Okay. >> We'll call to order the Benton County Board of Commissioners meeting. Please join us for the flag pledge. I aliance 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. >> Note that all commissioners are are here. Approve or amend the agenda. Mr. Chair, we have one item to add. It's consent item number eight, the collective baron agreement with local 49
representing property management. Again, consent item number eight. >> Move for approval the amended agenda. Mr. >> Excuse me. >> Do we wish to have some discussion regarding the APO uh representation in Washington DC? >> That underneath you.
>> Uh sure. Let's do that as the uh excuse me, the last item under administrator 925 again Washington DC lobbyist through appeal. >> Again, Mr. Sure. I'll move for the amended agenda. >> I'll second it. >> Okay, we got a motion and a second. Any further discussion?
Not to call the question, I'll say I. >> I. >> I. Opposed. Motion carries. County board meetings are broadcasted live and video recorded on YouTube. Please refrain from speaking from the audience area and come to the podium so that the viewers can hear you. The county board observes
Robert's rules of order for its meeting. So, please obtain the board's chair's consent before addressing the county board. Public comments are generally reserved for the open forum segment of or public hearings. However, public comment on other agenda items may be allowed at discretion of the board
chair. As we begin today, please turn the cell phones off or turn them on vibrate. Thank you. Open forum public input andformational matters not requiring action by the board. Before we get started, I'm going to read a statement. Open for open forum
segments on the agendas of county boards, city councils, and school boards are common features. Benton County Board agenda has included an open forum for decades. These forums provide an opportunity for public to share concerns and information with their elected
officials. We as elected county board greatly appreciate hearing from the public because it allows us to hear from you directly. This board intends to keep an open forum on our regular agenda so that we preserve the means of direct communication between the board and the
residents. You may have seen as you entered the boardroom today a statement at the back describing county board policies for open forum. These policies were created almost 20 years ago. Looking back at some board meetings from the time, it appears some public conduct
during open forms have become very personal and disruptive. Clearly, the quality of the public discussion has deteriorated to the point a policy was needed. By board resolution, this policy was adopted in August 2006.
It stood there. It stood then, as it does today, to establish a baseline standard of conduct for open forms. It does not exist to limit any person's right of free speech. It does not give the county board the ability to shut down the speak. Oop, sorry. It does not
give the county board the ability to shut down the speaker simply because the speaker disagrees with the county board. Instead, the policy establishes these simple basic concepts. The county board can establish a reasonable time limit on
speakers. The boardroom podium can't be used to campaign for public office. Personal attacks won't be allowed, including the use of profanity and other vulgar references. The county board will listen to public concerns but won't take
action the same day. Instead, the county staff may direct to follow up at a future meeting. And lastly, the county board chair will enforce the open forum policy. Uh let me conclude by saying this county believe county board believes in free speech. We also believe that when we
enter this boardroom, we will conduct ourselves respectfully and civily. We are here to solve problems, find solutions, and serve the public. I think we can all agree that accomplishing these goals is best done in an environment of mutual respect and civil discussion.
Thank you. Open forum. Mr. Leot. Okay, I got some questions. How come Benton County has a wheelillage tax and Morrison County doesn't? And the roads in Morrison County, I think, are a
hell of a lot better than Benton County. >> Anybody want to address that or not or address it in the future? >> Well, I think at the time, Mr. Chair, is the we have a fairly large local road system doesn't qualify for state aid. So about half of our 425 mi is local roads
that don't qualify for state aid. So we didn't have any source of funds to maintain uh reconstruct the county road system. So the board decided to adopt the willage tax to give us some resources. So you would have to rely upon the property tax to maintain and reconstruct our county road system. So
again, about half of that 425 miles is a county road. So anything that's above number 33 is a county road. Do you remember when that was adopted by the >> It's been about 10 years at least. 10 12 years. Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> That doesn't answer my question. How
come Morrison County ain't got it? >> I can't speak for Morrison, sir. >> Yeah. >> Don't they? >> I think they do. I mean, the former Morrison County engineer is actually sitting right behind you. >> Is Morrison County a will a better run county? members of the board. Morrison County
had implemented a wheelage tax when that opportunity first presented itself. Uh you can't just look at wheelage and loss tax. You also have to look at levy. I think that Morrison probably levies substantially more than this county towards its county.
>> You got to be kidding highway system. I believe it. >> No. And so we also implemented the last act, but we always had our our county board just like this county board is very supportive of transportation and that's how they they they um that's
how they funded it. But I I we didn't generate a lot of revenue off of the wheelage tax, but I would I would bet you you need to look at also what the property tax goes towards uh transportation and mores.
So, so that's the other side of the coin. We don't have levy dollars going into road construction. >> Yeah. Right. >> I shouldn't say Morrison does. >> Yeah. Thank you, Steve. Commissioner P. >> So, we eliminated the m the levy on the property taxes when we implemented the sales tax.
>> Yeah, there was actually a little bit of levy going in. It was levy kind of program. >> Now, there's none. >> Yep. >> There's no levy dollars going in to our local road projects. It was on my dealage tax.
>> Yeah, wheelage. >> And you got that county tax what? 5 cents. >> Half a cent >> or half, whatever the hell? >> Yep. >> Mhm. >> Half a percent. >> Then I got another question. Bill Paradise bought this up at Coffee.
You guys got these big signs like 8 10 foot long. Who pays for them? You know this this road was funded by by your sales tax. Who why do you put them signs up? They're made $100 signs
eight or 10. >> I believe Chris is using the local option sales tax to pay for those. And I think the board wanted the folks to see, okay, we the board adopted this local option sales tax. Here was a project that was a result of that. In other words, here's how your sales tax dollars were spent so people could see this is
done as a result of that. Yeah. But that money was supposed to go for road repair, not signs, right? And then my next question is ditch authority. Morrison County got more ditches in Ben
County and they ain't paid a dime in assessment. So how do you guys justify I don't know how many million you got in that ditch fund? I mean, they took me for I think almost 1,200 again. And you haven't touched
that damn ditch and you haven't looked at it. Where's that money going? Are you going to do any ditch work this year? We'll have to come >> We'll have to come back when we have ditch authority. There is we did
redetermination of benefits in our ditches and Morrison County did not. >> Right. >> And that's why the assessment was there. >> We already paid one assessment. >> Yeah. >> And we got one this year. And you're going to have another one come August
again, I'm sure. And you ain't doing a damn thing in them ditches, are you? >> We've worked on quite a few of the ditches. Um the ditches some of the it's hard to explain ditches are brought brought
forth ditch assessments ditch and that is all brought forth by the people that live on the ditch when they petition. It's not brought by by the ditch authority. Yeah, but you got the money in there. Why are you taxing us if you ain't doing anything on the ditches? >> So that's incorrect.
>> No, that's not. >> Does that money go into a general fund so you can pay for the $40 million thaj mahal? All all the money that's collected goes into each district each ditch separately. >> Okay? So if they got assessed for ditch
seven, that went into ditch 7. Ditch 12, same thing. Every ditch that gets assessed goes into their own fund. >> Is anyone overseeing that? Look at look at the shape of Minnesota with all the fraud. Is there any fraud going on here?
>> Well, I hope not. >> Well, you hope not. That's a hell of an answer. That's all I can give you right now. >> Yeah. And then uh I seen in Sockapus, whatever you call it, you guys gave yourself How do you
justify another I know it's 4 hours more, another 30 bucks an hour per dam. >> It's not per hour, it's just per DM. And then you have to have at least four hours to collect that. >> Yeah, I know. I read that it got to have
four hours. But you got two meetings a month, right? >> Yeah. >> I'm sorry. I'm on 27 committee meetings, >> board. >> Yeah. >> How many? >> We're all about the same. So, >> well, your s your salary is based on two
meetings a month, right? >> No, we have a ton of other committee meetings. We we got AMC. I chair the APO. I mean, there's there's numerous meetings. >> Okay. All these special meetings you got, you get additional pay. No, I got
to be concerned about my checkbook. You guys are stealing me blind. Anything else, Mr. Leot? >> And then uh that airport I seen they want to Who's going to pay for that? I mean, you guys
got us in that sham. Who's going to They want to make what I seen in uh St. Cloud Live. Maybe they want to make a maintenance facility. Who's paying for that? >> Actually, that's what the Votech and Delta There's like four other
>> Yeah. >> uh airlines that are involved in this. >> Federal funds. >> It's all federal funds, right? >> Is a federal grant. Do you guys ever think about Do you have any say in that damn board? I mean, it's a click that board that they got there,
that aviation board. >> We have two representatives from the county. >> Yeah. But if they swoop him in and like you guys all got swooped in by Headley, be my buddy. >> It's not true.
>> That's not true. >> I mean, even Ed, where you live, you could get to Little Falls airport and you can get to that dump here in Sherban County. You're a mile, you're a couple miles from 10. You're on 10. 10 minutes you're at Little Falls.
>> Yeah, but that ain't there's no there's no flights. >> Totally different airport. >> Totally different. >> But they ain't got much flights out of here either. You got one to Florida, I think, and one to uh where? Arizona. >> Goes to Mesa.
>> I wouldn't call that a airport. A lot of it is business travel, too. There's a ton of business planes that are there. >> There's a ton of business. There is no business in Benton County. I heard that. How come you guys never
let that uh restaurant expand? You got no business in Benton County. That little cafe here used to be Wilin Trucking. It's a nice cafe. They got good food. And they said you guys wouldn't give
them an expansion permit. >> I don't That would be with the city. That would probably be with the city. >> City. Yeah, >> that wouldn't be with the county. >> You guys have no say in that? >> No. >> No. It's not in the city.
>> Well, why would Well, I suppose I should go Well, I could I mean, you got one little cafe cafe and it's they're nice people. >> Mhm. >> And they got good food. And I mean, Foley is a dying town.
You guys can't face reality on that. I mean, people that live and fully claim it's dying. I mean, you got a $40 million building going up that ain't going to bring a dollar worth of tax revenue in.
>> Anything else? You >> guys got to start using your brains if you have one. >> How are we supposed to do anything with the >> You're going to drive people out of the county. >> Anything else, Mr. Leup? >> Huh? >> Anything else? No, that's it. >> Thank you very much.
>> Airborne deceased. I got to get out of here. I don't want that disease. >> Thank you. Let's move on now. Cassent agenda item 1 through eight. What would we like to do with >> move approval? Second.
