Commissioner Proceedings

July 14, 2020

The Lake of the Woods County Board of Commissioners met in regular session on Tuesday, July 14, 2020 at the Angle Outpost Resort, 8206 Dawson Road, Angle Inlet, MN. 

CALL TO ORDER

Chair Jon Waibel called the meeting to order at 10:00 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 were: County Auditor/Treasurer Lorene Hanson, County Engineer AJ Pirkl, and County Deputy Sheriff Ben Duick.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Ed Arnesen, seconded by Commissioner Cody Hasbargen and carried unanimously to approve the agenda with the following additions: County Highway – chloride and street lights; Census; County Auditor – Election Judge Appointment and Bank Signature Cards; and Congressman Collin Peterson. 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Joe Grund, seconded by Commissioner Buck Nordlof and carried unanimously to approve the official and summarized minutes of June 23, 2020.

SOCIAL SERVICES

Claims

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Buck Nordlof, seconded by Commissioner Cody Hasbargen and carried unanimously to approve the following claims: Commissioners Warrant’s $11,847.87, Commissioners Warrant’s $2,453.45, Commissioners Warrant’s $3,901.47.

AUDITOR/TREASURER

Claims

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Joe Grund, seconded by Commissioner Ed Arnesen and carried unanimously to approve the claims against the County as follows: Revenue $100,327.09; Road & Bridge $180,775.15; County Development $1025; Joint Ditch $8,442.50; Solid Waste $36,099.16; EDA $13,262.31.

WARRANTS FOR PUBLICATION

Warrants Approved On 7/14/2020 For Payment 7/17/2020

                                 Vendor Name                                               Amount

Bollig Inc 9,048.00

Cenex Co-Op Services, Inc. 6,968.79

Counties Providing Technology 13,751.00

Dacotah Paper Company 6,706.29

DLT Solutions, LLC 7,332.56

Farmers Union Oil Co. 2,926.98

Fort Distributors Ltd 27,020.00

Freeberg & Grund, Inc 15,339.05

Gary’s Auto 3,588.47

Hanson Sales Inc 5,123.02

Headwaters Regional Development Commiss 12,500.00

Howard’s Oil Company 3,150.79

KRIS Engineering Inc 6,597.15

Lavalla Sand & Gravel Inc 50,000.00

LOW Highway Dept 11,620.00

LOW Marine, Inc 10,788.61

Mar-Kit Landfill 16,740.50

Marco Technologies LLC 6,000.48

Minnesota Ui 9,187.69

Northwest Angle & Island Freight,Inc 9,237.00

Quadient Finance USA Inc. 2,000.00

Quill Corporation 3,791.56

R & Q Trucking, Inc 3,605.00

SeaChange Print Innovations 5,923.09

Strata Corp, Inc 31,451.62

Stratton Equipment Sales & Service Ltd 2,192.09

Titan Machinery – Roseau 2,419.74

Voyageurs Comtronics, Inc 2,640.00

Wheelers Point Sewer District 5,108.67

Widseth Smith Nolting&Asst Inc 3,303.85

Woody’s Service 4,209.44

Ziegler, Inc 5,733.90

86 Payments less than 2000   33,925.87

Final Total: 339,931.21

Further moved to authorize the payment of the following auditor warrants: July 1, 2020 for $418,693.31; July 2, 2020 for $562,003.60; July 8, 2020 for $91,321.90.

Permission to Hire

Motion
Motion was made by Commissioner Buck Nordlof, seconded by Commissioner Cody Hasbargen and carried unanimously to approve permission to hire for the position of Deputy Auditor/Treasurer- License Clerk/Board Administration at Grade 11, Step 1, $20.33 per hour, Points 253.

Set Budget Dates

The Board set the following dates for 2021 Budget Meetings: August 24, 25 (after the regular scheduled board meeting) and 26, 2020.

Election Judge Appointment

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Buck Nordlof to approve Connie Nesmith as an Election Judge and her appointment to the UOCAVA & Absentee Ballot Boards for the 2020 State and General Elections.  The motion was seconded by Commissioner Cody Hasbargen and the same being put to a vote, was unanimously carried.

Bank Signature Cards

Motion
Motion was made by Commissioner Joe Grund to remove signature authority for Deputy Auditor/Treasurer Stacy Novak and authorize signature authority to Deputy Auditor/Treasurer Connie Nesmith effective July 27, 2020 for the following banking and investment accounts: RiverWood Bank, Border Bank account number 2404, Wells Fargo account numbers 3908, 6724, 5716, 6372 and 3100. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Ed Arnesen and the same being put to vote was unanimously carried.

