--------- County Board work session to order. First item on the agenda is introduction of new employees. Do we have any new employees to introduce? Tom looks like he's got something. >> Good afternoon, Mr. Chair, members of the commission. Uh, it's my pleasure to introduce to you our new HR director,
Mr. Jordan Hickman. You want to join me up here, Jordan? Uh most of you know because you've worked with Jordan for a while now. He uh joined the county on December 1st and a part-time capacity and then been serving in a full-time capacity since December 15th. So he's been around, some of you have
interactions with him and that sort of stuff. Um as you might recall when we hired him, um I gave some of these statistics, but just as a refresher, uh he obtains a bachelor's degree in business administration with a minor in political science. Uh he is an ex-count employee. Uh he worked for not Bel Tramy
County, but St. Lewis County as a personnel analyst uh and then joined Baiji area schools where he's worked the last 21 years as the human resources director. So Dor, I don't know if you have anything you wanted to add. >> Thank you. Uh I have a great team and I am excited to be here. Um meeting some
great people and uh just looking forward to doing what I can for Belrammy County. >> Great. Thank you Jordan. Thanks Tom. >> Thank you. >> Any other new employees? Not seeing any. We'll move on to future work meeting topics. Anybody have any
future work meeting topics they'd like to bring up? Commissioner Winger, >> I I have one. Um I was looking at the uh the the the list of things that were paid as
commissioners to attend. And uh I guess I I only focused on the ones that I was a part of. And so looking at all these other ones, um there's a lot of them I'm not familiar with and I'd kind of like to know what it is we do with some of
those. Um some of them I hear about a lot, you know, like the airport commission, we hear those reports all the time. Black Deck ambulance, we hear those reports, but some of them I haven't heard a lot about. And I I guess when somebody's asked me why we're
getting paid to do some of these things, it would be nice if we knew why were part of it. So as as a commissioner, if we could just kind of fill everybody in on why we go to those and what we do would be kind of kind of nice. I think
>> try to give more not a necessarily a new topic to bring up for the general work session, but for each commissioner as they go. Sometimes they're only quarterly or whatever. Like the P County solid waste is a quarterly meeting. Um to give a little bit more of a rundown on what that is when we do have one of
those coming up just as a top of- mind awareness type thing. >> Okay. >> Yeah. I'd just like to be able to answer the question of what what we do with these things and why we're there. >> Okay. >> You know that for me that would be >> something I'd like to know more about. >> Sounds good. Any anything else that you
add or anybody else have any? >> Mr. Mr. Chair, I have a couple things. Uh, >> Commissioner Globe, >> um, just a friendly reminder, I put a request out there about a jail roster website. Uh, I've been getting some comments and questions about that from
constituents. Um, whether we should even have that or not. Not every county has that. I don't think we we do. Um, but there's some clunkiness with the website. if we could just uh hear from somebody from the sheriff's department on on why we have that and uh how it
works. Um and then the other thing was uh uh I think a housing update would be good. Uh there was a recent report that just came out. It's on the Bel Tramy County website right now, but um
I'm thinking mostly for media purposes uh so we can you know create some more awareness uh about the actual facts and figures and and where we're short housing. So I don't know um who it would make the most sense to present that. Uh maybe
>> uh Ann Lin Seth perhaps or um somebody that's um connected to housing or Tom just wants to do it. Uh I'm thinking about about that presentation that's posted on the website. >> Yeah, we could uh Mr. Chair, Commissioner G, we could reach out to
the Minnesota Housing Fund and find out who they'd want to send as a representative. Alternatively, we could have Nate um >> Door also come and potentially make a presentation on that. I know he was heavily involved in organizing the summit. Um but I think it would be good because they had that scheduled on a
commission meeting day. it was difficult for some commissioners to attend to be able to bring that to the commission and and have a high level overview of the of the study. So I'll I'll seek out someone to try to do that. >> Okay. Anything else, Commissioner Gold? >> No.
>> Okay. Thank you. >> Carlson Sum. No. All right. We'll move on to Health and Human Services Client supports and is going to come up and present. Kurt. Good afternoon, commissioners. Thank you
for giving us the opportunity. Health and Human Services would like to share just three brief examples of the supports that we're providing to the community. We like to do this intermittently just to provide the commissioners an update on our day-to-day activities and how we provide
supports on a regular basis. So, I'm going to hand it over to each of our division directors to provide an example of a support story to um each of you. So, thank you. So, Kurt Anderson is up. Good afternoon, Mr. Chair, commissioners. Uh, thank you for this opportunity to update you on the great
resource Belrammy County has with your workforce impact employment services team. While there may be an impression that they only provide employment service support to our Minnesota family investment program or supplemental nutrition assistance clients within our county health and human services team.
Your workforce impact employment services team continues to provide career force employment support to anyone in the community or the region. Career force support helps with resume updates, job interview preparation, network strategies, and so much more.
They help anyone target their resume for a position they want and they help them prepare for an interview so that they are confident answering employers questions. They can also help explore new ways to find employment that they want. From using social media in their networking skills to learning the latest
trends on how people find jobs. This is facilitated by having 15 computers attached to the internet in our career force lab that assists in online job research and applications as well as providing free Wi-Fi for those visitors. This support story is from your business
account representative Amy Mystic who worked with a Career Force client named Candace. Candace reached out to our career force center seeking help with her resume and job applications in early December. She lives in Baets and was interested in returning to Marvin Windows indoors where she had previously
worked 10 plus years ago, but felt overwhelmed on how to effectively present her diverse work experience and transferable skills. On December 4th, Candace drove 2 hours to meet with Amy in our career lab. She spent over three hours on a one-on-one appointment during
which they completed a resume from scratch. Using a réé template helped ease her nerves and gave her a starting point. They then worked and through each of her past roles and the skills she gained from them. They were able to showcase her skills and strongly related
to customer service. After completing the resume, they reviewed the Marvin Windows job postings and discussed how to thoroughly complete the job applications and to ensure consistency between her resume and the application questions. Candace applied for two customer service focused positions
throughout December. Amy continued to provide guidance via email and phone regarding the preparations and appropriate follow-up etiquette for employers and managers. Candace successfully completed a virtual interview and followed up with an in-person panel interview. She received
a job offer in person following the panel interviews on December 29th and now has the option to start working at Marvin Windows as soon as January 13th. Candace expressed her appreciation multiple times for all the assistance. It's rewarding for both Amy and the
workforce impact team to see how the individualized support that was provided resulted in both a job offer and greater confidence to those they serve. That's your support story from economic assistance. Great. >> Thank you, Kirk. Questions? No.
>> Good afternoon, commissioners. Uh Jeff Lynn, social services division director. With me is Mercedes White. She is our our um managed care and it's we just changed the name Adult Protection Adult
Protection and Care Unit. Um and usually when I've come up before you guys, we've talked about children's stories and family stories. This time we want to talk a little bit about the other spectrum of the work that we do. To that end, I'm going to have Mercy talk about it because this is her staff doing great
work with the individuals here in Belrammy County. Hello. Thanks for having us today so we can share a little bit about what we do. Um, the snippet I'm sharing with you comes from our managed care programming. This person has been working with our
team for around 15 years. Over that time, we've assisted them in remaining in their home when without this assistance, they would have likely needed more costly care up to and including nursing home placement. We have provided funding through the elderly waiver which they can get through medical assistance for life
calls, meals, and nurse visits. This person is 80 years old and suffers from diabetes and chronic pain related to their fibromyalgia. They have fallen in the past and been injured from these falls. Most recently, they were living in a home with severely inadequate steps
that made it almost impossible to navigate without falling. and this would require extensive intensive care had they fallen. Through the waiver, we were able to build them new steps for this client. Prior to this, they had been isolated and homebound. This client can
now interact with the community and has increased their quality of life. While this may seem like a small thing, it has had a dramatic impact on this client's overall well-being and their quality of life and will likely allow them to remain in their home and avoid more costly and intrusive placement. And so
just a little bit of a visual. We didn't provide a picture just for privacy reasons, but we were able to get a side by side of the steps that this individual was using. They had a red kind of block that was a plasticky block that they step on and they could
immediately slip. So they truly were homebound when it was winter time and we were able to build them these actual steps that accommodated their accessibility needs. So, it's really cool to see just some real life examples of how we can make a difference in people's lives. Thank you.
