I often times would pull off good morning everyone I'll call the County Board of Commissioners regular meeting to order on this day of February 25th at 8:30 a.m. we start our
meeting with the pledge so please rise Al to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all are there any adjustments to the
agenda I would like to pull something on the uh consent agenda am I premature in asking this okay never mind we give me time to I make a motion to approve the
agenda I'll second that motion all in favor oppose same sign so at this time we go into a public comment period and um I would ask anyone in the audience who would like to come forward to um
give their um opinion um request for five minutes okay please sign in and tell us your name Steve Watson I'm not a even exactly sure what I want to talk about but I am going to
talk about a few things I I um so here's a scripture verse you might not be Christian that doesn't matter to me um under poor leadership the people grown and um I would say that is um
been what the what I would consider the board's thing is very poor leadership and so you know I came here a couple times and I've came four other times and haven't been able to speak but um the
first day was the first day that I found out that yorki was actually took a leave of absence before he even resigned and I talked to you about the administrator position the second time I came I talked to you about wages and having too many
people on the payroll um and that that is your responsibility so um you know then it comes out in the paper that um when you did the um when
you raised everybody's wages which I'm happy for them okay that's a good thing except you're taking from your neighbors to pay them you know you it's you aren't making the money you're you're sending a bill
to everybody and all those wages you know you raise you compared to Hanahan County hanpen county is Minneapolis they probably have more more um businesses on on their tax rols than we have
people we don't compare to henip and County at all do they have 90% public profer property how many people are are in their Levy to pay you you know it's like
and I think Scott County I think scottt county has um motanka Lake motanka every property around there is over a million yeah you have some million dooll properties down on the lake but not even close to what that place
Chanhassen so you know I to me so so here you deceived the public and you voted yes so I would say it's your five responsib ability to fix
it and I would suggest that the only way I can think that you could fix it is to freeze hiring and wages for 10 or 12 years you can't get a raise until you get to the right to what's right and
that you guys instead of hiring somebody to do your work you guys figure out what the real wages should be for Cook County and um and I you know I consider you like um the opposite of Robin Hood you steal
from the poor and give to the rich and and that's your legacy when you vote Yes you're responsible for that I have no confidence in you choosing a good administrator because you've only had
three administrators one died and two were rotten for the people who own property Terrible Bad leadership poor poor decisions your premise when you raised wages was based on this so I have
a scientific background the you you have a theorem you do a test on it and you check the check it to see if it's true your premise was that if we don't raise wages we won't get good people there's lots of good people in Cook County that
was a false premise and instead of did any of you do du due diligence on you know your job actually to check out what this company did when you raised everybody's wages did any of you do any
research on that and find out what they did I'll give you one more minute okay you know it's you're you're responsible your yes is you and now I'm going to talk about the government what's happening okay God always works
from the top down so what the government is cutting people and the budget it's going to come to the state and it's going to come here so you need to already start planning that you're not going to have as much money and that you
need to cut back and cut you've got 37 people on the payroll in public health alone that's I you know I somebody had to say yes to get that done my suggestion is about this administrator
position as you go through that you have to actually have 2/3 majority to hire one of them which would mean four out of five instead of three out of five because the three of you rarro most things
through as from my perspective thanks for your time anyone else thank you smile thank you busy thank you get I have
hi I'm Judy maacher I live in luten lived here over 50 years and I would like to have you approach this with an open mind give it some consideration
and I think it's a possibility I own this building that's on the front of your packet in luten to 2 and a half miles up the Caribou Trail it's 100 by 100 pre-cast concrete
building it's been there since 1976 it was an old man it's an old manufacturing building it's in place been maintained and kept up and I think this could be
utilized I think this could be utilized and repurposed and put into Service as this transfer station not to the tune of 8 and5 million but probably under four which apparently there's already three in
place with grant money so this is the first picture is this the building what it offers the second picture is the interior and this basically it's a mezzanine around
the entire three sides of the perimeter there's one side of the building that was engineered and structured so that it could be detached and expand the entire building to whatever size you need and
want the company who built this building is still in business and would work with you and at least tell you whether it was feasible to consider as a transfer station if they looked at the blueprints I think
they could give you a good estimate the infrastructure is in it has it's ready to go you could cut down your time frame considerably on the third page I list some of the positives for it
it's a 2 Acre Site zoned light Business Development Area there's an additional 16 Acres available as a buffer or to utilize for the building it has the expansion wall it has a
loading dock a drive-in door for vehicles mezanine on three sides of the building three-phase power is in place internet's in place there's an office an apartment the time frame would be
improved you probably could be in this structure by the end of the year because it's pre pre-cast concrete walls that could be moved in by this company that's in business and builds big buildings all the
time I would offer Cook County owner financing short time frame and get it structured so there would be no need to go out and do bonding and that bear that
expense um the tariffs are coming that's a big unknown I I doubt that this is going to be put in place for 8 and a half million I predict 25% more that's just my take on it I believe
in recycling reusing repurposing and I think IB would step forward and put this back into Service as a industrial building with more money I think this could be done with costing
the taxpayers very little you could skip the sanitation Solid Waste Service District the and Levy what's needed and our price is 79 799,000
and we would do that with owner financing We Own It All right so that's I'd ask that you consider it not just blow it off I know you're down the road a piece but you can change course and go
forward thank you thank you dudy did you sign in please on the right yeah okay anybody else so we have the uh consent agenda items here we had an addition late um
afternoon yesterday on a higher ed and um we have um put together a letter but I did invite Karen to just give a little overview of um the support that she's asked for the county uh commissioner
Sullivan so Madam chair um the letter of support is a separate item after the consent so um I think we should address the consent agenda first we'll do that first okay we don't have many items on the consent agenda but commissioner white you had a question I'd like to
pull number or discuss number c okay we can do that later um toward um toward the end of the meeting sure okay Madam chair I'd like to make a motion to approve the consent agenda as
amended support all in favor I I against same sign okay so Karen is going to just give a brief um overview of what um Community
Education means for us in the community and for us as a a county to support thank you thanks and thank you so much for taking this um request so quickly it came up quickly um I don't know how many
of you know but about a week ago I was contacted by the chair of the house higher ed policy committee and asked to come down and say who we are what we do and why they support us and um so you
can imagine that was a little alarming the first email said something like given the given the upcoming budget we're looking at everything the state of Minnesota through its higher ed budget supports Cook County higher education with 300,00
a year that is about um 60 to 70% of our budget so losing that money would be devastating I don't think we are in danger of that uh what I have found out since then and the reason that I waited saline to ask for uh a letter of support
is we weren't really sure what was happening and we didn't want to and we wanted the letters to be structured in such a way that they supported what we were going in to talk about and so what we have found out is every nonprofit that has a budget line is being asked to
to submit all of their financials for the last three years including um salaries and salaries of staff and any money that the board members receive also uh supporting documentation about how much we get from other people
and how much support we have in the community so we were able to turn that around really quickly we don't our board members don't get any money our salaries are very modest um and we do have the lobbyist that the state that the chamber uh hires that will speak on our behalf
and has gone around and spoken to people that are on this committee and they said yeah everything that we see from Co County higher education is great everything seems in line there's no it it it all looks good we're not talking
about you and so um I will be going down there on Monday and Tuesday to testify before the committee on Tuesday and meet with some of the legislators on Monday afternoon and Tuesday Morning Kelsey will be coming with me and so will rob Wells who is a student in the community
who has taken advantage of our services and changed his career so I want I would like to go with a handful of letters of support and so I that's why I asked the county and I've also asked several of your department heads for this as well
people that we've done customized training with and um especially Grace at in public health and human services we've done so much work with that part of your business C County higher education works with you to save you money we offer free as you can see on
this piece of paper you probably didn't have a lot of time to read through it but here are some of the things recently we provided this free CDL training to Cook County residents and the Cook County highway department hired three of our graduates we co-host events regularly with of Public Health and
Human Services and we provide all the event support So if it's a public event we advertise it we do the registration we have the space we support it with all of our technology you can see some of the um speakers and presenters and sometimes we share the costs of it just
