The Polk County Commissioners met Tuesday morning in the Polk County Government Center.
The commissioners approved the resolution of two conditional-use permits. The first permit was awarded to Cam Jorgenson for an accessory structure and to hook a new septic system to the structure. “This is very much shed and use workshop activity,” said Planning and Zoning Administrator Jacob Snyder, “This is a checks and balances on our lakes area. We’ll go through screening requirements; also, when you look between the vegetation and the lakes, they need to plant more trees.”
The second permit the commissioners approved was appointed to David and Cynthia Tyler at Oak Cove Resort to construct an additional building for boat storage.
The board also approved a pledge for Polk County to participate in the 9-county region Hub and Spoke System. The State of Minnesota is revising construction and demolition debris regulations in landfills.
Each county has come together to create a regional system which consists. Instead of having 12 unlined landfills spread through nine counties, there would be two regional landfills, one in Polk County and the other in Hubbard County.
“What the big concepts are, all of these unlined landfills that we have all over rural Minnesota are going to have to close,” said Environmental Services Director Jon Steiner, “If you want to replace them, you’ll have to use a lined landfill much like a municipal solid waste landfill for pick up and drop off.”
The counties involved in the project that will not have one of the regional landfills will be asked to build a local transfer station. “Everyone else at the other closed landfill sites will a mini transfer station, which they call spokes,” said Steiner, “They will then ship to those aligned regional facilities, which they are calling hubs, so we’re running a managed system. That way, it is still cost-prohibitive.”
This project is deemed cost prohibitive, with an estimated cost of $84 million. The nine counties (including Polk) is seeking a 75% cost share, which equates to $61.5 million. These funds would come from Minnesota state bond funds.
Facilities Director Richard Langlois requested approval to replace the leading electrical service equipment in the LEC building with the board.
“We’ve had an issue here with the panel, and the whole system is really outdated,” said Langlois, “So we received a proposal from Bergstrom Electric to come in and replace the whole panel and get new breakers.” It may take up to 14 months for the equipment to arrive. This project is allocated toward the Facilities Department 2024 budget. This proposal was approved by the board.
The Commissioners also approved Gerald Amiot, of Crookston, to serve as the labor position for Northwest Regional Development Commission membership. This position is listed as a two-year term.
The consent agenda included the approval of the September 26 board minutes. It also included the support of auditor warrants and electronic fund transfers.
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