--------- call this meeting to order. Andy, you want to take it over up there, please? I forgot to turn on my mic. There we go. >> Oh, Mr. Chair, I I believe before we move on, I'll make the uh motion to
approve the agenda with the understanding that there are no additions, corrections, or deletions. >> Okay, perfect. >> I'll second that, Mr. Chair. >> Okay. >> All in favor? I >> I >> Okay. >> And then approve the minutes meeting
minutes. >> Yep. I'll make a motion we approve the minutes from our January 20th meeting. Okay. I'll second it. >> Second. Okay. All in favor? >> I Okay. I Yep. Opposed.
>> Okay. There we go. >> Okay. We're ready to begin. >> Now we can move on. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> All right. >> Why that's on there twice? But >> yeah, I'm not sure why we put it on there twice. Probably >> scratch that. >> I was just seeing if you were paying attention. >> I don't have enough money to pay
attention. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Oh goodness. Well, as you can see, we have a little different crew here today. Uh Diane's out. Uh and so I just want to thank Ryan for helping us run our IT portion of our CHB meeting. And then uh
Megan um Peterson is one of our social workers with public health and she'll be taking meeting minutes for us today. >> Great. >> Okay. >> Thank you, Amy. >> All right. So, first on the agenda is to talk about our um general updates that
we always do um every quarter. And so, the community health board, you're going to receive an overview of the services um from me and we're just going to highlight some accomplishments um some gaps and barriers and uh any trainings or conferences that staff have gone to
during this time. And so last quarter, I just want to remind you, we focused on data and we really tried to highlight the successes that we had seen over the last year in 2025. Uh but with this week being National Home Visitor Week and with our public
health texts preparing to graduate with their community health worker certification, uh I want to kind of take a change in how we're going to approach the meeting this week. Uh so she couldn't be with us today, but one of our home visitors, Katie Smith, um has a requirement in one
of the grants that she works under to get feedback and have a survey uh performed on her by one of her clients directly. And I wanted to share what the client had to say about Katie and the services that she provides for her and her family. She says, "This program has
such a positive impact on myself and my son. Uh, this program through our wonderful home visitor Katie has set our lives up for success. I have learned so many tools to become the best version of myself and a great parent. Katie makes
me feel seen, heard, and important. I look forward to our visits with Katie every time. Whoever gets trained by her, they are lucky, and I hope they end up being as great and wonderful as her. And so I just want to um pay tribute to the
family home visitor staff that it is National Home Visiting Week and so we are doing a little celebrating back over at the office. Uh next up I have Alex Mson. Uh he's going to introduce himself and speak to you a little bit uh about
some of his successes uh as a public health uh member of our team. >> All right. Uh, good afternoon. Sorry, I'm a little nervous. Um, uh, before I begin, I just want to say, uh, thank you for all of you commissioners for
supporting, uh, my community health worker certification. Um, that investment reflects a commitment not only to staff development, but to strengthening the services we provide, and I'm grateful for that support and eager to apply these skills in ways that
benefit our community. Um so a community health worker or a CHW is a trained public health professional uh who serves to bridge the gaps uh between healthcare, social services and the community. Um so how would a CHW
kind of enhance the services that we offer already? Um, first public health side. Uh, in our immunization programs, a CHW could conduct targeted out outreach for families who may be behind. Rather than
relying only on mailings or clinic reminders, a CHW can connect directly, answering questions, um, addressing concerns, and helping schedule appointments. Uh, this can increase vaccination vaccination rates and reduce
missed opportunities for care. Um, second, in maternal and child health, a CHW can provide consistent follow-up support. After a home visit or referral, they can ensure families understand safe sleep practices, have the needed
supplies, and are connected to resources like WIC or parenting programs or family home visiting. Uh, that trusted ongoing connection can make a meaningful difference in early childhood outcomes. Um,
and we're already seeing the value of community centered approaches through Bel Tramy County Wick. Um, our wonderful dietitians over at Wick, uh, they've expanded on the one vegetable, one community, uh, initiative, which I don't know if you
guys remember me talking about that last year. Um, it's a it's a program where we give out seeds to members of the community that either haven't or maybe they do already garden but uh are interested in gardening and becoming a
little more self- sustainable. But Wick has kind of uh expanded on that initiative in collaboration with the Red Lake Wick to help families start gardening even if they face barriers. Um, so their plan is, uh, families are
going to receive soil, a five gallallon pot for those that might not have the space to garden conventionally, um, and children children's gardening gloves and a tel. And then three, uh, vegetable plants with instructions on how to grow
them. Uh, so this will give them the tools and confidence to get started. Um, and a CHW could support and expand this effort by educating WIC clients or family home visiting clients that are part of this uh
initiative and helping them get connected and reinforcing those skills over time. By taking on this role, a CHW would also free up our home visitors to reach more families, increasing our overall impact. Um, CHWs also help address social
determinants of health. uh whether it's transportation barriers or food insecurity, they connect clients to resources and help remove obstacles to care, making our existing programs more effective. Um importantly, some CHWs uh services
are billable, including care coordination, health education, and patient navigation in certain cases. So, this creates an opportunity to expand services while helping offset costs. Um, an important thing to note is that a CHW
does not replace existing staff. They amplify them. So they extend they extend the reach of our nurses, educators and coordinators, our social workers, ensuring the work that we already do has a greater impact.
And from a financial perspective, CHWs are a cost-effective investment. And by improving prevention, reducing emergency care use, and increasing adherence to care plans, they can help lower overall costs while improving outcomes.
Um, in closing, adding a community health worker is not creating something new. It's about strength strengthening what we already do. It's about making our services more accessible, more effective, and more equitable. Thank you for your continued commitment
to the health of our community and I welcome any questions here. >> Yeah, go ahead. Thanks. >> Is it Alec or Alex? >> Alex. >> Alex. Thanks. Um, thanks for the presentation. I'm wondering So, did you complete your certification or not yet?