>> Thank you. >> Yeah. >> Commissioner Carlson, >> when you when you were able to do that, were you able to take advantage of the program through the Dancing Sky >> area agency on aging? >> Yeah. I don't know if Ann, if you can help me with that, but there would there was a pot of money there.
>> There was. Yeah. >> Was that part of that? >> It was not. So, I I as Jeff mentioned, I oversee our adult protection team as well, and they were the ones who really tapped into the Dancing Sky. Um, when there was waiver funding, we would utilize waiver funding over the Dancing Sky one. That one was more for
individuals who didn't have other pots of money to utilize. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. >> Anybody else? Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Hello, Amy. Hello. Good afternoon, commissioners. Amy Bulls, your public health director, and I'm here to talk to
you uh about um a story that reached many people. So, in August of 2025, we had the opportunity to apply for some special funding through our Strong Foundation's family home visiting grant for professional development funding. And as you know, when I was first hired
into this position, you guys challenged us to say, how can you look outside of public health and use the funding to support beyond just your department? And so that's what we did with that funding when we were awarded it. So, I'd like to tell you a story about how we used that funding to support lactation um
education and how we um brought in uh community partners and we created um some really strong partnerships and networks through the use of that funding. So, in December, we hosted a five-day training where um 40
individuals got their CLS and that is one step below the IB uh CLC. And so, that is a certification that requires continuing education and supports individuals in supporting um families that are breastfeeding their babies. It
gets them uh information regarding like the techniques and positions and different tricks and things to help people be successful. I wanted to give you some of the data um regarding that training that we held. So, we not only
reached seven different counties, um, so we had 40 different people take the training, we had a 91% pass rate with seven different counties, two tribal nations, and three individuals that will take the training at a different time
due to uh, weather and and sickness. We supported six different local businesses with that funding, including um some different establishments that provide lodging um in our community. And the reason that we bring this um story to
you today is because while uh a lot of the work that we do is impactful in the homes and one-on-one with our clients, when we look for opportunities that can enhance our community partners, we also see success in our homes and in our
families because we get the uh right training and education to the people doing the work. So that's all I have for you today. >> Great. Thank you, Amy. Anybody have any questions for Amy? Oh. All righty. Thank you. And we move on to the USDA wildlife
control agreement. Shane coming up for that. Hello commissioners. I'm Shane Foley, director of natural resources management here at Belrami County. Hopefully I have a really simple, easy one for you. I was honestly going to put this on the consent agenda, but I was advised that
um since it's a new document to sign that it might be a good opportunity for you guys to ask questions if you have any. Um so what this is is the US Department of Agriculture has this wildlife control division or a couple
people that work on that stuff. So if livestock is being um taken out by timberwolves, then they get the necessary permits and all that and do some depradation trapping. Um same way with beavers. If they're damming up and it's um affecting some public
infrastructure, roads, that kind of stuff, they have the ability then to go in and do nuisance trapping. What this agreement is um is simply we're a land owner. any land owner that they work with or upon their land, they want these
agreements in place. These are a lot of times used more so for private land owners that um are granting permission. All of our land is public, so if they wanted to go trap on our land, they really could anyway. So, I don't think it's opening us up to anything too new
and crazy. Um but so if you have any questions, I could take them. Otherwise, it'll just be added to consent agenda probably at the next meeting. So, >> questions for Shane on this? >> Yep. Commissioner Winger.
>> Okay. So, when these when this is involved, the do do citizens here come to you and you set this up with them or they go to these? >> Yep. This would all be administered through them. We wouldn't do anything with it. we're just simply a land owner.
They would contact us like the US or the Department of Agriculture would contact us and say, "Hey, we have some nuisance beers, lodges on your guys' land. We're going to come onto your land and traps. We'd know about it and if we needed to inform public for anything, we would,
but no, they wouldn't work with us. >> Thank you, >> Commissioner Carlson. >> Uh, thank you, Mr. Chair. Just curious, Shane, is there any possibility that they could come and do something on our land that we don't want them to do? I mean, is I mean, I'm just I don't want to kind of give them a blank check, you
know what I mean? >> Yeah, that would I mean, that would be a risk in that we're giving them permission to do it. As I suggested, it is public land and so I
don't know what our recourse to tell them not to come on our land and do trapping that they have proper permits and stuff for. Um, but I did call these individuals and talked with them. It's not a there's zero fear in my mind of of
anything ominous happening with them. um they will contact us. I would think if there's some reason that we have a disagreement about what should be done, they would have the opportunity to also
conduct the trapping off of our land um in a in a a second most convenient location, that kind of thing. So, I don't I don't foresee any issues with that. >> Okay. >> Mr. Chair, >> y Mr. on it. >> Well, Shane, this would be the USDA
wildlife conducting these and not private citizens. Correct. >> Correct. >> There. Yep. >> Any other questions for Shane? You'll you'll it's not on tonight's agenda. It'll be on a future one probably on consent then.
>> Yep. At the next meeting. >> Okay. Sounds great. Thank you, Shane. >> Yep. Thank you, guys. >> And we'll move on to the MRC membership. Um, >> Mr. Chair, commissioners, you may recall a few years ago in 2024,
we had um or the board directed staff to sign the county up for Minnesota rural counties uh membership. This is a sub affiliate of the AMC or Association of Minnesota Counties um organization. We had participated for years and then um
pre2020 pre-COVID times the county had stopped participating. My my understanding because it predated my time with the county was that there didn't seem to be the value for the for the investment. Um since that time the county board as I mentioned in 2024 has
uh asked that we reach out and join the organization and has been participating for the last year. Um but as was the case last year, the board um sort of conditioned our membership in an annual
review, if you will, whether whether or not you wanted to continue and felt there was still value in the organization and continuing forward. I've received the the request for dues for this next year. It's $2,900. And as part of honoring your condition, wanted to just bring this to your
attention and ask for your, you know, discussion and direction on what you'd like me to do to proceed. Uh, if you want to continue our membership in the organization, you I can process the payment. Um, but this is really just a time and place for you to to just
discuss whether it's something you felt was valuable or not. Um, with that, if you have, you know, it's up to you if you want to continue this annual review, if you should decide to participate, that that's totally fine to do. But if you don't feel it's necessary, let me know and we'll just make it an a routine
uh renewal, if you will, much like we do for AMC or Niko or or any of those other organizations. So really this is just your time to kind of discuss whether or not you'll want to continue membership and and if you want to continue the condition or or to stop it alto together.
>> Hey, thank you Tom. >> Commissioner Carlson. >> Thank you Mr. Chair. Um first of all, thank you Tom. I do for sure if if the board were to decide to continue this membership, I definitely want to do an annual review. I I have some concerns.
