--------- sewage treatment systems. Um larger minimum lot sizes really function as a preventative measure to support long-term um environmentally sound wastewater management. As for a recommendation, uh the planning commission did make a unanimous recommendation to deny the petition
based on the findings of fact and order which you all have in your packet as well. >> Any questions? Sorry, I it we got a notification that our internet is down, so I wanted to ensure that it's still being broadcast,
so that's why he ran out quick, but it looks like we're still on. Any questions for Matt? >> I might have some. I just want to hear from >> there's some others to have time for that. >> I should note, Madam Chair, that the um petitioner is with us today. So,
>> I see Mr. Dom, I also see the chair of our planning commission. We have another uh Commissioner Stiken is here as well. So uh would the applicant like to speak come up introduce yourself?
>> Good morning, Mr. Dom. >> Good morning. >> Morning, commissioners. My name is Scott Doms. I'm an architect, a business owner, and the owner of the Baker Elevator property. I did not inherit land or capital. Everything I
have built has come through professional training, calculated risk, and sustained work. The Baker Elevator represents years of structural stabilization, design effort, and long-term investment. Baker was once a functioning agricultural service hub. The elevator
and rail infrastructure were central to why the town developed where it did. Over time, that commercial base declined. Today, meaningful reinvestment is limited. New construction is rare. Most activity consists of extending the life of aging structures a few more
years. Without viable commercial pathways, legacy infrastructure like the elevators simply deteriorates. The site itself is constrained between the railroad tracks and the roadway, exactly where grain facilities were historically located for efficiency of
rail and truck access. It sits on the north northwest edge of town. To be precise about proximity, the closest residence is approximately 260 ft away. Two others are approximately
426 ft away. Beyond those, the next residents are roughly 6800 ft away. There are no residences to the north or west beyond that other than agricultural land. All residences are to the southeast.
Of the three closest residences, only one has expressed opposition. My closest neighbor and the next closest are not opposed and were not included in the petition effort. So, while opposition exists, it is not uniform among those most immediately adjacent.
I understand that public concern is part of the process. It has been difficult at times to hear criticism from individuals who never approached me directly beforehand. I have invited neighbors into the elevator over the years to see improvements and progress. I have attempted to be transparent and
accessible. I have offered to help people when they needed it. I have been a good neighbor. But this decision should ultimately rest on ordinance structure and planning consistency, not personalities. This amendment addresses two structural
issues. First, minimum lot size in the agricultural service center district. ASC districts were historically platted as compact service hubs built on small lots clustered around rail infrastructure. The current dimensional requirements do not reflect that
historical pattern. They apply a scale more consistent with large rural tracks than compact commercial nodes. Second, the adjacent residential setback as applied to cannabis businesses. When Minnesota drafted cannabis legislation, it was not rushed. The
state worked on statutory language, regulatory frameworks, and licensing structure for years before legal legalization took effect. Although cannabis is a relatively new industal industry, the regulatory environment
governing it has been deliberately and meticulously developed. This is not a wait andsee industry. Lensure in Minnesota comes with detailed timelines and compliance obligations from day one. Controlled access, 24-hour
surveillance, seedtosale inventory tracking, reporting requirements, and inspection authority. In many respects, these facilities operate under more structured oversight than pharmacies and any other retail business. The framework may be new in
implementation, but is not experimental in design. Applying broad rural setbacks to compact ASC districts effectively prevents reasonable commercial reuse in areas historically designed for commerce. This amendment does not
eliminate setbacks. It recalibrates it. Excuse me. It re-calibrates them to match the district's built reality. When regulatory standards remove viable commercial opportunity from a district originally created for commerce, that opportunity does not simply pause. It
disappears. Once commercial viability is effectively designed out of a district, it is rarely restored. The practical message becomes that historical that historic commercial sites may no longer function commercially, which permanently alters the district's economic
potential. Regionally, Klay County standards are not uniform. Adjacent counties vary in their setback requirements. Some impose shorter distances. Some have no cannabis specific residential set setback beyond standard commercial controls. Adjusting
Klay County's ordinance would not place it outside accepted regulatory practice. Under Minnesota land use law, zoning decisions must be reasonable, supported by findings, and consistent with the purpose of the district. Courts review local land use actions under an
arbitrary and comprecious standard, meaning decisions must be grounded in articulated planning principles rather rather than generalized opposition. ASC districts were originally built to support commerce. If dimensional
standards functionally eliminate commerce from historically commercial partials, the parcels, the ordinance undermines its own purpose. When properties cannot generate reasonable income, deterioration follows. Eventually, owners walk away.
At that point, the burden shifts to the community to manage blight, safety risks, and fire hazards. Adaptive reuse is how communities preserve character while maintaining economic viability. The elevator helped define Baker's identity. Structured,
lawful investment is how that identity is retained, not lost. I appreciate the board's prior support and the seriousness of which you approach these decisions. I respectfully ask you to reconsider the planning commission's recommendation and approve
the proposed text amendment so that the ordinance reflects the historical form and functional purpose of agricultural service center districts. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you, Mr. Dom. Does anyone have any questions for Mr. Dom? >> Questions?
Thank you. items in the or individuals in the audience. You now have the opportunity to provide testimony if you so wish. Make sure you're signed in. Comments will be limited to three minutes and please direct questions to the board as
a whole. >> Good morning, Mr. Hildebrand. Good morning. My name is Joel Hildde. I currently am a member of the planning commission and I just ask you to give careful consideration to the findings of
fact and the reason that we did vote unanimously against this text amendment. Um it's you know there is and as Mr. Adams had said the you know
you the qualifying reason for denying or approving something shouldn't be opposition or verbalization but the fact is there is other than the applicant there is little to no support for this and with today's standards
um there again unincorporated town um I have serious in envir personally environmental concerns If this text amendment allows, where do you put the septic system? Um, where do you do
the well? Um, there just isn't room environmentally. And another issue for the commission was there is no onsite parking. It would all be public. >> Thank you.
>> Thank you. Uh, Mr. Hildebrandt, can you state your address too for the record? I neglected to say that. >> My address is 2895315th Avenue North, Holly, Minnesota. >> Thank you. >> Otherwise known as West Becker. >> I know
is a low blow. Any other individuals? Good morning. Please identify yourself for the record. My name is Kathy Song and I live at 3408 38th Street South in Morehead.
I grew up in Baker and I still farm in the Baker area and I have a question for your board members. Why should the rules be broken or changed for one person? I have I have been at meeting after meeting and have
heard the board members say how hard they've worked on each cannabis or ordinance and regulations. So I h I have a question. Why should the rules be broken or changed for one person?
