##VIDEO ID:1lAM9luiaBE## e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e good morning it's 8:30 and I'm going to call the Clay County Board of Commissioners uh meeting for December 31st 2024 to order first item on the agenda is approval of the agenda move to approve second have motion a second any discussion if not all in favor of the motion say I I oose same sign uh one thing I want to uh on the agenda we've accepted donations uh for the Klay County Sheriff's Office K9 uh account from Hit doll area Lions a very generous donation Johnson Auto Repair and egg Farm Credit also with with donations and we really appreciate the support of our Sheriff's Department our Kine U program from these uh these businesses okay next week of citizens to be heard are there any citizens here wish to address an issue that is not on today's agenda Steve have we got anybody online we do not Mr chair thank you next we have approval of payment of bills and vouchers all approval of paying the bills have motion second all in favor say I I I oppose same sign motion passes and next we have approval minutes from December 17th 224 move to approve a motion the second any discussion if not all in favor of the motion say I I oppose same sign okay Sheriff empting this is a uh a good good uh issue you're bringing up to us today and I'll let you take it away and share the good news it is good morning Mr chair Commissioners thanks for having me here this morning uh I am here this morning to request approval to accept a donation of of $40,000 to the Sheriff's Office K9 program um I was was contacted actually Sergeant Mor was contacted about two months ago um from the daughter of the anonymous donor uh kind of explaining a a situation to us where they would like to donate this amount of money to the Sheriff's Office K9 program for uh future Dog for our program um as you can see from the $40,000 that would cover all costs for the dog to include vehicle equipment as well um this is a very generous donation we're very um excited and uh happy that they chose us for this donation and I think this is uh definitely a direct result of the work that some of our all of our deputies do out there when they're talking to people dealing with people or responding to calls for service or or what have you it shows that uh our staff is doing the right thing when they're they're dealing with our our community members and they're very professional in doing so so this is a great donation to our our uh our program and we're very excited for it well I think this is a this is a program I believed in for just about my entire career in law enforcement I think the first K9 I saw i' had been a cop for about three years and uh it's effective it's good for the officer safety it's good for our response to the public one of the things as much as as you indicated our officers earn the respect they get we have a community that will give it to them when they earn it and this is a good place to be a law enforcement officer and uh this is just one indication I know whoever it is out there our Anonymous ster I hope they realize we're grateful for this this support anybody got any questions or coms also Mr chair if I may I would just like to add that throughout the year uh we we do receive several donations you probably seen that on the you know you have seen on the consent agenda I'm sure but um there are some businesses out there that just continually donate to us and that's uh Farmstead care Holly Lions The Hitter doll Lions um Johnson Auto and we did a sweatshirt fundraiser recently that um was very very well received along with another raffle so we done very well this year in that that fund and uh it's all because of our community support and you know it's that's from us going to several things in the summertime as well we we attend a lot of events in the summer is our thanks to the people that are supporting you anybody have anything good work to all of you thank you thank you I to entertain a motion I'll make a motion to accept the donation second the motion I have motion a second all favor say I I oppose same sign motion passes thanks Sheriff thank you he next up we have Steve Larson uh Tony steinson and Carl cling Gardner of red R River Communications uh are going to join us here thank you thank you Mr chair we're going to keep the exciting news moving here this morning uh I I don't want to steal any Thunder that Tom and Carrie here look familiar to you they've been before this commission several times over the last uh few years to Red River Communications and working hard to uh to to get uh Broadband into different parts of Clay County and so uh they have been working hard through different Grant processes uh and we've had several conversations uh both at this board and in committee about all the great work that they're doing and so because they've worked so hard I don't want to steal any of their Thunder uh and so I'll turn it over to Tom and carry Tom well first of all good morning and thank you for allowing us some time on the agenda and happy New Year to to all of you um yes we we're here uh we have no requests today we just want to make sure we're all on the same page uh Red River Communications has been rewarded a USDA reconnect Grant if you remember we have been in front of you at different times asking for your support on different grants this is a Federal Grant and it was applied for in early 20124 there was also a state Grant a border-to-border grant that we had applied for and there was a financial commitment out of this commission that Grant we were turned down on and this is the Federal grant there is no financial obligation of the county we just wanted to clarify that I believe we had sent a file with uh with kind of the geographical area of the of the grant are you guys all able to see that y that is that is the grant area um that is clearly an area of Clay County that we believe and I know you all know uh as as one of your representatives there is in that area and there is clearly a lack of broadband so this grant is to bring fiber optic Broadband to to those it's nearly 200 locations there's lots of different statistics you may see some press releases that will have populations and different things like that it's roughly about 200 locations um as I indicated it is a Federal grant so there is a lot of uh um you know for lack of a better term red tape and and some different things we're we're working our way through we anticipate being able to do the construction in 2026 so we'll be out there this year we'll keep you appr prised and and different things we'll be working with different members of of your team and and and so on and so forth for right away and different things like that but really there was no request today you may see some some press releases hitting hitting their the uh Senators Tina Smith and and senator Amy kachar has put out their own releases and uh the Fargo forum is is going to be working on one as well so we really wanted to make it informative here and open ourselves up to any questions that you all may have questions questions commissioner krainov so uh s now congratulations um I do what is uh what's sort of your timeline on for this type of project it's a very good question um we anticipate being able to do the construction in 2026 and if we can make things come together the way we hope we could complete most of the project in 2026 construction season and then of course after the construction season there's a process of getting things spliced up and getting people hooked up that is the best case scenario I would be able to look at you anticipate completion in 2027 yeah and a lot of the engineering a lot of the behind the scenes work happened this year the 20 in 2025 so our team has actually already started a lot of the background work so yeah and having missed out on the state funding how does that um what impact does that have whether it's toward this project or in in this area or expanding um yeah good question so so the state of Minnesota has been executing On the Border to border grants and I I believe that's close to a decade old of of those and uh you know they just there's only so much money to go around and unfortunately our application did not make that that cut but I I can report that the that they anticipate that program as it is structured today to Sunset there's some other funding mechanisms out there but we're we really feel fortunate both as a company and for Rural Clay County that we were able to get this grant because we believe some of this funding is going to start sunsetting well this is very nice size amount of money so yes yes we're we're uh we're very appreciative I we we cannot uh we cannot sit here without uh looking at Mr Larson to my right and thanking him for the contributions and the coordinations he has done as well and uh your letters of support and and so on and so forth and just recognize that we are willing to come here and give you updates and or keep Mr Larson apprised of of any of the updates or any questions we intend on uh only building upon our relationship with you all thank you commissioner Mojo thank you Mr chair I'm really excited about this obviously as you mentioned I am always shocked as close to a major Metropolitan as some areas in Clay County are the lack of um high-speed internet so I appreciate a company like Red River Communications working on that I'm excited about the development that you awarded north of Holly as well um and I I just will say for the commission standpoint that this company's been really uh busy with Outreach you'll see them having other open houses in other cities of the County as well and um always exciting when uh businesses come forward to help address the need as well collaboratively with the government so I appreciate it very kind very kind commissioner very kind um I'd be a Miss if I did not update as well uh dating back approximately a year we were awarded a border-to-border grant like I referenced earlier for those for those locations approximately between 50 and 100 locations north of the community of Holly up there North several miles there and we anticipate that construction to take place this construction season come approaching yeah so that's another update there and uh you know we continue to just work to to make sure the people in Clay County have the Broadband needs they they need to be able to to interact in society you know as as commissioner mojan has indicated obviously she lives in the area where the grant this is very important for Education you know there's part people in the Morehead School District that do not have the Broadband that allow them to keep up with their counterparts that are within City Limits we're really excited for the economic development angle of uh bringing fiber to these areas too uh we just see so much potential for growth in that area and we're really excited for you guys as a commissioner to be able to promote some of the um rural areas just outside the metro area just as Jenny said and she can Testament to the great quality of life the schools uh the neighbors all of that um so we really excited about this both in the North Holly and in the we call it the rural comto rule Savin area any other questions we appreciate more good news this is uh great way to wrap the year up and we appreciate the uh the efforts that are going into this and we know there'll be contined work to get funding through the state let us know what we can do to support that we will thank Youk you we thank you and it would not be possible without the support of you all as well we recognize that thank you Happy New Year to you all happy New Year thank you guys next James O'Donnell our director juvenile Services request for another good news program morning Mr chair Commissioners I'm here today to request uh permission to hire the remaining staff necessary to operate the new transition program uh this request was vetted by vetted by the pck committee on December 17th and the request from that committee was to move forward to the full board for consideration um overall I'm requesting to hire four additional staff one case manager at line 17 two juvenal counselors at line 16 e e e e this is really a great expansion in the program to get women and make it available to them as well and uh we need good trained confident staff and it sounds like you've got a excellent plan of Mind any questions not I'd entertain a motion well we discussed this at the Pig program and we felt this is a good way to get it all started out so hopefully James got it all laid out for us I'll make a motion to approve I'll second the motion okay have motion a second any further discussion all in favor of the motion say I I oppose same sign motion passes thank you next one James you got a oh my bad sorry Mr chair Commissioners um I'm requesting permission to sign the Lakeland contracts um Lakeland um does our 30-day evaluations um and have for James can you talk closer to your mic oh sorry um requesting permission to um sign the Lakeland contract for 2025 um Lakeland Mental Health provides us with a psychiatrist a psychologist and some different professional coordination for our non-secure um evaluation program um and that's um a pretty popular program it has been for the past 20 some years um it's um yeah we run about 30 youth through that a year which is pretty comprehensive and we get some good reports out of that um they are only requesting a 2% increase from 2025 um so that would be the request would be to sign the contract for the with the 2% increase from 2024 to 2025 what is a 2% increase 2% of what 2% of okay one of them would be got them right here the psychologist um we pay for a year for the psychologist is $ 26,758 so another 2% increase on that okay all right and then oh okay I was just trying to figure out how how big of these figures are that we're going taking 2% off thank you I think as a rule of thumb those psychiatrists cost Lakeland over $100,000 annually so you know they they make up for those losses in other areas but um you know as serving on the Lakeland board that's always been a challenging ask we're never going to ask our partners to make up for that difference uh so it is an a nominal increase understanding that they still each psychiatrist costs about 100,000 that they won't recover I'll make a motion to approve the request I'll second he a motion second any further discussion or questions if not all in favor of the motion say I I I oppose same sign motion passes thank you James I have Quinn Jagger and Michaela wood and uh Quinn take it away good morning Mr chair Commissioners um I have three things for you today I would like to open I appreciate the opportunity that P gave me to start by being transparent saying I can pay for all three of my requests had a wonderful opportunity from P to I'm going to open with that today to go a different direction um so my first request um if you remember in June of 2024 this board approved uh bringing on a temporary lead worker in in Michaela's unit to help with the onboarding of four new staff that we brought in on at the same time um we've had a good opportunity to evaluate how that's going and the feedback that we received is that it's going wonderful um these positions typically require a 12-month training period uh as they're working with the healthcare programs it's very intricate there are frequent changes that happen with those programs lot to stay a breast of in terms of policies and regulations um we Michael and I have had an opportunity to kind of assess what this looks like and we are here to request an additional six months um on this temporary lead worker position to kind of finish out the training of these four staff um we do believe that um based on the feedback of the four staff this this will work well we've already seen them have some Independence in their work but again with the intricacies of this program it usually takes about 12 months so we are expecting that within the addition of the sixth month six months that should handle um our training needs for these four new positions um the cost impact of this uh if this if this temporary lead worker um this would not go through they'd be on grade 14 step 10 um so the increase of grade 16 step 9 would be approximately $2,631 uh this is a position that has some federal reimbursement so half of the cost would be uh regained by federal reimbursement and the other half we would be able to use with the healthcare unwinding money that we still have so with that I'm looking uh to approve the extension of the temporary lead worker for an additional sale and P did did approve of this particularly when we found out he could pay for it any questions for Quinn move have approval second have motion second all in favor say I I I oppose same sign motion passes got another one and you'll be joined by Jessica mikkelson Jessica morning all right uh again I'd like to open by saying I can pay for this um uh this this position uh we're here to request the hiring of a Min choices reassess um again recognizing I can pay for this I want to also be incredibly transparent and saying this was not a budgeted position um the main reason behind that was there was uh proposed legislation that we just got word on in November uh that would have drastically impacted the reassesses case loads uh that legislation did not pass um and so now instead of having uh the requirement that these reassesses uh do the reassessments once every three years um it's back to I guess business as usual we were initially a little bit worried that if that legislation passed we'd have to look at reassigning some of the case workk that these re assessors have but without that legislation moving we are struggling now um so that is the the main reason why we did not budget for this is that we didn't know the outcome of that legislation until November of this year so that's kind of the background uh to set the stage of where we're at currently we have three full-time Min Min choices reassesses in Jessica's unit right now um they're the ones that are uh completing reassessments for folks on Home and Community Based waivered Services over the past several years we've seen a continual increase uh in these reassessments due to Klay County's population growth and the higher number of individuals moving here that are already enrolled in waiver programs um I did attach kind of that data so you can see in 2021 uh up to 2024 the increase in those reassessment numbers um the recommended case load size for a reassess is 15 reassessments per month due to the time nature and kind of intensity of what these assessments look like um our three reassessed average 17.5 per month but in some months reach up to 21 or more um when they're at their busiest um another large Factor on top of the legislation uh is that there was a transition from PCA services to Community First services and supports in October of 2024 which put new responsibilities onto these assessors and reassesses basically makes the process longer and more intense for the work that they're doing another unfunded mandate um between the additional responsibilities of this change to cfss and the overages in that recommended case load size uh if we brought on a new position they would immediately have a full case load um and would be able to claim the revenue that these positions generate right out of the gates um the I also attached the uh annual revenue that these POS that these positions generate um you can see based on the three existing oh that didn't print very well I apologize about that poor color um you can see the three thank you the three assessors generate uh in between1 130 and $135,000 worth of Revenue per year um our approximate total cost for bringing on this position including training and Technology would be $93,500 IL Services effective February 3rd because we know that we're not going to be able to onboard it any sooner than that and I would request backfill if there's an internal appointment yield for any questions at this time how many of these assessments are rejected are there any rejected ones or I mean I know how many you go through but there some you go through that are rejected too yes um if the person has a change in circumstances and no longer meets eligibility then they're denied and they lose their waiver eligibility when do we have five a month 10 a month 20 a month that we reject uh you know typically once someone does meet the eligibility requirements um they usually maintain that until there's some significant um improvements in their quality of life that are made um so we find people do stay on waiver programs for you know 5 10 years A lot of people are on it uh for their entire lives just due to the disability that they have um so we don't see a lot of denials with r assessments uh we see more denials with initial assessments so someone who's not currently receiving Services seeking services so for initial assessments we probably do about five to six denials a month um but typically reassessments I'd say one to two and often it's like a step down process so you May no longer be eligible for waiver but we might look at a lower program that might help meet the person's needs commissioner camel yeah Quinn or Jessica the um I mentioned in the language that's in your document here and it states that statutory changes were proposed that would have drastically reduced the need to complete reassessments only require them once every 3 years however this legislation did not pass is is that something that that the department was suggesting be done so it was proposed legislation that um our Maxa committee um had brought to uh the Department of Human Services and they had worked on this uh for several years it's been in the works um but it did not receive CMS or federal approval okay because this okay so this requires this goes all the way to the fed's regulations y so DHS was in support of some changes with it and it doesn't necessarily mean that everybody would be able to wave their reassessment there were quite a bit of um requirements in order for someone to meet that