Commissioner Proceedings

July 27, 2021

The Lake of the Woods County Board of Commissioners met in regular session on Tuesday, July 27, 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, Cody Hasbargen, Ed Arnesen, Buck Nordlof, and Jon Waibel.  Also present: County Auditor-Treasurer Lorene Hanson. 

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Cody Hasbargen, seconded by Commissioner Buck Nordlof and carried unanimously to approve the agenda with the following changes: Add – BOA Member Update, Remove – Lake of the Woods Drifters, Add – NWA/ARP Funds Update.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Jon Waibel, seconded by Commissioner Ed Arnesen and carried unanimously to approve the official and summarized minutes of July 13, 2021.

SOCIAL SERVICES

Claims

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Jon Waibel, seconded by Commissioner Cody Hasbargen and carried unanimously to approve the following claims: Commissioners Warrants $5,552.14; Commissioners Warrants $1,517.17; Commissioners Warrants $10,951.59.

AUDITOR/TREASURER
Claims
Motion
Motion was made by Commissioner Buck Nordlof, seconded by Commissioner Ed Arnesen and carried unanimously to approve the claims against the County as follows: Revenue $58,161.26; Road & Bridge $106,615.60; Solid Waste $30,652.92; EDA $785.36. 

WARRANTS FOR PUBLICATION

Warrants Approved On 7/27/2021 For Payment 7/30/2021

Vendor Name Amount

Allstates Pavement Recycling & Stab. Inc 20,257.50

Arrowhead Library System 33,118.00

Compudyne, Inc 2,055.50

Dentons Dirt Worx, LLC 14,100.00

Earthworks Contracting Inc 13,530.00

Fish/Kevin 42,660.00

Hasbargen Logging Inc 10,350.00

LOW School District–390 3,000.00

NetCenter Technologies 5,600.00

North East Technical Service,Inc 11,962.50

Rasinski Total Door Services LLC 5,962.20

Short Elliott Hendrickson, Inc 12,039.86

U.S. Bank Equipment Finance 6,268.50

41 Payments less than 2000   15,311.08
Final Total: 196,215.14

Further moved to authorize the payment of the following auditor warrants: July 12, 2021 for $974,872.01; July 14, 2021 for $64,654.20; July 21, 2021 for $482,259.01.

Set Budget Dates
Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Ed Arnesen, seconded by Commissioner Cody Hasbargen and carried unanimously to approve the following budget meeting dates, meetings will be held in the Commissioners’ Room in the Lake of the Woods County Government Center:

August 4, 2021 from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

August 16, 2021 from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

September 7, 2021 from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.  
Joint Powers Agreement Amendment
Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Cody Hasbargen, seconded by Commissioner Buck Nordlof and carried unanimously to approve the 2020-2022 amended joint powers agreement with North Country Community Health Board and for Chair Joe Grund and Auditor-Treasurer Lorene Hanson to sign the same.

County Employee Appreciation Day

Proclamation of County Staff Appreciation Day 2021-07-02

Motion
Motion was made by Commissioner Ed Arnesen, seconded by Commissioner Buck Nordlof and carried unanimously to proclaim July 27, 2021 as County Staff Appreciation Day.

WHEREAS, county staff serve as the cornerstone of this community, dedicating their time, skills, and expertise for the benefit of their neighbors; and

WHEREAS, county staff went beyond expectations, taking on personal risks, to continue delivering essential services to the citizens of our county during the COVID-19 pandemic; and

WHEREAS, in addition to their regular duties, many county staff were called upon and accepted new and challenging responsibilities during the pandemic such as expediting the distribution of thousands of dollars in economic recovery appropriations, empowering the survival of our local business community; successfully managing a deluge of mail-in ballots in an unprecedented federal election; and

WHEREAS, the work of county staff over the past year and a half have kept the doors of the county open and our community safer, healthier, and productive throughout months of unprecedented global transition; and

WHEREAS, President Sve and the Board of the Association of Minnesota Counties requested the Office of Governor Walz and Lt. Governor Flanagan to proclaim July 27, 2021 as County Staff Appreciation Day and their request was granted;

NOW, THEREFORE, we, the Lake of the Woods County Board of Commissioners, proclaim July 27, 2021 as County Staff Appreciation Day and extend our thanks to the staff of our county and express deep gratitude for their commitment to excellence in public service during the COVID-19 pandemic.

DNR – Fisheries
Update with Phil Talmage, Area Supervisor

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Area Fisheries Supervisor Phil Talmage provided an update to the Board on the most recent Minnesota Department of Natural Resources fisheries report for Lake of the Woods.  Topics reviewed included: spring spawning; abundance, size and structure of walleyes and saugers; lake management goals; and angling hours. 

DNR – Wildlife
Land Acquisition
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Area Wildlife Supervisor Scott Laudenslager shared information with the Board on three parcels of land, that connect to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MNDNR) Carp Swamp Wildlife Management Area (WMA).  The MNDNR is interested in acquiring the land, totaling 1297.25 acres, to add to the Carp Swamp WMA.  No Board decision was made at this time.

PUBLIC WORKS
Highway Update
County Engineer AJ Pirkl provided an update on the status of current projects.

Solid Waste Update
County Engineer AJ Pirkl provided an update.  The landfill will start storing scrap under a canopy or similar structure. The management plan will be updated.

Push Probe Results
County Engineer AJ Pirkl provided an update on the results of the push probes at the landfill. The contamination in question was found to be from an isolated incident and not from the landfill.

Request to Add to the Agenda
Motion
Motion was made by Commissioner Cody Hasbargen, seconded by Commissioner Jon Waibel and carried unanimously to approve adding to the agenda: Consultant for Highway Budgeting.

Consultant for Highway Budgeting
Motion
Motion was made by Commissioner Jon Waibel, seconded by Commissioner Buck Nordlof and carried unanimously to approve hiring Marti Carlson from Earthworks, as an independent contractor, for assistance with budgeting and mentoring at $40 per hour.

MIS
911 Infrastructure 

Motion
Motion was made by Commissioner Jon Waibel, seconded by Commissioner Cody Hasbargen and carried unanimously to approve up to $7,000 from the American Rescue Plan Funds for fiberoptic lines to comply with 911 infrastructure needs.

TOWER GENERATOR REPLACEMENT
Motion
Motion was made by Commissioner Cody Hasbargen, seconded by Commissioner Jon Waibel and carried unanimously to approve up to $4,000 for a replacement propane generator for the TV Tower.

BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT MEMBERS
Land and Water Planning Director Josh Stromlund talked with the Board about the need for two Board of Adjustment (BOA) members.  The appointment of new members to the BOA will be added to the August 24, 2021 meeting agenda.

NWA/ARP FUNDS UPDATE
An agreement, from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, for COVID-19 relief funds for the Northwest Angle has not been received by the County.  The Board also discussed other needs and requests for American Rescue Plan dollars.

RECESS
With no further business before the Board, Chair Joe Grund called the meeting to recess at 11:10 a.m.

Attest: August 10, 2021

_________________________________ _________________________________

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