##VIDEO ID:3Fwhjtxjxms## are we ready we are ready it's 9:04 I'd like to call the uh croing County Board of Commissioners meeting to order we will start with the pledge and a moment of silence I to FL of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all first on the agenda we are going to recognize uh John melson good morning Mr chair Commissioners today I'd like to honor a remarkable individual whose 10 years of dedicated service have left anable mark on our organization and it's John melson John would you come up and join me get him out of his comfort zone so as John embarks on a well-deserved retirement I want to take a moment to reflect on his exceptional contributions from day one John's attention to detail has set the standard uh that many of us aspire to achieve he approached every task with meticulous care ensuring that nothing was overlooked his commitment not only uh elevated the quality of projects but also instilled a culture of excellent within his team John's professionalism has been the Cornerstone of his tenure he approached challenges with a calm and collected demeanor inspiring confidence in those around him his ability to communicate effectively and Foster positive relationships May made a lasting impact on the workplace environment continuous Improvement has been the driving force in John's career him uh brace new ideas and sought out innovative solutions always striving to enhance Pro uh processes and outcomes his passion for growth has inspired us all to push our boundaries and seek excellent in our work as a leader John has been a Guiding Light for many his mentoring of colleagues encouraging them to reach their potential while fostering collabor ation and teamwork his leadership style has not only shaped uh our projects but has also created a supportive environment where everyone can thrive in project management John's expertise was unparalleled he navigated complex initiatives with skill and foresight ensuring that our goals were met with precision and timeliness his ability to manage resources effectively anticipate challenges has been uh crucial for our success as we bid farewell to John we celebrate not just his professional achievements but also the friendships he's forged and Legacy he leaves behind John thank you for your unwavering dedication your exemplary leadership and profound impact you've made on your team uh you will be greatly missed but we wish you all the best in your new chapter of your life congratulations on retirement John come up and say a few words come on up John you want to grab a mic and say a few words no he said it all oh he said it all if not a little more okay we do need a photo y hear this I can do that if you want be picture no I don't [Music] we get one from the good [Music] side learn now to open form I don't have anything in front of me is there anybody here for open form that wants to speak on something that's not on the agenda anybody [Music] here online H anybody online anybody online no okay we will go on to uh rev review and approve the minutes to approve second motion from franzine second by coring all in favor signify by saying I I I post same sign hearing none motion carries review and approve the agenda no changes Mr chair motion to approve second second motion by franzine second by Barrow all in favor signify by saying I I I all opposed same sign hearing none motion carried consent agenda Mr chair I'll make a motion to approve second motion by Barrow second by franzine all in favor signify by saying I I post same sign hearing none motion carries public hearing Mr chair I would so move that we open the public hearing on the amendments to the solid waste ordinance second motion by coring seconded by Francine to open the public hearing to open the public hearing all in favor signal by saying i i i p same sign hearing none we are open for public hearing anybody here to speak to this do I have to say that three times yeah anybody here for the uh public hearing for amendments to Solid Waste ordinance anybody online anybody here for Amendment to the Sol waste ordinance was that three times yes huh okay nobody here um so Mr chair just a question I wonder if we should U I guess people can look at the packet but I wonder if just a quick explanation of of what the County Board is doing here probably would be in order yep sounds good sir good morning uh what you have before you today uh Mr chair members of the board is uh an update to the County Solid Waste ordinance uh last time the ordinance was updated was back in 1994 we recently had our 10-year Solid Waste Management plan approved by the Minnesota Pollution Control agency and one of the uh uh requirements of getting that um plan approved was that the state uh um said that we also needed to update um the solid waste ordinance at the same time and so we've been fortunate to have burn McDonald as our um consultant helping us with landfill and Sol waste related activities over the years and uh they also assisted Us in um putting together this draft um of the uh of the solid waste manage of the solid waste ordinance um this did go before the solid waste committee and recommended um coming to the county board for the uh um to make a recommendation to approve uh the ordinance uh there is a memorandum in your package on dated September 5th from um Burns McDonald and just with some summary and over what's being um uh updated and changed um really what we're what we're trying to do is just clarify um some more detail for holler licensing requirements for those um companies that uh um use a landfill for solid waste disposal um had some clarification on Solway storage collection and Disposal and particularly related to nuisances I know that uh our current ordinance now is is had some rather um weak language referring to nuisances and and that and so we strengthened that to give us a little more ability to um encourage folks to get their properties more cleaned up and maintained better um and then uh just making sure we have good clear language for facility requirements um any of the fees that the board would like to you know to to set is clarified in this ordinance as well as well as inspections violations and enforcement of of the ordinance we're still in public hearing we are okay we did put this out for public comment um we received one uh a couple comments one um from a uh gentlemen wondering if the if the county would look into doing more of an organized collection where the county would organize and be the ones that would set um set the haulers and set up districts and zones within the county and assign different haulers to do that um and then another was just from the city of nisah um just asking for some clarification on the ordinance itself Mr chair just a follow-up question on that do we have the authority to even set it across the county or do the municipalities have their own authority so the solid waste ordinance does actually go is for the county in general but most cities have um ordinances that are more restrictive frankly than what the county has so typically if we get any sort of complaints related to solid waste it does get referred to the city and they typically take care of that themselves thank you Mr chair if there's no other public comment I would so move that we close the public hearing on the solid waste ordinance motion by coring seconded by franzine all in favor signify saying I I post same sign hearing none public hearing closed on the solid waste and they're asking for approvement of the public of the amendments to the solid waste ordinance that motion second motion by coring second by FR oh motion by Franz and second by coring all in favor signify saying I I post same sign hearing none the solid waste ordinance amendment is approved Mr chair I would make a motion to open a public hearing updating the regarding updating the cro County Recreation ordinance second motion by Barrow second by coring all in favor signify saying I I I pull same sign we are in a public hearing for the update to the croing County recreational ordinance is there anybody here who would like to speak to that or anybody online that would like to speak to that is there anybody here or online that would like to speak to that Mr chair if Chris would indulge us and give us a little I got one more time I got one oh one more time go ahead is there anybody here that would like to speak to the update for the Crowing County recreational ordinance that is my third time Mr chair Chris if you would give us a little update on that too for the public thank you Mr chair commissioner barrows uh what you had before you today excuse me is an update to the County's recreational use ordinance this would um have rules and requirements for activities on County administered lands within the county itself uh you'll what you'll see uh in the ordinance that we've got regulations and and things that cover items like County Parks our public water access points Trails camping Environmental Protections hunting trapping and then the violations and penalties that go along with that uh so this does this is an ordinance that does combine another ordinance we have a a St ordinance for hunting stands on County l we've now encapsulated that into this ordinance so now there's just one ordinance related to the recreational use um for the county including that um and then uh the uh we there was one proposed change to this that we received based on comments that we received we currently if you look at on page three under hunting and trapping uh we had it set in there that um hunting stands will be prohibited within 300 ft of a trail um and we got some a comment from DNR thinking that maybe 300 ft might be the wrong number it might be more to stay 50 ft off a trail but then to go back on page 4 8.10 would be then prohibit um trapping of any kind within a park or access or within 300 ft of Any Trail so just wanting to make sure that we're um not pushing deer stand so far off of a trail that's unreasonable but also wanting to make sure that we're not putting anybody that would be using a trail um with possibly an animal or a dog that there would be any um concern over um getting an animal in a trap like that so that'd be the only change um based on the original draft that was presented to the board this has gone through uh the natural resource advisory committee reviewed it and has recommended approval as well and uh as I mentioned we did get some comments from based on this and uh the couple one of the comments was uh that uh wanting to have more um uh like garbage cans out and that for but they appreciate the trails another comment uh had talked about that Riders should be able to use ATVs within the parks and and that and which we still not sure that they think that's probably the right spot to be having ATVs uh in the Parks as well as then another clarification for the city of nisah and then the last one that we referred to was from Christine rise with DNR about that uh setback distance for trails and for um for traffic so um I think this ordinance uh really takes some some previous ordinance and and puts it into one and it's I think it's uh U will make it so people understand what the expectations are when using County lands for recreational uses thank you if there's no other comments I would make the motion to close the public hearing second motion by barel second by coring all in favor signify by saying I I I post same sign hearing none motion carries Mr chair I make the motion to support the updated croing County recreational ordinance motion by Barrow seconded by franzine all in favor I have a question can I ask that question now absolutely um so when when we have a park that's inside of a jurisdiction whether it be a Township that has planning zoning or whatever or has their other ordinance or a city like up with the fire tower that's kind of in the jurisdiction do we abide At All by theirs let's say there is no hunting or no trapping or something like that that they have Citywide if our park is inside of that City do we abide by there is the most restrictive or the less restrictive we would we would always work with a municipality um if there's any separate regulations that we need to follow so we would coordinate with them for sure okay okay that was that was all I had y so we had a motion in a second all in favor signify by saying I I I'll oppose same sign hearing none motion carried thank you Chris thank you Mr chair I would make the motion to open the public hearing regarding the petition to vacate part of heartley Drive second motion by barel second by Coring all in favor sign by 5 saying I I post same sign hearing none we are in public hearing to hear the vacation the vacate for part of heartley Drive good morning good morning name for the record and stuff excuse me name and stuff for the record so Alex cun uh appearing with Mr Steven tizzy titsy go ahead oh yes so we're seeking a a road vacation uh more specifically that part of heartley drive as dedicated on the plat a first addition to heartley Shores lying easterly of the West line of lot one block three extended Northerly said part and lying westly of the east line of said lot one block 3 extended Northerly um it's our position that all the elements uh for for vacating uh this portion uh are established we have a petition that's signed by all um uh interested neighbors or all neighbors that are within three miles uh they are not opposing a said Road vacation um the there's an Affidavit of mailing for all affected parties that have been placed on notice for said uh for said Road vacation um notice of Affidavit of publication has also been um submitted and I'll open up to any questions but uh from our POS our position the elements have been established to uh vacate the road that uh the portion of the road that they are seeking in the application if you have any historical questions you can certainly defer them to Mr titsy Mr chair yes so looking at the map that's up there so can you I see something in blue there so can you just explain where the the vacation would be and then what is the reasoning on this okay the um we live at the end of heartley drive and it shows on some maps that heartley drive connects to heartley Circle it doesn't that's actually our driveway um the reason we'd like it vacated is we get people turnning around in our yard few times a month um there's really I mean they're right in front of our garage if we have vehicles there they end up backing on our lawn um couple weeks ago a couple guys on four-wheelers came in they were looking for a place to bow hunt you know and looking at the plat maps and there's a hunting app out there that shows the road going through um you know it's been our driveway for 