eligibility to not have to have an annual assessment um but it would have still brought down our case loads you know pretty significantly um but CMS did not support that and I again I'm a lot of times I I'm interested in the policy you know as opposed to maybe the position I I think the policies are always important and and if it's something that's been recommended I think that's something that we need to be helping you where we can to see that some of those things can be implemented so I I I appreciate that language being in there because I'd like to know you know uh why was it shot down you know and and what what can we do to maybe change that next time so and they're still working on some language to assist with since it didn't receive federal approval to help streamline the men choices assessment process because it is a very lengthy process a reassessment on average takes about eight hours to complete and initial assessments between 10 and 15 hours for each person and and in your opinion going you know having that done every three years doesn't really harm anything right it depends on the person so if we have someone who doesn't have any you know significant changes um they you know Services relatively stay the same throughout the year for from year to year um or even for our more chronically you know someone whose circumstances are such that there's not going to be a lot of improvement there's not a lot of reason for a new intensive um assessment for that person every year but those those those things are determined by the people doing the work right I mean they can tell if there's a need to do an assessment sooner yeah the case manager for the um the waiver case manager would have had to have make a made a recommendation that the person was eligible to wave their reassessment well it's disappointing that that that action that was you supported wasn't approved know it seems to me that that's a a way to streamline things that in my opinion wouldn't harm anybody by doing it so Mr chair if there's no other comments I would move approval of the request second we have a motion a second but commissioner Mojo thank you I uh thanks for the presentation my my question is more on the the workload item here where it talks about over the past several years we've seen a continual increase in the area due to Klay County's population growth a higher number of individuals moving here already enrolled in waiver programs and curious you know I've had conversations with legislators over the last few months about um requirements and what is allowed to ask for and what's not allowed to ask for in regards to say a doctor's note discussing the level of disability isn't you know necessarily looked at at something right I mean there's some questions and concerns there and so my question more so looking at how many more assessments are projected from 2021 to this year are there uh differing levels of requirements in North Dakota for those residents moving to Minnesota and I think to justify what you're talking about is there an ability for counties specifically to make decisions that are stronger requirements right I mean I I think there's an importance for these programs um but I also want to make sure that the money is going to folks that really really really needed and so is is there an ability to do something locally or not it's all state mandates you know the requirements for men choices are the same no matter where you live within Minnesota and we are required by the state statute to provide a men choices assessment to any Minnesota resident who requests one okay so we can't even deny it and if we were to say no we would have to send a notice of action in the person would be able to go through an appeals process so then to the question about Interstate travel is there a different requirement in North Dakota for folks that already have these waivers coming to Minnesota as far as what they're eligible for in Minnesota as as far as what was required for approval to be on the waiver in North Dakota in North Dakota yeah they have completely different eligibility requirements than what we have so then as you're going through these reassessments then you apply they would have to an initial assessment process that's that was more Minnesota resident be eligible for Minnesota Medicaid and then go through an a new in choices assessment there's no transfer okay although the although the standards might be different you do have to establish residency in Minnesota before you would engage in these assessments and that was maybe more so my question making sure that then that triggers them to be into the reassessment or the initial assessment right okay we do see a lot of transfers from out of state I mean I'd say this past year and I I haven't collected that data it would be interesting to see how many of our initial assessments are from people who have just moved and historically we kind of just saw that from maybe South Dakota North Dakota and now we're seeing it from all over the country we've had people moving from Nevada Tennessee okay and into Clay County so then my maybe last comment is you know I I want to encourage us to continue to work together to identify those issues where your employees are saying boy it would make sense to make this a requirement or this isn't you know this isn't maybe a priority so that we can advocate for that at the state level because commissioner krainov is on that Health and Human Services uh committee and I would venture to Guess that issues that Kay County have are similar to to our other County counter counterparts than you another change with men choices that has impacted the number of Assessments we're completing is about five years ago um there was a change at the state level where it was the county of financial responsibility that was required to complete the person's assessment and now it's the county of location so when we have kids from other counties at West Central or in one of our treatment facilities or one of our SS so even like our detox I mean as we're expanding the facilities and programs that we're offering if the person is physically in Clay County at the time that the assessment is requested we are responsible for completing that so then as a further as we continue to Lobby Statewide for the need to have these facilities locally which we appreciate I think that also needs part to be part of the dialogue that um it's the county of location not fincial responsibility well it makes sense for it to be the county of location to cut down on that travel time because I mean we used to have to drive to Minneapolis to complete the assessment or wherever throughout the state so it does make sense but as we expand our programs in Clay County we also have to anticipate completing more choices assessment thank you any other questions if not I'll entertain a motion I've already made the oh okay all right uh we have a motion uh all in favor of the motion say I I oppose same sign motion passes and Quinn you got another one thank you so much uh my last item today uh I would like to approve uh hiring one uh office support specialist position this was a new request in the 2025 budget um again I have an attachment to kind of show show you a visual aid right right now we uh have a what we're looking to do with this office support is ADD 0.5 into child support and 0.5 coverage into our social services department um right now as it exists the office support to staff ratio and child support is 1 to 17 and for social services it's 1 to 24.7 um we're seeing a lot of the social workers and and uh fraud and child support folks kind of do some of the more clerical work just because there isn't enough to go around um so that's why it was this position was built into the 2025 budget um to help assist with that and take some of that workload off of the social workers and child support uh officers as well uh this really would help uh kind of spread that spread that out and we do believe that this position would have uh kind of a full case load full responsibilities from day one if not be able to expand on some things we haven't been able to do because the social workers and child support officers have been doing that right now um I guess the cost for this would be uh grade 10 step one uh would be looking at a total cost of $ 72,8 43 um half of this would be able to get 66% fedal reimbursement in the child support unit that reimbursement is a little bit higher than the 50% um so half of that would be 60 66% reimburse so it'll be $243 the total budget impact would be $ 48,8 Mr chair commission Campell Quin you mention that that this was put into the 2025 budget as a new request did we did we grant that in our preliminary we didn't okay I just want just want to make sure we done okay go ah go I I guess without I would yield for any questions Quin the problem when you lead off with the first two that says they pay for themselves you should have let off with this one I appreciate that it's 66% reimbursed as well uh and and definitely uh it would be difficult to support the others without supporting something like this um you just need to hang around some of these committees a little bit to realize how much the case load has gone up gone up and with that you know all different areas um need to increase to help help with staff workload and I appreciate that it was also included in the budget I'll make a motion to approve I will second it with a comment I I you know often times you know when we hear about the all of the services that are done and then there's there's the occasions where there's uh checks done checks and balances done and there is fraud that happens and and and that and that department helps in that regard and and it's of benefit to us to um find the those things and and and it's on behalf of all our taxpayers that's a good thing when we're being able to recoup some some things that probably never should have been paid for to begin with not at the fault of those working on it but yeah so I think this is this is good okay and you seconded that didn't you Campbell okay is Val point a system overwhelmed is a system that's subject to fraud and we've seen a lot of that nationally and in the state and I think it's incumbent on us when a reasonable request for staff is made is to make sure it's it's addressed so uh having said that any other comments or concerns questions if not on in favor of the motion say I I oppose same sign motion passes thank you very much Quinn next up we have count County attorney Melton good morning Mr chair Commissioners uh Happy New Year um I just uh unfortunately just recently got a notification of resignation and a individual assistant County attorney who's looking to move to the Twin City as you are all aware you know there both 2023 and 2024 we've definitely seen some volatility uh with resignations but within that as well I've had a couple have come back after leaving which is always encouraging to hear you know what they saw and and maybe the grass wasn't always greener but with that said uh just the other day I was commenting to my chief assistants how uh we were full uh with uh cson County attorneys and I said we were the most stable i' had seen for a while and thought we're we're good for some longevity and then the next day one of my see that's what you get and I said I told him I will not be talking about it again out loud so unfortunately uh uh it is an individual looking to he's getting married looking to move to the Twin Cities and I think that's something we continue to see and we just deal with it as it comes and so is unfortunate that he's leaving as an excellent attorney but with that we are asking to uh be able to fill that leg position okay oh excuse me have motion Frank was that a motion yes it was okay I'll second that motion have motion to Second any questions or comments if not all in favor of the motion say I I oppose same sign motion passes thank you and let's see next up Darren happy New Year happy New Year it's Darren Brook by the way for the record uh and my last official Act is the HR Director um well we'll refer to you as the current HR director the acting HR Director I'll be no I'm not retiring not yet um so at the end of the year we always go through our Personnel policy and kind of update everything in there and uh couple things that have passed through the ESS laws uh this year we've already added to the Personnel policy but what I want to do is go through these and kind of make sure that you're aware of what we're changing and what we're adding um some of these you've already um uh approved at different board meetings and all of these items were taken to the pick a couple weeks ago so the first uh section is the benefits package both of these were already approved the first one was uh allowing married couples that both work for Clay County to get a single family plan so I won't go over that one too much because that was discussed in a board meeting on October 8th already and approved and then the uh other one was allowing elected officials to opt out of the county benefits and that we was already approved on November 19th so those two things will be in uh the new 2025 Personnel policy um if you you can stop me if you have any questions on each of these sections um probably the biggest thing that came about is the changes in the ESS earn sick and safe time and uh so what I did was I Incorporated all those changes into just our basic sick leave in our Personnel policy um the the law says that we don't have to call it ESS as long as it has all the requirements of ESS so I basically took the SE sick leave policy rewrote that to Encompass all the ESS changes that uh started now as you remember this went into effect in 2024 and then they came back midy year and made some changes to that law as well so this sick leave section 16 will already incorporate all of those changes one of the things that we uh that they changed was the bereavement leave they allow sick leave to be used for bereavement leave as well um it's not a huge change for us because we already have sick leave uh paid sick leave in our Personnel policy but now they can use it as part of their ESS balance um the other big change was they said that if you recall when the law first came out it said that you could use 48 hours per year or 80 hours after 2 years of ESS law uh esst time so then they went and changed that and said basically if you give any kind of leave whether it be sick or medication that ESS um applies to all of those hours so instead of having the 48 and the 80 if somebody has sick leave and if they have a thousand hours they can use sick leave for these extended family members and ex extended um issues whether it be Health sick safe leave whatever so that is a is a pretty big change for for us so I had to rewrite the sick leave policy to get uh to incorporate all of those changes um the other change was um when they first came out with the law they said that one of the reasons you could take esst was when a school or daycare was closed due to a weather event the problem is they didn't exempt any emergency position positions like Highway workers law enforcement Corrections all that so technically we could have our whole highway department say oh the schools are closed so I'm not coming in to work they they realize that they made that mistake and they changed that law part that portion of the law in I believe it was August so that they have a weather event exception and so what it basically says is that uh if you are if your job requires you to be there based on a weather event meaning plow drivers police correctional officers you know they they can't just take off and say so they say that that's the exception if you if you work in one of those positions then you cannot take advantage of using sick leave if your daycare or your school is closed due to a weather event the the the problem with that is they made it a law but then they made it that you have to negotiate with the unions for thatou so it's it's kind of counterproductive it's a law but you have to negotiate it so for the past month I've been meeting with the unions and sending them anou for the uh Correctional sergeants correctional officers deputies lieutenants and Highway I think those are the five uh this mou stating that you will abide by not calling in sick when your daycare is or your schools are closed so that is in the process of being completed I don't foresee any huge push back on that um but that was one of the Law changes and so I stuck that into the sick leave uh policy as well um as far as the part-time and full-time employees there's no real impact on ESS as far as acrs go and they didn't change the calculation that like variable hours still get 1 hour of sick leave for every 30 hours work and we are already doing that we've already changed our um HR payroll system to accommodate for that as well um and let's see and the the other thing with the sick leave in the ESS is now it has become protective leave um similar to FMLA so in in our policy we used to say that the manager can um approve or deny sicker vacation now if they say this is for ESS purposes whether it be a family member or a serious health condition that is considered protected leave um it'll make it a little bit more difficult now if there is if there is fraud or anything like that then we can certainly go down that path with discipline and investigating and everything else but uh we can they do allow us to require documentation after three days of absences so those are some of the big points in the sick leave policy that were changing changed uh for 2025 um any questions on any of that questions for Daren no okay um the other thing that we had happen this year was uh had to do with government employee discounts and we found that there's really nothing in our Personnel policy that describes what when and what you can use uh government employee discounts for so the we kind of expanded on it and added that chapter um let me get to it here and basically what it's saying is if if a organization or a business or something gives the uh government employee discounts as an individual then you can certainly take that it's kind of like you know some hotels give you military discounts or government employee discounts and stuff like that that that is acceptable but what is not permissible is if we have if clay county has an account and then what this happened was with um we had an account with um one of the auto parts dealers that we would as a county get reduced prices and discounts for different parts that we bought for our vehicles and we had an employee went in and said I'm with the county and it was for a personal use but he used the discount that the county was given based on a code or an account or whatever so we wanted to put that into the policy of when you can use uh employee discounts and when you cannot use employee discounts um any questions on that questions all right no guys are being easy today we're not done yet I know I'm there's only two left I didn't hear a motion I do yeah okay employeed Des us what do we do about it pardon me what do we do about it if employee Des do that is there um well that that would be through the disciplinary process um you know once this gets into policy it's I I usually send out all these policy changes to all the employees at the beginning of the year so I'll say these are the Personnel policy changes for this year and then it goes out to everybody so I was just wonder if you make a $5 purchase or a $500 purchase is there do yeah and to tell you the truth we're not always going to catch it but if it if a supervisor knows that's happening and and the way we caught it this time was just a fluke where the the person behind the guy the employee that was buying it was a Morehead police officer and said oh I don't think he's allowed to do this and brought it to our attention so what what happens if if a County employee goes to auto part store and says I work for Klay County but this is for my personal use and they still give them the discount well we we actually went and talked to the um when this event happened and they try to combat that they usually try to get an ID card or something like that I can't guarantee that every business is going to be allowed but I mean but I mean what what penalty can you put on an employee who would go there and say you know I happen to work for Klay County but this is for my personal use and the guy on the other side of the counter says well I'm going to give you the discount I think I think it would be up to the employee to say okay this is this not is not allowed based on the Personnel policy so it's going to be up to the employee if the if the if the business still does it for them and it and that's what this business was doing is they weren't checking the the person just came in and said what you mean if if the employee said he was it was for his personal use yeah and he and they still give him a discount yeah there's not much again I you know what do you do with that I mean it's that's the I think the employ the employee would have fulfilled their obligation to say that you know this isn't this isn't company use you know I I guess I don't want us to get into a point where a County employee who thought they were doing the right thing and they and right the person on the other side of the counter says I'm going to give you the discount anyway and and why should why should that then be the penalty to the I think I think they could still if they want if the business wants to give them a discount then okay fine okay give them a discount but we're just saying you can't use a Clay County established account with the with the business and I think it it happens like Auto Parts you know where somebody comes in oh I work for Clay County well is this going on the Clay County charge card or is this you know you pay for this well yeah and it certainly shouldn't if it's for personal use it certainly shouldn't go on a charge card right right well then it's theft yeah right okay um I guess I opened my mouth too early um section 36 um I