It's a good group. I've been there a number of times when Commissioner Gouldn't be there. Um they're a very passionate group for sure but you have to remember that they're working under the opaces of the AMC and what that means is if the AMC has a
position on something it's almost impossible for the MRC to take a contrary position which puts us as a rural county perhaps at odds with some of the
metro counties when it comes to certain kinds of legislative priorities. And so that concerns me greatly. Um I believe that we did the right thing by hiring our own lobbyist firm and I think that
money is better used there to directly work on things that we definitely want to work on. Um those other issues that come up at MRC are pretty much the same issues that come up at AMC. It's just maybe a little more emphasis, but I don't see that we're getting the bang for our buck with
that. I I guess my my inclination is to to not join again. >> Thank you, Commissioner Carlson. Commissioner Golden. >> Yes. Thank you. Uh I would be supportive of renewing our membership with MRC. Um
I see uh several benefits uh to the group. Um, and and one of them is financial. I mean, it it it's kind of like the way I kind of think about it is uh for $2,900 more dollars, we get three
more lobbyists that we can call or email um at any time. And um let's say uh our lobbyist is um you know, not available for whatever reason uh for a day or two um which has happened before. Um, we can
call three other people that are highly respected, highly skilled in the industry. Um, Sam and Rob and and Britta. Uh, they definitely know what they're doing. And, uh, they gave us a really good presentation in December last month, uh, um, down in Bloomington
for the annual conference. And so, um, that's that's kind of what I really want to emphasize. It's it's a small dollar amount. Um, it's in the budget. we get three more people with eyes and ears on the ground every day. They're there at the Capitol every day. Um there
are three uh platform items that we pass this year include human services IT modernization which is you know uh one of our 11 items here at the county. Um solid waste including uh bonding dollars uh to help counties that are seeking
projects such as ourselves uh and mental health. that's kind of their three uh platform items. Um and mental health is certainly uh one of ours as well. So um yeah, I think it's well worth it. >> And um to Commissioners Carlson's point,
uh I'm glad you brought that up about the uh how sometimes AMC MRC could potentially be at odds. um they they definitely don't want to be uh most of the time, but ultimately it is up to the board of the MRC to vote on
how they want to take a stance on an issue. So, it's not unheard of or impossible to have kind of a conflicting with AMC. Um you know, because it is true they are sister organization. um but not impossible to you know be uh
take a slightly different stance on things because ultimately it is up to the MRC board on on how they want to vote on such an issue. So um yeah, >> thank you Commissioner >> Gold Commissioner Winger. >> I just have a question I guess uh do the
department heads have access to this too then with us being a part of it as a county? I mean if if say an wants to talk to these lobbyists about something that affect she have access and every Okay. >> Yeah. Because we're a member county so
that would be a big thing for me is that it's not just fitting here but >> y >> Mr. Sumar, do you want to chime in? Maybe you have a little more longevity know when when and why we got rid of them in the first place. Well, you know,
I think when when it first when they first came about a number of years ago, um the board at the time wanted to, you know, was kind of feel feel, you know, our place and role in MRC. After a couple of years, we felt that um it
wasn't the right fit for us at the time. And uh so we we backed out from that uh partnership and um and I guess now, you know, I'm I'm still unsure if
if it's still the right fit for us. Um you know, I guess to to Commissioner Winger's uh question and point earlier is talking about committees and committee assignments. I think there's only one way to really understand, you know, the roles is if we're actually
involved and and participate. Uh which is why I kind of past couple of years was was hoping that we could rotate, you know, committees to to get a better understanding of how these uh committees and organizations work. Um
but I think my concern right now with MRC and and again, you know, I'm sure they do great work. Um but I'm just trying to figure out you know what benefits have we seen uh since we have um rejoined you know the organization.
Um as as you all know I'm I'm heavily involved in in AMC and know the the work that they do and and how MRC and AMC intertwine in in ways. Um,
so I'm not too sure if I, you know, would be in support of of uh rejoining or or extending our membership, especially if there is a chance or possibility that we could be potentially
uh looking into the northern um lands. I can't remember what the organization was, but uh St. Louis County and all the other counties around surrounding Belrammy County are part of um and I don't know
if there's a cost to that. Could we, you know, um take year off from MRC to possibly pursue that? You know, I'm not too sure, but again, I I don't know the benefits because I haven't really been involved uh with with MRC. So, uh that's
my my thoughts. Thanks, Commissioner Sumar. So, um, is it this something that we need to put on as an agenda item, Tom, or or I mean to actually vote on
tonight or do we need to go just go um um and give you uh Right now it's, you know, looking like it, you know, it's kind of up in the air a little bit as to whether we're going to want to be involved or not. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. it's not on your
consent agenda and it is not on your regular session. Essentially, what I was hoping to get was just a general consensus. Doesn't need a formal vote >> uh to then just go pay the bill. But if if you'd like to to be more formal, you would want to add it to the regular session and take action on it.
Otherwise, if you feel like you can give direction through consensus right now, that that would be appropriate as well. But it's not like it's already budgeted. It's not like something that you'd have to take a formal vote on. But I but it would be good to get some idea whether it's now an informal basis or at a
regular session what exactly the board would like to do. >> I don't know sounds like we already have a a a no and a yes and I don't know if you guys u want to firm up your stance on it or not so so Tom knows whether
whether to pay the bill or to to decline it. >> Well, Mr. Chair, I think in fairness, I I I think uh um I'm curious to know your stance. >> Yeah, I I lean against it. Honestly, I I don't I had I don't see that we've gained anything by being a member um
above and beyond what we've already get from AMC from all the involvement you guys have had with AMC. Um and uh you know, we're putting you know, 10 times that amount of money towards our lobbying firm. So, I I I think that that this uh this helped pay for that. So,
that's my stance on it. So, right now we're two nos and one yes. When you you're a nos sounds, you know, I haven't been involved long enough to get the hit on hearing some of these things. Makes sense.
>> Okay. So, looks like no. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. >> So, Mr. Chair, I'm just wondering if we have to put that on the agenda as a formal vote or not. It doesn't need to go on as a formal vote unless you'd like it to be recorded as a formal vote. It's really up to the board. Yeah,
>> it'll still be in the minutes of of the work session, which would be essentially same thing. >> Correct. So, >> Mr. Chair, I think uh I think a formal would would um be helpful. >> Okay. Um >> because I think it's part of a committee
assignment or is it hurt? >> It it technically is. Yeah. So, that might not be a bad idea. It certainly doesn't hurt that we don't have a big agenda tonight. So we can add it uh add it to the uh regular session agenda as item
um 9A or what Mr. Winger. >> We would want 10A. >> Yes. Okay. >> It's different than the AMC appointments. >> Uh nine was just additional items on mine or did I get a wrong deal here? Oh,
I didn't I printed it before it got revised. Sorry. Oh, no, no worries. Sorry about that. >> Yeah. So 10 A. >> Yeah, it's it's the one that says amended at the the top. So it would be 10 A under MRC membership.
Okay. And what was nine? Is that on? I'll get that to you later. All right. So that uh that's it for the MRC membership. On to the administrator's update. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh members of the commission, uh it's been a little bit
quiet with the holidays and all. Um I guess unless you're working at the federal government level, it's been quite active there. And so uh we're monitoring a couple of concerning funding developments that are occurring uh in the in the federal arm of our government. Uh the Trump administration
has halted federal child care assistance program funding uh to Minnesota uh following all the allegations of fraud and misuse of taxpayer dollars. That's uh kind of a story that broke a number of days ago. Uh we are monitoring and evalu evaluating the situation uh for
impacts to our operations. Uh then just today there was an announcement that the administration also plans to halt $10 billion in federal funding for social services programs in five states including Minnesota. Uh again because of allegations of fraud. Um this move will
freeze about $7 billion for the temporary assistance for needy family program. Uh this is uh known as uh TANF. Uh nearly $2.4 billion for childcare development fund and roughly about 870 million for social services grants that
largely benefit children across the country. Uh this has not occurred yet but is in discussions. Uh as of today, there are no direct impacts to uh services that we are aware of that are affecting uh local CCAP or childcare
assistance program funding uh or any other local social services programs. Uh counties have not been asked to change or to modify our service provision to clients yet. Uh but we will also continue to monitor these developments because they could change. Uh you might
recall some of the stuff that was going on last year with the shutdown and stuff created almost a daily um revision of directives and and recision of those directives and pivoting and all sorts of stuff. So there's nothing as of today that we're aware of that's going to
impact our services, but um as these developments continue, there may be uh the potential for that. So, I just wanted to let you know we're we're actively monitoring that and we are also in uh it seems like almost hourly uh