Um or for a city that doesn't want this business. I just don't understand how many times this is going to have to we are going to have to come and fight for this. First, I want to say the Klay County law
enforcement is the best and is second to none. My next concern is law enforcement. I have heard that Mr. Dom say that if he
should come and get this permit permit, he we he would like to have his customers consume in this place of business. if this should happen or if his customers should take partake in his
parking lot. Does that make Mr. Dom's responsible if he had an accident happen or any kind of accident in the city of Baker or on the highway? Law enforcement has all of Klay County
to patrol. Before I moved to Morehead, I lived one and a half miles out of Baker. I had to call 911 on January 1st, 2025. It took law enforcement 20 minutes to
get to my house, if not more. As I listened and watched my husband gasp for air and fight for his life, every second it seemed like ours. What I'm trying to say is law law
enforcement and ambulance can take to get to Baker in seconds when it when we when it is needed. It just doesn't work that way. I want you the bo want you the board and Mr. Doms to know that this is
getting very old. But we as a community are willing to fight this until the end. We do not want this. It is not safe for our community. Thank you. Thank you for your time.
>> Thank you. Next individual wishing to speak, please identify yourself and your address for the board, please. >> Hi, my name is Richard Donovan. I reside at 12219 119th Street South in Baker. I've lived with Baker now for over 15
years. Um, people move to a small community or small town or out in the country to get away from stuff like this. We have personally talked to 95% of the people right in Baker and actually only run into one person that didn't have an opinion either way or
just didn't want to get involved. We've talked to others in the surrounding community and only ran into one person that didn't have an opinion either way. All the rest of the people that we have talked to are opposed to this. As you can see, there's a few of them
here today. Um, the first public meeting that we had, we packed this place. There was a lot of people in here. This is a strong, supportive community that helps people when they're in need. Doesn't matter whether you're stuck in the snow, need a pull, or if your
lawnmower's broken, you need a mow, if your plow's broke, just needs some snow moved or something in your garage moved. People pull together and help each other out. Scott told council members on his first meeting that he talked to most of the people in Baker and and everybody was
okay with it. I'd like to know exactly who he talked to because nobody we've talked to opposed or nobody wants us here. He boldly lied to you about something so small. What else? Part: 2
Okay. Item seven this morning is the annual department update from our planning and zoning department. We have Matt Jacobson again. >> Good morning. Good morning, Madam Chair and commissioners. Thank you for having
me for my department update. Going to start off um just by walking through the the mission statement of of the Klay County Planning and Zoning Department. Uh the mission of the Klay County Planning Office is to promote the public health, gen safety, and general
welfare of county citizens uh through the development, implementation, and administration of appropriate planning, zoning, and subdivision regulations, which which follow applicable state and federal laws in the Klay County comprehensive plan. I did bold the public health, safety, and general welfare of county citizens because that
is essentially what kind of underpins um all of the work that um this office does. Um it is the basis for um all decisions by by the planning commission and board of adjustment is to to take
that into consideration. Uh from our county uh comprehensive plan, we also have this following um vision statement. Klay County values its existing rural and agricultural character while ensuring a thoughtful and balanced approach to growth and development in the years to come. Klay County is committed to the principles of equity,
inclusion, and service by providing quality services and facilities for all citizens and future residents. Klay County recognizes the importance of its agricultural natural resources while looking for new opportunities to support economic vitality. Klay County will promote sound planning principles that
foster economic, environmental, and community resiliency to ensure that Klay County thrives into 2045 and beyond. So, with that, I get into our highlights from from last year. Uh, just going through different permitting um
statistics and kind of how that's compared to previous years. Uh, and then looking ahead to to 2026 as well. So, starting with building permits, um we had been on a a somewhat um steady
climb from 2019 through 2022 um to 2023. There was a a large jump in um in building permit applications that went down in in 2024 and uh 2025 was another um big jump kind of back up to
um 2023 numbers. I think a lot of that had to do um too with there's a number of after the-act permitting that h that has happened in both 2023 and and 2024 as well. And so you can kind of take a look around um the county um where um
this is happening. I think I want to back up here. One one thing I do want to note um is just with new construction for uh residential um that's something that I think um has been really strong in in rural Klay County and unincorporated Klay County.
Uh again, we had another great year last year uh with 35 new applications for um new homes. Uh I think folks recognize that um Klay County is a really great place to live um just due to um
services, infrastructure, um the uh just the the scenic beauty of of the county, especially, you know, um and also with um our regulations being different than um across the river in
Cass County um we do allow for a little more umlex flexibility with um residential density. Um that was um um initiated by this board long ago to ensure that folks who um as Commissioner
Campbell likes to mention um making sure that um families can can live close together after they've they've gone away and they can come back and and and live live close to where they grow up. >> Madam Chair, I have one question on that. >> Yes, Commissioner Bear. the 35 that we
is that additions onto houses or is that completely all brand new? >> Brand new. >> Brand new. >> Yep. >> Can I just follow up to that? So, of those 35, >> how many of those are like standalone new construction versus maybe being
within an approved development? Do do we know what that that is? >> I could get that number for you from like a um a new subdivision. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> It just might be interesting to know that. >> Yep. I can certainly find that information out for you.
>> Thank you. >> Maybe you can just follow up with an email or something. >> Yep. >> So, this is kind of where um development or applications have have occurred kind of throughout the county. Um the trend
has has been a lot of development on the um east side of the county. Uh south specifically the the southeast is where where a lot of the um development has has occurred um um within within Klay
County um especially within the past you know 10 15 years and uh 2012 2025 was was no different as for just valuations. So looking at just construction costs um on building
permit applications uh looking at the average value uh was aundred just north of $160,000 um would be the average uh building permit construction cost. Uh and then
looking at kind of the the total value um for 2025. Um definitely a a big jump from 2024 to 2025. Um just almost basically doubling that up to just north of $30 million in in applications for
for new construction. I will say that most of that will likely get built too. It's um I if someone submits an application, it's definitely I would say that probably north of 90% of what's applied for does get actually constructed.
