Franzen, county may meet soon

Austin Daily Herald

http://www.austindailyherald.com/articles/2007/11/26/news/news1.txt

Franzen, county may meet soon

By LEE BONORDEN/lee.bonorden@austindailyherald.com

11/26/07
Sometime this week, light may be shed on the case of Mower County feedlot officer Lowell Franzen.

That will occur when county human resource director Al Cordes and county coordinator Craig Oscarson visit with Franzen.

Cordes and Oscarson will share with Franzen the results of an investigation by Scott Anderson, an attorney retained by Mower County to investigate “human resources issues only,” as Cordes and Oscarson have made clear repeatedly since the feedlot officer was placed on paid administrative leave in early August.

“The results of that investigation are protected by the Data Privacy Act and it’s doubtful that any of them can be shared publicly,” Oscarson said last week.

Franzen is the only feedlot officer Mower County has employed since the Mower County Board of Commissioners adopted feedlot regulations — written in part by Franzen — and hired him to enforce those regulations in the mid-1990s.

To be sure, Franzen is not the first county employee to be placed on paid administrative leave. And, being placed on paid administrative leave is by no means an indication of guilt. It is the process the county can take to determine the employment status of a worker.

“Whatever the results of the investigation are, it’s up to Mr. Franzen to first accept them and then we go from there,” Oscarson said. “He could appeal them or agree with them or whatever.”

The only public information shared by the county, when questioned about an employee, is date hired, job title and full name. Even the date when Cordes and Oscarson plan to meet with Franzen is unknown; protected, they said, by the Data Privacy Act.

Franzen was placed on paid administrative leave after neighbors brought his actions to the attention of officials.

Franzen obtained county and Minnesota Pollution Control Agency permits to build a feedlot in Lyle Township.

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency — the state agency with the responsibility of permitting feedlots when they exceed the 1,000 animal unit level — reversed earlier assertions Franzen had obtained his state permit legally in mid-October.

MPCA deputy commissioner Leo Raudys announced in a Sept. 28 letter to the Mower County Attorney. “You should be aware that the MPCA is currently conducting a civil investigation to determine whether any statues or rules that the MPCA administers were violated by the permitted parties in the environmental review and permitting of this project,” Raudys wrote.

The results of the MPCA’s investigation have not been announced.

It’s pure speculation, given the secrecy surrounding Franzen, but Page 33 of the Mower County Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Ordinance may hold the key to his employment status.

That’s the section (14-18.2) entitled “Special Requirements for Feedlots.”

Perhaps, section (e), regarding the good neighbor plan requirement.

That’s what the Mower County Concerned Citizens for Positive Change — the 18 neighbors of Franzen who filed a civil suit against the county and Franzen — have said is partly at issue.

According to the MPCA’s Raudys, there may be still another issue at stake in judging Franzen’s actions and it is similar — if not the same — as one raised by the Minnesota Attorney General.

The MPCA’s position is — Raudys wrote — “that Mower County should not issue any permits for projects subject to environmental review until” — and here is an area also in dispute — “the environmental review has been completed.”

The MPCA’s position further stated by Raudys is “The MPCA applies this same requirement for all environmental review projects; not just feedlots.”

On March 29, the MPCA issued an announcement that the Franzen project did not require an environmental review.

It based that determination on the findings of fact and conclusions of law it had collected concerning the Lyle Township feedlot. Facts and conclusions submitted by Franzen, including the county permits the feedlot officer issued himself.

The boldest yet statement from Franzen’s adversaries came in a half-page advertisement in the Austin Daily Herald. The MCCCPC stated, in part: “We expect county officials to hold Franzen (as well, Santos Group LLC and Holden Farms Inc., which subsequently bought Franzen’s feedlot land and acquired his feedlot permits for their 4,832-sow herd) to the same standards and rules that are applied to every other livestock farmer in Mower County.”

In this case, the critics believe the county and its employee Franzen held Franzen, the feedlot officer, to the feedlot officer’s standards and rules.

By week’s end and the conclusion of the meeting between Mower County human resources personnel and Franzen, the public may learn if that was done.

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