>> We got a motion and a second. Any further discussion on that? If not, I'll call the question. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed? Motion carries. Steve, thank you. Our interimm county engineer. >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
>> Good morning. >> Morning. >> Morning. >> Morning. >> Thank you for coming here this morning. >> You bet. I'm a little nervous. Haven't done this for a little while. But uh today I'm asking for the board's consideration
and action uh to authorize WSB's preliminary and final design services amendment number one for the county state aid highway 29 uh improvement project. And I'm well aware that this county board knows more about this project than
I probably ever will. But with that said, I' I'd like to go through a little bit of the history um for the record to so that uh we can we can demonstrate how we got to where we are. The CASA 29 improvement project is a construction of
2 and a half miles of new highway beginning at the intersection of CASA 29 and one and extends easterly to its termini with county state highway 3. The project will construct a missing link in the Benton County's transportation system and has uh and
will provide a number of benefits for this county. Some of them include it's going to provide a safe and efficient uh land access and uh for housing and commercial developments on the east side of Sock Rapids.
It's going to build a major segment of the vision for a ring road around the St. cloud metro area and it also provides that additional route to serve the St. Cloud uh regional airport. The project's uh been on the county board's radar for a long time, probably
over 25 years. It's uh had its starts and stops over that time period and back in 2006 2007 major amounts of work were done. environmental work. Um, an environmental assessment was completed and signed off on. A right ofway was
acquired. Uh, but it was an expensive project. Local resources weren't available to move the project to construction. But then it it appears that in 2023, this county board made a decision that it's time to get this project done.
RFPs were requested and WSB was selected to do the work. At the same time, the county board actively worked with your federal legislative delegation. And in 2024, you're notified that $5 million
was set aside and designated for the construction of this project. The county moved aggressively to complete the work and gain approval uh and review approval and also Federal Highway Administration's authorization
to move the project to construction. But like so many good ideas, the devil's in the details. And like uh remodeling an old house, the more you got into it, the more you had to do. Changes in the development area. Changes
in development of the area and stricter environmental requirements and regulations required that additional work was going to be needed and and work that believed to be able to be salvaged and submitted as a part of the review process had to
be redone. kind of the main drivers of that work were uh a new category exclusion where the initial RFP had contemplated that the uh the existing categoric uh
exclusion document could be uh updated but it ended up having to be completely redone. A new environmental assessment had to be completed. That was probably the biggest uh cost in in this amendment
alignment. Then alignment had change had to take place in order to uh avoid and mitigate wetlands. And as soon as you make a change in an alignment, then everything that goes along with it, it's like a domino effect, >> new hydraulics, new flood plane
analysis, all all those things have to be uh reworked. And that was another expense that ended up occurring uh because of the fact that uh wetlands had to be avoided. And then the final portion here is that uh with some of the
new construction in the area, the noise analysis uh indicated that there had to be mitigation for noise and that has yet to there's work yet to be done with that and how that may be mitigated. there's going to be public participation in order to accomplish that and determine
actually uh what the end result of that will be. But those were the three main drivers for this amendment. Uh again, the schedule is an attempt to try to get this to uh bid um yet this year where
where if we can make a payment, at least one payment that ties our money in and uh the you would expect that you're not going to lose it if you get to that point, >> right? >> Obviously, most of the construction will probably take place in 2027.
So with that, the request is that the board would authorize the chairman to sign the amendment and continue to work on this project. >> Thank you for everything you're doing, Steve, with all of this and the update. Board questions, concerns.
>> I also want to thank you for the uh the clarification on the wheelage tax. >> Yeah. >> Yes. >> Mr. Chair, uh Steve, just for clarification, we have not paid any of this contract yet. Is that correct? Um
>> yes uh so far uh we've spent 501,000 of the base 528 contract. >> Okay. >> This adds 256. >> Mhm. >> So would you like to know where the rest is going to come from? >> Okay. >> Yep. >> So uh you may recall we've been using a
2008 CIP to pay this cost so far. >> There's 140,000 left in that. So that covers almost half. Uh the board authorized the use of local ops and sales tax for engineering services. So recently we transferred 500,000 of local ops and sales tax to
the highway fund for engineering services. So between those two 140 and the rest is the balance is about 145 can come out of the highway fund. Again this local option sales tax it was transferred to fund 13 for engineering
services. So bottom line it's covered from those two sources. So, >> you know, I I know when Chris brought to you uh using local option, it this wasn't part of that discussion. It was for other projects. So, we're going to have to do some juggling, you know,
because it's going to take a chunk out of that that was intended for some other projects. This is obviously very critical and needs to get done. So, it's going to take priority, I think, over some of those other projects that Chris identified. >> That's a discussion I think for another day. Uh but yeah, so
>> just short term, >> Mr. Chair, I just look at a $5 million expansion on a road and it's gonna have almost a million dollars in design. >> I have to, you know, one of the things that it just sh it just stands out that
>> this is about half of what the original contract was in an addendum. Mhm. >> That's >> well it's one thing it's point is we're essentially we're doing some envir environmental work that was done 20 years ago by ethic SRF at the time >> where they established the preferred
alternative did all the right the wetland delination so on. Yeah. That was done 20 years ago. Yeah. >> Okay. The the other thing on the engineering cost when you get into a complicated project like this, um even as you try to seek reimbursement, if it
was a state aid project that you were trying to seek reimbursement on, you'd be eligible for 25% of the construction cost in engineering, that's that's not an a normal amount. >> Okay. So, >> so you think this amount is
>> Yeah, it's it's less than 25%, but the state would allow up to 25% if it was a state aid project for engineering reimbursement. So, it falls within those parameters. >> Thanks for that clarification. >> Yep. >> Questions? >> So, yeah,
you said state aid project. Why wouldn't CASA 29 fall into that >> as a state? would be another option. But you also you're you're balancing using your state aid money for construction. Are you going to use it for engineering? You have your local option sales tax.
You have these revenue sources. You're trying to balance. >> It's an interesting question though because we're adding mileage. And I'm not sure this if you build a road, it doesn't automatically become a state aid road. It's got to be built first. >> That's another >> bridge we've got to cross is I'm not
sure this will get added as Kasha mileage. I was just going to say with your experience with Cass roads, is this going to get added as mileage for Cass Roads? >> I I it's a it's a it's a small amount, two and a half miles. >> Uh we'd have to look at the system. If we have any local roads on your county stated highway system, they'd be looking
to exchange that for for this segment. They they would do that before they would allow you to add miles. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> We don't need to exchange hotel. I mean, that's >> as I've heard, it's really tough just to outright add Kasha mileage. Sure. Yeah.
>> The process is expensive. >> Great. Anything else? Board, what would you like to do with this? >> I'll move approval of the addendum number one to WSB for $256,820. >> I'll second that. >> Okay, we got a motion and a second. Any
further discussion on this? >> If not, I'll call the question. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed? Motion carries. And Mr. Chairman, I just would like to give an update on uh where the department is at and what we're working
on. Um you have a you have a pretty pretty large construction program for 2026 uh plan trying to trying to accomplish as much of that as we can. Uh so obviously the position that we're in right now uh the priority work that
we're we're doing are projects that will require state aid review and federal highway administration authorization to move to construction. You have three of them in your plan. County state aid highway 3. I think if the board would recall um what happened there is you
were successful in obtaining about $2 million for the county state a highway 2 project. That money was trans that's a grading project which makes it more difficult like a 29 project. You transferred that to the CASA 3 project
and accelerated the CASA 3 project. So you pay for it upfront when the federal money comes into the state then they'll reimburse you. Uh we've done we did this while I was in Morrison County. It's a efficient way to use your federal money. Um, we were able to get the plans in the
first uh the 9th of January, signed plans and those went in and are down for review. Uh, usually takes two, three weeks. We'll get comments back, but that should be in a good position for your new engineer to move to bid. Um, then the other projects that that really are
our priority are the ones that have rightaway acquisition on them that we want to do uh this year. That's the two bridges uh on county state 812 and county uh that would be um yeah county state aid 12 which is the Little Rock
Creek and then Cass 13 the Elk River. Um we we're we're going great guns the the staff out there we we've uh uh we have the plan so we know what the rightway requirements are. They're working on the offer letters. We're going to do in-house minimum damage acquisition so
we don't have to go out for that. Uh and and then we'll prepare offer letters and staff are on our staff will try to negotiate that right away um ourselves. So we'll be pushing that real hard. We get get those uh that documentation in.
We can certify the rightway and then the plans and everything can go in for review. So, um it it's uh it everything has to fall in place, but it certainly can happen um
otherwise staff is going to be, you know, we're going to be filling in with um the other projects that don't require state aid review. There's a number of project they may be state aid projects, but they're going to be funded with local option sales tax. Those don't have
to go through that process. So, we'll be working on those as fillers as we try to get this this rightway acquired. As as a you may know that that some of this work needs uh some additional support, some consulting support. And so
I have had to uh utilize uh WSB and we'll we need to utilize them if there's something that we can't do internally, but we're working to try to accomplish as much as we can internally. But on these two bridges with this rightway,
there may be uh a requirement to use WSB. I I like WSB uh for Benton County's work because they use the same software package that you use for design as AutoCAD. They also use the same
construction management application as Benton County uses, which is one office. Um so those things make things easier for our staff as we transfer and deal with uh with the the consultant and trying to accomplish obtaining this right away. So that's kind of the that's
the other project I should say is CASA 2 which is um a reconstruction project for 2027 and we're in rightway acquisition. KLJ is assisting with that rightaway acquisition that's moving right along.
Um the attempt is to try to obtain enough rightway where we can at least begin clearing and grubbing before the March 31st deadline and and have areas cleared so the utility relocations can take place. That's what the attempt is
here and I should be we should be able to do that the way it looks like it's going. >> That's kind of where we're at. >> M Mr. Chair, Steve, couple questions back to CASA 2. Um, do you know if the rightway acquisition went through with the DNR land that's there? Is that finalized? >> I I'll I'll find out. I don't know right
now if that happened. >> And then on CASA 13, the bridge project, are you familiar with the project at all? How the realignment is I think it's 75th there that connects to 13 >> uh you know kind of comes at a big jog and there's looking at some right of way to the west. >> Yes.