consultation with um with the state um health and human services offices on this. Um wanted to moving on just wanted to let you know that uh all of our area local area legislators have been invited to uh participate in hearing about our
legislative platform uh that we've developed. I've invited them all to attend the February 3rd meeting. Uh all of the uh representatives, so Representative Bedal Duran and also Senator Green have already accepted. I'm waiting to hear back from uh
Representative Bliss. Uh but essentially the legislative session starts on the 17th. So it's kind of good timing to tee up our legislative platform and give you an opportunity to sort of engage with them in regards to what we might expect over this next legislative period. Uh
moving to the jail project. Just wanted to let you know that uh essentially we are continuing to make good progress. Everything remains on schedule and on time. Uh so that's good news. The concrete crews started pouring out the remainder of area C uh and the administrative areas and then also uh
we'll be back filling um the uh area in the kitchen. So they'll be pouring the the kitchen flooring as well. Uh the masons are working on the vertical walls in area C uh in the west section and also in area B in the west housing units. And then um the iron workers have
also been installing some of the stairways. We expect more uh metal work to arrive on site which they'll be manu uh you know fabricating and and installing as well. So that work will continue for some time. Security framing is also being installed above the cells that were already installed in areas A
and C. uh mechanical electrical trades are continuing the installs with the connections behind those cells that were installed. And uh remember that not all of the prefab cells have been installed, only the first batch. So there will be another installation starting around December or excuse me um in the next
couple of months, maybe I shouldn't say months, weeks is what I meant to say, January 15th or so is when we expect the next delivery and then installation will follow after that for the cells. Um we did have a uh impromptu visit from Mr. Justin Roberts from the department
of corrections. Uh he is an individual that we have worked with from the very beginning of this project. We involved the department of corrections in the initial planning, conceptual design and uh formal architectural design. Uh and so he has been along with us the whole
way. We wanted to make sure we didn't run into any problems like we did when we did the remodel on the existing jail just a few years ago. uh he was very impressed uh with the team, the progress that's being made and uh looks forward to continuing to visit. Uh we don't
expect any issues uh because we work so closely with DLC, particularly through him and a couple of his colleagues. Um but you know, now we're going to expect sort of more of those interactions as we as we move forward. Uh talking about the jail, just wanted to mention that uh on
the jail bonding portion of our work, uh things are progressing nicely there. We've been gathering information and also preparing for the standard and pores rating conference. Uh anytime we issue a bond, we need to go through this rating conference. We did this uh two years ago or so when we issued the first
bond on the jail. Essentially the conference is important because it generates an opinion for investors about you know the financial integrity and strength, ability to pay service debt, those kinds of things. Uh so you know it's going to be similar to the last uh conference that we had. Uh we did very
well there. we got the best rating that you you could get. Um partly because we also participated in, as you know, the credit enhancement program through the state and so we're leaning on the state's credit rating um as well to get those those those good uh interest
rates. Uh with your last action at the last meeting, you also uh directed staff to submit again on the second bond issuance for that credit enhancement program. So that's already been done and so uh we should be in good shape as it relates to uh positioning
for this second bond issuance. Uh the team will be back on January 20th to update you in regard to how the bond sale went and hopefully have recommendations for you and then ask for your approval of those recommendations at that time. On a separate note, I just want to talk
a little bit about um we we we're starting to gain a little bit more interest and maybe traction and attention on this discussion about tax base. As you know, uh things continue to get difficult for our region as the state's budget outlook um you know,
deteriorates and in particular the cost shifts as a result that have been placed on to counties across the state in um of course we had one of the highest property tax increases um you know year-over-year as a result. And so we we
feel like there's a number of us in community leadership positions that feel like we really need to be growing the tax base as opposed to growing the tax rates, right, in order to uh finance public infrastructure and services and that sort of stuff. Um we've been meeting sort of behind the scenes to
talk about ways we could do this and of course the housing summit has stimulated some conversation around how to build tax base. So I just want to let you know that there is a task force that's sort of coming together. It's small right now. It'll probably grow in both scope
and influence. Um, but I'm serving on that team as well. Um, some of the work that we've done as a county to identify government-owned properties as an example, uh, which we have, you know, hundreds and hundreds of acres, uh, that are kind of close to utilities, maybe
appropriate for development, uh, you know, are being discussed. We're talking about other things like partnering with the city, uh, the school district, potentially with Sanford, and and other big employers to find out what we can do collectively, uh, to build synergy
around building tax base, uh, particularly focused first on housing. So, some of that is kind of in the works. It's going to be going on for a little while. I hope to be able to provide you some updates. Um, I'm previewing this for you because
if this goes where I hope it goes, uh, we may need to be talking about some creative solutions that government can contribute to resolving the issues. You know, uh, tools that we typically, um, have that are available for, uh, encouraging and promoting, you know,
growth of the tax base. So there may be some policy or there may be some um project based decisions that come that uh you know we'll brief you on and update you and that sort of stuff but um we won't be able to continue what we've
been doing. It's just not working right. So we've got to change sort of how we approach these issues. Um so I I'll have a lot more for you. I don't mean to be cryptic by any stretch of the means. It's just so early really. We've only had two or three meetings on this um and uh just recently expanded the team to
include others. So uh but there is some momentum being generated and that's that's good news I think on this topic. Uh lastly, I just going to let you know uh county offices are going to be closed on Monday, January the 19th in observance of civil rights day. So with
that, that's all I have for you, but we'll stand for any questions you might have. >> Thank you, Tom. Any questions for Tom's administrative report? Commissioner Summer. Yeah. >> I'm just curious, what is civil rights day? >> Uh Martin Luther King Day. Yes. Saying I
think they now update it to civil rights day. So thank you. All right. Um the uh reviewing the agenda. So we changed the regular agenda to add the
10A MRC membership. And that's it. Anybody want any anything removed from the consent agenda? Well, seeing any agenda, so we can adjourn until 5:00 pm. Part: 2
It's 5:00. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance. 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.
All right. Thank you. I already kind of said my appreciation last time for the uh being the board chair and the honor it is to be the chair of the board. And so with that, we will look at the election of a new board chair for 2026. So I hear a motion for a
board chair for 2026. >> Mr. Chair, >> Commissioner Gild. Um, I'd like to make a motion that we approve Commissioner Winger as board chair for 2026 and myself as vice chair for 2026.
Okay, we have a motion um for the uh board chair to be by Commissioner Gold, for the board chair to be Commissioner Winger, and for the vice chair to be Commissioner Gold. Is there a second on that motion? I hear a second. >> Mr. Chair, I'll I'll second the motion
for the sake of discussion. >> Okay, we have a second by Commissioner Sumar. >> Um, Mr. >> Commissioner Sar. Yep. >> So, I think we were emailed a graph uh
by uh Mr. Barry a week or two ago. Do you have Could you pull that up? Do you have access to it? Okay. >> Which one were you? >> It was an email from Don. >> Yeah. With the with the uh board chair
rotation. So, in 2026, uh, according to Tom's email, it says that Commissioner Winger would be chair and, um,
there is no voice listed. Um, I'm just kind of curious how that with with the motion on the table, how that will play into
the rotation. >> Commissioner Gold. >> Um, well, first of all, I'm hoping Commissioner Winger is open to being Mr. Chair this year. uh um I'm totally confident in his
abilities to run the meetings and etc and pick up maybe an additional duty or two throughout the year. Uh so um uh I think he's well deserving of being the chair and um I I didn't talk to him before the meeting or anything like
that. I was just hoping that uh yes, I'm I'm remembering Tom's email that Scott was supposed to be the chair this year. So, I'm kind of going off that, too. And and just my feelings about it. And and and the other part is I'm feeling kind of guilty for kind of wiggling out of
being the chair and the vice chair over the last three years. I I'm happy to step up and and uh um take on the vice chair duties and and help the chair and and uh um you know uh uh look at being
the chair in the future. So, um, uh, I might have me I might have messed that rotation up, Commissioner Sumar, uh, when like a year or two ago when I kind of said I don't want to be the chair this year. So, um, and, uh, you know,
it's just kind of tradition uh, guideline more than anything anyway. So, um, you know, we can always pick who we want at the end of the day. So, that's kind of my thoughts about it. >> Thank you, Commissioner Gold. Commissioner Carlson. Oh, >> thank you, Mr. Chair. Yeah, I was just thinking back to when we had our last
conversation. I got was under the impression that Commissioner Sumar was kind of in line for the vice chair because of um Commissioner Gold having declined, but Commissioner Gold's right. I we can do we can do whatever we want.
