Lake of the Woods (MN) Commissioner Proceedings
COMMISSIONER PROCEEDINGS
SEPTEMBER 10, 2019
PURSUANT TO MN. STATUTE 331A.01, SUBD. 10 THE PUBLISHED MATERIAL IS ONLY A SUMMARY AND THE FULL TEXT IS AVAILABLE FOR PUBLIC INSPECTION AT THE LAKE OF THE WOODS COUNTY AUDITOR/TREASURERS’ OFFICE OR BY STANDARD MAIL OR ELECTRONIC MAIL OR LAKE OF THE WOODS COUNTY WEBSITE -www.lake-of-the-woods.mn.us
The Lake of the Woods County Board of Commissioners met in regular session on Tuesday, September 10, 2019 at Lake of the Woods County Government Center in the Commissioners’ Room.
CALL TO ORDER-Chairman Cody Hasbargen called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. and the Pledge of Allegiance was recited with the following members present: Commissioners: Joe Grund, Jon Waibel, Ed Arnesen and Cody Hasbargen. Absent: Commissioner Buck Nordlof. Also, present were: County Auditor/Treasurer Lorene Hanson, Attorney Jim Austad, Jaime Boretski-LaValla and Woody Fiala.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA-Motion was made by Commissioner Ed Arnesen, seconded by Commissioner Joe Grund and carried unanimously to approve the agenda with the following additions: Resolution to adopt proposed 2020 Budget and Tax Levy, Building lease release for Northwest Community Action Head Start Program, Board of Water and Soil Resources Block Grant Agreement, credit card request for Solid Waste employee, SWCD health insurance and at the request of the property owner, remove petition for public access vacation.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES-Motion was made by Commissioner Jon Waibel, seconded by Commissioner Ed Arnesen and carried unanimously to approve the official and summarized minutes of August 27, 2019.
SOCIAL SERVICES-Motion was made by Commissioner Ed Arnesen, seconded by Commissioner Joe Grund and carried unanimously to approve the following claims: Commissioners Warrant’s $11,504.29, Commissioners Warrant’s $3,892.10, Commissioners Warrant’s $25,316.50.
AUDITOR/TREASURER-Claim-Motion was made by Commissioner Ed Arnesen, seconded by Commissioner Jon Waibel, and carried unanimously to approve the claims against the County as follows: Revenue $34,390.82, Road & Bridge $42,658.97, Joint Ditch $560.00, Solid Waste $25,543.19 and EDA $44.56.
WARRANTS FOR PUBLICATION
Warrants Approved On 9/10/2019 For Payment 9/13/2019
Vendor Name Amount
Cenex Co-Op Services, Inc. 2,997.63
Farmers Union Oil Co. 2,711.82
Freeberg & Grund, Inc 17,890.00
Hiner/Kirk 8,830.00
Hometown Hardware 2,062.86
LOW Highway Dept 4,111.25
Mar-Kit Landfill 14,799.50
Moren/Law Offices Of Patrick D 3,375.00
Roger’s Two Way Radio, Inc 14,736.19
Woody’s Service 4,249.49
51 Payments less than 2000 27,433.80
Final Total: 103,197.54
Further moved to authorize the payment of the following auditor warrants: August 28, 2019 $477,204.13 and September 4, 2019 $60,546.09.
Lost Warrant-Motion was made by Commissioner Joe Grund, seconded by Commissioner Jon Waibel and carried unanimously to approve the application and affidavit for lost warrant for Valerie Basher, dated March 29, 2019 for $4.84 without furnishing indemnifying bond.
County Issued Credit Card-Motion was made by Commissioner Ed Arnesen, seconded by Commissioner Jon Waibel and carried unanimously to approve the request for a county issued credit card with a limit of $1,500 for Solid Waste employee, Ted Furbish.
Building Lease Release-Motion was made by Commissioner Ed Arnesen, seconded by Commissioner Jon Waibel and carried unanimously to approve the request from Northwest Community Action Headstart Program to be released from their building lease at County Government Center North, 106 2nd Street NE in Baudette effective October 31, 2019.
Proposed 2020 Budget and Tax Levy Resolution-The following Resolution was proposed and moved for adoption by Commissioner Jon Waibel. RESOLUTION 2019-09-01, ADOPTING PROPOSED 2020 BUDGET AND TAX LEVY, WHEREAS, the Proposed County Budget for the year 2020 has been reviewed by the Lake of the Woods County Board of Commissioners; and NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the following Proposed Budget and Tax Levy is hereby adopted for the Lake of the Woods County for 2020:
Revenue Fund $ 1,684,365
Road & Bridge Fund $ 449,580
Social Services Fund $ 603,935
Economic Development Authority Fund $ 60,000
2020 Proposed Budget and Tax Levy $ 2,797,880
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the following amounts be levied against the unorganized townships of Lake of the Woods County for 2020:
Twp Road & Bridge $ 463,470*
Twp Fire – Baudette $ 25,000
Twp Fire – Williams $ 28,213
Twp Fire – NW Angle $ 6,500
Total $ 523,183
2020
* $463,470 for Township Road & Bridge includes $12,000 which is specifically levied to Northwest Angle residents for Calcium Chloride. (451,470+12,000=463,470)
A public meeting to discuss the 2020 Proposed Budget and Tax Levy will be held on Tuesday, December 17, 2019, at 6:00 p.m. in the Lake of the Woods County Commissioners’ Room. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Joe Grund, and the same being put to a vote, was unanimously carried.
