##VIDEO ID:SeLOCvNuVIU## 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 e e e e e e e e good morning it's 8:30 and I'm going to call the Klay County Board of Commissioners meeting for August 27th 2024 to order first order or first item on the agenda is approval of the agenda a motion to approve the agenda is presented Mr chair no second motion second all in favor say I I I oppose same sign next is citizens to be heard do we have any citizens that are here that want to address any issue that's not on the agenda Steve do we have anybody remotely I we do not Mr chair okay next approval of payments of bills and vouchers I'll move we uh approve the bills and vouchers second okay I have a motion to Second all in favor say I I oppose same sign next we have approval of minutes from August 13 2024 M we approved the minutes from August 13 second motion the second any changes or discussion if not all in favor say I I I oppose same sign okay next up we have Kurt can and veteran service officer and he is here to on a request to hire an [Music] assistant morning Kurt morning chair Commissioners uh just uh here today to request the approval to start the hiring process to replace uh the administrative assistant in our office due to retirement uh uh October 17th is her retirement day that's her annivers dat so any questions for Kurt I to entertain a motion move to approve have motion second any further discussion and we're going to let CT off easy I knew this this would be easy but all right all in favor of the motion say I I oppose same sign thank you Kurt thank you okay next up and we're a little bit ahead of the schedule here budget presentation Lake agsy Regional Library we're early yeah we're two minutes early um I think we're seven minutes early 7 minutes early okay Comm assignment yeah um let's go ahead if commissioner Mojo I believe is oh here we go morning Li come on up and have a seat St have Liz Lynch for leg Agy Regional Library like just walking in [Laughter] we move the meeting right along here a little bit about Lake aazy Regional Library and to answer any questions you might have um just as a reminder Lake aazy Regional Library provides Public Library service in uh Seven Counties and we have 22 locations within those Seven Counties our mission is to enrich lives and strengthen communities and I'll start out by sorry I literally ran up those stairs no that's um I'll start by giving you an update on Barnesville Holly and Ulan of course so um when I was here last year I do believe that I shared that Lake magazi Regional Library received a grant for $330,000 from the auto Brer trust and this was to update the interior of the Barnesville public library and then in addition the Barnesville Area Community Fund um and the friends of the library jumped on board and raised an additional $225,000 and so with those funds we were able to get new carpet paint Furnishings shelving we're still waiting for a couple of items to arrive but um I do have to give a shout out to the Clay County sent to serve program they were so helpful they um removed everything from the library so that we could paint and carpet and then brought everything back in again and we've used that program a couple of times so helpful so appreciative of that service us um also another bit of news regarding the Barnesville Public Library we have had um the branch librarian there Carol bran brockland she has been there since 2015 and she is now retiring and so we will be having an open house for her on September 7th from 10: to noon and everyone is welcome to attend um the business at the Holly Public Library is going strong and it is um in just the first 6 Months of the Year circulation of the physical materials or the checkout of items is up by 16% and um over the same time last year and um recently an employee from our headquarters in the lower level of the Morehead Public Library um had spent a day at the Holi public library and um when she returned from working on this project she sent this really really great email about her experience at the Holly public library and um she basically said that every computer in the library was in use by adults and children during that entire time she talked about um a mother who had a toddler who was playing in a um with to age appropriate toys provided by the library there were schoolage children with this mother as well who were checking out books there were kids a group of kids working on a we's Waldo scavenger hunt and the librarian was also helping adult patrons navigate through um the inner Library Loan Service which is a service that we offer where you can obtain books or materials from anywhere in the state of Minnesota or really anywhere in the United States by using your local public library and and um when she returned she this was my favorite part of her email she said on my drive in and out of Holly I saw a total of one person on the street yet the library was teeming with life and in the midst of it all was an enthusiastic engaging approachable Melissa who has made the library The Hub of the community and honestly this is just a day in the life of the Holly Public Library so Melissa Larsson does a great job in Newan um Amy Nelson is the link site coordinator she's known for going above and beyond in that Community I don't know if you know Amy but she is fantastic and um she does such an excellent job of connecting with the schools the businesses and different agencies and the link site is housed in the um Ulin Community Center I drove through there the other day and noticed they have received a facelift and it looks it looks fabulous um but I know that the community of Ulan benefits not only from the services offered by Laurel but really from Amy's ability to connect with that community so um that was the Barnesville Holly and Ulan locations and then of course there's the Morehead Public Library as far as signatories go the Morehead Public Library does fall under the city of Morehead but of course thousands of Clay County residents use the Morehead Public Library both residents from inside the city and outside the city and of course there's a lot of excitement regarding the new Public Library we're so excited that the Laurel headquarters will also be in this new community center facility um this is really going to be an amazing resource for the residents of Morehead and for the surrounding area with all this excitement in the air the Morehead Public Library the current Morehead Public Library is really busier than ever um already this year they've checked out over 100,000 items which is fabulous and they've issued over 1,500 new library cards to Residents and um I work in the lower level of the mor public library and as I walk to my office and from my office I am always thrilled to see how many people are using that Library um regarding the budget all of you should have a copy of our request um we are asking for a total request from all of the signatories it's a 1.77 increase this increase is simply to maintain current Services the board did choose this lower increase of 1.77 because we do have healthy reserves right now um the one problem that we are currently dealing with is very low wages for Frontline staff um in 2024 a library assistant position which is a position where you check in items check out items shell materials help customers and assist with programming that position starts at 1317 per hour and our Branch Librarians who are responsible for operating our locations such as Holly and Barnesville start at 1619 and um these employees do a lot for their communities and they're really serving customers of all ages with all types of needs we um are in a position we're both hiring and retaining staff is very difficult we will be entering Union negotiations next week or excuse me next month and um we usually during Union negotiations negotiate on a three-year contract and so we really are hoping to make some progress on wages which would not necessarily be reflected in the request for 2025 but would be reflected in the 2026 and 2027 requests does anyone have any questions I'm I've just got an observation I'm on the negotiating team for this upcoming contract and it really resonates the the approach that we've got here with our employees is we find the means to keep our um level of compensation compe comptitive with other other job other Industries and other communities and I think right now the library is looking at that down the road and it may result in a bigger ask and I'll be blunt about it because I I don't have to be diplomatic from this position but it's worth it we're moving into a a a situation it's not just the Morehead Library this entire County benefits from the services Lake agasse and um down the road it you know we may be asked all the participants may be asked to come up with a an ability to respond to the salary issues that we're looking at now anybody have any questions or yes Steve Mr chair so Liz you mentioned some healthy reserves would uh from through the negotiation portion for 2025 would you be anticipating utilizing some of those reserves um after the negotiations and then and then in 26 come come to our yes okay y MH any other questions well thanks Liz we appreciate you running up here for us well um I am supposed to be training for a relay um and apparently I need to do some more training it took me a while to catch my breath there so our stairs are always at your disposal thank you thank you I appreciate that but you were early none the we were we were early but as were you so all right thank you so much take care now is next up Quinn Jagger Jagger I keep sticking e in there man you got it our social service director good morning Mr chair and Commissioners I am going to grab Megan who I believe is outside she's going to help me with this okay also have Megan Jensen thanks BR okay um we just wanted an opportunity to come here I know there were some questions over the Family Resource Center a few board meetings back and I thought it would be a good opportunity for Megan and I to come to board and just give you an update on kind of the progress of where the project is um so I will kick it over to Megan for the presentation um I guess at any point in time if you have questions feel free to let us know perfect well uh thank you for the this morning I'm Megan Jensen with creating Community Consulting I'm co-owner um we are a team of 10 that started in 2022 um we mainly work throughout Clay County and Becker County as that is where our staff live um and really when we think about creating Community it's important to be connected in the community and know the community well to do that and so um just a little bit about us um we've actually had a number of contracts with clay County um this one that we're talking about today the Family Resource Center is funded through the sour Family Foundation um our role is funded 100% through that Grant um for the pre-implementation work that's a very unique grant that allows for capacity building um we have also worked with Clay County Social Services in uh looking at addressing Child Care through West Central initiatives Grant um as well as a few projects with um Clay County Public Health in relation to Health Equity and so um our our team is really just meant to help support capacity building we work with a lot of County entities City entities and then nonprofits really in helping to um do some of the work that is really hard uh when staff are busy doing their normal jobs and so we've really come in to help with planning um getting Partners to Rally around uh a common goal um a lot of listening and getting input from families and community members to ensure that all decisions are uh Community Driven and so um a little bit about the Family Resource Center and and how we got here um so I know a while back and I'm I'm blanking on the exact time um I was here with Trent Gars with the c Clay Community Land Trust um we had an opportunity with a vacant lot right south of Romy Park um and we were exploring an opportunity to do a multiuse building there in partnership with the land trust as well as Jasmine child care a lot has happened since that um but really that opportunity was the uh Catalyst for exploring this Family Resource Center model now that things have shifted with that project the land trust is no longer involved um Jasmine actually was gifted did the land from the city of Morehead using CBD funding um and made the decision to really focus on doing Child Care Child Care well um and really being a partner in these ongoing conversations um we went back to sour Family Foundation and asked for an extension of our grant and we were able to really reimagine what were the needs um now that we were facing New Opportunities and so really what we wanted to share is really why the Family Resource Center and what is the data telling us and so um we have been working hard over the past year to just have conversations with Partners explore what this looks like um we are very excited the state of Minnesota has put a lot of interest in this model there's actually a state network of counties that we are meeting with on a monthly basis so we get to learn from other counties across the state of what Works what doesn't what have they tried um and really from the partners and the data um we have had more interest in Morehead um just as there are more Partners physically located here but the vision is for all of Clay County and so I just put this screen or this slide on the screen because this helps to illustrate why this is needed in our area um when the Statewide average for median age is 39 and in Morehead it's 31 and 35 we are seeing we have more families um and younger families in our communities and then when we look at the poverty rate is almost double in Morehead um we are seeing that we have a lot of young families in need and that's exactly what the Family Resource Center is um built to uh support um so again all of this is really based on National research um through the national family strengthening uh Network and so um a Family Resource Center is truly just meant to be a community Hub um it utilizes multi-generation strength based and family centered approaches it's meant to reflect and respond to community needs and interests so be adaptive as our communities change um and really uh help build that peer-to-peer opport Unity for family connection we know that Connections in a time of need is one of the biggest protective factors that are missing in our families and so again that is really what this Center um model is meant to address um really how it's been connected back to Social Services is that there is a lot of research that shows um that this really can um help increase the five protective factors that families need to be successful and not have involvement with Social Services programs and so that is uh parent resilience social connections concrete support in a time of need knowledge of parent and child development and social emotional competence of children National research has shown that this model does have a very high return on investment um when implemented again really uh locally into the local needs and um um taking into account the local opportunities and really um strengthening what's already happening um this model is not meant to replace or duplicate any services that are already in place we are really trying to coordinate and collaborate and then increase access and supports for families ask a question yeah go ahead thank you um so I am on the Lakeland Mental Health Center board so we had a big up dat yesterday from partner counties that are doing um similar work with the sour Foundation Grant um the the challenge for me in this role versus what I heard with the folks in their role yesterday is Clay County is really unique in the way that we have family service center across the road and and as I'm gleaning from what you're talking about a lot of the need for connections and supports and family care and and this this whole family approach um what I'm struggling with is a lot of those supports and services are already provided across the road and so um you know how can you help me grasp um when you talk about not wanting to reduplicate services and certainly as we're trying to um connect with as many folks as possible for the given the money that we have yes you know how would that this model that you're talking about not exhaust the resources in the community but then isolate away from what we're intending to have folks bring to the center um I'm going to go to this slide because I think this will help a little bit um and yeah definitely quinnn uh jump in um one of the key components is more of that um space that allows for families to connect with one another and more of that social aspect to like the community ed model yeah very and and adult basic Ed is a partner in this conversation and we're looking at and I've got a a graphic that'll kind of show what we're looking at because you're exactly right we do not want to duplicate we do not want to create just another space that's the same thing but really we are seeing a need for specific aspects and it's more around that social capital building which is just not naturally going to happen within a space that a Social Service Agency happens there's that stigma and those barriers um that families aren't coming here just to hang out and relax um I would also say on the flip side there's a security issue and Staffing um of just how that space is set up and so we would definitely be in Partnership but um looking at where are other welcoming spaces that families want to are already naturally going to find connection to other families yeah and the biggest thing that I would add to that is is that stigma I mean we want to create a welcoming open environment at the family service center but we still have kind of that reputation a lot of what we do is reactive and families can view it as punitive and as much as the awesome preventative voluntary work that we do provide over there there still is that stigma that comes with Klay County so what's nice about a Family Resource Center at least the model is that it really can focus on that prevention side of things and