We can make you chair again if we have to if we have to >> then there'll be absolutely no controversial thing. Bill, I you know I don't if u I I guess I don't really >> well I I think you know based on
rotation and and uh um if you know if I were in Commissioner Sumar's shoes I would have expected to be the the the uh vice chair for this coming year and then be chair the following year because that would have been his normal rotation. So I you know I don't want a slight
commissioner summoner um on uh on this. So I would I would like to to give him the option to to opt out if you know if he wants to or if he doesn't want to be vice chair for this coming year then then u that's fine. It's but I would I
would personally like to leave it up to Commissioner Sum um just because of you know the the rotation changes. It wasn't, you know, at one point I believe it was district 1, district 2, district 3, district 4, and it actually had been mixed up. Um, because it was up to you
declining. It was 1 2 4 35 and now it's, you know, 1, three, four, and then it would be what normal rotation would have been, and then what you would have been the next one, and then John again. Um, so I don't know,
Commissioner Summer, do you want to weigh in on that, >> Mr. chair. Um I guess if if uh Commissioner Gold would like to be vice chair and but I mean I would like to be you know chair again
sometime during my term and I don't know how how that would affect uh the ability you know for me to be chair um during during this you know term. Um but I know also know that the previous board the
previous board I don't remember which one um we kind of set this up so to avoid you know this type of situation in the past because I think there was a time where uh we were we we didn't go by district
number you know it's kind of we were just playing musical chairs >> and uh and I think that's why you know we set this rotation up to you know, avoid avoid this type of situation. I think um you know, I want to be fair to
to everybody. Um uh you know, being you know, board chair is is an honor and it's a unique opportunity for for you know, each one of us to to have that opportunity. Um you know, and I don't want to deny
that to to any commissioner. Um, you know, again going back to Commissioner Winger, you're talking about about committees and and whatnot, you know, I think as board chair, um, you know, it's it's something that you can you can pursue or, you know, inquire
more about. So, um, again, I I second the motion just for the sake of discussion. Um, but I I will probably vote against it. >> Thank you, Commissioner Summer. Mr. Chair. >> Yeah, Commissioner Carlson. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, I was
wondering if maybe I kind of got the impression maybe Commissioner Sumar that it might be a good idea if we got back into the right rotation that would make it easier. I I is if that's a suggestion I think and I could go along with that just to make things easier, but I
>> Okay. Commissioner Gold, do you have something to add? Yeah, just uh to Commissioner Sumar's point of avoiding this situation. I mean, what are you talking about? A discussion? I
think that's uh half of why we exist is to discuss uh items, but um do you want to be vice chair this year, Tim? I am happy to >> if my motion need to do to make that happen. So, I wasn't I didn't know that
you wanted to be it. So, >> I don't want to make it's not a big deal to me. So, if you want it like I we don't have to argue about it. >> Do you do you want to withdraw your motion or and somebody make a new motion or do you want to amend your motion? What would you like to do? Or do you
want me to call for the vote and then we do a new a new motion if it fails? >> Um if if I can get a wink or a headnod from Commissioner Suburn. I I'm happy to sub my name for Tim's name for vice
>> I I I like to stick to to the rotation and and keep things the way they they usually are. >> Thank you, Commissioner Sar. And that in, you know, non-cryptic language means that it would be Commissioner Winger being the chair, Commissioner Sumar
would be the vice chair, and then, you know, you would end up being the the vice chair to Commissioner Ser when he's chair, and then you would be the chair. That would be the rotation that we are on. Yep. Okay. >> Yep. So,
>> I withdraw my motion. >> Okay. You withdraw your second. Okay. I'll I'll ask for a new motion. >> Commissioner Carlson. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would make a motion that we elect Commissioner Winger
as chair and Commissioner Sumar as vice chair for 2026. >> Okay. Thank you. Do I hear a second to that? >> Second. Second by Commissioner Gould. Any further discussion on electing Commissioner Winger as the 2026 chair and Commissioner Sumner as the 2026 vice
chair. Hearing none. All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? All right. Motion carries. Thank you, gentlemen. And with that, I can turn it over to our new chair, uh, Commissioner Winger. We
do a a rotation of He >> Wait a minute. That means right. >> Yeah. I think we can stay if we really want, right? You you three figure it out. So now we now we got the decision. We'll probably be here till 8 figuring out
who's going to sit where. >> No, you got to be here if you're going to be the chair. So >> with you, Mr. Chair, Commissioner Gould and I will just stay here and you can take Tim's. >> That's fine with me. You guys okay with that? You guys will
shuffle over and Okay. >> Like I said, I like to stay in. >> Yeah. >> It's going to make it permanent now. Yeah. >> I don't know about that. >> Thank you, sir. >> Less than 365 days, right?
>> Yeah. Why don't you rehearse this? >> No, I didn't. I didn't realize this was coming our way this quick. What's that? Oh, I'll do my best. My leg might be long
enough to get that done. >> All right, Mr. Chair, I'd like to get a ruling from our attorney. All right. Well, we'll keep rolling then, huh?
Citizens addressing the board. Uh, anyone wishing to address the county board on items on the agenda, not on the agenda, may come forward at this time, be recognized by the board chair. Please state your name, address for the record. Comments are limited to 5 minutes. A
personnel complaint against an individ individual county employee may not be heard initially at the 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. Anyone wishing to address the board? Well, seeing none, we'll move on. Approval of the agenda. Mr. Chair, I'll make a motion to approve
the agenda with the following um addition to the regular agenda. Uh 10A, the MRC membership. >> Okay, I'll second that. >> Okay.
Uh we do discussion on that. No, just all in favor I opposed. >> Okay. Do we have to wrap the gavl on that? >> No. >> No. >> Okay. We need approval of the consent
agenda. Don't have a motion to approve the consent agenda. >> I'll move that we approve the consent agenda. >> We have a motion. Do we have a second? >> Second. >> Second by Commissioner Carlson. All in
favor? >> Mr. Chair, can you ask for discussion, please? Oh, >> discussion. Okay, Mr. Chair. >> Yes, sir. >> Um, just a quick question uh for administrator Barry on the elected official minimum salaries. Um,
is that the is that the same or is that a separate thing? You know, how we have to post the top three highest salaries on the website. Is that what this is or is this a different thing? >> Yeah, Mr. Chair, Commissioner Gold, it's it's totally different. So in an
election year in order for us to be compliant with statute we have to post the elected official um salary the minimum level of the salary. So on our salary scale we take you know step one uh and we post it and that is essentially to let all people
know who are going to potentially run for election what the minimum salary of the position is in compliance with state statute. So that's a we'll do that later this month or next month as far as the other thing. >> Yeah, that'll probably happen March or April or so.
>> Yeah. >> Thank you, >> Mr. Chair. Um >> Mr. Also about the uh minimum salary, who determines are are they the current uh
uh three elected they are they on a step or or a scale or or how how are their salaries determined? >> That's this is a great question. Uh Mr. Chair, Commissioner Sumner, they are their positions are included into the classification compensation study and
they're benchmarked against the same organizations that all the other staff are benchmarked against. And so their positions are included as if they were an employee because technically in some, you know, the state looks at them in some ways as employees and other ways as elected officials, but their
compensation is based exactly the same way as it would be in regard to a a normal staff position. and they are on a step program just like a normal position would be. There's nine steps to go from the bottom to the top and um and so they're they're included in the wage
study and they're included in the the pay plan as well. >> Mr. Chair, um so what if uh a person is elected to one of these positions that comes with 20 years of experience? There is there no
is there is there any negotiating or or or how does that work? There is there is a opportunity for them to negotiate directly with the board and the board is the one that sets their sc their their salary. >> Okay. So I was just kind of curious because I know when when uh
commissioners come in uh I think we're we're already have an established salary. So there's there's no no negotiating. There's no minimum. >> No. >> Um so I just kind of curious how that worked. >> Yeah. Uh for commissioners, it's one set
salary for all of the commissioners regardless of experience, education, any of those kinds of things. But for the elected official department heads, if you will, they're on a they're on they're treated just as and that's across the state for the most part. They're treated exactly as employees would be.
>> Okay. >> Thank you. Good question, Commissioner Summer. >> Uh any other comments, questions, concerns? No. >> All right. Hearing none. Uh all those in favor of approving the consent agenda
>> I >> opposed. Okay. Unanimous. We will move on. Sheriff's administrative assistant contract. >> Good evening, commissioners. Sheriff
Jason Riggs. Um, I apologize for your second set of uh, board minutes this month. U, I am the reason for that. Um, so I do apologize for getting a second set and I also apologize. Uh, Diane, did you hand them out a >> Yeah. Okay.
>> She just did. >> Okay. So, I originally had went off of an old contract that Sheriff Vital had done for my previous uh, administrative assistant and some of the verbiage in it was wrong. So, I had to make some some changes. I'll kind of outline that a little bit, but um our
longtime uh administrative assistant Pam Notton retired back in uh no November of this last year. Um we went through a process uh to fill that position and we've selected uh Danielle Johnson out
of the auditor's office and she's uh accepted based off of the terms that we have here tonight. Um Danielle brings a a wealth of knowledge from the county. She's been with the county for a number of years now. She does actually does our bill coding for
the sheriff's office already and she has uh vast experience in our time card system which is kind of convoluted. Uh for those of you that have ever used it, um Tom, that does not include you or I.