14 years it's been like this for about 50 I think 1972 was when that was painted driveway Excuse excuse me just a second could you bring up uh 73c it should it may be a little better uh picture of it it's it's in color yeah yeah the wooded I mean the colored portion the aerial maybe the aerial view you might be looking for would obviously indicate that this is a wooded area there that that one there looks kind of I think does a little better job of describing it exactly okay and if you look at the aerial GIS mapping you can IND you can see that obviously it was never a road um it's a wooded area Mr chair yes so what is the green what does the green indicate that's the other parcel that's owned by right um that's our parcel also and that's what started this 14 years ago when we realized they the taxes weren't paid out of our escrow my wife started the paperwork just to made it one parcel just for convenience and um I forget who she worked with at the county who was real helpful until she got to the point that said well wait we can't do that there's a road there so we just kind of dropped it forgot about it um paid the taxes and but over the years it's just because get people keep coming in our yard thinking it's the road going through and it it just doesn't so just a couple questions if you can just answer that so so right now Mr chair yes oh please do so the green the green is not where your house is the the upper green is the upper green is yes and you own the The Little Triangle part correct it doesn't would that be even be a buildable lot I mean would there be a building envelope or you don't know the answer to that I I I don't know the answer to that we wouldn't do it we I mean we would maybe put a building garage or you know a shed or something but M so how do you Mr chair so how do you access your property where your house is heartly Drive is that how you access to your property heartley Drive yes our address is heartley drive and the red line there is actually our driveway we've it's it was paved we paid to have it redone it's it's been our driveway since we've owned it and uh from what my neighbors tell me it's been a driveway since 1972 so Mr chair so if somebody wanted was on Harley Circle and they wanted to get to Harley Drive they can't drive on that red portion there that no there's actually a fence um um at it'd be the West the end of the red line at the top of the red line okay and that's been there as long as I know okay so you mean you put you put your excuse me but you put your driveway and everything on un publicly dedicated right away we didn't it's been there since 70 far as I know how long have you had the property Steve 14 years okay I don't know when the plant was done I have no idea on that these people would you like like to talk County engineer would like to speak okay anybody else like to speak on this do you have something it's in unorganized right mhm your District yes okay Mr chair and Commissioners um thank you um so this process uh for application for vacation goes through a county process where the administration and the audit of treasur verify the signatures and Land Services looks at the property and the attorney's office also looks at it and then the highway department is last to look at it too and that's how it ends up uh at my office and um one of the things that we are looking at is there any current or future use or potential for use of for transportation uses and my comments uh related to this are that there are future Transportation uses for this is public property uh currently although there is not a current Road there now there is a potential of connecting um heartley drive and Harley Court um with heartley Lake Road so if you have have a pointer can I use your pointer oh y okay the connecting making this connection between here one of the challenges that we have in the fat and it makes it very difficult to maintain is the discontinuous nature of all the roads think about having to plow these roads and maintain these public roads go down to a Col AAC and dead end and although we we have not tried to make this connection uh there might be future uh request to do that and we want to eventually make this a continuous system as we can to um have our maintenance efforts to be continuous as possible and so my recommendation is to not um allow this vacation because of that potential it has the plat was uh 1968 and so it was platted to the public um in 1968 and I'm not sure when the houses and things started to go in there so um this is unlike many of the others that you've seen recently on the north side of North Long Lake that are already fragmented and there is absolutely zero potential of them ever being a transportation asset in the future this one has the potential and that's why I um for my recommendation to not allow it because someday it might be 50 years from now I mean it was platted in' 68 and we have and it's been there like like this for a while but it has the potential of a transportation asset and so that's the basis of my recommendation is to not allow this because it does remove that potential I think there's some Lots in here that are un currently unoccupied and undeveloped um they're all there but there's not houses on them individually someday when those all split out and be separate they the the folks within there may want that road to be developed this one and then also be continuous so again that's the basis for my recommendation to not allow this V vacation Mr chair yes so are all these roads heartley Drive heartley Lake Road are they all uh public roads that are in the um unorganized system yes they are I just handed another thing to for consideration a new discovery that we that we found yesterday Rob brought to my attention is that there that plat that was filed in 1968 also mentions an easement on your prop on this particular property and I think it's we're kind of upside down there's a reference to it in the plat oh one more turn there we go there's a reference to it in the plat and it's um we haven't verified the easement it might be on your uh property documents um there a 20 foot M so you'll see that this is pretty narrow in here and you might ask well it's not 66 ft how could it ever be a road well back when this plat was filed it references an easement of another 20 ft to get it which lies on your partially on your property and all those along there so if the County Board was to move forward with the vacation of what's platted there it would also have to include somehow to vacate that easement on those properties too because that is also dedicated to the public is our understanding so just another little twist if you so choose to move forward there there may be more to be included that is considered public easement so then a question I'm assuming you're a lawyer mhm so what is that what does that do to it then with what he just said with regards to a potential easement that's reflected um I don't without looking at the land record looking at the the title that would indicate the easement that's been established I'm here for the road vacation yeah I I guess I can't comment on whether there's an easement the basis is the the vacation there has been no public usage um you've gotten no issues with any of the neighboring parties that have uh been put placed on notice as Mr titsy has indicated the property has been in his hands for 14 years it's not been used for any public purpose at that time he's indicated that you know prior owners have indicated it's been you know plat has been there 68 and once again there's been no uh no intentions of moving anything forward for any public purpose um I'm sorry I didn't catch your name but as you can see there I mean there is obviously Public Access it's not it wouldn't be contiguous if if if that obviously that road vacation is is granted but once again that we're not there is still Public Access for these Parcels that we're seeing it's you know the heartley Lake Road um and obviously heartley drive so I believe the elements have been established for a road vacation uh that might that the applicant has submitted question for Tim so that heartly I think it's called circle is it or heartley yes CL whatever that is is that even with that easement does it give you 66 ft the easement that I just showed yeah show goes all the way up through these Parcels the plat doesn't include I want to say this these Parcels but does it give heartly heartly Circle or heartly C whatever that is heartly circle does it give that does it give it 66t then with that easement or do we still are we still short of having 66 because I don't think we take over roads unless it's 66 foot it appears that there is a 20ft easement see how Narrows down this is 66 ft from this point to this point and then it kind of necks down it's that is about 40 feet 46 feet and then there's another easan on the north side of this so would make it 66 feet so we have there is 66 uh a subject to reviewing that easement document we just found reference to it on the 68 plat um the I sorry to interrupt but I did did pull the the deed that reflects ownership of uh the tisis and it does not reference any easement um there might be other records of it sometime you know yeah I know it's it's unorganized not as simple as it's unorganized territory for a reason right yeah it might take further further review of that so it might be reflected on these properties though so we can get into that later Mr chair yes so for Tim uh I I don't know I guess I I'm still trying to figure out your reasoning for not being in favor of this so you want it to be a ro in the future you want it to possibly be there for a road to continue on so or what I think it's removing uh commissioner coring it's removing the potential of making uh continuous these roads continuous it's removing the potential but and if there is a calling once these develop for example if if these Lots develop and there is a request to make a make the road wider or continuous through there we would have to go back to to Mr titsy and his wife to purchase property for them to do it right now it's publicly held and so it is all my recommendation is based on the potential or losing the potential of doing that and that's the difficult decision that you all have is is um the potential that happening in the next couple decades worth denying their request and Mr chair so that's your driveway now that red portion is your driveway so and so when people you're saying people are turning around so they come up hardly driving instead of taking right and it looks like there's a roundabout there or not a roundabout but a turnaround and they come up thinking that they can go through there and they get to your yard or right and actually according to the way it's listed on the map they can go through there it's it's dedicated public easement right and um we put a sign at the end of the driveway private property no turnaround which has helped but um like the guys the hunters or they said they were looking for a place to hunt they were kind of beligerant about it and they were right in front of my house like where I park a car and it was that's not part of the road or what could be road um I don't know that it's for what it's worth heartley Circle ends at that end of the red line it doesn't go south I don't know if that makes makes any difference here that that road hasn't been completed or put in yet so there is no you know that that road dropping down to the kisac that's all just raw land at this time but it is a deed plat or I mean it is a plat what you see um are the platted roadways so the those out line in blue are platted roadways now some of them don't have roads on them that's that's Mr tits's point is that there's not no Road currently occupying that so then that brings up another question so then if there's if it's all platted and there's no roads who's going to put the roads in to get to these Lots you're going to have depends on the request it might be the developer that does want to develop this it might be a County Board decision to do that or a future County Board decision to make this discontinuous I don't know been here 12 years I don't think we've ever done that say well there's some Lots down here we're going to put a road in never done that you might be requested to do that is what I'm saying a develop request to actually build the road and I mean I I've seen it where where people have requested that we pave their road but actually to actually build a road you think that might happen if a developer goes in there I'm not talking to you I'm talking to the County engineer thank you Tim what do you think do I think that we would ever do it if a developer said would you recommend that I it depends on the circumstance I I know that isn't you want a yes or no answer but I think it depends on the circumstance of what the developer of that area uh requests I don't know this is is it okay if I ask the question yeah thank you um so on that heartly Circle if just to the red line just you know from starting up at the where it comes to heartley Lake Road then goes to heartley Circle um do we have 66 feet you propose that we have or you think we have 66 ft with that road and that easement supposedly granted to the those lots or granted from those lots yes I believe the plat says 46 platted roadway and then there's a referenced and easement that he he's currently not finding on Mr tits's deed um to get us up to where his D that red line on so his part of his lot on the lake part of Steve's lot on the lake would have would have that 20 some foot easement or would have it all the way along that property ID number 991 1574 can you go back to the plat and zoom in I think that'll help with your answer it references an 20ft easement all along these properties okay and we um so it be all the way so notice that this lot is I'm sorry uh is this lot right you own this lot and you own a portion of this lot and so that referenced EAS 20ft easement goes all the way along this line which is adjacent to the platted roadway so it's it's actually in a different plat it might be located not on your deed only but it might be on the plat that includes this area the whole area is platted and so yes the answer then is this I believe says 46 ft hard to see that and then this dedicated easement is 20 ft here so that makes a total 66 ft so it could put we have all the property we need to build a road there if it's requested if I've been if I was directed if if a developer wanted to come in and do it when developing heartly Circle they would have the property to do that and that would be I'm saying in our best interest to allow them to make the continuous network of roadways that we desire in the first