kind of Disconnect that from what can be the scariness of Klay County so because I'm not around tables that discuss this further my question would be why then would we not address that stigma by incorporating more of that into the family service center instead of creating something separate you know what I'm saying I mean yeah and I I think I think we'll get to that in a couple more slides because we have feedback from both Klay County staff and partners and also kind of the the vision that we've started um nothing's solidified yet we're working with a core team and so this is Clay County Social Services this is public health this is um school districts um adult basic Ed Community Ed um nonprofits um and um disabilities Advocates new American Advocates so it is a really diverse group that's helping us really Vision what do we think will be the most successful and how do we scale it to appropriately serve all of Clay County one more thing to add to a a large component of a Family Resource Center is even something like the logistics the operating hours you know our building is open you know till 5: we lock the doors at 5 the idea behind a Family Resource Center is families that are working all day can access that or utilize that outside of regular business hours um so as you get into the the logistics of the operations of what something like this could look like um even things like operational hours can so how is that how is that different than what Morehead is building right now with the community center how is this different than that yeah um some counties it is within the library and we we haven't even got to like a physical space yet we're really working right now on bringing Partners together in a collaborative Network what is happening is there's a lot of siloing of resources and services and then it becomes a families presenting in need of housing right well it's not always just housing that they're they're struggling with it's a lot of things then it's well go to uh caplp to get connected with housing oh now you need to go to Social Services now you need to go to adult basic at and so really trying to make sure that they there is a better seamless process of getting folks to where they need to go and connected with the resources plus adding uh capacity through a Community navigator that is not tied to eligib program eligibility that is one of the biggest barriers we consistently hear is that we have a lot of great community helpers um with a lot of nonprofits but they're usually tied to specific eligibility of the program in which they're funded through so if they're tied to snap they can only help those that qualify for snap if they're tied to housing they can only help those that qualify for housing and there's often these little barriers that family might not quite qualify for that specific program but they're still in need and so really adding that Community Navigator role that can help those families better um seamlessly access those services that are already existing in our community and I think I think I've got a couple slides that'll help this come together a little bit more I'm still setting some of the groundwork but I really um what we've done over the past um year is um we have had conversations with all of the uh Clay County Social Service child welfare staff um we have presented to a number of Clay County partner providers um I know we were a part of a mental health um committee meeting I know we met with um a lot of the Social Service program providers um we've brought this to um groups like inclusive Morehead um and then we had a really in-depth conversation with the cap LP leadership team knowing that what we're talking about really fits in line with a lot of the work that they are doing and wanting to grow towards um following the conversations which is really just kind of an overview of what is what is the Family Resource Center model um we actually got all 15 Clay County welfare staff um uh certified along with 15 uh Community Partners in the standards of quality again just trying to help set a really solid framework so that we can all be speaking the same language around quality when we're talking about family strengthening Services um from there we did a quality standards assessment with this uh Clay County staff um a partner assessment with the partners that went through the standards training and then did um some initial family assessments and really what we were trying to use this towards was what is working well currently and what would a Family Resource Center um be able to add to that current mix and so here are some of the opportunities for improvement that were identified by Clay County Child Welfare staff so um things that really what we would see are maybe currently not able to happen within the physical space or because of the um more reactionary um nature of the programming that is currently be provided by um Clay County Social Services and so really thinking about how do we enhance Youth and Family involvement in programming uh Stronger diversification of community involvement again this really leans into our Network approach um better family support enhanced advisory bilingual and diverse staff um this idea of a welcoming or neutral space again when we think about stigma and coming into um even just this area knowing that everything is so closely together for a lot of families that have diverse um lived experience and barriers uh a need for that heightened Community navigation and then Community Partnerships um when we asked Partners what they wanted to see they identified a lot of the same things that the staff had um and they saw the following opportunities uh in addition and so really that thought of the extended operational hours where do families go or where do families call um outside of the 9 to-5 UM peer support model again really the Family Resource Center is open to all families and when it is open to all families and all families are interacting it allows for um amilies to create peer networks so that they're learning from one another and the diversity of those families that are coming together really leads to better results um increase for support groups um again that's Social Capital uh meeting families where they're at navigation involvement of parents in Youth and decision-making and organic relationships rather than the thought of transition or transactional interactions and so um we have created a core team like I mentioned this is a diverse Partners who are really helping us to form or finalize our implementation plan so we have really been in the the data collection conversations hearing from families making sure that we have the information we need to really create a plan that will um again Not Duplicate but meet the needs of families and builds towards sustainability we do not want to create anything that's going to go away after 3 years we want to make sure that if we're we're doing this we're doing it right and that it will be sustainable while being flexible and Nimble to meet the needs of families in our changing community and so really this core team is doing a hard push this month to finalize um and identify sustainable funding sources um so we have submitted a state Grant um that would be three years for implementation that Grant does not require any sort of match it is the state's um intention to get these up and running in different communities um the other option we have and we will be uh applying for is the sour Family Foundation that is a up to two-year development Grant again no matches required on that um that will be uh potentially a slightly smaller amount than the state funding um but still a significant amount for two years so we can uh hire staff and actually get this off the ground running I in my experience this is a very unique situation in which we have had um a good lead time in this development process without requiring any sort of match that will allow us the two or three years to really think through fundable or sustainable funding sources and making sure that we have a really good mix of revenues coming in so that it is not on one funer one entity to make sure that this happens or doesn't happen and so um this is just a graphic and I apologize my handwriting is a little messy we were kind of brainstorming but really in what we were discussing as part of the core team is how do we create this hub whether it is a physical space or more of that mobile um coordination um that would be able to work later uh open on the weekends um work within spaces that are gathering um spaces already naturally happening um that feel welcoming inclusive to all communities and then partner with formal agreements the entities that are already doing amazing work what this allows for is Outreach back and forth better coordination and handoffs of um referrals um and brings folks to um to services that are in need um this Hub again whether it's a physical location in the future or if it maintains more of that um mobile model will be really staffed by then um a community Navigator a partner coordinator and a family Advisory Board coordinator those are three roles that were really prescriptive in the state funding um request um and have been really shown to be the key roles needed to make this sustainable and so really what we see Clay County Social Services is the lead partner and the fiscal host um again that has been um the request from both sour Family Foundation and the state um because it is seen as a preventative model um directly impacting the um Social Service programming and um referrals um at this time again there is no match for that they are really just helping to support that we've included admin time in all grants so that um that portion of the fiscal management is covered um the coure team team again those diverse Partners would be Collective uh and collaborative decision makers um the family Advisory Board those would be F uh advisors and help support in family engagement I know there was a question on this um that again is paid through sour Family Foundation the stiens for those roles um that is uh evidence-based best practices to have those positions be provided with a stien um both the state and sour were very supportive of of that request being included we um are confident in the sour Family Foundation funding moving forward um and so we would have that funding for the next two years and then feel confident that there are other local and Regional funders um who would be interested in in continuing that moving forward um caplp has been identified as the contracted partner to have the Staffing for both the family Advisory Board coordinator and the community Navigator um they have a staff member who is identified with capacity who will be taking on that family Advisory Board coordination um and then we are waiting on the state or sour families um next round of funding before we would hire that Community Navigator and then our team would take on the role of partner coordinator um and ongoing technical assistance for project management um so then really through the extension of the current Grant which goes through November we will be establishing that family Advisory Board we'll be bringing them onboarded um providing them some training um and then also um having them start to provide feedback and insight we also plan to host a final Community Gathering to really release and share more broadly than um just the core team uh the final development plan um come October and November of this year so by the end of the year depending on if we get State funding or just the sour Family Foundation um we will plan to hire um those positions as I mentioned um really the only position that would be hired as a new staff would be that Community Navigator we've already got a staff identified for the partner coordination and uh caplp has a staff identified for the family advisory board coordination um year one is really going to be focused on strengthening existing Partners in Service delivery um with our state Grant we did request funding um that could be used for some of those Partners so if we identify that we need more uh parent classes and that's not something we currently have enough of in the community um we can we can enhance that um but really the goal is that we're better coordinating so that those programs are more utilized by the families that need it um and that we're really thinking through where are these happening and how can we remove all of the barriers through partnership for um existing programs year two and three would be to establish that formal F FRC um with consistent navigation services in line with family needs including non-traditional hours which right now is is a really big barrier and non-existent in current a lot of current navigation Services uh long-term term plans then would be to continue to utilize that core team in the family Advisory Board to um maintain operations and continuous Improvement um provide that relationship based navigation Services um continue to really hit it hard with Community engagement and feedback and then make sure that we're expanding Outreach and navigation to all Clay County through that established partnership anything I miss that any any questions for us Mr chair Commissioners any questions commission craan off maybe I I do have I'm sorry oh I'm oh I I'm sorry so I'll just uh make a couple comments as I've been in what three meetings now I believe uh as part of the uh the the cor team uh the one thing I'm really picking up on uh that has made me um quite comfortable with this idea um is the fact uh uh as we talk about um going through toward a communitybased prevention model I think that's uh uh very important to think about the other thing is as we meet in that group when I hear the enthusiasm with cap LP uh in particular which I'm active with uh wanting AC is a navigator wanting this community um um type um way of getting resources out let's put it that way um and and when we got away from the physical model right now into a mobile model where we've identified different places uh in particular right now uh in Morhead to start out but yet at the same time as we reached the Holly Barnesville um I just see a Continuum of community um that really could separate itself from what we're doing right here at the uh service center uh the other thing that puts me at ease I guess is the fact that it's all subject to state grants and sour grants uh there's no expectation from us uh at this point um and maybe there uh maybe once we see if it goes forward see some successes you know they won't find those local people to U bring that local share but um that can come in different a lot of different ways other than just a levy from here so I I become open to this and and I guess in my last three meetings I feel like I've U uh see that enthusiasm and and again to the school districts I mean there's just it's more than cap LP it's a it's a large through so thank you in your U comments regarding the establishing the family Advisory Board uh you you made the comment that you would train them what do you train what what do you train them what what yeah yeah it would be um how to serve on a board um we're anticipating that many of these folks maybe have never had that experience so we'd provide them some onboarding what does this look like what is um how to make collaborative decisions how to make appropriate um uh recommendations um and then also on how they can help support um further family engagement and so that they feel really comfortable in their role and I just to follow up on what commissioner kbov said I you know I know Rhonda had been talking about this for a few years now and I and I got the impression that that she was kind of excited to talk more about this mobile concept M uh I I really think that uh we need to I I think just going out there in the future when when I look at the page about about the funding and I want to be blunt on it is that at some point in time there's going to be request for local funding yeah right yes and and the minute that comes to us um and I I'll say it a thousand times that uh when when it goes on to our Levy y you know it's it's some it's just a it's the worst form of of having to collect dollars for for this type of thing it's a it's a very regressive tax and I and you know and I I certainly hope as as the long-term planning for this understands that we need to find resources other than regressive taxes to cover those costs even I you know I'm not arguing that some of this might be beneficial and and improve some quality of life but at the same point in time it can't be it can't be paid for by regressive dollars and and the property tax levy is a regressive tax make no mistake about it may I respond um yeah we um part part of our core team does include um United Way uh we are having conversations with West Central initiatives as there's a lot of counties within their region um and the other thing that I I'm really excited about is the fact that we get to have conversations with our other counties to see okay how are you funding this and there seems to be a lot of opportunity to um use these next two three years to rather redirect funding streams that are coming through the county so um one County that was uh way far ahead of this is pulk County they actually used arpa funds to do this right so it wasn't a um a a new funding they just rather that's what they earmarked some funding they knew was coming in um another county has used um the homeless prevention dollars um again to make sure that they could have another staff hired that um really did help support increased access to homeless prevention resources um I I think that there that's what I'm excited about is that we we don't have to make those decisions today we really get to look over these next two three years and say what are the funding streams that may be applicable what are they currently being allocated for what are we seeing as far as the change and is this a good fit um and then when we think about sustainability it needs to be a really robust mixture of funding streams not just one entity paying for it we don't want it to be three years down the road the County's paying for it or