Uh for subdivisions, um a little down this year from last year. Um some of that has to do with we did see a lot like in 2021 for example um uh Miss Savage alluded to that in her um
department update about the the refinancing after COVID that was kind of a a big year for um for for subdivisions. Um did see some uh plats saw three plats uh this year I think two commercial and then a resident a
residential plat as well. Um so that should drive some more residential and commercial development here uh in future years with those lots platted out as far as use trends. So um interim use
permits and conditional use permits. Uh pretty similar to uh the previous two years, maybe up just a little bit. Um not not like we've seen in 2021 2022. In those years, we did see a lot of um new
permit applications and then also uh renewals uh for gravel pits. I think a lot of that was um driven by uh the diversion construction Amazon um as well. Um and and so that's those those
permitting has been has been down a little bit but still higher than or on par with um uh the earlier or 2015 to to 2020. And then in in terms of of the the
industry, uh most of our use permits are for industrial uses uh and then followed by by commercial uses as well. Those are kind of the top two um um industries and and breaking that down even further. Um
so for industrial looking at gravel mines, newing new and expansion, uh asphalt batch plants, concrete plants, uh and then on the commercial side, uh community solar gardens, uh and then uh commercial storage as well. those have
kind of been the the bigger um um industry or or use specific permits that that have been issued. You can kind of see in the where where those have occurred pretty uniform um
through throughout the county for variance requests. uh those have been down uh compared to previous years and um we only saw I think 10 variance requests this year the board of adjustment and I think I'd give a lot of credit to um
just the staff in in the planning department and helping um applicants who come in for development find maybe an option where they don't need to do go through the variance process. Um I think that has has really reduced um the
amount of variances. And then secondly just with a a the code change as well. Um a lot of our variance requests in the past or significant number came from um gravel mine mining operators looking to um mine within a a 100 foot property
line setback. uh that used to require a variance and now it just requires essentially an agreement between um the the the property owners that's that's recorded. >> Matt, I I also wanted to highlight that
I think um you are quite correct your office is very flexible and willing to work with land owners and applicants on what is an appropriate utilization and how can we um make things work. You know, I I said part of the asset in
looking at the ordinances and the updates was if we were starting to see trends where folks were asking for variances for things that were um quite similar that really spoke to maybe um why the rules needed to change um because we were seeing such similarity
in those requests. So, you know, I I lean into maybe that's why we're seeing the the decrease as well with the understanding that we want to be as flexible as possible while understanding all all of the components that we have to maintain. So, thank you.
>> Thank you. >> And so, just to look at kind of where these variances uh requests occurred um throughout the county, pretty stark north and south divide there. Um for violations, uh 2025, um
violations have been down from 2024 in terms of um violations that have been resolved. Uh I would give a lot of all the credit to uh Erica uh in her office who has done a fantastic job of tracking
violations um working with um property owners and land owners to find solutions. uh and then uh when necessary to um if if those options don't work um working with the the attorney's office as well. So I have to give uh a lot of
thanks to um Mr. Melton and and his office um for all the the support and and collaboration that we've done on on zoning violations. I know that it's not like that in in every county. And so really appreciate that um uh partnership
that that we have um with that and working working to make sure that that these violations are resolved. A lot of them are very very minor. Um some are just a little bit more sticky than others. So >> uh gravel tax. Um so in 2025 our um
gravel tax uh revenues were were up a bit from from 2024 uh a little over $10,000. Um and I think um you know this past year the uh haulers have been submitting their their hall their daily hall sheets
um to with their with their gravel tax um uh payments and their gravel tax reports. Uh, and then I also do want to give credit to Rita as well because um, Rita has is the one who receives these um, reports and and we've changed the
way that it's reported a little bit. So um, we can specifically know what what pit is being reported out of as opposed to just kind of a general uh, town township section range. We actually have a parcel and so that was not done in the
past. Um, and so it makes um tracking uh tracking gravel tax uh a lot easier. And then if there are some issues or discrepancies, it makes it a lot easier for us to go out and and and do some spot checks and and take a look
as well um when we know exactly um what pits are are reporting their materials. >> It will be fascinating to see the 2026 number as well. understanding that a large amount of material is coming out of those pits for the uh big North
Dakota project. Um >> y >> you know I I also think it's important that the public understands that surrounding counties in Minnesota also have gravel resources. And while it may
seem like the revenue and cubic yards coming out of Klay County is much less than it has been in the past, which is so I believe that gravel trucks on the road have increased because additional pits are being utilized. >> Thank you.
>> Yeah, I think that's a really good point to make. when you have um right on the county line, for example, with with Becker County, there is a a number of of gravel pits just that are just right on that line and and go into the Fargo Morehead Market.
All right, some big highlights for 2025 was of course our Klay County Land Development Subdivision ordinance update, which was enacted by uh this board in in June. And so I really want to thank you all for all your hard work and your your uh support um financial
support uh moral support and just uh uh guidance and and and insight as well um in in kind of overseeing that project. So really appreciate that. Uh also the um Buffalo River uh now they're call it was been called the better data uh
letter of map revision that was completed as well in October. So that kind of brings to close a 10y year roughly. Yeah. Um um update to that and
very fortunate that um a number of land owners um were able to get relief from uh flood insurance premiums from that. Uh and then actually I've heard from a couple who were able to now actually sell their their homes um be because of
that. So, um, very, very meaningful relief there and I think well worth the the wait to get a a good product. Looking ahead to, um, 2026, um, we are we've explored a couple of different
online permitting platforms and now um, working on one that that integrates with our our website and what we've been in our online payments um, through through Civic Plus. um looking at that is very close to to being ready to be launched.
Um a big thanks to Erica um for all of her her work with that. Um um she's basically kind of spun this up from the from the ground up and put a lot a lot of time into that. Uh we're also working with GIS and communications on just
updating our permit complaint and violation kind of tracking system. So, a better way for us to um more efficiently um um track uh some of the the issues that may come in into our office and and
permitting things like that. Um like to look at potentially doing a a fee schedule update. It's been a long time since our um fee schedules has has been updated and we we wanted the goal with this would be to cover essentially the
the costs of having a meeting um or to also update our um um fees for uh violations or after the fact permits as well. Um, so not really looking to um we really would like to
keep our our fees low. Um, but we would like to be able to cover cover the the meeting notice and mailing costs because we've seen increased um costs, especially with with mailings out and and keeping the the public informed. And we've heard from the public, too, that
they really appreciate being in informed uh of that. And so we would like to to do our best to um continue to provide that service um at or beyond our statutory requirements. >> Matt, I I do want to comment on that particularly. We've talked over the
years about having appropriate nominal fees for some of these things. But um when you have larger intricate requests that we are noticing a substantial amount of people in the county all of a sudden and you're having multiple
hearings and and appeals, it gets to the point then where you're having a subsidizing of those specific applications coming from the general public. And so I, you know, it's it's tricky and difficult and I want to make
sure certainly that they're not astronomical, but um there are those outliers that cost a lot of money to run those things. And um that then takes away from additional services than that the
capacity of a department can utilize. >> Any other questions? All right. Anything else from your presentation? >> Just if you have any questions for me. >> Great questions. Commissioner Kavanagh, >> want to go back to the Buffalo River Lomar? >> So, is there after that mapping was
done? Is there something you um coordinate with uh FEMA? >> What um not necessarily what we'll need to coordinate with FEMA, but what they'll they've done is they've updated their map. So, I'm now working with um
the state of Minnesota and they're um the state flood plan manager and what we will have to do is update our zoning map to to reflect that. You typically with like a letter of map revision um FEMA wouldn't necessarily update the map.
