The Polk County Board of Commissioners met this morning inside the Polk County Government Center. They heard from Polk County Sheriff James Tadman to hear the Monthly Sheriff’s report. Assistant Environmental Services Administrator Jacob Snyder on a resolution to set the Planning Commission and Board of Adjustment Tier 2 Per Diem that he introduced at the last meeting, and a resolution to approve a conditional use permit for Jason & Haley Thorson for Hooking a Septic System to an existing structure, as well as from Environmental Services Administrator Jon Steiner on adopting a Haulers License for Anderson Disposal and to purchase a Landfill Compactor. The meeting also heard other information from County Administrator Chuck Whiting and Calvin Benson, a member of Representative Michelle Fischbach’s Office.
CONSENT ITEMS
The Board opened the meeting by first approving the minutes from their meeting on April 19.
JIM TADMAN- SHERIFF’S OFFICE
The Board then heard from Polk County Sheriff Jim Tadman for the Monthly Sheriff’s Report. He reported that they completed 252 Civil Process arrests, 5 Damage to Property arrests, 3 Burglary arrests, 36 Motor Vehicle Accidents, and 5 DUIs for the month of April, for a total of 827 arrests. He also reported that the Department was participating in a physical activities program with the local elementary schools playing sports like Frisbee Golf and Dodgeball, known as Kids vs. Cops. Saying that it was a fun event for the kids and officers while also being an excellent way for the kids to interact with the officers and that the children are even raising money to make T-shirts about the interactions. He was then joined by Polk County Emergency Management Director Jody Beauchane with a resolution for the County’s State of Emergency to be officially stated by the entire Board. He reported that Crookston and Fisher have all crested with the river, but East Grand Forks still has the river rising. He said that they believe that if the weather goes as predicted, they will be able to prevent major flooding. However, he reported that there are some homes that have taken some minor flood damage, and there are still sandbagging efforts and pumps going in areas north of East Grand Forks. He then went into what had happened yesterday in Fisher with the National Guard and floodwaters. “I was speaking with Mayor Emily Tinkham from the City of Fisher, and we sandbagged over 400 feet on its west side yesterday. School kids came down from East Grand Forks and teamed up with Fisher High School students. We had about 150 to 200 volunteers there,” Polk County Emergency Management Director Jody Beauchane explained. “The County Trucks brought in more sandbags, and the National Guard brought in trucks. When that was done, the water came up last night and got to the bottom of the sandbags in the low spot of the levee. Now the water crested this morning and is starting to go down.” He added. He said it was good they added to the dike; otherwise, at least seven homes would’ve been flooded, and the waters would’ve moved further into the City. They currently don’t know the entire damage report for the three Counties yet, but they had moved over 17,000 bags of sandbags over the weekend between the two Counties and have more in case more come later in the week and will receive more a report on future weather reports later today.
PLANNING & ZONING
The Board was then approached by Assistant Environmental Services Administrator Jacob Snyder, who came forward with a resolution that he brought up at last week’s meeting of creating a Tier 2 per diem for panel members on both the Planning Commission and Board of Adjustment. “We came up with a Tiering platform so that those members that just serve on the Planning Commission get the same Per Diem they have and those that serve on two different boards receive a $90 Per Diem, which is slightly higher than the Per Diem they were getting of $70.” Administrator Snyder explained. “It compensates them, but it allows our Planning and Zoning Department to stay within our budget line, which was our goal all along.” This would also save the County money by not having two separate monthly meeting dates that would pay milage and an additional per diem for two meetings on separate meeting dates. Commissioner Holy said he had done some research on the topic and found the prices were average compared to the other Counties and Commissioner Strandell believed it was a fair compromise. Snyder then requested a Conditional Use Permit for Jason Thorson to connect a new septic system to an existing accessory structure on a backlot bathroom on Maple Lake with Planning Commission conditions, totaling approximately four acres of property.
The Board approved the motions unanimously.
ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES
The Board then heard from Environmental Services Administrator Jon Steiner who asked for the approval of a 2022 Polk County Haulers License for Anderson Disposal and Listrom’s Disposal (after Listrom’s had their licenses terminated and Anderson’s is set to expire on June 1). He followed this by then asking for the approval for a quote of $689,810 for Titan Machinery of Grand Forks for a Bomag BC7730RB5, with payment terms to be an annual payment of $148,350 for five years and concluding with a final $1 buyout payment. The two compactors they own have been incurring more frequent and expensive repairs, and the landfill is on pace to exceed the 2021 repair total. To replace even one would cost them $650,000. The Board approved both motions unanimously.
CHUCK WHITING- ADMINISTRATION
The Board then heard from County Administrator Chuck Whiting about the latest updates to the American Rescue Plan Relief Program Funds. He reported that they will receive their second half of the Allocations (another $3,046,045) at the beginning of May but has to make changes to their plans as they currently are over their total allocation of $6,092,357. “The County has been allocated just over $6 million, and we got the first half last May, and I believe we’ll get the second half of the allocation next month. Our total list of projects currently exceeds the $6 million we were given by about $800 thousand,” Administrator Whiting explained. “We won’t go over our amount and make it fit, but I’m trying from an administrative standpoint is figure out how to set up agreements with beneficiaries, recipients of the categories that the Treasury Department has given us, and to put this in some sort of a coherent operations plan for us and move ahead,” he added. He also reported that the deadline to report to the Treasury Department is at the end of the month.
CALVIN BENSON- REPRESENTATIVE FISCHBACH’S OFFICE
The Board was then approached by Calvin Benson, a member of U.S. Representative Michelle Fischbach’s Office, to give them a Federal Update on bills and legislation the Congresswoman was working on or had drafted. He opened the conversation to the Board with any questions they had about what the Congresswoman was working on. Commissioner Geraldson asked about the land-shipping and limits on them. Benson reported that conversations were happening to make the license situations better and help streamline the red tape to make trade and shipping more efficient and more enticeable for people to take part in trade and trucking. Commissioner Lee mentioned that some farmers were having issues with prices for fertilizers and other things that farmers need, and with issues of the pricing and trade speed, this can create a bidding war that they haven’t seen before. Benson reported that the Agriculture Committee is dealing with spiking prices for Fertilizer and said Congress is working on an act to lower prices and a Gas Prices Relief Act to lower gas and oil prices to the National Average.
Benson revealed that he would be looking at the different Cities and areas affected by the flooding. The Board voiced their interest in having a Federal Declaration in addition to the County Declaration to assist the County in recovery efforts from the flood.
The next meeting will take place on Tuesday, May 3, at 8:00 a.m. inside the Polk County Government Center.
