January 10, 2023

The Lake of The Woods County Board of Commissioners met in regular session on Tuesday, January 10, 2023 at Lake of the Woods County Government Center in the Commissioners’ Room.

CALL TO ORDER

Chair Ed Arnesen called the meeting to order at 9:00a.m. and the Pledge of Allegiance was recited with the following members present: Commissioners: Cody Hasbargen, Buck Nordlof, Ed Arnesen and Joe Grund. Also present was Auditor-Treasurer Lorene Hanson. Absent: Commissioner Jon Waibel.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Cody Hasbargen, seconded by Commissioner Joe Grund and carried unanimously to approve the agenda with the following changes: Add: Law Enforcement City Contract, Auditors Engagement Letter, and Koochiching County Correspondence. 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Cody Hasbargen, seconded by Commissioner Buck Nordlof and carried unanimously to approve the official minutes of December 29, 2022.

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Buck Nordlof, seconded by Commissioner Cody Hasbargen and carried unanimously to approve the official minutes of January 3, 2023. 

SOCIAL SERVICES

Claims

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Joe Grund, seconded by Commissioner Buck Nordlof and carried unanimously to approve the following claims: Commissioners Warrants $27,258.98; Commissioners Warrants $2,259.09; Commissioners Warrants $4,746.55.

Northland Counseling Purchase of Service Agreement

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Buck Nordlof, seconded by Commissioner Joe Grund and carried unanimously, with Commissioner Cody Hasbargen abstaining, to approve the purchase of service agreement between Lake of the Woods County and Northland Counseling for clinical supervision and CTSS services for children and for the Chair Ed Arnesen and Social Services Director Amy Ballard to sign the same.

Auditor/Treasurer

Claims

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Cody Hasbargen, seconded by Commissioner Joe Grund and carried unanimously to approve the claims against the County as follows: Revenue $273,054.15; Road & Bridge $91,636.18; Joint Ditch $40,153.65; Solid Waste $36,948.41; EDA $1,983.00.

WARRANTS FOR PUBLICATION

Warrants Approved On 1/10/2023 For Payment 1/13/2023

Vendor Name Amount

Air Med Care Network 16,803.00

Avenu Insights & Analytics 6,896.84

BDT Mechanical,LLC 2,228.50

Cenex Co-Op Services, Inc. 5,151.02

Commissioner Of Transportation 15,000.00

Howard’s Oil Company 9,795.70

Little Falls Machine, Inc 3,928.61

LOW Highway Dept 40,153.65

LOW Soil & Water Cons. Dist. 101,188.00

Mar-Kit Landfill 10,832.50

Mn Assn Of Counties 7,852.00

Mn Counties Computer Co-Op 19,432.19

MN Counties Intergovernmental Trust 162,424.00

OnSolve,LLC 7,875.00

Schneider Geospatial, LLC 8,400.00

University of North Dakota 9,520.90

29 Payments less than 2000 16,293.48

Final Total: 443,775.39

Further moved to authorize the payment of the following auditor warrants: December 30, 2022 for $128,726.01, January 4, 2023 for 159,322.40.

Auditor Engagement Letter Motion

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Buck Nordlof, seconded by Commissioner Cody Hasbargen and carried unanimously to approve the Audit Engagement Letter, for the year ended December 31, 2022, with Hoffman, Philipp, & Martell, PLLC and for Chair Ed Arnesen and Auditor/Treasurer Lorene Hanson to sign the same.

Assessors

Grade Increase

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Joe Grund seconded by Commissioner Buck Nordlof and carried unanimously to approve a grade increase for Emily Brandt to reflect her receiving her CMA License from Assessment Tech I to Assessment Tech II Grade 12, Step 2, $23.97 per hour at 281 points effective next full pay period.

EDA Director

Economic Development Authority (EDA) Director Ryan Zemek met with the board to inform them that he has recently accepted a position with Widseth, Smith & Nolting and to give his formal resignation for the EDA Director position. Ryan Zemek offered to assist with the transition in finding a new EDA Director.

Public Works

Updates

County Engineer Anthony Pirkl joined by phone to give a brief update on various projects and to discuss his input on the upcoming public hearing for road vacation.

Human Resources

Permission to Hire Heavy Equipment Operator

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Joe Grund, seconded by Commissioner Buck Nordlof and carried unanimously to approve new hire Corey Olson as Heavy Equipment Operator (HEO) at Grade 11, Step 1, $22.28 per hour, at 265 points effective 1/3/2023.