it's not happening we want to have that good mixture and I and I understand these things are you know these are uh new innovative ways of looking at um things throughout communities an awful lot of it seems to me to um it seems to gear towards and Social Services plays a big role all this stuff and with that with that in mind you know um as you go through this process is is DHS the state involved with some of these um you might want to call them pilot projects or what have you are they are they involved in understanding all this stuff because some of them it's you know the discussion could be we need to redirect some of those funds right and that's what I'm hearing you say that we might have to redirect some of those funds um so so if that's happening as DHS involved with that yeah yeah I I can speak to that um that's why we applied for the state Grant I mean it's DHS is really supporting the model across the state and I think that's why they've put some money set aside for this grant um I can tell you when you guys hired me on this that I'm not a master of the budget right I I was pretty transparent about that I've learned a lot already but within the next two or three years I'm certainly hoping to get a better grasp on it clearly Ronda had a vision Ronda had a goal of what this looks like and I'm I've been playing catch-up on this but it is my hope that there is some sort of creative way within the budget that maybe we can uh through the conversations over the next two to three years with our Community Partners maybe reallocate some of the things that that could make this happen um I don't think that by itself is going to make this happen I do think that there does need to be a significant investment at the state level as well um on something like this yes um which is why we wanted to go get that or at least apply for that Grant it is a pretty competitive Grant I mean more hopeful but I think I I you said a key component there Quinn yes you know the the the state involvement and and the state involvement you mentioned you don't want this to be a three-year deal and have to go away right you you want this to be able to move forward and and Social Services in the state of Minnesota needs to be on board with that yes and that's I think what is exciting is they have um there's a lot of conversations happening at the state so there's a network of counties that are really helping to drive this conversation with the state um we are looking at Collective um and consistent data collection and evaluation practices across each County so that we can really show impact to ensure that state funding is consistent because that's what we're hearing from the national network is that yeah it is a mixture of State local and Regional funding that needs to come together together for this to be sustainable long term yeah I have one question Quinn uh we are taking an administrative role in this uh I know there'll be some compensation but is this something we can do with current Staffing without expanding the need uh for additional staff yeah the the idea would be that if you know if the grant funds are obtained then the admin costs for the increased needs for reporting and things like that we would we would account for that as well I think right now between pardon me it would come out of the grant yes correct it it would come out of those funds to kind of recoup our cost I think right now between myself and Susan we've kind of we've kind of handled that I'm not anticipating needing to bring anybody on with this uh State Grant or sour Grant if something were to change past that time frame I would need to come to you guys or come about something but current staff is adequate to to address the immediate need correct okay any other questions comments commissioner mosjo thank you Mr chair you know I apologize I had to step out for a phone call but um you know so if if my question or statement was covered I apologize but you know in just in looking at the design draft and you know looking through um key Partners I really I really question how much of all of Clay County this is being served it it does seem really more head heavy and and part of the reason that I was maybe more pointed with my questions earlier is I feel like like the goals for the services and the connections that you're wanting to have really do exist in Morhead already and so I feel like we are duplicating that conversation for services in this area there may be a need for that in rural Clay County and in our other satellite cities um but you know just as I'm looking you know it is really pointed towards more head perspective and more head um and partners and and I'm not saying that these connections don't need to be had what I'm saying is I think they already exist and um having had um you know I I have brought kids to the the wick clinic in the family service center and I have sat through those um discussions on on healthy families and and car seat safety and and all of those conversations that have led to other connections for services in that building and what I want to hear from staff and partners is how do we better utilize the services that we offer yeah not reduplicate that so if I'm hearing that there need to be additional hours for families which I get and I understand does that need to be in another building somewhere else in the county or is that something that we can work through after our I don't know um so I you know I appreciate the conversations I really caution us as to exhausting Services um m not Services funds um when we're if we're going to reduplicate things any other comments questions anything closing or have we covered it oh I I appreciate the questions it's all good things for me to to to consider and take into mind and continue to Advocate at the at the Maxa level two for the Statewide participation in this in this entire project and I I I do appreciate that this was on the agenda and have an opportunity to get an update on it and I you know I you know I think there's uh both some optimism and skepticism built in here on this and and uh through hopefully through through dialogue and some of the things that commissioner mooso expressed and some of the things that commissioner kinof expressed we can get to the better end of both of those as we move forward so just one followup thank you I I know in the marketing messaging that's been going on on as you gear towards those September October meetings there was several updates that I saw that said Clay County is building um please provide feedback on on the building that Klay county is building that can't I mean then people see that and come to us oh Klay County what are you building well we are building a withdrawal management and a and a new DMV and so as you make those posts the community be very careful because otherwise then it just assumes that this board has taken action which we haven't one thing I'd like to speak to at our last core meeting we actually discussed kind of what branding and the logo would look like mocked up a couple different logos and things like that one of them said Clay County Family Resource Center there was a significant amount of dialogue about we need to remove the name Clay County if if part of the rationale for this is the stigma that comes with the family service center that we need to work on why would we put the name clay count I I want to hear more about this stigma about the family service center I you know I not today I but you know we don't need to do it today but I need to hear more about that okay um you know if we have a fivestory building over there that's housed with 120 some social service workers and we got a bad stigma going on we need to we need to figure that out because we're supposed to be there to provide services MH and have providing services and having a bad stigma those two don't sound good together to me so I want to learn more about that okay thank you thank you okay thank you very much next up committee reports and I believe we're GNA start with commissioner Mojo thank you I do have a lot of committees from last week so I'll try to be brief on those if you have further questions ask Tuesday after the board meeting we did have a um scheduled meeting that um representative keer had scheduled to discuss our prtf uh strategy and discussion on uh what Klay Colon's path forward for that would be um uh due to the announcement from Churches United last week uh representative Keeler was at the capital and so was not able to attend most of the meeting however um you know certainly those discussions at the C Capital with I believe two Commissioners um were warranted so Senator copek did join us we talked at length about what that path forward and strategy is a bonding ask is it a a general budget type ask um how staff can help lift that project in collaboration with the both of them and it I think we do have a pretty good strategy moving forward um certainly we've committed or committed dollars but then had dollars on hold for planning and and moving forward but I think um we'll continue to move boldly forward um towards those proposals that evening we had a long uh August um Clay County Planning Commission meeting we did have an IU request for Crane um operational business in south of Sabin that did um get approved we had three requests for solar uh solar Farms um one change is that in the past we have certified or granted permits for one megawatt farms and if you drive throughout the county they are they're up and running which is really exciting um we approved one megawatt Farm application and two five megawatt farms and so the difference if you recall we talked when we created the ordinance is that Clay County utilizes revenues from the tax is generated from the um wind towers and anything any solar farm that is one megawatt or under does not um generate that tax that filters down into to the counties so the big change now is with five me two five megawatt Farms we will start the ability to collect on on that and um uh we did not have any Community input that was negative towards that so we're really excited about that opportunity we did then have a application for an iup for a batch plant in South Eastern Clay County we did have a long long discussion on that that project specifically would be um a two to three week project that would um send all of the asphalt into a project for Richland County um there was a lot of concern from the Planning Commission on the deterioration towards the road particularly if it wasn't generated um utilizing material from that plant we did uh find out that it would come from another Clay County plant so or another Clay County pit so there would be some gravel tax generation on that but but really um when you looking at the benefits of the Clay County to Clay County and then the detriment to the road particularly to the hall route throughout um pretty several residences we did deny that permit I did have discussion with the project manager following that meeting uh to get creative to see if there was a better fit for a location on a batch plant either in Clay County or if there's something in wilin County so I think they are working with a wilin County um pit to see if that would make sense because it that would that would basically run two trucks or a truck every two minutes Ezra a truck every 2 minutes out that's not even accounting for the material coming in or the the uh stuff coming back so you'd have a semi every 2 minutes on County Road 2 all the way across Clay County um to 94 so or 29 sorry so we did deny that permit then we the next day I had the Red River Basin commission joint Powers committee meeting we did have an update from Eric Jones from Houston on the distributed detention update projects throughout the Basin and then had an update on DNR mapping from um Andrew Graham from DNR it's always a really good uh meeting to discuss projects throughout the entire Basin I attended the solid waste budget committee meeting or it wasn't I don't know if it's a committee but it was a subcommittee I guess with re with commissioner Campbell myself uh Steve and then Corey from Solid Waste just on the budget grasping a hold of a couple different items that we needed clarification on before the full request comes forward the next day I attended the swack committee meeting we had an update on um Recycling and program updates landfill updates and then commissioner Campbell gave an update on Prairie Lakes the next day or that same day rather right after the meeting we had a um annually we review the contract for the resource recovery center with the city of Morehead representatives in Klay County um talk about the budget any items that we see happening um clay count or Morehead provided us with the entire amount that um it costs them to operate uh the resource recovery question Center and then um you know certainly we had ours as well um talked a little bit about snow removal coordination um I really appreciate the partnership there and then that afternoon I attended the MCC jpa meeting uh large update on the property acquisition status reports and L a action summaries um we did approve a relocation reimbursement request and um took action on three Acquisitions um and then also approved three appraisal reviews and then there was one lease extension on a property that um due to a house move needed to be pushed back just a little bit um certainly those are difficult to coordinate with all the different partners that need to do that and then that evening I attended the cap LP uh meeting um we had a almost 1H hour meeting what sorry do you need me to pause oh I'm sorry did I forget something no oh okay no we had a almost one hour discussion on the church's United um issue and I really appreciate senator koek being there it was a really honest and raw conversation about all of how all of us who um provide services in so many different ways mitigate that issue and and how we all have boards to respond to and Auditors to respond to and and who is best to help um help in a capacity lakes and prairies provides an enormous amount of supports to at risk families and individuals and um they really aren't in a position to um or have the staff capacity rather to shift and take on such a large project so they'll just continue to help in the ways that they can Senator cek was really appreciative of all the different uh representatives and and organizations that do such hard work um but I had talked to um Steve earlier who had talked to Quinn and and there's there's about $250,000 that Clay County that's not the total but Klay county is contracted with church to provide housing supports and um there needs to be um some documentation that comes with that um so um there's about $250,000 in revenues that churches could utilize from Clay County through that contract through DHS um we're the host for that um should that uh reporting happen and um certainly that uh Clay County has provided arpa funds um over $100,000 in arpa funds to churches and provides that support in that way so um everyone's trying to um figure out the best way to support um helping them realize that $250,000 I'm I'm hopeful will be a large support for them and then we did um there are several openings on that our chair for that board has um been hired by KP LP which is an exciting um continuation of the mission so we will um have a couple board openings there repres or commissioner krainov was there as well so if I forgot anything he can update that then yesterday I was in um Alexandria at the Lakeland Mental Health Center office we did have updates from all of the Alexandria and Glenwood supervisors um good updates on the community needs and Behavioral Studies they've now they will be expanding through themselves or through partner organizations um a presence in all of the Douglas County schools which Clay County has always said is such a huge thing for us so exciting for them to have that opportunity talked about um adding the Drop in Center and how there are challenges and opportunities but certainly that Drop in Center provides such vital supports to the people in which utilize it um we talked about the gaps and what are you know what are the gaps for families and and when you have to when you learn the skills for mitigating a behavioral health or mental health um illness when you have to wait 9 to 12 to 18 months for a placement you know is it really that that helpful so what are the larger needs as we discuss um at the state what those gaps areas are so I appreciate um how they continue to um look at where the needs are and how we um collaborate and create um opportunities to try to meet the needs of the majority of our communities so uh we did then have a closed session after that and um we did give an update on the Morehead business or M Morehead building project October 1st they won't be moving into the new um renovated site and they are um on time and still have $80,000 remaining in a contingency so as you know that's always good and we will move into negot contract negotiations soon and that concludes my reports thank you commissioner Campbell thank you on August 20th I sat in for commissioner gross in the pck meeting and I'm going to defer that report to our board chair who was also there I I may have some additional commentary to his report but we'll see how how that goes and then on Wednesday uh as commissioner Mojo mentioned we did have a subcommittee meeting with solid ways to um to go over uh some budget issues uh there was uh Corey had mentioned that he might want to bring something up along with swack and we were a little bit concerned about um where we were with with the budgeting process at that point in time so we had a a significant conversation about the budget which raised some additional questions and then um at which we'll we're meeting again today on that uh as a matter of fact Corey had originally intended to present his budget to this board today and and we've asked that to to go back a week I believe it is and we're going to have we're going to fine-tune that so that we we know what we're going to be requesting coming up here uh then on the 22nd then we did have the um swack meeting the solid waste advisory committee