Conservation district proposes priority‑based SESC fee schedule; board recommends adoption

Conservation district staff presented an 18‑month program review showing the county's SESC (soil erosion and sediment control) program is handling roughly 500 permits per year and averaging 185 site visits per month with two inspectors. Staff said the current square‑foot fee schedule does not reflect the administrative workload for high‑priority sites and recommended categorizing permits by priority (high/moderate/low/minimal) with inspection frequency scaled accordingly (high = up to 36 visits over the permit term).

"It became very clear that not only are we um well understaffed, but also to then increase staffing numbers, we are also going to be well underfunded," a conservation staff member said. The proposed fee changes were modeled against 2024 workloads and would raise estimated fee revenue to the neighborhood of $300,000 under the presented scenario, which staff said would support increasing staffing to about 3.5 FTE and leasing two field vehicles. The board voted to recommend the fee schedule for adoption and the associated program report, with more detailed implementation and outreach to follow.

Commissioners discussed hardship impacts, comparisons with neighboring counties, and whether building-safety or health-department staff could perform certain inspections in other jurisdictions. Staff and Eagle (regional oversight) said other counties often cross‑administer similar tasks but Leelanau's high permit density and unique shoreline geography make the dedicated SESC staff model more appropriate for this county.