LAND LEASE AMENDMENT – LUDE TOWER

Motion
Motion was made by Commissioner Ed Arnesen to approve the Land Lease Agreement #98012-amendment 2, Lude Tower to allow New Cingular Wireless PCS, LLC (AT&T) use of the tower and authorize Chair Jon Waibel, County Auditor/Treasurer Lorene Hanson and County Attorney James Austad to sign.  The motion was seconded by Commissioner Joe Grund and the same being put to a vote, was unanimously carried.

BOLLIG INC

NWA Airport

Mike Beard from Bollig Inc. provided a progress report on revisions to the feasibility report for the Northwest Angle airport project.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY – RYAN ZEMEK

Ryan Zemek, Economic Development Director with Headwaters Regional Development Commission, shared information and offered his assistance navigating resources and programs that may offer financial assistance to businesses during COVID-19 and the border closure.  

CENSUS

Commissioner Ed Arnesen gave an update regarding the 2020 Census. A Census representative was assigned to the Northwest Angle to visit with residents.  Census representatives will be in Baudette for training the first week of August.

CONGRESSMAN COLLIN PETERSON

Congressman Collin Peterson called into the meeting to discuss the border closure, its effect on property and business owners in the Northwest Angle and strategies his office is working on to assist with the current situation.  

COUNTY HIGHWAY/LANDFILL

LRIP Grant Agreement

The following Resolution was offered by Commissioner Cody Hasbargen, seconded by Commissioner Buck Nordlof and carried unanimously to approve the following: 

LOCAL ROAD IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM

Grant Terms and Conditions

SAP-039-594-001

Resolution No. 2020-07-01

WHEREAS, Lake of the Woods County has applied to the Commissioner of Transportation for a grant from the Minnesota State Transportation Fund for Local Road Improvement; and,

WHEREAS, the Commissioner of Transportation has given notice that funding for this project is available; and,

WHEREAS, the amount of the grant has been determined to be $327,204.44 by reason of the lowest responsible bid; 

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that Lake of the Woods County does hereby agree to the terms and conditions of the grant consistent with Minnesota Statutes, section 174.52 and will pay any additional amount by which the cost exceeds the estimate, and will return to the Minnesota State Transportation Fund any amount appropriated for the road but not required.   The proper county officers are authorized to execute a grant agreement and any amendments thereto with the Commissioner of Transportation concerning the above-referenced grant.

Highway Update

County Engineer, AJ Pirkl, provided a highway update.  He reported that culvert cleaning with the rented excavator was going well.  The chloride application to the main land and Northwest Angle roads was completed.  

Landfill Update
County Engineer, AJ Pirkl, provided a landfill update. He reported that he did reach out to the MPCA regarding the demo permit, but has not received an update.

Chloride and Street Lights

Commissioner Ed Arnesen recommended that the chloride application and cost of the street lights for the Northwest Angle be included in the Highway Department’s budget instead of a special assessment to property owners, this process would be more consistent with that of the main land.

COVID-19

Update
Kay M. Schell, CHI LakeWood Health Public Health Manager, provided an update.  Lake of the Woods County is at zero confirmed cases of COVID-19, but the numbers of confirmed cases are going up in neighboring counties.  As of today, July 14, 2020, Roseau County is at 30 confirmed cases, Koochiching County is at 24 confirmed cases and Beltrami County is at 58 confirmed cases.  A meeting was held with the Lake of the Woods County Fair Board regarding the potential COVID-19 risks associated with the event.

Jill Hasbargen Olson, Emergency Management Director for Lake of the Woods County, said that education on community transmission and employee exposure will be offered at the next stake holders meeting on Thursday, July 16, 2020. She reported that things are going well with the Government Center being open and that she will continue to revisit guidelines. Regulations specific to the Courts did start this week.

Other Concerns

The Commissioners discussed COVID-19 related concerns with members of the public who were attending the meeting.  Topics of concern included property taxes and transportation options for getting tourists and property owners to the Northwest Angle during the pandemic and border closure.

RECESS

With no further business before the Board, Chairman Jon Waibel called the meeting to recess at 12:08 p.m.

Attest: July 28, 2020

______________________________ _________________________________

County Auditor/Treasurer, Lorene Hanson Chairman of the Board, Jon Waibel