The Polk County Board of Commissioners met on Tuesday, October 1, at 8:00 a.m. in the Polk County Government Center Board Room.
Jacob Snyder – Planning and Zoning
Kongsvinger Cemetary
First, Assistant Environmental Services Administrator Jacob Snyder asked for Preliminary Plat Approval for “Kongsvinger Cemetery.” The parcel of land located in Section 2 of Esther Township would be able to create 208 grave sites, some already exist. Each plot is planned to be 4’x12’. “So, we had a cemetery plat that we needed preliminary approval on for a congregation north of East Grand Forks,” said Snyder. “Minnesota statute requires the cemeteries be platted through our process.”
The site is rural and does not contain any wetlands. It is located in the 100-year floodplain district and is protected by a ring dike. Snyder says that with today’s preliminary approval the next step will be to return to the Board when things are more finalized. “We come back before the board once everything is polished up with the plat for recording purposes, and then it will come back for the Board’s final approval.”
Conditional Use Permits
Snyder was seeking two Conditional Use Permits. One permit is for a property at Maple Lake, the other at Union Lake. At Union Lake, Chris Mills wants to tie an existing accessory building to a new septic system on a front lot. At Maple Lake, Dennis Schneider wants to hook a new proposed shed onto an existing septic system. Snyder explains the importance of conditional use permits. “We go through this conditional use process because we just want to make sure we are not having guest houses and things, but that they are a shed or a shop with a bathroom.” The Board approved both Conditional Use Permits.
2024 Polk County Haulers Licence
Last on the Planning and Zoning Agenda was a motion to conditionally approve Matt Homme with Northstar Sanitation to obtain a CY2024 County Haulers License. Snyder says this is largely due to Crookston-based Regional Sanitation stopping its services. “We had a hauler reach out to us due to Regional Sanitation dropping their waste collection service and their packer trucks; they are no longer doing that in Polk County,” says Snyder. “So, it kind of put a little bind on our other local haulers to pick up accounts.”
Northstar Sanitation is a waste collection business and roll-off business out of Grygla in Marshall County and is seeking accounts throughout Polk County due to the closing of Regional Sanitation. Snyder said all the necessary items have been submitted to operate a waste collection business, and with today’s conditional approval, Northstar is allowed to operate as a local waste hauler and use Polk County facilities. “The process of licensing a business is to make sure they are insured, make sure they are bonded, make sure they are providing a good service,” said Snyder. “In order to use our facilities, we want them to be licensed in Polk County to use our Crookston Transfer Station, our Landfill, and our incinerator.”
The motion to conditionally approve Matt Homme with Northstar Sanitation to obtain a Polk County Haulers License was approved.
Facilities – Richard Langlois
Richard Langlois brought to the Board of Commissioners a motion to approve moving forward with filling the vacant Custodian I position in the Facilities Department. Recently, the Facilities Department filled the Lead Custodian position with an internal Custodian I person. Now, Langlois was looking for approval to fill the now-open Custodian I position. The Board approved the motion.