depends we're always open to that Co County uses our space for the prevention Coalition and the food access Coalition meetings um restorative justice is in our building also that's not really associated with you but con tangentially
we provide customized training for your department for the um we had Excel we have CPR we're doing OSHA training with the highway department we have provided tuition scholarships and student support for your staff to attend long-distance post-secondary education so that they
are better educated individuals that work for you and um we partner often with the extension um Minnesota extension and the community center for naturalist events or Master's events so I think we're good value you
do give us $115,000 a year the money that we get from public health and and Human Services Grant what's the name official name of that the grants that they give out through Community grants I
think we do get that every year and we use that money to um underwrite our events so that all of our events since Co happen are free to the public so we use that to help pay for our events and support our events so that's my ask and I would
appreciate your support and be able to go down there and say we've got the support of the County Board I think that would have a lot of weight okay thank you very much commissioner Sullivan I just like to comment I want to thank Cook County higher ed for all that you do not only
for um government here in Cook County but for our entire community and recently a number of Commissioners were at our community leadership meeting and Kelsey Kennedy was there to talk about your upcoming visit obviously um you know your ask was was not at that
meeting but I think um it's really significant the work that you do and I would like to make a motion that we approve sending a letter of support for Cook County higher ed support any questions or comments all in
favor I oppose same sign motion passes unanimously thank you very much I really appreciate you getting me in so quickly thank you well this morning we have a a couple of uh public hearings so we'll work things in in between everything else so
I'll go maybe um to Brady could you fill us in kind of briefly on the changes in the county fee schedule um the highway department is
asking for two changes they've had a um a sign fee it's just States Cost Plus 20% so now they defined it more uh clearly in their policy to be the entire
sign assembly including all the posts putting it together and the labor Etc at $600 so they're asking for that it's in their current policy so we match the policy and the second change is for uh an
applicator uh fee and what they train applicators for uh um pest uh what do they call it yeah it's pesticide it's pesticide uh primarily and so they they
they're training the people that come to your house and it could be companies it could be individuals and uh so they have two people who are trained in that right now and they have six scheduled for the upcoming season and they'd like to have
a fee for that at $60 per person and uh for each category so it could be as much as 180 depending on the categories and uh then the
final of the auditor's office are liquor licenses we haven't changed those fees in over 10 years in the 10 to 15 year range and I've given you in your packet some examples from other counties what
they charge St Louis Todd Akin Sterns Douglas th this is what they had on their websites Chisago Olstead hubt and Goodhue and you can see the ranges for the on sale wine the Sunday uh sales on
sale liquor offsale beer strong beer offsale liquor there are two that have a legal maximum Sunday liquor is uh can be no higher than $200 anywhere in the state and off sale
liquor has a legal maximum of$ 800 the others do not have legal maximums so there are many many options uh Bev in my office the two of us looked at this
and came to a conclusion kind of a moderate increase of on sale wine going from 30250 to 500 on sale strong beer from 121 to 150 uh Sunday sales going from 121 to
the 200 maximum on sale liquor from 1,815 to 2,200 off sale beer from $60 50 to
$80 off sale liquor from five leaving that one alone 500 um you can see that the current licenses we issue are 59 in those various categories the change from the
current uh schedule to that option one schedule would raise the total uh fees from 3,770 to 38 8 10 um below that you see our seasonal
list because there are some that are only uh asking for these licenses when they're open in the summer seasons and there these are for six months of the year and so the fees we proposed here are exactly half of what you see for the
annual licenses and you see there we would raise another 4 um $56 uh uh you per year so that's that's just one option and that's uh you may
you may approve that today what we suggest or you may want to think about it um because it's a you may want to consider other options but but those are the requests today but you have to have the public hearing before you approve
anything any thoughts on this commissioner gamble thank you madam chair thank you Brady um one question I have is what was the rationale that selected the counties that we use as
comparison uh the they had it on their website okay so it's basically convenient of access to information it it was convenient I picked some that were of different size counties I wanted to get uh Douglas is are similar to us
yeah um in the tourist economy um but as you can see just from the sampling there's there isn't any clear Rhyme or Reason I remember when these there was lots of talk when counties were changing fees and there was lots of sharing of
information I haven't seen that at all in this last 10 plus years um people are going their own directions and there isn't a lot of collaboration on these fee changes as there used to be but so we're really
just taking a uh we could take a closer look um someone suggested yesterday that we look at the the counties that we based our compensation study on for uh there another um option board may have other options as to who they want to
look at for comparisons but to get good current information then I should go uh speak to each County specifically on each one of these because even the ones we picked on the website some of them were a couple of years old three years
old um so if you want we could do a a more in-depth and but I'd want to know which counties you guys want to look at for example continue thank you madam chair yeah and I would just say as a as a just
a matter of practice when we make proposals if our proposal coming to the community is simply to say we haven't changed these in 10 years so we're going to change them then it makes sense that things should be Revisited uh but I I would encourage that the basis that
informs our decision is well reasoned so that we demonstrate to the to the community that that this is the basis on what we're doing that and hopefully people then see that we're doing our due diligence and trying to be as Equitable and fair as we can in this and uh so
that's just my observation that's why I asked the question about who are we comparing to and my recommendation would be that that we would do as as similar as we can in similar um uh demographics relative to tourists you know things
like that in our comparison so that uh anything that that we use to inform ourselves as decision makers is is credible and and um so but I I appreciate the information I looked at it from an average you know if we took the average over those
comparable counties but that that's on a premise that those counties are rightly related to us so my recommendation is that we make sure that we get as similar as we can and then look at how that works out and then I think it puts us in a position to be
better better you know to support a decision thank you any other thoughts comments commissioner white it would behoove us to have Brady um get some more current numbers from
like sized counties I mean we don't yeah I don't know how this impacts a retailer from selling like I have no idea what liquor sales are for individual establishments or anything like that so
um I don't know how to direct you except we need to have current information and maybe somebody somebody knows more I know there's people that know more than I do about the liquor sales and how that
goes and uh maybe the city who has could help um with some guidance on who would be the best compar able counties I don't know
I but I do believe we need to have more current information and as a for for the process um we need time to think about this so I believe a decision should not be made today but in uh an upcoming
meeting anyway yeah I guess I I'd like to hear from all Commissioners is your um what you think is important as far as the size of County
versus similarities in tourism um but there may be other factors too like uh certainly around the brainer area you'd say is more similar to us than other counties uh Lake County of
course just down the road um northern counties what any any sense of direction from others Mion Sullivan surely well I appreciate the information that you have gathered it is very difficult although I
haven't researched um liquor as an example I have tried to gather information from other counties and it's like pulling teeth and I appreciate you going to the websites and trying to find um as accurate and update information but it's very time consuming and it is
that is a cost when you are um you know doing that research um one of the things I do agree with is looking at the size similarities uh tourism in Douglas County is frequently a county that I do look at and so I think some of the
choices that you've um selected are very very appropriate and I I would support um you know looking at these fee changes today I think they're very reasonable when you drive through uh Two Harbors you see this brand new big liquor store
there and I can imagine they're not going to keep prices low either so maybe a county like Lake and aen and something that would be comparable to us um would be helpful articles that I read in the
paper also is that um there's different um likes of um liquor these days and more and more are going to the non-alcoholic and beer seems like the craft beer and we don't you know that might be a consideration too but um
maybe more similar size counties would be helpful commissioner white um who consumes more alcohol in our County tourists or locals just a question I mean I don't really care but
who by sales you know is it um maybe that would be some way to decide which counties to choose because if they have a high tourist population and tourist
purchase a a great percentage of the uh sales then maybe we should um decide the counties buy receipts m San I don't know that there's
any way to track how um liquor sales are are um between residents and non-residents I don't there is no way to track that um right and we also need to keep in mind the difference between a municipal liquor store and the County fees that Brady is talking about um you
know we don't want to go to communities that have a City municipal liquor store when we're looking at County fees so I I support the communities that you've already looked at yeah most of these are uh
Resorts Etc um restaurants Etc that that sell alcohol it's probably the resort commissioner Mills yeah I would probably um lean towards um communities that have the high highest rate of
Tourism I think that's a a good way to go I don't know how many we want to look at but I'm absolutely certain that that is the primary driver of liquor sales both on and off sale in our community um
the fees are nothing to sneeze at um but uh it's uh for example the on sale you know liquor for for a bar is 2200 bucks if that's if that's what we go to currently it's 1,800 um versus off sale is uh for just
