McLEOD COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS MEETING MINUTES FEBRUARY 22, 2011

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1 McLEOD COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS MEETING MINUTES FEBRUARY 22, 2011 CALL TO ORDER The regular meeting of the McLeod County Board of Commissioners was called to order at 9:00 a.m. by Chairperson Wangerin in the County Board Room. Commissioners Nies, Terlinden and Wright were present. Bayerl had an excused absence. County Administrator Patrick Melvin, County Attorney Michael Junge, County Auditor-Treasurer Cindy Schultz and HR Director Mary Jo Wieseler were also present. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE At the request of the Board Chair, all present recited the Pledge of Allegiance. CONSIDERATION OF AGENDA ITEMS Nies/Terlinden motion carried unanimously to approve the agenda. CONSENT AGENDA A) Approval of February 8, 2011 County Board Meeting Minutes and Synopsis. B) Approval of January 31, 2011 Auditor s Warrants. C) Approval of February 4, 2011 Auditor s Warrants. D) Approval of February 11, 2011 Auditor s Warrants. E) Approval of Dustin Lamott s Application for Reduction in Valuation of Real Estate and/or Refund of Taxes Paid knowing that a fire occurred at th St, Lester Prairie, Parcel on 7/25/2010. The last 5 months of the year the home was unlivable, justifying the $128 refund requested. F) Approval of the Confession of Judgment Application for PID # for Scott K. and Lisa A. Bailey. Nies/Wright motion carried unanimously to approve the consent agenda. PAYMENT OF BILLS COMMISSIONER S WARRANT LIST General Revenue $103, Road & Bridge $34, Solid Waste $18, County Ditch Fun $11, Terlinden/Nies motion carried unanimously to approve payment of bills totaling $169, from the aforementioned funds. PUBLIC HEALTH Public Health Agency Coordinator Kathy Nowak, Public Health Nurse Jennifer Hauser and Health Educator Kerry Ward A) Kathy Nowak, Jennifer Hauser and Kerry Ward discussed a $1,000 grant that Public Health would like to apply for from the State for creating a breastfeeding friendly worksite. If the grant money would be awarded, it could be used to create a room in the Health and Human Services building for breastfeeding. That building already has guidelines in place and makeshift locations available for mothers. The County could seek additional funding elsewhere to create locations in other county facilities as well as earmarking some of the Wellness budget for this project. The

2 County should also develop a policy County-wide that would meet the requirements of state and federal statutes. Terlinden/Wright motion carried unanimously to allow the Public Health to pursue a grant with the State of Minnesota for creation of a breastfeeding friendly worksite at the Health and Human Services building. ASSESSOR Sue Schulz A) Discussion was held by Sue Schulz and County Attorney Mike Junge concerning the evaluation of three apartment complexes each consisting of twelve units in Hutchinson belonging to FN Investment, LLC. The parcels are 1). The tax court settlement revised the value of the properties of the current 2010 payable from $1,407,200 to $1,180,700 and to $1,388,600 for 2011 payable. Nies/Terlinden motion carried unanimously to approve a Stipulation of Settlement for payable 2010 values at $1,180,700 on the following properties , and with the County Attorney authorized to prepare the settlement and Sue Schulz to make an abatement for payable AUDITOR-TREASURER Cindy Schultz A) Cindy Schultz was asked by the Crow River Sno Pros Snowmobile Club to seek Board approval for the Club to submit an application to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources for a Capital Improvement Project grant. The funds received would be used for brush and tree removal on the Dakota Rail. RESOLUTION 11-CB-05 SNO PRO S GRANT APPLICATION WHEREAS, County of McLeod is the Local Unit of Government, hereinafter referred to as the Sponsor relating to the maintenance and grooming of the Crow River Snowmobile Trails by the Club named Crow River Sno-Pros and WHEREAS, the County of McLeod supports the grant application made to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources for a Capital Improvement Project Application. The Application is for brush and tree removal on the Dakota Rail. The Crow River Sno-Pro s would remove all brush and trees from each side of the rail bed. This would be approximately 13 feet from center of rail bed. Removal would start east of City of Hutchinson at State Highway 22 go 14 miles east to County Road 1 west of the City of Lester Prairie. The trail system is located within McLeod County, Minnesota, and WHEREAS, the Crow River Sno-Pros recognizes the thirty-five (35) percent match requirement for the Minnesota Snowmobile Trail Assistance Program and has secured the matching funds NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, if the County of McLeod is awarded a grant by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the County of McLeod agrees to accept the grant award and may enter into an agreement with the State of Minnesota for the above referenced project. The Crow River Sno Pros will comply with all applicable laws, environmental requirements and regulation as stated in the grant Agreement, and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the McLeod County Commissioners of the County of McLeod names the fiscal agent for this project as: Cindy Schultz McLeod County Auditor-Treasurer 2391 Hennepin Ave N

