Good morning everyone. It is 8:30. I'll call today's meeting of the Klay County Board of Commissioners to order. Our first item on the agenda today is our approval of the agenda. >> Madam Chair, I'll make a motion to approve the agenda. >> Motion offered from Commissioner Bear, second from Commissioner Ebinger. Any
further discussion? Any further discussion? Any further discussion? All those in favor of the motion signify by saying I. I >> oppose. Same sign. The item carries. Citizens to be heard today. I see we
have a few people that are wishing to address the board on items not on the agenda. Greg Zilmer, would you like to go first? >> No, but I will. >> Well, you're welcome to. Thank you.
I was about in Hagen Township and received a letter a while ago about the state wanting to take some more of my property, actually my son-in-law's property for protected waters. I've got one on my property as well from years ago. And I'm just here to say it's a
rotten deal. um tried to find out where it all come from and I got three or four groups all pointing at the other one. Asked the uh DNR where did this come from? Who decided that we needed to do
this? And they point at the legislature and you talk to legislators, they say it came from uh the DNR or from somebody else. I think where it actually comes from is nature conserancy and and groups like that giving money to our
legislators and saying why don't you carry this water for us so they pass a law and stick it to the DNR to come and uh give us heck. So that's really a a rotten circle that uh drives this whole
business. Um I spoke to your cony um Matt I think I forget the office that he's in. >> Yeah. Planning Matt Jacobson >> planning is owning. There you go. He said that there was uh that had come up here before and that there was nobody here to to complain about it. So you
figured everything was peachy. I just wanted to tell you that you guys have telephones too. There's maybe nine or maybe 15 land owners that are affected by this. It wouldn't hurt you to pick up a phone and check it out, too. It's kind of your job.
You need to protect citizens from this kind of business. You got an attorney on staff. No reason you couldn't fight this in St. Paul. There's probably other counties that you could include in that. Certainly the rural more rural counties, which we
probably aren't one, you could just simply not enforce it. I think you're within your rights there. Tell the fisher or the uh soil and water to look the other way. Um I'll read one thing here. It's from the
fifth amendment's last sentence. Nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation. That's really as far as you got to look. It's fifth amendment of the Constitution. I'd be happy to give you a copy if you'd like one.
>> Greg, >> I don't think you know it. >> Greg, >> uh I was we've been both Commissioner Barrett and I have been part of these discussions as they're reviewing some of these things. Uh it's Commissioner Bear's and I's thought that the most
important thing is to allow them to get out there to view that because I think if folks are able to view that, we can see kind of what you're saying that that this is not necessarily areas in Klay County where water is currently running. If anything, it's it's it's
>> one that runs through my farm been there since late 70s, early 80s. I couldn't tell you exactly. But when that came through and they all said, anyone you talk to, soil and water, I don't think the DNR maybe even had an office up here
then, but don't worry about it. We just need to catalog this. Nothing's ever going to come of it. Well, 30 years later, now it's 50 ft. What's to say, 20 years from now, it's not 100 feet or 200 feet or they're coming for the county,
too. Every road ditch here is going to qualify under their two miles of drainage and a bottom and a bank. Well, that's every road ditch in the country. They want to control everything. They can't take care of what they got. >> Any questions for Greg?
>> Have you started the process of making a comment? >> Looked at it. It's so convoluted. Yeah. >> So I So this >> I'm 65 years old. I'm not real techsavvy in the first place. So >> So I'm also affected by this on some of
the property I own. And I've started the process of making a comment. It is very difficult to work through the system to make a comment. It's a two-part comment. You make one online, then you print off a piece, and you take a number from your first comment, put it on the second piece that you print off, and then you
have to come up with a bunch of maps. I was wondering if we could have staff help these guys come up with the maps at least so they so they don't have to struggle looking for the the maps and with the software and the flights that we took over last summer last spring we have good qualified maps for this to
give as the maps that they need to generate. So both Matt Jacobson and Mark Sloan are here. I think um either one of you if you could connect with them to help assist with making the comment period
work. We have um started to give feedback to DNR on the comment period. It is problematic Senator um in regards to this. Uh your comments today would not qualify as comments on the plan. Uh they need to be as as said in that
specific document that seems to be problematic for folks. It it is a difficult difficult maneuver online for a bunch of I mean older gentlemen that need to try to figure that out and I I'm struggling with it as well >> by design. >> Yeah.
>> Yeah. It's by design to make it difficult. It's a two-part >> person I talked to the DNR probably be the least helpful public servant I ever spoke to in my life. >> All right. Thank you, Greg. We'll make
sure and connect you with staff. any other I just um >> Commissioner >> Soil and Water was here last week I believe as we gave their update and we talked a little bit about this and >> and I I would I'm a little concerned
about um what criteria they use to all of a sudden expand these waterways. We have just gentleman that just was here that just said that it's been that way for 30 years. So So why why the need for the expansion. I think
we we need to also ask some of those questions. Um in terms of why they're why they're expanding, I think we need to know what the criteria is. And I don't know what that criteria is. I don't know it. Mhm. >> And we're we have now we have citizens
coming before us with concerns and I have no idea what the DNR used to make up their use for logic as a reason why to add these additional waterways. So I I think we need to ask some questions ourselves on that regard.
>> Commissioner Campbell. Any other citizens wishing to address the board? Please introduce yourself and provide your address as well. >> I'm Daryl Moore from UAN and I'm also affected by this and we had all of a
sudden it showed up on the map and that's what I'm wondering what all of a sudden triggered the let's add this on there. And I'm kind of like Greg there. You know, you if they take a little bit
now and and a little bit later and it's kind of, you know, our ancestors paid taxes on this land for a hundred years and now I'm paying the taxes and then they have they want
to have control. It's not it's not really right, I don't think. And uh I guess that's that's all I have to say. >> Thank you, Darl. Anyone else? >> Um I'm David Schneiderman from Ulan
also. Um we're affected a little bit different. It's there's nothing being added on the property that I'm involved with there, but uh it's been on there supposedly since back in the 80s that
my uncles and um Dwayne Erikson owns a piece right next to us that uh when it went on they nobody ever knew about it even. Uh we went here was about 5 10 years ago. We wanted to get a went to the wershed to see about
uh doing some work on the ditch. That's when we found out that it was a protected waterway. Um and the one that we've got, it's in section one and section a little bit in section two of u there. Uh it's a
protected waterway in Klay County, but it comes out of Norman County and goes back into Norman County and it's not protected there. doesn't make any sense. And I believe we can meet uh at least I
think we have to meet two criteria to try and get it removed. And I think we can meet them, but we have to go through this whole process. Uh and it sounds pretty complicated and I'm not that age too that I'm not too techsavvy. So, if
we could get some help from you to um let them know that we're not very happy about this would we be appreciate it. >> Thank you. Appreciate that. >> Yes, Commissioner Kim. >> I wonder I wonder if we could have with Matt and Mark. Do you guys have Matt? Do
you and Mark have cards with you here today that you could give to these guys to Mark? Do you have one? Maybe Mark can give you guys a card that he can help out with what Commissioner Bear talked about with the mapping part.