just we didn't have anything in the Personnel policy about smoking and vaping in our policy we have a our own standal smoking and tobacco policy but we thought it would be important just to put this in the Personnel policy as a little blurb saying this is what's allowed and not allowed and then refer back to the tobacco use policy um and the last one section 40 um we had some and most of these have come out of issues that we had throughout the year with an employee that we said okay we can't point to the Personnel polic to say you can or can't do this and so this was one of the things that came out where some employees were bringing their pets their animals their dogs to work with them and we found out that we really don't have a policy against that and so this is a result of okay we need to at least have something out there I don't think that we're trying to say if you bring your new puppy into work to show everybody and then and then they leave or whatever that's not where we were looking at we're looking at somebody that's bringing their their dog cat whatever to work every day and then so we're trying to avoid that based on you know um people being allergic to dogs or the dog not behaving or you know there's all kinds of things it's a HR Horror Story most of the time I could say we there's a lot of businesses companies that that allow pets in the in their their business we we're C certainly not anti-d dog or anti-at I mean um I I have had many many dogs in my life but um I think in the workplace we just have to have something that explains that you can't bring your dog to work every single day so Ezra can't being a pig in every day and Ezra different one every day a little one little one would fine um with that being said um those are the changes for 2025 any other questions questions for Darren comments I I have a comment um obviously Darren you've done a nice job trying to verbally explain all of these changes that are uh in this proposed policy the my my concern with with changes is I like to see Redline versions I'm sorry say that again I I like to see Redline versions when when we're changing a policy okay and I'm going to give you an example uh last the last meeting we had we had a public hearing and was on a proposed change in our ordinance which basically was a complete rewrite of an ordinance and the public hearing happened afterwards we voted on it and there was no no Redline version of what changes were done so we we approved a policy that I didn't know what else was changed besides what was maybe talked about during the process okay so I just you know and this goes Steve I think in the future I don't know if pck committee got to see a Redline version of this but it was basically especially when you're when you do a complete rewrite of a policy it's nice to know what was thrown out what was left in and what was added yep because that's our responsibility to look at that and I I I can say I have full faith in you and I can say I have full faith in everybody else who does it but when the rubber hits the road and all of a sudden somebody says why didn't you catch this right well I didn't look I didn't see it so I I again I policies are important and and it's from my standpoint I'd like to see Redline versions okay I I can certainly do that that's not wouldn't be very difficult and maybe I'm the only one who thinks that of this board but okay okay certainly are the comments or questions if not we'll entertain a motion I'll make a motion to approve the uh 2025 personal Poss uh policy changes is uh stated I'll second the motion I have motion to Second further discussion and I and again I I would request if I could maybe Darren if you could you know maybe submit an after Thea Redline Version Y because what what I'm gathering here is you've done a total rewrite of certain portions of yeah the sick leave policy and and I'll tell you that I'm anticipating that the whole policy will be Rewritten next year when p Family and Medical Leave hits and again for this board I want to give you an example so commissioner moo and I have been working on the the development code ordan rewrites of those ordinances and everything and one of the things that we've we've specifically said because it's a complicated long ordinance and it's important that when we bring those things forward to the full board bring a Redline version so that everybody knows what we're changing from to okay and I yep I can I can um I appreciate I can do the L and send that out to the board yeah if there's any issues with that we should I just bring it back in January or just I you know what I think I think you know we've got a motion a second I'm going to support the motion but I just okay to follow up I would like to see a Redline version of what actually I voted on and do further discussion not all in favor of the motion say I I oppose same sign motion passes um I just wanted very quick uh Maran Danielson went to her retirement ceremony yesterday as well uh she was been here for 31 years and she wanted me to pass on to the board that she was truly appreciative of the board and all of the support that theyve given to her and the uh employees and I told her that I would pass that on to you guys so so there It Is Well than you was a very special employee and knew her stuff well yeah thank you Darren okay next up our current County Administrator Steve LaRon our AMC voting good uh good morning Mr chair Commissioners uh as you recall two times a year we uh we address we address the AMC policy committees uh and voting delegates I guess the voting delegates portion of it but each each year we look at the AMC policy committees we also have our provide notice of who our chairs or vice chairs are going to be when we know that and because of our rotation we do do know that and so uh there's been some discussion about uh the policy committees uh in the on the uh retirement of of commissioner gross and and commissioner elect bear coming on board uh and So based on those discussions this document was was completed uh based on those discussions we also maintain the the voting structure uh that we that we did uh this past December for our annual conference uh but again all of these are up for for discussion for with with the board with that ideal for any questions questions commissioner Campbell not a question but a comment I know for um as long as I can remember I served on the transportation committee uh through AMC and and with Ezra coming on board I I I did talk to Ezra and and he's he'd like to have some involvement with Transportation issues and so I've made made that suggestion that maybe he'd like to take that one and I would take the general government which commissioner gross had and he was he was happy to have that Transportation one so I just wanted to make that note that we had that conversation any other comments or questions Mr chair commission motion thank you I you know I think we can have this discussion later on in regards to who goes to that conference uh I think it's been really helpful to have planning and zoning and our County engineer represented because they have their individual Association meetings as well I really do think given the work that Klay county has done in the Health and Human Services area it would be beneficial to have Quinn attend that uh conference as well um you know I'm not quite sure if it makes sense to have him as a a voting delegate or not but um just given the level of what we're doing Statewide I really think it would be beneficial for Quinn to be part of those dialogues as well that's something I would agree with he is um he's got a lot of irons in the fire and a lot of those are things that are Statewide uh the things that impact him are things that are determined through the legislature and the AMC uh is our is our Outreach to that so and I and I would agree with commissioner Mojo too in terms of I you know I think right now we can list these uh voting delegates as they are but during the course of the year is we're going through our policy committees and we're starting to see what amendments might be taking place and what are the big issues going on there might be a year where maybe maybe there's nothing significant for Matt Jacobson to be on to be a voting delegate where Quinn should be or vice versa in any one of those but we can make that change I think we still can make that change before the annual meeting so that that's correct Mr chair commissioner Campbell AMC does a Reach Out prior to the to the December conference and allows us to the board you that comes before you guys to make a final final discussion or decision again going into that that but I but I do agree with commissioner Mojo whether Quinn would be a voting delegate or not I think I think he should certainly be aware that it he'd be more than welcome to be at that conven at that uh conference because there are significant issues that relates to his Department further discussion I would support the uh the addition of quen for that I I will have to say again relatively new you know with two years but Social Services is so Broad and when I see all the amendments that they're bringing forward you know just even the case of what we had earlier about reassessments some of these other areas they're mentioned but it's very hard to have the depth of everything at one time so I would appreciate that uh in the moment I think it makes a great deal of sense I think we heard at the AMC conference this year from a state budget standpoint that uh that Human Service Social Services will soon be the highest budgeted item over education and so uh we we certainly know that it's our largest budget item here and so uh having him there would would make sense he further discussion Mr CH I would move the Slate as presented for the association of Minnesota County's positions I'll second the motion have Mo have a motion in a second any further discussion if not all in favor of the motion say I I oppose same sign motion passes next up uh review of The Clay County Board of Commissioners committee assignments thank you thank you Mr chair can we have uh Ezra come up to the microphone too in case we need to ask him stuff uh each uh each December uh going into our first meeting of the Year where uh or the second meeting of the Year depending on the discussion that takes place uh this board establishes your committee assignments in addition to attending board meetings and taking phone calls from your constituents uh you also have a a a significant portfolio uh that uh that you attend meetings throughout the month whether that's uh weekly basis quarterly uh some sometimes annual basis uh and so each year in in December we generally have you take a look uh from from the stand point of are there challenges that you have with the committee dates that you have that that interact or counter counteract each other and make it challenging to to do that or if there just other uh other things that you're looking to uh to maybe to switch or or um give to someone else and so with that I would open this up for for discussion for for Commissioners we'll make uh the agreed upon adjustments and have them as part of the packet um packet for further discussion on January 7th well Mr chair um and Steve there is a couple of notable ones obviously that would that would happen would be under Ezra he was AMC would be transportation and and then under mind would be General government for AMC um I do want to also note that um Personnel issues would come off of commissioner grosses and that would go to mine um I think another one that pertains to commissioner Mojo and I are the DMV finance committee and the withdrawal management detox facility Finance committees I think those pretty much are done um I don't know that there's a reason to meet on those anymore is that correct Jenny would you say that I don't I mean do we have one more with substance well and but that was my my point would be is and so what happens a lot of times is these these things start in the building committee and then once we get to a certain level it's shifts to finance and what we don't have on here right now is the prtf nsecure finance committee and I so I think that one would would absorb absorb the other two that we would be taking off and and I I mean those are those are the noted things that I could see right now that in regards to the Minnesota rural County caucus uh Francis has been on that one and I've been his alternate and so in dialogue with commissioner elect beay we've talked about me becoming the main member on the Minnesota rural County's caucus and then he would be my alternate um and that's really important especially when you're newly elected there's so much that happens legislative discussions and it really helps you understand the pulse of uh what rural counties are dealing with no I I I have I still have interest in that chamber one so I I don't know that I want to the the other one and I've talked to uh Highway about this is that I would then take way tracking that would be added to my portfolio with commissioner Campbell and then one that I have a scheduling conflict with it's really been difficult for me to get to the clay soil and water meeting and so wondering if Ezra would want to take that from me and then you know I could since I'm on environment natural resources stay on as his alternate and so then make sure we can collaborate together if that works for you that should I mean Paul is an alternate down there as of right now right Paul would become the main one and then then I would be the alternate yeah and Ezra when when you see your name as alternate you're you still can go you can still go to all the meetings it's just yeah when it comes to voting there's that time I think it's 3:00 is really hard I was just say eser h be on the highway tracking that's still important part of distri I mean District 2 involes all the half the roads yeah so I don't know that's a pretty important committee I I'd like to keep it Frank but Jenny also has a big District in her area right I realized that you both Tri probably well I'm not interested in no I don't that one up I've been working on that a long time couple of things on mine uh AMC Public Safety safe and secure courts that Grant uh we we've got all the work done on it I don't anticipate there'll be a need for that to continue I've talked to Ezra and I'll take primary on yellow ribbon and he'll be alternate um the city of Fargo homeless task force there may be ongoing work with that but at this point city of Fargo's progressed on without inviting any Minnesota Partners over so I don't know if we need to reconfigure that simply as homeless issues I had that before with when I first got on with working with the police department and the Sheriff's Office and and Churches United but I don't know if the city of Fargo is actually a designated uh as designated here is is an accurate reflection on what our interaction is um the corrections design and operations that's hasn't met since I've come on board and I don't I think we've got the design and that uh Correctional Facility done and uh the Minnesota North Dakota Mutual aid for law enforcement is no longer meeting because we got the state statute on deadly force figured out so those can be removed from my portfolio question on the Minnesota North Dakota Mutual Aid understanding dialogues that are happening Statewide do you foresee that there could be an issue that comes out of legislation that would affect that and if so would it makes sense to keep it for now it's a long shot but it doesn't cost anything to keep it on that's that's a valid point we don't know what the legislature may come up with that puts our relationship AC with our border uh States in Jeopardy again so maybe it would be premature to remove that I think it would be um I think you should uh keep that uh on uh your radar because I know through the homelessness part I mean even I don't know what Morhead morehead's involvement is in that currently but they you know there are meetings that they talk from City to City and I know I get calls for mayor Carlson you know on updates or whatnot so um I would keep it open okay on which one it his involment on the it would be the what's the exact name you well this was City Fargo homeless task force well he was I he was talking about Mutual Aid then he went to homeless homeless well can I ask there's a homeless local homeless committee that commissioner krainov is on could we tweak that to change commissioner ebinger's to that as well because you know I agree I don't know what the city of Fargo homeless task force has to do with Clay County but I do know given the issues of the day that we're here hearing about frequently it's important to have a Clay County voice on how we help mitigate some of these homeless challenges that we have and so having two Commissioners part of what that local homeless committee is maybe would be the best and I think for the most part Dave except for the meeting you had over in far we both been interchanging all all the other ones okay yeah would make so I I think that's a good yeah good adjustment random okay to that comment I think um commissioner gross and I were on the correctional facility Behavioral Health design I think we can take that off both of ours I do know that there's challenges in regards to Lakeland Staffing that position but we're really covering that under the Lakeland umbrella and I I had some thoughts about the criminal just Justice Advisory Board we've not heard from the new uh Chief probation officer calling a meeting but also there's a lot of dialogue Statewide on changes being made to Community Corrections and I think we probably need to keep that opened but it'll be more of a Community Corrections um function but I think that meets under the under the uh the definition another another one that I think is it's certainly probably done for now but um would be the public safety funds committee that was kind of a one-time deal that's there and I think th have those funds all been they were they were uh the remaining dollars were put towards the 20125 budget so yes you know so I don't you know unless the state comes up with another reason to have that I think think that committee could probably be dissolved with h I said the same with arpa we're getting rid of committies good Al oh yeah I wanted to um yeah thank you on on here too I think the uh alternate for the diversion Authority board uh was originally Frank on there was the alternate and that one because of commissioner Mojo's district and a lot of it being involved there she's willing to take that alternate position so that one would move to commissioner Mojo I have a couple if I may well you and Dave are both on that though aren't you correct but I'd be the alternate to both of them as you were and commissioner krainov um my am on second on my list the AMC infrastructure resiliance advisory task force that's completed um uh when it comes to the um Buffalo uh Red River Watershed I'm wondering if it would be possible um uh talking with Ezra um him being um the main person for the wild rice I'd be happy to continue as alternate on that um I went several times when Frank went wasn't also I think we all are aren't we we all are alternates so we so I think it the way it's listed because those are public meetings okay and advertised that we were all listed as alternates and more specifically um maybe it comes back to the Buffalo red and help me on this one on I take interest in the one Watershed one plan and I think Jenny was at you and Frank on that on the Buffalo red I'm think years ago when I was on it with Soil and Water um well you are an alternate on the wild rice one water shed one plan right I did a couple of those but again I think as an alternate correct but I'm more interested on the the Buffalo red and maybe that's just the alternative piece has been mentioned but it isn't then uh speak specific to that well we do need I mean we can put uh commissioner Bayer as the alternate on the Buffalo red one Watershed one plan and you can be with me the voting delegate on the one Watershed one plan for the Buffalo red if that's what you're asking yeah yeah that's what I'm hoping for okay yeah and then does that make sense Steve and I'll I'll still keep doing my monthly meetings so Comm currently it's commissioner gross and I as the liais on the Lea's on for both of them and then under Paul's policy or committee assignment it's the alternate for the wild rice so why don't you give yeah I'm I guess I don't I don't have wild rice I just have Otter Tail so why don't you give commissioner karabanov the one Watershed one plan for the Buffalo and then add commissioner bear as the alternate for those I would keep being the one Watershed one plan wild rice right and then commissioner Mojo you would you would no longer be the Buffalo red no I would so we'd have we'd have uh commissioner krainov and you to maintain would be the liaison but then also we have commissioner beay we would then have three could you do that well the the chance of us all three being able to make those I think is we just coordinate make sure okay so we'll list we'll list all three we have but with the understanding that we the intent would only to have two correct you yeah okay well Ezra would be listed as an alternate then right correct for the Buffalo Ren the Buffalo but not for the wild Rays right but that's the one where he would not attend unless one of the other two right make it because that's not those aren't those aren't public meetings and those aren't frequent meetings either okay and then as I um go down um I add a question on Felton Prairie I've never known what that is well you haven't heard about the butterfly haven't heard about the Dakota Skipper only in quick comment and a little laugh behind it I can give you a book that one comes up frequently when I it's kind of in collaboration with the county owned property and then when those haland leases come up or when DNR okay wants to meet um important to keep then okay well someone should be on that anyways yeah actually we