Commissioner Proceedings

October 27, 2020

The Lake of the Woods County Board of Commissioners met in regular session on Tuesday, October 27, 2020 at Lake of the Woods County Government Center in the Commissioners’ Room. 

CALL TO ORDER

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

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Cody Hasbargen, seconded by Commissioner Ed Arnesen and carried unanimously to approve the agenda with the following additions: Permission to hire temporary part-time help in the Auditor/Treasurer’s Department; Lease agreement and funding requests for Emergency Management; and Funding request for the Northwest Angle. 

SOCIAL SERVICES

Claims

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Ed Arnesen, seconded by Commissioner Cody Hasbargen and carried unanimously to approve the following claims: Commissioners Warrant’s $11,897.58 Commissioners Warrant’s $3,858.62, Commissioners Warrant’s $15,867.30.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Cody Hasbargen, seconded by Commissioner Ed Arnesen and carried unanimously to approve the official and summarized minutes of October 13, 2020.

ATTENDANCE

Commissioner Joe Grund arrived to the meeting.

AUDITOR/TREASURER

Claims

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Cody Hasbargen, seconded by Commissioner Ed Arnesen and carried unanimously to approve the claims against the County as follows: Revenue $48,682.44; Road & Bridge $364,539.59; County Development $1,039; Joint Ditch $76,154.96; Solid Waste $13,895.95, EDA $12,835.51.

WARRANTS FOR PUBLICATION

Warrants Approved On 10/27/2020 For Payment 10/30/2020

                       Vendor Name Amount

Cenex Co-Op Services, Inc. 3,671.69

Compass Minerals America 9,542.46

Earthworks Contracting Inc 76,154.96

Element Materials Technology 32,180.00

Headwaters Regional Development Commiss 12,700.53

Mn State Dept-Correction 21,992.73

Northern Light Region 2,480.47

Quadient Finance USA Inc. 2,000.00

Royal Tire Inc 4,977.62

Shi Corp 4,826.00

U.S. Bank Equipment Finance 6,268.50

University Of Mn 6,271.34

Widseth Smith Nolting&Asst Inc 5,438.00

Ziegler, Inc 310,691.15

36 Payments less than 2000     17,952.00

     Final Total: 517,147.45

Further moved to authorize the payment of the following auditor warrants: October 14, 2020 for $37,311.44, October 21, 2020 for $12,759.05.

Health Insurance

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Joe Grund, seconded by Commissioner Ed Arnesen and carried unanimously to set the 2021 county contribution for family health insurance up to $1,310 per month and single health insurance up to $960 per month.  The Public Employees Insurance Program “Advantage Plan” consists of “High”, “Value” and “HSA” plans.  For the HSA plans only, any excess county contribution will be deposited directly into the employee’s health savings account, up to the IRS caps.  

Permission to Hire Temporary, Part-Time  

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Cody Hasbargen, seconded by Commissioner Joe Grund and carried unanimously to authorize County Auditor/Treasurer Lorene Hanson to hire Janet Rudd to a temporary part-time position at $27.00 per hour.

EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT

Lease Agreement

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Cody Hasbargen, seconded by Commissioner Ed Arnesen and carried unanimously to approve the Communications Facility Lease with the State of Minnesota Department of Transportation and for Chair Jon Waibel and Emergency Management Director Jill Olson to sign the same.

Funding Requests

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Joe Grund, seconded by Commissioner Ed Arnesen and carried unanimously to approve $3,885 from the 911 Fund for a media convertor and equipment needed to create redundancy for communications.

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Ed Arnesen, seconded by Commissioner Cody Hasbargen and carried unanimously to approve up to $5,200 from CARES Act funding for items needed for inmate programming in the detention room.  Due to COVID-19 there is a need for alternative programming options for inmates.

HOFFMAN, PHILIPP and KNUTSON

Audit Exit Review

Colleen Hoffman from Hoffman, Philipp and Knutson provided an audit exit review to the Board of Commissioners.

AMEND THE AGENDA

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Cody Hasbargen, seconded by Commissioner Ed Arnesen and carried unanimously to approve the amendment of the agenda to allow for a closed session.

HUMAN RESOURCES

Union Negotiations

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Cody Hasbargen to close the regular meeting pursuant MN Statute §13D.03 at 10:30 a.m. for union discussion.  Motion was seconded by Commissioner Ed Arnesen and the same being put to a vote was unanimously carried.

The following board members were present: Commissioners Cody Hasbargen, Ed Arnesen, Joe Grund, and Jon Waibel, others present were: County Auditor/Treasurer Lorene Hanson, Human Resources Director Savanna Slick and County Engineer AJ Pirkl.

Motion 

Motion was made by Commissioner Cody Hasbargen to close the closed session and open the regular meeting at 11:00 a.m.  Motion was seconded by Commissioner Ed Arnesen and the same being put to a vote was unanimously carried.

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Ed Arnesen, seconded by Commissioner Joe Grund and carried unanimously to offer a one-step increase effective 11/1/2020 to four union employees.

COUNTY HIGHWAY/LANDFILL

Highway 

County Engineer AJ Pirkl provided a highway update.  

• The 1^st Avenue project is not complete and work has stopped for the year, the project was scheduled to be finished September 2020.
• The highway department will start work on culvert replacement near the golf course. 
• The plows are ready for the snow season.
• A public hearing for the railroad crossing closure near the Pitt Church will be held on Tuesday, December 15^th at 10:30 a.m. in the Commissioners’ Room.

Landfill Update

County Engineer AJ Pirkl provided a landfill update.

• A response was submitted to the MPCA.
• A solid waste assessment meeting will be held on November 12.

NORTHWEST ANGLE

Funding request

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Cody Hasbargen, seconded by Commissioner Ed Arnesen and carried unanimously to approve up to $10,000 in CARES Act funding for public safety at the Northwest Angle.  The funds will be used for the ice road between Flag Island, Oak Island and the mainland, upon submission of an invoice.

RECESS

With no further business before the Board, Chairman Jon Waibel called the meeting to recess at 11:15 a.m. 

Attest: November 10, 2020

______________________________ _________________________________

County Auditor/Treasurer, Lorene Hanson Chairman Jon Waibel