The Polk County Board of Commissioners met inside the Polk County Government Center on Tuesday morning. They heard from Polk County Sheriff James Tadman, Richard Sanders on Highway developments and updates, Sarah Reese on an update of COVID-19 in the area, and Michelle Cote to discuss Property Records. The meeting also had other information with PCES head Jon Steiner on Environmental Services, Social Services Director Karen Warmack, and Human Resources Director Alecia Helms.
PROPERTY RECORDS
After the call to order, Property Records Director Michelle Cote brought in Tax Administrative Assistant Sam Melbye to discuss a Grant Application for the new 2022 Help America Vote Act (HAVA) for implementing and improving Election Security and Cybersecurity on the Ballot Boxes. He brought up a request to the Board to approve the purchase of the new Ballot Boxes to be utilized outside of the Polk County Government Center for Absentee/Mail Ballots for upcoming political elections in order to prevent the voting process from being backed up or delayed, and that they will be watched by security cameras 24 hours a day with the footage being saved for at least 22 months for investigations. The Board approved the motions unanimously.
Sheriff James Tadman
Sheriff James Tadman followed with the Monthly Sheriff Reports. He noted that they had received 755 emergency calls in January and nearly 1,967 non-emergency calls, which he stated is normal. He also noted many officers are working out in the public, enough for the Station to cover the calls, though they still have some spots left to fill. He also reported that due to drifty and slippery roads and the low number of tow trucks, the police have found many cars abandoned on the sides of highways. The worst-case being County Road 9 over the past month. He asked the Board for the potential of getting them a licensed tow truck to help get civilians out of snowbanks and other hazards they get stuck in, as the pickup trucks and cars they currently have struggled in getting people out of snowbanks or ditches.
He then opened the discussion of the Board about a notice on the APX Portable Radios & Mobile 7500 Dual-Band Radios the Station had purchased and claimed Motorola would no longer be able to program or service them at the end of September 2022. He brought in Sergeant Jesse Haugen to ask the Board to help fund for more of a new set of radios they are currently testing along with stations in North Dakota that would help them be in contact with officers in nearby counties while their current radios would lose that ability. He also mentioned that they have had issues they have had to fix with their current radios over the past ten months and that Marshall County and other nearby counties are also dealing with the same problems. With potential flooding and water issues coming in the spring due to the large amounts of snow this winter, they hope to have these updated radios so they can communicate with each other to help people that may need help when the time comes,
“The portable and mobile radios are our first line of communication directly after a citizen, or somebody calls into our office. It’s the quickest way to notify the officers and patrolmen that are out there, willing and ready to respond to those calls,”
The Station is asking for 30 of the Portable Radios and 26 of the Mobile Radios, which would cost $169,847.61 and $149,006, respectively, for a total of $318,853. However, this price is subject to change as the State of Minnesota is still negotiating the deal with Motorola, which may cause the price to go up. “We have done some numbers. Understand that things are always subject to change. But moving forward, I think the Board is receptive, and we’re willing to tackle whatever hurdles we have to with where we’re at and the availability of this product. First and foremost, we wanted to put the Board on notice and that we are dealing with the expiration notice,” Haugen reported. The Board seemed supportive of the new radios but chose to hold off on any votes until the negotiations with State and Motorola were complete as well as when a price is set.
PUBLIC HEARING
The Board then opened the room to public hearings on the Housing Incentive Program and Property Tax Abatements in Crookston and East Grand Forks. Tax Administrative Assistant Sam Melbye approached the Board again about the agreement Polk County is in with the cities to abate property taxes for the County’s portion that will send back money that the County collected for their portion of the property tax for 2021 and 2022 for new construction residential properties. “Commissioner Strandell said that it’s a great program, and it’s been a very successful program, and I completely agree. This is my third year going through it, and I’ve seen countless new houses because of this program,” Melbye said.
HIGHWAY
County Engineer, Richard Sanders had his turn next to approve the 2022 Road Restriction Map for the year to designate more 10-ton routes to make travel more efficient for those transporting heavy cargo. Sanders went through the list of the different highways that would be changed for the year,
- CSAH 16 from Trunk Highway 75 up to CSAH 9 through Eldridge is now going to be a 10-ton route
- CSAH 13 from CSAH 11 to CSAH 17 will be a 10-ton route
- CSAH 57 from 13 to the Red Lake County Line will be a 10-ton route
- CSAH 3 from CSAH 6 up to CSAH 2
- CSAH 2 from CSAH 3 up to Trunk Highway 92 will also be 10-ton.
He also brought up a set of agency agreements and contracts for the City of Mentor and Grove Park Township for bridge replacements for the summer and a move to sign the final contract of completion for two bridges on CSAH 1 between Fertile and Winger. All items were approved by the Board unanimously.
PUBLIC HEALTH
Public Health Director Sarah Reese then approached the Board with an update on COVID-19’s impact on Minnesota and the County’s COVID response. The County hit an all-time high of 7-day Lab Case rates at 473 confirmed cases four weeks ago, but this week it has dropped to 233 Lab confirmed cases, and across the State, COVID cases are decreasing. The newest variant, BA.2, has yet to have any confirmed cases in the state, but there are a potential 20 cases somewhere in the state. About nearly 95% of all cases in the state are the Omicron variant, but she feels the County is in a much better condition this month than it was last month. “All of the numbers are looking good. We do still want to remind people that there’s lots of seasonal viruses going around, and we’re also happy on our weekly morbidity and mortality report that we get from the state. We did see that it appears that all different types of illnesses are going down. So, we’re going to knock on wood and hope that that stays consistent,” Reese said. Vaccine clinics are still open and in business, and the state has about 55.9% of its citizens fully vaccinated. So far, about 97 Deaths have been COVID-related this year, and about 1 death every week has been COVID-related over the past 8 weeks.
OTHER ITEMS
The Board also approved Alecia Helms’ Proposal form from the DDA of Human Resources to conduct a market analysis for 2022, which will cause the project cost to fall in with normal provisions provided to Polk County, depending on details requested by County Administration. Social Director Karen Warmack went next discussing an Agreement with Altru Health Systems for the treatment of individuals with mental illnesses. The Board approved the agreement unanimously.
The next meeting will take place on March 1st, at 8:00 a.m., inside the Polk County Government Center.