Anyway, he could Mark can supply you with or help you get get the maps that are needed as part of that process. >> Any other residents wishing to address the board? >> No, same issue. Anyone else wishing to
address the board? >> Steve, had we have we had any online correspondents? >> Uh I I'd spoke with Mr. Schneider earlier, but no other no other public comments. >> Okay. We really appreciate all of you coming forward. This has been a dialogue that several of us have had concerns
with this process making sure one it's a it seems to be a rather expedited process the DNR is running in regards to adding and uh potentially taking off in other counties not in Klay County these waterways and making sure that we have
all of your insight and input is really important in that. Um, I maintain that sometimes it's uh easier to update maps from a computer, but it's a lot more efficient to actually walk through the lay of the land and understand that. So,
my hope is that we can encourage some of that going forward so that we can get the best uh accurate information as DNR moves forward with updating these maps. So, we will help you in any capacity we can. >> Just one comment on that, >> Commissioner Bear. We we have until
February 20th to make sure you get your comments in. Otherwise, they do not count. So, we have 10 days to get this completed. So, just so you guys are aware of that. >> Any other comments? >> Thank you.
>> The next item is the approval of the payment of bills and vouchers. >> I'll move to approve. Motion offered from Commissioner Kabanov to approve. >> Second. >> Second from Commissioner Bear. Any further discussion? Any further discussion?
Any further discussion? All those in favor of the motion signify by saying I. >> I. >> Oppose. Same sign. The motion carries. The minutes from the January 27th, 2026 meeting were included in the packet. >> Madam Chair, I move for approval of the
minutes from January 27th, 2026. Motion offered from Commissioner Ebinger to approve the minutes. >> Second. >> Second from Commissioner Bayer. Any further discussion? Any further discussion? Any further discussion? All in favor of the motion signify by saying
I. >> I. >> I. >> Oppose. Same sign. The item carries. Item two today is our legislative update from Senator Rob Koopek. Good morning, Senator. wherever you're most comfortable. >> Just make sure you've got a microphone
that's green. >> Thanks for joining us today. >> Sure. Thank you. >> Uh thanks for having me today. Uh I I I listened to to Senator Johnson's uh breakdown of what he thought the legislative session looked like. Um he
was spot on, so I don't feel like I need to review any of that. that that was all probably covered last week. Um I'll tell you I've got um looking forward I'll tell you a few things that that I'm working on uh this session uh things that you might be of uh interest to you.
Um I know we've got some legislation uh about a land preservation around uh solar and use of prime a land uh making sure that prime egg land isn't taken up by solar. So, I know uh I've got a bill that I'll be working on that. Uh the grain indemnity fund on the a side,
which was a basically a way to cover farmers when their uh grain is in storage. Uh we've used it for the first time this year. There was a company out of Omaha that went bankrupt. Uh and there's been some elevators and there's a couple of people here in the western part of the state too that have been
been infected by this. Um it's working fine. We have plenty of money to cover it. Um but every time you know when you use something for the first time um the a department's come back and said there's a few things probably we need to tweak to make it you know a little bit more efficient to make sure that the state is recouping all the money they
can from the bankruptcy. So uh that'll be something to work on. Obviously uh it's hopefully going to be a bonding year. Um the the chatter early on is that bonding looks promising. So, uh, we're we're
very hopeful on that. And obviously, um, flooding and getting the nonsecure part, uh, of our project done here on the PRTF, uh, is, you know, super important, top of the list. The rural water district, also in the northern part of Klay County coming in from the north,
uh, also be looking for some funding. And along that line too, um because it is a policy year, um those people that have been working on that rural water in the in the northern part, um the process to do that is awful. It's terrible. It's
convoluted. Um and this is this is we need to move in this direction. Just for a lot of rural communities, pulling your resources is a much better way to go. Um, so thanks to them for for navigating this, but we need to make that process of doing that easier to navigate because I know in Ottertale County there's
another one another project that eventually might even work its way into the southern part of Klay County. Um, we need to make that process just a lot cleaner uh to do that because I think um there's going to be a lot of places looking forward uh to try to update
their infrastructure. Um, and some other kind of one-off things. Uh I've had some con one constituent in particular long-term uh partnership insurance um which is for basically long-term care.
Um the there's an inflationary on that and there's very few people on it. If you get the non-inflationary policy, it saves that person a lot of money. Probably in the end doesn't even cost the state any money to make that change. So, um, that's a weird kind of wonky
policy area, but it's a good policy year. Um, and, uh, both Morehead and Dworth have expressed interest in forming social districts, um, which is certain times of the year where you can walk between places with an open container. Um, we've had a couple of
trial uh, down in uh, I think it's Anoka and in Shakipi. Uh, it's gone really well. We tried last year to expand it, but um sometimes when a community has something that nobody else has, they want to keep that kind of monopoly going, not that they care about probably
anything up in Klay County, but they're concerned about some of their neighbors uh within the Twin Cities getting that. So maybe there's a creative way that we can open it up outside of the sevenount metro. Love that 7ount metro uh exemption in there. Uh on schools, I
know there's some um things about safety and also about just being able to move funding between uh buckets of money that would really help uh when things are a little bit tight to help schools loosen it up. Won't cost the state really anything to do that. Um maybe I don't
know if you've heard anybody talk to you about chiropractic care. Um the governor was very insistent last year that we cut uh Medicare Medicaid funding for chiropractic care. um you know in in his budget spreadsheet it saved a little bit of money. I think
in the end it probably saves no money because those people are still entitled to care and they're going to go someplace else to get it and the chiropractors will offer that care at a much more reduced rate. So certainly a lot of our local chiropractors are pretty upset about this. Uh I have offered myself as the lead author to try
to restore that funding to chiropractic care. It's one of those things that if we can if we can creatively show how it will actually save the state money, maybe even in a non-budget year, um that could be something uh we could get done. Um it modernization grants. Uh I had
that bill last year for the counties to get that done. It is obviously not a budget year. Um it's still out there. It's still an important thing. And I think for whatever reason, uh I maybe it's credit on you. I mean I was well aware of this. AMC has talked to me. I
was well aware. Uh we had some hearings um on a you know different related subject and some other counties came and other legislators were like seemed to be just newly finding out about the fact that these these things don't talk very well together and we need to do that. So
uh still working on that. Uh Commissioner Mojo and I talked about uh uh some regulations around. Um there is a bill I am uh not the chief author of but there's a bill about having some regulations. I've agreed to sign on to that. So that'll be uh something we'll
be taking up. Uh sustainable aviation fuel. We still need to expand that tax credit on that uh to make sure that uh the plant that potentially is coming here to Klay County is still on track. Um that will be not only a huge benefit
of jobs, uh the property tax on the plant will certainly be a huge bonus to the county, the city, the school district. Uh so we'll work on that. And uh on electronic waste recycling, I think we might actually have at least come to an agreement about batteries.
