January 26, 2021

The Lake of the Woods County Board of Commissioners met in regular session on Tuesday, January 26, 2021 at Lake of the Woods County Government Center in the Commissioners’ Room. 

CALL TO ORDER

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

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Ed Arnesen, seconded by Commissioner Buck Nordlof and carried unanimously to approve the agenda with the following additions: Non-elected Department Head Reviews/Human Resources, School Agenda/Auditor-Treasurer, Land Sale, Closed Session, Covid-19 Update.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Cody Hasbargen, seconded by Commissioner Jon Waibel and carried unanimously to approve the official and summarized minutes of January 12, 2021.

SOCIAL SERVICES

Claims

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Buck Nordlof, seconded by Commissioner Ed Arnesen and carried unanimously to approve the following claims: Commissioners Warrant’s $13,769.38, Commissioners Warrant’s $3,418.80, Commissioners Warrant’s $7,768.20.

AUDITOR/TREASURER

Claims

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Cody Hasbargen, seconded by Commissioner Buck Nordlof and carried unanimously to approve the claims against the County as follows: Revenue $41,215.86; Road & Bridge $19,167.96; County Development $1920.50; Solid Waste $19,185.86; EDA, $6,400. 

WARRANTS FOR PUBLICATION

Warrants Approved On 1/26/2021 For Payment 1/29/2021

Vendor Name Amount

Compass Minerals America 5,259.19

Counties Providing Technology 4,310.00

Headwaters Regional Development Commiss 8,750.00

Hildi Inc 4,700.00

Information Systems Corporation 9,279.00

Interstate Billing Service Inc 3,149.06

Locators & Supplies Inc 2,014.02

Mar-Kit Landfill 10,931.50

Mn Assn Of Counties 2,200.00

Northern Light Region 3,445.35

Northwest Tire Inc 3,040.00

U.S. Bank Equipment Finance 6,268.50

WIDSETH 3,705.50

41 Payments less than 2000   20,838.06

                                Final Total: 87,890.18

Further moved to authorize the payment of the following auditor warrants: January 13, 2021 for $141,715.88; January 15, 2021 for $375,832.87, January 15, 2021 for ($7,500); January 20, 2021 for $2,086.06.

School Agenda

The Board talked about agenda items for the Lake of the Woods County Board meeting that is held out at the school on February 23, 2021.

HUMAN RESOURCES

Non-Elected Department Head Reviews

The Board will prepare for the Non-Elected Department Head Reviews after the Board meeting on February 9, 2021.

SHERIFF

Central Square Decision

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Ed Arnesen, seconded by Commissioner Buck Nordlof and carried unanimously to approve the implementation of Central Square into the Lake of the Woods County Sheriff’s Department.  Financing options and payment terms will be researched and be determined by the Board.

COVID-19 UPDATE

Public Health Manager, Kay M. Schell, gave an update on the COVID-19 vaccine. There are many moving parts with the two-dose schedule and the two different types of vaccine.  Priority of who gets the vaccine has changed to focus on daycare providers and school employees.  Long-term care residents at CHI LakeWood Health are scheduled for their second dose soon. A vaccine clinic will be held on Thursday for those over 65 with health issues, this is done by appointment. Schell said there may be a pause before they get more vaccine.

RECESS

The Board took a brief recess at 10:00 a.m. and reconvened the meeting at 10:10 a.m.

PUBLIC WORKS

Highway

Permission to Purchase a Skid Steer and Excavator 

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Jon Waibel, seconded by Commissioner Buck Nordlof and carried unanimously to approve the purchase of a Bobcat 770T4 with tracks at $65,215.58.

The skid steer at the Northwest Angle needs a new motor and will cost approximately $20,000 to fix.

Solid Waste

Landfill Permit Update

MPCA has been consistent about allowing use of the current landfill until 2025.  The County has four years to create a new landfill plan. The MPCA is in the rule making process right now for new demo landfills.  The County has money dedicated to the contamination plan/investigation of the current landfill.  Another discussion with the MPCA will take place on February 3, 2021.

ZIPPEL BAY JETTY

Dredging Maintenance Options

Nick Panovich from Zippel Bay Resort met with the Board to discuss maintenance dredging of the Zippel Bay Jetty.

LAND SALE

Motion

It was the consensus of the Board to review land and set a date for a County land sale of March 4, 2021.

CLOSED SESSION

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Cody Hasbargen to close the regular meeting at 11:10 a.m. and go into closed session pursuant to MN. Stat § 13D.05. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Buck Nordlof and the same being put to a vote was, unanimously carried. 

In attendance: Commissioners: Joe Grund, Jon Waibel, Buck Nordlof, Cody Hasbargen and Ed Arnesen; Auditor/Treasurer Lorene Hanson, Attorney James Austad, Land and Water Planning Director Josh Stromlund and Public Works Director AJ Pirkl.

Motion
Motion was made by Commissioner Jon Waibel to close the closed session at 12:31 p.m. and open the regular meeting. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Cody Hasbargen and the same being put to a vote, was unanimously carried.

AMEND AGENDA

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Jon Waibel, seconded by Commissioner Ed Arnesen and carried unanimously to approve amending the agenda to add a Public Hearing Date.

PUBLIC HEARING DATE

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Jon Waibel, seconded by Commissioner Ed Arnesen and carried unanimously to approve a date to hold a Public Hearing for an Off-Sale Liquor License for Log Cabin Liquor on February 23, 2021.

RECESS

With no further business before the Board, Chair Joe Grund called the meeting to recess at 1:00 p.m.

Attest: February 9, 2021

_________________________________ _________________________________

County Auditor/Treasurer, Lorene Hanson Chair of the Board, Joe Grund