>> Has can you share at all how that ended up? >> Um >> are you familiar with >> the rightways? Yeah, I the rightway we are going to need, you know, extended rightway to the west. Um the alignment is is about a it moves about 100 ft.
>> Okay. >> In order to fit it in there uh and you know get our de our slopes and our ditch and everything it it it's going to it looked like it was moving about 100 feet. I we're looking at trying to minimize that that taking by steepening
up maybe some of the back slopes, that kind of thing in order to to minimize what we have to take from the property owner there. But we have uh already done the early uh contact with the property owner, so they know the project's coming. >> Um we we haven't gone over to over the
impacts with them individually yet because we weren't quite ready with that. I'm hoping by the end of the week it looks like that's where we'll be at. >> And would those projects be simultaneous? Do you know? Is that the plan? >> If we can if we get all of this, that would be the plan to bid them both together. >> Yes. Okay. Thank you.
>> That would be good. Yeah. >> Thank you. >> And then uh Mr. Chair. >> Yep. >> Uh Steve, we talked uh briefly on the uh on that uh build grant. >> Yes. >> On uh on Friday, we received authorization from Mandot that the gr
the grant is a Well, it it gave us uh authority to proceed. So, WSB is moving forward with updating the application. Have to uh recognize uh administrator Headley. He's helping with uh secure all
the support letters um that that'll go in and be a part of the grant. So, um we're on track. We'll have a agreement coming in to the board that you'll have to um you'll have to enter into. The authorization letter was the important part of it because the work
can start with the authorization letter. The grant can follow and that's a $30,000 grant. >> Okay. >> I can help you with the letters, too. >> Yeah. >> I I think I think we're good. WSB sent us a template letter and I think Beth has all the ones from last time so we
know who to contact. I think we're in pretty good shape there. Yeah. And we have until WSB said we have until February 18th to get them the letters of support. So, we're good on time. >> Okay. Yep. >> Good. Well, if you need any nudging, I can help. >> Thank you, sir. Yeah. >> Thank you, Steve. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> One the one other thing, uh, Mr. Chair,
members of the board, is the, uh, county highway safety plan. Um, is you are a county that is having your plan updated this year. So, there is activity that needs to take place with that. Again, administrator Hedley is is working to uh
build the website that'll you selected a safe uh streets for all approach which has quite a bit more public participation and input. So, uh there's going to be activities that'll be uh taking place to try to obtain outside or
the public's input. uh at the same time we'll within the department uh be reviewing segments making sure they are accurate and how they're MIDOT is going to be looking at the system overall. >> So that's also happening at this time.
>> That's all I have. Mr. Chairman, >> Mr. Chair, um dialing back to that uh build. Yes, >> there was a few things that may have been missed along the way. So >> if this wouldn't have been caught, we'd have been in a >> a bad situation for >> Yeah,
>> it was good to ask the question. Yes. >> So thank you for everything you're doing, Steve, for appreciate it. >> Thank you. >> Okay. >> Did he apply for the permanent position yet or not? No. >> Next, Sheriff Troy Hec. Good morning, commissioners.
>> Good morning, Sheriff. >> Good morning. >> Here today to talk about immigration enforcement. Uh we all understand this is a very controversial topic in our community and all around the state. Uh I was contacted last week by Commissioner Heinen with some questions and the suggestion that this would be a good
topic to bring information to the board and to the public. So, I'd like to say thank you for that uh that telephone call and and the prompt to come here and share some information. So, we are a partner law enforcement
agency with ICE. Uh we both uh enforce laws. We and the sheriff's office, our charge is enforcing state criminal statutes and county ordinances. We're also charged in state statute with keeping the peace of the county along with other uh several other
miscellaneous duties. Um ICE, Immigration Enforcement, their job is to enforce the immigration laws of the United States. And so the while we're both law enforcement agencies, we have two very different focus. ICE is enforcing a set of laws for which
the the punishment for violating them is that you are you removed from the country. So these are not criminal laws. Uh courts have found that these are mo for the most part these are civil violations. As the county sheriff our job is to enforce criminal laws. So we
focus on doing that. We focus again on keeping the peace and serving process. those type of things where we where we overlap intersect is the fact that we're both on the same team as law enforcement agencies. So when we have information
say that uh a person has a detainer request from ICE and they're in our jail, we're going to share that information with ICE. if we have information um that they find helpful, just like we'd share that with the FBI, with the ATF, with any uh local law
enforcement agency, we're going to do that because that is our job to cooperate with other law enforcement agencies. We do not do immigration enforcement. Uh that job, as I said, is the purview of the federal government. Um, there's been
court decisions and there's the 10th amendment that says the federal government cannot force states and local authorities to enforce federal laws. If they wish to have a law that they've passed enforced, the federal government needs to do that. So, we do not do the
work of immigration enforcement. That is the job of ICE. Again, our intersection comes in this sharing of information. Also, as uh you've noted around the state, local law enforcement
will and does show up at the scenes where there is there's a breach of the peace. ICE has gone to do some work. There's citizens that have come out to protest that or there's some there's some other some other breach of the peace going on. That's where local law
enforcement is going to come in and it's going to be our job to settle things down to uh deescalate things and keep people safe. People certainly have the right to voice their opinions, to uh, you know, chant, to
shout, to carry signs, to protest, and we're going to be there to guarantee that happens equally in the amount that we're going to be there to protect ICE agents, protect citizens, and make sure that people are not interfering with law
enforcement because that's that's where the line is crossed. You're you're allowed to protest. You're allowed to have have your say, your first amendment rights. We're going to protect those. You're not allowed to interfere, to get in the way, to obstruct vehicles, to uh
wrestle with ICE agents, to, you know, to do a whole host of things that could be construed as interfering with their job. So, our job is going to be out in the community to make sure that the peace is maintained, to make sure that people are
allowed to have their say, and to keep people from crossing that line and and interfering because, you know, that is a crime both federally and under state law. It is a crime to interfere with law enforcement. So, I just want to make
sure that people who might be thinking about exercising their first amendment rights are very clear that you have that right, but that right ends where you're interfering with law enforcement. That is going to be a crime, whether that's again blocking their path, assaulting officers, what
have you. And uh certainly we will be arresting people that might engage in that activity. Um, I know that the federal government, they've also been arresting people that have been obstructing ICE agents. So, I think it's important that we be clear, there's a
line there, and we want to make sure that everybody is on the correct side of that line. Uh the other interaction we have with ICE is as I mentioned in our jail, if we do have someone who is arrested for a state criminal violation and also has
that ICE detainer, we share that information with ICE. Uh we do not hold people solely on an ICE detainer. Uh unless it is a court order and a criminal offense issued by a judge, which the vast majority of the ICE detainers again are not. They are civil
actions. So, we are not allowed to hold people any longer than we would if they have an ICE detainer than if they don't. What will generally happen is we'll have somebody come into the jail. They have this uh they have both a criminal offense for which we are holding them
and an ICE detainer. We'll share that information with ICE. And when that person is going to be released, we will share that information with ICE as well. And now ICE has the option to come up to our facility and meet that person as they're exiting the jail to do
enforcement action with them. Uh generally that that works pretty well. They've been able to come up and uh and meet folks that they want as they're exiting. Um I can't I'm not aware of any issues we've had in that regard where
somebody with a a criminal past has been missed by ICE as they've been exiting our facility. So, you know, we are really in a an assisting mode with ICE. Um, we're not
going to engage in immigration enforcement because that isn't our job. And you know, I think the other thing that is important to let the community know, especially in these moments of high tension, is that, you know, we always as law local law
enforcement have had individuals out there in unmarked cars or in um out of uniform who might just have a sticker that says sheriff or police, that type of thing. And just because you see people in unmarked cars or maybe wearing that placard that says police or
sheriff, that does not mean that they are ICE members. Okay? We do have and we will continue to have members of our violent offender task force out there. We'll continue to have members of our investigative division out there and plain clothes.
So, it's it's really I think it's important to be discerning in these times of high tension about exactly what the truth is, exactly what you're trying to accomplish, and to really remember that local law enforcement is
still here to support a community, to ensure that people have the ability to exercise their rights, and to make sure that people have the ability to move about safely because we're enforcing those state laws that we're charged with. So, I entertain any questions that the
board may have. >> First of all, I want to thank you, Sheriff, for coming in and giving us the explanation and everything that you've given us because I've had a lot of questions about this. So, thanks for uh setting the record straight. I guess board members, >> Mr. chair, I think this is a perfect
time to maybe talk about, you know, here where I stand on this is is if people are here illegally with all the fraud that has has happened in this state, I'm 100% behind uh making sure that we we
support ICE and what they're doing. I don't believe what's going on sometimes down in the cities is right. we need to make sure that um that we're giving them the support they need if they're doing lawfully and legally and they're they're just here to do their job no different than anybody. So um that that's where I
stand. >> Mr. Chair, I agree. Thank you, Commissioner Pinsky. Thank you, Sheriff. Um just for clarification, you mentioned that when a person is released from criminal charges potentially because I'm sure they're waiting some court date or whatever, um ICE is notified.
>> Yes. Does it ever happen that ICE would come to your jail and ask to remove them before their release date because they have a detainer? >> So, we are always going to process our criminal charges first and hold the person for the criminal aspect that
they've committed. So, we we don't release people to ICE prior to the either their bailing out or the expiration of that reason for us to hold them. >> Okay. Thank you. Just for clarification. Thank you. Have we had anybody that you had to release to ICE in recent memory?
>> It it happens occasionally. Um it happens more often in the summertime when we have migrant workers coming in uh that are working in in a rural area, but you know, I probably once a month in the summertime, maybe two or three times
a month where we'll have somebody come into our jail with an ICE detainer. >> Okay. Okay. >> Mr. Chair, one more comment. I just want to back up on my comment a little bit because I think everybody has put themselves in a position to where
like I don't care what it is. You look back and go, "God, I would have never thought that of my neighbor or my friend on something that has happened." We don't know who, you know, who's legal, who's not, and and who may have did something that is very bad until it's, you know, you find out about it later
on. And you you always go, "God, I would have never thought of that of John Doe." Right. That's kind of where we're at right now with some of this ICE. It could be your neighbor. It could be your friend. It could be whatever. They could be involved in a lot of drug cartel. They could be they're they could be illegal.