Maybe we can get something done on batteries. Um they're a huge fire hazard. um the fire insurance that we're paying on facilities that that handle uh waste because of these batteries is through the roof. So that would save money there. And even just the
firefighting apparatus and some places we're having to put in to prevent these fires is is a huge cost. So we might I'm optimistic maybe we can do the other electronic ways but the it seems like we've been working through the interim uh with all the stakeholders and it
seems like we may be able to get somewhere uh on batteries. So with that and I will mention um you know for the citizens that testify be I nobody has reached out to my office about this. So, I've not gotten an email or phone call or anything on this. Um, and and I am
I'm not on those environment committees, but you know, I know um last year we were trying to make sure that there was not this expansion of these waterways and and legislatively and the compromise we made was that we would take a more we would take an inventory, right? And that
was the compromise. So, if I'm hearing that the DNR is somehow expanding this, that may be in their rules, but uh I am more than happy to dig in on that. And if we need to get if this if this process is >> and and I believe fully that this is a
complicated process because a lot of these agencies don't make anything easy. Uh even as legislators, they don't make anything easy. But if we need to get somebody from the DNR to come up or at least talk to people or or you know even do a a Zoom call or something, I am
happy to try to be a conduit to facilitate that. >> I really do appreciate that. They're uh as part of the inventory, they're reviewing the four counties this first go round and we were lucky enough to be part of uh the first round of that. uh and they did have a meeting at the Yums
and folks were providing comments but the reality was they were not being entered into the comment pool even with that feedback and so it it is problematic. I'm hopeful because this is the first of the rounds that um you know they're open to tweaking how they
receive the input, but it is odd to me, you know, given that you're on egg that they did not let you know that either. And so would appreciate any help you can >> No, because in my mind an inventory is like, okay, let's just go out and assess. And that's that's a reasonable thing to do. We want to know what's out
there. But I did not think that taking an inventory meant that they had some kind of cart blanch to go and like change things. >> Yeah. like like a okay we have these waterways and here's what we have that's good information to know but changing things is not the idea the intent certainly that we had of taking in
inventory >> right and where it kind of plays to uh where you know it might raise your awareness as well obviously the counties are allotted buffer strip implementation dollars and as we are adding additional waterways as part of this that really
effectively will change what counties and SWCDs will need to allocate to make sure that those have, you know, they're under the buffer strip regulation as well. And I know that was part of a conversation of that was a potentially a cutting spot for saving
dollars statewide. And not wanting to have land owners left by the wayside or counties or SWCDs with what those fees will uh incur is important for you to know about. Any comments on that one particularly?
Well, I know for us, we've had the opportunity to meet with you a number of times in the last several weeks, but particularly over the last legislative session. So, a lot of what you're you've talked about this uh this update is something that we're we're well aware of and we're glad to continue to work with
you on this. Um but uh thank you for being always available to us. I know there's been opport times when you've called to say there's an opportunity to testify in the next 24 hours. Can someone from Clay get down there? Thanks for letting us know about that and
thanks also for um connecting us with your colleagues as we know that uh it takes more than just one senator to get things done and you've really helped us uh to branch out with leadership across the aisle as well. So I appreciate that. >> Any comments? Yes.
>> Only to reiterate what she just said. So once again, thank you for ease of communication constant right almost. And uh I thought the biggest thing is uh commissioner and I go down to the St.
Paul area um the meeting of your other colleagues is been just huge and uh to have those relationships coming whether through you or you know our other representatives is so important to what happens and I guess uh as we work toward
bonding u you know you've been key in that and helping us. So, thank you. >> All right. You got one week to relax. >> Yeah. Thanks. No, I have meetings already. No. Uh, but I will and I want to thank you because I think you've done
a really good uh good work especially, you know, highlighting the need for mental health and that this county has really stepped up uh where other counties, you know, have not done that. And so that's really appreciative and I think at the state level it is also appreciative. And we have a unique u you
know I think we you know we get lumped into to greater Minnesota here in Klay County. We're a very unique part of greater Minnesota because we are attached to this metro area. We have we have an we have a a different story I think to tell and I think it's really
it's been great that when you've come down and been able to share that with some of my colleagues because they're not always aware of like this is this is a very different different dynamic out here in this part of western Minnesota. So thank you. Well, we appreciate it. Thank you so much, Senator.
>> Thanks for coming. >> Item three this morning will be a annual department update from GIS and communications. Good morning, Mark. >> Good morning, >> Madam Chair, commissioners. I am so excited to be be here to tell you what
we've been doing and what we're going to be doing. Um our small mighty little department. Um our job is to deliver information. That's what uh we do. Um either through the GIS side or the communication side. We're uh delivering
data and information through websites and maps and all sorts of a wide variety of different tools that we use to get the data that the county has to the people that need it. And so we are always looking at how do we do that better, more effectively, more cost-effectively, and more accurately.
