##VIDEO ID:u1b8DVeeczE## good morning Welcome to our first meeting for 2025 the County Board of Commissioners regular meeting um and we will start with the pledge please rise I pledge allegiance to the of the United States of America to the stand One Nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all are there any adjustments to the agenda uh Madam chair I'd like to um add uh uh small presentation um from our local 49ers um maybe just right after a public comment okay very good thank you we will do that anything else motion to approve so move mam chair support all in favor hi suppose same sign at this time we have an opportunity for public comment and anybody in the audience would like to come up and um have a little discussion or um a Clarity of um what you're thinking uh can come up right after I see nobody in the audience so we will move on then to um your present your presentation thank you madam chair yeah we have Dan manik and um Scott Bolin and Matt Olsen all from 49ers here and um there's a a picture I believe they're they're presenting to to Cook County and taken by one of our local guys too and um I haven't seen it yet but uh it looks like quite the quite the deal so chair stly thank you for for the time uh um if we were in a public comment weed to 5 minutes probably wouldn't be able to do it and and thank you board for listening this is kind of out of my wheelhouse so if you don't mind I'll just pretend this is contract negotiations yeah so uh I did want to I did want to speak a little bit about uh Labor Relations just just a little background on on what what what 49 does so for 30 years I was a heavy equipment operator for K Jin County for some reason Local 49 s to hire me as a business agent to represent a bunch of people in the job that I to do so I travel all over Northeast Minnesota I probably got 22 23 contracts including this one uh I I I I love representing the're guys that do the exact same thing I I I know exactly what they're out doing like today I was hoping to get a few more guys to show up there but they doing their job uh p and snow so uh when I got this job almost six years ago I inherited all these contracts and um I'm brand new at it uh so I didn't know what I was getting into and when when I started coming up here I'm not going to I don't want to paint it as a horrible picture but I could tell we we need we need some help here just labor and management and uh we're always well I was encouraged to set up Labor Management committees in all of our groups and some some employers aren't receptive to we got too many meetings already but so back in the day Pam Dixon uh got us going on Labor Management committee and then James came along and he he took that ball and and he rolled with it uh so fast forward through several negotiations I don't know if chair story that you sat in I know commissioner white and commissioner Mills um I I hope they feel the same way uh I do uh I won't be doing this much longer uh but I won't do another contract with this group by sometime this year I plan on retiring no date so uh I think this is an exceptional group with the administration um that cre we have so not I'm not doing this everywhere um but so I you're on behalf of of my crew and uh just wanted to just on behalf of the great work that James did I was trying to get this picture I had ordered it uh and I know he had come back to help trying to finish up some contract something happened with the printing wherever he got this from and they didn't get in time so so this is on behalf of my crew true this a presentation of the county on behalf of James Yori I I when I was leaving I fig well this is great because we got James here we got great Commissioners you know so uh Rowan's interim you know um I have no idea what your plans are I I hope somebody continues James great work and and you continue to work with labor labor Management in This Crew I was look at as a triangle you've got me I'm the union your employees and and the and the employer that triangle is working real well here you know if one of us is on a place if I come in here with a baseball mat demanding things that triangle falls apart um I appreciate what the County Board has done for our crew um you're retaining employees uh you treat your people very fair so we have a photo that that Josh dicks uh so we we we have a quarterly magazine we we produce and I can't get to job sites all the time so I called Josh and said hey Josh if you see a project sometime this summer you take a picture and submit for a magazine you know so so Josh took this picture building this thing up they should be in the L you're going be so disappointed this picture it's huge but uh so anyway yeah character of myself so uh so so Josh took this pict picture man that's a nice picture I submitted it for the magazine and when I submitted it for our cor magazine they a said wow what a beautiful picture you know that there's just something about it the color that really it's really a neat it's a picture of a job site and I told my guys they haven't seen this yet um uh there's no there's no safety violations which is always great some photos if there's some devotion violation happening you know so kudos to the guys you know working very safely so uh I have this very same picture hanging in our office in Luth we loved it so much you know every day I walk in I see this picture you know and very partial to because I did this work for 30 years and I wish Josh were here to take credit for the photo but anyway if you guys want to rip the paper off um I know it's kind of big i' I've been up here I was up here a few weeks ago kind of walking through visitor Road and looking at the hallway like man where can we put you know maybe it's going to go in a closet if you don't think it's um when you go into any uh any place that's got historical photos we're seeing the old black and white pictures of things you know that I love history you know wow look at those old machines that we used to operate well at some point if this is on the wall 100 years from now somebody's going to say look that's back in the days when they actually sat in the machine because we'll have autonomous you know Mach there's going to be no operators anymore it's going to be you know somebody sitting in a pickup running that bulldozer with an iPad you know so so at least 100 years from now some look at how Antiquated their equipment was so so anyway if you guys don't mind ripping the paper off um uh I I hope it it's it's a really beautiful pict we have Dr roll you want to maybe we should I'll do the drum roll if chair mine and come and help open this up will you take a picture there's my camera I mean right there you're going to go do this I'm going to take a camera I'm taking the pict picture with my two I don't know where the picture okay got it I'll take it I'm happy to so we can send it to J yeah you're going to rip it off from the back side is it okay if I take a video actually be releases question do we do this like small children or like mature adult to reuse this you do you children we're just going to rip it with the enthusiasm that's been we'll get the picture first okay take it before and after yep y got it after would be all of us playing with the bathroom and then we'll do the picture with the picture yes okay go for it okay you don't to [Music] see Ni that is gorgeous gorgeous m huh yeah that's cool what a picture yeah it's a dirty old C they were replacing so the the you know the highway department staff will love that the supervisor like we made a good call to replace that old call that thing was on the verge of collapsing or whatever what road I don't know I don't know what road it and I and I think we have a retiree uh uh Greg Thompson is on the bulldozer so it's already got some history because he's retired I do believe dy I forget his last name he's Berg y Bergin's on the excavator and I'm not sure who was on the dump truck but there just something about the colors it was early fall the leaves are starting to turn yellow with the yellow equipment uh you know so I I hope you can find a place for it um uh we we we love thank you that's really gorgeous well you guys have to pose though because you're all looking at it when you're this way instead of at the cameras wait so we got to turn it around yeah once more everyone was looking at the picture instead of at us so we couldn't get a for after to look at you you got to look at the camera yeah oh okay thank you very much and I I hope you can find a spot for it oh yeah I do have a smaller version of that that I'm going to send to James thank you for your time thank you D thank you so much thanks Scott thank you very much y thank you thank you put it right in front of me we can put it right there right here that's a good point there's room we don't use that oh that's nice thank you jie okay well I think I combed my hair this morning not quite certain okay so we'll go on to the um consent agenda and um just for clarification for commissioner gamble um there are times that um you can pull something that you might have a question on um however we'll um not discuss it at the time we'll put it on later uh in the agenda but um you know there's um of course our minutes and donations lots of generous donations and um some approvals for um vac vacant um positions and um the uh Eda Authority uh on down to Northeast uh Minnesota emergency communications so does anybody uh want to pull anything on this Madam chair yes um just items on u i and uh it would be H and I MH H and [Applause] I okay so then um we can Madam chair I make a motion to approve uh the consent agenda removing items H and I is there a second I'll support all in favor I hi okay so H and I we can go down to um maybe put it it's a health situation so probably before um item number seven and the appointment that we did make today and he's here with us so I would like to introduce Neil Pon our Assistant Attorney if you could just come up and um say a few words about yourself because we're very happy that you uh are accepting that position thank you welcome um my name is Neil Pon I've been with the county now since March as assistant County attorney one now I um you approve it be very thankful if you did um i' be assistant County attorney to moved up here it will be three years in June um from Minneapolis with my family I have a wife and three kids my oldest is now actually um out of the nest but my youngest is a fourth grader this year and