The Polk County Commissioners met on Tuesday in the Polk County Government Center.
MONTHLY SHERIFF’S STATISTICS REPORT
The meeting began with Polk County Sheriff James Tadman presenting the monthly statistics from February to the Commissioners. The report showed a total of 702 cases in February. These cases included 164 traffic stops, 23 motorist assists, 10 cases of suspicious activity, and seven domestic assaults.
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office has not been fully staffed since 2020. They have had five open deputy positions since October of 2023 and recently had another deputy vacancy due to military leave, totaling six open positions at the station. Tadman discussed with the board and explained that recruiting issues are occurring not only at the Polk County Sheriff’s office but also in the rest of the state. “Multiple agencies are looking for multiple officers,” said Tadman, “Such as ours, we’re looking for five, so I think over time the things that happened in the Twin Cities did not help the cause. Seeing what all the officers faced during that rioting time kind of turned a lot of college students off for going into this career.”
Tadman invited the commissioners to stop in his office anytime to brainstorm and get ideas together to get the station fully staffed eventually. Topics circulating in this conversation included competitive wages and benefits and promoting what Polk County offers future hires at the Sheriff’s Office. “They’ll go to the best officer, and that’s just like anybody who has a job,” said Tadman, “Where are you going to go? Probably where they pay the most, and where they have the best insurance, the best providers, and that’s what we have to try and do is think outside the box. And maybe we have to throw money at these applicants, but also be conscious of the budget.”
COMMISSIONERS OPEN PUBLIC HEARING REGARDING LAND USE/ZONING ORDINANCE AMENDMENT
The meeting continued with the commissioners opening a public hearing regarding reviewing the proposed land use zoning ordinance amendment. The amendment was regarding the accessory allowed in an AG district and the accessory structure size permitted in the Shoreland overlay district. “The planning commission and staff felt we’ve had this reoccurring theme,” said Polk County Planning and Zoning Administrator Jacob Snyder, “Of people wanting to build bigger outbuildings established in 1973. People have many more ‘toys,’ and that’s how I can sum it up. People have more things to store that they can’t fit in an attached garage.”
The outbuildings in question are structures not currently attached to the primary dwelling, and the previous ordinance stated limitations in the agricultural district based on parcel size. It limited all structures that resided on ten acres of property or under. The new ordinance states that if you have more than ten acres of property, the owner may build accessory structures however the owner sees fit. The commissioners ultimately approved the resolution to amend the Polk County Land Use and Zoning Ordinance. “If you have the acreage to do it, then build that structure,” said Snyder, “That doesn’t mean you can have a commercial use of the shed; it still has to be used for personal storage. But having the limitations that we had that needed special permitting on at this point seemed pointless.”
POLK COUNTY HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT REQUESTS CONTRACT APPROVAL FOR MAINTENANCE REQUESTS
Polk County Highway Engineer Richard Sanders approached the commissioners to obtain approval for various contracts. The first contract that was approved was in regard to the annual sign project. This will allow the Highway Department to purchase each sign that needs to be replaced within the county. “Every year, our sign man does inspections of our signs,” said Sanders, “And the ones that need to be replaced, we put a quote together to replace those, and the following year he replaces them.” The bid was awarded to Newman’s Sign out of Jamestown, North Dakota, in the amount of $8,658.50 for sign replacement services.
The commissioners approved two ditch maintenance requests for State Ditch 61 and County Ditch 129. The maintenance request for County Ditch 129 is to extend the culvert in the field approach; otherwise, it is the land owner’s responsibility. “Back when the ditch was originally constructed, the ditch called for a field approach,” said Sanders, “With the length of culvert there. By adding onto this culvert, it becomes a benefit to the land owner, so he pays for the original extension, and after that, the County Ditch will maintain that extended culvert length.”
The final item the board approved was an agreement with Prowest Maintenance to perform parcel maintenance over the next three years in the amount of $9,850 per year.
The consent agenda included the approval of minutes from the March 5 commissioners meeting. It also included the approval of bills and disbursements in the amount of $72,924.72.