assessment District so I thought Mr chair I thought when something's platted the roads have to be put in or is that not necessary necessarily the case in 1968 that was not the standard so who owns Mr chair who owns all these Lots going down is this heartley circle where there there's a turnaround down there is that who owns all that is individually people own individ these Lots along here commissioner Cory yes yes um they're individually owned some own a couple um adjacent to one another um there's no Road how do they get down to those lots is it a trail now if you went to the aerial photo we could maybe ascertain if they're how are they getting I know that there's one main there's road to all those lots kind of right in the middle on the west side right the the ones at the top of heartley circle there's two lots that are one there's two Parcels that are one there owner they can access it from heartley Circle everybody else on the west side of heartley Drive accesses those lots from Harley Drive um and those are if we could get back to the picture those I think so the you can use the laser if you need it yeah oops let's see what you got here yeah just just press the red all right well so anyway hold it the top two lots okay here and here wow wow I think I not you're saying I think I was trying to say is that these Lots right here are accessed up heartly D those are accessed on heartley drive and those there's no heartly Circle there those lots go to the other side of heartley circle right those are that parcel is all Wagner's um the top two Parcels on the left side there of Hardley Circle those are accessed from heartley Circle and then everything else to the right of wag or left of Wagner is all access from heartley Lake Road so the so these two Parcels are being wrecked as one parcel even though there is a platted Road in between them correct actually I I I guess we'd have to look at a different view but I think they're right on that road their house Wagner's house and another one South um but exactly I don't know you know it's not exactly the scale Mr chair I I have to admit I'm confused and I think there's some more legalities and and research that needs to be done to at least help me make a decision on this particular case so personally I I would be in favor of tabling this to a future date but I don't know how the other Commissioners feel you table it it's tabled pardon me you table it it's tabled I haven't tabled it yet and we're still in public hearing so yeah I you know I'm just looking at it again just with the information I have and it's not in the district I serve but for that red line it to to go away you know to become part of together I don't have as much problem with that as long as we have 66 foot coming down to it and 66t going down through what isn't even named as a road at this time but whatever the whatever we call it as long as we have that available to us I really don't I don't personally have a problem with with that little yellow green spot becoming part of the other other spot because it's already been that way and I don't know what the other history is on the other lots and what's been developed in that area until I have that I I would have a hard time making a decision on it also Mr chair if I may I think you have a couple of options you can continue the public hearing if you think that there is still more additional public com comment that would need to be made in this regard you could continue the public hearing to your next meeting you could close the public hearing at this point but table any action on the request until another specific time to get more information that way if you so there are two things that you can look at one being the public hearing side of things the other being the action that's being requested as well and then Mr chair if I can ask so who is signed the petition is it everybody that that is like in a circle around that property or they've signed the petition yeah yeah and I mean they haven't had any they didn't come with obviously any dispute with regards to what's being requested part of the process uh commissioner coring is that the we have a signed petition and then the auditor Treasurers Office verifies that they actually live there and that they're valid signatures and that has been done so another question if that be okay Tim what I so down the road what would be wrong with somebody coming down heartly Circle and then if the road dropped down to where that turnaround is or where it's platted why I guess I just don't understand why why this little red piece has to still be in play I guess I don't I don't it just uh commissioner in it just removes the possib the future possibility of this being a continuous roadway from here to here right that's it so there is a potential for future use to improve the transportation system and that is the basis of my recommendation if you feel that is not important then that's when you say improve what is what does that mean I don't I don't know what that means it just so that I I don't know I guess if if it was me I'd like to have a dead end so that I don't have any creeps or criminals driving by I mean they they the only people that would come down are the people that live there you know from my perspective at the highway department I'm looking at the efficiency of snow plowing and maintenance he's looking at it a completely different in terms of less people going through his house and so it's from an efficiency of snow plowing uh standpoint it's better to have them eventually be continuous but if it was continuous you and if and if that the one that heartley Circle in a turnar around they still have to turn and go down there and then come back out wouldn't they mhm yeah I I don't know I guess I'm confused I guess I I don't know it's Rosemary's District I give deference to that so I don't know whatever you think what do you think Rosemary well I think I I would follow the County Engineer's recommendation at some point you may not be there and somebody may want to go down here to this road to get to this road now you have to go all the way down here and back with all due respect you've got usage versus you know what's real I mean the potential versus what's reality and I understand what the engineers indicated um but you've heard Mr titsy talk about he's been there 14 years the plats from 68 there's no Road EST established um I think you got a lot of hurdles I understand the potential but I can't I don't think you can look at it in a vacuum you have to look at it from what's you know what's been played out and um you know Mr tits's established that there is no public use I mean it's it's not been used and so uh you know for those reasons you know we're seeking the the road vacation well if the fence was down it it would be he said there's a fence right at the end but just because you put a fence up doesn't mean that the that it isn't a platted Road not denying that you didn't put it who the the the fence was when was the fence put in I before you were there pick me up before I was there and something I don't know is until I get an aerial or see what what else is there the road that's not identified the the one that's dipping down there that um is there people already build across that road already that's what Mr tits's kind of and I would like to know that cuz if that's the case that to say that we're going to that somebody's going to develop down that way what are they using for a driveway now if if they're only using heartly drive heartly drive is is that the other one heartly drive and that's what they're using now as a driveway I I don't know i' I'd like to get more information I really would I I really think we need to have a plat to see where the houses are sitting because if they're already sitting on the road do we have a GIS on that at all I do I I don't know if it's uploaded don't I can certainly submit it okay yeah if you have one yes I'm just wondering you know we have the County Board has went out uh on a field I don't know if you call it a field trip we have gone out a couple of times since I've been here to look at it and I think maybe that would help us to make sense of it I don't know I like that idea what do you think of that Deb we certainly could do that that is an option that cuz I know when we did the one in commissioner Hog's District we all went up there that's still ongoing and then when we was going to pave what road is it in your area we went out there and looked at it Rosemary I don't remember what the name of it was but we were all five out there yeah so I don't know would it would that be okay mhm okay looks like there's another road that isn't even on this map from the what yeah I think we so here are the two Parcels that in question and this is the area in question and here is that call the sack road that goes down with lots on either side these are the lots that are Mr titsy mentioned was accessed by heartley drive and it doesn't look like they're built on now but well there's there's actually house it looks like there's a house right on in a lot on on heartley Circle I don't even know they're not even there's not even a road there that looks like a road but it isn't a PL Road huh that you can kind of see the dirt path goes to heartley drive that's their driveway um I see that goes through some other Lots yep they they own those lots too oh do they own all those lots or don't you know he said they own the Lots sorry what do they own all those lots um Wagner do they don't own the top two okay um and then I can't read the number that yeah the blue circle or triangle is ours and then yeah Wagner's own the Lots in front between their house and heartly drive commissioner yeah mean we still we're still in the public hearing yet unless we yes commissioner baros what do you think about a a little uh field trip out there right now let's go I think that's a good idea I think that would give us a better chair to ask the County Administrator what would we do then would we just do you believe there is still a need for additional public comment in this particular instance or is it just to make additional information for all of you to be able to make a decision exactly in that case I would suggest that you would close the public hearing and then you would defer action on this table action until a later date for you to get a site visit and additional information that sounds great oh that's great so close the public hearing close the public first of all my question is this that easement runs all the way from that corner up there down through his property and so if we're going to vacate part of that that impacts those other properties and I think that we need to have clarification and those people need to understand that we're eliminating that entire easement is is my understanding is that correct Tim I I if it is discovered that the eement exists and we need to do a little homework on that that it would you have to modify the petition to vacate uh to include this roadway and the easement I would say up to a certain point yeah it wouldn't be the not these up here because then you're totally closing this offer that's not request right but I think full disclosure should be made to those other property owners that that's what's being proposed is that what that's not part of their petition being proposed I don't believe so I mean only what's being proposed is just that road portion that's where we would be going if from here if we close that right from there you need a ladder there correct yeah all correct but if we do that Paul we're changing that easement and that would have to wouldn't we have to the 20 foot easement remain in place because that's not part of this yeah that's not part of the road vacation is if you move forward with it you also include um disposition of the easement along the same line but not give it not vacate it on these properties exactly and we can work we can work together if if that's your your wishes to to move forward with that Mr chair I'm hearing that there's a need for more information additional information from the highway department from the petitioners to make sure that we have all of the correct information and a site visit to make sure that you're all comfortable with what the ask is so I would suggest at this point that you would close the public hearing and then you could table the action on it to the next meeting or to a specific date in the future as well Mr chair I'd move to close the public hearing on the petition to vacate part of heartley Drive second motion by coring second by franzine all in favor signify by saying I I oppose same sign hearing none we are closed the public hearing and then Mr chair I I don't know that we should have a date specific because it sounds like some more homework needs to be done so you could just table it and then pick it up off the table again when you're ready okay then I would move to uh table the um the petition to vacate heartley Drive un uh uh until we bring it back up the County Board brings it back up second is that okay mhm we have a motion do we have a second I did okay motion by coring second by franzine all in favor signify by saying I I I oppose same sign hearing none it has been tabled and and Mr chair if I could ask again so what do you think about the idea of going out there do you or don't do you think we need to go out there Rosemary what do you think well first of all I I think we need a a map from Gary that tells us okay you know and then maybe we there's there's another looks like driveway that goes through but we need to know who each one of these Lots belongs to because if they all belong to the same person we maybe don't need to okay but there's too many unanswered questions right now to even know yep you're right I think once we get that homework done then we can make that decision if we want to go out there do a do a site survey so okay I need to take a break for just a second is that okay yes that you're running the meeting okay I'm going to take a break or let the board take a break for a minute thank you thank you he's taking a break for a couple minutes could be better I know beat I don't think so okay on next item on the agenda is Community Services oops okay okay next item on the agenda is Community Services hello Mr chair County Board uh Kary director of community services here today to provide additional information related to a request that our opioid Coalition brought you a while back um you might remember the discussion uh around the opioid Coalition approving dollars to be spent on a number of different expenses including from the sheriff's office but also Bridges of Hope and the bridge on 7th which is the warming shelter that is typically open