The Polk County Commissioners met Tuesday morning and approved several items on the agenda.
GOVERNMENT CENTER UPGRADES
The commissioners heard from Polk County Facilities Director Richard Langlois about two proposed Government Center improvements. The first was the restoration of the retaining wall with a bid of $51,650 from Palmer Masonry. “Anybody that has looked closely would see the wall is really deteriorating quickly, just more so in the last couple of years,” said Langlois. “A lot of the mortar joints are opening up, and the actual mortar is falling on the ground, so in order to maintain the quality and longevity of the wall, it needs some attention.”
The second item was the replacement of the roof at the Government Center. Before getting quotes for the roof project, they have to get an architect to design the project and get specs. The commissioners approved Widseth as the architect/design proposal, and they will see the project through to completion. “You need somebody to do the design before you start it,” said Langlois. “Widseth is local, so let’s give them a try. It is called a design and spec plan, and they put it together before the roof project can go out to bid.”
WEST POLK SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT
Nicole Berd, District Manager of the West Polk Soil and Water Conservation District, requested an allocation of $43,120 from Polk County for the 2024 budget. The amount is the same as it received in 2023. “Every year, the soil and water conservation districts bring their proposed budgets to the county commissioners as the county allocates a certain amount of funding to the soil and water conservation districts for their work, for projects, and the programs they administer,” said Bernd. “With the funding request, I also included some projects that we are working on alongside the county and also with the One Watershed, One Plan so they are aware of monies coming back into the county for our economic base and state funding that has been brought in as well.”
Bernd said for every dollar Polk County spends, it receives $11.75 back per dollar for a solid return on investment. “With that allocation from the county, we go back and do calculations to show the return on investing in the soil and water conservation district. That includes all our project money, grant funding, and support we get from the area watershed districts,” said Bernd. “It is a very good return on investment. We have the ability to bring outside funding into the county to help the actual tax base and to help the residents in the county.”
SOCIAL SERVICES CONTRACT WITH DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES
Polk County Social Services Director Karen Warmack talked about a contract with the Department of Human Services for Mental Health Services. The contract would use American Rescue Plan Act funding in the form of a grant to support and strengthen the infrastructure of access to the availability of staff on the mobile crisis team. The contract obligation is $162,000, and Social Services will work with Alluma ($112,500) and Sanford ($49,500). The funds will be used to purchase IPADS and telemedicine technology to allow the delivery of services in rural areas. “When a family is in crisis, or they need extra support because of a mental health concern, they can access Ipad support through our crisis services through Alluma,” said Warmack. “I think it will be a new option for families to access support and services when they have a mental health issue that may lead to suicide ideation or some assistance through mental health.”
The contract started July 1, 2023 and will run through June 30, 2025.
Warmack’s request to reclassify the position of an Eligibility Worker to a Team Leader was accepted, and a replacement request for a Social Worker was also approved.
COUNTY STATE AID HIGHWAY 66 PATCHING
Polk County Highway Engineer Richard Sanders said the county received three quotes for bituminous overlay to fix areas of County Road 66, north of County Road 23. The road runs between Angus and Tabor. The low bid was from RJ Zavoral and Sons, Inc of East Grand Forks in the amount of $248.75 per ton, and they will need 250 tons for an estimated total of around $75,000. “We have some areas where the bituminous is getting really bad, so we are having a contractor come in and dig those out and do some bituminous patches for us,” said Sanders.
The summer road projects have been going well throughout the county. “Anderson Brothers is finishing up our overlays by Fisher and East Grand Forks, and they just have the shouldering left to do on those,” said Sanders. “We had Gladen’s come in and do two county ditch restorations that we received FEMA money on from the 2022 floods, and those are complete. Davidson Construction is still working on our County Road 46 grading project between 102 and Trunk Highway 2, and I would expect that to get done around the 15th of September. Projects are going well, and hopefully, the summer continues the way it is, and we can finish everything up.”
CONDITIONAL USE PERMITS FOR SEPTIC SYSTEMS BY MAPLE LAKE
Debra Kolden and Kit Midgarden were each granted conditional use permits for hooking a new septic system to a new accessory structure at their locations near Maple Lake. The board gave unanimous approval.