I mean, there going to be a lot of circumstances that go along with this. And that's what I think what what I I think ICE is trying to get to the bottom of right now. >> You know, I'd like to add to that. I I share your sentiment that the federal
government certainly has the ability and and the mandate to enforce um the laws that they're they're supposed to enforce and that includes immigration enforcement. And I also understand the concern that people are reporting what they see as questionable tactics
and that there's some concerns about is this being done constitutionally. Mhm. >> So both all the entities in the government that are performing these immigration enforcements, you have ICE and you have Border Patrol that are here. Both of
those entities have a way that you can submit as a citizen or whomever. Um complaints about something that you've seen. If you have concerns about the actions of an ICE officer, border patrol agent, there's a process that can be
followed just like there's a process if uh somebody objects to something one of my deputies has done that should be reviewed and there should be people that are looking into that and making sure that again the people under their charge are acting constitutionally. Uh, we have
I have a excellent staff that understands that and excellent supervisors that make sure that we're doing that and I'm going to presume that that holds true with the federal government. If again, if people have complaints about something they've seen, I would urge them to uh seek out those
forms online and and submit a complaint and provide as much detail as they can. >> Great. Okay. >> Thank you. Truly appreciate it. >> Thank you, Sheriff. Mr. Chair, >> Mr. Troy, I'd like to say thank you to for everything that you do and and what your
officers are out there doing. And I would like to uh say to Jared and Scott both too that it it those jobs that you guys do, whether it's local law enforcement or ICE or federal, whatever that is, it's important. Mhm.
>> People people forget when when when they're protesting and they're getting in people's faces and everything like that. It's taken the attention off of what could be happening behind them uh in a in a touchy situation. So, I mean there there's a lot of I don't want to
be put in those positions. I can tell you that. So, I thank you for everything. And >> I guess I'll I'll add one final thing. I'll echo the the sentiment that came from Chief Oxton last week about some of these tactics and some of these um protests and that uh again we want to
keep safety in mind and there there's some fundamental issues about some of these tactics like following people who they think are ICE and and some of these other tactics that uh that Chief Oxton highlighted in his press release. And I would echo that that we just want to
make sure people remain safe and that whatever whatever you're considering if if you wish to protest ICE that you really put some thought into what are the tactics that you're going to do and what are the possible consequences and to make sure that you're doing it safely and legally.
So >> just like we all want to go home safe. Yep. >> They do too. >> Yep. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Appreciate it. Monty Regal Regal Solar update. Sorry.
>> Regalate. >> Good morning. Good morning. >> Morning, >> Benton County Commissioners. Um, my name is Alex Lumen with Minnesota Power. I'm joined by my coworker Matt Lean, also with Minnesota Power. Um, I'm here to talk about the Regal Solar Project and questions that I may be able to answer.
Um Minnesota Power is proposing to start construction this quarter in February or March. Um begin tree clearing, installing sediment controls and entrances and um grading will occur later this spring and then move into
full construction uh summer and into uh 2027. Um couple of items. The collection line that extends from the solar site. Um I have maps that I can provide um you guys after this. Um was previously above
ground. Um during the summer Minnesota Power uh put an amendment to the site permit and we have that designed to be underground so it's going to be less visibly intrusive to folks around the community. And then additionally our substation uh recently got approved with
the Benton County Planning Commission. Um certain pre-construction filings are going to be submitted here soon. Uh site plan, decommissioning plan, and uh um construction site supervisor. Um they
will all be going to Benton County. Um uh certain filings have different requirements. So Monty will be receiving some, Commissioner Heyman, you'll be receiving one, and planning and zoning and other departments will receive them as well. Um, the project is estimated to provide
approximately $15 million in tax revenue. Um, Commissioner Johnson, I believe we met, was it two weeks ago? Um, you're wondering about production taxes. It's approximately 8.5 million we're estimating. So, um, as you know, 80% goes to the county, 20% goes to
Lingola Township. >> Yeah. Thank you. And then Minnesota Power is also still um providing $20,000 a year to Rice, Sock Rapids, and Royalton school districts for the first 20 years of operation. Um just wanted to see if you guys had any questions. >> How many years was that over then?
>> 20 years. Thousands in total. >> Okay. >> Now, you were talking about site plan. Will that go to the planning commission? Do they have any say about the site plan? Uh no, they do not have any say per state um regulations. Um it's going
to the site plan would be going to you um Monty auditor and um Roxan Aman. >> Is is it true that local governments get to comment? >> I believe local governments can comment. >> We can comment. >> Um yeah, >> but I'm I'm not sure. I think that goes
to the public utilities commission and not Minnesota Popper. >> Right. Commissioner Pop. So, um, when you're doing when you went from overhead to underground, what are you doing at the Plat River? >> Um, we're going to be going underneath the Plat River. So, uh, we're currently obtaining permits from the DNR. >> Okay.
>> Wow. >> That's good. >> M. Chair Alex, can you remind us completion date? And >> completion date is going to be the, uh, end of 2027, the last half. >> Thank you. >> Any other questions? >> Thank you for the update.
>> Thank you. >> Thank you for the update. Appreciate it. >> Yep. I'm going to pass around some maps for you guys. >> Yep. >> Thanks, Alex. >> And Pete is here. >> Pete, >> we're out to you. >> Good morning, Mr. Chair, members of the board. >> Good morning. >> Good morning.
>> Uh touch on budget of the $24 million project across the street. Uh budget sitting very healthy at this moment. Uh as you know, we uh approved the budget with a contingency of a little over a million dollars. Uh currently the change orders issued to date is a little over
$24,000. So that fund is sitting very healthy. There are a few P proposal requests which we call PRs in the industry that are out for pricing. Uh with that being said, uh still well under 5% of the total contingency at this point. So,
where we're at in construction, I think the budget's sitting very healthy, and that is the one thing that we continually monitor as we go through uh update every couple weeks at our bi-weekly construction meetings and uh have those discussions. So, with that being said, a little bit on schedule. Uh
we are a little behind on some of the detailing of some of the steel components. Uh at the same time, our approach is the fact that we're going to do a good quality job on this project. And this detailing, uh, a lot of the small trim steel that you're seeing like on the east side of the building need to
be installed at the same time need to be plumbed in before we start some of those exterior steel studs that you typically see. So, we're all in alignment with those. Uh, Breitbach, who's setting the steel, is going to have a late start this morning just with the temps as far as starting some of the hydraulics. Uh,
plan is to start at 10 o'clock this morning. Work today. We're going to see how tomorrow goes. And I looking at the forecast, Thursday, Friday is going to probably be a little bit of a bust. So, uh, with that being said, uh, meetings have been conducted with R&H Drywall and, uh, they're ready to go as soon as
the steel, uh, gets to a point and at the same time in early February, if the weather breaks a little bit, we're going to try to pull that pour that second level deck. Just from the standpoint is we know that steel will deflect a little bit with that much weight on it. And once again, we want to make sure those exterior wall studs are nested in nice
and plum as we go through that. So, with that being said, I'll open up to any questions anybody has. I know next on the agenda is some furniture discussions, but with the construction, uh, it's kind of where we're sitting. >> Questions for Pete. >> Thank you.
>> Thank you for the update. >> All right, let's move on to our FFE. Uh so your uh your billing committee uh paid visits to to two FFE providers in the metro fluid and continua and uh I based upon the discussion from
that group it's a recommendation of our committee that we go with fluid and a few reasons behind that decision Mr. here. Um, we obtained what we describe as sort of sample pricing on a typical cube and a typical office. And, uh, when
it comes to that sort of pricing, fluid is the winner there with lower cost in terms of a standard cube, a standard office. Uh, so that's one one check mark for them. Uh, I think secondly too is I think we developed a really good connection with the people in terms of
the folks that we'll be working with on this. Again, no discredit or disrespect of course to continue it. Very professional, great folks. I think again it just we had to make a decision somewhere and I think the scale tips towards the folks from fluid. They do have a great local representative uh
based out of St. Cloud and had great references from um the city of Sock Rapids and so on. So I think again the check mark goes to them for the the people side of things too. Uh another factor was what I call soft cost. So that's like design project management
and installation and based upon their estimated soft costs fluids about 20,000 less than continue on that area and I know we're going to have some more discussion about that coming up this week on to try and kind of put a box around those soft costs u
with with fluid. So based upon all those factors taken together, you know, the people, the cost, the service, the installation techniques, so on so forth, uh, put those all together in a basket. U, it looks like I think fluid is probably the best way to go, Mr. Chair. So we're I think what we're looking for
today is really just more a a nod of approval that you're comfortable going with fluid. And then uh we're we're scheduled to have a meeting Friday with fluid again to try and establish not to exceed numbers on these soft costs and
understand you know okay once we agree on a soft cost cap what is that going to get us in terms of like hours and and commitment and so on. So again, really more just looking for a kind of a nod of approval today that you're you're comfortable going with fluid and then we can get started.
And Evan is here if you have additional questions. You know, myself and Commissioner Gapinsky traveled to the city to look at uh both individual I'm sorry I can't even think anymore.
both companies uh and we couldn't either company would have did they have great equipment and all that and great furniture so and the cost actually is relatively close though too. >> I think that's important to point out Mr. year. Maybe just a little backtrack a little bit on the process is we
initially interviewed four four companies on state contract, >> right? >> Narrowed it down to two and then visited in person those two again talked to their staff, tour their warehouses, toured their showrooms, made reference calls on these two uh
quite a few reference calls. So there was a lot of process and and due diligence is the term I think people use that went into this decision. uh again cost, people, service and so on. And I I should also stress too is that these
companies uh are are part of state safe state contracts. So that takes care of the bid requirement so to speak. So in state law, if we buy off of a state contract or through a national purchasing alliance, that satisfies the bid requirement. So we we've covered
that that requirement. We're similarly doing that on technology too on some of the technology pieces. >> Yeah. Taking that same path with technology. Yeah. Yeah. So >> that's where we stand. Mr. Chair, >> any questions?
>> This was all just for reference again the all of these costs were included in that. >> Yes, sir. Correct. Yeah. The the the uh what design development budget included a 1.5 million provision for furniture fixtures and equipment. >> Right. Yeah. Yes, sir. >> So it's all included. Any other
questions about this? >> I'll make a motion to proceed with fluid. >> Second. >> Okay, we've got a a motion and a second. Any further discussion? >> Not. I'll call the question. All in favor say I. >> I. >> I opposed. Motion carries. Thank you.