we moved up here we wanted to enjoy the beauty of the NorthShore and have some land to um raise animals and Garden on been able to do that we've been very fortunate and um kind of a surprising um bonus for all that is I've also found an amazing Community here and I see my role as a assistant County attorney helping um give back to the community feel very privileged and honored to be able to do it okay very good welcome thank you appreciate it commiss surley I have a question what's your area of expertise in law I mean is it like real estate or contract law or or do where have you focused the most of your time on um so the law firm that I I was a in a private civil law firm before I worked for the county and we focused exclusively in employment law okay thank you okay any other comments well welcome to the group welcome to the team as I would say thank you very much you're welcome thanks Neil you too you too so moving on to um item number four the conveyance of the uh sale of the land uh to the H so we discussed in December the um opportunity for um um private um owned County Land to become part of a uh Anna Hamilton development and um so we're going to take this opportunity to approve a resolution that would convey the property to the HRA approval and and um I don't know if um um Rowan would have any background on that to give any other details other than we do have Anna here nothing additional just what the board discussed previously and that we're waiting for the the documentation to support the resolution which we which we have now okay any questions commissioner Mills thank you chair um I just wanted to share um kind of um my journey uh in in this item um I had a lot of reservations conveying public land over to private ownership and I I really wanted to ensure um kind of that long-term viability as as affordable housing and I I um took the opportunity um in between our meetings to to um speak with um our former HR H director Jason hail about this and um and he understood my concerns and basically what it comes down to is um whereas this may not be the perfect solution for our housing needs if this doesn't happen there really isn't a whole lot else happening and so it's really important if we're trying to make strides towards solving um our housing um crisis that that we do take action and and we do um um compromise um and um and try to try to make progress um so kind of kind of the idea is it may not be a perfect solution um but it's much better than no solution and um I've I've I'm still uh hesitant and and a little uncomfortable but I I would support um I would support this this sale um one of the other factors um is just kind of that insurance that for whatever reason if something doesn't go through it would go back to the HRA um and it would just stay in private ownership and so that also gave me uh a little more Comfort um uh generally the Hamilton habitat model has the the five years if it's if it's sold and then uh within that half of the proceeds would go back to Hamilton habitat and um I I like that idea I would like to see it longer um or some kind of gradiated um uh system for that but um as it was pointed out previously it's not my place to decide uh how how you know that that organization is run but um just food for thought for for something in the future commissioner and I would just like to point out again that Hamilton habitat is local local developers and building at cost selling at cost probably selling below cost because um Cook County um Home Center has uh sold their materials for the construction of all of their buildings at their cost so there's no markup so the homes that are built by Hamilton habitat are truly a community effort to get housing for Community people and it's just one part one part of trying to find a solution for the housing shortage and uh Hamilton habitat has quite a wck up they've been doing this like a long time I don't even know how long and they live here so um I think it's I think it's uh my pleasure and honor to be able to help move this forward Madam chair thank you um having discussions in this community on housing for a number of years 15 plus um there's been so much discussion and there's been discussion in the arrowhead region relative to the shortage of housies it's not unique to Cook County it's not unique to the arrowhead but there are the challenges and I I know that Cook County Prides itself on being resourceful and understanding what resourcefulness is and how we go about uh accomplishing things uh with thinking that sometimes it's different than the approach that other people take I know that there was a conference that was held a workshop in northern Minnesota and the presentation uh with the facilitator was we've got a housing problem and uh we need to deal with it and the best way to deal with it is to deal with it by just taxing people to get the funds and I think I was the only commissioner at that time that attended that conference and our proposed Levy at that year was 29% and uh adding additional costs on Levy to solve our problems doesn't demonstrate resourcefulness this is an example of resourcefulness it has accountability it has built-in structure that uh shows that there's awareness of what we need to do when we approach these things so resourcefulness while it might be outside of the box is not outside of the responsibility of accountability and so I I applaud this effort and and uh uh in our community it's good to see when we come up and step up to the plate and solve these things through our resourcefulness and people that are committed to protect the right things so thank you m Sullivan yes I'd just like to thank Hamilton habitat um and I'd like to thank Charlie tral for all the work that you've done on this particular parcel um I know it's been a very difficult time particularly this time of year Charlie for you to get in in there and do your work but we appreciate it so much and Charlie if you could come forward to the mic and just talk to the community the people that are listening um in right now and um give them a little overview of what you discovered as you were looking at that parcel because that's kind of the the last piece that we are looking for um yeah so anyways Charlie tral with North Shoreland surveying um Hamilton and H asked us to look at this parcel forum the biggest thing that they needed was a legal description of what the parcel that they wanted to get conveyed from the county for it and as you start looking back at it you got to figure out well okay this is a County parcel that's had a lot of little par that they acquired the whole tracked back in the 1941 if I recall and then there was a lot of smaller Parcels pulled out of it so you know because it's been in County ownership for so long you had to decipher okay where are all these other Parcels at even though you know blocks are way over away from it of what the county still owned of that property to be able to write illegal for it um so and then also there's the Fourth Avenue on that side which is there but trying to find all the documentation from that that brought us all the way back into like the 1920s of okay here's when this was actually part of the Old Village plat of grand marray but then that whole chunk was like 1923 was vacated which then left the streets still there so we had to be able to put a legal description that matches into that um on the south of the property there's that big drainage ditch that runs between above the ball field which just seemed like a nice natural boundary for the parcel so that was some of our field work was to map where that drainage ditch was so we could run a line more or less down the drainage ditch versus to make sure we didn't you know chop into the ball field too much or something along those lines so yeah so there was just a lot of paperwork digging and trying to just come was something that made sense to get to this point of being able to have a legal description of what H and Hamilton habitat would like to acquire all right well thank you so much um it it's great to have that history and helpful for the public to have that information as well thank you thank you thank you any other comments or questions so then today is our opportunity to support this uh resolution is there a motion so I'd like to make a motion um to convey this County old land to the HRA support okay any comments or questions all in favor I I I oppose same sign Brady did you have a question is this for the price uh shown $1 $1 m your work is cut out for you now pardon me your work is cut out for you well that's for sure thank you all right go build six houses thank you so all right fantastic okay item number five is the Caribou Lake Watershed subordinate District special assessment and a need to um set a public hearing Brady thank than you madam chair so the Caribou Lake Properties uh Property Owners Association has requested uh to put a special assessment on the ownership around that Lake and bsby Lake caribou and bsby uh $250 to be used over a 5-year period they've been doing this uh the a AAR um was created some 20 years ago or so and they've renewed that a couple of times and asked to have their property owners assessed for water quality they take they do work for water quality they've seen uh an uptick in in their needs to keep that water uh pristine and so they've increased it this time that uh District still exists in the past it was allowed to lapse but this last time when it was renewed in 2021 it still exists so at this time you just need to approve um the funding for it but at the last meeting when this first came up uh Commissioners were uncomfortable with well they asked the question does everybody uh that would be assessed are they all aware of it do we know that and we don't know that for certain the Caribou Lake Properties Owners Association took a vote of the members present and approved this but it doesn't include the owners around Bigsby Lake and not everybody may have been aware of it so Commissioners wanted to make sure before they approved this that everyone was aware and in favor of it and in order to do that we would have to set a public hearing that's our normal way of making uh this known and probably sending out individual notices to those property owners and the combination of those two is normally our process to make sure that people are aware and understand um and I think we have a representative here from the uh are you in the I Caribou Lake Properties