The Polk County Board of Commissioners met on Tuesday morning inside the Polk County Government Center. The agenda included Sheriff James Tadman for an amendment of a Federal Boat Grant Contract Agreement, Richard Sanders of the Highway Department for a couple of County Ditch Maintenance requests, two ditch hearings, an Enbridge Energy Refund update, a meeting with ICON Architectural Group, and Chuck Whiting for a reviewal of the Deputy County Administrator Position Description.
ENBRIDGE TAX REFUND UPDATE
Polk County Assessor Mark Landsverk reviewed his calculations on the Enbridge Tax Refund. The county, at one point, was concerned they would need to refund Enbridge over $1 million. However, they will only need to add $4,148 to complete the local tax refund, and the state portion of the tax refund will be an additional $686,373. The rest of the money will come from grant money provided by the State after the legislature approved grants to help pay back Enbridge the full amount of $1,170,802
Landsverk discussed the good news more. “Because of the legislature voting to give grants out to counties affected by the Enbridge Energy refund, we were able to reduce our payback quite significantly,” said Landsverk. “It helped a great deal. It’s the difference between almost $1.2 million and just under $5,000.”
Some counties have already started to pay Enbridge back, and Polk County will be able to pay their share back once they receive the grant money from the State.
SHERIFF TADMAN
Polk County Sheriff James Tadman brought forth an amendment for a Federal Boat Grant Contract Agreement which the board passed. Sheriff Tadman explained more about what the agreement is for. “Each year, we have a federal boat grant that goes to the State of Minnesota,” said Tadman. “We fill out an application for different equipment that we may need for the year, and this year we filled for an airboat for our area during flood time. We are very excited to have the boat in our area and being able to utilize it during flooding season.”
Tadman also gave the board a monthly reports update for August, and everything is around its usual number.
COUNTY DITCH MAINTENANCE REQUESTS
Polk County Engineer Richard Sanders had two County Ditch Maintenance Requests that he placed before the board. He explained what the first request was for and its location. “Last board meeting, we had an approval to allow the Red Lake Watershed District to do some work in Euclid on County Ditch 66,” said Sanders. “Now we have a petition to survey that project and see what exactly will be done with it.”
Sanders also explained the second County Ditch request and the reason for it. “The second one is County Ditch 26, and it runs along the north side of Fisher,” said Sanders. “We are going to do a ditch realignment to get it farther away from the businesses nearby and making it safer for their property while also getting better drainage for the ditch.”
DITCH HEARINGS
There were also two more Ditch items on the agenda. State Ditch 61 and Judicial Ditch 72.
The board’s only action was to set a date for the hearings, which will be held September 28 at their Commissioners meeting at 9:00 a.m. More discussion on the ditches will take place at that time.
ICON ARCHITECTURAL GROUP
Polk County Facilities Manager Mark Dietz brought in members from the ICON Architect group to discuss their group with the board. The county will need a new Architect company now that their previous one has retired. ICON is from Grand Forks, North Dakota, and specializes in Municipal work.
Dietz spoke on why he feels ICON would be a good fit as the County’s new architect. “Looking for what we had for architects in the area, they have an excellent history of public buildings such as jails and sheriffs’ offices,” said Dietz. “They gave me an excellent feeling and came prepared with facts and information to give a good impression that they know what they’re doing.”
The plan is for the board to approve a contract with ICON at their next meeting in early September. ICON has done work with the Crookston School District in the past and the surrounding area.
CHUCK WHITING
Polk County Administrator Chuck Whiting discussed the American Relief Program Status and 2022 Budget Update with the board. There wasn’t much for Whiting to update as nothing has changed in the budget since the board members last met.
Whiting and the board also reviewed the position description of Deputy County Administrator and how the job search is going. “We’ve been talking about this for a few years,” said Whiting. “We’ve gone about various ways of doing it, and we recently decided to change the description of the job to make it more attractive and change the title. Perhaps down the road, it could provide some succession opportunities in the department as well.”
OTHER ITEMS
Other Items included Michelle Cote of Property Records giving the board an update on 2020 TIF Reports for the City of Fertile. Her presentation was informational, and no action was needed.
The last item the board reviewed was the 2022 West Polk Soil & Water Conservation District (SWCD) Budget. The district is looking for a 10% increase in allocation dollars for the budget in 2022, bringing the total up to $53,900 for this year to help cover costs. The board discussed the matter with the SWCD, and a decision will be reached at another time.
The SWCD was also looking for $50,000 to get buffers installed to protect vulnerable Polk County waterways. This will eliminate field checks and be time-saving for the district and landowners. The money would come through State Riparian Aid money. The board again discussed the matter with members of the SWCD, and a decision for the budget will be reached later.