3 Glencoe, MN Nies/Terlinden motion carried unanimously to approve Resolution 11-CB-05 supporting the Crow River Sno Pros grant application for brush and tree removal on the Dakota Trail. HEARTLAND COMMUNICTY ACTION AGENCY Housing Services Manager Rhonda Otteson A) Ms. Otteson presented information on the demographics of the households that the Heartland Community Action Agency serves in the counties of McLeod, Meeker, Renville and Kandiyohi. In 2010, they assisted 77 households in McLeod County. Their services are for people at 200% of the poverty guidelines. Today she was asking the Board to consider approval of the Region 6E Family Homeless Prevention and Assistance Program, Resolution 11-CB- 04. Two years ago Heartland was awarded a grant and the $360,000 was used for providing housing assistance. Resolution 11-CB-04 Region 6E Family Homeless Prevention and Assistance Program Resolution WHEREAS, the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency has made available Family Homeless Prevention and Assistance Program grant monies to encourage and support innovation at the local level in redesigning the existing support system to homelessness, and WHEREAS, Region 6E service providers who administer programs that address families crisis needs have identified gaps within the service delivery system, and WHEREAS, Region 6E service providers who administer programs that address families crisis needs have identified strategies to address identified service gaps, WHEREAS, Region 6E service providers wish to continue to work together to coordinate their services and improve the service delivery system, WHEREAS, Heartland Community Action Agency desires to make an application on behalf of the area service providers for funding to address these identified problems, NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the County of McLeod agrees to support Heartland Community Action Agency in its application and implementation of the proposed Family Homeless Prevention and Assistance Program. Terlinden/Wright motion carried unanimously to approve Resolution 11-CB-04, in support of Region 6E Family Homeless Prevention and Assistance Program. PARKS Director Al Koglin A) Al Koglin explained that the fishing pier at Swan Lake that was installed in 1986 has been repaired many times and now needs to be replaced. He is seeking approval for the County to pay $5,000 toward the pier and the Department of Natural Resources would cover the remaining costs estimated at $23,000. The new pier would be of similar size and style and would be installed this summer. Wright/Terlinden motion carried unanimously to approve the expenditure of $5,000 for the replacement of the Swan Lake fishing pier. B) Al Koglin was seeking approval to purchase a Ford F250 4X4 truck with cab and a half and snow plow package from Midway Ford in Roseville, MN for $22, on the State Contract. This will

4 replace the oldest truck in the department fleet a 1980 Ford pickup which was also used for snow plowing. Terlinden/Wright motion carried unanimously to approve purchase of a new Ford F250 4X4 truck for $22, on State contract from Midway Ford in Roseville, MN to be paid from the 2011 Parks budget. RECESS SHERIFF Sheriff Scott Rehmann and Emergency Services Director Kevin Mathews A) Sheriff Rehmann presented the Sheriff s Office 2010 Year End Report which highlighted the 16,311 calls for service that were received in The Dectective Division investigated 129 cases and the McLeod County Jail had 1,239 bookings. Emergency Management responded to 34 incidents and clerical processed 1,725 reports. The Emergency Response Team had 153 hours of call out and spent 256 hours in training. For more information and to preview a copy of this report, please visit the Sheriff s Office internet page from the following County website B) Sheriff Rehmannn asked for consideration to purchase four Panasonic Toughbooks, docking stations and additional memory from Compar, Inc. from Minnetonka, MN from the State contract for a total cost of $18, including tax. These computers will replace the older computers in squad cars. Nies/Wright motion carried unanimously to approve the purchase of four Toughbooks from Compar, Inc. of Minnetonka, MN for $18, on State contract from the Sheriff s Office 2011 budget. C) Sheriff Rehmann requested approval to enter into a Joint Powers Agreement with the State of Minnesota to obtain a new breath testing instrument. There is no cost to the County with this Agreement. The new equipment is needed as the State has decided to switch to new breath testing equipment. Terlinden/Nies motion carried unanimously to approve the Joint Powers Agreement with the State of Minnesota to obtain new breath testing equipment. D) Sheriff Rehmann requested approval to purchase two Stalker radars via state bid from Applied Concepts of Plano, TX. These radars will replace outdated equipment. Each radar costs $2,795 plus tax and shipping. Total purchase price including shipping will be $5,620 plus tax. The purchase will be made using a matching funds grant from the Office of Traffic Safety, so the cost to the Sheriff s budget will be $2,810 plus tax. Terlinden/Nies motion unanimously to approve purchase of two Stalker radars from Applied Concepts of Plano, TX for $2,810 plus tax on State contract from the Sheriff s Office 2011 budget. E) Kevin Mathews gave an update on the spring flooding situation /and talked about how to distribute supplies to address spring flooding. Predictions from the National Weather Services state that there will be widespread flooding state-wide this spring. Discussion was held concerning the County s supply of sandbags. Questions to consider: 1) if the County should make sandbags available to the public, 2) should the County charge the cities and the public for the sandbags, 3) should there be a limit as to how many a person can receive and 4) who would a person call to get the sandbags. Kevin is to check with other counties and get feedback from the public and staff regarding these questions. He also provided information about the disposal of sandbags if they come in contact with flood waters.