>> Not not yet. Um, a couple of my co-workers and I were in the final semester of this certification. So, it ends May 12th. I've already got the internship stuff done. So, that's great. And there's just one more course that couple more weeks
and we are all going to be done. >> And it'll be three of you total then. >> Three total. >> Okay. Do we have any that are on staff right now that are >> We do not. >> Okay. So, that'd be great. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Pretty excited to put these skills to use. >> All right.
>> Any other questions? >> Thank you. >> Okay. >> All right. >> Good. Thank you. Thank you. >> And then um one of the things that I identified as I was reading through kind of the charge in your regular session uh
for the budget committee was to make sure that departments are looking at ways in which we can be more resourceful with our funds internally. And so one of the things I think we do pretty pretty well in health and human services is we look across our divisions and say how
can public health support existing services. And so um I have Chris uh Golden here today to talk about a program that we've um just want to come talk about her. Okay. >> Hello.
As Amy stated, I'm Cararissa Golden and I'm here to talk about um an exciting new program that public health is offering. It's called the Educational Engagement Program and this was developed in response to a change in
statute in the child protection statute in July of 2025. Prior to that, if schools identified kids who were um had multiple seven or more unexcused absences from school and
the school had made um active efforts to engage the family to increase that attendance and it wasn't working, they would make a child protection report to my office. Um, and if all the requirements were met, we would set up a
child protection response, a family assessment to go out and work with these families to again attempt an increase in attendance. Um, July of 2025,
statute changed and they added a a another step into that process. So now the schools have to make their efforts. If those are not successful, then they make the report to child protection and then we in turn um need to screen out
those reports if there hasn't been voluntary services offered to help the family first. Um so the schools make their efforts, we get a report, we screen it out, and now we refer that to public health for their educational
engagement program. So they're reaching out to these families, meeting with them, finding out what the barriers are, help them reduce those barriers, and in in turn increase attendance. So we just
got this up and running in February um February 16th of 2026 and to this point it has been successful. um we have referred I think 18 um families to them for their
educational engagement program. Um they have not had to refer any of those families back to us. So what public health home visitors are doing is meeting with these families um helping them reduce barriers, increase attendance. If that does not work and
there's not an increase in attendance, then the report comes back to my office and at that point we would set up a child protection family assessment. Um so to this point the program has started out strong. It's being successful. Um to
this point I would predict in the future we will get some families that need that third response was which is a child protection response. But I've been very happy um to see so far that um they've been successful um in helping families
increase attendance. So kind of the goals of this program are to of course number one increase attendance. We all know that kids are um happier, better adjusted, and more successful in their future if they're attending school. Um
so that's the primary goal. Um, another goal is to increase that collaboration between public health, child protection, the schools, and our families. Um, and I feel that we're doing a great job with that as well. Um, the third goal is to
decrease the amount of families that need to come into the child protection system. Um, and thus far we're we've been successful with that also. Um, so I really um thank public health. This is something that was identified between by
um both public health and child protection leadership as an opportunity to do something different for our families. Um and we're satisfying statute by following this path. Do you have any questions for me?
>> Mr. Gazik. >> Yeah. Thanks, Chris. I'm wondering when you say you're screening them, what what all is involved? Is that just like if you know that they're a past challenge or something, then you don't pass them on to public health or what what what's involved in screening them?
>> Get a report in about um educational neglect. We have to look at what information has been provided to us. Did the child indeed have seven or more unexcused absences? I will tell you, we never get reports when there's seven
unexcused absences. It's usually like in the 20s. Okay. >> Um, so that would be the first thing we look for. The second thing we look for is that the school made their efforts to um, help the family, >> making sure that they're checked. >> Okay. Now that now they have 10 unexcused absences. We're going to pass
this on. They need to attempt meetings, home visits, um, working with the family as well. >> Okay, great. Something else put up. Go ahead. Thank you. >> Yep. >> Thank you, >> chair. So you mentioned, you know, about the
excessive, you know, absences. I'm just kind of curious to know what some of the reasons were for the excessive absences. >> Yeah. Um, you know, it's different for every family. Um, um, a big part of some
famil family's challenges is kind of a lack of, um, parenting skills. So, not having a good routine the night before. So then nobody wakes up in time for to get everybody ready and on the bus. And then if they have a lack of transportation on top of that, they
can't just get in the car quick and be 15 minutes late. They miss the whole day. Um others could be um anxiety by the child that they just really um refuse to go to school because they're feeling anxious about that. Um we have
some kids that are being bullied and therefore don't want to go to school. >> Um sometimes it's a lack of um knowledge of what education can do for their children and therefore it's not made a
priority until somebody really helps them see what all the benefits are. Um, >> yeah. And and I'm I'm glad um you asked, you know, and and finding out some of these reasons because as a parent of teenagers,
>> Mhm. >> I I completely understand, you know, uh my girls, you know, wanting to be uh you know, putts around in the morning and they're 5 minutes late and and whatnot and and they're they're docked, you
know, so it's like there's no leeway. and yeah, >> you know, the excuse or or for for being absent. So, >> you know, I'm I'm wondering, you know, if there's and this is probably a school thing, you know, but I do appreciate,
you know, the partnership then and the collaboration uh uh you know, the county and the school are are having, you know, to to ensure that our kids, you know, um are set up for success. >> Yes. Yeah.
>> And I should have also clarified that that um educational neglect is for kids who are under the age of 12 because it is seen that at below the age of 12, it really does take the parent getting the child there or helping the child get
ready for school and on the bus on time. If the student is 12 or older, that is seen as their responsibility to get up and get on the bus or to school. So then that goes into a truency program which um is a separate program altogether from
child protection and from public health. >> Well, you know, and I have a 17-year-old twins that uh you know still still need a little you know help in the mornings and I try to tell them and remind them it's your responsibility. So you know
thank you for the work that that you're doing. You know, I think it's important that our kids, you know, um, you know, attend school. You know, as as a county board, you know, we support 100% graduation >> and anything that we can do at the county, I think would be very helpful.