during the fall and winter months the Coalition had a discussion at their meeting and decided it would like to allocate up to $200,000 being 100,000 per year for two years to fund ongoing operations um at the bridge on Seventh shelter Bridges of Hope did not bring it to us at the time the Coalition had brought it forward as an idea Bridges of Hope then had a discussion with their board around the possibility of being open year round and Jan the director of Bridges of Hope is here today to both present information for the bridge on 7th and answer any questions that you might have related to the opioid coalition's approval of the allocation of $200,000 to which the County Board would need to provide final approval if you so choose so I turn it over to Jana good morning Mr chair and Commissioners good morning we do have some slides that we presented to you so we'll go ahead and if we can move on to the next slide I just wanted to take a little trip back down to um 2021 so we opened the shelter in December of 2021 um a few months before that in June of 2021 we began a planning process and you see many of the partners we may have omitted some by accident um but you see it was really a broad Community effort um in croing County besides the Interfaith Hospitality Network that was operated by the churches many years ago and now does not exist anymore we have never had a place for unsheltered folks to sleep at night so these groups got together and and determined that we don't believe that anyone should have to sleep outside especially in the winter months in our area and so um we spent six months of intensive planning and opened the shelter early in 2021 um next slide please so this summer there was um were some changes made in ordinance in the city of Brainard which will impact the guests at the bridge on 7th um namely that it's not legal to camp on public land anymore on city land and so one of the responses in there is that um of course law enforcement would refer those who they may have interactions with to Supportive Services well as of right now the Supportive Service is the bridge on 7th but it is not open during the um late spring through the summer months so we received many requests from a variety of sources wondering if we would keep our shelter open all year round I took that request to our board and you know these are some of the considerations that we have to think about it would add 21 weeks of programming you know it that's a significant that's almost a 70% increase to our programming time um we would have to reallocate the the shelter manager who is currently directed to a different program we'd have to reallocate him back to the shelter all summer um we have some rent that we would have to reallocate and there would just be some overall um program fund development financial and marketing resources redirected we would have to also take into consideration the fact that we currently have a permit a conditional use permit that um is expires at the end of this shelter season which would go through the end of May of 2025 um so we will be working with the city early in 2025 to talk about our new permitting we don't have any reason to believe that our permit would not be extended we have been a shelter in good standing we have not had any significant issues and I believe we're offering a true public benefit by having people um be in one place um you know we've worked with community services and they've indicated that it's much easier for their Outreach to our guests because they know where they are they're staying at the shelter they're not scattered all over the county and the community um but we just wanted to to make sure that that's noted that we have permitting and we have lease renegotiations coming up next year so for us to to say that we would keep the shelter open all year round there's just some long range planning and financial sustainability issues and that's where the opioid Coalition um approached us asked if we would remain open and so as of right now our board has conditionally said that we would Pilot One Summer open pending these funds being available because it's a significant increase in our programming and pending us um working back with those early Community Partners to talk about long rage planning and sustainability um next slide please so just to give you some idea of the service that we've provided I won't go through each and every number but you can see that since we opened December of 2021 we have provided 4,689 nights of safe warm place to sleep for 409 different individuals that was a question we were asked quite often in the beginning is do we really have a homelessness issue in our area and I would say that based on the fact that 409 different people have stayed with us over 3 years I would say we are responding to a a community need and then there's just some outlining there of the changes that it would be for us you know we would be increasing from just over three full-time equivalent in Staffing to over five um you see the increase of the cost of operations and mainly that's in Staffing and lease um and then you see you know we go we would go from 31 weeks programming currently to a full 52 weeks if we moved to this model so that's the information that I'm bringing forward to you all to help you understand where we are coming from and I'm happy to answer any other questions that might come up Mr chair if I might I do have a couple questions for you the first one being that you don't have a the okay from the city council to do a 12-month operation makes it difficult for us to consider allocating $200,000 for a 12 month 24 month operation so I want that on the record that and it feels like the cart is before the horse in this case the second thing is you talk about the sustainability and that and maybe you could go into a little more detail on what you perceive as the potential for that because these are onetime dollars we're not we're not looking at being able to do ongoing support although you know and I support your mission I think it's a great one and I it's been very successful down there in that neighborhood so I appreciate that I just see there's some genuine concerns from my perspective sure regarding the operation I can understand that you know there are certain dominoes so to speak that need to fall and and so I hear what you are saying in terms of um allocating those funds before you know if we have permission and then our board wants to know that the funds are there before we go forward to make our requests I I guess I don't know what Liberties you maybe can take if there can be some conditional appr approval of the funding pending the final decision being that we will be open for the summer that would be one suggestion I might make um and then in terms of long-term sustainability we have a few things that we're working on I I give our community immense credit this shelter so far has been funded 100% by individuals businesses service clubs churches and some Grant funds um in addition to our our thrift store profits we own and operate three thrift stores and we have allocated some of our profits from our stores to this shelter when we look forward we have um some things in place with the state of Minnesota a cost neutral transfer I would have to to yield to to car Terry and Tammy luck to maybe explain more about that but we we are looking more widely at how do we do this because it may not be sustainable simply On The Backs so to speak of local residents we do have people who care immensely about this topic and this just shelter and I do believe that we will continue to receive support and funding from our community but we really do need to look more broadly um in terms of maybe building a trust maybe working with the state and then some some local Avenues as well so to follow up if you didn't get the approval from the city council to do a 12-month operation would you be coming back and asking for a different allocation out of the Opia dollars well I I would just remind that we haven't asked for the opioid Coalition so I guess the the dollars I guess I would have to defer to Cara on how those funds would be offered to us um again I think the reason that they came up was because we already have uh a little bit of a issue moving not even an issue but we know we have to work forward to sustainability only being open 31 weeks so if if we're also working toward that being somewhat of a new operation and we're being asked to increase our services by almost 70% that's where there's some push and pull and some need for collaboration here okay so going backwards MH Cara you said the Coalition or I think Jan you might have said the Coalition brought this forward not your organization so you answer that question if they aren't allowed to do a 12-month operation what is the coalition's thought on these dollars so the Coalition um we haven't had this discussion specifically but what I do know in terms of other nonprofits within the community we've had a grant making process that we've gone through where um nonprofits in the community can apply for a specific Grant amount uh we had allocated up to $200,000 the last time um we are nearing the end of our first grant round which will bring updates for you um at an upcoming meeting um I would assume that uh based on the coalition's history that we would um embark on that same process so if the 200,000 is not approved for Bridges of Hope that if Bridges of Hope is in need of funding that if we were to open a new Grant round of requests that they would apply like other nonprofits would apply in the community for dollars okay thank you Mr chair yes please uh just going to give you my position I'm I'm not going to support this if this comes to a vote it doesn't in my mind it just doesn't meet the criteria for what the opioid dollars are meant for I think the to me I think the opioid dollars are meant to help with addiction and programs along that line I I just don't think you know you came forward the Coalition came forward and wanted to give $100,000 to the Sheriff's Department I think the County Board didn't agree with that with the medical cart either we didn't agree with that because I think at least what I feel is it doesn't meet the criteria of what the dollar are meant for they're not just a slush fund to be handed out to uh groups that we you know that are actually doing great work but I think it has to be narrowed down to what the dollars were meant for and what the LW suit was all about and and so I'm not going to support $200,000 to this I know what I probably seem like the the bad guy again but you know what I've been the bad guy for the last 20 years in public office but I just this doesn't fit the criteria in my mind of what these dollars are supposed to be spent on M Mr chair May comment commissioner coring uh commissioner the the way the opioid Coalition has looked at the allocation of these dollars is that people who are um struggling with addiction and or are in any sort of Crisis um one of the most difficult pieces of getting their lives in order is not having a stable home in which to live if they're consistently looking for housing looking for a place to sleep looking for a place to sleep that's safe that gets in the way of trying to deal with all of the other issues including the substance misuse that they're dealing with so providing some sort of safe and not necessarily stable but at least safe housing um helps to bridge one of those issues that being homelessness so then they can try and focus on getting housing getting healthy dealing with their addiction and that type of thing so the Coalition sees a connection there um which is why I brought it forward to your point about the jail health I agree with you in terms of um allocating that $100,000 I brought forward based on the coalition's recommendations to which I didn't support it so I guess we're we're the Bad Guys both of us on that recommendation um I believe this would be helpful to allocate the dollars toward the bridge on 7th to help those unsheltered individuals but it also helps our staff like Jan mentioned to know where they are so when folks are scattered around the um the county our staff take time to try and find those those people to help um help with resources and to get them stable and providing a place in which they can shelter gives us an opportunity to to connect easier with them it also keeps them off of the public land as well gives them a place to to lay their head at night not everybody will use it and we know that um but for those individuals that would use it year round um it would be a good opportunity to have that resource in place does this a first come first serve basis like if there's I don't know how many beds there are but if there's 40 beds and there's 50 people how do you figure out who who uses these beds yeah that's a great question so our shelter has the capacity for 30 individuals and that's rated by the the occupancy that we were given permission we have had three or four nights in the last well actually just last year in January during the coldest time we did have to turn one or two people away we were then able to offer a a fuel card which doesn't sound like a lot but at least those individuals who had a vehicle were able to stay warm in their car overnight um we then go back to that long list of Partners and talk about what's an O what does an overflow plan look like how do we help direct other individuals to to other places so Absolut it is a first come first serve so when we spread the word we we encourage people to check in early check-in begins at 7:00 p.m. up until 11:00 p.m. and in in that case it is a first come first serve we are seeing um increase in utilization this time last year we maybe had between um you know 10 and 12 people staying with us at this point in the season we're up over 20 people already this year staying with us for the season so people have found us they know we're there and and we're serving as best we can yep Mr chair and I will say thank you cara for what you were saying because I think there is a direct tieback to the opad issue with regards to these people whether they they are running from somebody who's a a user or it's a bad situation or they're currently using but I think that but you know during these coldest months particularly I think that we're going to pay the price one way or the other as taxpayers of cro County so I prefer having them in one place better contact perhaps a better outcome for all of them not all of them will take advantage of that but I think we have to try and that so I would support it 200,000 is just a number we haven't gotten to shake it out where that might whatever that number final number might be