beer it's 60 to to 8 that's a lot easier to to incorporate into a business model um but I know that revenues for on sale are are quite high with with the bars in our in our community too so um like I said it's nothing to sneeze that it's
not nothing but I am confident that the businesses can absorb it but I agree with commissioner gamble that it'd be really good to have uh a stronger rationale as to how we determine it and and I think both commissioner white and um I guess all of us probably are talking about tourism communi so that
makes a lot of sense to me Bard Lakes makes sense um I don't know I don't not the best way to determine that metric commissioner gamble thank you madam chair yeah just to say that I mean the due diligence part of it is in some
of these instances based upon the figures we look at we've got 65% increases so you know as as a business that's seeing impacts on multiple levels and we know we're going down you know to the legislature right now because of
impacts on us when change takes place place so I'm just saying we want to do our due diligence any other comments so Brady we have given you a good directions yes it's helped yes and then we'll table this until we hear you
from you further I guess we'll have to set another hearing for it m I'll come back to you when I have information okay sometime later in March I imagine so do we need to have a motion to
table yes I'll make a motion to table I support any further comments or questions uh to clarify are you going to approve the highways fees yeah independent
those yeah there three items right right so there's still the highway fee question mhm um what is the intention of the motion was it I assume just to table that item y just those that was my so Madam chair
then if what we're looking for the board based upon Brady's presentation and their request is coming from the highway department we would make a motion to support the highway Department's request and we would table the item relative to liquor licenses right
I think we need to have a public hearing before we can um change the the other oneing has yeah so we can table the we can just take it off now the the liquor and then do what you're saying correct
okay so we had a we had a motion in the second mhm okay all in favor both same sign all right so it's a little bit after nine so so uh Brady I'll turn that over to
you then for the public hearing yes so this is a public hearing to consider changes to our County fee schedule and right now we have two fees to consider both for the highway department um ass sign assembly fee of
$600 and a $60 application fee and we'll take comments I do not hear any comments or see anybody do comment so should we close the public hearing and close the public heing then
okay all in favor iose same sign so we agree that we've done all this for the highway and we're going to wait on Brady to come back to us with the um liquor information okay so Madam chair I think we need to
um make a vote on the highway projects I was um made the motion to close the public hearing okay then we'll make a motion on the um Highway request of set a fee of $60 for the pesticide applicator and the roadside assembly the
fee up to $600 commissioner gamble yeah thank you madam chair so I would make a motion to support the highway Department's request those two fees and I'll second that motion any further questions or comments on that all in favor I oppose same sign
motion passes unanimously thank you everyone we have another public hearing at 10:00 but in between all of this um I wonder if um Nea would be available she's in the
audience there to move on to Land Services good morning good morning so I have three items for your attention today the first two are from the C Planning Commission earlier this month uh this these are proposed amendments to the Cook County wind
energy conversion systems ordinance for those of you unfamiliar with what this ordinance does it has the purpose to provide a balanced regulatory framework for the placement and operation of wind energy Towers in Cook County historically this or ordinance was nested under the tower ordinance and
those were uh separated around the 201s era the changes proposed in this ordinance were identified as staff to add Clarity to our regulatory expectations uh when we were having a resident reach out to us wanting to put up a little windmill on their property the way we read through this ordinance
made it similar made it sound like the requirements for a residential Wind Tower were the same requirements as like a large commercial wind energy system um so as staff we were reading through and very perplexed by some of the language
that seemed rather conflicting and frankly unnecessary for regular residents so we put together some proposed changes that we feel adds a lot more clarity and makes it much more reasonable for a regular resident to put up a windmill on their property and we
put those changes forward for public comments we received no written comments from the public nor at the public hearing and the Planning Commission went through those proposed changes and recommended unanimous approval of those proposed changes before you today any comments or questions
commissioner gamble yeah thank you madam chair yeah um reading through the documentation I I would just like to uh applaud the uh the whole process and the narrative that uh
informs um investing in in um changing in any ordinance or law or whatever else that the public wants to know the rational the thought behind it and what forms the decision and um I think that
the the the the discipline that's that's involved in that process uh I was very impressed and I appreciated the narrative that supported the recommendations and for all of those that that pay attention and look at
changes it's like we just discussed we want to see integrity and process well informed decisions and it's easier to get behind those so I I certainly are we looking for a motion you want a motion on all these uh to support to support yeah yes
so Madam chair I'd make a motion to adopt the proposed amendments of the Cook County zoning ordinance number 37 as recommended by the Cook County Planning Commission at their February 12th 2025 meeting with two modifications of sections 2.09 and
2.72 as recommended by staff support salivan Madam chair um believe that this is the wind energy conversion which is ordinance number 63 would you like to amend your sure
motion thank you commissioner I appreciate that motion we'll get to that so we have an amended motion and I'll support any further questions or comments I'd just like to say that um on
behalf of the Planning Commission Neva does a very very thorough job of reviewing ordinance work and I think the the critical pieces are that they're clear and understandable to the public things are reasonable and I really appreciate
that any other questions or comments we have a motion in a second all in favor I oppose same sign motion passes unanimously thank you and then as commissioner gamble alluded we have a second set of ordinance this one is a
little bit more complex the joy of bringing items to you at this stage of the process is there's a little history behind how it got to you so I'm going to try to give you a general overview without getting too mucked in the details because I know you have a lot of business today so these items in the Cook County zoning ordinance were
assembled by staff uh on a few different issues uh primarily the proposed changes were to add Clarity again some illustrations to help land owners and people looking over this ordinance understand uh what a bluff is and how we measure that uh some of the other
changes were to relax our requirements for accessory structures in certain Zone districts uh relax the RV permitting in certain Zone districts under certain requirements And to clarify the permitting requirements of solar panels tiny homes and Park Model
units when we legally noticed this we did receive one written comment from the DNR regarding the bluff language and I will touch back on that again but that was the only written comment that we received and then at the public hearing there was nobody in person to comment on any of these proposed changes when we
brought these forward to the Planning Commission meeting we had a very thorough discussion on each of these different Provisions the bluff definition uh created some discussion because the DNR wanted us to add in a little bit of a clarifying statement
with regard to Lake Superior Bluffs and the Planning Commission felt some of the language was a little confusing so they the Planning Commission recommended a definition for the bluff am amendment that was separate from what the DNR stated when after the Planning
Commission meeting I reached out to the DNR about the planning commission's recommendation and she clarified her original statement so in your packet you've got an option one and an option two under the bluff definition and so I'm recommending the option two which is the one that the DNR uh added after the
Planning Commission meeting to address the confusion that was caused through that process I think uh definition number two is going to add a lot more clarity for everyone with regard to the accessory structures um we the ultimately the Planning Commission had a
lot of discussion about that and they felt that that would be better to have a little subcommittee and further discuss that it led to a lot of what ifs SS or or otherwise uh questions so very great discussion and so we may come forward again with another run at those types of
Provisions to add more flexibility for property owners then we had a lot of discussion about uh Park models and tiny homes so the the joy of being in Land Services is that our off job jobs are always changing
people are always creating new things to do and industries are always creating new products so tiny homes and park models have come on the scene over the last couple of decades our office has created a policy that's been applied for about the last 10 years on how to handle these units so essentially Park models
and tiny homes are most aligned to be an RV V Park models iate definition in an RV by the RV industry so it's difficult when people want to bring it out on their property and use it for a long-term residence so our office was grappling with how to
handle that and so they created standards to expect people to essentially camouflage these units so that if you want to have it on your property long term uh we will give it a land use permit just like a normal cabin but it has to be camouflaged to look like a cabin and then with that um it's
Al eligible for the vacation rental license because it gets the land use permit and is similar in our view from a land use perspective uh just like any other cabin able to be used as such so that led to a lot of discussion with the Planning Commission uh there was it was
exciting as far as Planning Commission meetings go there was a a motion to change all that camouflage language and just totally remove it which I was concerned about because it creates two different permitting processes an RV permitting process and a land use permitting process with essentially no
difference between the two and that's confusing for everybody um and the individual who wanted that provision has a tiny home and and felt that it wasn't needed um so he has a personal uh perspective on that and ultimately the
Planning Commission reviewed kind of the full breath of this process and why our office was recommending what we do and they voted uh 5 to one to recommend approval of that language so that's towards the end of this section of ordinance under uh
