Dear Neighbor,
I am set to join area legislators in hosting a series of town hall meetings next week. These events will provide a chance for us to get together and discuss with citizens the details of the recently concluded 2018 session.
The schedule of meetings includes:
- Bagley: 6 p.m. June 6, D&R Café (27 Central St. W.)
- Lake Park: 6 p.m. June 7, Lake Park City Center (2032 2nd St.)
- Park Rapids: 6 p.m. June 8, Park Rapids Town Hall (1200 E. First St.)
Sen. Paul Utke and I will be at all three meetings and fellow Rep. Matt Grossell will join us at Bagley.
Also, I will be joining Rep. Deb Kiel for the town hall meeting she has scheduled:
- Foston: 8:30 a.m. June 18, Civic Center (215 First St. E.)
One thing we can try to clear up during the town hall meetings is the issue of the nitrogen rule in Minnesota. There seems to be some confusion over how exclusions apply. Northwestern Minnesota sits in the "climate excluded" zone, but that only applies to fall applications. We are not excluded from other restrictions.
The important thing is for people to first get up to speed on the rules and then to express their opinions on the issue. An 80-day comment period is open until July 26, so please click here for complete information on the rule. Or, click here to see a Dept. of Ag. news release which includes information for submitting comments on the Office of Administrative Hearings website, along with full a timeline for the process.
A series of informational meetings around the state also is taking place and, since I did not receive a scheduling notice from the Dept. of Ag., I want to thank our local wheat growers for putting out word about the event in Thief River Falls so I could attend.
Here is the schedule of remaining informational meetings in case you are interested. After those events are complete, an administrative law judge will either accept or reject the rule or suggest changes and then Gov. Mark Dayton could be signing the rule in December.
Let me know if you have any questions, but just know the exclusion only applies to fall applications in our part of the state.
Hope to see you at the upcoming town hall meetings.
-Steve