So that's one of the things we're constantly working on. Um we have four four staff right now. Um the the four of us are are u we've got our myself, we've got a GIS coordinator, a GIS technician,
a communications coordinator position is vacant if you remember that and I'll talk about that here in a little bit. Um and then we have our communication specialist who is uh in the other room right now recording us. Um we are divided into two separate divisions which really overlap a lot. Our staff
kind of go back and forth between what they do, but we have two kind of focus areas, which is the geographic information system as well as the communications side. We serve not only the general public and all of the citizens of Klay County, we also serve all of our departments and uh some of
our partner agencies we work with uh specifically small cities, townships. We do stuff for those groups also. Uh this is a slide we I put together. Actually, I didn't put this together. I had my friend Chad GPT put this slide
together. Um, but it talks about all of the main target areas that we do in the GIS world. Um, stuff every where from generating addresses. Um, I'm the addressing authority for Klay County still. Uh, one of the big things we do with that is we generate data for next
generation 911 as well as for use in the regional dispatch center. So all the data that the dispatchers are using to send emergency responders out is coming from us and we keep that current and we make sure that it's as accurate as we can possibly make it. Um we are always
looking at uh um making sure our parcel information is correct that you see online that's being updated daily as soon as changes come through. Um another thing we've been working on for a long time we've talked about many times is the uh section corner remonumentation project. That's a
that's a big big deal and it's been working well for us and we are now that uh information from those remmonumented corners is coming in. We have new coordinate information for them. So we have been uh updating the maps accordingly. So that's actually that
process is making its way through and it's working very effectively. I think it's a really good use of our time and resources. Okay. In 2025, we added uh one of the biggest things we did, if you remember back, our GIS technician position had
been a part-time position for ever. Uh in the earliest days, we used uh students, usually college students, we'd hire them and they were we were used a lot of technician help to generate data. Uh we were out had them out in the field collecting stuff. But over time, what that position was needing to do for us
kind of changed. So in 2025, we moved that position from part-time to full-time. And now it is a much more technical and that that GIS technician now is the person that's actually making sure that the data in our parcel fabric is current. Um she updates that as as as
soon as she can. She's the one that's producing the maps for us like the township maps we just made. She does all those kind of tasks for us. So we've got her to do all those daily things that are constantly being undertaken. Uh what that's done for us is it's freed up our
GIS coordinator to do more higher level technical stuff. Um and uh some some of that includes development of applications that we're using like uh one of the ones is our we last year we created a sign inventory program for our highway sign crew and it actually runs
on an iPad in their truck and they can they when they put a sign out they record it. It keeps track of all the parts that are needed, what the sign was installed, all this stuff. And that way they can go through that same program and look at what do they need, what signs are they're going to be replacing or placing. they can look that stuff up
even before they go to the field. Um, our GIS coordinator earned her a GISP last year, which is a GI certified GIS professional. It's a big deal in the GIS world. It's kind of similar to becoming a professional engineer in that world. It's a it's a big thing for us. We
really support that because it tells us one that we have a staff person who's highly skilled at what they do and secondly it gives us some credibility into the work that we're producing as it's coming from a certified professional. Um, another project so that we created last
year was the real-time storm damage dashboard which is used for by our emergency management. Um, they actually have these they hand out when there's a storm or something, they'll hand out these cards and they've got a QR code and you scan the QR code, you record the damage like the tree down
or the damage wherever gets stored into a database and then emergency managers are able to use that for the correct >> FEMA claims and all that kind of stuff. So, it makes that whole process a whole lot more effective and we're actually using crowdsourcing then to bring that data in without having to send staff out
to all those things. work, will you have those available at the township meeting to make sure we're give to township supervisors understanding that there's not an emergency at that meeting. However, having it on hand would be helpful. >> That's a great idea. Yes, I have a I
have a list for those guys. Thanks. Yeah, we can we'll do that. Um zoning map, we read red we did how that's working um and how the data is behind that. And then we had a new interactive tax forfeite property sales tool and a
new corner map. The um section corner information we talked about briefly before. Now you can go online actually. Not that most of us care, but surveyors can go online and actually use a map and look up the documents that are tied to that corner without having to come to the court uh to the recorder's office or
any of those kind of things. They can look it up right through a map. It's much more effective and faster for them. Um, in 2026, what are we working on? Remember these things? They're not as popular as they once used to be. Um, one
of the problems we've had with it is we produced a printed folded highway map, it's called. Um, not as often as we used to. We were having a hard time finding a printer. There's companies that just aren't they used to be everywhere. Now they're but we've found one. But for the first time ever, uh, we have produced
this map inhouse. The the product that will be printed. So that is just being finished now. That's under review and then we will send that to print. So hopefully there'll be a 2026 version of this coming out very soon. It's u kind of a big deal that we're doing it in house because it's taken quite a bit of
resources to do and we wouldn't have had that capability before. We didn't have enough uh now that the GIS technician is full-time, it's able to help us do that kind of thing. >> Thank you for Thank you for doing that. Uh, I used it last night at the Buffalo Red.
>> They're good. I'm glad. Yeah, they're they're popular for some of us. I mean, not not as uh I can talk for hours about how how we've changed from paper to electronic, but >> used a map like that in years.
>> Yeah. Yeah. Uh we uh facilities management, we're working on updating the uh we've been working for quite a while on that. But we keep um adding more and more capacity and capabilities to what we can provide our our those folks. Uh we actually have a it's basically a GIS like we have for the
county of all of our buildings of all 22 buildings and it includes everything from doors to um air handling systems the whole works so that they can keep track of that stuff through there. Uh we have a new tool coming out called the parcel lineage mapping tool which is for people that deal with uh property
titles. you'll be able to look at the rec some of the history of where those parcels are from that should be coming out this spring sometime. Uh land data land records data management is something we are always trying to improve that process. Uh the GIS hub
site is how we deliver data. GIS data is used by a lot of organizations. There's a lot. I don't actually know how many because for since 1999, we provided our GIS data free of charge on our in on our website for people to download and it's
been um used a by a lot of groups and everywhere from or uh local jurisdictions to engineering firms to a lot of other companies. How we deliver that data is changing. We have got a different site that we're using to do that and it's going to make it hopefully
more effective and uh easier for us to manage. Um and it just as we're part of our continuous improvement we're trying to make that better. And then of course I already mentioned it but we're redrawing our tax parcels to align with the section surveyed corners surveyed
section corners and that's um cleaning up our maps. We're way in the eastern edge of the county right now in the Barnesville area. We're trying to get those pieces up to date. on statewide side wanted to mention that uh we have staff that are active in what's called the Pine Prairie GIS users
group which is out of Fergus Falls. Uh they meet and a bunch of folks get together and talk about stuff in Minnesota. There's something called the Minnesota GIS LIS consortium which is all the people in Minnesota that work in that field. Um 7 800 of us I guess
something like that. It's they host a conference in the fall. It's a It's kind of It's the biggest organization in the state. Our GIS coordinator, Mandy Olsen, was elected to the board of directors at Minnesota GIS Lis just this last month.
She represents lo local government on that board now. So that's a good thing for us. We have a representation there at that state level. And then on the Minnesota Geograph Geographic information systems association or uh MCJISA it's called is a organization of
counties in Minnesota and the GIS people that work in those. I serve as a treasurer for that. I was I well I was one of the founders but uh that group is all the people in counties that do GIS because what we found is every county is doing the same stuff. You know they're a
county. they got the same major tasks and some counties have one GIS person and some have more. So if we're able to share information and knowledge it works uh it helps everybody. So to facilitate that, we host something called tea time where we get to spill a tea, I guess is
the term. Uh every other week, every other Tuesday, I host it and and myself and Mandy in my office and we have anywhere from 25 to 40 people join and they're just other GIS folks from other counties all across the state and they show up with a question or a comment or an idea and it's a really super awesome
way of exchanging information and helping everybody learn. Okay. All right. Now, I want to talk about communications. Communications, we do a lot of different things, too. Um, uh, we do some technical services. We do
printed materials. Um, we are always, uh, looking at, uh, what our social media websites are doing. Um, streaming meetings is some big thing we do. P, we publish the bits of clay every month. We facilitate the website and all the stuff
that are on that. Um, we do all the signage for all the buildings, uh, those kind of things. Uh, one of the things we do do is digital signage, like there's one right here out in the hallway that is showing this meeting at the moment, but the rest of the time it's a digital sign. We have 21 of those now throughout
the county. So, um, they're they're they're well used. They're well and we make sure that the content on those is is appropriate. All right. I want to talk about a little bit what we did in 2025. 2025 was really a good year. I I think we in the
communications side we were we had we had a communications coordinator. It was doing quite a bit of progressive stuff for us. Uh we pro uh one of the big things we did we streamed 60 meetings like this one. Uh we produced a promotional video for the non-secure facility
that was uh so just the story on that video. The script was written by me and my friend Chad GBT and then we used a different uh uh AI to make the the voice the voice over. So I I did that part of it. Tim does the video recordings and
all the editing and we put it together. Just yesterday we edited that video to make sure that we included now that we have 29 counties in support. So we have updated the graphics and all that stuff in the video and put it put a new copy of it out. Um when we do that we can't
replace it. So it comes out with a new website link. So the link to the video is different. If you have the brochure that we put together, it's got this QR code. We'll always keep that code pointing to the right video. So >> the QR code is fine. It's just the >> Exactly.