16.03 uh M I believe yep M so overview of tiny homes and park models so it doesn't get too confusing they kind of are RVs they really are RVs for Park models we call we're proposing to call both of these tiny homes because we in our office do not want to get in the position where we're trying to
distinguish what's a tiny home and what's a park model we're not doing inspections inside or anything like that so for our perspective it's a small little thing that's brought on on its own wheels it's movable much different than a stick buil cabin so I'm happy to get more into those weeds if should you
care to um but the big picture of all of that is that the Planning Commission recommended the original language proposed by staff for those provisions and then uh there was one other change with the recreational vehicle that I'm proposing um so at the Planning Commission meeting we have
these different types of recreational vehicle definitions and one of them is the idea you can have a recreational vehicle come out to your property during the summer time as long as you take it off your property by the winter time you don't need a permit and that we call that the incidental recreational vehicle
usage our office was proposing to put a time frame around that so it's a little bit more clear to people and we s originally had language that said no longer than nine months but then after the Planning Commission meeting we had further discussions and we thought to ourselves well who's going to be tracking when that 9 months starts
that's going to create a headache so we're proposing it again just aight slight modification again this is an option two definition in your packet that states a certain time period between April and December so that um at December 31st our land use specialist knows that they can go out in January
any RVs out there either need permits or they need to be removed from the property so again provides much more clear regulatory guidance for Citizens and our staff and with that I did put a table in your packet to kind of summarize these different modifications between the Planning Commission and staff's recommendations and that's on
page 42 of your packet and I'm happy to answer any specifying questions if you'd like so Neva I do have a question about the removal permanently off of the land and then bring it back on like in April for a
rental and where would they go with it because it's their land yeah not for a rental right it's it's just a recreational vehicle so a person's use and so the idea is these are a lot of the seasonal type people so it's you come up here you have your your property
that you use for recreational activities you take it back home to your property in Winona or wherever else so we didn't or people here you know people live in town and have land up the Gunflint so bring it back to your property here whichever just trying to create a
distinction of when you need an RV permit and when you don't and we've determined that we don't want to require RV permits for people who are just bringing their their RV up for just the summertime use okay thank you commissioner white so you couldn't just
tarp it for the off season and leave it in place it could be if it gets the RV permit and that's an administrative permit okay commission Mills um as far as the timing of the removal
um was that discussed just as far as the practicality of I ideally people would remove it by December 3 you know I was even thinking before because at December 31st it could be quite a challenge yeah I mean creating these time frames is a little arbitrary essentially you know
our former land use specialist Joseph Ruth who retired a couple years ago he he always had the application of if there's snow on the ground the RV should be gone unless it has a permit and so that's what we're trying to interpret into an ordinance but I don't want to get into a Scuttle with someone determining whether or not it's snow and
it's flurries out so and we've had December 31st without snow sometimes commission Gamble yeah it's similar to if there's no ice in the lake the fish house should be gone so can I make that motion that I
said before at this point in time then if there's no other discussion or I rehearsed it so yeah I'll I'll support that thank you okay is are there any other questions or comments we have a motion and second all
in favor I opposed same sign motion passes unanimously thank you so much and the third item I have for you was a request from the Minnesota sea Grant Minnesota National SE grant program so this email came in last week um with regard to a request to
Advocate support of those programs our office works with the SE grant program on various items that provide technical assistance to land owners and ourselves so most recently that I've directly been involved with was a coastal hazards of Lake Superior program so the seant
funded uh various professionals Coastal Engineers different Regulatory Agencies along Lake Superior to talk about the changing um landscape along Lake Superior and what we're predicting and and all sorts of things so that that's one example another is they provide a
lot of Outreach to land owners for Native plantings and storm water and then over the last couple of years our office has been working with them on a they call it a code audit for green infrastructure so essentially they have an expert from uh a university that specializes in zoning regulations and
she's been helping us go through our zoning ordinance to identify ways to uh think about innovative ways to address storm water on private property so those sort of things are on the back burner that aren't so public but uh we appreciate their assistance and I'd be happy to add you know fill out their
support form uh if that's your board's pleasure okay see Grant is they do a wonderful job here because we all live on the shores of Lake Superior and I've seen him out there doing testing and all that type of thing any other comments or
questions on this uh Madam chair I'd like to make a motion to write a letter of support uh advocating for the Minnesota and National SE Grant programs second any comments or questions all in
favor I oppose same sign motion passes unanimously thank you so much thank you okay so we have um a time frame here we have a public
hearing at 10: but maybe we could have um Human Resources come and fill us in on that perspective Ellison plumber is going to join us good morning good
morning okay we got a few items on the agenda today so first one is um some jobs brought forth uh as part of the job description and job grade review process
um there are six that are included in your packet today and I'll just Briefly summarize um those requested changes recommended changes for today's approval uh so the first position um there's some
kind of more changes that are represented in the packet today that I want to talk about so this is formally the environmental specialist position currently Tia Parks is in that role up at the highway department um so in your job packet is the updated job description that is going to be renamed
just a inspector the agricultural inspector which is currently a part of role um the name change in the job description the job position better reflects the actual requirements of State Statute why we have that position and and her duties um in that role um
that position is going to be um transitioning to a supervisory role and I'll explain how that works in regards to the second bulleted item um but with the change to a supervisory role um the job grade recommendation is to change
that from a one 60 to 170 and not just because of the supervisory thing but just the general re review process uh let's see um and to note to for that position moving to a supervisory position it has also met the
uh conditions to be flsa exempt and then Tia that position will be removed from the 49ers Union coverage as well the second bulleted uh job is the Environmental technician so this is
technically a new regular position uh this was budgeted in the 2025 Highway budget and if there are any questions I do have County engineer house here uh this position is actually going to um
it's transitioning their seasonal environmental worker position which is only filled seasonally during the summer and this person supports that agin Spectre role this uh That season position is transitioning to a year
round uh part-time right more so part-time permanent part-time um position and the uh they will be supervised by that a inspector role so I have a new job description um and that oh I don't have the grade on that one
here that one the grade is recommended I believe it's a 160 I apologize I didn't put that in the um agenda here in the in that memo uh the next one is the County engineer position we have an updated job description and a recommended change in
job grade from a 240 to a 260 then we have the information systems director uh often referred to as our Mis director uh it includes an updated job description and a recommended change in job grade from a 240 to a
250 uh we have our phhs director it includes an updated job description and a recommended change CH in job grade from a 240 to a 250 and then we have our first uh job family that's been reviewed in Public Health Human Services we have our Public Health Educators so this
includes an updated job description and then uh addendums that we are now using for our job families so you'll see that kind of different format um included in that job description um and recommended that that job grade remains where it is currently at at a 170
thank you on that any questions for Allison commissioner white um Allison for the public could you explain why what up when we update a job description how does that process work I
know it's DDA but like does that mean that when they're updated with we're finding out that uh these employees are doing more work than there is actually in their job description and so they should be
compensated I mean they're doing stuff that needs to be done but it's not in the job description that they were hired under so is that the reason that they the job description is Rewritten to include what they actually do good
question so there's a lot of factors that are involved in this process and I'll just kind of start from the beginning explain I'll try to be respectful of time um but the process just in general the process when a job um is up in the queue the the time frame
then we send I send the current job description and then the appropriate like review forms that are provided by DDA to that incumbent that employee and their supervisor they have um roughly like a two-e period to hopefully like
keep the time frame moving um to review the job description and provide updates like are you still doing this is or something that's not included uh because jobs progressively change and so it's important to make sure that the job description now accul reflects the duties of that position not the person
but that position so then after there's that review process on their end like okay it's good here's our revisions they send it back then I send it forth to DDA for their review then we get it back from DDA say okay I've looked at the
revisions here is what I'm sending back to you incorporating that maybe some template changes language changes um that fit how they review the job descriptions then I forward that back to the employee and the supervisor okay here's the revisions back from DDA
please review make sure it looks accurate did you by chance forget anything or see anything that needs to be further updated that maybe was missed the first time and so there's kind of this back and forth process of let's make sure the job description one it
