County-City Partnership - Collaborating for Water Quality and Customer Service

About the Program

Category: County Resiliency (Best in Category)

Year: 2015

In 2013, Crow Wing County and the City of Crosslake entered into an unprecedented partnership to improve land use administration in one of Minnesota’s premier lakes region. As a result of this one-of-a-kind collaboration, the Whitefish Chain of Lakes and surrounding area now has a uniform set of shoreland rules and consistent administration of these rules across governmental boundaries. The result is more effective protection of water resources at less cost to taxpayers. By contracting with the County to administer land use within Crosslake, the city reduced its costs by 20%, aligned its land use ordinance with the County’s, and improved customer service scores by 22 percent. Greater understanding of and compliance with ordinance requirements is being achieved on a more broad regional basis though uniform ordinance requirements and consistent administrative, operational, and customer service standards. Understanding of ordinance requirements also is enhanced by implementing a new shared commitment to proactive communication with landowners, contractors, realtors and other land-related professionals throughout the region. This partnership is a real-world application of the fundamental premise that government boundary lines are irrelevant to water quality and it provides a model of diverse units of governments working in harmony to protect Minnesota’s water resources.