>> I did notice that it must have changed yesterday because I did look that up on YouTube and see that we had minimal views and it was surprising to me. So now we answered a question that came up. >> There you are. Yeah, it was a brand new version. We just updated that part. Steve sent us a message that oh, we have
another county that supports us. >> Great. Thank you. >> So, we'll keep we'll keep that always current. So, that's something we can we'll continue to make videos when we can. Um, we managed the website. Uh, we um did some printed materials like these
cards. Uh, one of the biggest lifts we did last year was uh the co county code online, the recottification of the county code. That was a project that was 20 plus years in the making and that is now working well for us. I hope. Um I haven't heard any complaints, but it's
it was a it's a big lift and it's been a great change for us. Um another really huge project that's still underway is uh how we do our online forms. Forms is a big thing. Um how we get people to fill out. Uh we were always looking for a
better way to do it. Something that was mobile friendly, secure. There's a lot of different things we have to do and the biggest piece we've added just recently is a capability to accept payment through forms. So that opens a whole new door for us to do things like permits and stuff like that using a
form. So that is something we're actively working on right now. Okay. 2026 we're going to continue to moni do our websites. Um we're going to create some quality graphic signage. Um we
produce keep producing videos. is we'll use AI as much as possible and um to try to increase productivity. One of the things I wanted to mention here is some of the things we aren't doing so much um because if you remember the conversation we had a few months back, we decided not to replace the
communications coordinator at this time. So we lost some of our capability and our responsiveness. Um what what that will what the direct impact at it is we don't quite have the resources to do some of the projects we did like some of these things um some of the progressive
stuff we were doing to try to get the website updated um we're just not as reactive we're a little bit or I guess we're more reactive now and less uh planned. We we'll keep we'll keep plugging best we can but uh we we're down a staff
person. So, it's um probably the biggest thing you'll see the change on is our social media side. Um right now the only so the only social media post we really have going out now is jobs and closings and pretty it's pretty basic. Uh just because I don't have the resources to do
much more than that. So we'll we'll do what we can but we'll keep it we'll keep moving along as best we can to keep uh information flowing where we need it to go. All right. So, one of the things I want to talk about then coming up the big project in 2026 is um something called
ADA compliance. Um all small all local governments over with a population of 50,000 or greater in the whole country have to have a something called ADA compliance in place by April 24th, 2026. So, couple months from now.
Um we've been working on this for a while. We know this was coming and we've been preparing for this. What it really talks about is making sure that the data we're providing to our citizens through our online systems is accessible to all of our citizens regardless of their
abilities or not. Um, which means there's things we can do to make sure that they're they're uh they they work well with uh people with our sight impaired or hearing impaired or a lot of different things that we can address. So, we've been working through some pro processes to make sure that we are
compliant and we have been putting into place some software applications that help us with that. So, what we're doing specifically here at Klay County, we use our our main website is a Civic Plus central website
which has got u it's designed to be more compliant and uh have some better accessibility features built into it. We added a software package called doc access which makes our documents that are attached to our website
accessible. We use something called audio which makes our gives us a way of making the website itself work for people and then we use another pro package called auia. A quua is a system we use that scans our entire online stuff, everything, and comes back with a
report. And we scan weekly, and then what um we do is go through that report and look for things that can be fixed or updated. So, it's quite a bit of stuff we're trying to do, but um in in the tech world right now, the big talk is ADA compliance, especially in local government. Everybody's rushing to get
ready. We are really in good shape here at Klay County. I think we've got some more work to do, but uh we are going to be doing pretty well. And what I want to do now is show you how that looks. So,
uh, one of the tools I mentioned, this is our one of our pages on our website. This is our just our main county website. One of the tools we use on here is something called audio eye. Audio Eye is this little dude in the bottom right corner. He's this little blue guy down
here. I don't know if you can see him, but if I open him, he allows us the the user to adjust the website to make it usable or more visible to them. And they can change the colors, they can change text size, um, whatever they need to do,
spacings, they can adjust it to make it easier to read. >> Great. >> So, it's a it's packaged right into our stuff. It's right there. And, uh, I didn't even realize until we bought uh, or signed on to the audio thing how many other websites have it. You start seeing it all the time. little guy in the corner. I didn't even realize it was
there because I I don't use it personally, but it's a really powerful tool and it allows the end end user to adjust the how the site looks. So, what uh Tim has been actively doing is going through the site itself and looking all at everything and making sure that it is
amanable to this and works with it. And if it's not, he's been trying to address those issues. Uh where we run into problems mostly is with graphics. Uh making sure the graphics come out and work well. Um the other tool I want to talk to you about is uh you may have even noticed it
is um doc access. So on our website we have a lot of documents PDF specifically that are out there that um the audio tool doesn't work on. So we had to come up with another solution for that. So like here's a good example. We got I don't So when you go to download the
agenda thing if you may have noticed there's now more choices. we have accessible PDF or plane or accessible agenda packet. So when you pick that what it actually does is it gives you this little button on the top left where
it says print view which is the standard view you would have seen or you can go to accessible and it converts it to a different format. So what let me scroll down here so I can find something like here's this nice little graphic of
employees. Yeah, we'll just do that. If you turn it on, it fixes it so that um a screen reader or whatever it might happen to be can read it much better. It does a phenomenal job with scan documents. And another cool thing it has built into it is it makes it totally
um >> transl. So now uh now it's in Spanish. So our agenda packets in Spanish that fast without our staff having to do any extra work. This works on all the documents on our website, which there's thousands of
those. So, um, it's a really super powerful tool for us to make sure that our information is able to be viewed by all of our citizens is really what we're trying to do. And I think that Klay County is in a really good position right now. Uh, so you may hear about
this in through, you know, some of your other counties because some counties are kind of panicking. Um, we're we're a lot more proactive and that we're we're ready. I think we're in a really good shape. So with that, I will ask if you have any
questions. >> Any questions? Yes, Commissioner Amiger. >> Yeah, I just want to Mark's work and his team's work has been really he's quiet about it, but it's been outstanding. It
started with the 911 next generation 911 uh issues that we had uh through public safety here what three years ago >> and the transition had to be made in every county and there were as always there were counties that were right on
top of it that had massive staff and could do the things and there were other counties that didn't quite have the ability to meet all the demands. We kind of became the poster boy of how you can do it. And I had s a number of people at
DPS and and emergency communications saying, "Man, you guys are really you've got it hammered. You're doing a remarkable job." And we look at the stuff that's happened since. Re we really are grateful to what uh you and your small team are doing and this is
moving us forward. One complaint. Commissioner Ada, not Commissioner Adul. Um, >> Commissioner Mojo, you were misrepresented in Spanish there as being a guy. >> Oh, >> sorry. I, you know,
>> second week in a row. >> Anything else? >> Well, Mark, thank you so much. uh you you and your department have always been really available when I ever I have a question or similar to today when residents had concerns we were very uh
quick to point them your direction. Thanks for being so responsive to the needs of our citizens and uh again making sure information is accessible in the most efficient and effective way possible is what you do. Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> It's an honor to serve.