but I appreciate your mission and I appreciate your explanation so thank you and I have another question um The Unique Individuals if you add them up does come to 409 but the nights of sleep would come to 8560 am I missing something am I not doing this right or so we count nights of sleep so we might have somebody who comes some one of those 409 people may have stayed with us for one night and then other so it's it's a it's adding up all of the different people who have stayed with us and how many nights they've stayed with us that's really a way that we can quantify our service better than saying how many individuals we're serving it's what what was our capacity on any given night and so that's you know if we have 20 people who stayed with us last night that's 20 nights of sleep is how we count it I guess I still don't understand how did you come up with the 4689 if you add the 79 the 161 the 154 the 15 it's 409 but if you add these others it doesn't come up to 4689 I guess I'm not uh I guess if we oh you know what yep we have a math error there you're absolutely right no you're absolutely right it's more nights of sleep than that I apologize for that yep thank you Rosemary's thorough yes appreciate that so what I can say is the um so I would refer you to the the numbers in the individual years and I apologize for the total being incorrect there that 200,000 where did that number come from is it is it a number that's needed the shelter operations right who asked for who asked for that amount so that's what our that's our true cost um through through that point in the year and then an estimation of what the remainder of this year will cost so that's those are our operations at Bridges of Hope and then sorry oh sure excuse me and then the 200,000 is is a number that the Coalition came up with to help support um the additional time the shelter is open based on some of the knowledge that the Coalition had around the expenses related to the shelter so knowing that the other work that we have going on trying to get approval through DHS to pay for some of the beds as well as other operating costs and additional revenues the Coalition thought $100,000 per year um might help to make up for those additional weeks I'm I'm okay with the supporting of it I'm not sure of the number yet and that's that's where I I have a little bit of question you know just to say here's a number let's approve it and here you go I I I believe in supporting it I think it has a lot of positives that can happen by being more of a yearr round program I'm just not sure what that number is yet anything else from the yeah um checkin is from 7: to 11: and you have to leave by 8:00 isn't it where do these people go during the day that's a really good question so it varies some people have work that they go off to just because someone is unsheltered doesn't mean they're not gain fully employed it might just mean that they haven't found a housing vacancy or maybe they don't have enough money saved yet to get into their own housing so we do have folks who head off to work each morning um and then we have some who I'm not sure just like any I'm not sure what they do during the day they they find somewhere to be somewhere to stay warm and then we have a a really strong partner in Open Arms day Center um it's a a day Center that many of our guests can get transportation to to if they sign up and they go there during the day it's a safe War place to be there's food there is um help with resume writing job searching that's where a lot of the relationships are built to um commissioner corin's Point how how does this tie back we have many people they could give statistics on how they are helping people get into treatment and into housing by those connections during the day so by us having a safe warm place to sleep and sort of um being a a entry point and then handing them off to those day Services um we can help people improve their lives in different ways um I'm I'm definitely in favor of a hand up I just don't want it to be a hand out sure and that's the only concern I have with it is making sure it's all vetted properly and we are accomplishing what we want to accomplish with this but I don't know the number yet and commissioner I'm not sure um how to how to give that to you we have this information here we are waiting for DHS to make a decision on the beds Tammy do you want to come speak to I'll have Tammy talk about um our work with DHS has been years in the making uh good morning Tammy L Community Services um yeah we put a request in November 2nd of 22 so this is how long we've been waiting on a cost neutral transfer so that was taking r two beds that we had as a county it's what we use sometimes to develop projects like our White Oaks project over in Baxter we use 20 beds there um so we put a request into DHS because this is what other shelters across our state have done um where and so we took their guidance we put that request in and the state has not um had not moved on that we did find out this summer that um we are part of a of some counties that have put requests forward that will be um I don't know if the right word is grandfathered in but we will be they will be taking our request and um actually this morning I got a email that says that um they will be putting a contract in place with us before the end of the year we still have not been confirmed on an amount at the time of our request we asked for right around $249,000 to support a yearr round shelter um I'm not sure uh again about the amount that and I've asked them that actually again this morning what is the number that will be um or the amount that will be given and will it be an ongoing um annual direct allocation from the state um to support our Sheltering in this community any other questions on that Mr chair I'll just go back for a second and say I'm okay with a $200,000 placeholder we haven't spent a dime so in terms of of looking at what the criteria that I've mentioned about whether the city will allow it uh and whether we go back to just a what is it a 9mon or eight Monon operation then that number will change but in terms of a placeholder it is an idea the Coalition has brought forward and I'm comfortable with that as a placeholder so I'll let let it go at that for now so then Mr chair my question is is what are we what are what's the ask today are you asking to approve it today or ideally we we would like um decision made today if we can um allocate those dollars so they are there if needed um up to 200,000 um being 100,000 for this upcoming year and then the following year and then we would bring back to you um more specific information about the dollar amount as Tammy mentioned we're waiting to hear from DHS on the amount we will be uh allocated through our uh cost neutral transfers um so we don't have an exact dollar amount that way um but just ask if we could allocate those dollars so Bridges of Hope can move forward in their planning Mr chair but one of the expectations is that the city of Brainard will allow a 12-month operation correct okay so that would be a part of it as well that would be a part of Bridges of Hope bridge on 7th planning okay so Mr chair I would make the motion to approve the uh $200,000 allocation as a placeholder at this time motion by Barrow second second by luy all in favor signify by saying I I I I did you say I I uh oppose same sign no no um 3 to one motion carries thank you and then I just have one additional edit for you Commissioners on the uh opioid settlement track spreadsheet that I sent to you yesterday um at the very bottom in this tiny little print um there are K9 expenses you'll see uh K9 expenses $1,100 but if you go over to the the dollar column it says 31,000 that is an error so that amount should be ,100 not 31,000 it looked a little heavy yeah so just noting that I'll get the um adjusted tracking spreadsheet to you uh this afternoon thank you thank you okay so Mr chair I do have some questions on some of these other allocations and this will be for the sheriff's department so if Dan if you want to come forward so I'm going to start with the animal portion the dog portion okay so if we take that 30,000 out of there we're still at 18,100 and we've had is this going to be a a new animal or is it the current animal this would be for ongoing cost for both animals that we have have both roxa and rehea and they both were included in our 24 budget correct so why would we where's the relation I know that they're drug dogs correct but it's already in our Levy to take care of these animals why wouldn't it be part of our 25 Levy it's basically supplementing our 2025 Levy is what we would be using the opioid fundings to actually incur these or pay for these costs so wouldn't that be a budget amendment for 25 because we're about to approve the 255 budget well these to go back I'm not exactly sure when this was actually approved but this was approved on I do believe the was it the first uh request some of the expenses have been approved Commissioners and others were were pending the K9 expenses were approved um the um lat expenses are what's pending I'll get to that in a minute but car the excuse me Mr chair Cara the the blue shaded ones are ones that were approved no no they are the ones that are pending correct okay and so you can see there is one K9 expense 102,000 that's 2,000 for the K9 read yeah no I haven't good 98 is medical are you looking at the which expense you're looking at at the 18,100 total correct correct commissioner so it would be those four line items at the bottom plus the 2,000 on the uh it would be these that's Incorporated in that medical fee 100,000 so there's $2,000 they're identified as K9 expenses also and those that the ones that are pending there I am not exactly sure where those came from because on our requests that we had sent in I did not see that there was any K9 requests on on that portion uh on the August 5th request or actually I do believe it was probably uh the first board meeting in August must have been like the 13th of August I would assume um where we came forward with the the second request of additional cost that we were looking at so that uh when you're looking at that 2,000 along with the medical fee of 100,000 that medical fee of 100,000 was the discussion point that that we had discussed here uh I do believe on the August 27th board meeting and remember that one yep yep and that one was yeah om minuted or avoided off the off the record I do believe so so I'm not quite following you Dan you said there wasn't a request for these K9 expenses so that would include the 18,100 then well the 18,100 was approved on the original request when you're looking at uh the spreadsheet with the blue highlighted portion of it where there's that additional 2,000 yep that I went back in my records and I did not see any requests for that so that could be taken off from there yes yep that can be taken off because right now all our K9 expenses are covered under that first request under the $188,100 where was that approved I don't I don't recall I want to say that was probably at a July board meeting I believe it was around July it was when we brought um other requests forward it was pre Bridges of Hope and the jail Health request so it was a meeting before then I can get exact dates though and send it to you Mr chair wasn't that not the K9 expenses that would have appr been approved in the the July meeting was a one-time startup cost correct it was not ongoing cuss there was some discussion about one times cost for the new dog there was that was where the discussion was around funding out of the opioid funds onetime fee for some of the costs of starting up the new dog not the ongoing expenses into 24 25 for the existing Kines that was my recollection of what was discussed I would have to go back and look um obviously I wasn't the one bringing forward the request as well too and I wasn't here to speak to it at that point so I would I would like to go back and look at the the records as well too I think that would be a good idea well Mr chair I I this is almost bordering on ridiculous I almost feel like Tim Bray's going to stand up and ask for oid dollars to start building a new highway I mean that doesn't this doesn't even make sense that's what these the whole opioid settle settlement was not intended these dollars weren't intended for a whole slush fund in my mind I don't I don't know just to speak to obviously the canines are drug dogs so and that obviously goes along with with the the op opioid piece of it as well too I don't know Adam if you recall what the original request was as well too you're you guys are with a coalition so uh Mr chair members of the board specifically my memory uh back in July because I was part I am a part of the blade Coalition and during one of our meetings we specifically spoke of uh less lethal launchers for our K9 teams and and in my memory I thought we pulled it out of our 2025 budget because it was approved through the opioid dollars and to expand on the less lethal launchers our dogs are no longer Street dogs meaning they're not for biting or apprehension does that make sense y they're only drug dogs and tracking dogs it takes away a tool from our Law Enforcement Officers our canine handlers can no longer control someone by the bite of the dog therefore we're using we asked for additional Monies to provide less lethal launchers it's a 40mm launcher we carry them in some of our squad cars but to provide them to our Canan officers to give them another tool um while they're on a track or they're trying to apprehend someone so my recollection we um received approval through bra the blade coalition to fund our less lethal launchers two of them one for each canine Handler um um also like I said I believe we pulled that out of our 2025 ask yeah so that wouldn't be something where we have on our budget for 2025 and Commissioners um to that point um this was brought forward to you in another meeting um Andy was here to explain some of those expenses and those K9 expenses were approved um and I am not sure how they've been allocated to this point in terms of spending um but the the four K9 expenses uh were approved by you at another um County board meeting so I will follow up and get that information and send it to you in an email uh we also had the discussion around lated and the dollars associated with additional insurance I believe were some of the the questions related to cost as well as uh software that they needed um and so we were going to bring that back to you to answer uh any questions that you had related to to that work as well and uh Dan or Adam could speak to to those dollars I thought we approved the those dollars the insurance