meeting um there's we continued Shannon Thompson gave a nice report on the recycling programs that we have there and we did talk about um you know the lithium batteries just seems to be a conversation and the education the importance of the education involved with um the properly way to dispose of those uh Corey gave updates on both the landfill and landfill activities and the overall solid waste activities um as May what's been reported this board in the past we are still having issues with the overhead doors in that facility and we're at the point now where we're basically saying we need to have new doors installed because there just doesn't seem to be the appropriate fix and so we're um Cory is working on that and of course you get into those large garage doors and there can be an extreme amount of waiting time and we're concerned about having those properly installed and working properly before winter sets in so that that's going to be a challenge in itself and then as in terms of um the responsibility there that's going to be an an ongoing you know there's always somebody everybody seems to point their fingers at somebody else being the problem and ultimately it should not be Clay County that's the way I'll put it uh um that same day then we also had a mo Clay County Joint Powers Authority board meeting that's in regards to the diversion project commissioner moo gave a a good report on that I really don't have anything to add on that at this point in time and then at at uh 3:30 that same day we also had our diversion Board of authority meeting at that one we get we have our uh usual updates uh several updates on on um issues and one of the we had two closed sessions and out of those closed sessions one of the items that we uh that the board did take action on was the um an employment uh agreement ter termination agreement with the former executive director Joel palson and that basically uh dealt with an agreement based on the amount of um available U time he had remaining for vacation and sick leave and that type of thing so that that was a process that went through and that uh both parties have signed that agreement and that should put an end to that discussion um then uh yesterday morning I attended the West Central Regional water district meeting in holstead and I want to thank Ezra for uh joining in and kind of um keeping update up to date on what's going to be going on I'm the assumption is that he will be taking over that role on behalf of the county in in January and I want to thank uh commissioner kraban for also being there kind of um taking the place of Frank commissioner gross for the day to also and I think you probably were even enlightened on some of the stuff that goes on there uh the the big thing that came out of that you know and of course we're we're really close to the filing with the district court for there's a there's going to be a uh virtual hearing on September 13th which I plan on attending on behalf of Clay County members and that's just to kind of get the process going where where the hopefully the court will establish the first public hearing part of this whole um concept that goes on and and I also want to mention too I want to thank um Don for for being there as well on behalf of Clay County he last time he attended virtually but this time he was able to be there in person we a D um and I and I do want to mention that boy I don has really kind of put both feet in right away because he's already uh been in contact with C West Central initiative on uh some some additional funding opportunities that we have in this this whole setup process so I was really impressed with what he's his knowledge about these different agencies and how they can be helpful and so I was I was quite impressed with with with that uh I did one of the things that I did bring up is when in the court filing it establishes we're asking the court to establish the board and it's by individual and by each County and one of the questions that I that I had was well okay now I if the court has to appoint these individuals what's that process going to be moving forward are we going to have like for example commissioner gross is on there right now in January his term is done he'll have to come off every time that happens you know over over the life of this this thing are we going to have to go back to the judge and get their approval or or appointment and what so we tried to uh so Dan marks who's the attorney that's working on this on behalf of us he's going to try to incorporate in there where the judge would allow that to happen uh outside of the courts by just letting each board uh make those appointments so so we wouldn't but but as it stands right right now we would have to go to the court every time we had to replace somebody and then we're talking at least for right now maybe about the ability to have an alternate um I I think long term after this is established I think I think an alternate will probably go away similar like right now when we appoint people to the Buffalo red board or the wild R we don't really have alternates you know so I think ultimately when when this is established the idea of an alternate might not be be right but in the setting up of this to if we have one County Board member who can't be there we should be able to have another one be there in the establishment of this that that's the purpose of that so uh and you know there's a lot of lot of really good work going on there we've we got uh some reports on additional funding applications that are going on um and I guess that's maybe Paul would like to add something but that concludes my report thank you commissioner crabing off thank you Mr chair um yeah uh was at several meetings um that have already been mentioned but I'll just give a couple ads um so on the 20th um I was part of the small group with uh legislative U legislator kupek and our small group regarding the prtf uh one thing we are waiting for is from our Pro potential provider with brtf uh getting um the ability to find out what the word in inity means uh in putting this uh p uh RF in in the juvenile center so uh we'll wait for a federal uh um comment on that and then we'll continue moving forward but I think it's important we uh began identifying people we might bring in uh other legislators and other groups and um you know um we have such large County support on this uh that to bring that narrative uh to the uh other legislators so we get a good Collective message out there um creating the need for this down the road and and expressing that mainly um not only to bonding fol but to DHS uh directly uh that afternoon I had uh a finance committee with cap LP um everything's in good standing order on their F finances each month uh they have good cash flow been receiving sizable grants to keep their uh operations running smoothly and the 21st I I also through the stal cultural Society had a finance committee meeting uh two parts we received our annual audit report from redm Ro went down that through the full detail everything's good standing uh a couple minor uh concerns in the audit only and that really can't be over uh come uh and that's the sides the staff being able to look at all the um in handling the checks and and those type things oversight but again that's something this brought up every annual report so um no real concerns there we're went through our July financials and um we're at in very good shape we're in that time of the year when admissions are high and we've received our grants a lot of gift sales are at all-time high so cash flow with the U um uh uh HCS is very uh very good at this time uh the next day Thursday uh um uh we had another F FRC core team meeting and again the presentation by Megan and Quinn this morning I think really reflected everything I've been seeing over the three meetings I've been part of and I appreciate the the openness and the dation will be uh having as we move forward with this um those core meetings will be occurring uh once a month and I plan on being at all those uh um if possible and and again we'll um I'll just add I I look forward to our fall conference when we're at the awood in September we'll have AMC there um they promote you know this model every time we're together so I hope maybe to answer um some of the concerns or you know maybe it's not a concern getting the state involved in this you know with DHS whatnot maybe we can get a deeper discussion going on that and really see uh maybe I can hear a little more firsthand where where they're at and then report back to y'all uh the that evening I had the cap LP uh board meeting uh Senator mujo you you did a great job in reporting on on the um discussion we had regarding that relationship with the cap LP Churches United and again and even to Clay County Services you know we were active in providing you know Supportive Services and that's our role I think it's very difficult for a place for uh I'll speak now back to capop to be running an organization like this when they don't have the Staffing nor do they have the expertise um toward that area um Tiffany Ross was our Uh current chair uh as mentioned uh she took a job with caplp so she's had to step down from chair as chair I guess I'm the chairperson now of cap LP and along with that I'll um as by her also stepping down I'll now be the chair of the collaborative so a couple things Chang with her leading leaving so little more involvement there and and things I look forward to uh serving um let's see and then I guess finally to yesterday so on Monday uh had a couple meetings again uh commissioner Campbell mentioned about the West Central Regional lad District I did enjoy the conversations there thank you thank you for all your input and Leadership uh with that group uh I sat in uh for commissioner gross on that on that committee for that day um then um in the afternoon I had the cash cash clay food commission steering committee meeting and um we'll see where things go I I the food commission um uh Cass County is uh relooking at all their budgets you hear that all the time on on the news quite a bit um the uh the uh money that had been given through gr to C County Public Health um seems to be uh um getting scrutinized and maybe wan to be used in other directions uh we do have a mo you of course with uh uh with clay and and uh and cast you know toward the food commission and so we'll see what the responses are as they move along and uh but there's concerns about you know the money that's been funding this is um we don't know exactly how it's going to all end up but I know it's um it's going to be um it may be a challenge uh to move forward the way we have been but I don't want to get too far ahead but it's a concern [Music] um with that uh we will be having um our food commission meeting uh which we have new two new Fire Commission or uh uh commissioner strand will be coming on and then uh commissioner am um gosh um uh commissioner from West Fargo I'm gapping out the last name but anyway two new uh commissioners is coming on the food commission board uh coming up on September 11th um at the farro City Chambers with that that's my report thank you Mr chair I just do have one followup M Mojo thank you uh last week after the SWAT committee meeting we did um I was asked by um staff to look at a field access approach that was next to our new DMV facility it was identified that that had been substantially changed and did then eliminate the access for that farmer um to get his crop off or their crop off uh so commissioner Campbell and I have been working with staff on um getting that back built back to the access in which it was so there uh will likely be a slight change um from the contingency requested from this board to do that but um as stands um there's a corn crop in there and there's no way to access it thank you hey thank you um last Tuesday the 20th uh I attended the pck meeting um Quinn Jagger U from U had an overlap he he's going to request involving a an intake employee that's been there 35 years was it Kevin I think 31 years I think 31 years huge amount of institutional knowledge and he wants whoever her replacement is going to be upon retirement to have an overlap period where um can bring up her the person who's taking her position bring her uh on board so that'll be coming to the commission here shortly and then Darren Brooke discussed a ukg system uh for recruiting and onboarding that will make life a lot simpler for our department directors for everybody involved in a hiring where you'll have one system that is Unified form and and uh effective and that'll be coming to the to the agenda in the near future as well on Wednesday the 21st had the diversion Authority finance committee meeting um covered the usual business approval bills Finance report and cash budget report um also uh Shelley Carlson who's on the on the board presented a uh a summary of the Minnesota contribution to the board or to the uh diversion Authority about 52 uh million at this point uh that was in response to some questions raised by uh commissioner pipcorn over in Fargo about what the Minnesota contribution was I think she gave a good effective answer on that it was also uh she did the same thing the next day at the full board meeting uh earlier that day I had a phone com conversation with Karen Sten of the state auditor's office reference the County's audit just some of the bullly plate questions I ask at all audits uh the following day Tuesday the 8 uh 822 had a similar conversation with partnership for health exit meeting on their audit and I spoke to a couple of people from the state auditor's office just to reference to the partner for partnership for health uh budget and how it was it was handled later that day we had the diversion Authority board meeting which commissioner Campbell covered well on Monday the 26th the dancing Sky special meeting um we had a remote meeting that was called to bring board members up to speed on some pretty deep Cuts in title B d& funding that's available uh for transportation for Elder meals for a number of things and we have bids out right now that uh are still being uh in the process of collected to see what kind of uh cost we're going to incur with the meals programs we've got in this region it is potentially it's going to be a very hard impact on our seniors in the state with the the cutbacks and programs that have been identified so far but they provided us with some information some which can't be discussed right now because it's involving bids and we will have a November meeting where hopefully we can close some of that out and that completes my report Steve thank you Mr chair last Tuesday participated in the pick meeting that's been well covered um also participated in the prtf discussion with Senator cek and representative keelers and members of our board uh again and appreciate the appreciate the Insight coming together uh to kind of as we've shifted here our our plan a little bit to to see that we still have that support uh that afternoon talked to uh cin McCarthy in regards to the pre-design uh for for a non-secure uh facility and a potential remodel of the existing non-secure facility for a prtf uh again I'll probably wait to bring that forward until we hear from hear from Mr Summers from Solutions on on whether that building has to be Standalone or not um that afternoon or morning also met with Quinn and commissioner krainov in regards to a series of different issues again just want to to uh I think thank this board uh for the efforts that they've put they in in looking at Solutions And discussing Churches United I know that you view it as a value of committee uh our value to this community uh and you have many Community assignments that uh that touch touch that that building so uh Solid Waste budget discussion that's been well well addressed on the 21st on the 22nd participated in the swack meeting and then the subsequent meeting uh for the annual contract review and and annual budget review with the city of Morad for the resource recovery facility um continue on with uh having several n leadership sessions virtual sessions last week uh participated in the mccj PA meeting which has been well discussed had additional conversations with Quinn that afternoon in regards to Churches United uh with the 22nd um had a solid waste budget meeting uh or budget discussion follow up with Lori and Corey uh for our meeting this morning um 23rd met with Kimberly from the record office uh just talked about maybe some uh future future legal advice uh she currently uses a uh an attorney who has notified her that he will be retiring uh here in the near future uh and while it doesn't uh take a a number of cases per year there is a need for to fill that void um just a couple other things just to note uh the uh empty pesticide containers are being collected uh at the landfill this week 8:30 to4 uh and so uh please participate in that if possible um I uh just a note yes yesterday or last night the just a note our Communications Department continues to provide updates that our DMV is going to be located at the mor C Mall until our DMV is is uh new buildings completed which we are tentatively have as uh October 21st uh I our Communications Group is is uh put almost weekly updates but there continues to be questions and I would assume with the city of Morehead now vacating uh to move into the former US Bank while their building is remodeled there may be more questions and so we'll continue to try to keep up to date the last item I just wanted to bring forward is uh the lands committee uh Matt is looking to bring forward a meeting on September 10th I believe after our board meeting uh commissioner gross is is a part of that that was is land committee is not something that meets on a routine basis and so I was just reaching out to the board for their thoughts on adding a second commissioner uh to that meeting uh in a couple weeks I believe I'm I we did discuss and and I'm going to attend that meeting okay all right I'm on that committee as well all right I believe that concludes my report Brian Darren Sarah everybody's quiet okay well if there isn't any other additional business we'll jurn thank you --------- ##VIDEO ID:5CDat1uREtM## good morning it's 8:30 and I'm going to call the Klay County Board of Commissioners meeting for August 27 2024 to order first order or first item on the agenda is approval of the agenda a motion to approve the agenda as presented Mr chair no second motion second all in favor say I I I oppose same sign next is citizens to be heard do we have any citizens that are here that want to address any issue that's not on the agenda Steve do we have anybody remotely oh we do not Mr chair okay next approval of payments of bills and vouchers I'll move the uh approve the bills and vouchers second okay I have a motion the second all in favor say I I oppose same sign next we have approve approval of minutes from August 13th 2024 will be approve the minutes from August 13 second motion the second any changes or discussion if not all in favor say I I oppose same sign okay next up we have Kurt can and veteran service officer and he is here to on a request to hire an [Music] assistant morning Kurt morning chair Commissioners uh just uh here today to request the approval to start the hiring process to replace uh the administrative assistant in our office due to retirement uh uh October 17th is her retirement day that's her anniversary date so any questions for Kurt I to entertain a motion move to approve have motion second any further discussion and we're going to let Kurt off easy I knew this this wouldn't be easy but all right all in favor of the motion say I I oppose same sign thank you Kurt thank you okay next up and we're a little bit ahead of the schedule here budget presentation Lake agsy Regional Library we're early yeah we're two minutes early um I think we're seven minutes early 7 minutes early okay committee assignment yeah um go ahead if commissioner Mojo I believe is oh here we go morning L come on up and have a [Laughter] seat have Liz Lynch with Lake Agy Regional Library like just walking in [Laughter] we move the meeting right along here well good morning a little bit about Lake aazy Regional Library and to answer any questions you might have um just as a reminder Lake aazy Regional Library provides Public Library service in uh Seven Counties and we have 22 locations within the those Seven Counties our mission is to enrich lives and strengthen communities and I'll start out by sorry I literally ran up those stairs no that's okay um I'll start by giving you an update on Barnesville Holly and Ulan of course so um when I was here last year I do believe that I shared that Lake aazy Regional Library received a grant for for $30,000 from the auto brumer trust and this was to update the interior of the Barnesville public library and then in addition the Barnesville Area Community Fund um and the friends of the library jumped on board and raised an additional $25,000 and so with those funds we were able to get new carpet paint furnishing shelving we're still waiting for a couple of items to arrive but um I do have to give a shout out to the Clay County sents to serve program they were so helpful they um removed everything from the library so that we could paint and carpet and then brought everything back in again and we've used that program a couple of times so helpful so appreciative of that service um also another bit of news regarding the Barnesville Public Library we have had um the branch librarian there Carol bran brocklin she has been there since 2015 and she is now retiring and so we will be having an open house for her on September 7th from 10: to noon and everyone is welcome to attend um the business at the Hol Public Library is going strong and it is um in just the first six months of the year circulation of the physical materials or the checkout of items is up by 16% and um over the same time last year and um recently an employee from our headquarters in the lower level of the Morehead Public Library um had spent a day at the Holly public library and um when she returned from working on this project she sent this really really great email about her experience at the Holly public library and um she basically said that every computer in the library was in use by adults and children during that entire time she talked about um a mother who had a toddler who was playing in a um with to age appropriate toys provided by the library there were schoolage children with this mother as well who were checking out books there were kids a group of kids working on a we's Waldo scavenger hunt and the librarian was also helping adult patrons navigate through um the inner Library Loan Service which is a service that we offer where you can obtain books or materials from anywhere in the state of Minnesota or really anywhere in the United States by using your local public library and um when she returned she this was my favorite part of her email she said on my drive in and out of Holly I saw a total of one person on the street yet the library was teaming with life and in the midst of it all was an enthusiastic engaging approachable Melissa who has made the library The Hub of the community and honestly this is just a day in the life of the Holly Public Library so Melissa Larson does a great job in Newan um Amy Nelson is the link site coordinator she's known for going above and beyond in that Community I don't know if you know Amy but she is fantastic and um she does such an excellent job of connecting with the schools the businesses and different agencies and the link site is housed in the um Ulin Community Center I drove through there the other day and noticed they have received a facelift and it looks it looks fabulous um but I know that the community of Ulan benefits not only from the services offered by Laurel but really from Amy's ability to connect with that community so um that was the Barnesville Holly and Ulen locations and then of course there's the Morehead Public Library as far as signatories go the Morehead Public Library does fall under the city of Morehead but of course thousands of Clay County residents use the Morehead Public Library both residents from in inside the city and outside the city and of course there's a lot of excitement regarding the new Public Library we're so excited that the Laurel headquarters will also be in this new community center facility um this is really going to be an amazing resource for the residents of Morehead and for the surrounding area with all this excitement in the air the Morehead Public Library the current Morehead Public Library is really busier than ever um already this year they've checked out over a 100,000 items which is fabulous and they've issued over 1500 new library cards to Residents and um I work in the lower level of the mored public library and as I walk to my office and from my office I am always thrilled to see how many people are using that Library um regarding the budget all of you should have a copy of our request um we are asking for a total request from all of the signatories it's a 1.77 increase this increase is simply to maintain current Services the board did choose this lower increase of 1.77 because we do have healthy reserves right now um the one problem that we are currently dealing with is very low wages for Frontline staff um in 2024 a library assistant position which is a position where you check in items check out items shell materials help customers and assist with programming that position starts at 1317 per hour and our Branch librarians who are responsible for operating our locations such as Holly and Barnesville start at 16 19 and um these employees do a lot for their communities and they're really serving customers of all ages with all types of needs we um are in a position where both hiring and retaining staff is very difficult we we will be entering Union negotiations next week or excuse me next month and um we usually during Union negotiations negotiate on a three-year contract and so we really are hoping to make some progress on wages which would not necessarily be reflected in the requests for 2025 but would be reflected in the 2026 in 2027 requests does any anyone have any questions I'm I've just got an observation I'm on the negotiating team for this upcoming contract and it really resonates the the approach that we've got here with our employees is we find the means to keep our um level of compensation competitive with other other job other industry trees and other communities and I think right now the library is looking at that down the road and it may result in a bigger ask and I'll be blunt about it because I I don't have to be diplomatic from this position but it's worth it we're moving into a a a situation it's not just the Morehead Library this entire County benefits from the services like agasse and um down the road it you know we may be asked all the participants may be asked to come up with a an ability to respond to the salary issues that we're looking at now anybody have any questions or yes Steve Mr chair so Liz you mentioned some healthy reserves would uh from through the negotiation portion for 2025 would you be anticipating utilizing some of those reserves um after the negotiations and then and then in 26 come come to our yes okay y any other questions well thanks Liz we appreciate you running up here for us well um I am supposed to be training for a relay um and apparently I need to do some more training it took me a while to catch my breath there so our stairs are always at your disposal thank you thank you I appreciate that but you were early nonetheless I mean we were we were early but as for you all right thank you so much take care now is next up Quinn Jagger Jagger I keep sticking e in there man you got it our social service director good morning Mr chair and Commissioners I am going to grab Megan who I believe is outside she's going to help me with this okay also have Megan Jensen thanks br there we go okay um we just wanted an opportunity to come here I know there were some questions about the Family Resource Center a few board meetings back and I thought it would be a good opportunity for Megan and I to come to board and just give you an update on kind of the progress of where the project is um so I will kick it over to Megan for the presentation um I guess at any point in time if you have questions feel free to let us know perfect well uh thank you for the time this morning I'm Megan Jensen with creating Community Consulting I'm Co coowner um we are a team of 10 that started in 2022 um we mainly work throughout Klay County and Becker County as that is where our staff live um and really when we think about creating Community it's important to be connected in the community and know the community well to do that and so um just a little bit about us um we've actually had a number of contracts with Clay County um this one that we're talking about today the Family Resource Center is funded through the sour Family Foundation um our role is funded 100% through that Grant um for the pre-implementation work that's a very unique grant that allows for capacity building um we have also worked with Klay County Social Services in uh looking at addressing child's care through West Central initiatives Grant um as well as a few projects with um Clay County Public Health in relation to Health Equity and so um um our our team is really just meant to help support capacity building we work with a lot of County entities City entities and then nonprofits really in helping to um do some of the work that is really hard uh when staff are busy doing their normal jobs and so we've really come in to help with planning um getting Partners to Rally around uh a common goal um a lot of listening sessions and getting input from families and community members to ensure that all decisions are uh Community Driven and so um a little bit about the Family Resource Center and and how we got here um so I know a while back and I'm I'm blanking on the exact time um I was here with Trent Gars with the c Clay Community Land Trust um we had an opportunity with a vacant lot right south of ROM Park um and we were exploring an opportunity to do a multi-use building there in partnership with the land trust as well as Jasmine child care a lot has happened since that um but really that opportunity was the uh Catalyst for exploring this Family Resource Center model now that things have shifted with that project the land trust is no longer involved um Jasmine actually was gifted the land from the city of Morehead using CBD funding um and made the decision to really focus on doing Child Care Child Care well um and really being a partner in these ongoing conversations um we went back to sour Family Foundation and asked for an extension of our grant and we were able to really reimagine what were the needs um now that we were facing New Opportunities and so really what we wanted to share is really why the Family Resource Center and what is the data telling us and so um we have been working hard over the past year to just have conversations with Partners explore what this looks like um we are very excited the state of Minnesota has put a lot of interest in this model there's actually a state network of counties that we are meeting with on a monthly basis so we get to learn from other counties across the state of what works what doesn't what have they tried um um and really from the partners and the data um we have had more interest in Morehead um just as there are more Partners physically located here but the vision is for all of Clay County and so I just put this screen or the slide on the screen because this helps to illustrate why this is needed in our area um when the Statewide average for median age is 39 and in Morehead it's 31 and 35 we are seeing we have more families um and younger families in our communities and then when we look at the poverty rate is almost double in Morehead um we are seeing that we have a lot of young families in need and that's exactly what the Family Resource Center is um built to uh support um so again all of this is really based on National research um through the national family strengthening uh Network and so um a Family Resource Center is truly just meant to be a community Hub um it utilizes multi-generation strength-based and family centered approaches it's meant to reflect and respond to community needs and interests so be adaptive as our communities change um and really um help build that peer-to-peer opportunity for family connection we know that Connections in a Time of need is one of the biggest protective factors that are missing in our families and so again that is really what this Center um model is meant to address um really how it's been connected back to Social Services is that there is a lot of research that shows um that this really can um help increase the five protective factors that families need to be successful and not have involvement with social service programs and so that is uh parent resilience social connections concrete support in a time of need knowledge of parent and child development and social and emotional competence of children National research has shown that this model does have a very high return on investment um when implemented again really uh locally into the local needs and um um taking into account the local opportuni and really um strengthening what's already happening um this model is not meant to replace or duplicate any services that are already in place we are really trying to coordinate and collaborate and then increase access and supports for families ask a question yeah go ahead thank you um so I I'm on the Lakeland Mental Health Center board so we had a big update yesterday from partner counties that are doing um similar work with the sour Foundation Grant um the the challenge for me in this role versus what I heard with the folks in their role yesterday is Clay County is really unique in the way that we have family service center across the road and and as I'm gleaning from what you're talking about a lot of the need for connections and supports and family care and and this this whole family approach um what struggling with is a lot of those supports and services are already provided across the road and so um you know how can you help me grasp um when you talk about not wanting to reduplicate services and certainly as we're trying to um connect with as many folks as possible for the given the money that we have yes you know how would that this model that you're talking about not exhaust the resources in the community but then isolate aw from what we're intending to have folks bring to the center um I'm going to go to this slide because I think this will help a little bit um and yeah definitely Quinn uh jump in um one of the key components is more of that um space that allows for families to connect with one another and more of that social aspect so like the community ed model very simp and and adult basic Ed is a partner in this conversation and we're looking at and I've got a a graphic that'll kind of show what we're looking at because you're exactly right we do not want to duplicate we do not want to create just another space that's the same thing but really we are seeing a need for specific aspects and it's more around that social capital building which is just not naturally going to happen within a space that a Social Service Agency happens there's that stigma and those barriers um that families aren't coming here just to hang out and relax um I would also say on the flip side there's a security issue and Staffing um of just how that space is set up and so we would definitely be in Partnership but um looking at where are other welcoming spaces that families want to are already naturally going to find connection to other families yeah and the biggest thing that I would add to that is is that stigma I mean we want to create a welcoming open environment at the family service center but we still have kind of that reputation a lot of what we do is reactive and families can view it as punitive and as much as the awesome preventative voluntary work that we do provide over there there still is that stigma that comes with Klay County so the what's nice about a Family Resource Center at least the model is that it really can focus on that