The Polk County Board of Commissioners met inside the Polk County Government Center on Tuesday morning to sign a renewed Joint Powers Agreement with the Minnesota Department of Public Safety and Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, discuss more agreements for the American Rescue Plan funds, and swear in a new Auditor-Treasurer and Recorder.
GREG WIDSETH- COUNTY ATTORNEY
The board heard from County Attorney Greg Widseth, who requested the board to approve and sign a renewed Joint Powers Agreement with the Department of Public Safety, and Bureau of Criminal Apprehension to use the systems and tools available over the State’s Criminal Justice Data Communications Network (CJDN) to authorize himself and Polk County Sheriff James Tadman to sign any subsequent agreement or amendment that may be needed. The board approved the motion unanimously.
MICHELLE COTE- TPSC
After a short break, the board then heard from Michelle Cote to promote Property Records Deputy Director Sam Melbye to the position of Auditor-Treasurer and Recorder to take her place when she retires on August 26 and implement him on August 29. 4th District Commissioner Joan Lee commenced the swearing-in ceremony for him to take the position. “It is a big honor to take over for her. She has done a lot for this county. They’re big shoes to fill, and I’ll do my best to do that,” Melbye explained. “As the Auditor-Treasurer and Recorder and Deputy Register, we’ll be dealing a lot with the property taxes, the recording of documents, any real estate transaction that comes in, and anything that has to do with DMV. It’s a broad reach throughout the taxpayer service center here at the county.” Cote then requested the board to appoint Laura Pierson and Nancy Tuseth as additional Election Judges on their absentee ballot board to be utilized in the testing, validation, tabulation, and technical support of the 2022 Election. The board approved the motions unanimously. Pictures of Melbye being sworn in can be seen below.
CHUCK WHITING- ADMINISTRATION
The board finished the meeting with County Administrator Chuck Whiting, who came forward with three new American Rescue Plan Agreements. The first was to the City of Crookston for $137,217.70 to cover costs associated with the construction and installation of sewer infrastructure in the city, which used its own ARPA funds and wishes to use the county ARPA funds to close a financing gap for the project. The second agreement was for the Polk County Fair Association for various Fairground improvements, including upgrades to the grandstand, horse barn, Varnes church steeple, Concordia restrooms, and 4H East Stand Deck for $152,759. The third agreement was for the City of McIntosh to make up for pandemic-related revenue losses at the Poplar Meadows assisted living complex for $248,576.75 of unpaid rent or leases for living units in the complex. The board approved all requests unanimously. Whiting mentioned there was a fourth agreement with the Agassiz Environmental Learning Center in Fertile, looking to use the funds to repair their building. However, it is still pending some final information for the grant agreement draft with the Fertile City Attorney before he brings it to the board.
Update on Government Center Foundation Drainage Project
Whiting then gave an update on the Government Center Foundation Project they had approved at the beginning of the summer. He reported that the work is going well, and he says it appears that the building should avoid all water intrusion around its foundation for the foreseeable future, with facilities staff working on the interior repair on the lower level. But as they were creating the drainage around the building, some additional labor and materials were discussed on the parking lot level that would bring the project over its original quote and that additional work would be cost-effective. “We’re going to redo some of the entryway here at the Government Center while we’re at it,” Whiting explained. “We’ve got some nice granite, but the way it’s situated, we get a lot of weeds, so we’ll take them out, and the contractor will incorporate that out in the drainage project, and we’ll fix this up out front, so it looks a little more presentable.” Whiting explained that they would be removing granite slabs outside the entrance to the Government Center and reutilizing the foundation drainage project to have it be replaced with concrete and sealed, which will improve maintenance and the look of the parking lot in front of the building for $16,126. Whiting said he had given them the go-ahead to start it. This will still leave about half a million dollars in their bond fund.
2023 Budget Status
The board finished the meeting by discussing the status of the budget for 2023. Whiting reported that there were a few items of interest. Such as a 3.125% increase over 2022’s budget for most things, such as the Cafeteria Benefits Plan from $14,400 to $16,023.60 and their insurance coverage from $38,400 to $40,820.40. He reported that they have four months to make any other changes before they finalize it at the end of the year. He then went into some of the smaller parts of the budget, like his and the appropriations budget. He mentioned that they already had some appropriations from some county organizations and cities like East and West Polk County and the Red River Valley Development. They would receive the rest of the department budgets by Friday, July 22. “It’s relatively minor in the grand scheme of things, all of the department budgets are due to the Finance Department by Friday, and over the next two weeks, they’ll get compiled. I’ll then sit down with each department head and the Finance Director, and we’ll go through the initial department budgets and try to get an idea of what we’re looking at for next year and get something ready for the board to review in September.”
The next Commissioners’ meeting will take place on Tuesday, July 26, at 8:00 a.m. in the Polk County Government Center.