dollars thought that was already approved Mr chair I believe what was approved commissioner barrows was the data storage system for L but there was additional information that was being requested regarding the insurance piece given that the insurance was not a one-time cost it was an ongoing cost and we were not looking to fund ongoing operations out of the op opioid dollars that we were looking more for one-time expenses so that's why additional information was being brought forward on that and so that's the $14,000 highlighted in blue information on the spreadsheet and I can speak to that as well too um it's it is an ongoing cost but it's not a cost that we uh have in our Levy budget it actually is a cost that is being currently paid out of our uh lated forfeiture funds and currently our lat forfeiture fund is probably right around I would I think it was at the beginning of the month right around 39,000 so as you can see this $14,000 hit is is quite a hit to to that particular uh Reserve account um and the forfeitures nowadays are not what they used to be uh where they're coming in left and right well not left and right but there's less now than what what there had been you know previous to I don't know 2020 correct me if I'm wrong but I thought I understood back then when we had that discussion that this was a new requirement for the lated operation uh it started this this will be the third year in 2025 where we're actually paying might have misunderstood that the the insurance piece of it yes that'll be it was paid this year and last year 2025 will be the third third year for that particular insurance so why wouldn't we include that in our normal Levy request it was as far as why wouldn't we um it's a lated cost uh we have we have fund in the lated forfeiture piece of it so here here's my my problem Dan yep Opia dollars are one off dollars one time year one and year two of this insurance issue we paid it out of our Levy no no those were those are out of those out of the forfeiture funds as well too so this should be included in the levy there's dollars that can be paid out of the lated portion the lated for fund and this was deemed by the the board lated board that we would be paying as as long as there's funding for that out of the lated uh forfeiture fund so my question would be why why wouldn't you ask for it to be part of the levy because it's going to be an ongoing cost for the sheriff's department into perpetuity correct correct yeah it forfeiture dollars for something else isn't that an expense that the county should be accepting so part of it is because we always talk about using the most restrictive funds first so we look at the ways that we can utilize before we get to the levy funding are there other Revenue sources that can be used to offset what that cost would be the forfeiture funds specifically coming in in that regard it was a good use of those dollars because it was something that was directly related to lat so it was directly related to where the funds were received from and that expense that was part of that there are still dollars available in the forfeiture funds that could be used to cover the expense of the insurance into the next couple of years like it has been done over the past few years I think what Dan is saying is because like some of our other changes that we see this is very similar to the tax forfeiture process where we were utilizing those funds to help offset some of the levy need there's going to be a reduction potentially into the future of those forfeiture funds for ated to be used to pay for something like this so yes to your point commissioner barels you're exactly right it is an ongoing year aftere expense that is going to need to be absorbed at some point it probably is going to need to get absorbed into the levy this is a way of taking it maybe one step at a time to look at what are some other restrictive funding sources that could be used to offset that expense well and thank you because my point is neither one are sustainable Opia dollars or to your point the forfeiture dollars neither one are carrying the load or will carry the load in the future so we do have to either find another source or comes in on the levy there aren't there aren't a lot of other options that I see because we have an unknown quantity of where other dollars might come from but so that that was my point and that no exactly exactly but if we can alleviate some cost to the the taxpayers as well too I guess that's what what we're looking at there as well so if I can move on then just a sure little bit because we also have um investigations for $10,100 um I just see several lated and then investigations is there a difference and why are there these different lines yes those are costs that were approved uh at the same same time the K9 expenses were were approved and those are actually for software costs uh for tools that that we use okay I appreciate that yeah um you know I almost hard to say this but I agree in with Paul and I also agree with with u Steve here it's a little that that opiates funds isn't a slush fund just to grab money out of whenever we want you know and I I think we have to be really really cognizant of when we take that fund and start using it for things that maybe should be on a levy or other places a look at it um it is only onetime funding so I just find it weird that I'm actually agreeing with both Paul and Steve on this one so just thought I'd share that but yeah I think we have to be very cognizant of it and and uh I'm uh I think those opiate funds were put out there for for a real specific person purpose and and and we have seen a decrease in opiate deaths and we have seen some things that look positive in that area I just don't want those funds to all sudden go someplace else and then when we come to look at something we're doing good work and say oh those oh shoot we already use those funds up for something else so I'm just a little concerned about that so I want to bring that to everybody's attention thank you so I think I I'm done for now with you but Cara if you'll come back up so on the revenue side yes sir it says that we were expecting a payment number five in was it June or July of 24 then it says expected in 25 is payment number five so did we not receive payment number five from the state so you'll see that all of the receipt are you under the revenue section yes okay so you'll see that all of the receed dates oh I'm sorry no down under the expected activity in 2025 says that the year five oh yeah the number five payment was anticipated in July of 24 but it's under the heading expected activity in 25 yep so we have not received it yet because then it would move to the the revenue portion and then up above going back up under Revenue partial payment of number seven has been received but number six seems to be hang out there somewhere in no man's land right so we have a regular reoccurring payment that will come in as part of the opioid dollars um that amount is the 107 I believe here um but we also have Revenue coming in for any other settlements that are made um ongoing throughout the course of the opioid settlement Life Time right so if you'll see like Walgreens payments or CVS or other settlements that I've never heard of that are coming in um too those are unplanned those come in when they're settled in court and then goes through the state process of allocation for each um entity and so I don't have a plan or uh any sort of way to keep track of those Revenue dollars coming in we're notified that they'll be coming in and then we receive them so it's really hard to anticipate uh Revenue outside of the regular opioid payments uh that were scheduled to get I find it though interesting and this this is nothing to do with you but the state of Minnesota says we'll give you number five the 107 doesn't recognize number six to us yet will'll give us a partial payment of the7 for number seven and we may it might be easier if we look at a way of breaking out the revenue and um a better way to look at this too so we'll explore some um formatting op option might be easier to you aren't making excuses for the state of Minnesota are you because I get nervous about them how they handle our money yeah no but but in terms of the understanding of the payments the timing uh where they're coming in who they're coming in from maybe a little more information that way it certainly would help me uh understand the revenues as well but it It's Tricky as you heard on our cost neutral bed transfer we've been waiting for what over two years on that for the state It's tricky to know when payments are coming the amounts that they're coming from the state but also the federal settlements so so would we would we have a idea at the end of the day when all the opiate dollars settlements are supposedly run do we have an idea what that amount of money is and where we're at in that path of getting there do we have an idea of that so over the course of the 18 years croing County was set to receive about 2.5 million that was before any of the other settlements so we believe that's around the base amount that will be I'm sorry 2.1 million that's around the base amount that we'll be receiving over the next 18 years there will be additional dollars based on all the other settlements um I don't know the timing of the 2.1 million uh it was more front-loaded so we received more money on the on the front end it'll be lesser as time goes on uh but the other Revenue sources we have no idea so we have to be real cognizant of of how we spend this money so when we get towards that tale of it as they would say oh now who's going to fund this exactly okay thank you so Mr chair yes so commissioner Barrow as I I feel your frustration with the state of Minnesota I I would I assume that you're kind of advocating maybe another party being charged down there is that what you're cuz it's all one party it's all one part let's keep this in grro County please okay commissioner coring I think both parties are a mess so that's just my opinion and I think that uh nobody gives us exactly what we want as a County government they just expect us to do whatever they tell us to do without telling us how we're going to do it or funding it anything else for Cara or the opit anything else very much thank you thank you so much and I'll get that information to you this afternoon okay next on the agenda we have administrative Services University of Minnesota extension memorandum of agreement Good morning Tony good morning Mr chair and Commissioners Tony Hansen Regional director with the University of Minnesota extension uh wanted to appear before you uh to present the 2025 through 27 memorandum of agreement between Crowing County and the University of Minnesota extension extension's been participating in this type of three-year agreement process since 2004 and we have a current agreement that will uh wrap up at the end of 2024 this document uh covers a number of things related to the ongoing relationship between extension and Crowing County it outlines the responsibilities and commitments that each party brings uh Crowing County provides an office space for the extension staff who operate and serve County residents University of Minnesota extension provides uh 4 Youth Development 1.0 FTE educator position as well as a05 FTE Master Gardener coordinator position that serves the county in addition there are two snaped health and wellness coordinators who serve in croing county and a part-time 4 program educ educator who works with uh School programming here in the county as well um and so the document Works through the responsibilities of each party outlines conditions if either party would like to terminate the agreement at any point and how that would uh proceed exhibit a in the document is what specifically notes the the package price for the 4 educator position in the Gardner coordinator position for the next 3 years so there is a connection to the budget specifically for 2025 it also notes uh lower down in exhibit a are internship costs we participate in a sourcewell uh Grant process to offset uh a lot of the internship costs for our 4 program as well we're renewing these agreements with each County throughout the state of Minnesota this year so every county is on the same timeline the costs that you see for our positions noted in exhibit a the master Garder coordinator and 4 positions are representative of the total package expenses for those positions inclusive of benefits supplies uh mileage for those individuals as well as their base salary one other note I'll make is that for our Master Gardener coordinator position uh you'll see that it's noted as a 625 proposed for 2025 through 27 this is a change from the current 05 FTE this is a recommendation from the extension committee to to see this position expanded from a 20h hour a week position to 25 hours a week from the next year to further support the work that our coordinator is doing in that position in serving County residents with the master gardening program Mr chair yes just a a question if you can answer it otherwise I think maybe Deb would know but uh this is another one of those that we're we're required to have the counties each count is had required to have some kind of a relationship with the University of Minnesota am I correct in that it is not a requirement that a county has a MOA um it is dependent on what uh departments or programs the counties elect to have an investment in uh one of the questions I've received at times specifically related to the 4 program because that's maybe the most common one that Greater Minnesota has an investment in is can uh counties operate that same program independent of extension and that is not a possibility per State Statute um but if a county did not wish to have an investment in a 4 program or a Master Gardener coordinator program uh that would be for the Commissioners to decide Mr chair but by Statute we are required to have an A County extension office we are required to have some form of extension Outreach available to the constituents and residents of growing County you choose which programmatic side of things that you wish to purchase which is what you have all chosen to purchase extension related products like 4 and Master Gardener those are the things that we have chosen to purchase from the University for that extension programming but we are required by Statute to have an extension office are we requ Mr chair are we required to have we're not apparently we're not required to have a Extension agent I remember James Rebel was at one time our long time Extension agent Mr chair commissioner coring that is correct we used to have a there used to be a system in extension