HUMAN RESOURCES-Motion was made by Commissioner Ed Arnesen, seconded by Commissioner Jon Waibel and carried unanimously to authorize the following step increases effective the next full payroll 9/22/19: Bruce Erickson to Grade 11, Step 9 at $23.52; Marti Carlson to Grade 13, Step 12 at $27.85; Jane Larson to Grade 10 Step 6 at $20.98.
VOYAGEUR COMTRONICS-Lee Hervey from Voyageur Comtronics gave an update on the television networks and channels available to Lake of the Woods County residents through the Williams and Baudette Translator sites. Hervey provided information on installing UHF TV antenna systems and briefly discussed television technology currently in development called ATSC3. Lee discussed maintenance of the Williams and Baudette translator towers. He has painting of the towers on his list for next summer and recommended that the county consider roof and facia replacement on the Williams and Baudette translator buildings to ensure the equipment is protected. Lee discussed the sheriff’s paging tower located by County Government Center North in regards to intended plans for the new law enforcement center at that location. He suggested to consult with the County Sheriff and City Fire Chief to fully understand how the tower is used for emergency communications. A recent lightning storm caused damage to area TV equipment, a brief update on those items was also discussed.
DITCH AUTHORITY-Motion was made by Commissioner Ed Arnesen, seconded by Commissioner Joe Grund and carried unanimously to close the regular meeting at 9:52 a.m. and open the Ditch Authority.
Petition for Repair of a Drainage System- Interim Engineer Boyd Johnson gave an update regarding the Ditch 28 petition. Johnson discussed the current plan for the surveyed area which includes: ditch cleaning, tree removal and increased culvert size. Johnson confirmed that the project is on the list. The Ditch Authority asked for an update at the next County Board meeting on 9/24/19.
Motion was made by Commissioner Ed Arnesen, seconded by Commissioner Joe Grund and carried unanimously to close the Ditch Authority meeting at 10:15 a.m. and reconvene the regular meeting.
HIGHWAY-Update-Interim Engineer Boyd Johnson updated the County Board on the progress of the construction projects going on throughout the county. Some of the paving projects were delayed due to weather, but paving on the school road is finishing up. The paving for County Road 3 was discussed and is delayed due to some grading issues.
Wheeler’s Point Sewer District-Motion was made by Commissioner Jon Waibel, seconded by Commissioner Ed Arnesen and carried unanimously to approve partial payment #9 to Wheeler’s Point Sewer District in the amount of $94,919.48.
LAND AND WATER PLANNING-Block Grant Agreement-Motion was made by Commissioner Jon Waibel, seconded by Commissioner Ed Arnesen and carried to unanimously approve the FY 2020 and 2021 State of Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources Natural Resources Block Grant Agreement, for Chairman Cody Hasbargen to sign the FY 2020 and 2021 State of Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources Natural Resources Block Grant Agreement and to designate Land and Water Planning Director, Josh Stromlund, as the authorized representative for the grant.
CORRESPONDENCE was acknowledged from: North Star Electric
ARROWHEAD LIBRARY-Jim Weikum, Executive Director of the Arrowhead Library System, gave an update on library services, including the mail-a-book service that was started in 1970. Recently they have been focusing on electronic and digital services and are seeing a 20 percent increase in subscribers to their e-book and audio book service each year. Jim noted that the current levy for the Library System will stay the same. Through the Clean Water, Land and Legacy fund, they have been able to continue to bring art and musical events into local libraries as well. Jim mentioned that residents of the Northwest Angle looking to get a library card with the Arrowhead Library system can now get applications and cards at the libraries in Warroad and Roseau. He provided the board with some of the marketing materials recently used in the area and said that their services are marketed to schools with back-to-school resource packets. Commissioner Ed Arnesen requested to add to the County Board meeting on 9/24/19 a review of the Lake of the Woods County website, to see if information could be added regarding library services.
SWCD-County Geologic Atlas Program-Mike Hirst from SWCD brought representatives from the University of Minnesota’s Minnesota Geological Survey and the MN Department of Natural Resources to meet with the County Board regarding the County Geological Atlas program. This program produces maps and databases that describe the geology and water and mineral resources of a county in forms useful for land use planning and resource management. The program is currently planning future work and is interested in partnering with our area. The process takes several years and requires no cash from the county, but does require that the county assist with data collection. To start the process the program requires a letter of intent from the county. The County Board requested this be added to the next County Board meeting on 9/24/19.
SWCD Health Insurance-Land and Water Planning Director, Josh Stromlund and Mike Hirst from the SWCD met with the board regarding health insurance options for SWCD employees. Prior to 2007, SWCD was on the county’s health insurance plan. The SWCD is looking into health insurance options and would like to research if being on the county plan would again be a cost-effective choice for its employees. The board, by consensus, agreed it could be an option and asked the SWCD to keep them updated on their findings.
RECESS-With no further business before the board, Chairman Cody Hasbargen called the meeting to recess at 12:05 p.m.
Attest: September 10, 2019
County Auditor/Treasurer, Lorene Hanson
Chairman of the Board, Cody Hasbargen
Publish October 2, 2019