first time the board has put dedicated levy dollars toward completing the project rather than funding it reactively on a case-by-case basis. The model is expected to be completed in mid-May to early June and will be a decision point for whether the DNR would permit permanent changes.
Commissioners asked about ownership and jurisdiction; Judy explained that a narrow spit at the project site remains township land but sits within Lindstrom's extraterritorial planning area, so the city would review any subdivision-type application when it arrives. Eiffel said the landowner would grant easements to allow maintenance of the original shoreline and to provide a new turnaround for township services if the channel work removes the existing turnaround.
The EDA and city staff expressed support for continuing to work with the district and landowners, but commissioners emphasized that any construction would depend on the model's findings and subsequent DNR permitting. No formal funding commitment by the EDA was made at the meeting; Eiffel and staff said they would return with updates as negotiations and modeling proceed.