prevention side of things and kind of disconnect that from what can be the scariness of Kay County so because I'm not around tables that discuss this further my question would be why then would we not address that stigma by incorporating more of that into the family service center instead of creating something separate you know what I'm saying I mean yeah and I I think I think we'll get to that in a couple more slides because we have feedback from both Klay County staff and partners and also kind of the the vision that we've started um nothing's solidified yet we're working with a core team and so this is Clay County Social Services this is public health this is um school districts um adult basic Ed Community Ed um nonprofits um and um disabilities Advocates new American Advocates so it is a really diverse group that's helping us really Vision what do we think will be the most successful and how do we scale it to appropriately serve all of Clay County one more thing to add to a large component of a Family Resource Center is even something like the logistics the operating hours you know our building is open you know till 5: we lock the doors at 5: the idea behind a Family Resource Center is families that are working all day can access that or utilize that outside of regular business hours um so as you get into the the logistics of the operations of what something like this could look like um even things like operational hours can so how is a how is that different than what Morehead is building right now with the community center how is this different than that yeah um some counties it is within the library and we we haven't even got to like a physical space yet we're really working right now on bringing Partners together in a collaborative Network what is happening is there's a lot of siloing of resources and services and then it becomes uh families presenting in need of housing right well it's not always just housing that they're they're struggling with it's a lot of things then it's well go to uh caplp to get connected with housing oh now you need to go to Social Services now you need to go to adult basic at and so really trying to make sure that they there is a better seamless process of getting folks to where they need to go and connected with the resources plus adding uh capacity through a community navigator that is not tied to El program eligibility that is one of the biggest barriers we consistently hear is that we have a lot of great community helpers um with a lot of nonprofits but they're usually tied to specific eligibility of the program in which they're funded through so if they're tied to snap they can only help those that qualify for snap if they're tied to housing they can only help those that qualify for housing and there's often these little barriers that a family might not quite qualify for that specific program but they're still in need and so really adding that Community Navigator role that can help those families better um seamlessly access those services that are already existing in our community and I think I think I've got a couple slides that'll help this come together a little bit more I'm still setting some of the groundwork but I really um what we've done over the past um year is um we have had conversations with all of the uh Klay County Social Service child welfare staff um we have presented to a number of Klay County partner providers um I know we were a part of a mental health um committee meeting I know we met with um a lot of the Social Service program providers um we've brought this to um groups like inclusive Morehead um and then we had a really in-depth conversation with the caplp leadership team knowing that what we're talking about really fits in line with a lot of the work that they are doing and wanting to grow towards um following the conversations which is really just kind of an overview of what is what is the Family Resource Center model um we actually got all 15 Clay County welfare staff um uh certified along with 15 uh Community part Partners in the standards of quality again just trying to help set a really solid framework so that we can all be speaking the same language around quality when we're talking about family strengthening Services um from there we did a quality standards assessment with this uh Clay County staff um a partner assessment with this partners that went through the standards training and then did um some initial family assessments and really what we were trying to use this towards was what is working well currently and what would a Family Resource Center um be able to add to that current mix and so here are some of the opportunities for improvement that were identified by Clay County Child Welfare staff so um things that really what we would see are maybe currently not able to happen within the physical space or because of the um more reactionary um nature of the programming that is currently be provided by um Kay County Social Services and so really thinking about how do we enhance Youth and Family involvement in programming uh Stronger diversification of community involvement again this really leans into our Network approach um better family support enhanced advisory bilingual and diverse staff um this idea of a welcoming or neutral space again when we think about stigma and coming into um even just this area knowing that everything is so closely together for a lot of families that have diverse um lived experience and barriers uh a need for that heightened Community navigation and then Community Partnerships um when we ask Partners what they wanted to see they identified a lot of the same things that the staff had um and they saw the following opportunities uh in addition and so really that thought of the extended operational hours where do families go or where to families call um outside of the 9 to-5 UM peer support model again really the Family Resource Center is open to all families and when it is open to all families and all families are interacting it allows for um families to create peer networks so that they're learning from an another and the diversity of those families that are coming together really leads to better results um increase for support groups um again that Social Capital uh meeting families where they're at navigation involvement of parents and youth and decision-making and organic relationships rather than the thought of transition or transactional interactions and so um we have created a core team like I mentioned this is a diverse Partners who are really helping us to form or finalize our implementation plan so we have really been in the the data collection conversations hearing from families making sure that we have the information we need to really create a plan that will um again Not Duplicate but meet the needs of families and builds towards sustainability we do not want to create anything that's going to go away after 3 years we want to make sure that if we're we're doing this we're doing it right and that it will be sustainable while being flexible and Nimble to meet the needs of families in our changing community and so really this core team is doing a hard push this month to finalize um and identify sustainable funding sources um so we have submitted a state Grant um that would be three years for implementation that Grant does not require any sort of match it is the state's um intention to get these up and running in different communities um the other option we have and we will be uh applying for is the sour Family Foundation that is a up to two-year development Grant again no matches required on that um that will be uh potentially a slightly smaller amount than the state funding um but still still a significant amount for two years so we can uh hire staff and actually get this off the ground running I in my experience this is a very unique situation in which we have had um a good lead time in this development process without requiring any sort of match that will allow us the two or three years to really think through fundable or sustainable funding sources and making sure that we have a really good mix of revenues coming in so that it is not on one funer one entity to make sure that this happens or doesn't happen and so um this is just a graphic and I apologize my handwriting is a little messy we were kind of brainstorming but really in what we were discussing as part of the core team is how do we create this Hub whether it is a physical space or more of that mobile um coordination um that would be able to work later uh open on the weekends um work within spaces that are gathering um spaces already naturally happening um that feel welcoming inclusive to all communities and then partner with formal agreements the entities that are already doing amazing work what this allows for is Outreach back and forth better coordination and handoffs of um referrals um and brings folks to um two services that are in need um this Hub again whether it's a physical location in the future or if it maintains more of that um mobile model will be really staffed by then um a community Navigator a partner coordinator and a family advisory board coordinator those are three roles that were really prescriptive in the state funding um request um and have been really shown to be the key roles needed to make this sustainable and so really what we see Clay County Social Services is the lead partner and the fiscal host um again that has been um the request from both sour Family Foundation and the state um because it is seen as a preventative model um directly impacting the um Social Service programming and um referrals uh at this time again there is no match for that they are really just helping to support that we've included admin time in all grants so that um that portion of the fiscal management is covered um the core team again those diverse Partners would be Collective uh and collaborative decision makers um the family Advisory Board those would be F advisors and help support in family engagement I know there was a question on this um that again is paid through sour Family Foundation the stiens for those roles um that is uh evidence-based best practices to have those positions be provided with a stien um both the state and sour were very supportive of that request being included we um are confident in the sour Family Foundation funding moving forward um and so we would have that funding for the next two years and then feel confident that there are other local and Regional funders um who would be interested in in continuing that moving forward um caplp has been identified as the contracted partner to have the Staffing for both the family Advisory Board coordinator and the community Navigator um they have a staff member who is identified with capacity who will be taking on that family Advisory Board coordination um and then we are waiting on the state or sour family's um next round of funding before we would hire that Community Navigator and then our team would take on the role of partner coordinator um and ongoing technical assistance for project management um so then really through the extension of the current Grant which goes through November we will be establishing that family Advisory Board we'll be bringing them on boarded um providing them some training um and then also um having them start to provide feedback and insight we also plan to host a final Community Gathering to really release and share more broadly than um just the core team uh the final development plan um come October and November of this year so by the end of the year depending on if we get State funding or just the S Family Foundation um we will plan to hire um those positions as I mentioned um really the only position that would be hired as a new staff would be that Community Navigator we've already got a staff identified for the partner coordination and uh caplp has a staff identified for the family Advisory Board coordination um year one is really going to be focused on strengthening existing Partners in Service delivery um with our state Grant we did request funding um that could be used for some of those Partners so if we identify that we need more uh parent classes and that's not something we currently have enough of in the community um we can we can enhance that um but really the goal is that we're better coordinating so that those programs are more utilized by the families that need it um and that we're really thinking through where are these happening and how can we remove all of the barriers through partnership for um existing programs year two and three would be to establish that formal F FRC um with consistent navigation services in line with family needs including non-traditional hours which right now is is a really big barrier and non-existent in current a lot of current navigation Services uh long-term plans then would be to continue to utilize that courtin and the family Advisory Board to um maintain operations and continuous Improvement um provide that relationship based navigation Services um continue to really hit it hard with Community engagement and feedback and then make sure that we're expanding Outreach and navigation to all Clay County through that established partnership anything I miss it any questions for us Mr chair commissioners any questions Comm Mr C off maybe I I do have I'm sorry oh I'm oh I I'm so I'll just uh make a couple comments as I've been in what three meetings now I believe uh is part of the uh the the core team uh the one thing I'm really picking up on uh that has made me um quite comfortable with this idea um is the fact uh uh as we talk about um going to toward a communitybased PR prevention model I think that's uh uh very important to think about the other thing is as we meet in that group when I hear the enthusiasm with cap LP uh in particular which I'm active with uh wanting to act as a navigator wanting this community um uh um type um way of getting resources out let's put it that way um and and when we got away from the physical model right now into a mobile model where we've identified different places uh in particular right now uh in Morehead to start out but yet at the same time as we reached the Holly Barnesville um I just see a continuum of community um that really could separate itself from what we're doing right here at the service center uh the other thing that puts me at ease I guess is the fact that it's all subject to state grants and sour grants uh there's no expectation from us uh at this point um and maybe there uh maybe once we see if it goes forward see some successes you know they we'll find those local people to uh bring that local share but um that can come in different a lot of different ways other than just a levy from here so I I become open to this and and I guess in my last three meetings I feel like I've uh uh see that enthusiasm and and again to the school districts I mean there's just it's more than cap LP it's a it's a large group so thank you in your in your U comments regarding the establishing the family Advisory Board uh you you made the comment that you would train them what do you train what what do you train them what what yeah yeah it would be um how to serve on a board um we're anticipating that many of these folks maybe have never had that experience so we'd provide them some onboarding what does this look like what is um how to make collaborative decisions how to make appropriate um uh recommendations um and then also on how they can help support um further family engagement and so that they feel really comfortable in their role and I just to follow up on what commissioner karnov said I you know I know Rhonda had been talking about this a few years now and I and I got the impression that that she was kind of excited to talk more about this mobile concept uh I I really think that uh we need to I I think just going out there in the future when when I look at the page about about the funding and I'm going to be blunt on it is that at some point in time there's going to be request for local funding yeah right yes and and the minute that comes to us um and I I'll say it a thousand times that uh when when it goes on to our Levy y you know it's it's the it's just a it's the worst form of of having to collect dollars for for this type of thing it's a it's a very regressive tax and I and you know and I I certainly hope as as the long-term planning for this understands that we need to find resour ources other than regressive taxes to cover those costs even I you know I'm not arguing that some of this might be beneficial in in improv some quality of life but at the same point in time it can't be it can't be paid for by regressive dollars and and the property tax levy is a regressive tax make no mistake about it may I respond um yeah we um part of our core team does include um United Way uh we are having conversations with West Central initiatives as there's a lot of counties within their region um and the other thing that I I'm really excited about is the fact that we get to have conversations with our other counties to see okay how are you funding this and there seems to be a lot of opportunity to um use these next two three years to rather redirect funding streams that are coming through the county so um one County that was uh way far ahead of this is PK County they actually used arpa funds to do this right so it wasn't a um a new funding they just rather that's what they earmarked some funding they knew was coming in um another county has used um the homeless prevention dollars um again to make sure that they could have another staff hired that um really did help support increased access to homeless prevention resources um I I think that they that's what I'm excited about is that we we don't have to make those decisions today we really get to look over these next two three years and say what are the funding streams that may be applicable what are they currently being allocated for what are we seeing as far as a change and is this a good fit um and then when we think about sustainability it needs to be a really robust mixture of funding streams not just one entity paying for it we don't want it to be 3 years down the road the Count's paying for it or it's not happening