So, you I appreciate the what you're doing and and not, you know, taking the kids from the home and putting them in a different environment and and things like that. So, it's great. Keep it up. >> Thank you. >> I just want to say one thing. I had the
benefit of hearing it from the school side also and they're really thankful that this is working together the way you are. Uh I think it makes things a lot easier for them too to have that next step. So if they can't get something done, you can potentially. So
that's kind of a nice nice combination there. >> That's great to hear. Thank you. >> Yes. Wondering Amy kind of alluded to cost savings. Is it um sending it to public health? Is there a reimbursement for
doing that or something? Or or is it just a saving time from your department by taking advantage of the relationship with public health? Or where where does the efficiency or cost-saving piece come in or or whatever? >> It's my understanding that public health
has grants that allow them to do this work. >> Okay. um which then in turn is reducing the amount of cases that our child protection assessment workers and investigators have. >> I wish I could tell you that that has decreased our numbers, but uh first
quarter of 2026, we were still higher than we were first quarter of 2025, which of course was higher than 24 and so on. >> But it would have been even higher if you hadn't done this program. So that's good. without them taking that it would be um we'd be in a worse situation than
we are. >> Great. Thank you. >> Yeah. Thank you. >> So that concludes our portion of section one. Do you have any questions for me on program reviews and updates? >> Mr. Chair,
>> sure. So um Alex mentioned that uh there are billable services correct that that public health does >> say that again >> billable services. >> Yes we do bill for >> so what is the uh encounter rate for those services?
>> Can you clarify your question? >> Do you how do you bill? Who do you bill? >> Oh sure. So um all of our staff uh can provide billable services for home visiting. So, we can bill um Minnesota
Medical Assistance and we can bill Prime West. And then for our drug screening program um we have billable services for that when the nurse provides that service. Um when um Alex does our car
seat education, does he still in here? Um that is a billable service reimburseable through Prime West. Um what other kind of billable services? Our primary billable services are to Prime West and to medical assistance.
>> Right. Well, you know, and I bring that up because I know in the past, you know, we've kind of lacked, you know, the ability to, you know, collect, you know, some of those billable services. And and
I think it's great that we, you know, are taking the time and effort, you know, to, you know, utilize that >> because it shows and it proves that, you know, being able to generate, you know,
some revenue is really beneficial for the entire county. You know, being able to share your resources with the uh health and human services department, I think it's great. you know, we're not making money hand over fist, but you
know, what generate the revenue that we're generating, you know, is is helpful. So, I'm I'm hopeful that, um, there is a way that we can continue to, you know, bill for those services.
um not knowing, you know, where things may be going with, you know, MA and and, you know, the healthc care portion of of the situation, you know. So
I'm encouraging you and and health and human services you know to you come up with a way you know to continue these you know if things should you know take a turn. So I
appreciate that and and I I you know I'm thankful that you and your team and and and everybody over there is is doing what they can. you know, it really helps, you know, us when when we have to, you know, tackle that that budget and u so
appreciate it. >> Thank you, Commissioner. >> Thank you. Next up, >> next up. >> So, next on our agenda is to review the CHA chip. So, uh just a short statement that the community health board reminder
that we completed our comprehensive assessment in uh 2025. you approved the community health improvement plan. And so I'm just uh going to give you an update on where we sit with our improvement plan process and the goals
that we set. Will you go ahead and bring up the PowerPoint for me? >> Thank you. >> All right. So to begin with, um I'm guessing that you don't all have your
community health assessment book with you, but you want to make some notes. I'm going to reference some pages that you can draw back on uh when uh we conclude the meeting. So, uh, at our last meeting, I presented
to you guys, uh, what the community health board had feedback from MDH when we submitted our community health plan. And there were a couple areas in which they wanted us to focus a little bit more on. It was equity considerations
and they wanted us to provide additional details on how residents will remain engaged and they wanted us to consider aligning strategies with healthy people 2030 or the Minnesota state health priorities um to ensure broader
consistency. And again in under the health equity they wanted us to see wanted us to provide more support in the area of health equity uh components of our plan. And so I want to show you how we've been meeting some of those uh
responses that MDH had in addition to just going through um our top four priority areas and giving you an update on those specific areas. So for the first one, um we've been working on some signage in our building. So when we got
feedback from the state saying we needed to include more health equity, one of the ways in which we could do that was by applying for a grant called Minnesota Infrastructure Grant. That grant allowed for us to focus on three areas. public
health um infrastructure, public health education and awareness in the community and then um public health's collaboration and enhance relationships with our tribal communities. And so one way in which we
are doing that and we are working to uh build on those relationships is being more inclusive in our building from a visual standpoint. And one of our staff had a great idea instead of just including Ojiway translation on our
signage to have somebody actually translate the word and put that into our uh YouTube channel. So then when somebody scans a QR code, they can hear the word being said and they can see the word. So you're touching on all learning
styles. So here are just some examples in this PowerPoint presentation which you should have in your packet. of some of the words that are public facing that we will have translated throughout our building. This project um allowed us to tra uh to
work with three tribal nations. We worked with four translators and then uh Kyle Waterman from uh Pinnacle Marketing um was our project manager on this project. So, we've started um hanging up some of the signs uh from Meyers signage
program uh company and then uh we have another signage pro uh company that's also working um on some of our public facing signage. >> Can I ask one quick question? Yeah. >> Will these signs have that QR code? So, if somebody
isn't able to read, are they able to maybe do that? >> Yes. So, what we're going to have is like when you go to an art museum and you have a nice little sign next to your artwork that says like this was made possible by and gives an explanation to
it. We're going to have signs like that throughout the building because these signs would be way too busy if we put the QR code right on the sign. So, yes, people will have um the availability scan that QR code and then it will play the word for them.