should just keep no that's fine Frank can serve as a citizen advisory to the Dakota Skipper so question for Dave on this one on the great uh FM Economic Development Court where do we sit on that on policy anymore well they have partnered with the chamber um as we stand right now our membership is one member on the executive committee who also serves on a regular board and that would be me at this point um I'm asking should we just strike me from that I know it says a Al but I'm should we what did I should we remove that for my list oh yeah they no longer give us another membership other than uh I would serve as the only member serving both on their board and on the executive committee yeah and that's the greater feram we're at yeah yeah Mr chair Commissioners under their new structure Comm eer are there going to be are there going to be um like policy committees underneath that that that yeah they're they're they're kind of proem but yeah um there are policy committees and have commissioner krainov listed as potentially part of the EDC policy uh committees that come up would be would be valuable that you know again and I've I've stated this repeatedly the EDC although the chamber does a lot of work with this side of the river the EDC does not and um maybe in the policy branch of it there would be an opportunity uh at least with our universities our colleges over here few other things get uh a uh a little bit of attention once in a while but as a rule you're generally generally dealing with North Dakota issues over there I just from you're certainly well more well aware of how they've they've shifted in their um I guess assignments from responsibilities I just want to make sure that in the event that they still act like with the diversion we have this the policies or the side committees Lance committees those kind of things that that if we can have representation there uh that we should have that and then also they should be designated per DM so yeah that would not be a bad idea is to have commissioner kravin off as EDC uh policy policy okay and then moving down there um again another line can be taken away the infrastructure that was a repeat from up above um Hess we talked about that uh had a question um the Northwest emergency um committee um conflicts totally with my schedule on those Thursdays I've never been able to make a meeting wondering if uh we'd have isra do that if he'd be open to it yeah and I think that that's it so I just want to point out the uh AMC public SA safety I'll no longer be the vice uh chair on that and I will be the president of the lake Agy Regional Library board and I'm no longer the chair of the trip RDC oh and I will be the chair of the partnership for health well I think as long as you're listed as partnership for health I don't need to get into too much on some of I'm not sure whether commission gross was listed that way or not Ezra would you would oh I'm sorry I maybe make sure Paul's done I guess as would you uh be interested in uh being the alternate on the regional water plan joint Powers commissioner moo serves as the regular on that one when I'm the alternate and that one I A lot of times I have conflict with and that one is deals with things throughout the entire Basin and might be a good one for you to be on the maybe get some in Northern Clay County involvement there yeah it meets quarterly so it's not as much it meets and Fargo at the Bas and commission but it's really good because all the partners that you're working on with the the water district will be there yeah so I again if we can take that one off of mine because that's the same morning as Prairie Lakes right yeah and I always have conflict there so that would be a good one if we can shift that to Ezra that would be okay unless there's any additional changes I I it's hard to there's been so many moves maybe we can re discuss this yeah I think I think maybe if we can maybe submit or just have these changes made in we'll bring them for your consideration at the next meeting a red line version is that a joke we save jokes for the HR Director the current HR director yeah you got you got Steve's Redline version okay any any additional input on this Steve if we can get a a mock up on this we can vote on it we'll have it back for next week thanks guys thank you thank you okay do we need a break it will take five minutes e e e e e e e e e e e e e no just Clos and we're g to uh go to committee reports we'll start off with commissioner kraban off I have none to report and we're going to go all the way around the room and hit everybody Frank is going to be our last report today so uh Steve thank you Mr chair uh 17th participating in pick uh talked about those items today at the the board uh we uh talked about uh had a meeting on the 17th about the tobacco ordinance uh review um met with Troy aminon uh well excuse me I'm on the wrong I'm on the wrong long time here sorry about that I did have pick last week um participated on the 18th on the Clay County round table at M state after that we met uh with commissioner Mojo with representative Keeler um commissioner commissioner Mojo and commissioner kof and I met after that we are going to be presenting our our resolution uh to myac uh next uh next Friday um for uh the Indian Affairs Council um and so we were discussing that participated in the potluck on the 18th one of my favorite days of the year uh that afternoon met with uh with Joe uh and Darren uh the DMV uh the staff are having some issues with uh with the the the desks the reaching them to the window and so we're trying to find a good solution uh we've had a couple different uh incidences there where our staff have put in uh for medical issues uh we worked on our PowerPoint uh for for the my ACT presentation and the resolution MCC jpa meeting which uh I'll let the Commissioners cover there we talked about our 2025 calendar we had a couple relocation reimbursements and farm leases um yesterday I participated in the West Central Regional water district uh again we had uh many updates as far as where we are from the standpoint of uh of the district uh Court uh and and the projects funding again I'll let our commissioners talk in more detail there um yesterday we met the Naco high performance leadership uh members that that this board approved last year to participate in we had a review uh uh to talk about uh the value that we had that we saw with with those 11we programs and we're hoping to continue those uh those opportunities for another 10 staff next year we'll probably be bringing uh some findings to this board uh to talk about uh talk about what a great opportunity that was um yesterday participated in a non-secure detention uh meeting with Commissioners uh in regards to the new facility and working with uh working at uh getting a local estimate for that project uh yesterday afternoon then participated in commissioner gross's open house it was great to see so many people there and see his family and grandkids and so uh again uh good great afternoon just a reminder to our citizens we're closed tomorrow and OBS observation of uh the first uh First of the Year New Year's um just to of note our withdrawal Management Facility as was mentioned earlier did open yesterday uh and have made that transition and just of note next our first board meeting of the year we will be meeting at 8:15 uh to have the oath of office for commissioner Iger commissioner Krab off on commissioner bear and with that I concludes my reports Miss Melton you have anything for us I'll say thanks Frank for our service welcome Jackie commiss moo thank you on the 17th we had a dialogue on the resource recovery center contract discussion uh as we recall the city of Morehead had provided a one-year um notice uh so we will be having a meeting with the city of Morehead coming in January I also attended the uh Clay County leaders Round Table held at Minnesota State Community and Technical College thank you to the chamber for organizing that another great opportunity for dialogue on shared Mutual needs particularly with legislative coordinating we had a meeting as uh identified with uh administrator Larson and commissioner karavanov on the MMB and mayak discussion presentation working forward um the legislative session is now less than a month away and later that day I uh took part in a series of interviews with cap LP for their head start director position on the 19th I attended the swack committee meeting uh virtually I attended the um AMC extension committee we had uh because of scheduling conflicts we weren't able to meet at the AMC conference in December but were able to meet to discuss some uh items of mutual concern particularly with how the university and counties work forward in discussing the dialogue for the mo MOA after um this year's proposal there was lots of great feedback on that attended another Head Start director interview that day I also attended the MCC jpa meeting as reported on earlier uh did talk about um two relocation reimbursement requests we did approve them and then approve the 2025 Farmland leases that had come forward that day I also attended the Metro Cog policy committee meeting uh we did move it so that there wasn't a conflict with the diversion Authority so it was in abbreviated form if you will uh all of those great reports are available on Metro cogs website on the uh 23rd I attended the Lakeland Mental Health board meeting we did have really great Dialogue on season ending or year ending items uh good dialogue on financial Trends and suggestions moving forward for the organization station and then yesterday I attended the uh um we had a media questions at the withdrawal Management Facility that Jackie coordinated so I was able to attend that uh and then um we had uh non-secure work session design uh to talk about dialing in that pricing a little bit more with uh Gertz and Klein karthy and then attended Frank's open house as well uh throughout those meetings um weekly we're meeting with uh representative Keeler and representative joy and Senator koek just to make sure they're all aware of our projects and how we continue to go forward um the last thing I have uh I had to write it down because you all know I'm the crier of the group and I wouldn't have been able to get through it without commissioner gross it has been a true honor to work alongside you for the past decade your steady leadership wisdom and unwavering dedication to Clay County has been an inspiration to all of us you've always taken time to get to know people on an individual level truly understanding their perspective which made you an even more effective leader your mentality of doing what you say handwriting thank yous and finding common ground even in the face of disagreements has been a guiding example to all of us you lead by example in every sense of the way and it is something that we will all carry forward over the years we've tackled some tough challenges and your guidance helped us navigate those moments with Clarity and strength your quick wit and compassion always has brought a sense of warmth and light to our meetings making even the most difficult of days more manageable you've represented all of Clay County With Honor from the rural Corners to the organized cities and all of them have benefited greatly from your leadership I will deeply miss your presence at the board but I know you've earned this next chapter I wish you and leavon nothing but the best as you move forward thank you for everything Francis and be well my friend so you're GNA make me [Laughter] cry thank you thank you commissioner moo that was beautiful commission Campbell thank you on December 18th we had our Prairie Lake Sol municip Solid Waste meeting in perm uh went through several items um I think the budget is was kind of in line with what we projected uh we finally are down to uh we're not in a negative uh delivery stance for in terms of tons so I want to congratulate Corey and his group uh for that that at one point in time we were as much as what 6 700 tons short which is when you multiply that times6 some dollars a ton that's a lot of money uh so he's really done a nice job there and I just congratulate them on that work um as I reported here before we're working on an ash management plan um Ottertail County did buy that prop that additional property which I reported on and we're going to be in the process of working on aou between um Prairie Lakes and um OT tail and how that will be compensated for over a number of years uh the we did get some information that on the Ash U utilization for roads uh we had an extensive uh project done by um Ron Intertech and as it turns out they've determined that 177% of a road base can be the ash that we have which is it's just significant amount of product material that over time and they said they said actually the the higher that percentage goes that you use the harder the road gets but then it becomes too susceptible to cracking because it's so hard so so the so in other words so what's and we've got scheduled for uh 2025 now there's going to be two roads in Becker County that we're going to be using this product on as as um uh test uh pilot projects to see how how that works and if all goes well we're going to we've already had some prary talks with mindd about the potential use of Ash and uh not only County roads but other roads that might be beneficial throughout the state where they can take advantage of this this product not only do we have it here but they have it in Crookston and other areas um also have that Ash that can be utilized in other beneficial ways uh and then on the the next day we had our Clay County Solid Waste meeting um I really don't have anything to add to that other than the fact that they I think they had one of the two doors replaced and um one of them still wasn't the electronic portion of it wasn't working so they're having to open and close it by chains uh that was kind of it's been a that's just been a nightmare that thing but there hopefully that's been resolved by now Corey thought it would be that same day then we had our MCC jpa meeting which is the mor Clay County Joint Powers Authority that deals with diversion issues and we uh deal dealt with a couple of reimbursement requests from land owners we received our property acquisition status report litigation update and and um we did approve Farmland leases for 2025 and we did receive word that um the Buffalo Red River Watershed district has started their work process on for the road raise for Georgetown and the work for um in the Wolverton area that they've I maybe I report on that before but and then lastly yesterday we had our West Central Regional water meeting in holstead um probably where the most time spent was talking about the finances and funding and uh you know future uh potential places for money but the $300,000 that the three counties that allocated is pretty much gone now and so we're still now it's been suggested that we could end up need another $4 to $500,000 just to complete the planning process through the courts originally it was suggested that that 300 would do that so but it's hasn't worked out that way so um you know unless Frank has more to add to that um that's the end of my reports and I just want to I didn't have a written down thing like Jenny did for Frank but you don't cry Frank for 12 years um uh you've been a real asset to this board and you and I have worked on several committees together and I you know I think we've had some positive results coming out of those committees that move forward um there was a a couple of deals on that were put out on social media that that uh talked about your open house that was held yesterday and I I apologize I couldn't be there um but one of the comments that uh the somebody from the public had raised on there and it was probably the simple most worthy statements that could be said about Frank and that just said he's a good Common Sense guy and there's there's nothing nothing better uh that I don't think there can be a better type of a Accolade than that is than to um be told that you're a common sense person which you really are thank and I want to thank you Frank for your many years of service to Clay County and I've en Joy enjoyed working with you thank you for your guidance Kevin you've helped me a lot that concludes my report thank you on uh let's see on the 17th seemed like a long time ago we had to pick committee meeting which addressed we address those issues today uh on the 18th I attended the the Clay County leaders round round table that the chamber sponsored um just basically looking at legislative priorities for the region some strategic planning that they're they're engaged in had had local legislators there did a a great job of uh addressing our issues and addressing uh giving us an update on what their activities have been um the round table discussion was a lot of a good presence of community leaders and businesses there and then they discussed the Morehead area day at the Capitol uh that will be coming up uh during this session on the 18th uh I attended virtually attended the Northwest emergency communication board there's some discussion on Next Generation 911 uh the Northwest remote dispatch Grant that's out there um and looking at Armor ID for Customs and Border Patrol a sense of health and uh some of the multi-line phone legislation that's coming up so that when people with multi-line phones call 911 their actual address shows up on the uh later that day I ended the substance abuse and no I'm sorry on the 19th attended the Klay County substance abuse and suicide prevention committee meeting Annabelle defal um and Karen n nitori did a real good job of uh bring us up speed on some of the issues that have been uh around developing bylaws and new structure for the committee uh Jason M McCoy gave us a tobacco ordinance update and uh Rory Bill uh gave a cannabis and substance abuse Grant uh overview for us and later that day we had the Red River Regional dispat Center board meeting and congratulations to uh mayor Dardis of West Fargo he'll be our chair next year and Ryan Nelson of the Clay County of the uh Morehead City city council will be the vice chair we had a couple of issues couple of issues of uh business one was approving um or authorizing uh the city of Fargo to move forward with seeking bids on the fiber optic uh work that needs to be done with the new Dispatch Center that is coming in at a north of $200,000 uh we did have a vote to authorize them to go ahead and uh let the bids and it will be part of the cost of building this the trip RDC and then of course we had the election for new officers and later later that day attended the diversion Authority meeting and that was covered by commissioner Campbell and I want to uh then yesterday I attended to Commission gross's open house I want to thank you Frank we've we've only worked together the four years I've been here you've had a life of service to this country and this community starting with when I guess you were just a pup serving in the US Military and coming through we were lucky to get you as a Capstone of the work you did in this area in a lot of capacities uh for local sports for the Dorth city council and you've come in here and you've been an inspiration of people for 12 years and I've come in you you deal with compassion you're straight shooter we know where you stand and you uh deal with things on a very ethical level and that's important in these days so you've been you've been a great inspiration everybody here and with that I'm going to turn the gabble over to you and let you give your report and then you can gavel this meeting shut Mr chair commissioner gross I have uh if I could before you say your final words I have uh an additional person uh who who wanted to be here yesterday and today but was unable to be here and so I have somebody that wants to also say a few kind words here and so um are are you there I I am Steve can you hear me we can hear you great thank you okay thanks well good good morning Commissioners morning I feel like I should stand up and and salute you folks but I I uh I just wanted to take a minute there to to congratulate commissioner gross on what a great career as a commissioner it was just so much fun working with him and for him uh always so positive and and so willing to do the right thing it just uh you don't find those people every day and it's it's really fortunate to have that the opportunity to work for him and with him so Frank I just really wish you well in your uh future endeavors and retirement you've done so much for your community that uh I just wanted to call and congratulate you today appreciate that thank you okay Steve I can just I can barely hear him oh excuse me thank you very much uh thank you for calling there Brian you were great there you you were great to work for well Frank I just wish you well I I can hardly hear you there so uh just uh thank you for this opportunity to to uh call in and and congratulate you I'm me that to the the chairperson there and and I'm not sure who it is right now so it's Dave oh yes okay okay well you folks have a great day and uh just celebrate celebrate uh Frank's going that going uh off the commission that's it's just a been such a great time so thank you very much Happy New Year to all of you okay thank you for calling Brian okay yeah tough to active follow all you guys and I don't know if I can do it or not but my meetings were taken care of it just that was a pick and uh with the water district and we covered all those stuff today uh last Thursday I don't know if you're listen to KF or not but I had about a 10 15 minute segment with Ben Hansen uh we recovered the flavoring uh VAP flavored vaping stuff and cigarettes so um that was fun doing that um past 12 years I myself together here made so many good friends I'm sorry I'll get a scaler know you guys just been great to work for organiz say good goodbye thank [Applause] you and with that we're turnour I'm sorry --------- ##VIDEO ID:d2Kk7q9ftWw## good morning it's 8:30 and I'm going to call the Clay