They would just add a little um the letter essentially to the map saying, "Hey, it's different here." But in this case, they actually did go and they updated the the map. So, um, >> the reason I asked is about flood insurance, which you mentioned, >> you know, having insurance companies
agreeing with that revision or I didn't know if it took a special certification or whatever. >> Yeah, it would be that letter essentially. >> Yeah. Um, >> just Walmart >> and Yep. Just the law itself. And from what I've heard from property owners, the ones that I've heard from, it's been
a very smooth process with their um, insurance agencies. So, yep. >> Well, it was a long term long time problem. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Okay. Commissioner Campbell, >> is that Thank you. is that is that um letter then is that recorded on that
property >> to show that it's been removed from the flood plane? >> I don't believe that it would be recorded against the property, but if you were to go and look at the official um uh flood insurance map for that property, it would it would be reflected
there. lending institutions, do they look at that, Matt? >> They typically will. Yes. Yep. >> Thank you. >> And they'll want that letter. >> Yep. >> Additional questions. Questions?
Thank you, Matt. I also want to say that it's been great to see the excuse me, the expansion of the staff in your department and how we've been able to uh follow up on some of the concerns with folks. uh if you've not had a chance to attend a planning commission meeting,
everything is so well prepared and I know that takes a substantial amount of time. I appreciate your work there. >> Thank you very much. >> I appreciate all your support as well. Thank you. >> Yep. >> Okay. Item eight today is a request
approval to apply for the MPCA wasted food and food rescue grant. We have our public health director, Jessica Mickelson. Good morning. >> Good morning, Madam Chair and commissioners. I have two agenda items for you today and uh like Commissioner Mojo said, the first is requesting
approval to apply for a grant from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. Uh the name of the grant is wasted food and food rescue grant. Uh the purpose of the grant um would be to provide funding to reduce the amount of food wasted across
the state by supporting projects that would prevent surplus food from being generated, keep food from going to waste and rescue edible food that would otherwise be discarded and redirected for human consumption. Uh, so our intent
with this would be to work with the Minnesota or I'm sorry, the West Central Minnesota Food Council um and Klay County Public Health uh would um plan a community input meeting which they have tentatively scheduled for April 7th to
identify priority initiatives. Um the goal of the funding would be to expand capacity through the West Central Minnesota Food Council um to support communities increase food recovery and further reduce food insecurity across our region. And so, um, some of the
example projects that could be, um, approved would be, um, programs to focus on preventing wasted food or increasing food rescue, purchasing equipment or supplies, expanding transportation options, cold storage capacity, and uh,
you know, things of that nature. Um the initial in assumption based on um some preliminary information is that we intend to request anywhere from $75,000 to $150,000. Uh there is several million dollars
available through the grant. So it would depend on what would be awarded if the board approves for us to apply for the grant. Um let's see. I think that that about covers it. Any questions for me?
Any questions? >> Board wishes. There is an action requested. >> Okay. Well, I'll make a motion. I think this is forward thinking and it's certainly uh something we're all recognized as a problem in our landfills and we we need
to do something about it. So, if this is the beginning of helping us do that, uh I would move to uh approve the public health staff uh to apply for the MPCA wasted food and food rescue grant.
>> A motion offered from Commissioner Kavanagh, a second offered from Commissioner Ebinger. Any further discussion, >> Madam Chair? >> Yes. >> Yeah. in maybe followup to um Commissioner Krabanov's comments, you know, we've we've also had some when it
comes to um organic waste. That's we've had some discussions about organic at our solid waste area and maybe with what you're doing. It might be it might be good to kind of follow up with that
group as to uh what what this area is doing and and what what your goal is and what you would like to accomplish to see how that coincides with what they are working on. >> Yes. Yes. Certainly. And um Jason
Bergstrand will be the lead for this. So, I'll make sure that he's connecting and that um all the key players are invited to that community input meeting and have, you know, a say in in what um initiatives are focused on. >> Excellent. Thank you. >> Yes, Commissioner C.
>> and added that and I know uh Rory's part of the uh the group here, but also through the food commission. I know Erica and planning has been doing uh quite a bit bit of background work also.
Just hear your wire. >> Any other discussion? >> Yes, Commissioner Bear. >> When does >> when does the grant close on when would you find out if you received the money? >> Um the application deadline is April 28th. Um and I do not know um when we
would be notified. I'd have to check with Jason on that. >> Will you let us know if you do receive it or >> I will certainly send an email if we are approved. All those in favor of the motion signify by saying I. >> I. >> Oppose. Same sign. >> Thank you, Jessica. It passes. I am a
little surprised that you are not wearing a Morhead hockey jersey. >> If those of you that >> don't know, uh Jessica's son was part of the honored as part of the Star Tribune's all varsity hockey team. Uh
and he and his teammates will be competing at the uh state hockey tournament this week. So, all the best to uh your family, but more importantly, Spud Nation, and we're excited for them. >> So, can I just ask? So, I also heard is your son up for Mr. Hockey in He's one
of 10 finalists, right? >> Yes, he was. Ned for that as well. >> Yeah, >> we find that out this weekend, too. So, congratulations. >> So, we would have welcomed you wearing awards, but >> Okay. Well, now I'll know. All right. My um second request, and
we're really just bringing this back to the board. Um, so this is to finalize the uh Minnesota Pollution Control Agency enforcement action action funds and request to execute an MOU with the city of Morehead. Uh, so this was originally brought before the
commissioners on January 27th um to finalize the projects that were identified through the public input process um with the Budweiser settlement funds. So, Klay County received a total of $129,540
in settlement funding from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. Uh we have narrowed down the final projects and we have received final costs. So, uh when we came before you guys in January, we had estimates and now these are the
actual costs. So, um the River Corridor amenities came in just slightly below the estimate at $11,158.13. Uh the Arbor Day planting was right at the estimate of $14,574. The river corridor native plantings came
in quite a bit below the estimate at $13,447.30 uh which allowed us to allocate additional funds towards the crosswalks project. Um so the original estimate was around $51,000. Now we're able to apply
the savings from um the difference here um towards the crosswalk project and reduce the amount that Morhead Area Public Schools is having to uh contribute. Uh blue stem lighting came in right on at 25,600. And then our administrative cost also
was below what we had originally estimated. So about 3,000 less. So $6,55410. So, uh, we just wanted to make you all aware of what the final costs were. Um, so I have two requests. Um, one, final approval on, uh, on these projects and
then in addition, um, I'm requesting approval to enter into aou with the city of Morehead. Um, as you guys are aware, Klay County received the funding. We've been working with the city of Morehead. They will be the ones overseeing the projects and um, working with the
vendors. Jessica, I noted here the component that Morid Area Public Schools is funding in thatou. Do they have anou with the city or do they need to be in included in that contract?