Um any questions about the signage project on the next slide? Um to pull that like when we talk in public health we always talk about that holistic approach. So instead of just putting up the signs we
included the QR code. So now we're also going to hear the word but then um we did a team building project um led by an our human uh health and human service director um for renaming our rooms for our conference rooms. So those are also
public facing. And so our conference rooms used to be 1, two, and three, A, B, and C. And so now they are um by vote of all of our employees in Health and Human Services, we renamed them to be a lake from Bel Tramy County. So this is
just an example in this slide. One of the rooms is Bel Tramy Lake um instead of conference room 1 or conference room 8. And so then we also translated the name of that lake uh into Ojiway and we'll have this artwork um hanging in
the conference room. Uh any questions about that project? Okay, next slide. The next project that we worked on is a coloring books. And so in in our review from the state, they
wanted us to look at healthy people's 2030. And so in doing so, there are different categories that healthy people 2030 was looking at to say these are the things that we want to do to improve the health of the people. And so there was
an area in dental, there was an area in emergency management and um safety, and then there was an area in substance use and chemical use. And so what we did is can you pull up the fa uh thank you. So
on our website, so in the county's website, in public health webs portion of it on the bottom half, we've translated coloring books, four of them into Ojiway. And so Ryan is going to
show us how this works. So you can open it up as a PDF and download it. That's all right. You're good. We're ahead of schedule, so don't sweat it. Okay. So, um, you'll scroll up to the
top of the page. So, our coloring book is downloadable. So, anybody can download the coloring book. Has the QR code attached to it. So then when they scan the QR code, they can color and listen to the Ojiway word.
So now will you bring up the um the video for it so they can hear it and see it. So then they can also go to the Ojiway translation in an audio version
asking for medicine. Draw the missing bubbles. And so all four of those coloring books in four different areas focused on 2030 healthy people um we've integrated and um we've tried to make it more inclusive
uh to our Oji boy um tribal nations. I'm really excited about this project. Um, we are also printing hard copies of the coloring books and so we will share them with social services. So when people are doing assessments, when
they're doing um uh home visits, when they're doing uh supervisory visits, or when we're out in the community doing health fairs and connecting with community members, we'll have the coloring books. Um, and then if you flip to the next slide,
uh, yeah. Yep. 100%. Yep. Yep. We wrote for a grant to completely fund this. Um, I'm jumping ahead, but uh, we also, uh, in partnership with those that we that help translate the the coloring books and our
Ojiway signage, um, we've also built a really strong relationship with comprehensive health, um, the comprehensive health team up in Red Lake. Uh, let's see. I think that's all I wanted to say about
the the coloring books. So, are you have any questions about those before I move on to our four priority areas? So, I just want to call out how this grant and other projects that we've been working on have I feel have helped meet
the areas that the health said you need to work a little harder on these. Like they weren't red marks, right? They didn't say you have to redo it, but they just said we'd like to see you be more inclusive or include this or change this. So in our priority number one which was
chemical dependency we were working on creating a youth advisory committee with representation from a minimum of three schools in Bel Tramy County. We have successfully done that already with the help of Basque and public health
partnering with our cannabis grant. they've successfully formed the rise above um team and the rise above team is focused uh on the high school population and Cammy Cal I believe has spoken to you guys previously about that and then
they were also at the opioid steering committee. Um they are working on social media and bringing youth together to rise above and say no to substance use and chemical dependency. And so they've successfully
had uh different events at the school and they had their first uh free coffee session at Cantria Coffee uh two weeks ago I believe. So on a Thursday any youth could show up, get a free coffee, some free food, and sit and play games
and do karaoke. They had 20 kids show up. Um and so for their first night, I think that was super cool. Not only did they have kids from Baiji, but kids from Leaport showed up too. So, uh, we're reaching beyond just our our city limits. And then within the middle
school, they have Uprise. And on our website, um, we also have posted some of the the links to the videos that Up um, Uplift have created. And the Uplift group is for uh, middle school age kids.
And so if you have a moment to check out the website, they made two really cool videos. Um they're they're almost like those heart uh string tugging, you know, type videos where you watch this and you're like, "Wow, I can't believe our youth made these videos." Um but it just
showcases some of the work that they've been doing in the middle school. for um action plan number two under our health priority one of chemical dependency we wanted to work on um organizing annual sober living um events and so through
our opiate dollars which I know we don't generally talk about at the CHB meeting but I wanted you guys to know that through that funding several of the agencies or uh companies that we've decided to fund have been forming sober
events from um different game nights, dance nights, Halloween events, things that include not just adults, but things to focus on for their family. In addition to that, we attended the nine more and the the BSU um block parties
that were uh co-hosted with HRDC and then our own um winter festival. um and Commissioner Sumar and Commissioner Carlson um had the availability uh to attend and um I didn't know if you wanted to take a little time to speak
about uh the impact that you thought that might have had on the community. >> Yeah, thanks for for letting me know uh beforehand. >> Got a big report. Yeah, actually I think um uh Commissioner um Carlson and I did
mention it during you know one of our reports and that was >> okay >> a great opportunity to connect with you know the folks in the Kelly area and uh it was great you it was a great event well attended and I'm not too sure if
that's something that can be planned for other parts of the county you know going forward or if that's something that it's going to be an annual thing because it's my understanding that it was the was it an annual event? Is it advertised an annual event? I'm not >> Yeah. Yeah. It got advertised as annual,
but it was definitely a community collaborative effort and a lot of support from this grant. >> Yeah. Yeah. And I was actually surprised with the turnout, especially with, you know, it being towards the end of
basketball season and Kellier's boys and girls were at at sections that weekend and and there was still a huge crowd. So, you know, I I you know, commend all the folks that were involved. You know, Amy had her parents coming over from
North Dakota, you know. So, I mean, it seemed like a really familyoriented event and and uh you know, so I look forward to, you know, what what comes of of that. Thank you. >> Yeah. Um for health priority number two,
I know Commissioner Gold had asked at our last CHB meeting to bring um more information about housing and transportation and so hopefully he'll have an opportunity to watch the recording. Um, I did a little bit of digging and really, uh, right now what
we're seeing in the community is HRDC and the housing collaborative um, are really kind of our two biggest advocators for, um, making some changes in in housing. And so my my suggestion would be to go to HRDC and check out