County Board of Commissioners uh meeting for December 31st 2024 to order first item on the agenda is approval of the agenda move to approve second have motion to Second any discussion if not all in favor the motion say I I oose same sign uh one thing I want to uh on the agenda we've accepted donations uh for the Klay County Sheriff's Office K9 uh account from Hit doll area Lions a very generous donation Johnson Auto Repair and egg Farm Credit also with with donations and we really appreciate the support of our Sheriff's Department our K9 uh program from these uh these businesses okay next we have citizens to be heard are there any citizens here wish to address an issue that is not on today's agenda Steve have we got anybody online we do not Mr chair thank you next we have approval of payment of bills and vouchers I'll approval of paying the bills and motion second all in favor say I I I oppose same sign motion passes and next we have approval of minutes from December 17 224 move to approve a motion a second any discussion if not all in favor of the motion say I I oppose same sign okay Sheriff empting this is a a good good uh issue you're bringing up to us today and I'll let you take it away and share the good news it is good morning Mr chair Commissioners thanks for having me here this morning uh I am here this morning to request approval to accept a donation of of $40,000 to the Sheriff's Office can9 program um I was contacted actually Sergeant Mor was contacted about two months ago um from the daughter of the anonymous donor uh kind of explaining a a situation to us to where they would like to donate this amount of money to the Sheriff's Office K9 program for a future Dog for our program um as you can see from the $40,000 that would cover all costs for the dog to include vehicle equipment as well um this is a very generous donation we're very um excited and uh happy that they chose us for this donation and I think this is uh definitely a direct result of the work that some of our all of our deputies do out there when they're talking to people dealing with people responding to calls for service or or what have you it shows that uh our staff is doing the right thing when they're they're dealing with our our our community members and they're very professional in doing so so this is a great donation to our our uh our program and we're very excited for it well I think this is a this is a program I believed in for just about my entire career in law enforcement I think the first K9 I saw i' had been a cop for about 3 years and uh it's effective it's good for the officer safety it's good for our response to the public one of the things as much as as you indicated our officers earn the respect they get we have a community that will give it to them when they earn it and this is a good place to be a law enforcement officer and uh this is just one indication I know whoever it is out there our Anonymous donor I hope they realize we're grateful for this this support anybody got any questions or comments also Mr chair if I may I would just like to add that throughout the year uh we we do receive several donations you probably seen that on the you know you have seen on the consent agenda I'm sure but um there are some businesses out there that just continually donate to us and that's uh Farmstead care Holly Lions The Hitter doll Lions um Johnson Auto and we did a sweatshirt fundraiser recently that um was very very well received received along with another raffle so we've done very well this year in that that fund and uh it's all because of our community support and you know it's that's from us going to several things in the summertime as well we we attend a lot of events in the summer is our thanks to people that are supporting you anybody have anything good work to all of you thank you thank you I to entertain a motion I'll make a motion to accept the donation I'll second the motion i' have motion a second all in favor say I I oppose same sign motion passes thanks Sheriff thank you okay next up we have Steve Larson uh Tony steinson and Carl cling Gartner of red RI River Communications uh are going to join us here thank you thank you Mr chair we're going to keep the exciting news moving here this morning uh I I don't want to steal any Thunder the Tom and Carrie here look familiar to you they've been before this commission several times over the last uh few years to Red River Communications and working hard to uh to to get uh Broadband into different parts of Clay County and so uh they have been working hard through different Grant processes uh and we've had several conversations both at this board and in committee about all the great work that they're doing and so because they've worked so hard I don't want to steal any of their Thunder uh and so I'll turn it over to Tom and Cary let Tom well first of all good morning and thank you for allowing us some time on the agenda and happy New Year to to all of you um yes we we're here uh we have no requests today we just want to make sure we're all on the same page uh Red River Communications has been rewarded a USDA reconnect Grant if you remember we have been in front of you at different times asking for your support on different grants this is a Federal Grant and it was applied for in early 2024 there was also a state Grant a border to border grant that we had applied for and there was a financial commitment out of this commission that Grant we were turned down on and this is the Federal grant there is no financial obligation of the county we just wanted to clarify that I believe we had sent a file with uh with kind of the geographical area of the of the grant are you guys all able to see that y that is that is the grant area um that is clearly an area of Clay County that we believe and I know you all know uh as as one of your representatives there is in that area and there is clearly a lack of broadband so this grant is to bring fiber optic Broadband to to those it's nearly 200 locations there's lots of different statistics you may see some press releases that will have populations and different things like that it's roughly about 200 locations um as I indicated it is a Federal grant so there is a lot of uh uh you know for lack of a better term red tape and and some different things we're we're working our way through we anticipate being able to do the construction in 2026 so we'll be out there this year we'll keep you a rised and and different things we'll be working with different members of of your team and and and so on and so forth for right away and different things like that but really there was no request today you may see some some press releases hitting hitting their the uh Senators Tina Smith and and senator Amy kachar has put out their own releases and uh the Fargo forum is is going to be working on one as well so we really wanted to make it informative here and open ourselves up to any questions that you all may have questions questions you want to go commissioner kov so uh St now congratulations um I do what is uh what's sort of your timeline on for this type of project it's a very good question um we anticipate being able to do the construction in 2026 and if we can make things come together the way we hope we could complete most of the project in 2026 construction season and then of course after the construction season there's a process of getting things spliced up and getting people hooked up that is the best case scenario I would be able to look at you anticipate completion in 2027 wonderful yeah and a lot of the engineering a lot of the behind the scenes work happened this year the 20 in 2025 so our team has actually already started a lot of the background work so yeah and having missed out on the state funding how does that um what impact does that have whether it's toward this project or in in this area or expanding um yeah good question so so the state of Minnesota has been executing On the Border to border grants and I I believe that's close to a decade old of of those and uh you know they just there's only so much money to go around and unfortunately our application did not make that that cut but I I can report that the that they anticipate that program as it is structured today to Sunset there's some other funding mechanisms out there but we're we really feel fortunate both as a company and for Rural Clay County that we were able to get this grant because we believe some of this funding is going to start sunsetting well this is very nice size amount of money so I hope we're uh we're very appreciative I we we cannot uh we cannot sit here without uh looking at Mr Larsson to my right and thanking him for the contributions and the coordinations he has done as well and uh your letters of support and and so on and so forth and just recognize that we are willing to come here and give you updates and or keep Mr lson apprised of of any of the updates or any questions we intend on uh only building upon our relationship with you all thank you commission Mojo thank you Mr chair I'm really excited about this obviously as you mentioned I am always shocked as close to a major Metropolitan as some areas in Clay County are the lack of um high-speed internet so I appreciate a company like Red River Communications working on that I'm excited about the development that you awarded north of Holly as well um and I I just will say for the commission standpoint this company's been really uh busy with Outreach you'll see them having other open houses in other cities of the County as well and um always exciting when uh businesses come forward to help address the need as well collaboratively with the government so I appreciate it very kind very kind commissioner very kind um I'd be a Miss if I did not update as well uh dating back approximately a year we were awarded a board border to border Grant like I referenced earlier for those for those locations approximately between 50 and 100 locations north of the community of Holly up there North several miles there and we anticipate that construction to take place this construction season come approaching yeah so that's another update there and uh you know we continue to just work to to make sure the people in Clay County have the Broadband needs they they need to be able to to interact in Society you know as as commissioner mojan has indicated obviously she lives in the area where the grant this is very important for Education you know there's part people in the Morehead School District that do not have the Broadband that allow them to keep up with their counterparts that are within City Limits we're really excited for the economic development angle of uh bringing fiber to these areas to uh we just see so much potential for growth in that area and we're really excited for you guys as the Commissioners to be able to promote some of the um rural areas just outside the metro area just as Jenny said and she can Testament to the great quality of life the schools uh the neighbors all of that um so we really excited about this both in the North Holly and in the we call it the rule comto rule saving area any other questions we appreciate more good news this is uh great way to wrap the year up and we appreciate the uh the efforts that are going into this and we know there'll be contined work to get funding through the state let us know what we can do to support that you will thank you we thank you and it would not be possible without the support of you all as well we recognize that thank you Happy New Year to you all happy New Year thank you guys next James O'Donnell our director of juvenile Services request for another good news program morning Mr chair Commissioners I'm here today to request uh permission to hire the remaining staff necessary to operate the new transition program uh this request was vetted by vetted by the pck committee on December 17th and the request from that committee was to move forward to the full board for consideration um overall I'm requesting to hire four additional staff one case manager at line 17 two juvenal counselors at Line 6 e e e e this is really a great expansion in the program to get women and make it available to them as well and uh we need good trained staff and it sounds like you've got a an excellent plan in mind any questions not I'd entertain a motion Al we discussed this at the P program and we felt this was a good way to get it all started out so hopefully James got it all laid out for us I'll make a motion to approve I'll second the motion okay have motion a second any further discussion all in favor of the mo motion say I I oppose same sign motion passes thank you next one James you got a oh my bad sorry Mr chair Commissioners um I'm requesting permission to sign the Lakeland contracts um Lakeland um does our 30-day evaluations um and have for James can you talk closer to your mic oh sorry um requesting permission to um sign the Lakeland contract for 201 2 um Lakeland Mental Health provides us with a psychiatrist a psychologist and some different professional coordination for our non-secure um evaluation program um and that's um a pretty popular program it has been for the past 20 some years um it's um yeah we run about 30 youth through that year which is pretty comprehensive and get some good reports out of that um they are only requesting a 2% incre increase from 2025 um so that would be the request would be to sign the contract for the with the 2% increase from 2024 to 2025 what is a 2% increase 2% of what 2% of okay one of them would be got right here the psychologist um we pay for a year for the psychologist is $ 26,000 $757 so another 2% increase on that okay all right and then oh I was just trying to figure out how how big of these figures are that we're going taking 2% off thank you I think as a rule of thumb those psychiatrists cost Lakeland over $100,000 annually so you know they they make up for those losses in other areas but um you know as serving on the Lakeland board that's always been a challenging ask we're never going to ask our partners to make up for that difference uh so it is a a nominal increase understanding that they still each psychiatrist costs about 100,000 that they won't recover I'll make a motion to approve the request I'll second I have motion a second any further discussion or questions if not all in favor of the motion say I I I oppose same sign motion passes thank you James I have Quinn Jagger and Michaela wck and uh Quinn take it away good morning Mr chair Commissioners um I have three things for you today I would like to open I appreciate the opportunity that pck gave me to start start by being transparent saying I can pay for all three of my requests had a wonderful opportunity from P to I'm going to open with that today we go a different direction um so my first request um if you remember in June of 2024 this board approved uh bringing on a temporary lead worker in in Michaela's unit to help with the onboarding of four new staff that we brought in on at the same time um we've had a good opportunity to evaluate how that's going and the feedback that we received is it's going wonderful um these positions typically require a 12-month training period uh as they're working with the healthc care programs it's very intricate there are frequent changes that happen with those programs lot to stay AB breast of in terms of policies and regulations um we Mich and I have had an opportunity to kind of assess what this looks like and we are here to request an additional six months um on this temporary lead worker position to kind of finish out the training of these four staff um we do believe that um based on the feedback of the four staff this this will work well we've already seen them have some Independence in their work but again with the intera at this program it usually takes about 12 months so we are expecting that within the addition of the six month six months that should handle um our training needs for these four new positions um the cost impact to this uh if this if this temporary lead worker um this would not go through they'd be on great grade 14 step 10 um so the increase of grade 16 step 9 would be approximately 2631 uh this is a position that has some federal reimbursement so half of the cost would be uh regained by federal reimbursement and the other half we would be able to use with the healthcare unwinding money that we still have so with that I'm looking uh to approve the extension of the temporary lead worker for an additional sale and pck did did uh approve of this uh particularly when he found out he could pay for it any questions for Quinn move of approval second have motion second all in favor say I I I oppose same sign motion passes got another one and you'll be joined by Jessica mikkelson Jessica morning all right uh again I'd like to open by saying I can pay for this um uh this this position uh we're here to request the hiring of a Min choices reassess um again recognizing I can pay for this I want to also be incredibly transparent and saying this was not a budgeted position um the main reason behind that was there was uh proposed legislation that we just got word on in November uh that would have drastically impacted the reassesses case loads uh that legislation did not pass um and so now instead of having uh the requirement that these reassesses uh do the reassessments once every three years um it's back to I guess business as usual we were initially a little bit worried that if that legislation passed we'd have to look at reassigning some of the case work that these reassesses have but without that legislation moving we are struggling now um so that is the the main reason why we did not budget for this is that we didn't know the outcome of that legislation until November of this year so that's kind of the background uh to set the stage of where we're at currently we have three full-time Min m choices reassesses in Jessica's unit right now um they're the ones that are uh completing reassessments for folks on Home and Community Based waivered Services over the past several years we've seen a continual increase uh in these reassessments due to Klay County's population growth and the higher number of individuals moving here that are already enrolled in waiver programs um I did attach kind of that data so you can see in 2021 uh up to 2024 the increase in those reassessment numbers um the recommended case load size for a reassess is 15 reassessments per month due to the time nature and kind of intensity of what these assessments look like um R3 re assessors average 17.5 per month but in some months reach up to 21 or more um when they're at their busiest um another large Factor on top of the legislation uh is that there was a transition from PCA services to Community First services and supports in October of 2024 which put new responsibilities onto these assessors and reassesses basically makes the process longer and more intense for the work that they're doing another unfunded mandate um between the additional responsibilities of this change to cfss and the overages in that recommended case load size uh if we brought on a new position they would immediately have a full case load um and would be able to claim the revenue that these positions generate right out of the gates um the I also attached the uh annual revenue that these POS that these positions generate um you can see based on the three existing oh that didn't print very well I apologize about that poor color um you can see the three thank you the three assessors generate uh in between1 130 and $135,000 worth of Revenue per year um our approximate total cost for bringing on this position including training and Technology would be $93,000 um so we do anticipate that there would be a net positive on the 2025 budget by adding this position um we also did bring this to pick and the recommendations boort so with that I am requesting a motion to bring on a full-time social worker on in Disability Services effective February 3rd because we know that we're not going to be able to onboard it any sooner than and I would request backfill if there's an internal appointment yield for any questions at this time how many these assessments are rejected are there any rejected ones or I mean I know how many you go through but there some you go through that are rejected too yes um if the person has a change in circumstances no longer meets eligibility then they're denied and they lose their waer eligibility and do we have five a month 10 a month 20 a month that we reject uh you know typically once someone does meet the eligibility requirements um they usually maintain that until there's some significant um improvements in their quality of life that are made um so we find people do stay on waiver programs for you know 5 10 years a lot of people are on it uh for their entire lives just due to the disability that they have um so we don't see a lot of denials with real assessments uh we see more denials with initial assessments so someone who's not currently receiving Services seeking services so for initial assessments we probably do about five to six denials a month um but typically reassessments I'd say one to two and often it's like a step down process so you may no longer be eligible for waiver but we might look at a lower program that might help meet the person's needs Comm camel yeah Quinn or Jessica the um I mentioned in the language that's in your document here and it states that statutory changes were proposed that would have drastically reduce the need to complete reassessments only require them once every 3 years however this legislation did not pass is is that something that that the department was suggesting be done so it was proposed legislation that um our Maxa committee um had brought to uh the Department of Human Services and they had worked on this uh for several years it's been in the works um but it did not receive CMS or federal approval okay because this okay so this requires this goes all the way to the fed's regulations y so DHS was in support of some changes with it and it doesn't necessarily mean that everybody would be able