once it is in the place that it has everything and is agreed to by the supervisor and the employee then it goes back to DDA and then it's the grading is reviewed using that Keystone classification system so then then that goes back once that's graded to the
employee and the supervisor saying hey here's the grade and there's an appeal process and a discussion and once we get the thumbs up that they agree with the grade then it comes to the board um so in terms of the changes that we see could be a multiple there could be a
multitude of different factors potentially at the job description the essential functions of the role has changed and whether something was left out before or things have been added and modified um over the last several years from the last time it was reviewed that
could lead to a change um a lot I would say a lot of the grade changes that were seeing are due to first we added the 270 on the pay table because we were experiencing ing that compression at the top and not being able to move the top
level positions into the proper grades that also meet the pay philosophy that the county set out um so when Tessa who I work with with DDA creates the memos of um providing the summary of why those positions change she usually does a
pretty good job at explaining like this is why we've moved it so for the County engineer for example for Robbie's position in her Memo she writes this position was underevaluated in areas of responsibility and accountability on the
job and then also talked about we previously were not utilizing the the pay table the Line 270 and so there was compression there so in utilizing the Keystone Matrix where areas of responsibility and accountability are part of the scoring process and then
removing that cap that allows like that specific position to move so don't know if I answered your question so it's definitely it's it's it's a complex process and there again are multiple factors that could indicate movement on the grades thank you and I believe I
mean this is for this is a a subject that could be talked about or explained many times but it's for the voters to be able to better understand so what is the rate what is the dollar per hour rate
increase from a 240 to a 260 or is it is it consistent and I'm asking these for the the public who hasn't looked at the charts and and have the paper in front of them but if you go from a 160 to a 170 what is is it a consistent dollar
per hour um increase every 10 every 20 you know every 10 I mean it's in t so right so no there is not a specific dollar amount or
percentage change for these positions what we do is we've got our pay table our pay G you've got the grades on the one side you know from a 100 to a 270 and then we have our steps so when there are positions reviewed and a grade is changing we look at what is the current
grade for that position so let's take the a inspector for example so right now that position is a 160 then we look at what is the step that that incumbent is sitting at so maybe that person step excuse me is the amount of time that a person has been in that position
typically yes that's usually what it refers to is years of service yeah so let's say that person is at a 160 that's a grade for the position um that that individual is say at a step five so what we do when that grade changes and this
this practice process was set in place going into the job description review process so I think between like um former HR Director Leah extrom and former County Administrator James Yorkie decided to reduce the impacts of the um
Financial impact on the budget when we see these grade changes is that when a position the grade increases we then look at what would be the step going backwards in that new grade that would
be slightly higher than the current pay so in the case of the a inspector let's say 160 step five is such and such dollar if we go up to 70 typically you go back steps as you go upgrad so then we would look at okay well step four is
the pay rate slightly above where they're currently at we don't do a horizontal change cuz that would be a much bigger impact so the reasoning behind that reduces the impact But ultimately the person is now going to have a longer earning potential because
now that they've moved back steps and it's not meant to be a a punitive um practice but now if that person's at step four now they have at least one more step to move through on our pay table because our pay table goes through step nine they will have longer earning
potential over years of service if they stay with the organization well thank you for that explanation and the Hand the hand movements help I just naturally no no but what I'm saying is that's like the group exercise but it it helps to to be
able to understand it but for someone just on the outside world listening in their eyes have rolled and they are so anyone has any questions somebody here can will be able
come on in give a call and we'll try to explain it better to you or to help you understand I think the explanation was fine but it's sort of like teaching someone negative and positive numbers or Den it's just like repetition and then using different
language but thank you for that explanation you're very welcome and I want to say thank you for asking to because I I don't it's a very complex process especially if you're not a part of it and it's better to ask question than to make assumptions about the process thanks commissioner gamble thank you
madam chair um yeah thank you for the the explanation it uh sometimes pictures help to bring meaning to words especially when they're in the context of things that we're not normally used to using um
in my first term the Personnel committee made those decisions and so a department head would come in and present the job description we'd look at it we had our Matrix which weighed where we would Benchmark that individual and then we would look at you know the pace
structure as it was and um uh both commissioner Mo and myself uh we found often times when we talked about the the metrics that was used to evaluate these things that uh job descriptions would get Rewritten in order to include the language that was found in the metric so
that the pay seemed to change uh consistent with language that was found in the job description um I would I would say just fundamentally that the premise under which we operate when it comes to
compensation um the decisions we make relative to benefit packages pay increases I've always said that performance and loyalty are two things that we should reward and uh that's been built into our system um I would say
from the public standpoint that when we look at pay increases which have been significant and um in the last seven years we've seen a 61% increase in Pay increases which if you compare that with
the cumulative inflation at 28% is more than double um and so so uh as was mentioned in the public comment period that those people that are paying uh a large portion of this and it's
significant obviously in budget um it's it's very difficult when they don't see the increases that are coming to them um and so uh again having been part of the first Keystone uh compensation study uh
the results and findings of that and uh the premise that sets directions similar to what Brady's question was this morning relative to where we're going to put you know liquor licenses we need to have a context to understand that is
well reasoned and well positioned and um my issues with the um the the pay grade the system has nothing to do with the personalities because we've got some excellent people in in positions and uh the county
benefits because of that but but um I I think that the the the premise under which this whole thing is operating is certainly suspect and uh I have that context uh given the process that I was part of before and I I don't like to
refer to the process before as though you need to do it this way because that's what I cling to but I do believe that there were disciplines in that process that just like we're trying to build in The credibility in in proc is
the narrative that informs as we discussed with Neva uh those are those are things that that I'm I'm I'm struggling with uh because of the context and the perspective that I have uh and it it's two things it's where we
CH choose to Benchmark our our pay grade and it's how many staff do we need and if you look at the U the egg position that egg position was something that was covered by our Highway engineer in the in the past I'm not saying that obviously things change in that
responsibility with everything else that's growing we need to step back and re-evaluate but when I look at the environmental technician position now that's going to make the EG position a supervisory role which that bumps things up and if you looked at the Minnesota
Department of Agriculture uh when it comes to inspectors and I I went to their website to find out in the 87 counties in in the state of Minnesota and I'm I'm certainly open to if I'm misreading this that I I I want
accurate information but of the 87 counties 68 of them only have one egg inspector if they had additional people that were supporting that position it was listed and so we had that 78% of the counties in the state of Minnesota have
an egg inspector and there are 16 counties that would have two positions and there are two counties that have three and there are one County that has four um so what if you look at the comparable
counties that were used I'm talking comparable counties to Cook County uh 91% of those counties um all have one there's just two in our comparable counties that had the other so from my
standpoint as a represented on behalf of people that elect me to position I need to I need to have a solid basis in the information that informs my decision when I support these things and I I want to be very respectful of that and certainly of the work that you do the
good work that you do and U we've seen change because it just gets to be more things that we have to handle I just want to be sure that that that change is well reasoned and I want to be sure that the premise the basis under which pay is
is assigned is starts from a good place as well so thank you for listening so we have um two areas of um motions the first one is what we're discussing the second one is going to be the extension we could do them separately so um if
there's any further comments I'll ask for a motion to approve the job description and the job grade updates so move Madam chair support any further comments or questions all in favor I oppose same
sign we have four Ys and one nay and then we can move on to the extension of the resignation date okay um I have a thought um wondering I
believe that the approval to hire Paul Olen was pulled from the consent agenda which relates to this item okay which one would you like to address first there kind of you could do Mr Olen first want to talk
about okay all right um so on the consent agenda with a consent gosh my language need more drink more coffee um so on the consent agenda um which we can discuss now is the
request to approve the hire of Paul Olen as maintenance worker 3 uh this request um and this hire would backfill the resignation the position that will become vacant uh with the resignation of
Curtis labota um labota uh his position is based out of the tofy shop and operates the greater so most of the highway locations um tofy hoveland little slightly different here in town typically have a maintenance worker two
which is a truck driver and then the maintenance worker three is the greater operator um so this would fill that vacancy soon to be vac which we'll talk about um time time to be determined as to when it will be vacant um to backfill