5 Wangerin/Nies motion carried unanimously to table discussion until the March 8, 2011 Board meeting and allow Mr. Mathews to gather more information. Kevin Mathews requested approval to purchase sandbags for the upcoming flood season. He received several quotes and the lowest was from Valley Bag Company of East Grand Forks, MN at a cost of $.145/bag. Wangerin/Nies motion carried unanimously to buy 8,000 sandbags from Valley Bag Company, East Grand Forks, MN for a total cost of $1,160. F) Sheriff Rehmann presented the McLeod County Sheriff s Office Citizen Life Saving Award to Charles and Jean Grimm of Stewart for their response to an incident on January 23, They were driving by the residence of Lowell and Barbara Peterson of Hutchinson when they saw Barbara lying in her driveway. She had slipped on the ice, was injured and was not able to get to safety. The Grimms called 911 and assisted Barbara until emergency personnel arrived. The Board and others present expressed their sincere appreciation to the parties involved. COURT ADMINISTRATION Karen Messner A) Karen Messner presented information on several projects that the 1 St Judicial District and the Court Administration Department have been involved with to make operations more efficient. One project is e-citation, which made citations uniform across the state and now allows for payment by phone over the internet in addition to in-person payment. There is now also in-court updating which gives real time updating to criminal cases. Another efficiency is the use of remote or on-line interpreting. Also discussed was that the First Judicial District Public Defenders budget is depleted and that the County will have to cover the cost that are incurred from now through June 30, 2011 after which the next fiscal cycle begins. These costs are for expert witnesses, transcripts and interpreters for indigent defendents. Karen Messner and Judge Conkel, by letter, assured the Board that the Courts will only approve these expenditures when necessary and in compliance with State Statute COUNTY ADMINISTRATION A) Recommendations from the February 15, 2011Staffing Request Review Committee. 1. Continue discussion about future use of vacated Veteran Services office. Recommendations: i. The Technical Specialist III from Central Services be moved under the Administration Department ii. The Administration Department be moved to the vacated Veteran Services Office iii. Some of the Information Services Department be moved into the now vacated Administration Department iv. The vacated Information Services Department will now house the inter-office mail boxes, the postage meter, the motor pool keys, etc. v. The cost of this project should not exceed $7,500. This will include, the purchase of some basic office furniture ($ ), removing a wall in the new Administration Office ($310), electrical needs

6 (estimated at $1,390) adding a door between Human Resources and the new Administration Department ($1,675) and other miscellaneous expenses 2. Consider Summer Intern for Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Division of the Solid Waste Management Department. Recommendation: Hire a Summer Intern for HHW for an expense not to exceed $4, Consider Summer Workers for Parks and Fairgrounds Recommendation: Hire two temporary workers at 40 hours per week at Fairgrounds for the summer and four temporary workers, two at 34 hours per week and two at 20 hours per week, for the Parks. 4. Consider Intern for Fairgrounds Recommendation: Approve Fairgrounds to have unpaid intern. 5. Attorney s Office to discuss staffing. (Information only). 6. Discussion on requests for hiring of consultants Recommendation: All requests for hiring consultants should come before the Staffing Request Review Committee for their recommendation to be brought to the Board. 7. Considering hiring a fulltime Secretary II (grade12) to replace vacancy in the County Administration Department due to resignation Recommendation: Hire full time Secretary II (grade 12) in the County Administration Department. During the interim, they will be asking for assistance from other departments to help with some of the workload. If that doesn t work out, they ask to be allowed to hire a temporary employee until the replacement is hired. Wright/Terlinden motion unanimously approved to approve staffing recommendations. Mike Junge received information that a Technical Specialist II in the Attorney s Office had accepted a position in Social Services. He asked for authorization to fill the position. Terlinden/Nies motion carried unanimously to approve the hiring of a full time Technical Specialist II in the Attorney s Office.

7 B) Discussion was held concerning Committee Day. Wright likes to have multiple meetings in one day. Bayerl favors it if there is not downtime between meetings. Nies doesn t have a problem with it and says it doesn t need to be fixed. The committee day schedule will be kept as it currently is and the Commissioners will make a better attempt to attend the meetings scheduled for that day. C) Discussion was held on the proposed Highway Department snow plow rates. The suggestion was made that if these new rates are going to be implemented, maybe they should be started in 2012 as the townships have already set their budgets for Wright made comment that if the Highway Department increases their rate than the other contractors will increase their rates also. Nies made comment that we owe it to the constituents and those townships not using this service to charge what the actual expense is of snow plowing. Nies/Terlinden made a motion to approve the new snow plow rates effective January 1, Roll call vote- Ayes: Nies, Terlinden, Wangerin. Nays: Wright Nies/Terlinden motion carried unanimously to adjourn at 11:13 for the month of February. ATTEST Beverly Wangerin, Board Chair Patrick Melvin, County Administrator