>> All right. Uh, Mr. Chair, a different item. At the board goal setting session recently, the board discussed the open form policy. Reviewed it, reviewed its history. there was a consensus to change the time limit contained within the policy from five minutes to three
minutes. So um we found the original resolution from 2006 and included in your packet and that's all we did. We just simply changed the five minute limitation to three. So asking for your consideration of the revised resolution.
>> I'll move that Mr. Chair. >> Second. >> We got a motion and a second. Any further discussion on that item? Not to call a question. All in favor say I. >> I. >> I. Oppose. Motion carries. Thank you. >> Thank you, sir. So, at also the goal setting session, the county's
representation to the Benton Economic Partnership was discussed. It was a consensus of the board is that the county's primary representative would be the whoever is the current board chair and then the alternate would be the county uh vice chair. So, looking for
your consideration of that of that item. Monty, was this the recommen recommendation of Amanda from BEP? >> Uh, Amanda's here, of course, we talked about that. I think Amanda felt comfortable. That was a good that was a good choice. Yeah, it didn't result in lots of change. So, you'd have some
stability at least within a year of of one person representing uh the county on the executive board >> and the and the vice chair will have two years. >> First year as a vice chair and the second year if he becomes the chair or she becomes the chair. So,
>> move for approval. Mr. I'll second. >> You got a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Commissioner Gapinsky. >> Reluctantly, I'll support this cuz I do love going to those meetings. I I I'll tell you, I the BEP is is definitely a a
bestkept secret. A lot of people don't understand what they do. And I I I I will reluctantly support this because I do like going to them. >> And to your point, it really allows us to funnel through the whole you're really relying on one person to do the
>> reporting which they do they do need some stability. >> Y board. I mean the the proposal for every month was not going to work. >> Yeah. >> Right. All five of us wanted to be on this board. >> Yes. >> So >> thanks for all you do, Amanda. >> Thank you, Amanda.
>> Appreciate it. Okay, we've got a motion and a second. Any further discussion? If not, I'll call the question. All in favor say I. >> I oppose. Motion carries. Thank you. >> Talk about >> APO. >> I think that'll be quick. I mean, >> you want me to take it over?
>> Sure. Go ahead. >> I think at the last board meeting, we had a consensus to move forward with the 24,000 for the federal. We just need to make sure that that is still the case so we can have Monty work with Brian Gibson to get that agreement because we we don't want to get behind on the federal
uh side uh getting these monies lobbyed for us. So, >> especially when we've got the bill grant due at the end of February. >> Yep. Exactly. There she I talked to Megan last week and Megan's like their people are lobbying like heck right now. >> Mr. chair. I would assume Megan and her
office would help be in touch with uh Congressman Emmer's office as LD in LA to figure out this >> y application. >> I I figured uh potentially uh maybe myself and Commissioner Heinen could have a call with her after this all gets
done and and get really kick that off and then have I'd like to have weekly updates all the way through so that we can keep updating the board on this. Move >> for approval. If you need a motion >> or we got consensus, good enough.
>> It'll go through. >> So, there really won't be in a contract between us and APO. I think they'll just bill us because they build us now for our >> Yeah. >> Apost. >> Do you need to bring some funding options in front of us next time or what are your thoughts?
>> At this point, right now, we're paying the out the board contingency that's then so 25 and 26 that's >> okay >> so it could continue coming out >> 24 >> right I mean it could come out of contingency for 26 if there's room there
for it in 26 so >> and once again I I the the whole goal on this now it's going to take time for all the jurisdictions to get there and and to it's got to pass their boards too but I do know Sterns is going to be talking about it next next week, the 27th. Um,
but I think the whole goal on this is to get central Minnesota under one lobbyist, pull our money to get us to go a longer way, get the money to go longer than just individually because we're all fighting for the same things in in central Minnesota. There's only so much you can get funded by the feds,
>> right? >> So, that was that was the goal that we talked about out at our AMC or not AMC, our our APO tour in DC. >> Okay. Thank you, Commissioner Gapinsky. >> So, you don't need a motion. >> I think we just need consensus.
>> And we did we created consensus our last board meeting about this, too. >> Okay. Perfect. >> Thank you. >> Thanks. >> Let's moving on. Land service rock. >> Good morning, commissioners. Mr. >> Morning. Um, as I had promised, I
brought back information on the pdiums for the board of adjustment and that information was compiled in November amongst our Minnesota planning and zoning uh, group. So, um, fresh information that we've got for you
there. And what we've I would say we're not out of line compared to the other counties. Um, the majority of them do not pay for site visits other than Sterns County. And Sterns County does a
$50, no matter how many sites you're visiting, it's $50 flat rate. You could be visiting one site, you could be visiting 10 sites. Um, in addition, they do pay for mileage, but looks like everyone, all the counties that, um, responded to this poll pay for mileage.
And then they've got set pdiums, which are, they range from 50 to um, 80 bucks roughly. Sterns recently updated or um, increased theirs for 2026, and that's um, $100. Um, Sterns is
a very large county. You're going a lot further. Um, for site visits and meetings. I mean, you may have somebody coming from Sock Center down uh to St. Cloud for a meeting. So, it's to me it's a little bit different than Benton County uh just based on the size, but um
we've got the information here. I also provided you with the number of site visits at least for the past two years, 25 and 24. Um so, you kind of have an idea of how many site visits they're doing. Um, other than that, we have been paying for site visits since, well, I
can't say when that started, but I went back as far as 2009 when I noticed that the site visits went from $5 to $10 per site visit. >> Mr. Chair, Roxan, any chance uh you had conversation with Morrison? I see they do a stipen every month. And what do
they do when there's no meetings? Well, so Morrison County is they have their planning commission and board of adjustment are combined. >> Oh, >> they so they hold the planning commission and then they hold the board of adjustment. It's the same group of people. The meetings held on the same night.
>> And are they a recommending body or are they like betting? >> I believe they're a recommending body. >> Okay. >> Yep. Yep. So, they kind of get that stipen because they're putting in additional time, site visits. And so, just to get those folks um to agree to
be on these boards or commissions. Um there's that. And then they do not pay mileage. That the mileage is in that $300 stipen. >> Interesting. >> Okay. It's just a discussion. I believe the the action uh at the first meeting in
January was to was to um not at this point we didn't >> apply the $100 concept to the board of adjustment. So I just want I guess to confirm are you comfortable leaving it just basically it's a 70 and not going with 100 or >> or mirroring what was done with the
board? >> I my opinion is we leave it at 70. I mean last year they only had four site visits. Do you remember how many they was that 25? Yeah, that was 25. >> Yeah, just four. >> But it's up to the board to decide.
>> Motion to leave it at 70. >> Do do these meetings ever How long are the average? >> So, uh, the evening portion. >> I mean, if we have three, it might go an
hour and a half. >> They're not long. Generally, they're not overly controversial. >> Okay. >> The the site visit, what I've heard is that, you know, they're usually they have to be during the day. And so, you
leave your job or your farm and you go to the site visit. By the time you get back, you've pretty much wasted a day. >> Yeah. >> And we do that every day as a commissioner. >> Yeah. >> But we have to also look at how we can get to get quality people to do this.
Yeah, >> I agree with that, too. >> I'm a little more torn. I'd be inclined to mirror it, but >> yeah, >> it's it's a little bit of >> to mirror it to the other >> uh >> this probably sounds like the $100
wouldn't apply in most cases anyway. >> Yeah, >> their means are short, right? Yeah. >> But at least it's everything's the same. >> Mhm. >> Yeah. Things simpler. >> That's just my thought. But >> I could go either way. >> Me, too. Were
you going to move on yours or >> I didn't yet? No. >> Okay. I'm going to move that it mirrors the county schedule, but >> even though the majority of the time it probably wouldn't matter, but at least it's mirrored. >> Okay, >> I'll second. >> Okay, got a motion and a second. Any
further discussion on this? Now to call a question. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. Keep going, Ro. >> All right. So, I'll give you a quick update on the land services department.
Starting off with the the 2025 year end report just on the number of permits that we've received. Um, you've got those charts in your packet. And so, we're just kind of going to roll through those. In 2025, we have 31 administrative subdivisions, which are
our 10 acres or greater and then 14 boundary line adjustments just adjusting that property line between two properties. We had nine one lot plat three lot plat recorded and then we have three additional plats that are currently in process.
Um, looking at the permits uh for houses, accessories, structures, additions, um, you can see houses were down significantly. We had 20 less permits for single family houses um in 25 than we had in 24. Um I think we can
all you know see what's going on in the world today and and you know how it reflects in the permits that are issued. Um so we were down on our permits in general and that that extends into our variances and our conditional use permits. Everything was slightly down in
2025. Um this was kind of an interesting chart that um Karen put together for me and this is for single family home permits by township. Gives you an idea of where those houses are being built. Not surprising. Uh Watab is our highest
number of single family homes uh permitted. Um with a kind of a second place is Sock Rapids Township. Um that's been uh increasing there. And you can you can see also where some of these locations didn't have any um homes
during certain years. So Granite Ledge in 23, Sock Rapids also in 23 there were no uh no permits in those um permit value. So this kind of give I mean as I said with everything that's
going on in the world, everything is going up in price. So, our um average home permit value went from $350,000 to $411,000. Um I mean I I remember starting here uh you know 8 years ago and to think
$411,000 was just an astronomical number uh for single family homes, but that's now the average that we're seeing. Accessory structures surprisingly remain the steady um across uh from 2024 to 25.
Um looks like um a buildings went up a little bit. Uh this just sort of a chart kind of gives you an idea on how those single family home permit values went up by years. Um average building permit value by
year. So we're looking at accessory um additions and egg buildings. You can see how those have fluctuated over time. construction permits. Um the number of permits uh down um for egg, well, excuse
me, in general, they've been down uh lately. And then zoning permits, your conditional use permit, variance, um administrative subdivisions, everybody's looking to split their property. I I bet you I receive three or four phone calls every single day about permitting. I by this point I feel like I've probably
spoken to every single person in the council. Um but someone new calls in every day. Um, general building permits, we're down I quite a bit in 2025. Um, it's just I probably the the amount of work being
done is is lower or or I don't know, maybe people aren't getting permits. Um, and then just we'll go into some of the project updates. Um, so for cannabis, we have three retail registrations
um in our hands right now. Um, one of them is in Watab Township. That one is open. Uh, Minnesota Grass Hero, I believe is what it's called. And that one is on Highway 10. >> Um, it's just it's by Rice Auto Sales.