that position okay any comments from is there a specific question about well my question is it's more than just this particular new hire since we know Paul has not if I remember what I heard he
doesn't have a lot of experience driving a grater so he will be learning under Curtis that's for the extension so does he get hired as an apprentice to be there is no
um there's no time for him he gets TI he gets paid and hired at the full amount even though he doesn't have the exper not just the experience the uh well experience and knowledge to actually do the job but he gets hired at full pay
with all due respect I'd push back on that quite a bit he's been Trucking for how many decades several several decades so but what about grer one component of the job is grading correct um the training that we're trying to establish and both these things are kind of tied
together is you know in theory you know Kurt would be down there a day or two a week so Willie would then be in the greater the rest of the time and so that experience is also reflected in where we're proposing placing him as far as steps are concerned we just talked about
steps in the table and so you can see I believe we're we're starting him at a step two so towards the bottom so it's you can't ignore Decades of experience Trucking um not to mention all the other equipment experience that's there so while yes the grading component is part
of that job description and that part is lacking a little bit he does have experience in a greater plowing snow but the gradient of the road part is what is what we're hoping to with Kurt staying on longer you know kind of Leverage all that knowledge that's there well thanks
for that clarification I mean it I don't know who Paul Olen is at all but it's I do know Curtis but um but then that goes to other hires that we get in different departments like Public Health and Human Services that there is a learning curve
for all the hires and before they can actually do their jobs so everyone just gets hired and they're they get on the job training at their full rate correct okay um and I can provide some more information on that so um as long
as someone meets the minimum qualifications the minimum they would typically start off is a step one on our pay table um there are uh certain situations where someone may not meet those minimum qualifications but has the skill set the education maybe they just
need that years of experience to get um to meeting those minimum um expectation or minimum requirements man tongue twisters today um so there are situations we see that most often in Public Health Human Services we saw it once with um a truck driver because he
was waiting to pass his CDL test where we do have um a grade actually below step one which is like a Step Zero um or starting wage we call it like a training wage so if we do bring someone on into that trainy capacity to provide them the
experience to get to those minimum education uh experience requirements then there there there are situations where we may utilize that but most people if they meet those minimums then we would start them at step one okay thanks for that
clarification commissioner gamble thank you madam chair yeah I would say that uh you know we're in trusted with the responsibility of filling position and and serving the community and and um I think organizations Cy certainly
um we hire capable people good people and the qualities that exist in those individuals we recognize and we're willing to entrust responsibility to them and then the where we come alongside is equipping them to do their
jobs so somebody has um the aptitude and the demonstrated abilities and those things that fall in line with the area that they're going to work in expertise I think that there's some areas where they we we'll call it weak but we'll put a polite quote on either side of that we
come alongside because we believe that inherently they possess what we need and we will train them to do that and and I that that is the culture we want to create is we don't want people afraid of what they don't know we want to come
along and equip them so that they can be competent in their positions any other questions then I'll hear motion to approve the extension for Curtis lebo's resignation date to June 2nd of 2025
support any other questions oh sorry just are we talking about hiring Willie that's what we just talked about Paul sorry Paul just want to make sure we're yeah talking about the right thing oh right now we're we're on we're making a motion to extend the resignation date
and then um there should be another motion to for the hire oh okay ready to talk a whole bunch about that but that's fine have had it okay this is for Curtis okay any other questions or comments about that Comm G it was thank you madam chair it
was it was in the packet but just to say that we discussed it in the Personnel committee and that it was also in our packet to inform our decision that the that the cost of that is approximately 7,000 and that's coming out of the reserve from the highway department just
so the public is aware that informs the decision we're making to support Kurt sting on thank you anything else so we have a motion in a second all in favor I supported unanimously thank you madam
chair I'd like to make a motion to um hire um Paul Olen as mainten workers three support any other comments or questions all in favor I oppose same sign motion
passes unanimously um we're getting pretty close to our um to our uh public hearing would you be willing to take a little break and then come back because the next topic your next our next topic hiring a commy
County administrator will take a little bit of time yep Madam Madam chair we I think we could fit in the revolving Loan Fund okay request if you'd like to do that we could do sure yeah you know the the time Factor on yes I think we can do that
Gary is here to answer any questions um you correct me if you think we won't get through it anybody okay so this is the request for the heights revolving loan agreement we've
previously approved this on uh November 26th it's for a 36 unit multi family housing project the request was for $250,000 this was approved conditional on the bank commitment other funding sources Etc the interest rate market
value um but since that time the Lead Bank for the project has changed and the terms of the loan with CCF have changed so the revolving loan committee is asking the County Board to approve the terms for the county loan to mirror
those of the bank loan to CCF which is what we did previously but the terms are a little bit different now so the terms include interest only payments for the first two years this is not unusual for commercial loans it's unusual for us but
not for commercial loans and if we follow it we're following their practice um it supports the project in the early years it's a variable interest rate for the first two years the amortization schedule based on a 20
5year term and uh we would follow the balloon payment requirement if the bank so chooses that it's a possibility uh not likely but it's possibility uh the project itself is financed with 52% debt including 4.4
billion from the Lead Bank uh the members of The Cooperative Credit Union um is uh 750 or that's the the 4 million 750,000 from Northland Foundation the
250,000 from Cook County another $200,000 loan from lot lender and 25,000 from birchbark the other 40% of the project 48% is financed by 975,000 of Grants and 2.9 Million from The Loner uh
local lenders Equity so part of this approval is an creditor subordination agreement that requires in the event of a monetary default with respect to the Lead Bank the credit union that we not
receive payments on our indebtedness just our regular monthly payments until the Lead Bank is paid in full what this does it's the same Principle as a
um if you have a mortgage on a property uh the Lead Bank we're going to be in the second or third position so this just puts us in the third position behind the credit union and Northland Foundation the higher lenders as we
would be in any other type we've had these large loans before where we've been in third or fourth position and uh so it's not unusual in that sense it's just that
the personal guarantees are involved in this case um rather than a mortgage so you have an unusual intercreditor agre to just state that fact that we are in that third position and that we
wouldn't come in as a first position demanding our payment so with that if you have any questions for Gary otherwise this is just a request to reapproved Lead Bank commissioner G thank you madam chair um
set in on the revolving loan um my first attendance I had sat in on it in my previous um term as a commissioner and a couple of things that we discussed in that is that uh the the history of the revolving loan and the Integrity of the
group in decisionmaking and and whether there's been default or not um I think the confidence of the the due diligence on the part of the committee is to be commanded and the other comment was just understanding in this decision that
$250,000 um would be tied up with just the interest only that that money then would be out of the pool that we would no longer have but given the fact that the housing has been a high priority for us and the low exposure on our portion
of that with a debt ratio that is basically in the 50s that that that's a good position so just like a bank when you go and ask for a loan they're going to apply their Matrix to evaluate credit worthiness and in this case the committee felt that it was it was it was
good other than the one issue of taking that money out for a period of time and and it's not the the whole 250 it's just the principal part of that payment right for two years yeah and the principal payment is fairly low for the first two
years interest is high in the beginning of a loan so it's not a huge amount of that 250 would have come back anyway during those two years yeah so most of the committee didn't feel that was a strong uh reason right Madam chair then
I I would make a motion to approve uh the loan terms the Lead Bank for the heights project including the interest rate organization or amortization period interest only payments for the first two years any balloon payment if so required and to approve the attached uh
intercreditor um subordination agreement support you on that any further questions or comments all in favor I I post same sign motion passes unanimously good work one
minute okay bkb we're going to get to you we're going to put you toward the end so we can give your full attention Okay so it's 10 o' it's 10:00 and we have our second um Solid Waste area uh just um for today
so Brady you can continue with that yeah thank you madam chair so this is a continuation of what we've discussed regarding uh the NorthShore waste uh potential bonding and this is
to to look at a solid weight Waste Management Fe and before you could so this isn't approving any uh waste management but fee but before you could approve a fee the first thing you have first step is
to establish a service area and that's what this public hearing is today is to establish the service area and the request is simply to establish the area as the entirety of Cook County so that is really the the question before you
today is to establish Lish that service area as the entirety of Cook County that's simple and then um to then also set then a public hearing for an ordinance to set the fees
if you were to set the fees for the next board meeting on March 11th uh 2025 so just to set the area and then set the public hearing for 10:00 a.m. on March 11th 201 25 and then to consider