we want to have that good mixture and I and I understand these things are you know these are uh new innovative ways of looking at um things throughout communities an awful lot of it seems to me to um it seems to gear towards and Social Services plays a big role all this stuff and with that with that in mind you know um as you go through this proc process is is DHS the state involved with some of these um you might want to call them pilot projects or what have you are they are they involved in understanding all this stuff because some of them it's you know the discussion could be we need to redirect some of those funds M right and that's what I'm hearing you say that we might have to redirect some of those funds um so so if that's happening is DHS involved with that yeah yeah I I can speak to that um that's why we applied for the state Grant I mean it's uh DHS is really supporting the model across the state and I think that's why they've put some money set aside for this grant um I can tell you when you guys hired me on this that I'm not a master of the budget right I I was pretty transparent about that I've learned a lot already but within the next two or three years I'm certainly hoping to get a better grasp on it clearly Ronda had a vision Rhonda had a goal of what this looks like and I'm I've been playing catchup on this but it is my hope that there is some sort of creative way within the budget that maybe we can uh through the conversations over the next two to three years with our Community Partners maybe reallocate some of the things that that could make this happen um I don't think that by itself is going to make this happen I do think that there does need to be a significant investment at the state level as well um on something like this yes um which is why we wanted to go get that or at least apply for that Grant it is a pretty competitive Grant I mean we're hopeful but I think said a key component there Quinn they yes you know the the the state involvement and and the state involvement you mentioned you don't want this to be a three-year deal and have to go away right you you you want this to be able to move forward and and Social Services in the state of Minnesota needs to be on board with that yes and that's I think what is exciting is they have um there's a lot of conversations happening at the state so there's a network of counties that are really helping to to drive this conversation with the state um we are looking at Collective um and consistent data collection and evaluation practices across each County so that we can really show impact to ensure that state funding is consistent because that's what we're hearing from the national network is that yeah it is a mixture of State local and Regional funding that needs to come together for this to be sustainable long term yeah I have one question Quinn uh we are taking an administrative role in this uh I know there'll be some compensation but is this something we can do with current Staffing without expanding the need uh for additional staff yeah um the the idea would be that if you know if the grant funds are obtained then the admin costs for the increased needs for reporting and things like that we would we would account for that as well I think right now between pardon me it would come out of the grant yes correct it it would come out of those wants to kind of recoup our cost I think right now between myself and Susan we've kind of we've kind of handled that I'm not anticipating needing to bring anybody on with this uh State Grant or sour Grant if something were to change past that time frame I would need to come to you guys or come something but current staff is adequate to to address the immediate need correct okay any other questions comments commissioner moso thank you Mr chair you know I apologize I had to step out for a phone call but um you know so if if my question or statement was covered I apologize but you know in just in looking at the design draft and you know looking through um key Partners I really I really question how much of all of Clay County this is being served it it does seem really more head heavy and and part of the reason that I was maybe more pointed with my questions earlier is I feel like the goals for the services and the connections that you're wanting to have really do exist in Morhead already and so I feel like we are duplicating that conversation for services in this area there may be a need for that in rural Clay County and in our other satellite cities um but you know just as I'm looking you know it is really pointed towards more head perspective and Morehead um and partners and and I'm not saying that these connections don't need to be had what I'm saying is I think they already exist and um having had um you know I I have brought kids to the the wick clinic in the family service center and I have sat through those um discussions on on healthy families and and car seat safety and and all of those conversations that have led to other connections for services in that building and what I want to hear from staff and partners is how do we better utilize the services that we offer not reduplicate that so if I'm hearing that there need to be additional hours for families which I get and I understand does that need to be in another building somewhere else in the county or is that something that we can work through after our I don't know um so I you know I appreciate the conversations I really caution us as to exhausting Services um mhm not Services funds um when we're if we're going to reduplicate things any other comments questions anything closing or have we covered it oh I I appreciate the questions it's all good things for me to to to consider and take into mind and continue to Advocate at the at the Maxa level too for the Statewide participation in this in this entire project and I I I do appreciate that this was on the agenda and have an opportunity to get an update on it and I you know I you know I think there's uh both some optimism and skepticism built in here on this and and uh through hopefully through through dialogue and some of the things that commissioner moso expressed and some of the things that commissioner krainov expressed we can get to the better end of both of those as we move forward so just one followup thank you I I know in the marketing messaging that's been going on as you gear towards those September October meetings there was several updates that I saw that said Clay County is building um please provide feedback on on the building that Klay county is building that can't I mean then people see that and come to us oh Klay County what are you building well we are building a withdrawal management and a and a new DMV and so as you make those posts the community be very careful because otherwise then it just assumes that this board has taken action which we haven't what one thing I'd like to speak to at our last core meeting we actually discussed kind of what branding and the logo would look like mocked up a couple different logos and things like that one of them said Clay County Family Resource Center there was a significant amount of dialogue about we need to remove the name Clay County if if part of the rationale for this is the stigma that comes with the family service center that we need to work on why would we put the name Clay County in I want to hear more about this stigma about the family service center I you know not today I but you know we don't need to do it today but I need to hear more about that okay um you know if we have a five-story building over there that's housed with 120 some social service workers and we got a bad stigma going on we need to we need to figure that out M because we're supposed to be there to provide services and have providing services and having a bad stigma those two don't sound good together to me so I want to learn more about that okay thank you thank you okay thank you very much next up committee reports and I believe we're GNA start with commissioner Mojo thank you I do have a lot of committees from last week so I'll try to be brief on those if you have further questions ask Tuesday after the board meeting we we did have a um schedule meeting that um representative Keeler had scheduled to discuss our prtf uh strategy and discussion on uh what Klay Count's path forward for that would be um uh due to the announcement from Churches United last week uh representative Keeler was at the capital and so was not able to attend most of the meeting however um you know certainly those discussions at the capital with I believe two Commissioners um were warranted so Senator koek did join us we talked at length about what that path forward and strategies a bonding ask is it a a general budget type ask um how staff can help lift that project in collaboration with the both of them and it I think we do have a pretty good strategy moving forward um certainly we've committed or committed dollars but then had dollars on hold for planning and and moving forward but I think um we'll continue to move boldly forward um towards those proposals that evening we had a long uh August um Clay County Planning Commission meeting we did have an iup request for Crane um operational business in south of Sabin that did um get approved we had three requests for solar uh solar Farms um one change is that that in the past we have certified or granted permits for one megawatt farms and if you drive throughout the county they are they're up and running which is really exciting um we approved one megawatt Farm application and two five megawatt farms and so the difference if you recall we talked when we created the ordinance is that Clay County utilizes revenues from the taxes generated from the um wind towers and anything any solar farm that is one megawatt or under does not um generate that tax that filters down into to the counties so the big change now is with five me two five megawatt Farms we will start the ability to collect on on that and um uh we did not have any Community input that was negative towards that so we're really excited about that opportunity we did then have a application for an IU for a batch plant in South Eastern Clay County we did have a long long discussion on that that project specifically would be um a two to three week project that would um send all of the asphalt into a project for Richland County um there was a lot of concern from the Planning Commission on the deterioration towards the road particularly if it wasn't generating um utilizing material from that plant we did uh find out that it would come from another Clay County plant so or another Clay County pit so there would be some gravel tax generation on that but but really um when you're looking at the benefits of the Clay County to Clay County and then the detriment to the road particularly to the hall route throughout um pretty uh several residences we did deny that permit I did have discussion with the project manager following that meeting uh to get creative to see if there was a better fit for a location on a batch plant either in Clay County or if there's something in wilin County so I think they are working with a wilin County um pit to see if that would make sense because it that would that would basically run two trucks or a truck every two minutes Ezra a truck every two minutes out that's not even accounting for the material coming in or the the uh stuff coming back so you'd have a semi every two minutes on County Road 2 all the way across Clay County um to 94 so or 29 sorry so we did deny that permit then we the next day I had the redro Basin commission joint Powers committee meeting we did have an update from Eric Jones from Houston on the distributed detention update projects throughout the Basin and then had an update on DNR mapping from um Andrew Graham from DNR it's always a really good uh meeting to to discuss projects throughout the entire Basin I attended the solid waste budget committee meeting or it wasn't I don't know if it's a committee but it was a subcommittee I guess with re with commissioner Campbell myself uh Steve and then Corey from Solid Waste just on the budget grasping a hold of a couple different items that we needed clarification on before the full request comes forward the next day I attended the swack committee meeting we had an update on um Recycling and program updates landfill updates and then commissioner Campbell gave an update on Prairie Lakes the next day or that same day rather right after the meeting we had a um annually we review the contract for the resource recovery center with the city of Morehead representatives in Klay County um talk about the budget any items that we see happening um clay count or Morehead provided us with the entire amount that um it costs them to operate uh the resource recovery question Center and then um you know certainly we had ours as well um talked a little bit about snow removal coordination um I really appreciate the partnership there and then that afternoon I attended the MCC jpa meeting uh large update on the property acquisition status reports and litigation action summaries um we did approve a relocation reimbursement request and um took action on three Acquisitions um and then also approved three appraisal reviews and then there was one lease extension on a property that um due to a house move needed to be pushed back just a little bit um certainly those are difficult to coordinate with all the different partners that need to do that and then that evening I attended the caplp uh meeting um we had a almost 1hour meeting what sorry do you need me to pause oh I'm sorry did I forget something no oh okay we had almost one hour discussion on the Churches United um issue and I really appreciate senator koek being there it was a really honest and raw conversation about all of how all of us who um provide services in so many different ways mitigate that issue and and how we all have boards to respond to and Auditors to respond to and and who is best to help um help in a capacity lakes and prairies provides an enormous amount of supports to at risk families and individuals and um they really aren't in a position to um or have the staff capacity rather to shift and take on such a large project so they'll just continue to help in the ways that they can Senator cek was really appreciative of all the different uh representatives and and organizations that do such hard work um but I had talked to um Steve earlier who had talked to Quinn and and there's there's about $250,000 that Clay County that's not the total but Klay county is contracted with churches to provide housing supports and um there needs to be um some documentation that comes with that um so um there's about $250,000 in revenues that churches could utilize from Klay County through that contract through DHS um we're the host for that um should that uh reporting happen and um certainly that uh Clay County has provided arpa funds um over $100,000 in arpa funds to churches and provides that support in that way so um everyone's trying to um figure out the best way to support um helping them realize that $250,000 I'm I'm hopeful will be a large support for them and then we did um there are several openings on that our chair for that board has um been hired by KP LP which is an exciting um continuation of the mission so we will um have a couple board openings there repres or commissioner krainov was there as well so so if I forgot anything he can update that then yesterday I was in um Alexandria at the Lakeland Mental Health Center office we did have updates from all of the Alexandria and Glennwood supervisors um good updates on the community needs and Behavioral Studies they've now they will be expanding through themselves or through partner organizations um a presence in all of the Douglas County schools which Clay County has always said is such a huge thing for us so exciting for them to have that opportunity talked about um adding the Drop in Center and how they are challenges and opportunities but certainly that Drop in Center provides such vital supports to the people in which utilize it um we talked about the gaps and what are you know what are the gaps for families and and when you have to when you learn the skills for mitigating a behavioral health or mental health um illness when you have to wait 9 to 12 to 18 months for a placement you know is it really that that helpful so what are the larger needs as we discuss um at the state what those gaps areas are so I appreciate um how they continue to um look at where the needs are and how we um collaborate and create um opportunities to try to meet the needs of the majority of our communities so uh we did then have a closed session after that and um we did give an update on the Morehead business or Morehead building project October 1st they won't be moving into the new um renovated site and they are um on time and still have $80,000 remaining in a contingency so as you know that's always good and we will move into negot contract negotiations soon and that concludes my reports thank you commissioner thank you on August 20th I sat in for commissioner gross in the pick meeting and I'm going to defer that report to our board chair who was also there I I may have some additional commentary to his report but we'll see how how that goes and then on Wednesday uh as commissioner moo mentioned we did have a subcommittee meeting with solid ways to um to go over uh some budget issues uh there was uh Corey had mentioned that he might want want to bring something up along with swack and we were a little bit concerned about um where we were with with the budgeting process at that point in time so we had a a significant conversation about the budget which raised some additional questions and then um at which we'll we're meeting again today on that uh as a matter of fact Corey had originally intended to present his budget to this board today and and we've asked that to to go back a week I believe it is and we're going to have we're going to fine-tune that so that we we know what we're going to be requesting coming up here uh then on the 22nd then we did have the um swack meeting the solid waste advisory committee meeting