By Kari Lucin, staff writer

Only one of the two managers of the Shell Rock River Watershed District Board whose appointment terms expire in June will seek reappointment from the Freeborn County Board of Commissioners.

&8220;And I feel I’ve contributed a whole lot,&8221; said Ken Nelson, who has opted out of serving again. &8220;I will still attend these meetings in an advisory capacity, but I won’t be preparing for them in the hours that I now do.&8221;

Nelson owns a tree farm with walnut trees and evergreens on it, and has given thousands of trees away over the years. He plans to dedicate more time to the operation once his term of service is over.

He cited frustration as being one of the reasons he will not return to the board for another term.

&8220;I’ve been in this for what, 15 years? And I’ve never seen anything move so slow,&8221; said Ken Nelson. &8220;I appreciate the opportunity for having been asked to serve. I guess that the one thing that stands high in my mind is that the compensation for the task is the least compensation that I have ever experienced in my life.&8221;

Manager Don Sorensen has decided to seek reappointment from the county board.

&8220;I kind of figure I serve at the pleasure of the county commissioners,&8221; Sorensen said. &8220;The job is far from done.&8221;

Sorensen emphasized all the preparation work the watershed has been doing, and noted that they had to build all their programs and projects from scratch.

&8220;I’m very frustrated with how slow some of this moves, but it’s not necessarily the watershed board’s problem,&8221; Sorensen said. &8220;Sometimes it’s a combination of DNR, city, county, getting everybody on the same page to look at problems the same way so that we can all work together.&8221;

Sorensen retired from farming but still owns several farms as well as Cafe Don’L.

&8220;What the people expect right now is something they can see, they can go out and see something happening,&8221; Sorensen said. &8220;And we need to get that visual project underway so they can say &8216;there’s my money at work.’&8221;