Owners Association am this Sharon Hexum platzer I will disagree slightly speak speak at the mic I can move over here I'm good um I will tend to disagree slightly with what Brady said but I'm going to start off topic thank you all for doing this job I know there's always questions and sometimes you are on the other side of um those questions and the other off topic is um our uh Bridge that's going in across Po River yes and it's cold out there and yes they're out there working we will have it done by the end of February fingers crossed no days below 10 below zero according to that uh contractor um so the my slight disagreement is that it was on the caribo Lake Association agenda twice and members with emails get those agendas and those that are able to come to both the Spring May meeting and the September meeting um heard conversation about why we needed to move change our assessment from $12 per property to $50 was because of the rusty crayfish and what they are doing what we have attempted doing and how the increase of the um of the numbers taken each year so we need to be able to afford to take care of that um if you'd like further information um about Rusty cray fish and how many we've taken out and our attempts and our future attempts I can explain that as well I will say that at the September meeting the annual meeting um it was a unanimous vote and um Jenny was there to hear that vote by all those that attended in person so not totally disagreeing with you Brady no it's just I was just pointing out the board didn't have even all of that information I didn't either at that time so that's why we moved to to this meeting yeah and it's in our minutes and you can see the agendas online at carik Association do you need to hear more about how awful Rusty graish are they'd be great to eat remember that if you like seafood only it's Lake food um big fish can't eat them they then they destroy grasses that uh you know deal with the sediment they did that um I do know one other thing if you noticed that if you're around our area and didn't have as many dragonflies uh dragonfly larva are eaten by right so if you noticed a few less that's what's happening I know that was didn't like that I kept inviting the dragonflies and they didn't come which meant I had more mosquitoes anything more please ask I've got notes from Tom Ryder president so Madam chair I'll mention one other one of the uh let's say concern of the board at the last meeting when this came up was not having a policy for this we have policies for the highway subordinate service districts but when it's something else of a different type like this we don't have a specific policy and I'll just point out some of the see the major points in that policy are uh probably number one that you have a single representative um for the entire property owner group and in this case we have the kibou Lake Property Owners Association we're not aware that bsby bsby is part of that it is see I didn't yeah that wasn't understood for me the Watershed okay in fact those people that live off the lake and are up above uh you know on other roads are part of that Association so they vote in your at your meetings too okay well solves the that large issue of how do you engage all of the property owners but as the highway policy is they they would have to elect a single we'd have with the highway policy they elect a single representative and give us information showing that that's that that's happened so then you only have one person to deal with uh for the issues and then having policies like uh what are the methods that you can use for assessing what are the boundaries of the associate uh the area each one has to have some something regarding the boundaries and who's included what is the method for deciding who's included this one has those uh decided uh it's they decided previously that it was anybody who is riparian which means they actually live their property actually borders the water so it isn't somebody who may be back uh a few blocks and may be impacting the water but you have to have a decision where do you stop and so in this case that's the decision that was made um but it for a policy you're going to need to have uh altern Alternatives and then know what those are for any other districts um and so forth and how you assess in this case you assess by property owner was their request you could assess by many other methods as Highway highways are found also so that would be policy if we want to have a policy we can discuss that also in this case I think most of them are met for this one um but that question is up to you you could do that as part of the public hearing or at some other time is the single representative other than the chairman of the group or is that separate from right uh Tom Ryder is our president and he is out of the country right now so you get me it would be whoever is the chairman and that can move from year to year right occasionally usually doesn't but yes okay and that'll be clarified then in the public hearing Brady um I I would say two this is kind of two tracks you have most of those questions answered in this case you could you could have the public hearing to see whether everyone uh agrees um you you could take you could take the information the chair's given and say we have enough information on the Public's wishes we could take the step of the public hearing and send out the notices and get further uh Assurance uh before you put a $250 assessment that's a that's your decision and then when you want to set a uh work on a policy and set that is also could be done for this or it could be done um at some other time the timing issue on this is to have this assessment put on this year all of that has to be done in early February because we have to get that all programmed into the tax system before uh we we finish that process to get those statements out so has to happen very quickly Mr gamble thank you madam chair Brady do you recall in your tenure in your position that we've dealt with this similar uh circumstance St so that there would be something that informed that in other words if you like with the highway policy when you're running into things you know on a frequent basis then establishing policy is the board's stewardship responsibility making sure that we Define the parameters so that the entity itself knows that it's in compliance with that and I was assume that the state or certainly other counties would have examples for us so that that criteria is is met yeah we well we have that with the highway policy it just doesn't apply to anything other than roads so it would be slightly different than that so we have that um if you talk to our Highway engineer he'll say no one no one else in the state does this the way we do with highways uh literally none that he's aware of and I'm not sure like if we have these kinds of examples for Lake Associations uh we could we could try and uh res search that but that wouldn't happen before you need to approve this one if you're going to do it this year so I mean so I guess to me it's are you comfortable that the uh property owners are informed and uh and you feel comfortable putting the assessment on or should we go ahead with the public Hearing in this case and sending out notices and then work on a policy for future requests this may be a request we have a lot of L and Madam chair thank you uh what's what's the the wish of the Lake Association as far as feeling that you you've included the people that are affected by this in your discussion so coming before the board that you're comfortable that that representation has been held I believe that representation has been held because not only you know because of when it's held is everybody able to attend on a Saturday morning um that but they talk with their neighbors and neighbors are saying the same thing we have to protect that Lake yeah and you know yes it does it impact the value of the property if the crayfish take over the um the way that we have attempted to diminish the problem alleviate the problem um shows that over 3 years years we are doing what we can do financially and the reason that it's going from $12 to $50 a year is to give us more opportunity um right now it's caddies that um we I think the first year we took out 12,000 last year was over 60,000 you probably already heard that part um but we're even thinking about um getting a college intern to come in and help supplement that so that we can decrease it one other Lake was able to reduce theirs because of their efforts so it's not like we're fighting an Unwin or a battle that we can't win so I think that enough people have been notified it's been talked about in the community for sure but beyond that I can't read the minds of those that didn't attend or vote sorry commission Ms and just to clarify You' R referenced $50 a couple times and what we have in our packet is $250 that's for five years thank you and and that and the SSD agreement is is for fiveyear increments if I'm not mistaken uh the the request from Tom was that you do it at one time 250 it covers five years I see so that's that is another uh question as to you know what will be what will be the impact and the reaction when people see that or right is it would you rather have it 50 each year for five years so commission Mills thank you um and and so in our previous discussion it was also questioned how many Property Owners on the lake were a part of the association and it sounded like it was 50% oh there's more than that more than that okay yeah and so I think like I'm sorry for interrupting I thought like 78 we had 78% okay that's helpful um mam chair thank you uh so is is the question before the board that um that we approve moving forward or whether or not we have a public hearing uh it could be either you either could approve it today as requested or have the public hearing to assure yourself that all the property owners are aware and have a chance to speak at a public hearing Madam chair might also clarify because I I have notes from Tom and I just want to read this one paragraph increasing the SSD to $50 a year would provide us with $6,900 a year after paying for water testing which we do anyway that would have us $5,300 available for this AIS work this um invasive species um and it would allow us to hire the caddies for seven weeks and then have $925 remaining to support volunteer efforts for fuel bait traps and so forth so it is 50 a year it in my understanding which