>> Um not in here. Um I'm not sure that was something that the city worked out. So that I would assume um madam chair commissioners I think just in talking with Brian I think that because the funding is coming directly from the from the city for that portion
of the projects that wouldn't require anou. >> Okay questions from the board on the presentation. >> A note before we vote. I know this uh required a substantial amount of u public input and sorting through those
components and I know Patrick worked on that as well. Um I know there were others but uh thank you to the department for helping weed through this as you know that was not a Klay County settlement but uh you know we had were tasked with the charge of finding the
best way to utilize funds. Madam Chair, I move the final um project costs for the grant. >> Okay. We have a motion to approve the final costs for the grant. >> Second. >> A second from Commissioner Ebinger. Any further discussion?
>> Is that also to execute the MOU? >> I'd like that to be separate. Yes. >> Any further discussion? Any further discussion? All those in favor of the motion signify by saying I. >> I. >> Opposed. Same sign. Carried. The next
item would be the approval to execute theou. >> Madame chair. >> Yes. >> I'd like to present a motion to execute theou between Klay County Public Health Public Health and the city of Morehead on this item. >> A motion offered from Commissioner
Heinger to approve. >> I'll second it. >> And a second move forward from Commissioner Bear. Any further discussion? >> Yes. I I'd like this I'd like thisou to also state for long-term maintenance does not fall on the county. I do not see it in theou.
>> I'd like that to state state that in theou. >> Brian, was that perspective highlighted in that or is that something we could make a friendly amendment to? So it would be on the cities. So we don't we are not responsible for
long-term maintenance on the crosswalks >> plantings all of it. >> Jessica, does the city sign this next week or did they sign it already? >> They have not signed it yet. Uh, could a motion to approve have a friendly amendment to make sure that that
perspective is highlighted? Give the attorney's office more than 20 seconds to >> Yeah. Yes. >> Okay. That that that reflects the motion and second. Sarah, you have that. Right. Well, it does state um using the funds
solely for approved projects identified in theou maintaining complete act. Well, I know it was discussed. >> It was discussed. That's why I want to just make sure it's >> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> All right. Well, there I think we're
clear. The board's clear. Brian will have the opportunity to work that through and you won't need to bring it back. Okay. >> Any further discussion? Any further discussion? All those in favor of the motion signify by saying I >> I post same sign carried.
>> Thank you. Thank you very much. >> Item 10 today is the annual department update from West Central Regional Juvenile Center. Good morning, James. >> Good morning, Madam Chair, commissioners. Yeah, I'm here today to
do the annual update. I think it's this one right here. Here we go. >> All right, we'll just get right into it then. All right. Well, the West Central Regional Juvenile Center. So, um you know, there's our mission statement. Um the West Central Regional Juvenile
Center is a learning environment where the values of each individual are recognized, developed, and matured for the betterment of the community. All right. So looking at it, um the West Central Regional Juvenile Center is a licensed um uh children's residential
facility underneath 2960. So underneath that we have two different licenses. We have a secure license and a nonsecure license. So there's two distinct programs basically. And inside that there's different programs of each that we do. Um so I'll just start out with
the secure program. um that's been pretty stable for last four or five years. Hasn't been a whole lot of changes going on. Um but for some more background, the Secure program is part of a cooperative service agreement that's made up of 11 member counties. Um
there's the counties listed there. Um and how it's how the Secure program is funded is it's funded through um the members pay a yearly percentage based on their two-year look back. So, um, Klay County, for example, used 30% of the
placements. So, Klay County would be responsible for 30% of, um, the budget for, um, that following year, you know, and it kind of goes down, you know, there's some counties that, you know, like Stevens County would use like 1%.
Um, and they'd be responsible for 1% of the budget. So, that's that's where the funding comes from. And then also we get um a decent size of funding from non-members. So we take um youth when we have space. We take youth from
non-member counties in both Minnesota and North Dakota. Um but primarily Minnesota counties for our our secure residential program is what really drives those numbers. Um and with that we're able to offset some of the costs
for our membership. Um and then some other miscellaneous funding comes from just basically reimbursements through the national school lunch programs and reimbursements from counties or um whatever funds that we can capture. That's that's just a small portion of
it. Um skier membership um you look at the property map there um kind of all west central Minnesota and then Cass County um North Dakota. Um the benefits of being the member is um it's
guaranteed immediate placement. Um and that's that's kind of big. Um you look at juvenile programming um in juvenile corrections, excuse me, in in terms of adult corrections. Um the need is less
thankfully. So um ideally um not all counties need one, but regionally we need one. Um and then we provide that service. Um so prior to the expansion in 2018 um we did have um capacity concerns
um for our members which um we um got a new 20-year commitment. So the the cooperative service agreement is good until 2038. Um and we have with our space we have physical space for 65.
We're licensed for 55. I'll get into some of that in a little bit. Um, but the the membership benefit is basically we take care of a lot of anything. If a youth's placed with us, um, the sheriff's office doesn't have to do much anymore. Um, upon arrest, so like we'll
transport to court, we'll transport to medical appointments, um, everything from intake. Um, intake process for our members is is relatively quick. Um, you know, it's not uncommon down in the metro area for an intake, a standard intake to take a couple hours. Um,
versus with us, it's 10 minutes. Um, so we're pretty decent in that put. Um, members get program input. Um, we'll we'll customize some programming to fit their specific needs for a specific youth. So, we'll work with the probation
or the social services, whatever that individual youth needs. So that's kind of a big thing with the membership because we get a lot of youth right now across the whole state of Minnesota with youth that have high mental health needs but also their secure youth um but they
need psychiatric care um critically psychiatric care um and for our members we we will take that kid in the event that they can't get them into a hospital and then we will try to get them into a hospital placement and we'll we'll work that angle instead of the sheriff's
office or social services um sitting on that kid trying to figure it out. Um so we'll take that kid for um our members. For our non-members um they're going to have to just look elsewhere. Um so kind of there's two major programs in
our secure program. We have secured detention which is pre-adjudicated and then we have our secure residential which is adjudicated so that they're court ordered into that program. Um, one another side benefit then to the counties, the member counties is um, if you have we have the youth place in
secured detention, we can transfer some of those secure residential services, the mental health services, the the med management pieces and stuff if needed in the secure detention services side of things. Um, but basically common things,
you know, K through 12 education board public schools again does excellent job. Um the residential side of things um is mostly like case management stuff where we will whatever makes most sense. So if they're not going to be able to graduate, we'll go with GED track um
work all those different things um we got a bunch of secure data. Um so if you look at this, this is kind of looking at a two-year look back. So, if you look at kind of the usage, um, if you follow the the membership line and
the the total, the total is on the top. That's the green line. I believe it's green. Um, you you'll see that the members usage drives that number. And inversely, you'll see non-members. So, when our our membership need goes up,
our non-membership drops. Um, because we we're very we're very effective at about 42 youth. Um, so that's that's where we like to maintain. Um we have physical space for um 65 youth. We're licensed for 55. Um operationally right now
without needing to do any more hiring or anything. We're we're very effective at about 42 youth per day. Um >> yes, Commissioner Kavanagh >> microphone. Sorry. >> Was there a reason for the spike? I'm
just curious. >> October. >> In October. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. It was um there was a couple counties um that had significant member counties that had significant all of a sudden needs. Um and yeah, I'll show you that to answer that would be kind of
like in the next slide if you look at I just did Secur's average. >> So you look at you know sometimes you know you look at March of 24 um Klay County is averaging about 12 youth. Um and then you just slide down a couple months and they're averaging four. Um
counties vary. So like when Klay County is up, Ottertale's down. Becker County might go up. Ottertale might go down. Douglas might have one or two. Um so like even within these months, it varies too. Um so the whole thing is about the
cooperative service agreement and that membership is to kind of keep a streamline of about 42 youth in there where we're effective and we're we're not just sitting around or we're not overloaded where we can't do anything. So that's that's secures um kind of some
secure um offense breakdown. Um I like to break things into three different categories. Um you know personal, property and societal. Personal would be like you hurt somebody. Um property is you know property and then societal would be you know your your drug
offenses, disorderly conducts um that type. about of our secure intakes um about 50% of them are that a youth has physically harmed somebody else and most of the time it's significantly um and
repetitively um you know about 20% is for property and takes um and another about 30% is is your societal mostly all of our youth though in our secure program do have assaults in their in their past in their
background found. Um, so that's kind of another piece there. So that's just a general overview of our secure program. Before I get into the non-secure, does anybody >> any any questions on the secure part of the presentation?
