The Polk County Commissioners met on Tuesday at the Polk County Government Center.
POLK COUNTY SHERIFF’S REPORT
Polk County Sheriff Jim Tadman started the meeting by giving the Monthly Sheriff’s report. The top calls in January were 137 civil process calls, 88 traffic stops, 85 school patrols, 73 motorist assists, and 25 public assists. Other numbers included 16 tips, 16 welfare checks, four business alarms, two bank alarms, one school bus stop-arm violation, and one missing person, just a few of the calls.
Sheriff Tadman said the department was sad to report the death of K-9 Rex. “With the passing of Rex on February 7, he came down with Lyme disease and started getting sick. Sergeant Stout got him to the vet and found out that he was having kidney failure,” said Sheriff Tadman. “We were going to get another opinion just to make sure there was nothing else we could do. And it turned from bad to really bad. So the decision was made to put him down so he doesn’t have to suffer. So he really took a turn on Saturday night.”
Sheriff Tadman said they will be getting a new K-9 and will start training soon. “We will be sending a new deputy to canine training. Titan Engen will be going down on March 16 for canine training. We’re going to go forward with another canine, and it’s going to be a couple of months and should be done sometime in June,” said Sheriff Tadman. “This will be a dual-purpose dog, so they’ll have the tracking, apprehension, and then the narcotics.”
TAX FORFEITED LAND
Jacob Snyder, Polk County Assistant Environmental Services Administrator, informed the commissioners on two tax forfeited properties that will need to be demolished.
The first property is the old Erskine Glass Thrift Shop at 109 Vance Avenue in Erskine, right next to the Ness Café. The building is in total disrepair and the roof is caving in. The second floor collapsed during storms in the summer of 2025, causing some damage to the neighboring Ness Café. The structure is full of mixed solid waste, and the contents cannot be safely removed from the building prior to demolition, which will increase demolition costs. “It’s a very large building. It’s connected to several other business storefronts. It’s directly connected to the Ness Cafe. At least a little portion of a lean-to addition they did to connect the buildings. The extent of how that’s going to affect the Ness Cafe is unknown,” said Snyder. “I don’t think we have any issue moving down the road to the south. A lot of those businesses, if you look at the backside of the businesses, there’s nothing to the buildings that are directly to the south. You have no boundaries, contracting that’s directly connected to it with no back wall on it. You can see right through the building. We’re hoping that it stops there, where they can just take down that one building.”
Snyder said he has been in contact with the owners of the Ness Café. “I’ve been in contact with Tommy Helgeson, so they’ve had some damage with some of the storms this past summer. It’s really the second floor sitting on the main floor,” said Snyder. “It is filled with stuff. It was a former thrift store, hence why there’s so much stuff in it. We’ve had a number of issues with people entering the building in the last couple of years. They’re thinking there’s stuff in there that they should be taking out of it, and they shouldn’t. You’re going to fall through the building and end up on the basement, and we’re going to have an issue. It is locked up, but they seem to find a way, a window, a door they can pry open, get in. It is a hazard that needs kind of some action.”
The second property is the McIntosh School building. The Environmental Services staff estimates the total demolition cost will be in the $300,000 to $650,000 range, depending on several unknowns at this time.
OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES ITEMS
The commissioners approved a joint solid waste hauling contract for 2026-2028 with Dukek Trucking of Bemidji to haul waste for Beltrami, Hubbard, and Polk Counties. The amount of the contract is based on a per-mile rate that was $2.56 in 2025. It will be $2.84 in 2026, $2.86 in 2027, and $2.88 in 2028.
The commissioners approved a 2026 Polk County Haulers license to Al’s Disposal Inc. of Ada to collect waste from a non-Polk County resident or business and deliver the material to the Polk County facility.
The commissioners approved a 2026 Polk County Haulers license to Tipton Grease Services Inc. of Box Elder, South Dakota who is looking to utilize the composting services at the Polk County Landfill.