to wave their reassessment there were quite a bit of um requirements in order for someone to meet that eligibility to not have to have an annual assessment um but it would have still have brought down our case loads you know pretty significantly um but CMS did not support that and I again I'm a lot of times I I'm interested in the policy you know as opposed to me maybe the position I I think the policies are always important and and if it's something that's been recommended I think that's something that we need to be helping you where we can to see that some of those things can be implemented so I I I appreciate that language being in there because I'd like to know you know uh why was it shot down you know and and what what can we do to maybe change that next time so and they're still working on some language to assist with it since it didn't receive federal approval to help streamline the men choices assessment process because it is a very lengthy process a reassessment on average takes about eight hours to complete and initial assessments between 10 and 15 hours for each person and and in your opinion going you know having that done every three years doesn't really harm anything right it depends on the person so if we have someone who doesn't have any you know significant changes um their you know Services relatively stay the same throughout the year for from year to year um or even for our more chronically you know someone whose circumstances are such that there's not going to be a lot of improvement there's not a lot of reason for a new intensive um assessment for that person every year but those those those things are determined by the people doing the work right I mean they can tell if there's a need to do an assessment sooner yeah the case manager for the um the waiver case manager would have had to have make a made a recommendation that the person was eligible to wave their reassessment well it's disappointing that that that action that was you supported wasn't approved know it seems to me that that's a a way to streamline things that in my opinion wouldn't harm anybody by doing it so Mr cheriff there's no other cont I would move approval of request second we have motion second but commissioner Mojo thank you I uh thanks for the presentation my my question is more on the the workload item here where it talks about over the past several years we've seen a continual increase in the area due to Klay County's population growth a higher number of individuals moving here already enrolled in waiver programs and curious you know I've had conversations with legislators over the last few months about um requirements and what is allowed to ask for and what's not allowed to ask for in regards to say a doctor's note discussing the level of disability isn't you know necessarily looked at at something right I mean there's some questions and concerns there and so my question more so looking at how many more assessments are projected from 2021 into this year are there uh differing levels of requirements in North Dakota for those residents moving to Minnesota and I think to justify what you're talking about is there an ability Force counties specifically to make decisions that are stronger requirements right I mean I I think there's an importance for these programs um but I also want to make sure that the money is going to folks that really really need it and so is is there an ability to do something locally or not it's all state mandates you know the requirements for men choices are the same no matter where you live within Minnesota and we are required by the state statute to provide a men choices assessment to any Minnesota resident who requests one okay so we can't even deny it and if we were to say no we would have to send in notice of action and the person would be able to go through an appeals process so then to the question about Interstate travel is there a different requirement in North Dakota for folks that already have these waivers coming to Minnesota as far as what they're eligible for in Minnesota as as far as what was required for approval to be on the waiver in North Dakota in North Dakota yeah they have completely different eligibility requirements than what we have so then as you're going through these reassessments then you apply they would have to an initial assessment process that's that was more a Minnesota resident be eligible for Minnesota Medicaid and then go through an a Newman choices assessment there's no transfer okay from although St although the standards might be different you do have to establish residency in Minnesota before would engage in these assessments and that was maybe more so my question making sure that then that triggers them to be into the reassessment or the initial assessment right okay we do see a lot of transfers from out of state I mean I'd say this past year and I I haven't collected that data it would be interesting to see how many of our initial assessments are from people who have just moved and historically we kind of just saw that from maybe South Dakota North Dakota and now we're seeing it from all over the country we've had people moving from Nevada Tennessee okay and into Clay County so then my maybe last comment is you know I I want to encourage us to continue to work together to identify those issues where your employees are saying boy it would make sense to make this a requirement or this isn't you know this isn't maybe a priority so that we can advocate for that at the state level because commissioner krainov is on that Health and Human Services uh committee and I would venture to Guess that issues that Clay County have are similar to our other County counter counterparts you another change with men choices that has impacted the number of Assessments we're completing is about five years ago um there was a change at the state level where it was the county of financial responsibility that was required to complete the person's assessment and now it's the county of location so when we have kids from other counties at West Central or in one of our treatment facilities or one of our Earths so even like our detox I mean as we're expanding the facilities and programs that we're offering if the person is physically in Clay County at the time that the assessment is requested we are responsible for completing that so then as a further as we continue to Lobby Statewide for the need to have these facilities locally which we appreciate I think that also needs part to be part of the dialogue that um it's the county of location not financial responsibility well it makes sense for it to be the county of location to cut down on that travel time because I mean we used to have to drive to Minneapolis to complete the assessment or wherever throughout the state so it does make sense but as we expand our programs in Clay County we also have to anticipate completing moreon choices assessments thank you any other questions if not I'll entertain a motion I've already made the motion oh okay all right uh we have a motion uh all in favor of the motion say I I oppose same sign motion passes and Quinn you got another one thank you so much uh my last item today uh I would like to approve uh hiring one uh office support specialist position this was a new request in the 2025 budget um again I have an attachment to kind of show you a visual aid right right now we uh have a what we're looking to do with this office support is ADD 0.5 into child support and 0.5 coverage into our social services department um right now as it exists the office support to staff ratio and child support is 1 to 17 and for social services it's 1 to 24.7 um we're seeing a lot of the social workers and and uh fraud and child support f f s kind of do some of the more clerical work just because there isn't enough to go around um so that's why it was this position was built into the 2025 budget um to help assist with that and take some of that workload off of the social workers and child support uh officers as well uh this really would help uh kind of spread that spread that out and we do believe that this position would have uh kind of a full case load full responsibilities from day one if not be able to expand on some things we haven't been able to do because the social workers and child support officers have been doing that right now um I guess the cost for this would be uh grade 10 step one uh we' be looking at a total cost of $2,843 um half of this would be able to get 66% Federal reimbursement in the child support unit that reimbursement is a little bit higher than the 50% um so half of that would be 60 66% reimburse so that' be $243 the total budget impact would be $ 48,8 Mr chair commissioner Campbell Quin you mentioned that that this was put into the 2025 budget as a new request did we did we grant that in our preliminary we didn't okay I just want just want to make sure we done that okay go ahead Quin I I guess with that I would yield for any questions Quinn the problem when you lead off with the first two that says they pay for themselves you should have let off with this one I appreciate that it's 66% re first as well uh and and definitely uh it would be difficult to support the others without supporting something like this um you just need to hang around some of these committees a little bit to realize how much the case load has gone up gone up and with that you know all different areas um need to increase to help help with staff workload and I appreciate that it was also included in the budget I'll make a motion to approve I will second it with a comment I I you know often times you know when we hear about the all of the services that are done and then there's there's the occasions where there's uh checks done checks and balances done and there is fraud that happens and and and that and that department helps in that regard and and it's of benefit to us to um find those things and and and it's on behalf of all our taxpayers that's a good thing when we're being able to recoup some some things that probably never should have been paid for to begin with not at theault of those working on it but yeah so I think this is this is good okay and you seconded to that didn't you I did Campbell okay is valid point a system overwhelmed is a system that's subject to fraud and we've seen a lot of that nationally and in the state and I think it's incumbent on us when a reasonable request for staff has made is to make sure it's it's addressed so uh having said that any other comments or concerns questions if not all in favor of the motion say I I oppose same sign motion passes thank you very much thank you Quinn next up we have C County attorney Melton good morning Mr chair Commissioners uh Happy New Year um I just uh unfortunately just recently got a notification of resignation and a individual uh assistant County attorney who's looking to move to the Twin Cities as you are all aware you know there both 2023 and 2024 we've definitely seen some volatility uh with resignations but within that as well I've had a couple that have come back after leaving which is always encouraging to hear you know what they saw and and maybe the grass wasn't always greener but with that said uh just the other day I was commenting to my chief assistants how uh we were full uh with uh assistant County attorneys and I said we were the most stable I'd seen for a while and thought we're we're good for some longevity and then the next day one of my see that's what you kep and I said that's I told him I will not be talking about it again out loud so unfortunately uh uh it is an individual looking to he's getting married looking to move to the Twin Cities and I think that's something we continue to see and we just deal with it as it comes and so it is unfortunate that he's leaving as an excellent attorney but with that we we are asking to uh be able to fill that budgeted position okay oh excuse me have motion Frank was that a motion yes it was okay I'll second that motion I have motion to Second any questions or comments if not all in favor of the motion say I I oppose same sign motion passes thank you and let's see next up Aron happy New Year happy New Year it's Darren Brooke by the way for the record uh and my last official Act is the HR Director um well we refer to is the current HR Director the acting HR Director we no I'm not retiring not yet um so at the end of the year we always go through our Personnel policy and kind of update everything in there and uh couple things that have passed through the ESS laws uh this year we've already added to the Personnel policy but what I want to do is go through these and kind of make sure that you're aware of what we're changing and what we're adding um some of these you've already um uh approved at different board meetings and all of these items were taken to the pick a couple weeks ago so the first uh section is the benefits package both of these were already approved the first one was uh allowing married couples that both work for Clay County to get a single family plan so I won't go over that one too much cuz that was discussed in a board meeting on October 8th already and approved and then the uh other one was allowing elected officials to opt out of the county benefits and that we was already approved on November 19th so those two things will be in uh the new 2025 Personnel policy um if you you can stop me if you have any questions on each of these sections um probably the biggest thing that came about is the changes in the SST earn sick and safe time and uh so what I did was I Incorporated all those changes into just our basic sick leave in our Personnel policy um the the law says that we don't have to call it ESS as long as it has all the requirements of ESS so I basically took the SE sick leave policy rewrote that to Encompass all the ESS changes that uh started now as you remember this went into effect in 2024 and then they came back midye and made some changes to that law as well so this sick leave section 16 will already incorporate all of those changes one of the things that we uh that they changed was the bereavement leave they allow sick leave to be used for bereavement leave as well um it's not a huge change for us because we already have sick leave uh paid sick leave as in our Personnel policy but now they can use it as part of their ESS balance um the other big change was they said that if you recall when the law first came out it said that you could use 48 hours per year or 80 hours after two years of ESS law uh esst time so then they went and changed that and said basically if you give any kind of leave whether it be sick or vacation that ESS um applies to all of those hours so instead of having the 48 and the 80 if somebody has sick leave and if they have a thousand hours they can use sick leave for these extended family members and ex extended um issues whether it be Health sick safe leave whatever so that is a is a pretty big change for for us so I had to rewrite the sick leave policy to get uh to incorporate all of those changes um the other change was um when they first came out with the law they said that one of the reasons you could take ESS was when a school or daycare was closed due to a weather event the problem is they didn't exempt any emergency positions like Highway workers law enforcement Corrections all that so technically we could have our whole highway department say oh the schools are closed so I'm not coming in to work they they realized that they made that mistake and they changed that law part that portion of the law in I believe it was August so that they have a weather event exception and so what it basically says is that uh if you are if your job requires you to be there based on a weather event meaning plow drivers police correctional officers you know they they can't just take off and say so they say that that's the exception if you if you work in one of those positions then you cannot take advantage of using sick leave if your daycare or your school is closed due to a weather event the the the problem with that is they made it a law but then they made it that you have to negotiate with the unions for thatou so it's it's kind of counterproductive it's a law but you have to negotiate it so for the past month I've been meeting with the unions and sending them anou for the uh Correctional sergeants correctional officers deputies lieutenants and high way I think those are the five uh this mou stating that you will abide by not calling in sick when your dayc carees or your schools are closed so that is in the process of being completed I don't foresee any huge push back on that um but that was one of the Law changes and so I stuck that into the sick leave uh policy as well um as far as the part-time and full-time employees there's no real impact on ESS as far as AC CRS go and they didn't change the calculation that like variable hours still get one hour of sick leave for every 30 hours work and we are already doing that we've already changed our um HR payroll system to accommodate for that as well um and let's see and the the other thing with the sick leave uh and the ESS is now it has become protective leave um similar to FMLA so in our in our policy we used to say that the manager can um approve or deny sicker vacation now if they say this is for ESS purposes whether it be a family member or a serious health condition that is considered protected leave um it'll make it a little bit more diff ult now if there is if there is fraud or anything like that then we can certainly go down that path with discipline and investigating and everything else but uh we can they do allow us to require documentation after three days of absences so those are some of the big points in the sick leave policy that were changing changed in for 2025 um any questions on any of that questions for Dar no okay um the other thing that we had happened this year was uh had to do with government employee discounts and we found that there's really nothing in our Personnel policy that describes what when and what you can use uh government employee discounts for so the we kind of expanded on it and added that chapter um let me get to it here and basically what it's saying is if if a organization or a business or something gives the uh government employee discounts as an individual then you can certainly take that it's kind of like you know some hotels give you military discounts or government employee discounts and stuff like that that that is acceptable but what is not permissible is if we have if Clay County has an account and then what this happened was with um we had an account with um one of the auto parts dealers that we would as a county get reduced prices and discounts for different parts that we bought for our vehicles and we had an employee went in and said I'm with the county and it was for a personal use but he used the discount that the count was given based on a a code or an account or whatever so we wanted to put that into the policy of when you can use uh employee discounts and when you cannot use employee discounts um any questions on that questions all right Noe guys are being easy today we're not done yet I know I'm there's only two left I didn't hear a motion I do okay just us it what do we do about it paron me what do we do about if the employee has do that is there um well that that would be through the disciplinary process um you know once this gets into policy it's I I usually send out all these policy changes to all the employees at the beginning of the year so I'll say these are the Personnel policy changes for this year and then goes out to everybody so I was just wonder if you make a $5 purchase or a $500 purchase is yeah and to tell you the truth we're not always going to catch it but if it if a supervisor knows that's happening and and the way we caught it this time was just a fluke where the the person behind the guy the employee that was buying it was a Morehead police officer and said oh I don't think he's allowed to do this and brought it to our attention so what what happens if if a County employee goes to uh autoart store and says I work for Klay County but this is for my personal use and they still give them the discount well we we actually went and talked to the um when this event happened and they try to combat that they usually try to get an ID card or something like that I can't guarantee that every business is going to going to be allowed but I mean but I mean what what penalty can you put on an employee who would go there and say you know I happen to work for Klay County but this is for my personal use and the guy on the other side of the counter says well I'm going to give you the discount I think I think it would be up to the employee to say okay this is this not is not allowed based on the Personnel policy so it's going to be up to the employee if the if the if the business still does it for them and it and that's what this business was doing is they weren't checking the the person just came in and said but I mean if if the employee said he was it was for his personal use yeah and he and they still give him a discount yeah there's not much I again I I you know what do you do with that I mean it's that's the I think the employ the employee would have fulfilled their obligation to say that you know this isn't this isn't company use you know I I guess I don't want us to get into a point where a County employee who thought they were doing the right thing and they and right the person on the other side of the counter says I'm going to give you the discount anyway and and why should why should that then be the penalty to the I think I think they could still if they want if the business wants to give them a discount then okay fine okay give them a discount but we're just saying you can't use a Clay County established account with the with the business and I think it it happens like Auto Parts you know or somebody comes in oh I work for Clay County well is this going on the Clay County charge card or is this you know are you paying for this well yeah and it certainly shouldn't if it's for personal use