The Polk County Board of Commissioners met on Tuesday morning at the Polk County Government Center.
CONSENT ITEMS
The board began the meeting by approving the minutes of their meetings on December 13 and their Commissioner Warrants and Sign Audit List. It also included approving several payments. The first was to the US Bank in St. Louis, MO, for $74,303.70 for procurement card purchases. The second was to Johnson Controls, Fire Protection LP, Palatine, IL, for $603 for panel alarm issues for the Facilities Management Department. It also included approving a resolution accepting Financial Donations on Behalf of Polk County Sheriff’s Association from Mary Filipski and a payment to Widseth, Smith, Nolting & Associates, Inc. in Crookston for $1,800 for a boundary survey of forfeited land. The board approved the items unanimously.
POLK COUNTY SHERIFF JAMES TADMAN
Polk County Sheriff James Tadman first approached the board with the monthly Sheriff Reports for November. He reported they had 102 Civil Document Service reports, with $3,384.07 for Paid Services and $911.52 for No Charge Services. They had also documented 4,837 miles for the month of November, to give them a total of 75,879 miles for the year. They had also received 695 calls for emergencies and 1,715 for non-emergencies. They had received a total of 696 cases for November, with 203 for Traffic Stops, 188 for Civil Process, and 67 for School Patrol. Commissioner Mark Holy asked that with the recent snowstorms, he was concerned that many people in his district were falling in the ditches, and many roads were impassable. But the snow the snowplows were pushing had residue going off the sides, which built up along the sides of the road and drifted back into the street. Tadman explained that the department has shut down some roads and highways, mainly Highway 2, but there were many avenues people could take that they couldn’t do much else to stop people from traveling.
PROPERTY RECORDS-SAM MELBYE
The board was then approached by Property Record Director Sam Melbye, who came forward with 2023 Tobacco Licenses for seven returning vendors around the county for $75. They included The Corner Bar & Café in Climax, Farmers Coop Fuel in Fisher, Dollar General Corporation in Garfield Township, Dean’s Bulk Service in Knute Township, the clinic of Lengby Inc. in Lengby, and the Mentor Municipal Liquor Store in Mentor.
HIGHWAY-RICHARD SANDERS
The board was then approached by County Engineer Richard Sanders, who first came forward with a contract with Safety Compliance Service for the county’s safety needs. These included annual training, safety meetings, and shop inspections for $17,400 for the year or $1,450 per month. The board approved the motion unanimously.
County Land Surveyor Appointment
Sanders then brought forward the County Land Surveyor Appointment contract again, reporting that the current Grand Forks Police Department surveyor’s contract with WSN would expire on December 31 and recommended Derek Martin from Widseth to become the new surveyor until the end of 2026. However, after much discussion about the process being late, potentially done improperly, and after hearing concerns from a county citizen who joined the meeting, the board voted 3-1 in favor of appointing the new surveyor, but it was not enough to be approved (four votes are required for a motion to pass). With this, the board tasked Sander to work with the County Highway staff to look over the process of appointing a County Land Surveyor and find another one for the board to approve in a future meeting.
DTN Weather Forecasting System
Sanders then brought forward a contract with DTN services for a Weather Forecasting System to help the department prepare their work and maintenance with the weather. “Polk County and 18 other counties in the state contract with DTN for weather service. They give us more accurate, up-to-date weather of not only just precipitation but also winds and other weather elements, which helps us with our maintenance during the winter and even during the summer with rainfall events. We can then look at what’s coming, determine our staffing needs, and when we need to be out plowing snow and when we won’t be able to plow snow.” Sanders explained the county would pay the entire bill of $60,000 for all the services to the counties and bill the other counties for their share of the bill. The board approved the motion unanimously.
PUBLIC HEALTH-SARAH REESE
The board was next approached by Polk County Public Health Director Sarah Reese with a resolution to appoint the members of the Youth Advisory Board Members. She explained that in December 2018, the Polk County Board approved the formation of a Youth Advisory Board (YAB). She explained that the YAB provides ways for young people in Polk County to become involved in governmental public health services, merging civic engagement and leadership development for high school students by discussing current health events in their communities. “Our Youth Advisory Board comes together and discusses Public Health matters, advises us on what’s happening in their schools and communities, and works on Public Health initiatives that are important to them. Today, we spoke to the board to appoint some new members because some of our prior members had graduated from high school, and we had the reappointment of one member. It’s so exciting to have most of our Polk County schools represented, and great to have the leadership of students to share their knowledge and experience and to guide us in our work. It’s very important that we hear right from young people; it helps us do our work and engage in the community the best we can.” On behalf of Public Health, she recommended a list of students for appointment as a Youth Advisory Board Member for two years. She recommended they reappoint senior Kallie Hand and appoint Lilah Zavoral, Sarah Thoreson, Olivia Ystenes, Katelyn Vesledahl, Julia Buhler, Erin Bowman, and Kyran Moen to the Advisory Board. A picture of the students with the commissioners and their plaques can be seen below.
Public Health Core Site Agreement
Reese then came forward explaining that it was matched/selected to serve as a Minnesota Public Health Core Service Site through AmeriCorps with Reading & Math, Inc. DBA Ampact from January 16 to December 1, 2023. This contract will have Polk County provide the worker with a laptop and host site email address for use during the service period, with all other expenses paid from AmeriCorps.
Out of State Travel Request Reaching Rural Initiative
The final item Reese brought forward was a one-year Reaching Rural Initiative with support from the Bureau of Justice Assistance, State Justice Institute, and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention to strengthen cross-sector partnerships to respond to the impact of substance use prevention in rural communities. Polk County Public Health, along with Commissioner Joan Lee, County Attorney Greg Widseth, Sheriff James Tadman, Andrew Larson, Molly Paulsrud, Sarah Reese, and Shannon Kronlund, were selected to partake in several meetings and trainings for the initiatives and the roles the partners have in substance use prevention. These out-of-state meeting requirements included a National Conference Center in Loudoun County, Virginia, from February 21-24, 2023, and other dates in May, June, and December to areas yet to be determined. The board approved all motions unanimously.
ADMINISTRATION-CHUCK WHITING
The board finished the meeting with County Administrator Chuck Whiting coming forward with a change order for the Red River Juvenile Detention Center construction project with some minor changes added to it. Some of these changes included electrical revisions for $15,754, the addition of a water valve access panel for $234, and a Smoke Damper JCI Hook up for $4,807. These small items came together for a total of $18,391 to make a new contract price of $1,337,191, and the projects would be completed by the third week of January. The board approved the Change Order unanimously.
2023 Budget Resolutions
The final items Whiting brought forward were four related resolutions for them to act on for 2023. The first was setting the levy for 2023 at $26,897,712, which was a 3.95251% increase over 2022’s levy. The second included adopting the 2023 budget for a total of $69,881,941. The third was setting the Commissioners’ salaries and per diems for the year, which was a 3.25% increase from 2022, with the per diems remaining at $75. When asked if their insurance would change with the new year, he explained that the policy terms would remain the same as it was for 2022 as well. The final resolution was to set the non-represented employee wages for 2023. “For all of the non-union county employees, the board passes a resolution on their compensation for the next year, which includes any new positions that we have budgeted for next year, which we have two of those,” County Administrator Chuck Whiting explained. “It ends without a lot of excitement because we’ve done so much work, but if folks want to get a summary on the levy, it’s in the packet and on our website, so they can take a look at it to see how it affects them.” The board approved the motion unanimously. The presentation on the county’s 2023 levy can be seen below.
The Polk County Commissioners will next meet on Tuesday, January 3, at 8:00 a.m. in the Polk County Government Center.
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