is why I thought I should clarify it yeah which isn't quite as as 20 250 yeah if I may I I think um to air on the side of participation that if the timelines can be met and the public hearing can be held that it wouldn't come back to you know the Lake Association that you weren't allinclusive and made every effort to be sure that there's participation in moving forward with this recommendation so if you can comply with the timeline I think it's in your best interest to build as much Integrity into the process to uh support your recommendation so I hear you right I think the issue goes to policy we we have a policy for the highways should we not have a policy before we act here and um a public hearing is good but what is the policy we need to have that Madam chair I I think moving forward as Brady suggested it developing a policy makes sense given the situation here I don't believe we're going to be able to develop a policy in in the timeline that they need trying to make this effective for this year to address the issue but certainly a policy that can be sistently applied that's inclusive of you know what we run into as a county is very important so I would say that there's two issues one is addressing best practice here and then the board to formulate a policy moving forward so we get consistency in application commissioner Sullivan Madam chair um I'd like to make a motion to set a date of February 11th for a public hearing to consider a special assessment of $50 a year for the Caribou Lake Watershed subordinate Service District and then in the future I'd like to see us address the policy support okay any other comments or questions commissioner Mill I believe when we set the um public hearing up to do a time as well so right I would recommend that we do a 9:00 and does this include sending out uh notices to each property owner okay any further comments or questions 9:00 is good for the support were you okay with the 9:00 Amendment for the public hearing is that 9:00 on February 11th in the morning in the morning or in the evening in the morning all right I didn't hear an AM or PM on that so initially about 9 o' what's the people doing yes I am okay hearing any other comments or qu or questions uh we have a motion in a second all in favor I I hi motion passes thank you very much for your time thank you so much thank you for the clarification moving on to item number six Emergency Management my Keyport good morning good morning Madam chair Commissioners community members I appreciate a few minutes of your time uh this morning to elaborate on the two white papers that I enclosed in your packet today uh they're both supported by the Association of Minnesota emergency managers of which I've I've been a a member my entire Emergency Management career uh the association has been around for going on 70 years so it's a very recognized uh professional association it's a nonprofit uh they host an annual conference every year and the and uh over the years we've always since I've been around for 14 years we've always had a legislative lobbyist that we hire with our nonprofit funds this we've kind of had the same one for a number of years when her contract came due last year 2024 uh we reached out uh and the association of Minnesota counties lobbyists uh reached out to us and offered their help and so we did hire the association of Minnesota counties as our lobbyist for for the amm uh Association uh it's been a just a wonderful working relationship they really I mean they they've been around the legislative stuff longer than anybody and uh and and they've really helped us out so I'll begin with the Emergency Management funding initiative this has been going on for I want to say seven years uh Under the amm Umbrella we have a legislative committee uh that I'm that I've been a member of uh I think four years ago or five I actually uh uh testified at the during a budget session uh to the public safety group uh so we've been trying for this funding as you can see from the white paper it it reads that we're asking for 12 million which equates for $117,000 for each County tribe and city of the first class in the state of Minnesota the our our reasoning behind this is that we do get what's called empg Emergency Management performance grants that Grant is dwindling each year it gets smaller and smaller uh for Cook County it's I don't want to say it's not a big deal but the grant is based on population so your Metro counties are getting some money uh We've traditionally got anywhere from 14 to $166,000 a year so it's it's not huge so with that money dwindling and as as you all know I've been at this microphone before talking about disasters our disasters are going up our our money that we get to work on them is going down so that's our that's our main reason for uh for going after this funding and it's it's not grant funding it's it's no match it's direct funding is what we're asking for now having said that will we have to report back to the state what we use this funding for yes we will um I've also reached out and have been working with u Ruth Vogal the emergency manager in gram page Grand Portage also has a very active tribal lobbyist he he's been around for quite a number of years uh very well known so he will actually he'll be helping us also so so good news on that front I would I would pause to see if there's any questions before I move into the weather radar gap on the on the EM funding any questions commissioner San not a question but um I just know from working um so closely with Emergency Man man agement that the funds have decreased and when we see the types of disasters we are experiencing it's really important that we have a lobbyist that's working with us and I'm glad to see that um Grand Portage lobbyists will also be participating in this but we really need this and we need to support it when we go to the legislature as well so moving on to the weather radar Gap funding um I'll first I'll explain that the white paper kind of explains it but um how this came forth is that in West Northwestern Minnesota there was a there was a professional weather spotter been doing this for he was known as a veteran weather spotter he was banking on duth and Fargo's weather radar for to go out and do his work work a silo blew over on him and he was he was killed so it got folks talking about well how how come that how come he should have known well what they realized was that the radar from both of those sites wasn't strong enough to get to where he was actually at uh so we solicited again the amm the amm group has a weather Gap Committee of which I'm also a member of I was asked to be a M because uh Cook County is very affected by this by this weather Gap and and as we know you can never be on enough committees but uh um so the science behind it is with the curvature of the Earth the our weather radar we get from nth uh can reach approximately 130 to 150 miles well that puts us right where we're sitting so East and North of us you know Boundary Waters Grand Portage is is hardly getting anything when it comes to the weather radar Gap so that's kind of the science behind it uh we've been meeting this committee has been meeting for well over a year uh we solicited a retired uh meteorologist who has been just super helpful real smart real smart guy um we also reached out to uh this isn't just happening in Minnesota it's happening throughout the nation and it's nothing against the Weather Service we're not working against the Weather Service we're working with them they're very aware of this they're very aware of what we are doing as an association um so we reached out to a company that was used in other parts of the country called clima Vision uh they were very willing to work with us uh they started we with them started a pilot project they constructed uh three going on four uh Ray domes they call them two of three of two of the three that are active right now are on the top of water towers we don't we don't really have that option in Cook County here but uh but they're very effective uh they're collecting data and they're working again with the weather service so we'll continue that pilot project uh until the funding comes through which is which is our ask uh to our legislators again there's not really a dollar figure behind it uh but we want to keep this moving forward and Cook County is slated I think I I want to say there's two in front of us or maybe three and then Cook County is slated to be the next one so so as bringing this forward uh the the the committee wants to meet with uh with the partners up here so so I've reached out to Ruth and gr Portage I I've uh I'll be reaching out to the airport should that be a site uh ideally U Rowan and I have discussed possibly between here in gr Portage hoveland area um so I'll be reaching out to a group to start conversations in Virtual meetings and then the the couple of the committee members want to come up and and and see our fine County and look at some of these sites likely with clima vision in their back pocket so they can get a good idea what they're looking at especially with our unique topography up here so so that's our that's our two asks again this is just uh for your information say you know what I'm doing um our lobbyist uh has we we just met last week he was going to put together kind of a draft letter of support with with this basic information on both these initiatives um and then we can take that if if you choose as a board of directors to uh and and we can tweak that any way we like and then that will go with the packet uh as as it is as you know a budget year so so now is the time to uh to get down there we have solicited the uh the fire chief and duth to testify for us uh we believe we have a county sheriff um it's been kind of it's been kind of knowing that uh when I testified well you know what you know they say well I'll wear a suit and a tie well I don't wear a suit and a tie to work and so it doesn't fit but when the legislators see somebody in uniform maybe they pay attention a little more and I bring this forward to you because sometimes the county commissioner as as you see your here our our legislators at at different places holds a little weight maybe a little more weight than me even so so if if the letter of support is something you you all want to do I can work with Rowan of course on it and uh and get that in front of you if that's something you're interested in um other than that I just wanted