>> We do have two commissioners that sit on your advisory committee. So we are um fairly updated on how comments and questions at that point. >> All righty. So, I'll move into the non-scare program. And this is the program that's had quite a bit of changes over the past couple years. Um,
primarily in our our non-scare program, again, we have two programs that fall underneath that. We have our non-secure program and our and our clips, our transition program. Um, our non-secure program, which I'll talk about first here, um, that's that has different components
inside that. Um, primarily the emergency program is primarily what it's designed for. Um so it's short-term immediate placement for law enforcement or social services. So these would be you know um law enforcement picks up a kid um can't find anybody to release them to. But as
soon as parent gets there, guardian gets there, we can release them. Um in the event that nobody shows up, we can get social services involved. We get the courts and we can figure something out for that youth. um sometimes the emergency placements um they're not able
to safely find a place to go and that kind of runs into our 29 plus program. So if the youth is with us for 29 days and we start case planning with them and we start moving things and the whole purpose of ours is to get them to somewhere else um more appropriate
placement um and that's that's where our case managers look at you know working with social services probation what do we need to do with this youth that that will able to get them in somewhere else the evaluation program we do that we've
been doing that for um over 20 years it's Uh great programs, always needed. We run about 30 evaluations a year and those primarily are for social services and probation where they have a youth that um they just can't quite figure out what to do. Something isn't working
right at home or in the community. Um and um they are looking to get some professionals to to see how well they behave in the facility, what works, what doesn't. And you know, there's psychiatry attached to that. um med management, um a psychologist, they'll
do different types of testing and and they'll submit a decent report to the court to make an informed decision on the stabilization program. I'll get to that at the end here. Um but kind of moving on to our clips, our transition
program. We started the female one. We got females started in there last year. Um, and the male program has has been in operation since 2019. Um, it's been very successful. Um, the picture cut off of
the one young gentleman there, but um, our youth when they graduate at this, they they get a Mor public schools um, diploma. So, it's an actual same diploma as everybody else. So, that's it got cut off there, but it's it's a official M public school and we graduate a lot of
youth. Um and sometimes um we go to the uh GED route um in the event that they're so credit deficient that um we we try to do something to get to provide them to so that they can go out they do different job shadowing job
opportunities. Um these youth can have jobs in the community. Um so um it's it's a well-received program um kind of um going through it. So stabilization,
this is where we've had the the most changes. Um kind of and I kind of put it out here. Um we're not a psychiatric facility. We remain licensed as a children's residential facility. Um however, we have responsibly adapted to ensure that youth in our custody remain
safe, regulated, um while appropriate long care to identify. So if you look at just kind of broadly speaking of different levels I mean this is just broadly speaking of um levels of care for youth. So at the top you have
your acute care needs your hospitals your ERS um below that's your your PRTFs and then below that would be something that we would fall under um in in some of our programming or residential and then below that is community based services. So, if you look at what's
happening across Minnesota right now, um there is a significant lack of the PRTFS, but what we have in this community is um a residential program that that we've kind of we've adapted quite a bit to take on
youth. So, what's happening across Minnesota is because there's lack of the middle two essentially, there's lack of PRTFs and there's lack of residential placements, youth are being pushed down or up. Um, so either they're being placed in a hospital and then kicked right back out
in the community and left to their own devices. Um, and then that cycle just goes back and forth. Um, in this community, we've adapted our nonsecure program to to be kind of a bridge and to try to get them into the PRTF while
providing a safe place so they're not left in the community to their own devices. Um, the parents or family members know they're safe. Um, and yeah, the the map there is part of that the initiative there that you've
all seen that kind of just shows that there is no PRTFS in this area. So then kind of just wrapping it all up, um especially for non-secure and I've always I always include this um out of home placement's never ideal. Um but for
the youth that that we serve at the juvenile center, it's it's pretty critical. um if they didn't have that option. Um you look at the one graph along the side, I always include this um was a study that was done about 10 years ago now or maybe 15 about juvenile
centers and ACEs and um adverse childhood experiences of of youth that are placed in juvenile centers. Um and if you look at what's going on in their home life before they're placed, um there's a lot of trauma in their in their home life. Um again that's not all
kids but it's it's a lion share of of the youth and without out of home placement options the these youth are left in in very traumatic environments where um it gets citrical and and problems happen and happen and happen.
Um, so I think that, you know, it's it's critical to know that there's there's it's not so much anymore, but 5 years ago there's a huge push to um all right cut out of home placements. Um, and that was very traumatic for some youth that
got left in environments. Um, but um, that's really all I have. I do want to say thank you to this board um and the community that we have the resources that we have over there um
because that's not available across the state. Um I get reached out to quite a bit all across the state now. Not it used to be our secure residential program. Now they're wondering about how we're doing the stabilization um and and that they're they're trying
to figure something out. So, um that we have the infrastructure, we have the um board of the community that supports it. Um and you know, we're we're not perfect and we're not in a perfect place. We got some ways to go in
Minnesota, but um we're doing what we can do here. So, >> thank you, James. Questions from James? >> James, your presentation was fantastic. It sounds like you want to testify more in St. Paul. you've done such a great job polishing that up. All jokes aside
though, uh our community is phenomenal and the support that we are hearing throughout um members all over the community about why it's vital to make sure that services like what you provide are still available to young people.
