The Polk County Commissioners met Tuesday at the Polk County Government Center and passed their consent agenda which included approving auditor warrants, approving a payment of $650 to Rebecca Schueller Training and Consulting out of Bemidji for supervision and performance appraisal skills training and approving a payment of $33.25 to the Minnesota BCA for background fee for enhanced driver’s license in the Driver’s License Department.
Polk County Sheriff Jim Tadman and Emergency Manager Jody Beauchane informed the board they are prepared and expecting overland flooding primarily west of Crookston. Tadman also provided his monthly report including the call logs. The most common calls in February were Traffic Stops (496), Civil Process (271) and Medical (124).
The Highway Department bids for equipment rentals were awarded to all bidders to allow for equipment rental from different companies based on location and availability when the need arises. A base stabilization contract for CSAH 44, CSAH 45 and CR 248 was awarded to Thygeson Construction, Thief River Falls, for $485,539.00. A crack fill contract for CSAH 15, CSAH 45, CSAH 55, CSAH 58, CHAH 59, CSAH 70, CR 214, CR 233 and Crookston Township was awarded to NW Asphalt & Maintenance, Thief River Falls, for $138,600.00.
Michelle Cote, Director of Property Records, brought three items before the board beginning with a mowing quote for forfeited properties within the City of Crookston. “We had the mowing quote,” said Cote. “Which was awarded to Bob’s Lawn Care owned by Bob Prudhomme in Crookston. He mows our forfeited properties in the City of Crookston. We set those rates for 2019, at present, we only mow three properties in the City of Crookston.”
The approved quote includes a flat rate of $20.00 for 1-2,500 square feet with an additional $0.273 per square foot in excess of 2,500 feet and an hourly rate of $30.00 plus mileage ($0.58 per mile) for miscellaneous lawn maintenance activities. Cote also presented the 2018 Annual Report for The Nature Conservancy and received approved to purchase eight computers in the Taxpayer Service Center for $5,855.68. “We are ordering new desktops for eight people,” said Cote. “We are using Technology and Compliance Funds to fund those which is nice because it doesn’t have an impact on our budgets and levies so it’s a great use of those funds.” The Nature Conservancy reported that it is under increased pressure annual due to the disparity between their endowment income ($80,000 in 2018) and annual tax bill (around $164,000). They do not see relief in the future as property market values and taxes increase while the amount the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service contributes seems to be decreasing.
The final two approvals from the commissioners were for change orders to the East Grand Forks office reconstruction. The first change order incorporated demolishing a subfloor that was discovered for plumbing, installing channel walls, increasing the size of lintels due to wall thickness and adding an additional window. The first change order also accounted for a reduction in the number of new doors for a total change of $6,196.00. The second change order was to relocate Polk County data equipment into a neighboring room for $1,150.00.