you all to know what uh what I'm working on thank you thank you very much for the updating on that we will be going to see the legislators and especially Senator hild and U representative scraba so I just made a note here that we can put that on our list too commissioner Sullivan I just want to make a comment that at last year's Emergency Management conference we did have somebody come in that talked about this radar Gap and talked about how um it is not only an issue for finding out about the weather but in terms of just letting our pilot pilots who are flying through the area um know what conditions exist we've talked about it up at the airport I know you mentioned two of the three um radar units are currently on water towers and one is at an airport so I'm anxious to have that conversation with the airport U Mike maybe you can come out to one of our meetings sure and visit with uh that group of Commissioners but it is something that's really important for overall safety for our community and so I really would support that and would encourage us all to write a letter of support commissioner gamble thank you madam chair uh I would make a motion that we that mik work with row and drafting a letter that would be prior to our attendance so that we would have that for a consistent you know voice in reinforcing recommendation and I'll second that motion any comments questions all in favor I I same sign perfect thank you all thank you thank you so um commissioner gamble I think we're going to wait a couple minutes highway department has been very uh calm back there and waiting for their turn so we'll go ahead with that and then we'll go to those two points good morning morning excuse me good morning morning Commissioners uh today you get the B Team um and so uh engineer Kimmel Hass uh is actually out on an unforeseen illness so we are standing in um and uh what we're talking about today is awarding the contract for mil the hill and Associated projects this is Jacob Baker uh he is going to be the engineering Tech who who works on this project so if there's any specifics about this project he can hopefully answer those otherwise uh it's our recommendation that the highway department Awards the contract 1276 to the low bidder kgm contractors at the cost of 11,567 162 and2 um and I think people are vaguely aware of the project um and what it encompasses uh it's pretty complex there's a lot of funding sources um and we can kind of talk a little bit about those if needed um but kind of the underlying um important thing to remember is it's zero Levy dollars so um yeah does anybody have questions right now maybe you could just describe where it's going to be is it on the gunland yeah so mil the hill is the hill of gunland Trail um and uh Jacob I don't know if you want to talk more about it includes also the Cutoff Road as well as a bridge as you round the corner uh that goes over the little devil track yep so the project would start essentially at the intersection with Fifth Avenue here in town the Gunflint Trail itself will be milled off and overlaid heading all the way up to the Four Corners intersection at the golf course working through there from about the water tower just a little bit east of the water tower up to pin cushion there will be the addition of a slow traffic lane going up the hill um so that will be four lanes instead of three like it is now um then as you come around the bend up by Hogs Bend there there's a culvert on the little devil track River that's currently buried I think approximately 40 to 60 ft down um that Culver will be replaced with 168 ft single span Bridge um and then like he mentioned uh the C off road will be Mill and overlaid as well and the intersection of old ski hill road and uh the cut off road will be realigned so instead of the two roads meeting the gun flin at a single point which leads to kind of a binous parking lot there it will intersect it just perpendicularly and old ski hill road will actually come into cut off road at a more perpendicular angle as well so okay commission can you mind us is there shoulder work or something as well or um I thought there was a paved shoulder or something like that um as far as the shoulders I'm sure that they would probably be paved heading up the hill I'd have to look to answer for sure but I think what maybe spark in your memory would be the addition of that fourth lane and then the turn lane going into pin cushion as well and in terms of the implications on traffic and and project specifics uh Robbie is planning on hosting a town hall uh later in the spring so if that's helpful just in terms of public knowledge of what the implications are and then what the detours are uh cuz there will be a big impact on the summer um that information is going to be public M svin yes I'd just like to um thank Matt for bringing that up um the Gunflint Trail and District 4 has been very well informed by um engineer Hass about the project he's worked closely with Gunflint Trail Scenic byway um information has been shared with Cook County um Lake Associations and all of the resorts are very aware as well so through the Gunflint Trail Association there's been communication but I think that public meeting coming up is going to be really important um there have been lots of reminders on our local radio station and in the newspaper as well but really important that people understand it is going to be slow goinging give yourself extra time be patient and it will all work out and the work should be done next summer and then in coordination with that you may recall that Soil and Water is going to work on um issues that have occurred to the little devil track River and they got 319 funding uh through the feds have looked at that carefully and I see that Soil and Water is here is there anything um Elena or Stephen that you'd like to add about the project that you're doing no it's just it's sorry I don't have of voice it's been a good collaborative effort and we are using um in addition to 2018 funding one watered one one plan funding and we're just thankful to be working with Highway Department it's just been a really good partnership over the last year and a half to try to figure it out it's a new a new way moving forward to really you know what's what's going on in the landscape and how it's impacting water quality what can we do to you know work together so that it's it's one cohesive project so it's been a really good experience and we're all learning as we go along I think it'll be really great to have 168 foot Bridge instead of an undersized Culvert that's cutting out the the shoreline on the other side of the river and um it's going to be again a really great collaborative effort so thanks for that commissioner gamble thank you madam chair uh regarding the bridge as an engineer uh when you look at these projects uh with the deil track there and uh with our our weather concerns in the winter and stuff is there anything that's proposed to mitigate any issues relative to that bridge and icing uh we may have to kick the can down the road on this one one um this may be a question for uh engineer H um like I said we're sort of the B Squad here but uh we can certainly bring those he's watching right now and uh I'm sure he can address those at a another time yeah well when you're you know assessing improvements and uh changing things over uh experiences in engineer and planning whatever that those kinds of issues would would be addressed so that the Public's assuages relative to any concerns that might be created that we didn't anticipate so that's just a question that I've had posed to me so thank you um chair I'd like to make a motion to award the contract 1276 to kgm contractors for the cost listed have a motion and I'll second that motion and a second by commissioner suvan any other questions or comments all in favor hi hi poose same sign than a B Team Mill the hill sounds like it could be a song anybody want to work on that thank you a little dance that goes so back to um commissioner Gamble's questions on h& i h would be the promotion of Angelique yes thank you madam chair yeah H and I were both promotions and um I I just want to uh wanted to make a statement relative to that and certainly coming in as a new commissioner with some previous experience in Personnel committee uh I haven't been part of the process in in informing these decisions these uh promotions but as a just a generic statement uh respectfully I would say that it would be good and to the extent that the board has conducted much of this that's that's appreciated but I think an evaluation of Staffing and and efficiencies for County our size is is something that we should undertake it's not an easy task but it is a task that I I think would U be important uh certainly an important statement to the community that that we do that evaluation um uh it's it's healthy to evaluate efficiency and um I know there's been effort relative to redefining job descriptions to make sure that we cover our basis in those areas but uh that was my reluctance um out of respect uh nothing to do with the individuals that are being promoted but just as a suggestion that it would be good for us to evaluate that and to the extent that as a new commissioner I can be informed on the efforts that have been invested in defining roles and responsibilities and Staffing for County IRS eyes I am certainly welcome to understand that thank you for your comments one thing that happens and when it just appears here on the paper there is you know we have HR who works with this we have the different departments who um investigate what the need is for promotion so anytime you know you'd have questions Allison would be glad to answer them sure in terms of how all this happens when it gets to the paper yeah thank you madam chair any other comments on our process commission Madam chair I'd just like to approve the promotion of Angeli hman to deputy sheriff investigator and Neil Pon to assistant County attorney 2 uh support um all in favor I iOS i' be I'm propose simply based upon the statement that I made okay thank you then we'll move on to there she is to Land Services the temperance Trail uh residential planed unit development in tofy morning morning Madam chair morning Commissioners so with much uh long in the making I'm very very pleased to bring to you the preliminary plat that was recommended for approval at the December 18th Planning Commission meeting so this is an H sponsored