their website. They have a pretty big housing section on there. And I I believe Commissioner Gasfig, you said on their board. Okay, perfect. So, if we need any housing updates, maybe we could get them from you. >> There's some other uh um you know, the
greater Baiji is also working on u you know, housing and the city, the school district, you know, a lot of lot of the uh agencies are are coming together to try to, you know, have an all the above approach towards, you know, not because there's not just one type of housing
that's needed in our area and there's a substantial amount of housing that's needed. So um it's not just uh going to be solved by one one organization I don't think. >> Yeah. >> But lots of lots of you know work has been done our county or administrator
Barry has done a lot of work as well um with as well as with the city to identify parcels that might be um available for us to you know to utilize for housing you know whether it be county or city parcels and things like that that um a lot of lot of work being
done behind the scenes. >> Great. Great. Um, and then as far as transportation goes, um, at, uh, HRDC, they're working with Conifer Estates and, um, Tammy Hagen, um, has a program through a grant that she's been working
on. And so, I'm really interested to see where, um, that grant program goes and hopefully with any grant funded um, we have the couple years to work out the sustainability part of once we start something new. Um, and uh, Commissioner
Wner, I'm guessing you have a pretty good grasp on transportation since that's a a huge part of your day-to-day work. Um, but I wasn't sure if you guys were aware that through the family's first project that Belrammy County participated in, we had the um privilege
of working with Samford and Samford purchased a van to help um pregnant women and people who have delivered get rides to their um appointments that they need to get access to. And so any woman who is currently expecting or has
delivered and needs an appointment uh related to women's health, unfortunately if they have children, we can't transport children yet, but they are working on that. Um but they travel to Red Lake, Cass Lake, and the surrounding community of Baiji. Um, so that's one of
the uh furthest transportations uh I think that we have in our community as far as um uh maternal child health. I'm not sure how far I think you travel to Red Lake also, right? And then the last one that we've been
working on is safety and security. And uh one of the things that our our people said when we did our survey, remember, was we do a really good job of of connecting people. And so that's why um on page nine of our book, we made it
very important uh connection in our community health assessment to focus on community connections. that we make a space for connection and that we have a lot to celebrate over the last five years in what we've done to include programs and to make sure that we're
supporting individuals of all walks of life and all ages. And so one of the things that we're doing in public health is we are continuing to look at how to sustain a grant-f funded collaborative effort that we've had with North Country CHB the
community health board of Hubard Clear Lake and Lake of the Woods. And so we're really looking at we've started um on our YouTube channel. You'll be able to see some of the videos that we created. I'm not going to make you watch them all, but I would love if you would pick
one and watch it because then that will increase our numbers. Uh, do you want to just pull that up real quick? So, you can get to that from our public health library. You can go to our media tab and then you can go to the community health um board YouTube channel. So,
that's where you'll see all your lovely faces and our recorded meetings. But, we've also been creating educational videos. So, in addition to our coloring books, you'll find stuff from uh dental health and family home visiting, uh
community safety, um mental health, team vaping, and then you get to see we only one of the things that's important to note that Diane discovered is if somebody starts a video and doesn't finish it, we don't get a view on it.
But was really interesting to me is that immunizations had our highest view. I did not ex expect that especially since at the very beginning at some of our um health uh fairs uh if you can scroll down just a little bit further
the video on winter preparedness bag. We were using that uh in health fairs the first year for raffle prizes. So if people watch that video they could enter their name into an emergency kit. And so I really thought that that video would
have more views. So I was pretty surprised when I I looked at that before the meeting to see where we were at. Um but that's why that um collaborative effort is so important is because we are really focusing on how we can um enhance
safety and security and in our community. And one way we think we can do that is through our educational videos. Okay. So that's my review of the Chaw Chip. um the first half of it. There's a little bit more in this section under
the CHA chip. I just want to speak to um a couple other ways that we're using the Minnesota infa the Minnesota infas structure grant um to help um carry out some of our goals in the CHA chip. And so on our next slide,
uh we've been working on a project with NDSU and the next slide. In that project, we are hoping to make a video that could uh be taken to a national conference to enhance education of public health. And
I don't mean like education like on hypertension or on high cholesterol. I mean what is public health? And one of our jobs is to create our cha and our chip. And so we really want to educate
the community, but we want to educate students. We want people to know when they're in nursing school like why the work we do in public health is so important and how it overlaps into the work they do in a long-term care facility in a hospital setting or in a
clinical setting. And so in our partnership uh with uh comprehensive health of Red Lake, this is Orin Bolio. So, we are doing a documentary style video and uh we went up to Red Lake and we interviewed Orin and we asked him
about Red Lakes's Chaw Chip. We asked them about uh we asked him what are your greatest needs for your community and what kind of things are you going to be putting into your um health improvement plan? And so that's incorporated into our video. And then next slide.
And then part of that video is also going to include how are we um implementing our improvement plan. And so we're using the winter festival as one of those activities that we did to meet a goal in our improvement plan. And
so Pinnacle Marketing um has a a gentleman, his name is John, and he came with and he did videography for us. So he interviewed people and then he also um took still shots for us. And next slide.
Um, and then his they him and his creative team are also working on increasing our brochures. And so, uh, since you already got an update from Commissioner Sumar on the winter festival, I'm not going to go
into much more detail on that, but I do want to talk about the importance of updating our our branding and our logos and our brochures. So, one of the things uh that we wanted to make sure that we made uh more awareness for public health
was the actual programs that we provide. And so, this brochure hadn't been updated since 2016. And so, this was another project that we did with that grant. Next slide. And then this just captures the um the three videos. So,
we're doing the documentary style video. um they came to public health to get a tour of our building so that way we can include that into our videos and then we're going to make a community connections video. And so that's just
going to highlight um the work that we did with the winter festival and looking ahead. Final slide. Okay, so we really want to sustain partnerships with North Country. Um we have joined the state wick advisory council um
through the local public health association. In addition to the local public health associations, um I am the regional um alternate for the executive committee and for the um association of Minnesota counties executive committee.
