The Polk County Board of Commissioners met on Tuesday at the Polk County Government Center.
Planning and Zoning Administrator Jacob Snyder brought the first item to the board. Snyder was searching for approval to purchase two 58-yard roll-off containers. “These roll-off containers we use to ship ways from the Crookston Transfer Station out to the landfill,” said Snyder, “So really, we just group our waste up and categorize it at the transfer station. These roll-off containers go off the road and out to the landfill.”
The total cost for the containers is estimated at $34,400 before tax. The board motioned to approve the item.
The next item that was approved by the board was the resolution of the Polk County 2024 Market Price for the tax on solid waste. Polk County citizens will pay taxes on container rental, waste pick up, and the disposal of the waste (tip fee). “For areas that use a higher method of managing waste, they prefer waste energy over landfills,” said Director of Environmental Services Jon Steiner, “Usually, there is a higher cost in doing that.”
Polk County uses landfill services for waste disposal, which has allowed the county to take a cost-effective route for the market price in 2024. The county will be charged a 9.75% tax on residential waste and 17% on commercial waste, which is added to the market price. The estimated market price for 2024 will be $29.06 per ton of disposed waste, which is a 56-cent increase from last year.
Polk County Engineer Richard Sanders brought various items to the board, which all were ultimately approved by the commissioners.
The first item was the approval of county ditch 26, next to Crookston, which runs through Fisher on the south side of Highway 2 and needs a culvert replaced. “When it gets to CSAH 15, there is a 72-inch culvert there, and it is clearly in rough shape,” said Sanders, “We got a contract to replace that culvert with a 10×4 box culvert.”
As a result of replacing the culvert, Sanders presented the next item of moving county state and highway 26 north away from the infrastructure that resides next to the road. “The ditch banks are sluffing toward their property. So, to give them more safety and buffer from the ditch, we will move the ditch to the north about 50 feet.”
This project’s total construction cost is estimated at $397,535.80, with Polk County receiving $120,489.60 in local bridge replacement bonding funds to mitigate some of the cost.
The board approved another culvert replacement within the city limits of Mentor. Snyder stated they would put a box culvert on county ditch 14 and conduct a bridge replacement on the north side of Mentor at the Grove Park Tilden township. This project was awarded to Davidson Construction in the amount of $218,000. This work will begin either in late October or during the 2024 construction season.
The consent agenda included the approval board meeting minutes from September 5. It also included the approval of bills and disbursements in the amount of $98,005.59.
