On Thursday, Xcel Energy and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency reported that 400,000 gallons of radioactive water had leaked from a 
Representative Kristi Pursell (D-Northfield) said she was informed during a closed committee meeting by one of the committee chairs. Like many other people, Pursell said she had questions about the timing of the announcement.
“I have the same question that you have, which is ‘If this happened in November, why are we only hearing about this now?’ I mean, I’ve only been in this job for 11 weeks, but it seemed like my colleagues who had been here much longer were as equally surprised as I was.”
Pursell, who is the former Executive Director of Clean River Partners, and a member of the House Environment and Natural Resources Policy and Finance Committee said she does not have any experience with radioactive water, but she is very concerned about how Xcel and the Pollution Control Agency have handled the situation.
Coincidentally, Pursell has a bill before the House right now that would reinstate the MPCA Citizen Oversight Board.
The board had been originally established to oversee the MPCA when the agency was established in 1967 and did so for 48 years. However, in 2015, the board fell victim to political compromise and was disbanded. For the last eight years, Pursell said, there has been a movement to reinstate the board, and she believes that is exactly what should happen. Despite pushback from across the aisle, Pursell said there are a number of agencies and state government divisions that are overseen by citizen’s boards, and they are quite beneficial to the department.
“We have citizens boards that oversee the board of water and soil resources, the University of Minnesota, the Minnesota State colleges system, and Elections. So, we have a lot of boards where the agency does the technical work and then the citizens bring that local, on the ground knowledge.”
Representative Pursell said she planned to spend the weekend learning more about the Monticello leak to understand exactly what has happened.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Representative Kristi Pursell can be heard here
Elliott sees diversion program as a model for the rest of the state
The Northfield City Council has approved a working agreement between the Northfield Police Department and Rice County on a program that 
The Police Assisted Diversion Program will allow for a person who has been arrested on a low-level crime related to a drug problem to avoid jail time by going directly into a drug treatment program. Northfield Police Chief Mark Elliott said Northfield Officers have been trained to suggest the program as soon as they identify a drug user.
“Say we have an officer maybe gets called to a disturbance call. You know, someone not getting along with their roommate or something and we get out there and, they say that they have been using, or it’s obvious by their behavior. Our officers can have a conversation with them and ask them if they want to go to treatment. If they do, our officers can bring them right then.”
The program, which has been in place since the first of the month, is made possible by a $1 million grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance, which is a division of the Federal Justice Department. Elliott said the combination of the programs Rice County already has in place, including the Mobile Opioid Support Team and the Naloxone availability program, have been recognized by the Minnesota Department of Health as a Rural Opioid Response Model, which was beneficial in receiving the grant.
The money will be paid to the county over a three-year period, which will, according to Ellott, increase the amount of money the addiction resource programs receive in the county budget by more than 10 times. One of his goals, he said, with the program is to see it succeed to the point where the state will want to fund it after the initial three years.
“I really envision this being a successful program. We’ll be able to go to our federal and state legislators and elected representatives and say, ‘This is a model, and we need to be doing this everywhere and this should be instead of grant funded, it really should be funded more broadly to help get people the assistance they need.’ And that’s something we can do on the treatment and recovery side.”
Elliott said they are already seeing success with the program, and that two Northfielders have made the decision to go into treatment, rather than spend their time in the criminal justice system.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Northfield Chief of Police Mark Elliott can be heard here
County sets property tax appeals meetings
Rice County property owners recently received a Notice of Valuation and Classification for Taxes Payable for 2024. This form provides 
notification of the market value and classification of a property for assessment for 2023. The property taxes paid in 2024 will be based on that classification.
Listed on the notice are the dates and times of the local Board of Appeal and Equalization, and alternative meetings for 2023. If you believe that your valuation and classification are correct, it is not necessary to contact your assessor and/or attend any of the listed meetings.
If the property information is incorrect, if there is disagreement with the value/classification or if there are questions about the notice, contact the Assessor’s Office first at 507-332-6102 to discuss any questions or concerns.
All property owners are invited to attend the Open Book meeting in Faribault to have a one-on-one discussion with the assessor. Often issues can be resolved at this level. The assessor will advise of further appeal rights, if needed.
The County asks that everyone please read the notice carefully for all appeal options. Those who live in a jurisdiction with a Local Board of Appeal and Equalization meeting (Forest and Wells townships), must start with that Local board before advancing to the County Board of Appeal and Equalization.
For more information on county meetings, visit the Rice County website. We wil post meeting times later today.
The schedule for the meetings is as follows:
Open Book Meeting • 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Wednesday, April 12 at the Rice County Government Services Building, 302 Third St. NW, Faribault
Local Boards of Appeal and Equalization
9 a.m. Thursday, April 13 in the Forest Township Hall, April 13 at Forest Township Hall, 3625 Millersburg Boulevard, Faribault.
9 a.m. Friday, April 14 in the Wells Township Hall, 18400 Roberds Lake Boulevard, Faribault Rice County Board of Appeal and Equalization
6:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 14 at the Rice County Government Services Building, 302 Third St. NW, Faribault