And all that means is we're trying to bring the voice of uh rural Minnesota, Bel Tramy County to the state level. Um, we are working really hard to build a strong health and human service
emergency response committee and we really believe that through that committee we'll also um improve on the safety and security that the people feel in our community because we'll be more prepared on how to respond to events. Um, I'd like to report to you that we
successfully completed our first all agency call drill. Um, according to Chris Muller, it was our largest call down that he is aware of that we've ever done. We contacted 123 people with 102
responses and that is an 82 uh% response rate. Our typical volunteer response rate usually ranges about 20 uh%. So, it was a pretty successful drill this morning. Um, and then looking ahead, we hope to
strengthen our workforce through community health workers. One of our biggest challenges in public health, I feel, is our staffing. Um, and I just want to take a moment. Do you mind coming up? >> Okay. This is Nanako Gonzalez. Today is
her first day with public health. She is a public health uh, nurse RN. >> Do you want to introduce yourself, commissioners? My name is Nanak Gonzalez. I'm a I'm a public health nurse and then just like Amy said, this is day one. And then um my uh interest
has been public health and working as a nurse last 10 years. I've been working in the field and uh including Red Lake and then Leech Lake and I came to the Belrammy County where I live almost 20 years here. So I'm pretty excited to be
able to serve my Yep. uh work and then my um focus is um reducing health disparities uh enhancing inclus uh inclusion and accessibility. That's my passion to work
as a nurse. So I'm excited to work with Amy uh with her supervision and then I met a great team members today. So and then this meeting get me excited. >> Thank you so much. Yeah.
>> So, we're excited to have her join our team. Since the last time we spoke, I've lost two teammates um and received a third resignation. And so, um I really feel that our our staffing and um our turnover um is a little bit challenging,
but um hopefully today through the presentation, you've seen um how we've overcome those challenges. Despite losing staff, we still continue to take on the child um education, you know, engagement program. And we continue to hit our marks with home visiting and um
uh our community health workers uh or our family health techs um graduating with their community health worker certificates. Um so I think that's where I'm going to conclude section number two. And you ready for section number three?
This one is short. So last session we talked about our performance measurements. Okay. So if you remember at the end of each or at the beginning of each year I'm required to report back to the state on how we meet different measures. Right? Do we
have a chip? Do we have a process, a plan, a policy? And it's 46 different measures. So, I've completed the report for 2025 and we fully met 36 of those measures. We could not meet eight of them and this
year we substantially met zero. Last year was five and uh we only minimally met two. So, we have an improvement because the year before was 32 fully met. So this year is 36 and um we are
still minimally met two for two. So I just wanted to bring to your attention the ones that I think we need to work on and will be working on for this next year. Um so the biggest one where we get the not meetat area is in our
performance management system. The performance management system is basically me designing something that says how do we manage how we're performing as a public health entity. And so it's simply a spreadsheet setting some goals and then assessing how we can
meet those goals. The other areas that were um not um able to meet are basically related to having not having a written procedure or policy to say we can prove that we do this work. So for
example, one of the areas that we struggle to meet is related to our lab and infectious disease. We do all these things that they require of us to run the lab and do infectious disease prevention and investigation. We don't
have a documented policy within the last five years. So, I believe that you'll see next year um as long as I can get these policies or processes, we're we're trying to aim to have more policies or guidelines.
I mean, excuse me, processes or guidelines as opposed to policies because policies really hold us um I don't want to say like to to the line, but they become more rigid where when we have a a process or we have guidelines,
it gives us room for the oneoffs when our clients don't fall into those policies, right? So, it gives us more wiggle room. Um, so that was all I wanted to report out on you that I had completed the annual report and uh once the state gives us our official report
back um I think you'll be um happy to know that we um exceeded and we improved on four more measures and >> that's all I have. >> Perfect. Commissioner God. >> Yeah. Well, thanks for all the great information, Amy, and for all the work
that you and your team are doing. Um wondering on some of those things where it's just a report can you I mean it's can you borrow and just edit something that another organization has done so you don't have to invent the wheel. >> Yeah. You know that's kind of the hard
part because we do ask like each other across our different counties like hey do you have a policy for this or do you have a a a guideline for this? The only problem we run into is not
every county operates the same way. So some counties they um they contract out their public health work to a hospital. Some public healths are not part of um health and human services. Some public healths are part of cities. So we do
share um information like that and then we just have to tweak it. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. Any other questions? >> That's why I put Carissa first. >> Then you guys could ask her more questions.
>> All right. >> I think you're doing a great job. Appreciate it a lot. >> All right. Thank you for your time and your attention. I know it gets to be a lot, so I try to bring other people in. >> All right. Do you want to adjourn our meeting? >> Yeah. >> Okay. Second.
