All managers on the Shell Rock River Watershed District board voted Tuesday to postpone a purchase that several managers said had citizens calling them with concerns.

The Watershed District purchased a property near Church Lake along 710th Avenue and 180th Street southwest of Albert Lea. The district was involved by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Program/Project Manager Courtney Phillips said, after the owner expressed interest in selling the property and making it open to the public.

While the original purchase was approved July 2018 and the district received grant funding to purchase the property out of 2019 legislation, the board was asked to consider approving an amended agreement that added a sliver of land to the overall area in an effort to increase access off of 710th Avenue, Phillips said.

Phillips and board managers Mike Hanson, Brad Kramer and Dan DeBoer all said they received comments regarding the purchase. Hanson said constituents were concerned about a change in use from agriculture to an area that might promote hunting.

Concerns from the public included garbage dumping on the property and safety, she said.

Kramer said he had a landowner contact him Monday to “speak at length” about their concerns.

Postponing the vote would allow the board to better explain the project to the public, DeBoer said.

The managers unanimously voted to postpone approval of the amended option agreement, including the added sliver of land, until next month’s meeting so the district can have further discussion.

The property was included in district plans for habitat restoration, Phillips said. It fits in the scope of the water plan in numerous ways, including minimizing flood damage to property by restoring and retaining water upstream throughout the watershed, conserving topsoil on the land, preserving existing rural wetlands and habitat restoration, among others.

The Watershed District would still need to complete a survey and agree on price with the landowner before coming to an agreement on the purchase, Phillips said.

In other action:

If weather and permits allow, the district may move the dredge into the main bay of Fountain Lake this year, Phillips said, updating the board on behalf of Shell Rock River Watershed District Administrator Andy Henschel, who was not present at the meeting. Construction on Confined Disposal Facility cells two and three is going slowly due to the wet weather, she said. However, Veit & Co. Inc., the company responsible for the work, has brought in extra equipment to combat the rain and is moving forward despite the weather, she said.

The Watershed District board approved a restoration plan for shoreline abutting Pioneer Park. The city is the long-term owner of the property, but the Shell Rock River Watershed District will be responsible for the project funds in a joint project, Phillips said. The goal is to restore shoreline, implement habitat benefits and install woody structures, she said.

The board held four public hearings: one each for the administrative levy, the debt service levy and the administrative and project fund budgets and another for a review of the Pioneer Park restoration. The district then approved both levys and budgets. The administrative levy and budget were both $250,000, the debt service levy for $168,000 and the project budget for just over $10.1 million.

Phillips also told the board that she and Henschel testified at a hearing about the district’s request for just over $4 million in Lessard Sams Outdoor Heritage Council funding. Phillips said it went well.