it certainly shouldn't go on a charge card right right well then it's theft yeah right okay um I guess I opened my mouth too early um section 36 um I just we didn't have anything in the Personnel policy about smoking and vaping in our policy we have a our own standal smoking and tobacco policy but we thought it would be important just to put this in the Personnel policy as a little blurb saying this is what's allowed and not allowed and then refer back to the tobacco use policy um and the last one section 40 um we had some and most of these have come out of issues that we had throughout the year with an employee that we said okay we can't point to the personel PS to say you can or can't do this and so this was one of the things that came out where some employees were bringing their pets their animals their dogs to work with them and we found out that we really don't have a policy against that and so this is a result of okay we need to at least have something out there I don't think that we're trying to say if you bring your new puppy into work to show everybody and then and then they they leave or whatever that's not where we're looking at we're looking at somebody that's bringing their their dog cat whatever to work every day and then so we're trying to avoid that based on you know um people being allergic to dogs or the dog not behaving or you know there's all kinds of things it's a HR horor story most of the time I could say there's a lot of businesses companies that that allow pets in the in their their business we we're C certainly not anti-d dog or anti-at I mean um I I have had many many dogs in my life but um I think in the workplace we just have to have something that explains that you can't bring your dog to work every single day so Ezra can't bring a pig in every day and Ezra different one every day a little one little one would f um with that being said um those are the changes for 2025 any other questions questions for Darren comments I I have a comment um obviously Darren you've done a nice job trying to verbally explain all of these changes that are uh in this proposed Poli policy the my my concern with with changes is I like to see Redline versions I'm sorry say that again I I like to see Redline versions when when we're changing a policy okay and I'm going to give you an example uh last the last meeting we had we had a public hearing and was on a proposed change in our ordinance which basically was a complete rewrite of an ordinance and the public hearing happened after afterwards we voted on it and there was no Redline version of what changes were done so we we approved a policy that I didn't know what else was changed besides what was maybe talked about during the process okay so I just you know and this goes Steve I think in the future I don't know if pck committee got to see a Redline version of this but it was basically especially when you're when you do a complete rewrite of a policy it's nice to know what was thrown out what was left in and what was added yep because that's our responsibility to look at that and I I I can say I have full faith in you and I can say I have full faith in everybody else who does it but when the rubber hits the road and all a sudden somebody says why didn't you catch this right well I didn't look I didn't see it so I again I policies are important and and it's from my standpoint I'd like to see r de line versions okay I I can certainly do that that's wouldn't be very difficult and maybe I'm the only one who thinks that of this board but okay okay certainly are the comments or questions if not we'll entertain a motion I'll make a motion to approve the uh 2025 personal Poss uh policy changes is St I'll second the motion I have motion to Second further discussion and I and again I I would request if I could maybe Darren if you could you know maybe submit and after the fact Redline Version Y that because what what I'm gathering here is you've done a total rewrite of certain portions yeah leave policy and and I'll tell you that I'm anticipating that the whole policy will be Rewritten next year when Paid Family and Medical Leave hits and again for this board I want to give you an example so commissioner Mojo and I have been working on the the development code ordinances rewrites of those ordinances and everything and one of the things that we've we've specifically said because it's a complicated long ordinance and it's important that when we bring those things forward to the full board bring a Redline version so that everybody knows what we're changing from to okay and I yep I can I can um apprciate I can do the red line and send that out to the board yeah if there's any issues with that we should I just bring it back in January or just I you know what I think I think you know we've got a motion a second I'm going to support the motion but I just okay to follow up I would like to see a Redline version of what actually I voted on and do further discussion not all in favor of the motion say I I oppose sign motion passes um I just wanted very quick uh Maran Danielson went to her retirement ceremony yesterday as well U she's been here for 31 years and she wanted me to pass on to the board that she was truly appreciative of the board and all of the support that they've given to her and the uh employees and I told her that I would pass that on to you guys so so there it is well I think he was a very special employee and knew her stuff well yeah thank you Darren okay next up our current County Administrator Steve Larson our AMC voting good uh good morning Mr chair Commissioners uh as you recall two times a year we uh we addressed we addressed the AMC policy committees uh and voting delegates I I guess the voting delegates portion of it but each each year we look at the AMC policy committees we also have our provide notice of who our chairs or our vice chairs are going to be when we know that and because of our rotation we do do know that and so uh there's been some discussion about uh the policy committees uh in the on the uh retirement of of commissioner gross and and commissioner elect bear coming on board uh and So based on those discussions this document was was completed uh based on those discussions we also maintained the the voting structure uh that we uh that we did uh this past December for our annual conference uh but again all of these are up for for discussion for with with the board with that I deal for any questions questions commissioner Campbell not a question but a comment I know for um as long as I can remember I served on the transportation committee uh through AMC and and with Ezra coming on board I I I did talk to Ezra and and he's he'd like to have some involvement with Transportation issues and so I've made made that suggestion that maybe he'd like to take that one and I would take the general government which commissioner gross had and he was he was happy to have that Transportation one so I just wanted to make that note that we had that conversation any other comments or questions Mr chair commissioner Mojo thank you I you know I think we can have this discussion later on in regards to who goes to that conference uh I think it's been really helpful to have planning and zoning and our County engineer represented because they have their individual Association meetings as well I really do think given the work that Klay county has done in the Health and Human Services area it would be beneficial to have Quinn attend that uh conference as well um you know I'm not quite sure if it makes sense to have him as a voting delegate or not but um just given the level of what we're doing Statewide I really think it would be beneficial for Quinn to be part of those dialogues as well that's something I would agree with he is um he's got a lot of irons in the fire and a lot of those are things that are Statewide uh the things that impact him are things that are determined through the legislature and the AMC uh is our is our Outreach to that so and I and I would agree with commissioner Mojo too in terms of I you know I think right now we can list these uh voting delegates as they are but during the course of the year as we're going through our policy committees and we're starting to see what amendments might be taking place and what are the big issues going on there might be a year where maybe maybe there's nothing significant for Matt Jacobson to be on to be a voting delegate where Quinn should be or vice versa in any one of those but we can make that change I think we still can make that change before the annual meeting so that that's correct Mr chair commissioner Campbell AMC does a Reach Out prior to the to the December conference and allows us to the board you that comes before you guys to make a final final discussion or decision again going into that that but I but I do agree with commissioner Mojo whether Quinn would be a voting delegate or not I think I think he should certainly be aware that it he'd be more than welcomed to be at that conven at that uh conference because there are significant issues that relates to his Department further discussion and i would support the uh the addition of quen for that I I will have to say again relatively new you know with two years but Social Services is so Broad and when I see all the Amendments that they're bringing forward you know just even the case of what we had earlier uh about reassessments some of these other areas they're mentioned but it's very hard to have the depth of everything at one time so I would appreciate that uh his a moment I think it makes a great deal of sense I think we heard at the AMC conference this year from a state budget standpoint that uh that Human Service Social Services will soon be the highest budgeted item over education and so uh we we certainly know that it's our largest budget item here and so uh having him there would would make sense he further discussion Mr chair I would move the Slate that is presented for the association of Minnesota County's positions I'll second the motion have Mo have a motion in a second any further discussion if not all in favor of the motion say I I oppose same sign motion passes next up uh review of the Klay County Board of Commissioners committee assignments thank you thank you Mr chair can we have uh Ezra come up to the microphone to in case we need to ask him stuff U each uh each December uh going to our first meeting of the Year where uh or the second meeting of the Year depending on the discussion that takes place uh this board establishes your committee assignments in addition to attending board meetings and taking phone calls from your constituents uh you also have a a a significant portfolio uh that that you attend meetings throughout the month whether that's uh weekly basis quarterly uh some sometimes annual basis uh and so each year in in December we generally have you take take a look uh from from the standpoint of are there challenges that you have uh with the committee dates that you have that that interact or counter counteract each other and make it challenging to to do that or if they're just other uh other things that you're looking to uh to maybe to switch or or um give to someone else and so with that I would open this up for for discussion for for Commissioners we'll make uh the agreed upon adjustments on have them as part of the packet um packet for further discussion on January 7th Mr chair um and Steve there is a couple of notable ones obviously that would that would happen would be under Ezra he was AMC would be transportation and and then under mine would be General government for AMC um I do want to also note that um Personnel issues would come off of commissioner grosses and that would go to mine um I think another one that pertains to commissioner Mojo and I are the DMV finance committee and the withdrawal management detox facility Finance committees I think those pretty much are done um I don't know that there's a reason to meet on those anymore is that correct Jenny would you say that I don't I mean do we have one more with substance well and that but that was my my point would be is and so what happens a lot of times is these these things start in the building committee and then once we get to a certain level it shifts to finance and what we don't have on here right now is the prtf SL non-secure finance committee and I so I think that one would would absorb absorb the other two that we would be taking off and I I mean those are those are the noted things that I could see right now that in regards to the Minnesota rural County caucus uh Francis has been on that one and I've been his alternate and so in dialogue with commissioner elect beay we've talked about me becoming the main member on the Minnesota rural County's caucus and then he would be my alternate um and that's really important especially when you're newly elected there's so much that happens legislative discussions and it really helps you understand the pulse of uh what rural counties are dealing with no I I I have I still have interest in that chamber one so I I don't know that I want to the the other one and I've talked to uh Highway about this is that I would then take Highway tracking that would be added to my portfolio with commissioner Campbell and then one that I have a scheduling conflict with it's really been difficult for me to get to the clay soil and water meeting and so wondering if Ezra would want to take that from me and then you know I could since I'm on environment natural resour sources stay on as his alternate and so then make sure we can collaborate together if that works for you that should I mean Paul is an alternate down there as of right now right Paul would become the main one and then then I would be the alternate yeah and Ezra when when you see your name as alternate you're you still can go you can still go to all the meetings it's just yeah when it comes to voting there's just that time I think it's 3:00 is really hard I just thing Esther if you on the highway tracking that's still important part of dist I mean District 2 involves all the half the roads yeah so I don't know that's a pretty important committee and I I'd like to keep it Frank but Jenny also has a big District in her air right I realized that you both should probably well I'm not interested in that one up I've been working on that a long time couple of things on M uh AMC Public Safety safe and secure courts that Grant uh we we've got all the work done on it I don't anticipate there'll be a need for that to continue I've talked to Ezra and I'll take primary on yellow ribbon and he'll be alternate um the city of Fargo homeless task force there may be ongoing work with that but at this point city of Fargo's progressed on without inviting any Minnesota Partners over so I don't know if we need to reconfigure that simply as homeless issues I had that before with when I first got on with working with the police department and the Sheriff's Office and and Churches United but I don't know if the city of Fargo is actually a designated uh as designated here is is an accurate reflection of what our interaction is um the corrections design and operations that's hasn't met since I've come on board and I don't I think we've got the design and that uh Correctional Facility done and uh the Minnesota North Dakota Mutual aid for law enforcements know no longer meeting because we got the state statute on deadly force figured out so those can be removed from my portfolio question on the Minnesota North Dakota Mutual Aid understanding dialogues that are happening Statewide do you foresee that there could be an issue that comes out of legislation that would affect that and if so would it make sense to keep it for now it's a long shot but it doesn't cost anything to keep it on that's that's a valid point we don't know what the legislature may come up with that puts our relationship AC with our border uh States in Jeopardy again so maybe it would be premature to remove that I think it would be um I think you should uh keep that uh on your radar because I know through the homelessness part I mean even I don't know what Morehead morehead's involvement is in that currently but they you know there are meetings that they talk from City to City and I know I get calls from mayor Carlson you know on updates or what not so um I would keep it open okay on which one his involment on the it it would be the what's the exact name you well this was C Fargo homeless Tas Force well he was I he was talking about Mutual Aid then he went to homeless homeless well can I ask there's a homeless local homeless committee that commissioner krainov is on could we tweak that to change commissioner ebinger's to that as well because you know I agree I don't know what the city of Fargo homeless task force has to do with Clay County but I do know given the issues of the day that we're hearing about frequently it's important to have a Clay County voice on how we help mitigate some of these homeless challenges that we have and so having two Commissioners part of what that local homeless committee is maybe would be the best and I think for the most part Dave except for the meeting you had over in far we've both been interchanging all all the other ones okay yeah would make so I I think that's a good yeah good adjustment random okay to that comment I think um commissioner gross and I we're on the correctional facility Behavioral Health design I think we can take that off both of ours I do know that there's challenges in regards to Lakeland Staffing that position but we're really covering that under the Lakeland umbrella and I I had some thoughts about the criminal just Justice Advisory Board we've not heard from the new uh Chief probation officer calling a meeting but also there's a lot of dialogue Statewide on changes being made to Community Corrections and I think we probably need to keep that opened but it'll be more of a Community Corrections um function but I think that meets under the under the uh the definition another another one that I think is it's certainly probably done for now but um would be the public safety funds committee that was kind of a one-time deal that's there and I think th have those funds all been they were they were uh the remaining dollars were put towards the 2025 budget so yes you know so I don't you know unless the state comes up with another reason to have that I think that committee could probably be dissolved H I said the same with arpa we're getting rid of committees good Al oh yeah I wanted to um yeah thank you on on here too I think the uh alternate for the diversion Authority board uh was originally Frank on there was the alternate and that one because of commissioner Mojo's district and a lot of it being involved there she's willing to take that alternate position so that one would move to commissioner Mojo I have a couple if I may oh you and Dave both on that though aren't you correct but I'd be the alternate to both of them as you were and commissioner kravinoff um my am on second on my list the AMC infrastructure resilience advisory task force that's completed um uh when it comes to the um Buffalo uh Red River Watershed I'm wondering if it would be possible um uh talking with Ezra um him being um the main person for the wild rice I'd be happy to continue as alternate on that um I went several times when Frank went wasn't also I think we all are aren't we we all are alternates so we just so I think it the way it's listed because those are public meetings okay and advertise that we were all listed as alternates and more specifically um maybe it comes back to the Buffalo red and help me on this one did on I take interest in the one Watershed one plan and I think Jenny was at you and Frank on that on the Buffalo red I'm think years ago when I was on it with Soil and Water um will you are an alternate on the wild rice one water shed one plan right I did a couple of those but again I think as an alternate correct but I'm more interested on the the Buffalo red and maybe that's just the alternative piece has been mentioned but it isn't doesn't uh speak specific to that well we do need I mean we can put uh commissioner beay as the alternate on the Buffalo red one Watershed one plan and you can be with me the voting delegate on the one Watershed one plan for the Buffalo red if that's what you're asking yeah yeah that's what I'm hoping for okay yeah and then but does that make sense St and I'll I'll still keep doing my monthly meetings so Comm currently it's commissioner gross and I as the liais on the liais on for both of them and then under Paul's policy or committee assignment it's the alternate for the wild rice so why don't you give yeah I'm I guess I don't I don't have wild race I just have Otter Tail so why don't you give commissioner Krab andof the one Watershed one plan for the Buffalo and then add commissioner beay as the alternate for those I would keep being the one Watershed one plan wild rice and then commissioner Mojo you would you would no longer be the Buffalo red no I would so we'd have we'd have uh commissioner kraban off and you to maintain would be the liaison but then also we have commissioner bear we would then have three could you do that well the the chance of us all three being able to make those I think is we just coordinate make sure okay so we'll list we'll list all three well but with the understanding that the intent would only to have two correct you yeah okay well Ezra would be listed as an alternate then right correct for the Buffalo Ren the Buffalo but not for the wild great but that's the one where he would not attend unless one of the other two right make it because that's not those aren't those aren't public meetings and those aren't frequent meetings either okay and then as I um go down um find I had a question on Felton Prairie I've never known what that is well you haven't heard about the butterfly you haven't heard about the Dakota Skipper only in quick comment and a little laugh behind I can give you a book that one comes up frequently when I it's kind of in collaboration with the county owned