Um but anyway, some of the quick changes were uh in the contract were that um it was originally classified under a Minnesota statute that was pertaining to sheriffs. That has been changed to um a
statute of 375.58 by appointment uh under county uh under counties and then uh some line omissions and uh documentation of time. uh they're gonna she's going to fill out a time card for
time work and paid time off. This was uh brought to my attention by our new HR director uh Mr. Hickman. And then she is not an exempt employee. Uh she is a um a non-UN employee. And then uh one more uh at the very uh
the dispute resolution uh is just crossing out the old sheriff statute and sticking with the um 375.58. Um we're asking to bring her in at the top pay for this position due to the
fact that she is a current uh she's currently pay grades higher and she's got a uh a number of years of experience with the county and she's going to be basically a walk-on for us. So, do you guys have any questions regarding the contract? Commissioner,
>> Mr. Chair, Commissioner. >> Yes. Go ahead. >> You have to pay attention now. >> Yeah. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. >> Reading. >> So, so, Sheriff Riggs, I I know you I know that you've been a great sheriff for our county, and I appreciate your
service, but are you that good that you could steal an employee from Jodie and and and get less money? I had lunch with her the other day and she I I might have gotten some threats. I don't know. Just kidding. Uh >> but seriously, she's accepting a pay
decrease to come to your office. >> She is. Um Danielle actually has a degree in criminal justice. um and she's she's wanted to perform at a level where uh it may have a little bit more meaningfulness to her regarding, you
know, the career choices that she wants to make pertaining to public service and um we're going to afford her that that ability. So, >> yeah, sounds good, >> Mr. Chair.
>> Yes, Mr. Goo. Um if Sheriff Riggs or um Jordan or David could comment just a little bit more on this line that's crossed out uh regarding exempt and Fair
Labor Standards Act. Um why did that have to be removed again? >> Um >> Gordon's coming >> might need to help deal with the exempt part. >> I know what non-union means. I can't exactly remember. >> Yeah.
>> Uh thank you chair, members of the commission. Um under Fair Labor Standards Act, in order to be exempt, you have to meet certain criteria. And exempt means you're not subject to overtime pay is basically the provision. So you either have to be exempt because
you're an elected official, you're a professional that earns a minimum salary above a certain point, you're a supervisory position, you're an administrator, etc. uh as an administrative assistant that would not meet the definition of
exempt under Fair Labor Standards Act and this position would be um subject to overtime. That's the only the only provision of that affected by this. Um and I'm sure that that was uh just a little bit of you know this is typically
there are two positions for most elected officials that can be unclassified. a chief deputy position and a personal secretary, administrative assistant. Old language in the statute still refers to it as personal secretary. Um, this falls under that provision. If we were
bringing forward a chief deputy, it would be exempt, but because this is the administrative assistant position, it would not fit those provisions. >> When this contract was when this contract was written, commissioner, I'm assuming that it was probably a boiler plate and he just took it off that. I
didn't catch it at first, so that's the only reason why it was omitted on this one. >> Okay. >> Yeah. Thank you. Anything else? >> Uh, Mr. Chair, so I'm just kind of curious, was the previous employee was Was there also a contract for that
employee? >> There was. So I'm I'm which leads me to to wonder why is it a contract and not a typical um personnel uh
>> employee. Yeah. >> Non-un employee. >> Non-un employee. And they serve at the will of the department head. I believe that's correct. Jordan Tom, you might know that too. They serve at the will of the department
head at which point would be me. So at any time I could ask this person to step down with a 30-day notice barring you know any type of malfeasance or you know something crimally related. Um,
in my absence, if I if I don't get reelected or I choose to retire at some point, the next incoming department head could make a staff change and and request somebody else. >> Okay. I guess I I just don't remember uh
seeing something like this in the past, but if you mentioned uh uh former sheriff uh B uh Ble um I'm sure it's probably came across our desk sometime. I just don't remember when. So, which is
why I was asking about why a contract and and not just a a a regular, you know, salard employee. >> Bam had been there almost 20 years. She was 19 as the She was 19 as the administrative assistant and she had 31
32 Diane maybe as the >> It was a lot. Yeah. >> Yeah. As a county employee. >> Don't be trying to date Diane. >> It would have done prior to using. >> Yeah. Yeah. So, uh uh Commissioner Carlson had a good question about the
pay. So it it sounds like you got her at at a lower rate. Um was there any negotiation or or what happens to other employees that may transfer from other departments or or other classifications
to >> uh similar similar to this the >> Yeah. So the statute has changed for the pay history ban. Like we have a pay history ban statute now that Minnesota's passed. So we can't go off of a percentage based increase or decrease or those sorts of things like we used to do
in the personnel manual. So what has to happen is that the employee gets evaluated against their knowledge, skills, abilities, credentials, uh education, all of those types of things and then an offer is made and um without regard to current pay and the employee
has to negotiate whether or not they can live with that offer or if the offer gets amended or those sorts of things. So, uh, in this particular case, you know, the best that the sheriff's office could do was the highest end of the pay grade because the incumbent, uh, who's going to be transferred over is already
making more than the position affords. So, um, to negotiate would be essentially asking her to take an even less salary, which of course I wouldn't expect, uh, the the employee to want to do. So, so in this case it's a bit unique because most of the time you know
staff are moving up in in salary. In this case it's a little different. Um but uh when that happens if they do move up in salary yes there is a negotiation between the supervisor that typically will involve the human resources director as well and potentially my
office if if it is out of alignment or needs some sort of extraordinary approval. uh and in and in those cases that oftentimes comes to you uh particularly if it's above a certain hiring threshold that I'm not authorized to to approve. So yeah, and to answer
your question, the short answer is yes, there would be a negotiation. >> Mr. chair and just I my first thought was I was surprised and and when you acknowledge that it is less money I just thought it would be similar to the way that the wages were treated in the the
compensation classification compensation study where if somebody's pay grade or you know then they were they were just frozen they didn't actually receive a pay cut but that's doing the same position and so I I get it but it just seems odd that we wouldn't be able to to do a lateral slide and then have it
catch up and then continue on as a colas and stuff go down the road. But that that you know if she's okay with it, that's getting a steal. >> Through this process, this was quite lengthy. I didn't need to go through a process. I could have picked somebody.
Um but I I knew there was quite a few internal applicants that wanted to a chance. We had over 50 applicants. Wow. >> Which is phenomenal. Um we interviewed I want to say it was close to 21. I think we picked 25 and I think 21 accepted
interviews. Um, we narrowed it down to like five. I had second interviews and it everything went well. I found out much after the fact that Danielle was making more money in her
current role. And I'm like, you know, I can't I can't circumvent county payroll policy. And and I would love to have her stay where she's at. Believe me, I would. Um, unfortunately I don't have that ability. So, >> yeah, the pay plan is what precludes us from doing that because you get paid for
the job that you're in, not you don't get to keep your salary everywhere you move around. So, that's that's the pay plan requirement. And of course, we have pay equity laws too with the state that have to be adhered to as well. So, there's some unfortunate for >> Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would make the motion that we approve the contract
between Belrammy County Sheriff and Danielle Johnson as the new sheriff's administrative assistant uh coming in at grade seven step 9. >> Okay, we have a motion. Do we have a second? >> I'll second.
>> Okay, any discussion? Okay, hearing none. All in favor say I. >> I opposed. >> Unanimous. >> Thank you, gentlemen. >> Thank you. Thank you, Sheriff. >> All right. AMC appointments and delegates.
>> Mr. Chair, I just was going to remind the county board that it is that time of year um to identify who the delegates are going to serve in various policy committees um for the Association of Minnesota Counties. Uh because we are a
member of the AMC Association of Minnesota Counties, uh we are encouraged to appoint at least one commissioner uh to each of the five AMC policy committees and then also to identify who will serve as the county's delegates for voting purposes. Uh I have uh
presumptuously filled out the form and included it in your packet with of course the vice chair and county board chair positions uh not identified because I didn't know who was going to serve those positions, but I have identified um with the assumption that everyone wants to serve on the same
committee that they're currently serving on. That's how I filled out the form essentially. Now if you wanted to make changes to that, you're certainly welcome to do that. Now's the time to do that. Uh, additionally, the AMC voting delegate appointments I just kept the same as we have had for the last several years as well. But it's entirely up to
the board if you want to, you know, make any adjustments to uh the recommendation here or the current practice that we're under. Uh, now is your time to make any of those adjustments. Just let me know and I'll uh resubmit the form uh to AMC for consideration.
