Amid watershed appeals, cities try talking

Talk about it

The city of Cottage Grove and Denmark Township are appealing new watershed boundaries they oppose and Woodbury favors, but the communities also are exploring an agreement outside of court.

Local officials have met a few times in recent weeks to explore whether Woodbury, its neighbors and Washington County can reach an agreement on watershed boundary issues as an alternative to competing legal action, Woodbury City Administrator Clint Gridley said.

“Our desire is to try to improve relationships with Cottage Grove and Denmark Township,” Gridley said. “We don’t know if it’s going to work out. We just think it’s important to make every attempt outside of court.”

Still, Cottage Grove and Denmark Township will challenge a December decision by the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources to redraw watershed boundaries in southern Washington County. The board acted on a citizen petition seeking the change.

Separate from the citizen petition, the city of Woodbury appealed the May 2009 decision. Its case before the Court of Appeals still is pending, and city officials are weighing whether to continue the appeal or to drop it, since they are satisfied with the current boundaries.

See the full story in the Jan. 20 print edition of the Woodbury Bulletin.

Tags: daily updates, local governments, washington county, watershed