>> Thank you. All right. Item four, request approval to purchase laptop computers. Hello. Thank you, Madam Chair. Uh good morning, commissioners. Uh my first item this
morning is to purchase 100 uh laptops. Um we received three different quotations for this. Um the I'll start with the uh lowest here. Uh Dell through SHI came in at $133,250.
Uh HP at $140,980 and Bite Speed at $145,000 even. And the request today would be of 100 Dell laptops through SHI for $133,000
133 203,250. And uh this would be funded through our internal services uh uh funding source. >> Rory, these are planned purchases that have been part of a a long-term replacement process.
>> Yep. That's just annual replacement of rotating out the uh the older machines for the newer ones. >> Okay. >> Yes, Commissioner. >> Thank you. I'm wondering about um do we do we have do you put out
specifications for these where they have to have a certain amount of this and a certain amount of that and >> Yep. Yep. Actually I send uh all the vendors or resellers the exact same specifications and then they you know same process or same amount of memory and then they all come back with the exact same.
>> The reason I asked that question I'm sure some citizens might because everybody in the private world also buys laptops. Mhm. >> I just happened to buy one and the one that I bought I think was $700 and some dollars. >> Sure. >> And I, you know, and so when when we see
these being at 1,335, somebody might saying, "Well, why are we spending that much when others can be purchased for less?" >> Oh, right. Well, and there's different grades. So, you know, >> Yeah. That that's why I asked you about the specs. >> Yeah. Yeah. So in your example, you
know, you're you're buying a consumer grade where whereas we're buying a a business grade laptop. So a little bit better battery life, uh little more horsepower here to get us get us through the next, you know, four or five years. Try to extend those um extend the replacement needs of those laptops
>> and the Microsoft 365 or whatever that's separate, right? >> Correct. Yep. That'll be uh software based. Yep. >> Thank you. >> Any other questions? Madame Chair, >> yes. >> Like to make a a motion for approval of
100 Dell laptops through SHI in the amount of $133,250. >> Have a motion offered for approval from Commissioner Ebinger. >> Second. >> A second from Commissioner Kavanagh. Any further discussion?
Any further discussion? All those in favor of the motion signify by saying I. >> I. >> Oppose. Same sign. Carried. Item five is a request approval to purchase the desk desktops. >> Yep. Uh so same thing now just uh
desktop computers here. Uh so with the last request, we we have more laptops out with our staff than we do desktops, of course, just with the the modern world we live in and working from anywhere. Um so with this request uh 50
desktop computers through Bites is our request. Um we did receive three quotes on this as well. So Bitspeed came in at $58,950. Dell came in at $59,700 and HP at $60,420.
And we're asking for the uh the lowest quote uh through Byte Speed in the amount of $58,950. Same uh question as before. This is something that's been planned as part of >> Yep. Yep. through internal service funding and Yep. annual replacement. >> Okay. Questions from the board.
>> One question for staff. >> Commissioner Bear. >> Are are we keeping up with the internal funding for these? >> We are. Yep. Um if you remember at my uh department update last week, I mentioned how AI is really driving up the cost of these. Um, I think we're we're fine to
sustain what we have for the next couple years here and I don't see any need to increase it more than we typically would. >> Then one other thing, a desktop computer is cheaper than a laptop, huh? Or is there >> uh Yeah, in this case it is. It's I mean
it's pretty similar. I can't remember how much the exact uh price per So just under $1,200 versus uh you know what was it about? A little over 13. >> Yeah, a little over 13. >> Yep. And uh
yeah, some somehow they're they're still spent last previous years, they've always been pretty similar, probably within $25 of each other. Um, and just to kind of give you an idea between these two requests, the laptops and desktops, the difference between last year versus AI driving up costs is about
$65,000 difference just in from year to year just because of the the shortage and the demand. >> Mr. Campbell, >> do you foresee a time when when desktops are going to be >> a thing of the past or >> We could sure do that any anytime we're
ready, but it uh >> I I guess I'm wondering why why we >> there's certain certain spots where, you know, if you think of maybe jail booking where it's a shared machine, >> uh >> I can see that >> coming and going. So, we still have quite a quite a few of those uh spots
where there's shared desks or or desks that are or positions maybe that aren't allowed to work from home. So then a desktop makes more sense. >> Yeah, I I certainly know that we have a lot of areas. I think even at our DMV, I think we have a couple of them where where the customers can come in and do
things and I think those are that type of thing is more is appropriate, but I was just curious about um desktops in general. It just seems to me that these are so handy the way they are nowadays that >> Yeah, there's >> everything's remote and
>> definitely a lot less than uh there used to be for sure. >> Less hard wiring. >> Mhm. >> Yep. >> Just curious. Thank you. >> Yep. >> Any other questions? >> Madam Chair, I'll make a motion to approve the purchase of 50 desktop
computers through Bitspeed in the amount of $58,950. Second. >> Motion offered from Commissioner Bar. Second from Commissioner Campbell. Any further discussion? Any further discussion? Any further discussion? All those in favor of the motion signify by saying I.