>> Mr. chair. Um, now that I retired from my real job, I plan on on participating to some degree. Um, and so I'm wondering if uh if administrator Barry has actually been going to the AMC conference and doing the public safety
or and likewise Bruce Hazburgen or if any of the others wanted to to change things up, I would throw it out there that I would be um able and and uh interested in possibly participating um with AMC. >> Mr. Chair,
>> yes. Uh, sorry. >> You guys have to get used to that. >> No, I think uh Commissioner Gosig, it would be entirely appropriate uh if you would like to take um uh the um public safety policy committee or the
transportation infrastructure policy committee. I don't believe that Mr. Hasbar is able to participate as frequently as he'd like. And the same is true for uh for me on the public safety policy committee. uh if you would like uh I'm happy to relinquish that policy committee uh if that's one that you're
interested in and can strike my name from that and include yours um on it or if you have a different idea about what other committee you'd like to serve >> and see what the other what the others in the group if you know now is the time if anybody wants to change anything up u I don't have any you know set goal on
any particular one >> Mr. care. >> Go ahead. >> Another old me. >> Um well, first I just want to say uh um
to Commissioner Gazwig, you know, I'm I'm glad to hear that uh you are, you know, willing to to at least uh participate in some some form, you know. So, uh, I think, uh, you know, these are some good committees, a lot of good
information. Um, and I'm I'm trying to think, you know, through my involvement with with these committees, um, and if I may make a suggestion,
uh, I I I honestly believe that transportation and infrastructure would would suit you. Um because uh uh your involvement with um
uh the uh incinerator stuff and and things like that, the roads. Um listening to your your questions, you know, when we're on road tours and things like that, I think uh the transportation and infrastructure
policy would would suit you well. Um, and with uh Commissioner Winger's background, um, law enforcement, uh, I think public safety, and I'm I'm not too sure if you if you
have, uh, participated in Health and Human Services, uh, policy committee. >> Um, you know, maybe that could be, uh, some sort of interest to you more than Health and Human Services. I'm I'm not too
sure. Just making a suggestion. Um >> I know previously um Keith Winger, Commissioner Winger, prior my predecessor, he was actually on the public safety committee and his law enforcement background I think is why he was on that one back when you were on with him.
>> So I I actually had thought about that as well. That's why I thought maybe we should have a little discussion and possibly that might be of interest to Commissioner Winger. But um that's why I didn't want to just take it from Tom. I wanted to have discussion first. >> Yeah, I certainly I agree. I would
certainly be more interested in that than the not that I'm not interested in health and human services, but I would know more about the public safety policy stuff than I would the other one for sure. So, >> Mr. Chair, I'm just wondering how if
Commissioner Gold has a preference if if he wants to stay where he's at or or Health and Human Services, is there a preference? Um, I'm flexible. I' guess first choice, stay where I'm at or go back to general
government. But, um, uh, I'm I'm fine with whatever. Uh, I guess, uh, I would prefer not to serve on public safety policy committee, transportation,
infrastructure policy committees. So then I what I hear from Tom is that Bruce has been struggling to get to some of those meetings and um I wonder and I know Ann's schedule is is
heavy, but I wonder if Anne would be interested in in being our um policy member for Health and Human Services. I really think that would be good for our county. Um so I I would make this recommendation
um that for our policy committees that Commissioner Gold would stay on the environment natural resources that and then I my understanding is that Commissioner St. you're you're still good with general government and staying
there um and then have Ann Lindseayth as our health and human services public safety be commissioner Winger and transportation be commissioner Gosvig. I think that might suit the county well. Um, and I would make that recommendation. I don't know if I need to make a motion, but
>> yes. >> And I think otherwise listing all the rest of us. Um, but I think we should probably make sure that that um Ann is on one of our ANC voting delegates because >> pull Bruce and put Ann and Bruce's base.
>> Yeah. On the voting. Yep. Exactly. >> So that uh >> I would make that a motion. >> I'll second that. >> Yeah. Okay. So, we have a motion that uh Joe G will be the environment and natural resources. General
government's going to be some Tim Sumner, Commissioner Sumner. Uh and if she's willing, right? >> Um Lyn Seth will be the human health and human services. Uh I'll do public safety and Craig, Commissioner Gazig will do
transportation. And we will add or change an instead of Bruce as as a voting member. >> Correct. >> Okay. Any other discussion on that? >> No. Okay. All in favor then say I. >> I.
>> Opposed. >> That is unanimous. Okay. Go on to the next. Um Okay. additional items. So 10 A would be
MRC membership. >> Mr. Chair, Mr. Google, um just to briefly reiterate what I said in the work session, um I think it's a a great thing for $2,900 more dollars, we get three more
lobbyists as resources that we can call, email, um use um at any time. Um there's a there's a lot of stuff coming down from federal and state government. We need all the help that we can get um with
with our uh small rural county up here in northern Minnesota and uh these three individuals are super qualified professional uh can certainly help us out uh uh when we need it in addition to our uh regular lobbyists. So, um,
definitely see the value in MRC. Um, I just I'm having a hard time with Commissioner Sumar's um, help me to understand, Commissioner Sumar, cuz um, you know, you're you're
an advocate for AMC, for NATO, so I don't understand why you wouldn't be for MRC. It's the same type of situation. So, that's where I'm at. Yeah. Thank you. Okay. >> Any other discussion? You got Yes, sir.
M. >> So, Mr. Chair, I I I did have one other thought when we were recessed and and I and it goes contrary to what maybe I said before, not contrary, but something else that I think all the commissioners need to think about. And I forgot about
this until we got up and uh I got a clear thought. was my concern might be that again AMC >> sort of can dictate to a c to a certain extent what MRC can do can't do but I
think the value of MRC could be that if we didn't have a rural caucus that we end up getting lost in the larger voice of the metro counties and so maybe the may and maybe the issues aren't really different. But if they
are, then it's not just our voice. It's the voice of I don't know how many 20ome counties that are all banded together looking out for rural Minnesota uh as opposed to the metropolitan area. And so that would give me a reason to vote for
that. Um and again, um and I don't want to play that that $2,900 is insignificant. And it is significant in my opinion because it's any tax any one tax dollars is significant. But Commissioner Gold has a point um that
if we could enlist and I'm not sure to what extent we can enlist these lobbyists for our own benefit. But if we at least have their ear because we are a member. We don't have their ear if we don't have if we're not a member. So, if we have their ear and
we say, you know, while you're there, we've got this other issue that really doesn't affect other counties, but us. Can you can you give us a hand? Or even even if all they can do is give us insight. Sometimes just giving us insight as to how we approach something
could be invaluable. Maybe they can't because of contractual arrangements, maybe they can't go out and openly lobby for us, but maybe they can say, "Hey, you know what? if you you know if you did this um you'd be more successful that sort of thing. So there's a case to
be made to spend that money um and and I think that in my mind that might be the reason why is to give the rural counties and and you say well yeah if we don't join they still have it right well but you could do that with anything. It's like, okay, well,
you either you either are in or you're not in. And and I and you I don't know. It's just I'm I'm really conflicted on this one because I, you know, it's it's tough, but but I think the what could sway me more than anything is the fact
that the MRC is at the table of MR with AMC and saying, "Look, we're here and we have this membership and don't forget us." And that might be the reason why I would say yes to that proposal. Just sorry to
make it sound wishy-washy, but it there's a it's a ying and a yang there. >> We're talking about that's the thing. I mean, I'll be honest. I I haven't attended, you know, the MRC stuff. I haven't really loo I've seen some stuff that come through. I read some of it,
>> you know, some of it I don't. And just in honesty, I I don't know enough about it. Um, you know, I heard uh Commissioner Sumner's which made me agree with what he's saying. Now, listening to what you guys
are saying, it makes a lot of sense. Um, so we're kind of >> Well, and Mr. Chair, if you wanted to go to a meeting instead of me one day, um I'd be fine with that if you want to get a little more feel for it or um Commissioner Sumner or Gossig, you know,
I fine with dipping out for a meeting if one of you want to become a little more familiar with it. That's fine. >> Mr. Godzig. Yeah, Mr. Chair. Um I just, you know, concerned about the the redundancy. It just feels like it's redundant with AMC. I know the MRC had