So, there's that one. Um, and I'll tell you, the applicants have been phenomenal to work with. They've been really good to get me the information. Um, and then there are two in Stock Rapids. Neither one of them are open yet. Um, so we only have one more allowed in the county.
Four is well within our delegated area. So we only have one more. The trouble with the registrations is that they have 18 months to open up. So if we get four registrations and on month 17 they decide to drop or withdraw it. It it's
18 months of time that maybe somebody else who does have a good business plan was unable to get into the county. The other struggle is that I'm not notified if the ones in Sock Rapids do when they open up or when they get
their full license from OCM because I'm not the zoning authority for the city of Sacramento Rapids. However, we are the registration component. So, there is there's it's been a challenge working with OCM and and getting through this
process. It's difficult to get responses from them. you're basically sending an email to a just a info email. Um so you may get it maybe weeks to months before you get any sort of response. It's
it's been a challenge but um so that's where we're at on the retail registrations and we've been notifying and um the city so like Sock Rapids and Watab we you know reached out to both of them let them know that this was coming forward. I've had inquiries for Foley and Rice. um those didn't go anywhere,
but I did reach out to both of them, you know, asking questions about distances and verifying um daycarees, schools, things like that. So, we've been in touch. >> Mr. Chair, Roxan, on the cannabis management thing, has a state uh stopped the revolving door on their director
down there? I mean, I think there were a third one, didn't they? >> I don't think so. I I don't know for sure. So there's nothing in place administratively from the state that contacts back the county within any kind of reasonable time >> months. >> You're just talking about this revolving
door. >> Yeah, just this revolving door. >> Just this one. >> They got bigger problems than that right now. >> Yeah, it's it's >> we're learning as we go. >> Thanks. >> Yeah. So, um, and so then there there'll
be compliance inspections, and that's annually after the establishment is open. So, for example, the one in Watab Township, um, the sheriff's office would do that inspection once a year now that the doors are finally open. Sock Rapids, again, like I said, we don't get
notified when it's open, so it's kind of I'll have to try to keep tabs on it in some shape or form. Um, let's see. Regal Solar. Uh they were here this morning. This was on my chart before I knew they were going to be here. Um so
they've let you know that they're going to start uh construction on that and and get going. And we did approve the substation um back in the 12th 8th. So 8th I think. Yep. >> I got a question on that substation. I
guess they would have been better to ask is the tax part of that isn't included in the tax of the whole solar project. Is it >> wouldn't that be taxed separately like uh the one? >> Good question.
>> I don't I I would imagine it's separate from the solar project. >> Yeah, >> because that's a pretty high dollar >> transfer station there. Mhm. >> You know, which will generate some >> Yep. >> tax dollars. >> Taking up about three and a half acres
of property. It's located on a 40acre parcel, but taking up about three and a half acres. Um, we did have that public hearing. Surprisingly, uh, we had no one there. I mean, there was members in the audience, but no one spoke on the matter um with any concerns. So, that went
actually relatively smooth. Um, >> do we have a classification? Is that going to be commercial? that particular part of that do you know or is there a separate classification? >> You know, I don't have that answer. I'd have to ask Brian on exactly how they how they do that for substations. Okay. >> Yep.
>> So, um and then next era. So, I participated in a hearing with the public utilities commission on December 18th. Um and that was their final hearing. So, the project was approved on December 18th. And just to kind of give
you guys an up heads up on um or just some information on the public utilities commission. I was really impressed with that committee and I think it would be great for every if you had the opportunity. I think you can actually go back and listen to these meetings, but
they were I I sat in early on and there was a um discussion on Ottertale Power and they really were advocates for the residents of the area making sure that Ottertale Power wasn't putting additional costs on residents of that
area and I just was really impressed by the work that they did. So I uh when we had sent a letter to the public utilities commission on the screening, I did a lot of research, went out to a site, gathered information, put that in my letter, put it out there. They went,
one of them went out to that site and did their own research, did all the background, and they were ready and prepared to bring that information in, completely understand it, and offer uh questions and provide insight and and how they've
handled this in the past. So, I was really impressed. >> So, they were Excuse me, Mr. Chair. They were physically down in Minden in St. George Township looking at that project. >> They were they Yep. One of them I know I can't say the whole uh commission, but I know at least one of them did visit the site down here and they did visit the
site in uh Clear just near Clear Water there to see what that burm looked like and you know how it differs from the other one. They went there. >> Okay. Y good. Yeah, it was it was really it was a eye openening to me. Um so that
the permits approved and one of the conditions was just to continue to work with the county on the visual screening plan and I believe um they're going to come to the February meeting with some ideas on a screening plan for that. They are looking at potentially an 8-foot
burm with some native grass on top, not trees, but native grasses on top. Um, so at this point they're kind of meeting us halfway um on this, but the public utilities commission just they really looked at it at both from both sides, the property owner side of that that
property where the solar plant panels are going to be placed and the residents across the street. Um, so they are, let's see, so they're going to start having pre-construction meetings. Then they're going to file a notice to
proceed with the state and they'll start construction around May of this year. Um, but you may see tree removals. They've been working with the DNR on tree removal, a tree removal plan. So that's going to happen probably starting the beginning or the end of January here is they're going to have to clear out a
bunch of trees, roughly 9 acres of trees, but they have to have that completed by May 31st. That's part of um removal of vegetation with the DNRs. I think they have a deadline date and and that's May 31st. So hoping to have the project operational by quarter 3 of
2027. So this one's really going to start rolling. >> Are these about the same size the Regal and Tibetan? >> Um so the Regal is 119 megawws and I want to say next is 100
>> 100 I think. >> Yeah. >> Yep. >> First phase, >> right? >> Phase one. Yeah. >> Yep. Yep. And then I just heard back from um on the meat processing facility in Granite Ledge. I had a conversation
with the bottleneck project who is assisting uh the property owners through this process and they have not submitted their materials to the state yet because they're still gathering that. They're working on the blueprints and the plans and and trying to get everything together. Not to mention there there's
the language barrier. So trying to coordinate all of that. Um but they they are their hands being held through this process um with members of the bottleneck project who had actually contacted me and and let me know where they stood on the process right now. And
I just asked them I said just keep me up to date. Let me know where things stand with that when you start getting it to the state and um just to kind of keep me in the loop. Any questions on any of those? Um the other offices? So we've got the
recorder's office. The biggest thing right now is the judicial safety. Um January 1st of this year, the judicial safety part of the law went into effect and that's the masking of information. Um I've been working with the well the
auditor treasures office recorder assessor my office. Uh but this actually goes much further than our than land services and auditor treasurer. Um, this is something that's going to have to be distributed out to all offices in the county to make sure that this information is protected and masked and
it doesn't get out to the public when a judicial official requests it. Um, so we're trying to work through that process right now and understand what implications it has and who needs to be contacted to make sure that this this is occurring. Um, we're seeing it every
day. I mean, just recently was the judge that was shot down in um I'm not sure what state it was, but just comes to light that this is something very, very serious. Um and then we've got the
assessor's office. So, the Tyler KMA portion is going very well. They're continuing to get information going from uh the Tyler system to Beacon. Um, land sales have been much stronger than assessed values. So that means we may
see another increase of approximately 20% coming up. Um, that's something that we have no control over. >> If they continue to sell at higher values than than what they're assessed,
that's what we see coming forward. So just here's your heads up. Um, >> excuse me, Mr. Mr. Chair. Because every >> talking all type of sales, residential. >> Um, so this right now is egg and rural vacant land >> are upwards of 20%. >> Wow.
>> Well, when that comes in in front of us and the boardroom is full, I'm hoping we'll have people Brian and everybody else here explaining all of this. >> Yeah. Yep. >> Well, it it doesn't I mean, we can explain it the the whole time. I
mean, there's nothing we can do about that. >> Correct. Y >> if somebody is going to sell it for a h 100,000 but it's worth 80 >> it affects everybody. >> Yeah. >> Mr. Chair Roxan, are you seeing that in residential also? Are you seeing that
where things are selling above their estimated value? >> You know that I I would assume not as much. Um because Brian gave me this information and those are the the two that he pointed out was the egg and rural vacant land. Um, I don't have that information off the top of my head, but I think you would have pointed it out to
me if that was the case. Okay. >> So, but I can get back to you if you want to if you want me to let you know more of a person. >> You just can shoot me an email. >> Okay. Sure. Yep. Absolutely. >> Um, and then we have one assessing agree agreement currently being reviewed by the attorney's office. This is the
Mayhew Lake uh where the county will be signing an agreement with Eric Scogquist to continue assessing, but he will be a contracted employee of the county versus the township. So that will be uh coming forward uh probably in the near future.
>> Mr. Chair, do you know how long a contract that is? Is that >> So it would be uh let's see 20 2027 through 2029. >> Okay. >> And Mr. Sure. So, the township and the assessor are setting that rate then I assume. >> No,
>> no, >> no. This is just the county setting the rate and it's going to be Yep. It's going to be similar to um what we're I think I want to say it's around $12. >> So, the only difference is we're going to use a contracted person in May Lake versus an employee at the assessment.
>> Yes. because they there was a desire from the township to continue with that assessing agreement and we felt comfortable extending an agreement with this individual. >> So, um other than that, yeah, staff
appraisers will be doing assessment work in the county except for the city of St. Cloud and Mayu Lake Township. So, um with that, that's all I got for land services. Any questions for Sam? Apparently not. >> Thank you very much for the updates.
Appreciate it. >> You're welcome. >> At this point in time, we'll recess the county board and then we'll turn it over to Commissioner Scott, Commissioner Johnson for the Benton County Ditch Authority. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Move into our ditch authority agenda for today. Please
note all commissioners are here. Um any uh amendments to our agenda? Adam, I see you're here. Anything you want to add members? Okay. >> Move a motion. >> Move approval. >> Second. >> Motion a second to approve our uh agenda
as presented. All those in favor? >> I opposes carried. Uh move into an open forum uh for ditch authority. Is there anyone here that would like to speak in the open forum session of our ditch authority meeting? I don't believe there's anyone online either. I'm not sure who Michael is, but
again, one last call for open forum for ditch authority. All right, thank you. Move on to uh the consent agenda. Approve or amend the ditch authority meeting minutes of the November 18th, 2025 meeting. >> Move approval.