>> All right. All in favor? All right. >> Thank you. >> Enjoy your five minute Part: 2
Call this meeting of the Belrammy County Board Commissioners to order. We rise for the pledge. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag 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. >> Okay. Um, have no general comments. Um, anyone wishing to address the county board on an item not on the agenda may come forward at this time and be
recognized by the board chair. Please state your name and address for the record. Comments are limited to 5 minutes. A personnel complaint against individual county employee may not be heard initially at a board meeting. Personnel complaints may be submitted to the board in writing through the county
administrator's office. A person addressing the board may not use profanity or vulgar language. Do we have anybody? Well, first, do we have anybody online? No. Okay. Anybody else wishing to address the board? Come up to the
microphone. Just speak it. Can you hear me? Okay. Okay. >> Um, hi, my name's Emma Mishki. My address is 44517 Schoolcraft Drive. Um, I am a M's level social worker and lifelong resident of the Bumiji,
Minnesota area. Um, here today to voice my concerns about um, just adverse impacts of the 2026 county budget and subsequent hour and staffing shortages of the library system that have resulted from that. um and specifically the
impacts that that's posing to our community's most vulnerable in addition to just everyone in our community. Um, as someone who spent a large chunk of my childhood roaming through the library stacks looking for CDs and VHS tapes and books to fill my summer days, and um, as
someone who continues to use the library as a resource for, um, my academics, um, for places to meet with the clients that I serve, um, as really a place to turn to when I have nowhere else to turn to. Um and also as a social worker who in all contexts of my work witnesses
firsthand um the cyclical harm and disempowerment that comes when folks don't have access to basic resources. Um I have yeah long strongly valued um the public library as an institution um as a
gateway for folks to access resources and information um health and connection. Um, and I think that in our current climate of dis and misinformation and um, intolerance and rising resource deprivation, the library
system is more important than ever than ever, pardon me. Um, which is why it was especially disheartening and continues to be disheartening um, for me and a lot of the folks I serve to um, grapple with the funding cuts um, that were imposed at
the end of 2025. Um, as I hope you I'm sure you know by now, the library system offers um really an abundance truly remarkable scope of free or reduced rate um resources whether it be academic databases um park passes,
printers and copers and scanners um mobile bookmobile uh children's programming truly so much more that I'm forgetting. Um, the library in this way truly serves folks in all walks of life. Whether it be Baiji's most vulnerable, um, folks experiencing poverty and homelessness
like I referenced earlier. Um, whether it be families who are trying to bridge gaps imposed by rising grocery costs, um, gas prices, just rising cost of being alive. Um, or whether it just be folks who want to increase their connection to the community. Um, Biji
library system truly serves and is a lifeline for thousands of our county residents. Um, and I'm sure you heard ample testimony regarding the transformative nature of the library system when the cuts were initially um, being discussed. So, for the sake of time, I won't repeat those, but again,
just wanted to remind you um, of the lifeline that the library system um, poses to again thousands throughout our community. Um, and while I recognize and respect your duty to steward the taxpayer dollars of Belrammy County, um, and while I also recognize the kind of
unique funding challenges that the board must be facing, um, in a result of or as a result of, pardon me, state funding cuts and the big beautiful bill and all that. Um, I do question whether the decision to disinvest or cut the funding in our public library system is truly economical in a long-term sense. um
given the degradation in social infrastructure that comes from an underfunded library system. Um I admittedly don't have like data particular to this cost comparison and do apologize for that but um just personally wonder and urge the board to continually reflect upon whether the
long-term costs associated with the social ills that occur when folks can't access um basic resources that are offered by the library um whether that outweighs initial investment in library services. Um yeah, as a result of the funding cuts, you know, folks are going to
experience undue challenges in accessing employment or technology to fill up employment paperwork. Um they're not going to have um as easy access to enriching um spaces to bring families
won't have access to for spaces for their fam to bring their families to um that are safe and affordable. Um, folks are going to struggle to find access to technology needed to meet legal requirements. Um, folks who lose their jobs of course might potentially have to rely on public services um to bridge
gaps in income. There's lots of harm that um can be done from ongoing disinvestment in the library. Um, which is why I guess I'm here to just urge the board to continually reflect on kind of its expression of its priorities via its funding allocations um, and just how we're promoting accessibility and equity
through our community or if we're not doing that. Um, yeah, I look forward to seeing the work the board is able to do to mitigate the harm done by these cuts, um, and reinvigorate the public library system. Um, and also thank you for your time, consideration, and service. So, >> thank you.
>> Thanks. >> Anyone else wishing to address the board? Okay, hearing none, we'll look for approval of the agenda. >> Mr. Chair, I'll make the motion to
approve the agenda with the following uh deletion. Item nine of the regular agenda could be postponed until May 19th, 2026. >> That okay.
Uh any discussion? All in favor? >> I opposed. I >> Okay, it carries. Approval of the consent agenda. Do we have a motion? >> I'll make a motion we approve the consent agenda presented. Mr. Chair.
>> Okay. >> Can we scroll up? >> Second. >> Do we have a second? Second. Okay. All in favor? I I opposed. Okay,
it carries. Veteran service officer re reappointment. >> Thank you, chair, members of the board. Um Minnesota statute section 197.60 subdivision 2 declares that the term of
appointment for a county veteran service officer is for four years. We're now at the point where it is time to uh reappoint Shane Gustiffson to be our county veteran service officer. Uh I know that you and and several of us online were able to see his update
regarding his program and the services that are there are providing to the veterans in our county and the things that they are doing uh to make sure those who've served our country are now being served by us. So it's my recommendation that the board confirm
the reappoint of Shane Gustoson as county veteran service officer for a 4-year term starting April 22nd, 2026. Mr. Chair, I'd like to make a motion we reappoint Shane Gustoson as our county veteran service officer. Okay, we have a
motion. Do we have a second? >> I will second. >> Okay, we have a second. Okay, any discussion, >> Mr. Chair? Mr. Sar, >> um, can Tom remind me how the reappointments
work? Is this uh uh is the BSO a employee of the colony that you oversee? Correct. And does this appointment last for the four
years that uh if there are any questions or I'm you know I'm just looking out the if there's any sort of you know dismissal that that needs to happen. How does that work with
with not only the the you know veteran service officer but the other appointed as well? Excellent question, uh, Commissioner Winger and, uh, Commissioner Sumar. So, yes, the appointed officials do report to the county administrator as per the
county board setup of that. Um, they do get appointed for a certain period of time, typically four years, as we are doing uh, this evening or recommending this evening. Uh, if there however any disciplinary or performance related issues, it falls to the county administrator to deal with those. Um,
and if that was to result in some sort of terminable event, the county board would be uh advised of that. Uh, there would be no action required from the county board and the term is not required to be fulfilled. So, it's not a
guaranteed four-year position, but it is as long as he's in good standing effective for that four-year time period, if that makes sense. >> Well, thank you. and and I'm fully confident that Shane, you know, will fulfill those four years. It was just a a matter of, you know, getting education
out to the public. >> Sure. >> Thank you. >> Any other discussion? >> All right. Hearing none. All in favor say I. >> I. >> I. Opposed. >> Unanimous. >> Thank you, Shane. Thank you.