project behind Birch Grove Community School you may recall back in about this time last year the conditional use permit was approved for the planned unit development and a planned unit development for residential uses essentially lays the groundwork for beginning this process so the preliminary plat was recommend for approval there was 12 conditions that were recommended to be attached to that approval um those 12 conditions were pretty important for the Planning Commission to feel comfortable with recommending approval there's still some some Kinks that need to get figured out for the project but there's still time between the preliminary plat and the final plat to get that resolved so um one item that was of interest at the conditional use permit level was how that space for bridge Groves uh play area was going to be um Main maintained and so there was space that was accommodated that was originally put as residential lots that is now uh set aside as common element for the school uses so the kids shall still have their space and that's part of the plat so this is all accessing off of the Good Neighbor Hill Road Good Neighbor Drive um and it's a dead end so instead of a culdesac it is a hammerhead turnaround and I did consult with the township and the fire department and um other Personnel to be sure and Sheriff Eliason to be sure that that camera had turnar around would be still sufficient for safety uh emergency services and they had no concern about that so um I think that's the biggest thing it doesn't have the full density of what the original conditional use permit uh was proposing but that was taken into consideration once space for septic and storm water and then the common element for the school it all kind of chipped away at the actual buildable space so the final uh proposal here is for the full buildout of the plat instead of a phase development so the full plat itself would have 12 single family homes with um you'll have to forgive my writing in my report but it's two duplexes so that was a little confusing but uh two two unit duplexes so four duplex units total so and I'm happy to answer any questions that you might have well thank you for moving this along and and working with the developer this is a long long piece of land that was designated by the township many years ago they did put put a well in but uh nothing ever happened and um luckily with Jason as our HR developer he was able to find a fellow from Southern Minnesota who can come in and and work with um HRA and the and the county and all of that so hopefully we'll have some demo houses up by maybe uh early summer late spring late summer have to do the final plat first they have to complete a septic design so there's there's still some pretty technical things that need to get resolved but I'm optimistic in 2025 you know unforeseen things but it would be very exciting right commission commissioner W um so is this going to have a shared well and shared septic for all of these units this is for the public's information yep so the the development itself is proposed to share the septic and the well uh the detail of that will get resolved once they kind of do a little bit more field work um but it is designed for all of the septic to flow into one common system and then the well they're not exactly sure yet if that's going to be one big well or need to be you know maybe a couple of Wells so that part was still un uncertain and uh I I would also note that a part of the discussion was about short-term rentals really briefly there's a a couple of H board members that were present that spoke during the public comment period obviously in support of the project and they mentioned that the H's contract with the developer was going to require covenants that restrict short-term uh rental activities in the development commissioner Sullivan well I can say that neeva has done a great job of shepherding this through it's been a long long process um but both in working with the HRA and the Planning Commission um there has just been a lot of adjustments that have needed to be made because of the water that's there on the site um because of the Bedrock that's on the site and it's just been quite amazing to watch the plat get developed and it was my pleasure to sign that plat I was hoping it would get done in time that I could do that and um so I'm really excited with the fact that this project is moving forward and um I'm very very thrilled it's going to make a big difference to people in the West End to have that additional housing to have some affordable units as part of that project um so very good great work if there aren't any other comments or questions I'll hear a motion Madam chair yes I'd uh make a motion to approve the resolution for the preliminary plat to subdivide one parcel into 16 residential lots or units as the plan unit development temperance Trail common interest Community preliminary plat with the conditions it's important okay being no other comments or questions all in favor I I oppos same sign thank you very much thank you next item number nine is uh Brady with uh public hearing to consider fee changes thank you madam chair this is uh a public hearing for fee changes for any of our departments uh we have two that are looking to change fees the highway department the auditor's office but others may be interested as well so I would ask you to set that date out to February 25th to allow us to get the word out and see if anybody else comes forward with changes and uh I we could set that date unless there's something else on the agenda at 9:00 a.m. on uh the 25th Mill Madam chair I'd like to make a motion to set the date for the public hearing to consider feed changes for 9:00 a.m. February 25th support any other questions or comments all in favor I I oppos same sign motion passes and the next item is a grant agreement between uh HRA the Redevelopment Authority Cook County and Harbor View LLC this is uh information you've had for some time how to fund the preservation of units at Harbor View Apartments uh for their Section 8 voucher holders the board previous agreed to $300 ,000 from our arpa funds lcf which uh went to HRA so they're pledging those funds towards this and then the county also got a $250,000 Grant as part of that uh it RB Bond and so that would also and the purpose of that was for this so the HRA Jason wanted to formalize uh this into a resolution so that's what this is you've already approved these this is just to formalize that in the form of a resolution which uh the H's attorney at fryberger uh created the resolution for us gambo thank you madam chair uh given the conflict of interest I recuse myself from voting on this accepted any questions or comments on this hearing none I'll accept a motion Madam chair I'd like to approve by resolution a grant agreement between the Cook County HRA Cook County and Harborview LLC to preserve up to 22 units of the Harborview apartments for Section 8 voucher holders I'll second any further questions or comments all in favor I I abstain commissioner gam motion passes with that okay Brady okay the last item I have is uh engagement letter for our 2024 audit and this would be with uh red path and Company so what it is is it's basically a a contract the engagement letter it describes the requirements that red path has to follow on conducting our audit and the preparation responsibilities of County staff and management for the audit so the the fee for the audit the base fee has gone up 3% but the total cost is actually down slightly uh for the 23 audit there was a special item for uh government Accounting Standards Board put in a new standard and they charged uh up to $1,500 for implementation which we do not have a new standard this year so even with that increase where it a slight decrease in cost um I would ask uh approval for uh engaging red path again we're we're happy with the services we've received the main reason we went to private audit um is that we had um difficulty getting full time and attention from the uh State audit staff after the audit to explain some of the adjustments that they might make at the end they're on to their next job and red path has given us the time and uh attention to understand all of that and uh Kelly's getting a very good education on some of this background so and it's less funding and uh than the cost for the state audit and this is for the engagement of the 2024 audit yes we just completed the 23 so this is for 24 G thank you madam chair I had a brief conversation with Brady on this and and my previous term as commissioner it was it was something that I recommend the board take a look at we consider uh looking for private audit as opposed to the state audit which we have you know consistently had done over the years and in in some research and just looking at it it just seemed that there would be benefit for us to be able to do that it might be in the area of cost savings but uh as as uh explained here and in my conversation with Brady he mentioned that it it's we found more receptivity and it's informed us more relative to the fiscal responsibilities and and um and it it saved us money those are are two good things and uh objectives well worth achieving uh in the discussion yesterday with Brady he mentioned something about um the benefits of revisiting the State audit and maybe BR if you just would like to say something to that point but just in general wouldn't necessarily have to be us but I think it's I think it's valuable for the state Auditors to be involved in audits specifically so that they provide the kind of oversight that they intend to provide and that they have that experience I know there's been a a large shift to private audits they used they used to do most of the audits around the the state other than very large counties and now um as the the legislature approved we couldn't go to private audit for years it wasn't until the legislature approved that um that we started looking at it and then we finally did but I just think in general it's uh it's good for oversight to have that kind of um nuts and bolts in order to provide that oversight we have good good people good practices now but um just to continue that um have that oversight for the future Madam chair I'd like to make a motion to um contract with red path for our 2024 audit support any other questions or comments all in favor oppose same sign motion passes thank you Brady on all of that moving on to item 10 administrator