that required every County to have an extension agent that was responsible for delivering the full menu of services that University offered for extension services it's been probably 15 years maybe since the university went to their Regional model that they now currently do where instead of having an agent in every County they have folks like Tony in his position who coordinate multiple areas and then each County purchases the specific services that they want okay yeah for somebody who never grew up with 4 in their life at all um but serving now on this on the board for for a couple years I really see the value what 4 does for this community and for the people in it especially uh the Master Gardener program I think that has just taken off like unbelievable and and the support that you have for it looking at what's been done out in the ARB and stuff like that that's pretty cool so just want to leave you with that Deb are we also required to have an extension committee Mr chair yes by Statute we are required to have an extension committee as well which is made up of Representatives of the County Board County staff and residents of the public Tony can you talk briefly about what the cost differences between 20 this last MOA and the current MOA absolutely uh so one other point to highlight besides the the cost increase that will come with a small expansion to the Master Gardener coordinator uh position is the the year-to-year costs for our 4 uh 1.0 FTE uh educator position uh for 2024 the package price for that position is just over $80,000 as part of the current year budget um as part of the proposed 2025 budget that's already been submitted for croing County the package price for that position is proposed to increase to $100,000 there's a few reasons for this increase uh ex now extension works with the association of Minnesota counties and Commissioners who represent uh different parts of the state on that subcommittee and putting together these package price proposals this is meant to increase the starting salary or the base salary for educator positions to ensure that they continue to be competitive that we retain our skilled and experienced staff as much as possible in counties throughout the state and so it is a larger year-to-year jump than typical uh you will see though in for 2025 through 27 the year-to-year increases uh beyond our proposed at just that 3% increase from year to year yeah that's a 25% increase I I think that's excessive Mr chair commissioner Francine um just for what clarification of what Tony was saying when he talks about the package pricing this is compensation and benefits this is not just the the wage that they are receiving this is wage and benefit full total cost everything that it costs the university to provide that service for us so it's not just the salary that's being increased at that point this MOA started in the current MOA was from 21 through 24 correct so the last time we had looked at these prices or these costs was in 2021 and if you think about the change in what we've done currently within our own staff employment rates we've made some significant investments in 20123 2024 moving forward so this is a little bit of a catchup here just like anything else with the inflationary aspects of what we're dealing with this is now the fee that is being put in place for 2025 through 2027 Mr chair and Madam administrator I would also note that when it comes to the benefit side we protected ourselves with a contract that allowed us to have several years with with minimal raises I don't know that the university had that same protection and so we're seeing out there in the marketplace double- digigit increases in health insurance so you know that's another piece of it that's we're not used to seeing at this point in our budget process we'll probably see it next year I think whenever our when we're looking again right so just to make a note of that do you have anything else for us Tony other than I think your ask is for a uh a request for board action so Mr chair if there's no other questions I would make the motion to approve approv the 2025 through 2027 mandum of agreement for Crowing County Extension is presented we have a motion do we have a second I will second that uh motion made and seconded all any other discussion all in favor signify by saying I I I oppose same sign no so we have a tie what do we do there fails motion fails H motion fails motion fails so what is the what is the Mr chair so essentially that means that at the end of 2024 you will no longer have any extension services that you're purchasing from the University so Master garders goes away Master Garder goes away goes away the only service that would not be part well theou would be expired as well so the snaped Educators even though there's no cost to the county is part of the Moa that's part of this as well is it proper for me to ask why the nose 25% increase to me that's excessive I would and it's already in our budget it is built into the 225 budget yes that we've already approved through 27 this is through 27 so this is this first year is built into the 2025 budget that the preliminary Levy level that you have adopted yes that's built into that and then um it would be built into 26 and 27 as well is there any way the extension service can go back and renegotiate this to less than 25% Mr chair commissioner franzine um there's not really a negotiation aspect in this regard this is the the rates that they have put out to say if you want to purchase the service now your choice is do you want to purchase a full-time educator do you want to purchase a part-time for educator they have different levels of service that they are providing the educator position is a degreed four-year degreed educator who is bringing that Outreach to the folks that they are serving you'll see we have a coordinator level on the Master Gardener side instead of the educator level with the four-year degree there is a reduced level of experience and expertise that's there they're more coordinating that program versus putting education out to the people in The Master Gardener program often they're educating themselves or each other in that regard um what you have right now is a fulltime 4 position 4 educator I would remind you back to about oh it's pre-co so probably 2016 2017 you previously had had a half half time for each coordinator at that point in time the board CH chose to increase that to a fulltime and switch it to an educator position um same with the Master Gardener position this was just a05 previous this new Mo MOA is now expanding that to be a 625 so it expanded the amount of time that you are purchasing for a Master Gardener coordinator so your choice could be to choose to not contract for one of those services or reduce the amount of time of what you are purchasing in each of those areas and could we do with the extension for the 4 could it be a coordinator rather than an educator is that less money Tony do you have something to it is something we could look at there are some different titles that come with a part-time position versus a full-time position that are more so reflective of the different qualifications that are required just depending on the position that extension feels is most befitting that recruitment um and however it would we would probably still keep it or describe it as a 4 educator position um but it depends a little bit on the feedback from Commissioners or what they would prefer to see in the proposed agreement I know we haven't always had a fulltime 4 I don't know I don't want to have the I don't want to have it go away but I just don't like the The increased cost seems just too much but right now the vote is 2 yes two no so it does go away at this point once we finalize that unless there's unless unless we can figure out something that we could do that would well right now it's set that way unless we bring it back so well we could tell them this we're purchasing something we could tell them we want a three4 educator 4 and keep the Master Gardener at half or you know the it's kind of in our then you want to do that right now or do we Mr chair I would not suggest that you try to negotiate down which level of service you want at this point in time you could we could take this offline take it back have staff work with the extension service to come up with a couple of other proposals to bring forward at a later date what do we do with what we've done right now with the votes and the seconds at this point in time you have no action that's taken so you've voted on it this motion failed there's nothing that's happening at this point so we could take it back do some discussions and come back to you with a couple of other proposals for you to look at as well does that need a motion no no okay are we okay yep yeah we don't have a choice don't have a choice I don't think we want to negotiate right here so no no thank you Tony thank you Tony uh next on the agenda veteran service officer so he has the green light operation green light where's the green light chair Commissioners yes thank you for having us here um we are here to talk about operation green light um you know Americans Counties have a long proud history of serving our nation's veterans in Legacy that continues to this day as we work with our federal state and local Partners uh to ensure that the former service members in our in our communities have access to the resources they need to thrive um so national uh Association of counties and the National Association of County Veteran service officers have put forward an an initiative of operation green light um it's inviting the nation's 3,69 counties parishes and Burrows uh to join operation green light and show support for veterans by lighting our buildings Green from November 4th to November 11th by shining a green light uh County governments and our residents will let veterans know that they are seen appreciated and supported uh this came through jewry and Facilities uh Joey we kind of collaborated together and work work through this on how to how we wanted to answer this call of action um and so we were Dev a plan that uh with the All Veterans Memorial uh service or Memorial site would have green lights on the North uh and Fa shining onto the memorial um year round um so we're taking it A Step Above just the onee call before Veterans Day so we can have that year round to um invite that discussion and support for our veterans and our community also the for the one week time frame from November 4th to November 11th uh there would be one light or one window lit up in the historic courthouse on the on the North side right in the center of the building it would actually be one group there's three Windows total be comparable like what's in here so it's one group of three Windows right on the North side in the center of the building that we were thinking and that would be just for the weeks from November 4th to November 11th and then the the lights at the the monument um there's up lighting that shines up on that that would be that would be year round that we'll be looking at doing and so we have a um resolution that we are bringing forth to the the county to um accept um and and that's what we're asking the County Board to to do or approve I'll make the motion to approve the resolution supporting operation green light I'll second that third yeah motion made and seconded Mr chair may I make a comment on this I think this is an excellent idea um I would Veterans Day or 1111 is pretty significant in my life that's the day that my dad passed away he and he was a veteran that served during the Korean conflict he actually served in Japan and um so I really appreciate what you guys are doing thanks so we have a motion by was it by you Paul by franzine second by coring um do we have a cost are we adding a lot of cost of being putting that in or is it just changing of Lights um yeah so there's there's several different up lighting let's talk just at the monument and we're looking at just taking three of the clear poly um lenses off and putting green um poly lens back in and so that cost is is under $50 for that sheet um and then the the lighting the strips or to the light at the window we're going to put strips around the window um those have been procured and they're they're really reasonable okay just just thought I'd ask the question all in favor signify by saying i i p same sign motion carries thank you very much thank you CH you thank you County Sheriff Mr chair members of the board I'm standing in for our sheriff and our chief Deputy I just want to take a moment to recognize actually create some awareness if people aren't aware already um our Emergency Management division it's always been in the background for as long as I can remember being here um extreme necessity hopefully we don't have to utilize their experience um and their expertise but uh as we know we've had storms we've had disasters whether they are natural or man-made and it's always nice to have that insurance of having such a functional and uh professional group of people who support us not just Crowing County but all of our partners private and public our school districts our medical facilities and some of our private entities our Emergency Management division is uh really supports them all and it's like it's like your low range on your foil wheeel drive you you don't ever need it but when you do it really helps you get out of a pickle so they're like a group of cogs that just are slow and steady so with that I want to introduce uh Clayton Barger management director and he has um some introductions of his own to make thank you thank you thank you Mr chair members of the board morning again it's always a pleasure to uh stand before you and again uh I always say thank you for your support uh you know for Emergency Management we can't do uh our division can't do what uh we want to do out there without your support so uh while I was sitting down through the meeting just kind of took some notes as far as things that we're currently working on within Emergency Management uh I stopped writing after a while because I didn't want to take up too much time but I just kind of cover a couple of the things that we've been working on in the past and also coming up here in the future obviously we had our airport exercise that uh from my understanding went uh went well and those who again participated in that exercise said they had some great takeaways from uh from participating in it and then also from Emergency Management uh perspective as well some good takeaways as far as things we can work with uh as well going forward one of those was our kind of a ma Mass fatalities training uh wanting to maybe expand