Your partnership with Mor Area Public Schools is fantastic to make sure that we're continuing education for kids to launch them into successful lives is the utmost. >> Uh but uh when we do go to St. Paul, we
hear quite frequently why it's not worked in other areas of the state. Why would it work? And uh your presentation just spoke to why facility a facility that we have is working. your staff constantly are triaging with other
departments or service providers on how we can better serve the needs of each individual kid. Uh that's that's never changed. That goal is is always been and so thank you for that. We're really hopeful that we can be successful at the legislature to um secure money to expand
and I know that comes with challenges but um we are really proud of what you do across the street and it's phenomenal and happy to help partner and lift that initiative. Any questions from the board? Anything else? Thank you.
>> Thank you. 11 is our request approval to advertise yearly supply bids. Good morning, Justin. >> Good morning. >> So, yeah, the first item I have is approval to advertise for yearly supply
bids. So, what this is is gravel for county roads. We also get prices if we want to buy batuminous from local suppliers, culverts, and then also construction equipment rental. The bids will be opened April 2nd at the highway department and then brought forward at the April 7th board meeting for
approval. >> Questions from Justin for Justin rather. You have a request to advertise >> to approve. >> Motion offered from Commissioner Campbell to approve as presented. >> Second.
>> A second from Commissioner Bear. Any further discussion? >> Just one question. >> Yes, Commissioner Bear. including gravel. Do you have any townships lined up to >> So that's one thing we did discuss at highway tracking. So in the past we have opened it up for townships. The last two years we've not received a single bid
for townships. So we did reach out to the townships that have gone with us in the past and see if they were okay with us not including them and they were okay with that. To circle back on that question, part of the reasoning is because no bids would come in for township specifically and then having to
go back to the township their advertisingment period, uh, it really got behind the eight-ball on that. So, wanting to work with them and see what worked best, this seemed to be it. >> Absolutely. Like you said, it would delay our bid by about a month and then by the time township realized they
didn't get a bid, they were I mean, it was almost into June. >> That's good. questions. Any further discussion? All those in favor of the motion signify by saying I. >> I. I. >> Opposed. Same sign. >> Carried. Item 12, the request approval
to advertise for SAP014-626-033. >> Yes. So, this is the project kind of the last of a three-year project on Casad 26. It's a mill and overlay from trunk highway 75 to the Red River. Um, we were going to wait and include kind of a road raise with the diversion authority, but
being that it is a floodway and the project not being completed, the FEMA permitting process just didn't allow for it and I didn't I did not want to wait another two years on this project as I felt like the road would not hold up to that amount of traffic. Um, one kind of
different thing about this project is the proposed letting date is April 7th. That is the 5:30 board meeting. So, I am proposing to do something a little bit different than we do in the past. Um, I'm proposing to open bids 9:00 a.m. via a team's meeting and in person at the
highway department, which does satisfy state statutes. Then I would bring the abstract to board that evening with the results and an action item. >> This did go to highway tracking. We discussed this really felt like that was the best option in regards to opening
the bids. that was the best option for contractors and given the fact that it's all online anyway, it was um the transparency element certainly was there and Commissioner Campbell and I did talk with you about the FEMA component and wanting to make sure that we are
certainly working with partners in the best way to get these projects done, but I I will say it's more than just I don't think it's going to um the road will last. It will be a public safety issue. Uh we've had roads in the past that we push too long and all of a sudden have uh big chunks of asphalt in the drive
lane and we're worried that could be similar. >> Any other comments on that? Yes, Commissioner Campbell. >> We also talked about um including in that the start date not to be until July 1. Is that is that still going to work? >> Um we're working through that. We did
reach out to a couple of the contractors that are working on that facility and that'll be in our proposal. It's nothing um we don't start advertising until next Monday with if this does get approved. So, we'll work through that and most likely it'll be a midJune start date.
>> Okay. I guess the reason that we talked about that is there's still an awful lot of trucks going over to that big project on the North Dakota side of the river and there's no point in building a new road so that they can beat it up >> definitely
>> all those trucks right away. So um I think our inner highway tracking we we encourage that to try to have a as late a start date as possible to avoid that. >> Yep. Absolutely. Madam Chair, I'll make a motion to
approve the advertising of SAP 014626033 with a leting date of April 7th, 2026. >> Second. We have a motion offered from Commissioner Barry, 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. >> Oppose. Same sign. The request carries. Thank you. Thank you. >> And then item 13 is a request approval to purchase a crack filler for the highway department.
>> Yes. So, um I'm proposing to purchase a new crack filler from Swanson Equipment in Fargo. Um we are looking to trade in our existing crack filler which was purchased in 2014. Then utilizing the Minnesota State bid for this purchase. This is a piece of equipment that we use
every spring. Um we do it all inhouse which I think is a great deal. Um the internal service fund is fully funded for this purchase and I did run it by Lori and she was comfortable with it. Guess any questions on the piece of equipment or how it's used?
>> We did talk about this at highway tracking as well. Um there is as you see a balance that will be remain in the internal service fund which is also positive. Additional questions, >> wishes of the board.
>> Madam Chair, I'll make a motion to approve the purchase of a crack filler from Swanson Equipment for $65,529. >> Okay, we have a 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. Carried. >> Thank you, >> Justin. >> Item 14 today, request approval uh for
outofstate travel. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Um Commissioner Mojo uh has been nominated by the Association of Minnesota Counties to attend the 2026 uh County Leadership Institute in Washington DC. in Washington DC uh May 31st through June
4th. Uh and so we would be requesting permission uh for out of state travel. Uh for the cost of this uh this trip, it is being covered fully by the Association of Minnesota Counties. I'd yield for any questions.
>> Well, I appreciate if I may. >> Yes, Commissioner. I appreciate your continued motivation to educate yourself and also bring back um you know uh additional uh information to provide the
best uh leadership we have and that working along with the association Minnesota counties. So, I'd make a motion to approve Commissioner Mojo to travel to the 2026 County Leadership Institute in Washington DC, September
May 31st to Thursday, June 4th. Is that correct dates? >> Yep. Just Sunday, not September. >> Said September. >> You said September. >> Second. >> Oh. >> Motion offered from Commissioner Kavanagh to second from Commissioner Ebinger. It's important to note one. Thank you. I
really appreciate the opportunity to continue to do the work here. Um, all of the costs will be covered by AMC and this is typically what they do with their incoming executive committee uh folks. So Barban Brekie attended last
year. They try to have sent one a year. >> Any other discussion? Any other discussion? All those in favor of the motion signify by saying I >> oppose. Same sign carried. Thank you. Does the board want to take a brief break or go? >> Go.