Permission to Advertise, Interview, & Hire- Social Worker

Human Resources Director Savanna Slick came to the meeting to inform the board that Shelley Pepera will be retiring effective March 3^rd, 2023 and to request permission to advertise, interview, and hire a social worker in her place. 

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Joe Grund, seconded by Commissioner Cody Hasbargen and carried unanimously to approve the request to advertise, interview, and hire a social worker at Grade 13, Step 1, $24.73 per hour at 298 points. 

Correspondence- Koochiching County

The board reviewed correspondence from Koochiching County.

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Cody Hasbargen, seconded by Commissioner Buck Nordlof and carried unanimously to have the County Attorney James Austad drat a memorandum of understanding between Lake of the Woods County and Koochiching County and to have this ready to approve at the next board meeting.

Sheriff 

Law Enforcement Contract

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Cody Hasbargen, seconded by Commissioner Buck Nordlof and carried unanimously to approve the Law Enforcement contract between Lake of the Woods County, Lake of the Woods County Sheriff, and the City of Baudette effective January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2025

Recess

A brief recess took place at 9:51 a.m. and reconvened at 10:00 a.m.

Public Hearing- Road Vacation

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Joe Grund, seconded by Commissioner Buck Nordlof and carried unanimously to close the regular meeting and open the Public Hearing for Road Vacation.

Petition for Road Vacation 

Present at the hearing were Commissioners: Ed Arnesen, Cody Hasbargen, Buck Nordlof, and Joe Grund. Also present: County Auditor/Treasurer Lorene Hanson, Land & Water Director Josh Stromlund, Woody Fiala, Bertel Anundson, Nancy Anundson, and Wes Hasbargen. The board reviewed the request from Bertel and Nancy Anundson to vacate the roads within the Plat of Pitt and took questions from surrounding neighbors.

Motion 

Motion was made by Commissioner Cody Hasbargen, seconded by Commissioner Buck Nordlof and carried unanimously to close the public hearing and open the regular meeting. 

Approval of Road Vacation

Resolution

The following resolution was offered by Commissioner Joe Grund and moved for adoption:

RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE LAKE OF THE WOODS COUNTY BOARD TO APPROVE THE VACATION OF ALL ROADS WITHIN THE PLAT OF PITT 

Resolution No. 23-01-03

WHEREAS, the issue of vacating the following described roads was raised and discussed at the Lake of the Woods County Board of Commissioners Meeting.

The proposed roads to be vacated are Main Street, Sanborn Ave, and alleys in Blocks 1,2,3,&4 in the Plat of Pitt.

WHEREAS, Minn. Stat. § 164.06, subd. 1 allows a county board to initiate the town road establishment, vacation, or alteration procedure contained in Minn. Stat. § 164.07 upon receiving authorization of the town electors; 

WHEREAS, the county commissioners determined it is in the best interests of the town to authorize the county to initiate the road procedure in Minn. Stat. § 164.07.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, Lake of the Woods County Board of Commissioners hereby authorize the county to initiate the road vacation procedure in Minn. Stat. § 164.07 regarding the above referenced roads. 

The resolution was seconded by Commissioner Cody Hasbargen and the same being put to a vote was unanimously carried.

Recess

A brief recess took place at 10:16 a.m. and reconvened at 1:00 p.m.

Public Hearing-Replacement Plan Appeal

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Buck Nordlof, seconded by Commissioner Cody Hasbargen and carried unanimously to close the regular meeting and open the public hearing. 

Replacement Plan (Wetlands) Appeal

Present at the hearing were Commissioners: Ed Arnesen, Cody Hasbargen, Buck Nordlof, and Joe Grund. Also present: County Auditor/Treasurer Lorene Hanson, County Attorney James Austad, Land & Water Director Josh Stromlund, Mike Hirst, Woody Fiala, Robert Audette, and Jennifer Audette. 

The board reviewed the appeal from Robert & Jennifer Audette.

Motion 

Motion was made by Commissioner Buck Nordlof, seconded by Commissioner Joe Grund and carried unanimously to close the public hearing and open the regular meeting.

Motion to Include Exhibits in Official Record

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Joe Grund, seconded by Commissioner Cody Hasbargen and carried unanimously to include the exhibits presented at the public hearing in the official record.

Motion to extend the Public Hearing

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Buck Nordlof, seconded by Commissioner Joe Grund and carried unanimously to extend the public hearing to February 14, 2023 at 1:00p.m.

Recess

With no further business before the Board, Chair Ed Arnesen called the meeting to recess at 2:10 p.m.

Attest: January 24, 2023

______________________________ _________________________________

County Auditor/Treasurer, Lorene Hanson Chairman Ed Arnesen