>> I. >> Same sign. Carried. Thank you again for this. >> Thank you. >> Item six, request approval to adjust the Klay County Board of Commissioner meeting schedule. Mr. Larson. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Uh the next two
items really are in combination and probably in reviewing it probably would make sense to have number seven first rather than six. Uh flip-flop those. But um we are we're the next item pertains to a a public hearing that we're going to be having or that you'll be
considering uh for uh for uh the shotgun rifle zone discussion in April. Uh and with that we would uh be holding that in the evening so we would be able to have more participants from the public. And so we would be making a request uh to move our board meeting uh to hold that
prior uh prior uh to that uh till at 5:00 pm on April 7th. >> Thank you, Mr. Larson. This came out of the workg group that we had last week. It was a general understanding. This is what the board direction wanted to be to
facilitate the most input from the residents of the county. >> Madam Chair, I would move to approve the time change from 8:30 to 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 7th. >> Motion offered from Commissioner Campbell, a second from Commissioner
Bayer. Any further discussion? >> Any further discussion? Any further discussion? All those in favor of the motion signify by saying I. >> I. I. oppose same sign carried. Item seven then
>> the item next item is as we had mentioned last week this board had a work session uh group to discuss the change in Minnesota statute to 97B.031 which eliminated the longstanding shotgun zone only rifle restricted
zones. uh with the state with the state legislative change uh the entire state adopted a rifle zone uh through the statute. It allows county boards uh to to uh adopt ordinances uh which would
limit the firearms used for deer hunting in their jurisdictions. Uh at that meeting there was there was enough discussion where this board asked to have a a public hearing. Uh we are looking to set a public hearing to today at April 7th at 6:30m uh to discuss
possible ordinances. At that meeting uh we will have uh uh several as part of that meeting we'll have several ordinances for the board to consider. Uh and with that I would yield for any questions. >> Question commissioner. Um yeah, as
Commissioner Mojo mentioned that we did discuss this at our workg groupoup session and it's a great idea to have this public hearing. Uh I just also during that work session we had a couple of questions that we raised regarding
how you could potentially set up rather than one multiple whatever the mapping and I would like our board to have the answers to those questions prior to that meeting. >> Sounds good. So, u So, whatever you can
do to um have that information to us so that we know what those answers are prior to the public hearing uh would be good. >> Madam Chair, Commissioner Campbell, I know that uh that Sheriff Empt has reached out to the DNR. I don't believe that he's received some of those answers
yet, but we will have those to you prior to the public hearing. Madam Chair, I would also then move the set a public hearing on April 7th, 2026 at 6:30 p.m. to discuss shotgun only rifle restricted zones and draft
ordinance in Klay County. >> Second. >> Have a motion offered and a second clarification. Uh that would just be for the public hearing. We're not advertising that an action would happen at that. Madam Chair, you would you would have
the potential to make that decision. Uh but uh but the op options will be before you uh and so that there would still be time if you wanted to defer for a following week to make that decision. We just have to have that decision made uh by May 5th, I believe.
>> Correct. Any further discussion from the board? Any further discussion? All those in favor of the motion signify by saying I. >> I. I oppose same signed carried. Thank you. >> Thank you. Can I just ask how how are we
going to get this word out to I'm >> uh you know I think that that we are required to advertise uh for any public hearing that includes an ordinance and so that will happen. I anticipate that we'll also be using our social media platforms uh to uh to make uh make those
that announcement. Well, this meeting uh will happen after the township officers meeting. So, we will be able to communicate to them to triage communication that way. Uh you
know, we'll have planning two planning commission meetings in that amount of time as well. We typically update and provide uh you know, insight on those pieces at that meeting. uh making sure that we're communicating and doing the
the best to spread the word about it is important. >> There certainly is a lot of interest in this. >> We voted on that, correct? >> Yes. >> Yeah. >> Okay. All right. Thank you, Steve. We'll take a five minute break.
All right, we are back. Thank you. Uh, looking for committee reports. Dave, you know, I'm going to start with you. Always start on that end. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Uh last week on the 3 on Tuesday, we had
our Klay County uh board work session on items that we we uh covered today on the fourth and Wednesday, I attended the Chamber of Minnesota legislative preview, which uh was very informative.
It was helpful. We appreciate uh I'm getting I'm getting behind here on my notes. Give me a second. I didn't know I'd have three weeks in a row where I'm the first one you call. >> I'm always going to be this We this was u worked towards our
establishment of our legislative priorities. But we were um the chamber provided us with a venue in which we heard from our local legislators
uh to include Senator Coopek, uh Representative Joy, and I'm trying to remember the name of the other senator. We had >> Senator Johnson. >> Yeah, Senator Johnson. And we had a fourth, I think, a representative Gander. Gander. Yes. Uh they were
informative. They listened to our priorities. It was a all overall good meeting. And again, thank you to the chamber for sponsoring it. It's a valuable thing for us as a commission to have the these venues. And that completes my report.
>> Thank you, Commissioner Evinger. Commissioner Kabanov. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, again going back to uh last Tuesday, the uh commission uh workg group meeting we had uh laying out uh what we voted on today
for the public hearing and discussing the um shotgun zone uh possibility and uh getting that public hearing lined up. uh also was uh stated about our priorities and if I'm I'm just going to
mention them quick, they were part of our consent uh agenda. Flood flood mitigation bonding with that uh non-secure um facility funding through bonding and then other uh social service modernization
uh 911 emergency response funding and solid waste management. They call it core funding. So just wanted to make mention of those. Uh also uh coming on Wednesday then on the 4th uh we had the uh um met with our
lobbyists earlier in the day uh for the nonsecured facility. Uh again session opens on the 18th of this month and getting prepared for when that happens and our next steps. Uh I know contact by
the lo lobbyists is being made to um uh other uh two other legislative people uh prior to um session starting. And then already mentioned by Commissioner Aberinger was about the legislative
um review that or preview that we had with our representatives uh from our area. I appreciate all them coming. Um it's been nice over the last two weeks being in in front of them uh for so
much. Um it feels a little well it just really feels like good relationships all around that make it so much easier for the work that we do uh by having those um those relationships uh and
friendships for that matter uh ongoing. Um then uh uh last Saturday I had a another meeting as um uh being on the executive board and also um the finance committee for the historical and culture
society. Um we've been looking at our funds and how to best utilize them. We have a lot of fair amount of money in there that was meant to be for long-term giving. So, we're moving forward to uh
set up in a um a uh endowment plan uh pro it's actually a provisional one a place to put this money to earn a better return on investment uh with still some uh flexibility if we have uh if we had a
project or some other need to draw from it. So uh but the intent of it is it'll be long-term drawing a nice interest return and then uh using that money in our operations. On Thursday I had uh um children's
mental health our monthly meeting. Um I just have to express uh this um I've been part of this group for about three years and the group is just tremendous. Um uh working with providers and other
entities that are involved in children's mental health area. Um there is no less than u a dozen different entities that are part of this conversation. We had um it was close to 30 people there and how
when we interact with each other in these meetings there can be one concern and all and in this case it was about some emergency funds and all around the table people from whether it's Lakeland
or some response team or whatever uh can give information to the other just really a way to elevate all our groups and I can and the same things happening in adult adult mental health also. But these groups are uh I I just think
really on a roll on on bill uh uh having good interaction with each other and uh making sure in the way of Klay County, we're you know bringing um uh the best services we can to our our community.