um there's we continue Shannon Thompson gave us nice report on the recycling programs that we have there and we did talk about um you know the lithium batteries just seems to be a conversation and the education the importance of the education involved with um the proper way to dispose of those uh Corey gave updates on both the landfill and landfill activities and the overall Solid Waste activities um is May what's been reported this board in the past we are still having issues with the overhead doors in that facility and we're at the point now where we're basically saying we need to have new doors installed because there just doesn't seem to be the appropriate fix and so we're um Corey is working on that and of course you get into those large garage doors and there can be an extreme amount of waiting time and we're concerned about having those properly in installed and working properly before winter sets in so that that's going to be a challenge in itself and then as in terms of um responsibility there that's going to be an an ongoing you know there's always somebody everybody seems to point their fingers at somebody else is being the problem and ultimately it should not be Clay County that's the way I'll put it um that same day then we also had a mo Clay County Joint Powers Authority board meeting that's in regards to the diversion project commissioner Mojo gave a a good report on that I really don't have anything to add on that at this point in time and then at at uh 3:30 that same day we also had our diversion Board of authority meeting at that one we get we have our uh usual updates uh several updates on on um issues and one of the we had two closed sessions and out of those closed sessions one of the items that we uh that the board did take action on was the um Unemployment uh agreement ter termination agreement with the former executive director Joel palson and it basically uh dealt with an agreement based on the amount of um available uh time he had remaining for vacation and sick leave and that type of thing so that that was a process that went through and that both parties have signed that agreement and that should put an end to that discussion um then uh yesterday morning I attended the West Central Regional water district meeting in holstead and I want to thank Ezra for uh joining in and kind of keeping update up to date on what's going to be going on I'm the assumption is that he will be taking over that role on behalf of the county in in January and I want to thank uh commissioner kraban for also being there kind of um taking the place of Frank commissioner gross for the day to also and I think you probably were even enlightened on some of the stuff that goes on there uh the the big thing that came out of that you know and of course we're we're really close to the filing with the district court for there's a there's going to be a uh virtual hearing on September 13th which I plan on attending on behalf of Clay County members and that's just to kind of get the process going where where the hopefully the court will establish the first public hearing part of this whole um concept that goes on and and I also want to mention too I want to thank um Don for for being there as well on behalf of Klay County he last time he attended virtually this time he was able to be there in person Mor D um and I and I do want to mention that boy I talk Don has really kind of put both feet in right away because he's already uh been in contact with C West Central initiative on some some additional funding opportunities that we have in this this whole setup process so I was really impressed with what he's his knowledge about these different agencies and how they can be helpful and so I was I was quite impressed with with with that uh I did one of the things that I did bring up is when in the court filing it establishes we're asking the court to establish the board and it's by individ ual and by each County and one of the questions that I that I had was well okay now I if the court has to appoint these individuals what's that process going to be moving forward are we going to have like for example commissioner gross is on there right now in January his term is done he'll have to come off every time that happens you know over over the life of this thing are we going to have to go back to the judge and get their approval or or appointment and what so we tried to uh so Dan marks who's the attorney that's working on this on behalf of us he's going to try to incorporate in there where the judge would allow that to happen uh outside of the courts by just letting each board uh make those appointments so so we wouldn't but but as it stands right now we would have to go to the court every time we had to replace somebody and then we're talking at least for right now maybe about the ability to have an alternate um I I think long term after this is established I think I think an alternate will probably go away similar like right now when we appoint people to the Buffalo red board or the wild R we don't really have alternates you know so I think ultimately when when this is established the idea of an alternate might not be be right but in the setting up of this to if we have one County Board member who can't be there we should be able to have another one be there in the establishment of this that that's the purpose of that so uh and you know there's a lot of lot of really good work going on there we've we got uh some reports on additional funding applications that are going on um and I guess that's maybe Paul would like to add something but that concludes my report thank you commissioner crabing off thank you Mr chair um yeah uh was at several meetings um that have already been mentioned but I'll just give a couple ads um so on the 20th um I was part of the small group with uh legislative U legislator cek and our small group regarding the prtf uh one thing we are waiting for is from our Pro potential provider with prtf uh getting um the ability to find out what the word in in means uh in putting this u p uh RF in in the juvenile center so uh we'll wait for a federal U um comment on that and then we'll continue moving forward but I think it's important we uh began identifying people we might might bring in uh other legislators and other groups and um you know um we have such large County support on this uh that to bring that narrative uh to the uh other legislators so we get a good Collective message out there um creating the need for this down the road and and expressing that mainly um not only to bonding fol but to uh DHS uh directly uh that afternoon I had uh a uh finance committee with cap LP um everything's in good standing order on their F finances each month uh they have good cash flow been receiving sizable grants to keep their uh operations running smoothly on the 21st I I also through the storical cultural Society had a finance committee meeting uh two parts we received our annual audit report from wmer Ro went down that through the full detail everything's good standing um couple minor uh concerns in the audit only that really can't be over uhome uh and that's the size the staff being able to look at all the um and handling the checks and and those type things oversight but again that's something that's brought up every annual report so um no real concerns there we went through our July financials and we're at in very good shape we're in that time of the year when admissions are high and we've received our grants a lot of gift sales are at all-time high so cash flow with the U um uh uh HCS is very uh very good at this time uh the next day Thursday uh um uh we had another uh F FRC core team meeting and again the presentation by Megan and Quinn this morning I think really reflected everything I've been seeing over the three meetings have been part of and I appreciate the the openness and the discussion will be uh having as we move forward with this um those core meetings will be occurring uh once a month and I plan on being at all those uh um if possible and and again we'll um I'll just add I I look forward to our fall conference when we're at the awood in September we'll have AMC there um they promote you know this model every time we're together so I hope maybe to answer U some of the concerns or you know maybe it's not a concern getting the state involved in this you know with DHS whatnot maybe we can get a deeper discussion going on that and really see uh maybe I can hear a little more firsthand where where they're at at and then report back to youall uh the uh that evening I had the cap LP uh board meeting uh Senator mujo you you did a great job in reporting on on the um discussion we had regarding that relationship with the caplp Churches United and again and even to Clay County Services you know we we we're active in providing you know Supportive Services and that's our role I think I think it's very difficult for a place for uh I'll speak now back to caplp to be running an organization like this when they don't have the Staffing nor do they have the expertise um toward that area um Tiffany Ross was our Uh current chair uh as mentioned uh she took a job with caplp so she's had to step down from chair as Vice chair I guess I'm the chair person now of cap LP and along with that I'll um uh as by her also stepping down I'll now be the chair of the collaborative so a couple things Chang with their leading leaving so little more involvement there and and things I look forward to uh serving um let's see and then I guess finally to yesterday so on Monday uh had a couple meetings again U commissioner Campbell mentioned about the West Central Regional watered District I did enjoy the conversations there thank you thank you for all your input and Leadership uh with that group uh I sat in uh for commissioner gross on that on that committee for that day um then um in the afternoon I had the cash cash clay food commission steering committee meeting and um we'll see where things go I I the food Commission um uh Cass County is uh relooking at all their budgets you hear that all the time on on the news quite a bit um the uh the uh money that have been given through gr to Cass County Public Health um seems to be uh U getting scrutinized and maybe want to be used in other directions uh we do have aou of course with uh uh with clay and and uh and cast you know toward the uh food commission and so we'll see what the responses are as they move along and but there's concerns about you know the money that's been funding this is um we don't know exactly how it's going to all end up but I know it's um it's going to be um it may be a challenge uh to move forward the way we have been but I don't want to get too far ahead but it's a concern um with that uh we will be having um our food Commission meeting uh which we have new two new Fire Commission or uh commissioner strand will be coming on and then commissioner am um gosh um uh commissioner from West Fargo I'm gapping out the last name but anyway two new uh Commissioners coming on the food commission board uh coming up on September 11 um at the farro City Chambers with that that's my report thank you Mr chair I just do have one followup Comm Mojo thank you uh last week after the SWAT committee meeting we did uh I was asked by um staff to look at a field access approach that was next to our new DMV facility it was identified that that had been substantially changed and did then eliminate the access for that farmer um to get his crop off or their crop off uh so commissioner Campbell and I have been working with staff on um getting that back built back to the access in which it was so there uh will likely be a slight change um from the contingency requested from this board to do that but um as stands um there's a corn crop in there and there's no way to access it thank you hey thank you um last Tuesday the 20th uh I attended the pck meeting um Quinn Jagger uh from um had an overlap he he's going to request involving a an intake employee that's been there 35 years was it Kevin I think 31 years I think 31 years huge amount of institutional knowledge and he wants whoever her replacement is going to be upon retirement to have an overlap period where um can bring up her the person who's taking her position bring her uh on board so that'll be coming to the commission here shortly and then Darren Brooke discussed a ukg system uh for recruiting and onboarding that will make life a lot simpler for our department directors for everybody involved in a hiring where you'll have one system that is uniform and and uh effective and that'll be coming to the to the agenda in the near future as well on Wednesday the 21st had the adversion authority finance committee meeting um covered the usual business approval bills Finance report and cash budget report um also uh Shelley Carlson who's on the on the board presented a uh a summary of the Minnesota contribution to the board or to the uh diversion Authority about 52 million at this point uh that was in response to some questions raised by uh commissioner pipcorn over and Fargo about what the Minnesota contribution was I think she gave a good effective answer on that it was also uh she did the same thing the next day at the full board meeting uh earlier that day I had a phone conv conversation with Karen staken of the state auditor's office referen the County's audit just some of the bullly plate questions they ask at all audits uh the following day Tuesday the 8 uh 822 had a similar conversation with partnership for health exit meeting on their audit and I spoke to a couple of people from the state auditor's office just in reference to the partner for partnership for health uh budget and how it was it was handled later that day we had the diversion Authority board meeting which commissioner Campbell covered well on Monday the 26th the dancing Sky special meeting um we had a remote meeting that was called to bring board members up to speed on some pretty deep Cuts in title bdn funding that's available uh for transportation for uh Elder meals for a number of things and we have bids out right now that uh are still being uh in the process of collected to see what kind of uh cost we're going to incur with the meals programs we've got in this region it is potentially it's going to be a very hard impact on our seniors in the state with the the cutbacks and the programs that have been identified so far but but they provided us with some information some which can't be discussed right now because it's involving bids and we will have a November meeting where hopefully we can close some of that out and that completes my report Steve oh thank you Mr chair last Tuesday participated in the pick meeting that's been well covered um also participated in the prtf discussion with Senator cek and representative keelers and members of our board uh again appreciate the appreciate the Insight coming together uh to kind of as we've shifted here our our plan a little bit to to to see that we still have that support uh that afternoon talked to uh cly McCarthy in regards to the pre-design uh for for a non-secure facility and uh potential remodel of the existing non-secure facility for a prtf uh again I'll probably wait to bring that forward until we hear from here from Mr Summers from Solutions on on whether that building has to be a standalone or not um that afternoon or morning also met with Quinn and commissioner krainov in regards to a series of different issues again just want to to uh I think thank this board uh for the efforts that they've put they in in looking at Solutions And discussing Churches United I know that you view it as a value of committee uh our value to this community and you have many Community assignments that uh that touch uh touch that uh that building so uh Solid Waste budget discussion that's been well well addressed on the 21st on the 22nd participated in the swack meeting and then the subsequent meeting uh for the annual contract review and and annual budget review with the city of Morad for the resource recovery facility um continue on with having several n leadership sessions virtual sessions last week uh participated in the MCC jpa meeting which has been uh well discussed had additional conversations with Quinn that afternoon in regards to Churches United uh with the 22nd um had a solid waste budget meeting uh budget discussion follow up with Lori and Corey uh for our meeting this morning um 23rd met with Kimberly from the recorder's office uh just talked about maybe some uh future future legal advice uh she currently uses a an attorney who is notified her that he will be retiring uh here in the near future uh and while it doesn't uh take a a number of cases per year there is a need for to fill that void um just a couple other things just to note uh the uh empty pesticide containers are being collected uh at the landfill this week 8:30 to 4: uh and so uh please participate in that if uh possible um I uh just a note yes yesterday or last night the just a note our Communications Department continues to provide updates that our DMV is going to be located at the mor C Mall until our DMV is is uh new buildings completed which we are tentatively have as uh October 21st uh our Communications Group is has uh put almost weekly updates but there continues to be questions and I would assume with the city of Morehead now vacating to move into the former US Bank while their building is remodeled there may be more questions and so we'll continue to try to keep up today the last item I just wanted to bring forward is uh the lands committee uh Matt is looking to bring forward a meeting on September 10th I believe after our board meeting uh commissioner gross is is a part of that that was is Lance committee is not something that meets on a routine basis and so I was just reaching out to the board for their thoughts on adding a second commissioner uh to that meeting uh in a couple weeks I believe I'm I we did discuss and and I'm going to attend that meeting okay all right I'm on that committee as well all right I believe that concludes my report Brian Darren Sarah Well everybody's quiet okay well if there isn't any other additional business we'll journ thank you