>> Thanks, Shane. He already gave us one. >> Thanks, Shane. All right, looks like we get to go right down to the commissioner reports. Mr. Gazby. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Had a airport
authority meeting. Um, and we one of the things that the public would maybe be interested is we did approve a a resolution for the deer hunt on the airport lands around the airport there um to try to limit or mitigate the the
potential for deer uh and airplane hits as much as possible. You think with the fence that they wouldn't get on there, but they still do manage to get on there occasionally. So, um that was uh one thing at the airport authority meeting. Cast Lake Row Fire Association had our
quarterly board meeting there and unfortunately we weren't able to come to any kind of agreement for the the applicants that applied for the fire chief position and so I'm readvertising for that um fire chief position and u looking to try to get that filled as
soon as possible. Um had the black duck ambulance and the tri county am uh emergency services board. Um I subbed in for Commissioner Sumar on the Black Duck Ambulance Board just prior to the Tri County Board and um a notable thing there, we did move forward with the um
approving the bids that we got for the building repairs from the flooding that happened last year. Um and had a fair board meeting on Monday night. U had some good discussion about the um um speaker that they had the previous
Friday night. Ian Hill um had a leadership presentation that was very informative and and just uh um reminded us of a lot as leaders of uh how to how important our our fair is as not just an
event but as a ongoing um you know tool for the community for um you know the the funding impact that it has on the entire community and the the impact with the 4 and all the youth that that are are new you our next leaders in the in
the community and everything. So, that was it was just a real I mean, it really long. It went till after 9:00 that evening, but it was well worth the time and it was uh good to see. He's actually going around to all of the all the counties in the whole United States and
he was actually heading up to Canada to do like 20 20 uh places up in Ontario after that meeting is just unreal. um had solid waste committee meeting this morning with you, Commissioner Winger, and uh the roof roof replacement from the storm damage last year is in full
swing. They're they're getting that all all done. Um and uh had the engineer res uh review the slab up at the Black Duck transfer station because the the incorrect pouring of it. It was pooling water, causing a slip hazard and and stuff. And uh the the engineer
determined that the contractor needs to either entirely redo the whole slab um or um or cut out across not just do a patch of it and cut out entirely across it and redo it. And the contractor is very agreeable to it sounds like. So
that's my report comm Mr. Chair. >> Thank you. Commissioner Commissioner Sumner. Uh, Commissioner Winger chair, you might be surprised I don't have much of a report this evening.
Uh, but I am uh going to be absent from our May 5th meeting to attend uh the Western Inter region conference uh as part of my um duties of being on the
NACO board of directors. So, I'll be absent for the week of May uh 3rd through the 9th that I have for tonight. And uh thank you, Commissioner Goswick, for filling in on the Black Ambulance. Uh appreciate that.
You >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh just a couple of meetings recently. Uh Northwest Juvenile Center uh board officers met yesterday morning. Um and I have um a shack committee coming up next week. Um
I did want to give a special thank you to uh the Bamiji school board members who voted to keep JW Smith open. Um the Boys and Girls Club uh in their recent newsletter um did a a brief write up which I think
uh uh shared the sentiments of uh uh many community members uh uh especially in my district uh district 2 which contains JW Smith. Um and it reads, "We are overjoyed that JW Smith Elementary
will remain open for the 2627 school year. A huge thank you to the school board for voting no on the motion to close JW Smith Elementary. The support from the community has been so joyful to see and we are grateful for the way the teachers, families, community, and club
staff all came together to advocate for the children and families of JW Smith. The closure of this neighborhood school would have a huge impact on club operations as the club's JW Smith branch is co-located in the school and serves
uh 80 to 90 children K through three each week weekday during the school year. It also serves as a dropoff site within the neighborhood for many additional club members to access the clubhouse programs. Because the school district continues to face budget concerns, the club's leadership staff
and board of directors will keep working on creating contingency plans to ensure the club has a successful can successfully serve our community. We are eager to continue working with our community and school board to keep the needs to meet the needs and keep JW
Smith Elementary open to serve our youth. Uh so again uh just wanted to do a special shout out to uh those three school board members who voted no and uh we'll keep the school open at least for another year and hopefully indefinitely.
So thank you Mr. Chair and happy Earth tomorrow. So celebrate by recycling. >> There you go. >> Yeah. And that helps keep our tax cost down too. Uh okay. So thank you
commissioner go. I had a Basque meeting. Um, for those who aren't aware yet, they are moving out of our county building. Um, they'll be up in the um the law office building up at the
intersection of 15th in Baiji. Um, they few reasons for the move. One of the big ones is they have more uh space to meet with people directly. they have uh we'll have basically a boardroom, that kind of thing. So, um be able to meet there
instead of up at BCAP. Um and they've still got a lot of really good things happening there. Uh had the behavioral health meeting. Uh
uh we came out with uh hearing from a lot of people who came with some really good ideas on uh facing some real challenges with the uh change in the age of uh ability to charge someone who
commits a crime u no matter pretty much what kind of crime. So, it gets really difficult to figure out where those are going to go. And with this, there was some really good discussion and options potentially on where uh some of those
people are going to be able to be housed in a temporary basis. So, that was one of the good ones that came out of that um management team meeting. We uh did attended that. Um,
we did the newsletter meeting. That one went really, really well. Probably some of the faster ones we've gotten done. So, it went together. Really had a lot of good ideas. I hope so. Uh, see that coming out soon. As Commissioner Gazig
said, we had the solid waste committee this morning. Uh, he pretty much summed that up. um have an extension meeting next Monday like Tony said earlier and I'll be attending the state of the state next Tuesday.
That's all I have. Motion to adjurnn. >> Move. >> Second. In >> favor I opposed. We're done.