on that and seeing what uh what that would look like if an incident were at the airport were to happen and so we participated in a a FEMA Mass F fatalities exercise or tabletop exercise that they had done um up in Cloquet uh since then also coming up this week uh F's got a we have the election coming up so they have a tabletop exercise for iPod which is our integrated public alert and warning system so looking as far as okay well if something were to happen within our community how can we get that message out to uh our community members uh Cass County is going to be putting on a tabletop exercise here it was supposed to be this week got post own for a train derailment so working with them on that train derailment tabletop exercise and then taking the lessons learned from that as far as how can we bring that back into our community and be better prepared uh going forward um we also have coming up this week we have a radio programming training down in St Cloud if we're working with our you know not only the sheriff's office but everybody within the county that utilizes our armor uh radio network which is our um uh Allied radio Matrix for emergeny response so those 800 MHz radios every two years we need to be going out there and doing training to everyone that utiliz those those radios so Emergency Management along with our our Dispatch Center uh puts on those trainings uh going forward and again every two years getting out with our First Responders our school districts and uh everyone in the community again use those uh 800 megaherz radios uh this weekend also we have a three-day search and rescue uh training that's coming up uh in this that's we're participating in again taking those uh lesson Les learned from that training obviously we have deer hunting coming up so those Hunters that get lost out in the the Wilderness lost children so they we out their uh getting better prepared on that aspect as well uh still continue to work with FEMA on their with their National exercise program and uh the tabletop exercise we'll be working with them next fall in the Breezy Point that severe uh Windstorm exercise that we'll be putting on and every 5 years we need to go through our Hazard mitigation plan for the county so we just started that back in June that's going to be an 18-month process and again we're working up and uh going through that process uh to getting that finalized as well also looking at doing a complete rewrite of our Emergency Operations plan which includes our continuity of operations plan and several other plans within that Emergency Operations plan so uh within the upcoming uh weeks or months look forward to uh seeing some uh some changes to that pushing those forwards and getting some input as we go forward on those as well and part of those uh those plan rewrites is working on our Sheltering plan that's been about I'd say almost 12 to 13 years since we've had a good look at what our Sheltering plan looks like should there be a case where again a wild fire where we have displaced per uh Community or if we have a fire at the high-rise in the middle of the winter where are those residents going to go what does that Sheltering plan look like so Emergency Management is currently looking at uh working with public health and our American Red Cross with that partnership and reviewing our Sheltering plans for the county as well we believe last time I spoke with uh everyone we talked about uh we'd applied for a armor grant for 2024 or to 2026 and uh we didn't get approv for the entire amount but we did get $40,000 through the state for that so finalizing that Grant process which will be utilized for uh purchasing Apex 6500 radios for our uh for Sheriff's Office and updating those uh those communication needs the and then again the the last on here was as far as working with the state again as far as that state deck uh declaration working with our townships to make sure they get that uh that reimbursement back for those expenses incurred during the uh tornado back on uh on June 12th the most exciting news that I have for everyone on the board is that we have two new additions to the growing County uh Emergency Management division we have hired a new coordinator uh and also we have an intern uh that's joined us as well from the U uh University of North Dakota and I'll introduce them now we have Liz Gleason if she come up and uh again it would be our new Emergency Management coordinator Liz is no uh stranger to the Sheriff's Office she's been on our drone team uh for several years now and notably our drone team is intrical when it comes to search and rescue uh and also as far as our Disaster Response on June 12th as well when we look at our uh our um disaster assessments so again I'll introduce Liz if you have any questions for Liz hello um I'd like to say that appreciate the opportunity to be working with the county in a different capacity I work with brainer PD for 5 years so um this is a new role for me with a new new things to do so very excited about that so have you worked with Clayton before uh yes with the Drone team and you're still willing to come on board everyone keeps telling me that I haven't figured out what everyone's warning me about yet but you'll be busy I I'm fine with that I like being busy so good well welcome and then from uh NDSU uh we have uh Jason kleene who has again uh has a bachelor's degree in emergency management and part of their bachelor degree program they have to do an internship so he'll be interning with us uh he extended his internship actually hope already to have him here through the first part of February so again Jason Klein County Board I'd just like to say uh thanks to Clayton and the sheriff's office for taking me on um it's a great opportunity to be able to take what I've learned in uh the university and to actually watch it be applied um there's something to be said about watching something theyve spent a lot of money and time and effort watching it come to fruition and being able to apply yourself so I think it's a real opportunity for you to work under Clayton absolutely you know because the rest of the world is a lot calmer than Clayton is but he prepares well for those tragedies that may occur so I think it's a a great opportunity and welcome to croing County always prepared thank you I think you also have to tell Clayton there's a difference between NDSU and D my apologies uh barring any questions for me that's all I had it was nice talking to you yesterday and thank you for helping out with that situation we have a siren up in in we're trying to figure out who has it what what jurisdiction it's in and uh and I went out and I had the opportunity to go out and take some pictures of it for yesterday save a little trip up North so thank you for calling and being concerned about that no anytime like I say I always have my phone on so if anything comes up please uh give me a call yeah thank you thank you thank you Clayton County attorney you are here and present I was trying to do it on Zoom but it kept cutting out so you know me I'm not very techy so I just came over here I don't have anything for you today but I just figure I should at least make a cameo once in a while so um but I H happy to answer any questions that you have good idea I do have a question Mr chairman if that would be please ask are you ready you bet okay so as you might remember I I'm not a big fan of the misguided people that thought we needed a new state flag and a new state seal and um if I recall correctly and Debbie you help me if I'm speaking incorrectly but I think the taxpayers of crowing count count are responsible to revamp any things that happen in the courtrooms and the taxpayers of Crowing County pay for the getting rid of the seals and and putting up new seals and so I asked Debbie about that I says I think those seals should be on our excess auction that somebody might want to bid on those got a beautiful one back here and Debbie informed us that there's a statute that says um transfer to the State Historical Society required by Statute 1.35 sub subdivision 6 all unused dyes Engravings of the Great Seal shall be given to the Minnesota Historical Society along with historical information available about the seal how how can that happen when the taxpayers of croing County paid for those and they're taken away from the taxpayers up here I don't I don't understand that because the Minnesota Legislature created a law and then you have to abide by it can we sue them you can sue anybody you want for anything that's the wrong question can you win that's the question you should be asking me well I think it's I think it's wrong I really think it's wrong that'd be just like if the the legisl Steve Steve on I'm on your side this time on the legislature saying well when we're done with our snowplow trucks we have to deliver them over to the state uh garage be the same thing it's just ridiculous commissioner Corin so for instance when we went to more of a West law or an electronic Law Library System we also needed to discuss with the Minnesota Historical Society if they wanted all the old books that we may not keep there also is a process the Minal Historical Society can wave it and say they don't want it so they may not want every metal seal or every old flag from every county in the state I don't know so there's a process where we can look into that and request it I'd be happy to do that Mr chair if the board wants me to and commissioner Corin could you please look into that is that would that be okay with the rest of us I'm not going to put it on the top of my priority list just so you're not expecting me to report back in two weeks I'm just letting you know but we we look into it um I am not completely familiar with the way in which the new seal and flag were enacted so maybe they've already anticipated people wanting to keep those and said no they all have to be turned in but I can get you some background information come to back to the board at a future meeting and share that I'd appreciate that I just don't think it it just don't doesn't pass a smell test to me but I'd appreciate it that I do that for you yep any other questions for our County attorney thank you all thank you than J County Administrator Mr chair just a couple of items today the first one being the senior management team report the senior management team did meet last Monday and we had a couple of things that we talked about on our agenda um we have a new continuous Improvement cohort that did kick off last week so we are now adding more capacity to our continuous Improvement team across the county the other thing that we discussed was performance-based pay as we're getting to the end of 2024 making sure that all of our folks are our supervisors are having those conversations with those employees in those departments how are we making sure that we are communicating what outperformance looks like wanting to make sure there are no surprises as we move into that Performance Management end of season process so a couple of things that we discussed at Senior Management and continue to talk about as we move into the next year as well the second item I have for you today is is appointments to the natural resource advisory committee we have two vacancies two at large vacancies on the natural resource advisory committee both for terms expiring January 31st of 2027 uh we did receive two letters of Interest or notice of interest from Doug Hansen and Rick scogan so the action we are asking for is to for the chair to appoint Doug Hansen and Rick scogan to replace Chris Pence and Jeff Berg as the at large ref Representatives on the enra committee expiring January 31st of 2027 is that a chair appointment that is a chair appointment anybody on the board have any challenges with that no okay I so mve and and appoint those two people for the uh uh natural resources advisory committee thank you Mr chair that's all I had unless any of you have any questions for me Mr chairman I do have a question please ask ask okay since this probably would be directed to Jory but jory's not here so I'm going to direct it to you being that we're this is the last County board meeting before the election on November 5th I'm just wondering if an update on how things are going if there's a a um and how the election process is going I know there's I see it on TV all the time that there's a huge turnout of absente tea or early voting and I'm just wondering if you could just give us a little update on how things are going or maybe you don't know sure no I can I I'm still aware um I haven't gotten my toes completely out of the elections process yet so I'm still kind of working in that regard as well um like you're seeing across the country early voting absentee voting has been strong here in crowing Coney as well the early voting which is where voters can place their ballot directly into the tabulator here at our office began last Friday and will continue until 5:00 on the Monday before election day we are seeing a strong turnout of folks who are choosing to come in and vote that way we had a strong request of absentee ballots to be sent out to people as well so we are continuing those processes Jory was here earlier but he had to step out because public testing of election equipment is happening this morning and this afternoon they had the first two sessions yesterday two more sessions today and one tomorrow to get all of the equipment tested and ready for the polling places um because of the fact that we are so busy with voting there are some additional hours that the public should be aware of also if they're interested in voting early in addition to the regular 8 to 4:30 Monday through Friday the elections office will also be open on the two Saturdays before the election from 9:00 a.m. to 300 p.m. Sunday November 3rd from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and next Tuesday on the 29th I believe that is until 7 p.m. for folks who want to vote early we'll also have all the materials and everything ready to go out to the polling places so if anybody is interested in voting on Election Day and they are curious as to where their voting location is they should check out their voting location at mnvotes.org and it will tell them where they can put in their address can tell them where they would vote directions to their polling place as well as a sample ballot and all the candidates that will be on the ballot in their polling place very good thank you Mr chair I do have one thing I'd like to make the motion to adjourn we have a motion from barrows I would second that motion and we have a second from coring yeah all in favor signify by saying I I oppose same sign hearing none we are adjourned thank you