>> I'll second. >> And a motion and a second to approve those minutes. Any further discussion? >> Hearing none. All those in favor? >> Opposed? That's carried. And a regular agenda item, consider the quotes for ditch maintenance of CD9 and CD14. Adam, >> good morning, commissioners.
>> Good morning. >> Morning. Um, second here. All right. Um, so I'm here to talk about mowing for uh the ditch buffer strips of CD9 and 14. It's a little weird talking
about mowing right now since it's, you know, -10° outside, but um it's good to get these on the on the schedule for these contractors just so they know they can, you know, quote their work before actually being done. Um
so we I solicited for quotes um like I said regarding county ditch 9 and 14. Um I posted this to the website on December 16th, 2025. This ran on the website until noon on
January 9th, 2026. So that gave them roughly a few weeks to get get quotes. Um, four quotes were received. We'll we'll go over those quotes after this. Um, I in the quote it said mowing will be done in the spring of 2026 when
weather conditions are favorable. Um, if we have a very wet spring, this can be pushed back to anytime in 2026. Obviously, we cannot tell the future. Um, and we don't want the buffer strips to be to be um, you know, abused with
with equipment if it's too wet. Um, just one thing here. I wanted to just um remind you guys that the for the maintenance assessments for 2026, county ditch 9 was assessed $10,000 and county
ditch 14 was assessed $15,000. Just take that into account when when looking at these quotes. Um my action requested you guys can either accept or deny the quotes or this could be brought to to a future ditch authority meeting
if if more information is is required from you all. So I'm going to go below here to the four quotes we got for each ditch. Um so first of all ditch 9 is about 5.02 miles of mowing and so this
does mean both sides of that 5.02 miles. Um, regarding county ditch 14, the miles were 7.34 miles of mowing. And that's also both sides. So, I was going to go through each of these quotes that I received and then I would hear your guys' feedback regarding
those quotes. Um, the first quote we got was from Treetory. Um, they were planning on using two units at the same time, meaning they would have, um, you know, two operators out there with two separate units mowing. Um and they
stated that it would be about 35 hours times two units. So that would be about um 70 man hours totaling $21,000. Um Helman Construction also came in. They were just going to have one unit out there at 73 hours at $190 rate and
that totaled $13,870. Cars tree service um came in at 32.46 for 6 hours and that totaled 6,460 and MNL which is Minnesota landscaping um oh Minnesota native landscaping sorry
um they came in at just only 24 hours um and they have like a $400 like kind of monitoring and correspondence fee along with that. Um so that was $6,352. Um they're kind of similar with both quotes. they just go up a little bit
depending on the mileage. So, I won't go through all of these, but you guys can see the totals for for county edge 14 over here. Um, before I ask you guys if you have any questions, I did want to let you guys know that um, I did reach
out to MNL um, just because I saw that they were the lowest bid or the lowest quote, sorry, and wanted to make sure that, you know, they had the equipment that could do county ditches. So, I asked them, "Have you worked with other counties? Have you worked in ditches?"
and they got back to me and stated that they have a lot of experience mowing near water bodies and in wetter areas. Um, I know the county has worked with M&L in the past, not on county ditches. Um, so that's why I kind of wanted to
make sure. Um, and I wanted to ask them, I didn't ask them directly why their hours were were the were what they were, but um, they said they feel confident that they can finish within um, about a 15% of the estimate. So, let's say this
is 24 hours. They said they could do it within within 10 additional hours. Um, like they said, this is their estimate. you know, it could come in below, it could come in a little bit above. Um, they just wanted to let me know that they're confident that they can do it
within plus or minus 10 hours of that. >> Adam, could you maybe expand a little bit too? I we, you and I and Monty had a discussion in regards to an email to them uh confirming the type of equipment that they're using and that it wouldn't be detrimental to the buffer strips. I
believe they responded in an email about that. Can you share that? >> Yeah. Yeah. So they stated that um they run egg tractors with rear or wing mowers, UTVs with towbehind mowers, and then they also said they have amphibious
mowing capability when conditions require it. So MNL seems pretty um confident that they can do this type of work um and not ruin the buffer strips. You know, my concern on that was when we did CD6, you know, Helman did that with
a track skid with a brush cutter. The ground was frozen though, >> right? >> You know, and I just I I had a little concern about what a tractor with a wing mower was going to do on wet buffer strips. >> So, that's why we kind of had that ass. But, >> um, the other thing that concerns me a
little bit personally is we're look, you know, the first two, and Helman, and Helman is the one that did the repair on these two ditches. They're basically the same in their estimate on their hours. Uh Helman ought to know the ditch more than anybody else, both ditches. But then the other two are significantly
less. And so >> it's a little concerning. Um but maybe at the same token with Minnesota native uh landscape. Is that what it is? >> Correct. >> Um which I think you mentioned. We worked with them, Monty, didn't we? Up at Bendon River Park.
>> Yeah, they've done a lot of work on the park. So we've had >> you know it it's obviously it's significantly less. So is it worth the try? That's going to be the question. >> Mr. Chair, do we know if that is M M&L local? >> Yes. I'm not sure exactly where
>> Rogers >> Rogers. Mr. Chair, >> go ahead. >> So Adam, you said that this is just an estimate. >> Yes. >> You said that they could give or take 10 more hours. >> Yes. So when we ask for a quote, is that
included? I'm sorry. I'm trying to figure out how we're going to >> It should be not exceeded. >> It should be not. Yeah. >> Yeah. So in the quote, I just put cuz we don't have a lot of, you know, experience mowing these buffer strips.
We're just kind of starting to maintain these buffer strips. Um, so in the quote I I mistake and did not put the the not to exceed number. Um, I put in you will be paid the amount it takes you to
complete the project. Um, so in future quotes I will say that your estimate and it cannot exceed that. >> Well, in in Mr. Chair, >> go ahead. In clarification, I I think we're we're enough in front right now to
where you could go back to them and say we need the not to exceed number, >> right? >> In order to move forward. >> Mhm. >> Absolutely. >> Yeah. Because if we go if we go the low and and to be quite honest, if you add those the two the two projects together, they wouldn't be low. It would be the
cars. Correct. >> 15 and then Yep. >> by a little bit. It depends if you guys would want to keep this separate for the ditches where if you or if you want it kind of a conjoined project where you would want the same >> Well, and to your point, Commissioner
Kapinsky, as long as we're that far in front of it, we could go back to them and ask them to combine a number for the two digits. >> So, I I hate to believe this, but I if you go back and change the kind of conditions of the quote, shouldn't we ask all the companies to quote? >> Yes, absolutely. >> I see. Thank you for clarifying. It
could be just a an email just say, "Hey, we need a not to." >> It's entirely likely those quote numbers will change. >> Yeah, it will. >> To that point, I think I sent an email. We talked about maybe a potential another option is, you know, through herbicide prevention. >> Yeah.
>> So, I know there's a local contractor that does that. We're probably going to have to look at that if we're going to get into the actual open channel area of these ditches because we're just talking about buffers now. But maybe herbicide application might be brush control in those areas too. >> Yeah, because you may want to look at
that option. >> And obviously when you mow, you know, kind of a um a willowy brush, every time you mow it, it's going to kind of get wider and wider. Um, so I know other counties like to do, you know, general mowing every few years, but then they
also on those years they're not mowing, they do some herbicide treatment to make sure that brush doesn't continue to expand and >> because the goal is to get them to grassy buffers, >> right? >> For local land owners to hopefully maintain them for the ditch.
>> So yeah, I think mowing is a good first step in getting these ditches maintained. And then um like like Scott just said, I did get contacted from someone who does, you know, this herbicide treatment and they are local. They live over by Oak Park. Um and I
plan to meet with them sometime shortly just to kind of um >> yeah, >> see how they work and their cost and stuff like that and then I would bring that back to you all. >> That would be good. >> Mr. Chair, I have a question. What do we do? I see it says we received them 40
minutes past the deadline. >> How do we deal with that, Mr. Chair or Adam or Mont? >> Well, I think first of all, Adam's going to get new new quotes from you based upon a different set of conditions. >> This was not a formal bid. It was not a seal bid. So, you know, I I think we can
be flexible on the time frame. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. So, again, not not a seal bid situation. >> Sure. >> I just wanted to make sure that we I understand the process. you know, if people are going to be late on their bid process, do we allow that? >> So, do we have consensus that we're
going to uh ask for updated quotes not to exceed numbers? >> Right. >> And um Okay. >> And and I think we should ask for a combination bid also, you know, in this case, what would the price be for doing them both? >> Right. >> Yep. >> That would make sense. Yeah. >> Commissioner Bonai.
>> Yeah. I I would like to see what we what we see here, but I also would like to see the next step of if you were awarded both, what would what would this be? >> Because they might give you a better deal if they're getting both ditches. >> That makes sense. I can do that. I will
send an email to each of these four companies who who gave us a quote. Um, like you said, I will I will ask them to give us a not to succeed number. like Monty said that it may change the quotes but >> um we will see that at the next
>> next board meeting if I receive the all these quotes back. >> Sure. >> Um I guess my question to you all if I don't receive a quote back from one of these companies before the next ditch authority meeting. Do you want me to push this back to the
subsequent meeting or just do the ones that I receive receive back? If they can't do it in two weeks, that's my >> I mean, yeah, they should have that back here by the February 3rd. >> Yeah, >> I think it's a third. And just for note,
I'm gone the 17th. >> Okay. >> All right. >> So, yeah. >> Whatever you get back by then, I think, as we deal with it. >> Yeah, Mr. Fair. >> Yep. I think this will also, if you put that in your email when you send it out, this will also tell you if that car tree
service is going to be on time with their bid this or their quote this time or not. >> Sure, that makes sense. All right. Any other questions for Adam? >> Maybe uh Mr. Chair, >> maybe also check on like the top or the bottom two or the the the two that are
in contention. They're references. >> Mhm. >> All right. I don't think you have to worry about Minnesota native landscape. They're good. So, you don't have to worry about them. >> Well, and Helman did the repair and the other two I don't know. >> I don't know nothing about the car tree service, but
>> so Minnesota Native Landscaping, they are all over Minnesota. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> Well, they know what they're doing. >> Any other comments? Uh before I close this out, I just want to say thank you to Adam. Uh he took some time and met with myself and Monty and he's kind of gotten a lot thrown on his lap since Chris's departure. So, we want to make
sure we're supportive and can do what we can do to help out as he's going through this big learning curve. So, thank you for that. >> Absolutely. Thank you. >> Anything else? >> Thank you very much. >> Anything else? All right. We're adjourned at 10:42. >> Thank you guys. >> Back to the board chair.