that ordinance on that date so we're following the uh the calendar and the steps as set out by our bond attorney any further questions or comments for Brady I would think we can start our
public hearing you can open it up to the public we'll now open this up for public hearing oh I'll speak I've got the resolution and the um report from
The Brady Powers first I'd like to say that on Brady Powers report it says it's to fund the construction of the solid waste Transfer Facility there's no mention of what it's funding
in the resolution it can be used it it doesn't State the purpose in the resolution that's one thing the second thing is it's a blank check this by putting it into an
assessment and a service area you avoid putting it in the levy which is is more transparent and every person in this county is going to pay but the levy should be what dictates what's spent on the transfer
station not an assessment set by maybe a whole new Department um there's no end to this resolution it doesn't say when it's paid for it's going to go to the levy it
doesn't say say what you know it doesn't say how much is going to be paid on this transfer station that's all up in the air it's a blank check and if I think it's unfair taxation to
set an assessment like this it should be done with the levy if a person owns a $50,000 vacant lot they're going to pay 1% of the value value of their property for this
assessment if they own a $500,000 property they're going to pay 100th of a percent for their assessment I've talked to a couple Commissioners about the new apartment
building with 51 units one commissioner said it would be each apartment would pay one commissioner said the building would pay it's one tax parcel I there it's an unfair taxing
situation so I would oppose the the district thank you thank you anyone else good morning I'm Bruce Martinson from schroer I guessing most of you didn't
know that schroer Township being a ground zero of a coal impacted Community was requested by Minnesota deed to pass the letter of support for the 800,000 grant for the transfer station I did
write this letter of support this letter of support was required and not optional for Cook County to receive the funds my issue is not with the transfer station but with the equitability of the fee
structure I think U Judy brought some good points up but the assessments are equable within the user groups but not not between the user groups logic places
bars and restaurants fill the cardboard and recyclable trailers especially with glass bottles Brody an employee at the tofy transfer station estimated half the Plastics and glass bottles and a quarter
of the cardboard come from the bars restaurants and lodging associated with blue Finn Bay down in tofy yes the $50 per residential partial paid by each condo unit would cover their part
for lodging but not the restaurant other motels under individual ownership just paying 100 bucks having many units also would not be paying their Equitable share Tim Nelson would be a good source
on quantities of recyclables and trash generated by businesses I was told by planning and Zoning that are known in Planning and Zoning were you know uh contacted about the quantity of
recyclables trash generated by residences versus businesses getting the better end of the deal I wouldn't expect any business to show up here today to complain about the proposed fee structure Cook County can
just review the Minnesota Department of Health lodging permits Define the number of rental units please reconsider the equitability of the fee structure today or revisit in the future thank
you does anyone else wish to address this then I'll have the public hearing uh closed at this time and we can have some discussion to the comments commissioner gamble thank you madam chair uh I appreciate the the the
comments um Bruce having been on the board understand uh the difficulty in in trying to find where you know equitability is um we had considerable discussion and trying to look at it and
we had Bob Thompson come back with running some scenarios for us uh my recollection we did have some discussion about where does the trash come from and the recyclables um uh just to clarify that um and and certainly when we have
been looking at this whole Transportation project and I came in you know late on the project the um the the issue of where's the trash coming and what can we anticipate and how do we create a a fee structure to help support
this and there are some unusual things certainly in this regard given the fact that we're establishing a partnership with a private party and uh we're fortunate to have a place that takes our junk and um as any entity in operation
is subject to requirements by the state uh we're in a position where because we have so much trash that uh we cannot continue to move forward um in our present state so we're trying to find a
way that uh provides uh both now and in the future and is Equitable I think that public input uh input from uh businesses whatever else that can help inform our decision is is important how we go about
doing this um the more that we attach just a response to the levy issue the more that we have what we will call mandated requirements that are built into our Levy it's going to be very difficult to manage Levy I also agree
with hidden tax that we don't want to circumvent Levy just from appearance's sake and then create a hidden tax but uh we we do want to find an equitable way uh to fund this and part of our discussion was maybe we just uh do it
through a fee structure so that the people that are bringing in the recyclables the trash whatever that'll be built in as part of that and there are some complications with that that are governed by what we can and cannot do as well but I appreciate the comments and and
U we are struggling to try to come up with a way that we feel is Equitable commission white um yes in in rethinking we had decided on Commercial and private I mean and that included vacant vacant lands but but then when
reconsidering the volume of waste that is generated by commercial buildings is it indeed fair I mean should not a business that
has many um people visiting many um and bars I'm not speaking well here the uh perhaps we should go by beds for for the resorts and and have some sort
of a v fee that better re reflects the amount of waste that is and will be produced by these different commercial entities now um a commercial entity that is like I I would imagine a SN a store
would not produce as much waste like a retail store as a motel would with a bar or a restaurant so I'm just think thinking that is it fair for $50 fee per property owner for each
of your par one's Parcels vacant or not I find that is acceptable being one of these Property Owners but then if you are a business and this this this fee does not cover
the Tipping costs you will go to with your bags and your um loads of of cardboard you will go to the facility and you'll pay for those amounts that you are now bringing in the
$50 and $100 fee is for supporting the the building for getting this building up and going and Brady could probably better uh in fewer words explain that but every one of us if I I
pay pay for for six six parcels and I live on two square Ines of it um but then if I were in Blue Fin the blue fin owner there's just something that's not
fair there but I would expect if I go to the when I go to the recycling center I'll be paying to get rid of my to get rid of my trash so I don't know if you understood that it's just it's for the facility it's not for the individual
amount of trash that is produced yeah that's that's the idea behind not just the idea but that is the purpose of this Fe there's there's nothing built into this for
operations uh for handling of trash it's for the creation of the building which is considered a common good but that doesn't that doesn't rule out equitability issues but it's not directly related to
trash gamble thank you madam chair yeah um just like with the housing you know we just passed a resolution in support of the financing with the housing um and uh that was based upon just coming
alongside and supporting in addition to many other sour is the revenue to get that housing project off the ground and this with the money that has been generated from industriousness of on the part of the people that want to see this
happen that we are coming alongside as a county to support this because we see value to it and as Brady said the equity thing is just how how we see that if you look at the um um the business park that
right now um and this is through Levy that uh taxpayers are paying to fund that Enterprise there are multiple Enterprises the funding that came through the 1% monies that uh funded several projects including the Y um they
once that indebtedness is ended that the language in the the agreement and the commitment on part of financing this building can certainly have an end date so that it it's not something that's is perpet at it just simply because it's
intended to finance so all of those things that that make uh what we're attempting to do here uh protective of both the provision of what we're looking for and the benefit and protecting the public as far as ongoing exposure are
important elements and we appreciate the refinement that comes with your voice so thank you commission wa um and so the county owns the building or we own the property that it sits
on is there we will own the building yeah the uh Northshore waste owns the property uh none of this is settled but it could be we're talking about a lease of the property in order to build the
building and then lease or create a management agreement for them to operate it is the basic structure did everybody hear him yes and it's yeah it sounds complicated
but in talking to Ellers are our bond advisors it's something they they deal with a lot so so we've been asked to approve then the setting of the um Solid Waste Service area for March 11th before we do
that are there any other comments or questions Madam chair just to clarify it's my understanding that that we're setting that as the solid waste area but we're not making a determination as to how we're going to correct yeah so it just
establishing the the service area but not concluding the approach financially no and the resolution is a is a proposed resolution based on what we know at the time this resolution uh at that you
could approve after the next you have to have the public hearing first then you could approve approved that resolution that was attached but that's not set in stone either so that's just what we knew at the time Madam chair as a followup I I would just say so that it's clear for
the public that this intention is to establish the area yes that's and that the issues that have been addressed here are still issues that that we can receive input on and we would encourage that from anybody that wants to help inform our decision moving forward so we
can create as much Equity as possible in how we fund Mr Sullivan I'd like to make a motion Madam chair to approve um the establishment of a solid waste area and set a public hearing on enactment of an ordinance for March
11th any other questions or comments support commissioner B and I want to reiterate what commissioner gamble said that that personally I need to hear the out the people out in the county their opinions or their perspectives
because uh in the conversations that I've had since the last meeting I it opened up Avenues where I didn't think about enough and so call your
Commissioners anyone because I do not just represent district one I represent the entire County everyone that lives here and um it's very helpful to hear from the people that live here and have