property and then when those haland leases come up or when DNR okay wants to meet um important to keep then okay well someone should be on that anyways yeah actually we should just keep no that's fine Frank can serve as a citizen advisory to the Dakota Skipper so a question for Dave on this one on the uh great uh FM Economic Development Court where do we sit on that on policy anymore well they have partnered with the chamber um as we stand right now our membership is one member on the executive committee who also serves on a regular board and that would be me at this point um when I'm asking should we just strike me from that I know it says a Al but I'm should we what should I should we remove that from my list oh yeah they no longer give us another membership other than uh I would serve as the only member serving both on their board and on the executive committee and that's that's the greater fer where yeah yeah Mr chair Commissioners under their new structure commissioner eer are there going to be are there going to be um like policy committees underneath that that that yeah they're they're they're kind of proam but yeah um there are policy committees and to have commissioner kraban off listed as potentially part of the EDC policy uh committees that come up would be would be valuable that you know again and I've I've stated this repeatedly the EDC although the chamber does a lot of work with this side of the river the EDC does not and um maybe in the policy branch of it there would be an opportunity uh at least with our universities our colleges over here a few other things get uh a u a little bit of attention once in a while but as a rule you're gener generally dealing with North Dakota issues over there I just from you're certainly well more well aware of how they've they've shifted in their um I guess assignments from responsibilities I just want to make sure that in the event that they still act like with the diversion we have this the policies or the side committees land committees those kind of things that that if we can have representation there uh that we should have that and then also they should be designated per DM so yeah that would not be a bad idea is to have commissioner kravin off as uh EDC uh policy policy okay and then moving down there um again another line can be taking away the infrastructure that was a repeat from up above um Hess we talked about that uh had a question um the North thrust emergency um committee um conflicts totally with my schedule on those Thursdays I've never been able to make a meeting wondering if uh we'd U have isra do that if he'd be open to it yeah and I think that that's it so I just want to point out the uh AMC Public Safety I'll no longer be the vice uh chair on that and I will be the president of the lake Agy Regional Library board and I'm no longer the chair of the triple RDC oh and I will be the chair of the partnership for health well I think as long as you're listed as partnership for health I don't yeah too much on some of I'm not sure whether commiss gross was listed that way or not Ezra would you would oh I'm sorry maybe make sure Paul's done I guess as would you uh be interested in uh being the alternate on the regional water plan joint Powers commissioner moo serves as the regular on that one when I'm the alternate and that one I lot of times I have conflict with and that one is deals with things throughout the entire Basin and it might be a good one for you to be on maybe get some in Northern Clay County involvement there yeah it meets quarterly so it's not as much it meets and Fargo at the Bas and commission but it's really good because all the partners that you're working on with the the water district will be theirs yeah so I again if we can take that one off of mine because that's the same morning as Prairie Lakes great yeah and I always have conflict there so that would be a good one if we can shift that to Ezra that would be okay unless there is any additional changes I it's hard to there's been so many moves maybe we can re discuss this yeah I think I think maybe if we can maybe submit or just have these changes made and we'll bring them for your consideration at the next meeting a Redline version is that a joke we save jokes for the HR director the current ahr director yeah you got you got Steve's Redline version okay any any additional input on this Steve if we can get a a mock up on this we can vote on it yeah we'll have it back for next week thanks guys thank you thank you okay do we need a break okay we'll take five minutes and we're going to uh go to committee reports we'll start off with commission Crain off I have none to report and we're going to go all the way around the room and hit everybody Frank is going to be our last report today so uh Steve thank you Mr chair U 17 participating in pick uh talked about those items today at the the board uh we uh talked about uh had a meeting on the 17th about the tobacco ordinance uh review um met with Troy aminon uh well excuse me I'm on the wrong I'm on the wrong wrong time here sorry about that I did have pick last week um participated on the 18th on the Clay County round table at M state after that we met uh with commissioner Mojo with representative Keeler um commissioner commissioner Mojo and Comm kof and I met after that we are going to be presenting our our resolution uh to myak uh uh next uh next Friday um for the Indian Affairs Council um and so we were discussing that participated in the potluck on the 18th one of my favorite days of the year uh that afternoon met with uh with Joe uh and Darren uh the DMV uh the staff are having some issues with uh with the the the desks the reaching them to the window and so we're trying to find a good solution uh we've had a couple different uh incidences there where our staff would put in uh for medical issues uh we worked on our PowerPoint for for the my ACT presentation and the resolution had MCC jpa meeting which uh I'll let the Commissioners cover there we talked about our 2025 calendar we had a couple relocation reimbursements and farm leases um yesterday I participated in the West Central Regional water district uh again we had U many updates as far as where we are from the standpoint of uh of the district courts uh and and the projects funding again I'll let our commissioners talk in more detail there um yesterday we met the na high performance leadership members that that this board approved last year to participate in we had a review uh uh to talk about the value that we had that we saw with with those 11we programs and we're hoping to continue those uh those opportunities for another 10 staff next year we'll probably be bringing the some findings to this board uh to talk about uh talk about what a great opportunity that was um yesterday participated in a non-secure detention uh meeting with Commissioners uh in regards to uh the new facility and working with uh working at getting a local estimate for that project yesterday afternoon then participated in commissioner gross's open house it was great to see so many people there and see his family and grandkids and so uh again uh good great afternoon just a reminder to our citizens we're closed tomorrow in OB observation of uh the first uh First of the Year New Year's um just to of note our withdrawal Management Facility as was mentioned earlier did open yesterday uh and have made that transition and just of note next our first board meeting of the year we will be meeting at 8:15 uh to have the oath of office for commissioner eer commissioner kravinoff and commissioner bear with that I concludes Miss Melton you have anything for us I'll say thanks Frank for our service welcome Jackie M Mojo thank you on the 17th we had a dialogue on the resource recovery center contract discussion uh as recall the city of Morehead had provided a one-year um notice uh so we will be having a meeting with the city of Morehead coming in January I also attended the uh Clay County leaders Round Table held at Minnesota State Community and Technical College thank you to the chamber for organizing that another great opportunity for dialogue on shared Mutual needs particularly with legislative coordinating we had a meeting as identified with uh administrator Larsson and commissioner karavanov on the MMB and mayak discussion presentation working forward um the legislative session is now less than a month away and later that day I uh took part in a series of interviews with caplp for their head start director position on the 19th I attended the swack committee meeting uh virtually I attended the um AMC extension committee we had uh because of scheduling conflicts we weren't able to meet at the AMC conference in December but we're able to meet to discuss some uh items of mutual concern particularly with how the university and counties work forward in discussing the dialogue for the Moa after um this year's proposal there was lots of great feedback on that I attended another Head Start director interview that day I also attended the MCC jpa meeting as reported on earlier uh did talk about um two relocation reimbursement requests we did approve them and then approved the 2025 Farmland leases that had come forward that day I also attended the Metra Cog policy committee meeting uh we did move it so that there wasn't a conflict with the diversion authorities so it was an abbreviated form if you will uh all of those great reports are available on Metro cogs website on the uh 23rd I attended the Lakeland Mental Health board meeting we did have really great Dialogue on season ending or year ending items uh good dialogue on financial Trends and suggestions moving forward for the organization and then yesterday I attended the uh um we had a media questions at the withdrawal Management Facility that Jackie coordinated so I was able to attend that uh and then um we had a non-secure work session designed uh to talk about dialing in that pricing a little bit more with uh Gertz and Klein McCarthy and then attended Frank's openhouse as well uh throughout those meetings um weekly we're meeting with uh representative Keeler and representative joy and Senator koek just to make sure they're all aware of our projects and how we continue to go forward um the last thing I have uh I had to write it down because you all know I'm the crier of the group and I wouldn't have been able to get through it without commissioner gross it has been a true honor to work alongside you for the past decade your steady leadership wisdom and unwavering dedication to Clay County has been an inspiration to all of us you've always taken time to get to know people on an individual level truly understanding their perspective which made you an even more effective leader your mentality of doing what you say handwriting thank yous and finding common ground even in the face of disagreements has been a guiding example to all of us you lead by example in every sense of the way and it is something that we will all carry forward over the years we've tackled some tough challenges and your guidance helped us navigate those moments with Clarity and strength your quick wit and compassion always has brought a sense of warm warmth and light to our meetings making even the most difficult of days more manageable you've represented all of Clay County With Honor from the rural Corners to the organized cities and all of them have benefited greatly from your leadership I will deeply miss your presence at the board but I know you've earned this next chapter I wish you and leavon nothing but the best as you move forward thank you for everything Francis and be well my friend so you go make me [Laughter] cry thank you thank you commissioner M that was beautiful commissioner Campbell thank you on December 18th we had our Prairie Lake solid Municipal Solid Waste meeting in perm uh went through several items um I think the budget is was kind of in line with what we projected uh we finally are down to uh we're not in a negative uh delivery stance for terms of tons so I want to congratulate Corey and his group uh for that that at one point in time we were as much as what 6 700 tons short which is when you multiply that times6 some dollar a ton it's a lot of money uh so he's really done a nice job there and I just congratulate them on that work um as I report here before we're working on an ash management plan um Ottertail County did buy that prop that additional property which I reported on and we're going to be in the process of working on aou between um Prairie Lakes and Ottertail and how that will be compensated for over a number of years uh the we did get some information that on the Ash U utilization for roads uh we had an extensive uh project done by um r on Intertech and as it turns out they've determined that 177% of of road base can be the ash that we have which is it's a significant amount of product material that over time and they said they said actually the the higher that percentage goes that you use the harder the road gets but then it becomes too susceptible to cracking because it's so hard so so they so in other words so what's and we've got scheduled for uh 2025 now there's going to be two roads in Becker County that we're going to be using this product on as as um test U pilot projects to see how how that works and if all goes well we're going to we've already had some prary talks with mind about the potential use of Ash in uh not only County roads but other roads that might be beneficial throughout the state where they can take advantage of this this product not only do we have it here but they have it in Crookston and other areas um also have that Ash that can be utilized in other beneficial ways uh and then on the the next day we had our Clay County Solid Waste meeting um I really don't have anything to add to that other than the fact that they I think they had one of the two doors replaced and um one of them still wasn't the electronic portion of it wasn't working so they're having to open and close it by chains uh that was kind of it's been a that's just been a nightmare that thing but there hopefully that's been resolved by now Corey thought it would be that same day then and we had our MCC jpa meeting which is the mor Clay County Joint Powers Authority that deals with diversion issues and we uh deal dealt with a couple of reimbursement requests from land owners and we received our property acquisition status report litigation update and um we did approve Farmland leases for 2025 and we did receive word that um the Buffalo Red River Watershed district has started their work process on for the Road Race for Georgetown and the work for um in the Wolverton area that they've I maybe I reported on that before but and then lastly yesterday we had our West Central Regional water meeting in Hallstead um probably where the most time spent was talking about the finances and funding and uh you know future uh potential places for money but the $300,000 that the three counties that allocated is pretty much gone now and so we're still now it's been suggested that we could end up needing another four to $500,000 just to complete the planning process through the courts originally it was suggested that that 300 would do that so but it's hasn't worked out that way so um you know unless Frank has more to add to that uh um that's the end of my reports and I just want to I didn't have a written down thing like Jenny did for Frank but cry Frank for 12 years um uh you've been a real asset to this board and you and I have worked on several committees together and I you know I think we've had some positive results coming out of those committees that move forward um there was a a couple of deals on that were put out on social media that that uh talked about your open house that was held yesterday and I I apologize I couldn't be there um but one of the comments that somebody from the public had raised on there and it was probably the simple most worthy statements that could be said about Frank and that just said he's a good Common Sense guy and there's there's nothing nothing better uh that I I don't think there can be a better type of a Accolade than that is than to um be told that you're a common sense person which you really are thank and I want to thank you Frank for your many years of service to Clay County and I've en jooy enjoyed working with you thank you for your guidance Kevin you've helped me a lot that concludes my report thank you on uh let's see on the 17th seemed like a long time ago we had the pck committee meeting which addressed we address those issues today um on the 18th I attended the the Clay County leaders round uh round table that the chamber sponsored um just basically looking at legislative priorities for the region some strategic plan planning that they're they're engaged in had had local legislators there did a a great job of uh addressing our issues and addressing uh giving us an update on what their activities have been um the round table discussion it was a lot of a good presence of community leaders and businesses there and then they discussed the Morehead area day at the capitl uh that will be coming up uh during this session on the 18th uh I attended virtually attended the Northwest emergency communication board there's some discussion on Next Generation 911 uh the Northwest remote dispatch Grant that's out there um and looking at Armor ID for Customs and Border Patrol a sense of health and some of the multi-line phone legislation that's coming up so that when people with multi-line phones call 911 their actual address shows up on the uh later that day I attended the substance abuse and no I'm sorry on the 19th attended the Clay County substance abuse and suicide prevention committee meeting Annabelle default um and Karen n nitori did a real good job of uh bringing us up speed on some of the issues that have been uh around developing bylaws and new structure for the committee uh Jason M McCoy gave us a tobacco ordinance update and uh Rory Bill uh gave a cannabis and substance abuse Grant uh overview for us and later that day we had the Red River Regional Dispatch Center board meeting and congratulations to uh mayor Dardis of West Fargo he'll be our chair next year and Ryan Nelson of the glay County of the Morehead City Council will be the vice chair we had a couple of issues of couple issues of uh business one was approving um or authorizing uh the city of Fargo to move forward with seeking bids on the fiber optic uh work that needs to be done with the new Dispatch Center that is coming in at a north of $200,000 uh we did have a vote to authorize them to go ahead and uh let the bids and it will be part of the cost of building this the trip RDC and then of course we had the election for new officers and later later that day attended the diversion Authority meeting and that was covered by commissioner Campbell and I want to uh then yesterday I attended commissioner gross's open house I want to thank you Frank we've we've only worked together the four years I've been here but you've had a life of service to this country and this community starting with when I guess you were just a pup serving in the US Military and coming through we were lucky to get you as a Capstone of the work you did in this area in a lot of capacities uh for local sports for the Dorth city council and you've come in here and you've been an inspiration of people for 12 years and I've come in you you deal with compassion you're a straight shooter we know where you stand and you uh deal with things on a very ethical level and that's important in these days so you've been you've been a great inspiration everybody here and with that I'm going to turn the gabble over to you and let you give your report and then you can gavel this meeting shut Mr chair commissioner gross I have uh if I could before you say your final words I have uh an additional person uh who who wanted to be here yesterday and today but wasn't unable to be here and so I have somebody that wants to also say a few kind words here and so um are are you there I I am Steve can you hear me we can hear you great thank you okay thanks well good good morning Commissioners morning I I feel like I should stand up and and salute you folks but I I uh I just wanted to take a minute there to to congratulate commissioner gross on what a great career as a commissioner it was just so much fun working with him and for him uh always so positive and and so willing to do the right thing it's just uh you don't find those people every day and it's it's really fortunate to have the opportunity to work for him and with him so Frank I just really wish you well in your uh future endeavors and retirement you've done so much for your community that uh I just wanted to call and congratulate you today appreciate that thank you okay Steve I can just I can barely hear them oh excuse me thank you very much uh thank you for calling that Brian you were great you you were great to work for well Frank I just wish you well I I can hardly hear you there so uh just uh thank you for this opportunity to to U call in and and congratulate you I'm me that to the the chairperson there and and I'm not sure who it is right now so it's Dave oh yes okay okay well you folks have a great day and uh just celebrate celebrate uh Frank's going going off the commission that's it's just a it's a great time so thank you very much Happy New Year all of you okay thank you for calling Brian okay yeah bye now tough to act to follow all you guys and I don't know if I can do it or not but my meetings were taken care of it just that was a pick and uh with the water district and we covered all those stuff today uh last Thursday I don't know if you listen to kfco or not but I had about a 10 15 minute segment with Ben Hansen uh we recovered the flavoring uh VAP flavored vaping stuff and cigarettes so um that was fun doing that um past 12 years I myself together here I made so many good friends I'm sorry I'll get a scaler know you guys just been great to work for all can say good goodbye thank [Applause] you and with that we're churned [Applause]