updates thank you madam chair uh few items of interest to share uh our search for the County Administrator we as of Monday we have 33 applications and the posting is will be closing tomorrow on the 15th and um DDA is is still hoping to to get a few more and it looks like we have a good mix of inst State and out of state with a lot of varied experience both public sector and and private sector so look forward to moving forward with that process uh LEC uh Expansion Project working with bkv the next meeting of the design team is Thursday and there's been some some changes some structural changes to the plan and we will be uh still tentatively on schedule to come before the board on February 25th with a schematic design um seeking board approval for for what the design team and and all of our partners put together for us the county project in partnership with Northshore waste continues to move forward we expect to have additional discussion at our Cal meeting on the 21st um we're looking to have uh other stakeholders and groups that can inform the conversation their Ellers I believe is going to attend as well asor Thompson and land service this is director Nelson to help kind of paint a full picture so that we can really dial in the best way to move forward with that project and then lastly I'll just share the uh CIP and deferred maintenance uh continues to move forward with our facilities director Brook lard and the southwest corner of the uh Courthouse basement being redesigned for a better use of the space to address some of our immediate office space needs excuse me continues to move forward as well that's update of the items that I have okay commissioner gamble yeah thank you madam chair Ron do you know with regard to the transfer station um where the permitting process is in that at all I mean do we have to have approval of the uh design and everything else before we can make that application which I assume maybe so to the state to the state I'm not sure that would be my assumption that we'd want to have the the design agreed upon and and supported and and dialed in before permitting um the reason I bring it up is in attending the northern Count's landard Coordinating Board there was some considerable discussion about the fact of the the the state uh process and permitting has just been horrendous okay and so a lot of expectation when it comes to plans and timelines and things you're not anticipating it but if if the discussion coming out of Northern County's land use Coordinating Board is any indication uh I just wondered if we've you know talked to State about that and whether we see that it's going to be a smooth process or we're going to run up with some disillusionment there that's all that's a good a good thing to bring up and and I'll see what I can find out uh and share that especially considering the the timelines that we have associated with funding received for the project that's right yeah thank you thank you commission Mills okay chair um ran do we have um any rough numbers yet for the courthouse basement project no okay uh we're waiting to get a design uh dsgw is a a firm that is in the area working already I believe with the hospital as well as the school on some of their projects and uh facilities director lard brought them in and so they're they're under contract but they they haven't given us a design yet once that design comes forward there'll be numbers Associated and we'll inform the board as soon as possible thank you that's good news for sure anything else for Rowan okay then we'll move move on to employee concern commissioner concerns so I just have an update that was handed me from Grace um that they would like a commissioner representative on the uh food access Council but I believe um commissioner Mills is not able to do that because of the timing is that correct uh no I I thought we voted for me to do that that's what I thought yeah right okay and yeah we're going to check on the time and I believe that invite was sent out and that will work January 17th 1: 3 yes oh yes yes okay so you're good with that yep all right so at this time um commissioner gamble we do kind of a round robin and just kind of talk about um any meetings that we've been uh to that would be informative to the group um there's no pressure um right now probably we haven't been to too many meetings was at the gichigami meeting the trail meeting and they uh the DNR are coming down to uh post uh no snowmobile signs on the new portion from ski hill road to Arrowhead for now and that's about all they can do they have contracted someone to clear the trail so after half a foot half a foot snow I saw somebody out there clearing the trail so people can walk and use it as a trail so that's my uh update updating anybody else well my updating is um the meeting I attended yesterday at the uh The Hub and U their financials and and David commissioner Mills they really would like to have you come to a meeting so you can ask them questions firsthand um and and we did call Brady yesterday during the meeting we needed historic perspective and he was very helpful but once a and he could fill us all in at some point Once Upon a Time um The Hub or it was this Cook County Senior Center uh was a line item well actually Sharon Bloomquist was an employee uh of the county it changed over time and but it was a line item in our uh budget that the the senior center received funding for their operations uh at this point they receive the funding they receive is only through the grant that they apply for through the uh Public Health and Human Services Which is less than half of what they got years ago um and they want to have a conversation with the board or do even a presentation about their need to get some sort of more stable uh affirmed commitment on an annual basis um they're going after a grant Rider and trying to find money that way but um prices continue to rise and for all of their efforts uh at fundraising and donations they're going to need need some sort of Dependable some some dollar amount that they can uh count on annually so they would like to have some sort of a conversation with all all of us as a board uh it was suggested that perhaps they could be on the committee of the whole agenda for a conversation and um so that was the primary uh conversation yesterday and also they are going to be doing a pasty fundraiser um coming up and those details will be forthcoming so it's a very active place down there commission Mills so um second Monday of the month I take it do you what time is it's 1:30 to 3 3:00 3:30 in the afternoon it depends okay so 1:00 I'll 130 1:30 thank you I'll be in duth next month uh but the following month in March I will put that in there and um and show up okay let them know and one thing you do need to know that they have have been given a uh contribution of a new popcorn machine with new popcorn and oils and it's really good popcorn these days commissioner white um do you know what the grant amount is that they're receiving right now I believe it's like 60 some an might even know she's a better uh60 some thousand from public health in human services man of and that does not pay for any of their I mean I I don't know specifically where it goes to but they have two paid employees I think uh when I was commissioner before and commissioner Starley would be able to affirm this that uh as a county we were giving them $50,000 $50,000 is what we were doing of course this would have been up to 20 2016 so considerable time since that since that time and I think uh well anyway looking at at funding and um what we used to do with non-mandated funding and how some of that's get alligated and moved into public health uh that that's an area and talking with other counties um the extent of funding and what we can do given you know pressure on the levy is is something certainly we look at um I always encourage that there were if there were ways that we could come along these organizations and help them and part of that was just financial management looking at uh how much they were generating themselves um that that's always a healthy thing to see organizations that were proactive in being able to generate funds so it's a partnership and uh I think that's an important element always in evaluating those things so and that and and that is why they would really like to have a conversation so all of those questions they have um they get audited they they have their numbers all in place and it would also I would like to bring this up perhaps that we as a the services that excuse me the services that are provided or the space that is offered um free of charge to nonprofits down at the Hub um is a whole array of community um Community needs and um we as a County Commissioners I would like us to have a a conversation about what our values are for leadership if it is and it's going to be a balancing act because we have a growing population with people coming in buying real estate I mean there's nothing wrong with all of this but do when we look at our budget and directions we are going how do we balance providing for the existing culture the existing people that have lived here that have settled here just for decades their needs and now many of them are on a restricted budget with the newer people that are coming in buying real estate buying houses and their expectations that they that perhaps they could have like street lights in more places and just some of the things they left behind in the urban areas and to have them here and what is our what do we as a board feel is important to um to to go as a county if we do more roads we need we need more people we need more equipment and that would to be to accommodate um the pressure or the requests of people that though they bought their property on a forest service road which the county does not have a responsibility to upkeep but it is a safety issue if we have property owner owners County or Community people living on a road that is not safe so what's our responsibility and how far do we go with that that's just one one little issue but I would like us to have that on Committee of the whole also at some point like how do we all feel about that so we have the Hub yeah sometime and where are we going with some of our values and what do we think and that could probably all be folded together um we'll work that out okay thank you commissioner Mills thank you chair and just for our perspective um the phhs fund uh Grant Awards um starting