The Polk County Commissioners met at the Polk County Transfer Station on Tuesday afternoon and heard from Polk County Highway Engineer Richard Sanders, Polk County Sheriff Jim Tadman, Karen Warmack of Social Services, and County Administrator Chuck Whiting.
ENBRIDGE ENERGY REFUND
Whiting informed the board that Polk County would need to refund Enbridge Energy $1,112,291, with the county paying $695,712 and the state paying the remaining $416,578. “After a protracted process in the courts, we were notified that because their evaluation changed, we owed them a refund of property taxes from seven to nine years ago,” said Whiting. Whiting added there are other entities in the county that will need to pay back taxes, although he is unsure where the money will come from at this time. Whiting made sure to mention it’s more than just Polk County that is affected by the refund. “It’s not just Polk County, it’s 12 other counties that the pipeline goes through and the total refunds are over $27 million. We’re hopeful that the option for the state to pay these refunds back to Enbridge gets included in any final legislative action”.
| County | Est Refund | State Portion | Local Portion |
| AITKIN | 90,805 | 35,185 | 55,620 |
| BELTRAMI | 1,964,566 | 628,770 | 1,335,797 |
| CARLTON | 2,139,673 | 588,508 | 1,551,165 |
| CASS | 2,613,704 | 1,039,151 | 1,574,553 |
| CLEARWATER | 3,547,510 | 1,295,208 | 2,252,302 |
| HUBBARD | 513,702 | 186,331 | 327,371 |
| ITASCA | 4,858,739 | 1,509,318 | 3,349,422 |
| KITTSON | 1,285,385 | 590,661 | 694,725 |
| MARSHALL | 2,682,422 | 1,286,664 | 1,395,758 |
| PENNINGTON | 2,133,304 | 634,783 | 1,498,521 |
| POLK | 1,112,291 | 416,578 | 695,712 |
| RED LAKE | 1,772,240 | 640,534 | 1,131,706 |
| SAINT LOUIS | 2,439,530 | 779,223 | 1,660,306 |
| TOTAL | 27,153,873 | 9,630,915 | 17,522,958 |
FISHER AVENUE CONSTRUCTION
Sanders said the construction on Fisher Avenue is going well in the first week of the project. “It’s going about as well as it could be so far,” said Sanders. “The weather is holding off, and the contractors are working hard to stay on track.” According to Sanders, there will still be changes to the roadways around the project throughout the summer. “Just yesterday, we closed access to N Broadway as they start on that stretch of roadway, and we plan to have that re-opened on Thursday.” Sanders also mentioned that the plan is still to complete the project by the end of summer. “Everything should go as planned, and hopefully by September 1st everything is buttoned up”.
SCOTT OLIVER RETIREMENT
The board approved a resolution of retirement of Scott Oliver from the Polk County Highway Department. “A predecessor of mine started the process of when someone retires at the highway department the county board passes a resolution,” said Sanders. Oliver retired at the end of May, and Sanders says hiring someone in his role will be underway soon. “We’re planning to start advertising soon and hopefully can find someone with a background in engineering. If we can’t, then we have permission to hire someone from below and train them”.
BEAUCHANE SWITCHES TO FULL-TIME AT SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT
Sheriff James Tadman then spoke to the board about the transfer of Jody Beauchane from the Highway Department to the Sheriff’s Office. “We’ve had a couple of openings in our office that I think would best be filled by him,” said Tadman. Tadman spoke a little bit about the responsibilities of the position. “This is going to be a position that works with our vehicle maintenance and all of our vehicles that we order for each year.” Tadman had nothing but great things to say about Beauchane. “I think it’s going to be a great thing for us. He’s been a great employee for us and has been doing a great job with emergency management”. The vote to move Beauchane from the County Board was unanimous.
SOCIAL SERVICES UPDATE
Karen Warmack of Social Services also spoke to the County Board about a pair of contracts with the Sanford Behavioral Health Center. One contract would be for an Adult Mental Health Initiative, while the other would serve as an Adult & Child Crisis Service.