the our 9ount um solid waste plan as their top priority and we still didn't get anywhere with it. You know, even though that was their number one priority and and stuff, I just don't know that we've gotten any actual return on our investment there. Um you could
probably say the same thing about some of the others, but uh I just worried about the redundancy of it and and whether or not it actually is um is needed. >> I that's it. Mr. Senator. >> Oh, well, Mr. Chair, and uh you know, I
I hear the concerns, you know, and and the questions that uh you know, my colleagues have in regards to, you know, metro and rural and and you know, all that. You know, I just want to remind you that there are there are only 49
county commissioners in the seven county metro. There are over 400 and and outstate. So we have strength in numbers. um if we are worried about the metro and
rural um and you know as as AMC board member I know that a good part of our strategic planning uh this past August was you know listening to the concerns about you
know metro versus rural and how AMC is going to make a more conservative effort to u include more of the the rural concerns and I think um um at our December board
meeting it it showed that a lot of the policies and concerns that we've have up here you know in district 2 and and other rural county uh districts that a lot of the AMC platform was based on you
know rural more than metro and and listening to the you know my friends and colleagues that are commissioners down in the in metro area, they want to be allies and friends as well. Um, you know, people wonder why, you know,
I I don't support, you know, MRC is is I I just don't see the benefit. Um, I I I see what AMC brings back to the county. Uh, whether it's dollars or or, you know, bringing some of our
concerns, you know, to the legislature. Uh same with Nico um you know we we received a large you know sum of money um because of Nico's efforts that we still
you know have in our coffers today. Um so those are the type of benefits that I kind of look for when we're trying to uh join you know any organization. Um, it's not that I don't appreciate,
you know, the work that they do. It's it's just I I don't see I don't see it. And it's it's probably because I don't show up. I don't I don't attend. It's not, you know, part of what I'm involved in. um because I know um you know my
colleagues here are are passionate about it and and I have uh you know faith and trust in in your guys's ability to to participate and and you know bring back you know
some some of our our issues and concerns you know with with some dollars you know so um again you know I'm going to continue to, you know, um, not support rejoining, you know, at this time, but
if if there is a a better case in in future years, you know, I'm I'm willing to listen. So, that's my thoughts. Mr. Chair, >> Mr. Mr. Chair, just to to respond to Commissioner Sumar, I wonder how much you say that the AMC is
starting to take more um of the rural into account. But I wonder would that be the case if the MRC had not rejuvenated itself the way it has? Because before
when whenever the the commission in the past dumped it because they weren't really being very active and now with the rejuvenation um and the new firm that that is helping guide that I wonder if that isn't exactly why AMC is like oh maybe we need
to start paying attention and I don't know if there's any way to quantify that is the only and I'm just thinking maybe that's the reason Why? >> I'm not too sure. Um, >> and I think
I think it has a lot to do with, you know, more of our our districts are are outstate and, you know, I think we have a lot of active, you know, district directors that participate in the meetings that are more vocal and some of
them are part, you know, of MRC as well. and and some of them have taken the steps to, you know, step step away from MRC. So, I mean, it it's hard saying, you know,
>> Mr. Chair, I'd like to make a motion that we do not continue with MRC membership for 2026. >> Okay, we have a motion. Do we have a second? >> Second. Okay, any more discussion? Uh, no.
Is that my piece? >> Okay. Well, no discussion. We'll put it to a vote. All in favor say I. >> I. >> I. >> Oppos. >> I. >> I. >> Motion shot.
>> So you you voted up to shoot it down. So three to two negative. So >> now it's up to you to get a new motion. Do we have a new motion? >> I'll make a motion that we renew uh MRC membership for 2026.
>> I'll second. >> Okay. So, now we have a motion to renew. >> Mr. Chair, >> discussion. Yes. >> Could we ask for a friendly amendment to have it reviewed next year and not just automatically renewed?
>> Sure. Absolutely. >> Yep. Yeah. Okay. with that. So, you'll make that amendment. >> I'm I'm happy to add that as a friendly amendment. >> Thank you. And your second >> question. Any other discussion?
>> And he called the question. Sorry. >> Yeah, he asked for called the question. >> Okay. >> Uh Okay. So, Commissioner Carlson, >> yes. >> Commissioner Ghoul, yes. Commissioner Sumner, >> no. >> Commissioner Gazbig, >> no.
>> And I will say yes. >> Is the Commissioner Carlson's persuasive? I'm really on the fence about this. >> Well, I I'm hearing both sides. So, >> we'll make two-year trial. >> I uh >> Thank you.
>> Something made sense to me, I guess. So, all right. Uh, next up, where are we? Any other additional items? So, no. Uh, legislative lobbying issues and commissioners reports,
legislative lobby issues. We have any? No. >> I can start if you'd like, Mr. Chair. >> Yes, sir. Um, I won't go into details on the the stata airport authority meeting and a Mississippi headarters board meeting. um normal stuff there. Um for the Cast Lake Fire Association, I
reached out to u um to Greater Bumiji to Dave Hangel and he gave me contact info for USDA rural development um agency, the contact the local contact and um Chad Newman is a guy that is potentially
going to look into the community facilities program application that we might be able to hopefully get some funding for the the new fireh hall. So I'm just pursuing that on behalf of the Cast Lake Royal Fire Association and that's looking cross and fingers
hopefully we got a good connection there. It looks like that's a that program is a pretty good fit. Um Dave uh said that he uh got made aware of it and looked into it with regard to the YMCA project here and I don't think they ended up needing it or using it for that
but he made made him aware of it. So >> okay, >> that's it for my committee report. >> Okay. Thank you, Commissioner Sler. >> Well, thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, I think with the last couple of weeks being uh
the holidays, I don't really have much to report. A lot of our committees were uh not um um not meeting. So, nothing to report for for tonight. Thank you. Uh, I just want
to say I I hope uh uh 2026, you know, um is is is a good year for, you know, our our board. You're welcome. You know, it's not always this hard. So, >> gets easier by December.
>> I I wish everybody a good good new year. >> Exactly. All right. Okay, Mr. Ghoul. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh been pretty quiet on the meeting front with the holidays. So, um yes, happy new year to
everybody and um I do have a committee meeting tomorrow and by board meets on Thursday. So, u that's it. Thank you, >> Mr. Carlson. >> Pretty quiet. I was at the airport authority with commissioner um Gazvig
and I had a greater bumiji meeting and just so everyone knows the uh YMCA project is going well but there is still the stipulation people need to understand that there's a there's a fundraising going on. They're still needing to raise
a couple million dollars uh before the YMCA absolutely pulls the plug and breaks ground. So, just a reminder for anybody that's out there that uh uh is interested in making sure that that YMC comes to fruition, it would be helpful.
$5, $10, $100, $1,000, whatever you whatever you think you want to do. All those donations would be greatly appreciated to get that project going. So, it >> Okay. Thank you. Um, as far as I'm concerned, I didn't have any meetings. I
had several phone calls over the over the break. Um, you know, other than that, not much. I know last time I did talk about some of the the hockey games that were in town. And I will say that one of the teams that played here did play for the
gold medal last night. >> Uh, the Czecha team got second place, but they were here playing. And so, um, was I did get to go to some of those, had a good time. Um, other than that, that's all I have. Mr.
>> Mr. here. I uh request a upcoming uh uh chat about sessions. I'm wondering if Commissioner Carlson would be amendable for swapping um the January 21st and February 4th with me. >> No,
>> if that if that would >> Yeah, that's fine. Yep. And then also in the same situation with the April 8th and April 22nd, if that if you would be amenable to switching those two around. >> So >> that's Earth Day.
>> So you're you're good with it, I take it. >> Yeah. So then I'll be on February 4th and April sec April 22nd. >> Yeah. Got it. >> So you can dig it? >> I can do it. Even though >> sorry, dad jokes, you know,
Earth Day, you dig it, you know. Um, that's great. So, yeah, you you we'll just flip-flop those >> all day long trips back and forth to the new compactor. >> Um, and and yeah, one thing I forgot to mention, tomorrow, we've got more
continuing union negotiations and and I've got an HRDC executive board meeting tomorrow as well. So, lots of meetings starting up. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. >> Yes, sir. Anything else? Where are we?
>> Motion to adjurnn. >> Yes, we got a motion to adjurnn. Do we hear a second? >> Second barrelson. All right. Salam.