Tuesday, Sherburne County Recorder Michelle Ashe said she was notified the state will be closing the satellite offices that currently handle Universal Commercial Code (UCC) documents.

 

Since July, 2001, the county has operated a satellite office that processed UCC financing statements. Ashe said those are usually agriculture-related.  

 

“A farmer takes out a loan in the spring to buy seed and uses that crop as collateral,” she said. “In the fall when the crops come in, the loan would be paid off and the financing statement would be terminated to show the debt had been paid.”

 

Since 2003 UCCs have been declining in Sherburne County. There are fewer and fewer agricultural liens. Most metro counties have opted out already, said Ashe.

 

But there is a $20 fee Sherburne County collected with each filing.  Last year UCCs brought in $5,540 to the county, which is about one percent of the recorder’s department revenue.

 

“Other agricultural counties are going to suffer more than Sherburne County,” said Ashe. “In 2010, satellite offices brought in about a half million dollars. So I think there’s some financial reasoning behind this.”

 

Ashe said she wasn’t concerned about the loss of revenue.

 

“But I am concerned about the service for our local people. Our two biggest customers are the Farm Service Agency office and Bank of Elk River,” she said. “They’re enjoying quite good customer service. They drop off their UCCs in the morning and pick them up in the afternoon.”

 

Without the satellite offices, they will be required to either log onto an internet site and pay by credit card or mail them to St. Paul to the Secretary of State’s office.

 

Ashe said  all the satellite offices in the state will close Dec. 1.

 

After a brief public hearing without public comment, the board approved a solid waste abatement on a property at 28013 145th Street in Blue Hill Twp.

 

The property is a foreclosure with household garbage, furniture and demolition debris scattered on the ground. The home has also been partially destroyed by fire.

 

Environmental specialist John Exner said the landowner has been notified several times.

 

Steinbrecher Companies, Inc. of  Zimmerman will do the cleanup at a cost not to exceed $3,120, with the cost assessed to the property.

 

The board accepted the withdrawal of a request by Travis and Jennifer Jacobsen for an Interim Use Permit (IUP) to operate airsoft games on their property at 22615 Co. Rd. 75 in Big Lake Twp.

 

The planning commission held a hearing in January and recommended approval of the IUP with  23 conditions, three of which had to be done before the county board took action. Those were: recording a driveway easement, removing or upgrading unpermitted accessory buildings and establishing an emergency response plan.

 

The board tabled a decision to give the Jacobsens additional time.

 

“The applicant has determined because of financial reasons, they can’t afford to go through with the project,” Jon Sevald, County Planner said.

 

The board approved a host fee agreement with Vonco II in Becker. The agreement lists fees the landfill will pay the county per ton for industrial solid waste and construction/ demolition waste through 2023.

 

In other action the board:

 

• Accepted a PRISM Implementation Grant of $3,529.41 from the state to develop and maintain data collection and processing systems for reporting property tax data;

 

• Approved a gambling premises permit renewal for Zimmerman Fire Dept. Relief Assn. at Ridgewood Bay Resort;

 

• Approved a property tax abatement of $270 for Torreylee James Meide because a pole building and deck had been removed from a property in Princeton before he purchased it.