The Polk County Board of Commissioners met Tuesday, March 4, at 8:00 a.m. at the Government Center.
Chuck Whiting, Polk County Administrator covered some items with the board Tuesday. He first asked the board to consider further funding for the West Central Regional Water District Formation. This project has been in the works for quite some time, and Polk County has already contributed over half a million dollars to the WCRWD Formation. Today the board seemed a little concerned that this was going to be a recurring ask without result. The WCRWD asked for $200,000 between Clay, Norman, and Polk Counties, with Polk’s portion to be $97,000. These funds are meant to be a gap fund, and any unused monies would be returned to the respective counties.
After much discussion, the board unanimously approved $90,000. The other $7000 would be a reserve, as the hope is that the project will start pulling in money from the residents the Water District will be servicing.
Whiting also brought the FINAL PLAT for “Neppers Division” to the board for approval. The landowner is proposing to divide the property into five lots. The motion to approve as presented was unanimously approved by the board.
Next, on the Agenda, the board heard from Dana Johnson from Polk County Victims Services. Johnson works for Polk County Attorney Greg Widseth’s office and brought a request for a Courthouse Facility Dog to the board. “It would be specifically trained as a service animal to work with victims of crimes,” says Johnson. “To assist them by reducing trauma to them when they are having to go through the Criminal Justice System.” The board asked a few questions about how dogs can provide comfort and the cost associated with having this service. “We have funds already available and earmarked through the County Attorney’s Office,” says Johnson. “It’s no additional cost to the County for this.” Today, Johnson was just on hand to ask the board for permission to proceed with the application process so she could get that started. “Can Do Canines” out of the Twin Cities is the agency that the application will go to. “This is just to approve us to get the application in,” says Johnson. “It’s going to be a long process, so we won’t have a dog for a while as it’s a process to get that in place. But hopefully by the end of this year.”
The board heard from Darin Carlstrom and Randy Huot from the Highways Department on multiple items. The first three were for Calcium Chloride, Route and Seal, and 2025 Equipment Rental Bids. The Calcium Chloride contract was approved and awarded to Knife River Materials, and the Route and Seal Bid was approved and awarded to Asphalt Surface Technology. The Equipment Rental Bids were also approved unanimously by the board.
The next item from the Highway Department was for County Ditch Maintenance. This ditch petition is to replace the culvert in a field approach in County Ditch 200, old SD 61, section 21 of Gully Township. The landowner pays for the culvert and installation, and the County Ditch will pay for future maintenance. The board approved this motion and named Richard Sanders, Engineer, over the project. The board approved unanimously to proceed.
The Highways Department also brought to the board approval for the purchase of two Motor Graders. The motor graders are to be replacements in Fertile and East Grand Forks. These were budgeted for and approved for purchase.
Last for the Highway Department was a request to approve advertising and hiring a Highway Maintenance Worker in Fertile. The board unanimously approved that motion.
Last up for the County Board Tuesday was Sarah Reese, Polk County Public Health Director. Reese’s’ first item was a presentation on Polk County’s WIC Program. “We came to present on the WIC Program, which is the Women, Infants and Children Program,” says Reese. “This is a program we offer across our county and in partnership with Norman and Mahnomen Public Health.” Today, Reese shared with the board the number of participants that they see and that that number continues to increase.
If you have ever wondered how important the WIC Program is, it is quite amazing the impact it makes on both families and the community. “We are in Congressional District 7,” says Reese. “I think it’s important for the public to know that not only are we providing a service to residents in our county to access healthy foods and receive information about nutrition, we also have an impact on our local grocery stores.” Reese says in Congressional District 7, in fiscal year 2023, approximately $16.8 million dollars was brought into our region through participants utilizing their WIC benefits.
As part of the WIC Program, Reese explained that there is a PEER Breast Feeding Program geared toward helping breastfeeding moms and moms-to-be. Tammy Conn has worked with the WIC program here in Polk County for 17 years. “I am a WIC Certifier, my degree is in nutrition, but I’m also an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant,” says Conn. “I coordinate the PEER Breast Feeding Support Program.” The program has been up and running here since 2016 but Conn says it’s been a state program since 2005. “We have three PEER Counselors that work for Polk, Norman, Mahnomen WIC,” says Conn. “They service pregnant women, educating them about the benefits of breastfeedingand what to expect with breastfeeding. Then, of course, after the baby is born, they share important information with them and support them.” Conn says they have serviced over 500 clients in their program since it started in 2026, and over 7000 have been serviced in the state of Minnesota by the PEER Program.
The last item on the agenda also came from Polk County Heath. Codi Lehmann, who will be stepping into a new position as Community Health Supervisor at Polk County, came with Reese Tuesday to ask the Board to approve the Medica County Innovation Funds they have been awarded. “Today, I came to talk to the board about an initiative we are looking to start here in Polk County called the Community Life Jacket Initiative, “says Lehmann. “At Polk County Public Health, we had the idea to provide life jackets at some of our public water access sites.”
The county has been using all of the local resources it can to make this initiative a reality. “We are looking to partner with some of our local schools to make a stand for those life jackets,” says Lehmann. “ So, Crookston Schools and Erskine Schools, their shop students will be making stands to hold the life jackets.” Lehmann says they are also partnering with SafeKids Grand Forks to purchase life jackets and then within their internal staff at Public Health to receive donations to purchase the life jackets as well. “So, we are looking to build about three life jacket stands that will be available at Maple Lake East Shore, at the Erskine Cameron Lake water access sight, and at perhaps at some of Kayak launch sites either at Crookston or in Fertile,” says Lehmann. “At the life jackets stands, there will be various sizes of life jackets available to community members, including infants, youth, and adults, to enjoy the water safely and then return that.” The part that needed board approval Tuesday was to accept the funds that Medica County Innovations granted. The board approved unanimously,
