The Polk County Board of Commissioners met inside the Polk County Government Center on Tuesday morning to approve several items for the Highway Department and hear a report on the history of the county’s finances.
CONSENT ITEMS
The board began the meeting by approving the Commissioner Warrants and Sign Audit List and a payment of $66,537.97 to the US Band in St. Louis. It also included a $774.20 payment to Johnson Controls in Dallas, TX, regarding building pressure & humidity for the Facilities Department and to Kelsey Helgeson of Polk County Public Health for $207.50 for mileage expenses.
HIGHWAY-RICHARD SANDERS
The board first heard from County Engineer Richard Sanders for a Certificate of Performance/Final Acceptance CP for County Road 206, CSAH 34, and Country Road 211 construction. Sanders explained that Wm D Scepaniak of Holdingford had been contracted to fill in soft spots throughout the road and completed the work for a final amount of $510,504.30.
Certificate of Performance/Final Acceptance for Polk CSAH 44 and Norman CSAH 30
Sanders then came forward with another Certificate of Performance for Polk CSAH 44 and Norman CSAH 30 to Knife River Materials for a final amount of $698,345.05.
County Ditch 24 Maintenance Request
Sanders then came forward with a maintenance request for County Ditch 24 to clean one mile of the ditch’s north side in section 28 Fanny Twp. once the snow clears in the spring.
County Ditch 30 Maintenance Request
Sanders then came forward with a maintenance request for County Ditch 30 to clean one mile of the ditch’s north side in section 31 of Fanny Twp.
County Ditch 110 Maintenance Request
Sanders then came forward with a maintenance request for County Ditch 110 to replace culverts in two field approaches in the ditch on the north side of Section 7.
Polk County Facilities Snow Removal-EGF
Sanders then reported that the department had sent out quotes for snow removal for Polk County Facilities in East Grand Forks from October 1, 2022, to October 1, 2026. “As the Highway Department, we’re in charge of grounds, and so I get quotes to plow the parking lots and sidewalks for the county facilities both in Crookston and East Grand Forks,” Sanders explained. “Today, we brought forward the parking lot and sidewalk snow removal at the East Grand Forks Social Service building, and A+ Yard and Snow Removal was the lowest responsible quote.” Sanders said they chose to go with the lowest quote that would also cover sidewalks, which was A+ Yard and Snow LLC, for $200 per event.
Replace Maintenance Mann II Position
The final item Sanders came forward with was that the department had begun advertising for a full-time winter employee for at least two months for the Angus shop in East Grand Forks and Crookston to help plow snow after a part-time employee for the East Grand Forks Shop left their employment three weeks ago. While normally the department employs two part-time maintenance workers, neither are coming back, and they instead want to find one full-time employee to cover the position at both shops, but if they cannot find an employee, they would cover out-of-Crookston Shop employees. The board approved all motions unanimously.
PROPERTY RECORDS-SAM MELBYE
The board was then approached by Property Records Manager Sam Melbye, who first came forward with a request from the St. Joseph Catholic Church, who was seeking a permit approval for gambling in the form of a raffle.
Annual Aggregate Report
Melbye then came forward with revised information regarding the 2021 Aggregate Tax collection and disbursements in addition to the balance of the restoration fund. He reported that there were a few reports that carried the third and fourth-quarter collection reports together, and they had revised the reports for the board. “It went from approximately 1.284 million tons to 1.285 million tons of aggregate material that was hauled in for the county,” Sam Melbye explained. “It shifted the total tax collected from $207,372.14 to approximately $208,372.14, and that gets distributed out to the different entities, the county, city, and the reserve fund.” Melbye reported the city had actually collected $208,372.14 with a net tax available for distribution of $197,953.53 with a less Administration Fee of $10,418.61. The county and city each received $84,130.25, leaving them with a reserve fund of $29,693.03. The board approved both motions unanimously.
FINANCE-RON DENISON
The board was then approached by Finance Director Ron Denison, who came forward with a review of the fund balance to help the board with future budgets and levies by finding if there are any trends they’ve made over the years. Denison reported that they had received $14,595,355 for General funds in December 2021 but had lost $4,541,542 thanks to the ARPA funds and the jail bond refunding balance, dropping it to $6,353,067. He then compared it to September’s fund balance, which had $13,597,156, but they lost $636,049 in 2020 capital improvement bonds and $2,805,740 for 2022 capital improvement bonds. They also lost $5,482,195 in the ARPA funds balance to give them a total of $4,673,171. He then compared the revenues of all the different departments in the county and found that the total fund cash for December 2021 had $41,389,880 while the total fund cash for September 2022 was at $37,792,512, where they saw a difference of $3,597,368 from December 2021 to September 2022. Denison noted some of the changes between the nine months came from some departments making new requests, such as the Community Health Board requesting $44,420 in December but then requested $71,000 in September, the Watershed & Ditch Department requesting $879,440 in September, then requesting $1,012,033 in December, and the Public Safety Department requesting $3,121,715 in September then requesting $4,411,421 in December. The board was very intrigued with the review and requested for Denison to make more of these reports throughout the year to help make future decisions for the budget. “I think the board liked the report and would like to see that on a regular basis,” County Administrator Chuck Whiting explained. “We’ve ebbed and flowed about that. Sometimes we’ve done it monthly, sometimes we’ve done it quarterly, and sometimes we seem to do it when we need it, but I would think based on their comments, doing it quarterly would be a good idea.”
The Board of Commissioners will next meet on Tuesday, November 22, at the Polk County Government Center.