>> Thank you. Okay. Now, >> thank you. >> Go to the commissioner commissioner meeting updates first. Make it quick. >> I can start. >> Okay. uh had a planning commission meeting on January 8th. Uh the next day on the 9th, Tri County solid waste
subcommittee. That's myself, Commissioner Felber from Sherburn, and Commissioner Perski from Sterns. Uh of course, we had our goals session uh down at Dwellum on the 12th. Um that evening, a lot of us were at the Sock Rapids uh schoolboard meeting. It was, I thought,
thought a very good meeting update from them on their projects and what's going on. And we were able to update them on our projects and our combined projects. um had an FF&E meeting on the 13th. Uh also the ditch uh meeting that I just spoke of with Adam and Monty. Uh 14th,
the Highway 23 coalition board meeting in the morning and then a building committee uh meeting later at the job trailer. Uh and then on the 16th, I had a very preliminary discussion with Roxan and Luke in regards to Tri County solid waste. was notified by Pope Douglas that
their intent is to >> uh start decreasing the Tri County solid waste tons by 5,000 tons a year >> till the end of the contract. So, we've got to have start having some deeper discussion about what that means for Benton County as >> as we move forward. Uh the one thing I
threw out about that was is that we should really be looking at the big picture here and is Benton County really long-term going to be involved with Tri County solid waste? I'm not saying it shouldn't be. I'm not so sure it should be. >> I think the three counties have very
different priorities and so maybe it's something that we end up staying together for potential grant opportunities, but maybe not in the form it's in today. I I think this goes back to 1983 and it's changed considerably since then. So those preliminary discussions
are happening at the committee level and we'll have another uh Tri County solid waste meeting I think on Thursday. And we did just find out the executive director from the Pope Douglas Burner has I think they said retired. They didn't say resigned but retired. So that's going to be another challenge as
we move forward with that contract. So that's all I had. Thank you, >> Mr. Chair. I can go next. Mine will be very quick. I had a lot of the same meetings you had and then uh I had our APO meeting. I I did get the chair again. So, I got one more year left on that and then I then that'll move over
to uh Mayor uh um uh uh Anderson from St. Cloud. >> Okay. >> That's all I got. >> Congratulations. >> Thanks. >> I did. Go ahead. >> Uh I had an RSVP meeting on 18 um and
career solutions meeting on 18. Um, I did a Minden Township meeting on 18. Um, went to the annual goal setting meeting, did the Sak Rapids race school district building updates and then I had a Micah
meeting on 114. >> I had the goal setting and then Micah meeting was actually was quite interesting. We had the commissioner of commerce and the transportation commissioner there. And the commissioner of commerce was talking about how this
is going to be the biggest bonding >> Yeah. >> deal that they've they've had in recent years >> to show us some money. >> Yeah. To throw some money at things. Um transportation. Yeah. He's from Shakipi. You kind of got the the feeling as he
was talking more about, you know, what's needed in the metro instead of what's needed in rural. So, I think that's where that was going, >> which is which is really weird because I just watched on TV. They said there's no way they're going to get a bonding bill passed this year. >> Exactly. >> This is coming from the He's kind of
controlling the purse strings. >> Yeah. >> That's >> And he's been there a long time. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Cuz it was just all over the news >> over the weekend that they didn't think that they'd be able be able to do a bonding bill again. They said though the governor's office
and the commerce commission are all on board to have a large bonding bill. >> I guess we'll see. >> We'll see. Yeah. >> Okay. Tuesday, January 6, I had a career
solutions meeting. Uh the ETH criminal justice shack meeting. Uh I had to do another Zoom meeting with Career Solutions. And then we had a career solutions board meeting and I had two other meetings that day. So yes, I had
seven meetings on one day. I couldn't make two of them. Had the goal setting, we had the school board meeting, uh FFE vendor selection. I think that's it. So, okay.
Comments by commissioners, concerns, >> uh, comment. >> Yep. >> Um, can we get an update on the 24 to 25 comp and overtime comparison?
>> And we don't need it in a ream form. >> We don't need Yeah, we don't. We just need the overview. We don't >> No, you're going to get n No, no. We want to save a few more trees, right, Commissioner Kapinsky? >> Yes, >> that'd be one oak.
>> Okay, I got written down. >> Okay. >> Okay. We don't have any committee or the whole meeting. >> Yes, we do. Uh, the AMC legislative conference is coming up March 4th and 5th in St. Paul Riverfront. Uh, who
wishes to go? Commissioner Kapinsky. Yep. Mr. Hein, >> I'm planning on >> I may have to let you know of a change, but >> Okay. So, everyone registered and uh let us let Beth know if you need to cancel. Okay. Again, that's March 4th, 5th, St. Paul Riverfront.
>> My guess is that may be cancelled. >> My guess is that >> I hope you all got the message right. They canceled that kind of training session coming up soon. Yeah. Okay. You know, Mr. Chair, one thing we did not set though was uh the employee forums. We did we've been doing those three
times a year and then the human services public health committee quarterly committees of the whole. So it might be good to get those on the calendar while we're here. Um so employee forums again three times a year they've been at 8:15 before board
meetings. Um so I guess the question is when would and I think the consensus was you'd continue having them here. >> Yeah. >> When would you like to kick off the first one? Um, I'm just going to say that I I I
would like to get with our relationships group >> and figure out um what they've been discussing at their meetings and stuff because they talked about changing it to >> uh coffee with the commissioners. They had some >> they just sent us all an email.
>> They had some questions on on stuff. So before actually setting that, I think I would like to and they're meeting this afternoon if we get done with what we need to get done with first. >> Okay. Well, we'll set that set aside for the moment. How about the quarterly human
services public health cows? When would you like to start those? And those those have usually been on a different day. Typically Mondays at like 9 or 10 >> 8:30 we were doing them >> 8:30. 8:30 >> we were doing them at 8:30. It's the time start time has kind of bounced
around over the years. Um, again, they usually fallen on Mondays, >> 8:30. >> Have they typically, I think, fall on the Monday before board meetings? >> That's been the usual pattern. Yes. >> Yep. Yep. >> I just want to make sure that if we do
this, then we come to the board meeting, they don't go through that all again. >> I understand. I mean, I will make sure that message is clear to those departments, right? No repetition, you know. >> Agendas first. >> Agendas, materials first, right? Yeah. And only have it if you need it. In other words,
>> are we doing them four yet this year or we doing I thought we were going to dial it back >> one. >> I thought they'd been quarterly. >> Yeah, they have been. >> So, >> if needed, >> I thought we didn't talk about that at goal session. >> Yeah, I thought we talked about going down to three. >> Go to three. Okay, then let's go with three then. Okay. I'm sorry. I missed
that. I missed that. then or April. >> That's what I would do. I would do if you're going to do it start in March. >> It's the first one in March. So like either that'd be the 2nd or the 16th. >> I'm returning from vacation on the 2nd. >> Okay.
>> Is that the 16th then? Okay. >> And then I >> 8:30. >> 8:30. Okay. I may have a conflict that day and I don't have the time until it gets closer, but let's set it. >> So then jumping ahead a few months, uh,
how about maybe July or so? You said three. Three a year, right? So that'd be either the July 6th or the July 20th. >> Either one works for me. >> Either one. >> Oh, no. Let's do the 20th. >> 720 off the fourth.
>> And then the final one. How about November? >> So that'd be the 2nd or the 16th. >> Deer hunting the second. >> How about October? >> Yeah, we're not. >> How about October? >> Yeah, >> that's the 5th or the 19th? >> Fifth.
>> 10 >> 105. Okay. All right. So, we got u March 16th, July 20, and October 5th at 8:30.
Okay. Forms to be determined. >> To be determined. >> Got it. >> Anything else? >> Uh, yes. Beth asks me to schedule our next uh employee recognition. You know, we typically have those again in the morning before a board meeting starting
at 7 in the sheriff's office. >> 7 a.m. Is it 7 a.m.? >> 7 a.m. Sheriff's Office. We offer you these two possibilities. February 3rd or February 17th. >> I will not be here. the 17th. >> Yeah. And I won't be here the 3.
>> We could vest telling me we could do it in March, too, if we needed to. >> So, we just set the 16th for your >> No, I'm sorry. That's not a board meeting day. Okay, never mind. You could push it to March then. So, that'd be what then? March 3rd or the 17th?
>> I go to March 3rd. >> Do a third. >> Uh, March 3rd. Well, >> well, isn't that legislative conference? >> That >> that's in that's in the afternoon. >> That's the evening. >> Y Okay. >> That'll be the evening and then it's Wednesday and Thursday.
>> I come back Monday and we got >> you come back the second. >> Yeah. >> Why? >> So, I'll be back for Thursday or for >> It sounds like I heard March 3rd, 7 a.m. employee recognition. That's years of service recognition. Start at the sheriff's office at 7. >> Good.
>> Did you want the 17th and stay? >> Yeah. I'd rather have the 17th. We're changing >> the third. >> He can't do sir. >> March 17th. Uh March 17th >> and there might be times that some of us can't be there. It's
>> you know if there's three of us there >> Mr. Chair that's all the committee as a whole that we have >> move for approval of the committee of the holes. Mr. Chair, >> there you go. >> Second. >> Got a motion that second. Any further discussion? Call the question. All in favor say I. >> I. >> I. >> Opposed. Motion carries. Thank you,
Monty. Are we ready for a close session? >> And then we'll take a break first. >> Okay. So, you take a break, but then at some point we'll need a motion uh per the agenda item to go into close session. Okay. Thanks. We'll take a short break.