in 2018 total was 130,000 uh 2019 was $130,700 was $133,000 55 2021 was 135,000 2022 was 137,00 and um so that's not keeping up with inflation and um and and clearly there are uh many needs in our community um that are that are not being addressed um as far as the funding directly to the hub uh in 2018 it was 64,900 2019 it was 56,3 40 2020 is 54,5 uh 2021 is a quick search I don't have the 2023 and 2024 numbers so I'll keep looking for those but um clearly there is a need and and as commissioner white said um uh the services that are provided there are integral to our community so I think it's it's um excellent to to look through um where the funds are going um in this list in the process has changed as far as the application's concerned but in this list the other agencies was Burch Grove um Care Partners uh restorative justice uh higher ed Community Ed cooperation station violence prevention center so um all worthy worthy organizations um and uh all of the requests well I shouldn't say that most most of the requests were not met um for the 2022 funding commissioner Mills just clarification when you say most of the requests were not met are you talking about based on what they asked for or not yes not met at all uh in other words they weren't given any funding or just it was beneath what their expectation was just beneath for instance BR Grove was asking for 25 and they received 15 um restorative justice was asking for 12 they received almost eight okay um um community at is 15 and it was almost 10 Cooper station was almost asking for 60 it was around 27,000 uh The Hub was asking for 78,000 they got 41 so that kind of discrepancy I think is um felt in a major way by those organizations I give that information that'll all be part of our budget talk when we start discussing that for 202 six for sure anybody else have any meetings they'd like to report on thank you madam chair I just mentioned I with the northern County's land use Coordinating Board on the agenda was the issue of of uh transfer stations and and uh Solid Waste Management and the frustration with permitting uh another issue was pilled which is an ongoing discussion that goes on and on and on but evidently at the state level uh there was a questionnaire that was sent out to the 87 counties and um about 50% of the counties responded and I I think that the state took that as sort of a u a release of responsibility because we didn't have everybody participate and my recommendation is maybe there was something if we could understand why 50% didn't respond if we could help them to simplify the process so that we could have the full voice of 87 counties responding to the pilt issue and why it matters as you know as a board because you've dealt with this in multiple levels is that um in the rural areas it's about 10% of what they're getting in in urban areas when it comes to the uh payment of Lua taxes relative to per acre and uh we know how important it is to us in Cook County and all of these things are that we need to respectfully Advocate and and um be sure that that we're uh reinforcing the importance of this to us in in our financing the other part of it that's frustrating is that the basis under which they evaluate these things is not forthcoming so we don't know the Matrix under which they're evaluating and coming up with whatever and if you don't have an open honest conversation in that regard it puts us at a dis advantage and that's why I think that it's important for the Integrity in the process that that the state is forthright in in saying this is how we're evaluating so we can look at it and see if it's fairly based thank you ongoing conversation yes Madam shair I just like to share that I was able to confirm the NorthShore waste does need to have finalized plans before they're able to submit for permitting thank you for checking that but anybody else have any meetings commissioner Sullivan so I have uh a number to report on the HRA is in the process of hiring a new HRA director and I would like to encourage um board members who are able to watch the interviews they will be live streamed the finalist interviews tomorrow from noon to 3: and um the Personnel committee developed the process C set aside um questions both for preliminary interviews which were held via zoom and also the secondary interviews that are coming up in person they've coordinated with Allison plumber our HR director and reviewed applications thoroughly and did those initial interviews and gave kind of a homework assignment to the finalist candidate so they could get writing samples and take a look at kind of their thought process and how they would handle a particular situation but again tomorrow that uh those final interviews will be live streamed from 12: to 3: airport commission um has finished their personnel reviews their updating contracts and um are waiting on mediation results um and information uh Safety Committee has put together a survey and so all of us as Commissioners as well as employees are encouraged to complete that survey at close is Friday January 24th um topics include what types of things you'd like to see as a Safety Committee um in terms of our whether it be in-person instruction um or video instruction but just what are the areas regarding safety that you would like to see in the next year Soil and Water Conservation District has been updating their policies regarding conservation contracts cost share and soil Health um they updated their credit card policy and put together a fund balance policy Gunflint Trail Scenic byway is uh working with the Cook County invasives team this year to develop a cleanup day they're going to pull weeds and collect seeds so um they're working right now on finalizing a name for that event it will be held in July and uh so we'll get updated on that uh County Coalition of lakes met recently and they have established four action groups for this year aquatic invasive species which would include the rusty crayfish that we heard about earlier water quality surface water and then trails in lands and the last things I'd like to bring up are a couple of things that we should think about as Community leaders not only this group but also thinking about the school district the the hospital the city of grand morray um but we have a community leadership group meeting coming up February 13th James has always um been in charge of those um that goes from 5:30 to 7: Via zoom and I'm going to recommend um that we move forward with that meeting so that we can have all of our community groups come together to talk to us about what we want to do jointly for the legislature before we go down there in February it's really important that we listen to the school district um they have a lobbyist that they're going to be working with we want to find out the needs of the hospital the City of Grand marray but get all our partners together so again we have one voice for Cook County so again that's February 13 5:30 to 7 via zoom and then lastly I met um with Amber Lewis who is working with noran she's done the rural community safety program that brought up before and um I'm hoping to have an in-person meeting with her on the 16th and potentially some of the data and information they have collected through our community could be shared with that Community leadership group in February and that would be it for my reports okay thank you I'll will be in duth tomorrow and Thursday is there some way that I can get the interview through HRA or you get it online y okay all righty on that um just to a couple of thoughts before we move on um when we're um voted as a County Commissioners I think our lives kind of change a little bit because we're part of a larger group we get phone calls we go to meetings that we normally don't go to and um one of the things that I have always been concerned about is our health and um right now we're in a community where we're having some neuro virus we're having flu we're having uh upper respiratory things going on so I would just suggestion that uh at times um commissioner Mills and I have worn a mask to our meetings um when I go to an event um funeral or whatever if I think I have a problem I will test before I come to the board meeting or wear a mask um because we're in close proximity here and if you do find that you get up on a meeting morning and things aren't going well with you then you know give um minister Roland a call or Dave a call or myself um just so we know what's going on so that um we can be um aware of anything that's happening but um it's really important in the winter not so much in the summer and I think when we um come off the holidays things are circulating so um just be aware of that and and I you know if we have health concerns in the future um to let somebody know so we can uh walk the path with you too so that's just is part of of being a commissioner and and looking out for each other too so we do have um upcoming meetings to note um uh Cook County Housing and Redevelopment airport advisory and just to note to everybody that on uh Monday January 20th the courthouse will be closed in regards to uh Martin Luther King Day so we do have public health and Service Board next week committee the whole also next week um Eda on the 21st Board of Commissioners budget and facility advisory committee that's all coming up um by the end of the month and even into um a little bit into February so we have recognition of our staff that we do now um January staff anniversaries we have Anne Paulson who's uh with Soil and Water one year Caleb Johnson with maintenance one year Max tol Soil and Water one year will shinb one Highway Department one year Ariel charlier uh Public Health and Human Services two years John speaker Public Health two years Andrea tofy Public Health three years Nathan Carlson with Highway Department three years Adriana bristen with the auditor's office four years Brody Smith Land Services in the West End of recycling Center seven years Mitch Travis with Land Services eight years Nanette silence Highway Department 14 years Martina Johnson Public Health and Human Services 18 years and Holly schroer and recorder's office 26 years that office seems to like the people they like the office and then we have a milestone anniversary Leah extrom uh Mis uh with 10 years and with that we'll have a motion to adjourn so moved support all in favor I I I meeting is adjourned thank you everybody okay is the uh that community meeting does chamber meet no