>> Okay. >> Right now we can leave or >> a brief break or do you want to do >> finish committee reports? I'm fine with finishing committee reports. >> Go. You want to take a brief break? >> No. >> Okay. Commissioner Campbell. >> Well, I want to take a break, but I don't. We'll just move on. >> Committee reports.
>> All right. Um, February 24th, we had a highway tracking committee meeting. We talked about the mill and overlay project, which we're going to be doing or Um, we talked about the cracker
and um, we did approve a request for the um, dust control. Highway recommended to go with just the cast calcium chloride bids and we did approve that as well. I think he's probably
going to be bringing that forward. Okay. On the 25th of February, I attended the Prairie Lake solid waste meeting. Um the plant is doing well. We had some
discussion about the um the DEA is willing to pay for um all of the medical waste that we have that's collected like that we have collected at the law enforcement center. There's some in Barnesville and and um all of that all
of that stuff ends up coming to Prairie Lakes to be incinerated, but there's a process in place where the DA will pay for that. That's referred to as household hazardous waste pharmaceutical.
Um then we we had a lot of other discussions and in regards to the uh ash management which uh I reported on before we have a project that's we're working on that
will really help improve the ash land the ash landfill. Um, Ottertale County is currently um putting a bill forward uh for bonding dollars
uh for that project and um they have they have asked that Prairie Lakes um support that bonding request. Um, keep in mind that that that is a if that if that were to
happen, that would be a significant savings for Klay County because the alternative is also very expensive, which means we'd have additional. So, there's a um there's a front and back page um flyer that
uh I think all of you were handed this morning and uh they have they have requested that uh when we're in St. Paul that we just give that to our legislators saying that we support it. That's obviously um it doesn't meet our
priority list and I you know we're told them that but it's still something that um I think all five county members on that Prairie Lakes board agreed that it would be important for us to support it. So, with that, I you know, I'm just
going to ask that um our county administrator bring can you bring these to uh so that we can h hand those out with if there's no objection from our board to do that. Um,
and I did get a request from the administrator, Southwest administrator from Fergus Falls or out of county to come in and sit in on our meeting with Representative Joy. I confirmed with Commissioner Mojo that
that would be okay. I did I did tell him that there might not be enough time within our aotted time with the representative to be talking about this project, but um he's going to come and sit in case we are able to talk about it in case there's questions he can answer.
So >> the other thing with that we should maybe communicate that we have a legislator um meet and greet scheduled at the Intercontinental and I know Representative Joy has been at that in the past. So, um if for whatever reason
there's not time allowed, we can connect him with >> and I and I can let um Mr. McConn know that that there might be another opportunity later that day. >> That works too >> at the meet and greet. So, >> all right. And then, uh Thursday we had our Klay County Solid Waste Advisory
Committee meeting. Uh we did uh we did have our new council me or new member was recommended and approved. And then I um Corey gave an update on landfill issues and I gave an update on
the PURM that I just talked talked about Thursday we had um that also on Thursday we had the Klay County Joint Powers Authority meeting. We had just a couple of action items. One was a commissioner
reimbursement. That's for the people who go out and and look at the items. That's up dealing with the courts and dealing with values, land values. And we did approve one additional farmland lease. And then at that
afternoon, we had the diversion board of authority meeting that Commissioner Ebinger responded to or reported on. Um we are rece we are did put in an application for $47.5 million request
for the WIFIA loan that was previously approved and that is part of the original finance package of the diversion authority. We have up to excuse me up to $569 million in whiff loans available to us. Those are very um
low interest loans that u we can uh get for us and then we don't uh we don't start paying those back till the project would be complete. And that has been part of our financial plan all along. And then we also um received word that
or there's been approval from the federal portion of the project which is the corors portion of the project. Over time there's been significant savings in those project estimates versus um versus final cost to the tune
of over hund00 million. and um working through uh our federal legislation with uh Senator Hovind uh and I believe Senator Cloverar has been part of that as well um and others um
that it's been approved that those those funds uh can still be put back for excess costs that the version has had to pay. So, it's really going to it's really going to help out with with
if there were to be shortfalls on the local side that that that that's going to be very helpful. So, thank you to uh the core and for for supporting that as well. And then for those that worked on that
uh I you were informed that um there's going to be it looks like there's going to be a a date right now. We've been instructed to save the date of October 26th for uh a big event that will be held here and and that will be basically
the finalization of the of the project. >> So um from my standpoint working on this from 2009 uh October 26 is going to be a good day. >> So um and that uh concludes my report.
Thank you, Commissioner Campbell, Commissioner Bear. >> Last Tuesday, I sat in on county lands where we discussed the Keen property that the county owns. This would be the property up by the county gravel pit in Keen Township.
We discussed putting that out on bid to rent that out. Matt Jacobson will be bringing that to the board here shortly to discuss it. We also talked about the state flood hazardous mitigation grant that we discussed earlier in that day about
paying uh the money received there. That's pretty much all that happened there. If anything else, Commissioner Mojo was also at that meeting. Then right after that, I also sat in on the out of home placement committee where
took in a lot there, opened up my eyes quite a bit. The main thing I came out of that was how much more overbudget we go with out of home placement our with our youth in Klay County. It's about a million dollars over budget year after
year. And we were he uh we got an update on how that works. If there's anything else on that, Commissioner Mojo also sat in on that one. And then on Saturday, I met with Senator Coopek and board me board
member Richard Menhold from the SWCD and a few local land owners up in Yulan to discuss the PWI. We went around and looked at a few locations throughout the county that the DNR wants to add to the public
waters inventory and we just gave a brief update to Senator Coopek on what how everybody's working through that and he wanted to be brought up to speed and check out check actually look at these pieces of property. So we did that Saturday afternoon and that concludes
all my reports. >> Thank you Commissioner Bear. Last week, I also attended the highway tracking committee meeting that was highlighted well from Commissioner Campbell. I attended the county-owned property meeting. Really good updates. Uh we do
have some additional insights in regards to how we want to maybe deal with um how we lease out things moving forward. Uh I think we had good feedback to staff on that. I also attended the out of home placement committee meeting
with Commissioner Bear. Uh those are really really challenging um challenging meetings as a human to sit through. >> Um >> I want our community to know that the children in which we are dealing with um
is about half of maybe the the population numbers that we were dealing with in 2016 2017. Unfortunately, due to the lack of placement of uh options throughout the state, we are seeing
about uh the same amount if not more financially. what the county continues to uh spend on that. Uh that goes into uh the work that this board has continued to uh pour time and energy
into the transitional uh component of the West Central Regional Center, the the clips programs, the PRTF advocacy that we've worked on. Uh there's not a a simple solution to that. Uh our are our