Uh then yesterday, real quick, executive mental health executive committee setting up uh agenda uh future presenters. And then last night, I had the Buffalo Red uh monthly board meeting. Um actually
one of the few times there were no permits or uh um uh permits or projects. Uh but they did discuss um using uh for a Whiskey Creek project down in Wilm County uh a source of funds through MPCA
for water quality monitoring. And then um they are close to uh on Whiskey Creek. Just a reminder, this comes down to an area we had on County Road 15 south of Baker. Through that area that
that um that Whiskey Creek in the south tributier is under review and then uh looking to be uh worked with uh for uh flood mitigation and uh so the appraisal rates were uh
are coming in. they were discussed uh at some length. And on February 17th, we'll actually have the landowner meeting uh at that time to uh determine uh what rates might look like and also the u
ongoing process of that of that cleanout and um redesign. So that's my meetings. >> Thank you, Commissioner Kavanagh. Commissioner Campbell. On February 2nd, I at our last board meeting, I I believe
I neglected to report on a meeting that we had on Monday, the February 2nd with the uh state uh both the DFL and and the Republic Republican party staff members regarding um getting clarification on
our bonding request and uh what our within the within the diversion project and what and what the priorities were. So, we had a lengthy discussion with them. Uh, I'm glad they were uh reached out to us to get some clarification.
On February 3rd, we had a highway tracking committee meeting. Um, we will it's going to be coming before us. There's one um engineering tech technician that's leaving soon and another one is going to
be leaving. I believe it's in May under with the um early retirement incentive. So Dave, one of those we need to get I'm pretty sure he's going to be coming next week on that. Uh replacing one of those
right away. uh gave us information on the county state highway number 11 RFP and then uh we set the time frame for the township maintenance contracts. We're going to be meeting with
an on March 3rd and then looking for a meeting at highway department with the township officials on March 5th and then um board approval on March 10th. And then there's some update on pavement
testing for CASA 11 and CASA 34. and he kind of he our highway engineer then also talked to us about plans for equipment purchases and the five-year plan update. That concludes my report.
>> Thank you, Commissioner Cable, Commissioner Bear. >> Last Tuesday, I was also at the workg group which was already discussed on Wednesday. I was at the chamber event also and I'd like to just give a thank you to all the legislators that could attend that. Some of them have to travel a little distance. I appreciate them
coming down and visiting with us. Then last night I went to Cromwell Township, Hagen and Morin Township and went and then gave them an update on the county and that was all the meetings I went to. Madam Chair,
>> thank you Commissioner Bear. Last week I also attended the highway committee uh highway tracking meeting as updated well the Klay County work group in which we all attended. Thank you for the work at that uh that one. And I attended a AMC
Executive Committee meeting that afternoon. The next day, a Klay County legislative planning meeting as updated well by Commissioner Kravidov. I also had the opportunity to attend the FMWF chamber and the Minnesota legislative session. I appreciate the uh
insight and participation, Senator Johnson, Senator Coop, Representative Gander, and Representative Joy. Always really important to hear legislative priorities, but also uh hear how we can continue to move items forward and
collaborate together. I attended the Buffalo Red River Watershed District Policy Committee meeting we had and had the opportunity to attend the Minnesota Chamber Federation town hall briefing and then the uh FMWF Chamber 2026 uh
session planning meeting that we had yesterday. That concludes my reports. Steve, >> uh thank you, Madam Chair. uh last Tuesday participated in highway tracking and the work work session that have both been covered thoroughly. On the on the 4th I participated uh in our strive uh
meeting. Our focus is that our intragovernmental retreat that we have on April 24th uh working on that agenda. Uh that afternoon I participated in the chamber legislative preview. Again that's been well covered. On the 5th, I met with Derek Le Point in his new role
through Bill Bank. Provided some insight into what he's going to be doing. Uh met that afternoon with Joe uh on a series of building issues in the county and then also conducted his department head
evaluation. On the 6th, I had department head evaluation with Mr. Sloan. uh also on the 6th uh participated in MPCA uh follow-up meeting with the Budw Budweiser settlement and the actions that the board uh took uh to move that
plan forward to meet the deadlines from the legislature. Uh on the 26th we had a non-scure juvenile meeting, short meeting. Uh on the 9th met with uh briefly with Commissioner Kramanhoff uh also Sheriff Empt and Darren on a series
of issues uh and then uh participated in the Fargo West Fargo Chamber legislative planning meeting. That concludes my report. >> Thank you, Brian. Do you have an update? >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Just uh I I thought I'd mention listening to uh Mark Sloan talk about ADA compliance uh
things. there there are a lot of ADA compliance pieces that are going on um I'm I'm sure across the state but specifically within the court system. Uh so we're working uh through our department uh with um court administration. We had a meeting last week to work through there's a lot of
different things uh that are going on to to adjust to make sure uh ADA compliance by April of 2026 occurs within the court systems. Uh I did have um um some meeting discussions with Steve and Troy as well regarding ongoing matters with
detox. Um also meeting with Quinn along with discussions with Darren regarding a large scale data practice request uh that's come across several departments including both my own and social services. Um and then I did also have a meeting with Jason McCoy, Rory Beal, and
Mark Empting regarding uh public health issues and potential uh future um ordinances that may go in place regarding public health. So, >> all right. Thank you, >> Darren. Do you have any update? >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Most of my stuff
has been covered already. I attended the uh third work session as well on the priorities in shotgunly uh hunting in Klay County. on the 4th uh the strive for excellence meeting. I had participated in that uh talking about the management retreat on the 24th of
April. Had a meeting with Rory on the also on the 4th to discuss some personnel issues and on the fourth Klay County legislation planning in session which has already been covered in the Fargo Morehead West Voger Chamber of Commerce attended all of those as well. On the 5th, uh I had a discussion with
Matt from planning and zoning. Uh had a phone call with highway business agent uh regarding some movement uh that we're going to be bringing to the pick here. And then uh also uh as Brian mentioned uh on the 5th, eight data requests came
in. Uh they're fairly large and uh so we're kind of uh trying to get through those. on the 6th. Um, I worked with our sergeants union bargaining unit with the comps and union negotiations. Uh,
and also worked started work on the setting up the UKGA budget spreadsheet for the 2027 budget, which I'm sure nobody wants to talk about right now, but um, and continued on the work on the union contracts on the 9th of yesterday
as well. Concludes my report. Thank you. Sarah, do you have anything? All right. Our next item is a closed session regarding a discussion regarding labor negotiations per Minnesota statute 13D-03.
>> Madam Chair, I'll move to close session. >> Okay. Motion from Commissioner Bear to go into close session. >> Second. >> Second from Commissioner Einger. Any further discussion? Any further discussion? Any further discussion? All those in favor of the motion signify by saying I. >> I. >> I.
>> Oppose. Same sign. Carried. We're in close session. All right, we are back in session. Uh, next uh next Monday the 16th, the all county courthouse and office buildings will be closed in recognition of
President's Day. So, our next board of commissioners will be February 17th at 8:30. With no more business before the board, we are adjourned.