The Polk County Commissioners have approved the entering into a lease agreement with Enterprise Fleet Management for the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, with a separate agreement for other county vehicles expected soon. County Administrator Chuck Whiting said several counties and cities are entering these agreements with Enterprise and that among the benefits is not having to provide the upfront cost for purchases. “Several counties and some cities around the state are doing this with Enterprise,” said Whiting. “They are a big player statewide in working with municipal entities in leasing vehicles. The advantages are we don’t have to front the upfront cost of a purchase. The maintenance record keeping helps us turn over vehicles when they have an optimum value sale wise. It ends up being more like a service agreement then a serious of staff-led purchases which come with their issues. The board approved it for the sheriff’s office, and we are looking at it for the rest of the county as the fall goes on and we do our budget work.”
The lease is for eight new Chevy Tahoe squad vehicles for 2020 and additional squad cars further into the program as turnover is necessary. The lease is different from an individual or private business lease as it doesn’t have mileage cutoffs according to Whiting. “It is different then what individuals or what private businesses experience in terms of a lease,” said Whiting. “We don’t have a cutoff or a mileage date or anything like that. We have a price that we pay, and when the mileage reaches a certain point, they can tell us now is a good time to turn them over maximizing the county’s value. These are all paid by tax dollars, so that’s what we’re trying to do. But it’s not like the kind of lease you might have on your vehicle. There is no time limit, no mileage restriction. If we choose to keep a vehicle, we pay out the lease and keep it, but if we need to turn them over earlier, we can. It’s something that’s set up for government entities. It looks to me like a very viable way of going about doing things. And it’s a little bit different way of doing things then what we’re used to, but it might save us some work and money at the same time.”
The commissioners also gave the sheriff’s office permission to sell two patrol vehicles and seven forfeiture vehicles in September, along with an additional three patrol vehicles in October. The commissioners passed a resolution for an agreement to have RiverView Health to provide care to low-income individuals who are not entitled to benefits under Medicare or eligible for State Medicaid under Section 340B of the Public Health Service Act. A contract for Polk County Public Health to provide Nurse Consultant and Nutrition Consultant services to Inter-County Head Start was renewed at $50 an hour for up to 45 hours throughout the year beginning September 1 through August 31, 2020.
Several Highway related items were also approved including the Certificate of Performance and final payment to Industrial Builders for repair work on the Climax Bridge totaling $106,090. Two Certificates of Performance for paving were approved for projects on County State Aid Highway (CSAH) 23 and County Road (CR) 252. Both were joint projects with Red Lake County totaling a combined $1,476,088.94. Route and Seal Certificates and final vouchers were approved for route and seal projects on CSAH 15, CSAH 45, CSAH 55, CSAH 58, CSAH 59, CSAH 70, CR 214, CR 233 and a Crookston Township Road. The projects totaled a combined $130,200. Reit Rock Paving of Crookston was awarded to patching contracts for extensive patching on CSAH 34/35 and small patching county-wide totaling $70,550.
The commissioners also approved a grant application and match assurance letter for a Federal Lands Access Grant to paving CR 210 along Rydell Refuge said County Engineer Rich Sanders. “We’ve been applying for those founds for CR 210 past Rydell Refuge, a federal land, for the last eight years,” said Sanders. “The grant opportunity has opened up again, so we’re working on putting together a grant application for those funds. We’re looking at paving CR 210 from the end of the pavement by CHS’ elevator down to CSAH 37. The project is going to cost about $1.3 million, and we’re asking for about $625,000 in Federal Access Program Grant funds.”