their experiences so thank you to all of those that have contacted me commissioner Mills um I would ask that the motion be amended to include a Time thank you I would um amend that
with 10: a.m. as suggested I'll support that okay we we have amended motion and second all in favor signal by I I oppose same sign motions passes unanimously and I'm
losing my voice even though I'm not talking very much but I we need a break so we'll take a 10-minute break and then Allison can come back and we'll finish up with the County Administrator hiring process and then we will go to bkb
m e e e e e e e e e
e e e e e e e e e e
e e e e e e good morning again we're we're resuming our meeting having a little short break and I'll turn over um our next topic to
admin interim administrator Rowan thank you madam chair uh today we're joined by Pat Melvin with DDA as well as Allison plumber our HR director and a couple requests uh and followup of the last time the board met and
discussed this um due to the change in finalist candidates reading the higher scoring semi-finalists uh as well as introducing a new semi-finalist one of the requests today is to push out the
date of the in-person interviews a week and so that uh tenative date is March 12th and then the other consideration for the board uh over the weekend and and yesterday the board had the opportunity to review the same
information as was provided on all of our other semi-finalists for a a new semifinalist and uh the board uh can have a discussion today and and decide whether or not they would like to invite
that additional semi-finalist as a uh finalist for the inperson interviews um Pat or Allison is there anything else you'd like to add to how I frame that up for the board very well stated thank you commissioner Mills I I would like to
include the the next candidate into the interviews we've all had a chance to look at the new candidate and and um personally I would agree with you too anybody else have an opinion on that I feel very similarly chair stle yes I'm fine with that too but I
would like to explain that when we picked up the next two uh commission or next two candidates that were down on the list that we didn't originally choose to go with um they were a they were actually
selected by the same number of Commissioners as the other ones that we originally selected but it was their ranking were they in first second third fourth or fifth place that gave them a a a ranking number by DDA
thought all there were three or four Commissioners that were still that originally were interested in the next two down so it's not necessary necessary that we're really not uh going to be looking
at people that were meeting our criteria it was just the original ranking system that threw them into the position that they were in so and I would say yes the the next one that we were just presented with seems to be a possibility
also okay Gary commissioner Sullivan Madam chair a question I have is we talked about doing the interviewing on the 12th and are we going to um evaluate our candidates on the 12th or are we going
to do that in a fashion as we had planned the week previously where our board decision would be made the following morning we did discuss that and I think for us to give a overnight thought about it and then meet again in the morning um
the next day uh seemed to be pretty unanimous at that time is that still something that all of uh you would like to do commissioner white and we'll be allowed to talk among ourselves in that time frame about the individual candidates or do we have to have a open
meeting to talk about them we'll have an open meeting it'll still be referred to as numbers not names well once we get to the point where you're talking about those who are being interviewed uh their identity is
public information you can have discussion about them but it would only be in a board meeting where the public uh can observe or see so you're not able to uh talk uh outside of the board
meeting about the candidates that would be in the meeting right I think I was still in the uh in the mood of um only addressing them as numbers but right the next day there'll be names commissioner our
administrator Rowan and just to reaffirm the process that the board's talked about if so if we do go forward with the 12th and then the board would make their decision on the 13th during the 12th um we're also in be live streaming these uh interiew interview so that the public
can see it as well as encouraging department heads to either watch and participate or um not participate but be here and then convene and collectively give uh some feedback back to the board on the 12th to help
inform that decision I just want to reaffirm that was what the board had talked about and is is intending to have us do commissioner white will the public be able to to sit in on the interviews it's a it's a yeah it's a public
meeting commissioner gamble yeah just to clarify I mean if we had an outline so we understand process moving forward that that would be helpful but if the uh Department had sit in that uh if they
conveyed following and conven and then if that information if we want to give them the opportunity to submit it the next day for our consideration so that they have some time to discuss it I guess that was that was my thought just like we want to be able to to process it
I I think the expectation we want to know their their input um but I would I would say that we would like to get it that next day not necessarily the day of but that's whatever the board is that's what we had discussed the next day okay
very good would you like to set that meeting on the 13th I know previously we yes previously we had said 8:30 if I'm correct Pat correct right y we have a board meeting the day before
the 12th right yeah so I guess my recommendation would be to begin uh interviews at 8:30 on the 12th and then at 8:30 on the 1 begin our deliberations with the input of um
department heads M any other comments or questions on this commissioner gamble maybe just to clarify that if the public has the opportunity to observe uh the process on the 12th that if the public wanted to
provide input so that there's a connection between their Impressions and their reviewing or not whether that's normal and customary but um that would be a question I guess for Pat I would I would welcome any
input if if people are going to observe and then they have Impressions that that would also go to inform our decision how do you feel about that Pat certainly what we can do and what we have done with some other recruitments
is that uh we have a feedback form uh which you know asks the individual uh several questions and then they can provide that feedback
um you know back to me typically what we do is we'll then type it up and then we'll have a document to present uh on the morning of the 13th that will contain citizen input um I know the department heads I
believe are going to be maybe doing it face to face with you versus uh in writing and I you know I'm I'm not sure how that would work with members of the public but I would recommend that they do they provide you with written input
versus face Toof face so the public actually could send us Impressions too how do you collect so who would they send it to you that's the form he's refering
to okay so Madam chair I would say that typically go ahead sorry the one thing that we try and do is we try and control what that input is so that you know it's not input
that is outside of what we're allowed to consider uh for an example if someone were to say you know I like candidate one versus candidate two because of age that's not something that we make decisions on so you know obviously with with staff I think they have a better
understanding of what they uh can and cannot and that's certainly something that I will Coach them on uh but with the public I think it's helpful for us to have kind of a filter there to make sure that you know their input
is is steered towards what's acceptable uh that's my thought right okay commissioner gamble thank you madam chair so my recommendation is is that um when we go
to the 12th that it's uh that there is a uh a a clarification to the public that might be watching to let them know they have this Avenue to be able to participate and that their feedback is
welcome and uh that it will be um it will be compiled in in the context of of what's allowable uh under normal you know practice um and then but we want to make sure that however we can that we
reinforce that so that they know they do have a voice the other thing um what we did with the participation on the part of department heads is that we had a representative so that the discussion that ensued following the interviews on
the 12th that those were put together and summarized and then a representative came to the board to share those if if we do that as opposed to having all the department heads in on the deliberations on the 13th it's whatever but I but we
did have we did have that input through their discussion and then when they digested it down and synthesized it it came to us as a recommend with the representative from mat team whatever it is called now
commissioner Sullivan question I have for you Pat is for people that are members of the public who are watching a live stream of the interviews can we make the form available online in advance so that they have that and can
email it or print it off and drop it off um here at the courthouse sure I can certainly work with uh um row an analys on that that would not be a problem all right thank you thank
you okay anything else anybody has ideas commissioner white uh one question so we we would not encourage the public to pick up the phone and call us you know certainly that that is an option but uh I would encourage them to put it on paper just because I want to
make sure that we're not steering into areas which are not considerations uh for the County Administrator uh again goes back to talking about age uh any issues that are really not tied to the job
description commissioner G but if you do if you do get calls from individuals uh certainly you can take their information uh just avoid the topics that I think I've provided previously in that Li Mino
cities document that outlines what is and what isn't acceptable when you're considering individuals for your county administrative position right commissioner gam thank you madam chair uh pad is that something that you could
um draft the succinct language that could be used when we enter that meeting on the 12 so that the public is made aware in the context of what you're talking about certainly I can share that information just something that that addresses what you're saying is that we we welcome your
input just be mindful given State Statute this or that or whatever but if you just draft something short that our chair could use yes no I could certainly put that together and we could include that uh with the feedback form um that's if
that's posted out there on the internet for individuals who are watching from home and want to provide some input thank you anything else for Pat and Pat do you need anything else or are we good we are good I will start putting
together the schedule and uh doing references reference checks Etc so thank you very much for your time this morning thank you so much too have a great day thanks thanks
okay bkb group I'm going to turn this over to administrator Rowan who's going to get us going on this wonderful topic to discuss um LEC thank you madam chair um today we're
we're joined by bkv and Associates uh we also have a couple members of our design team and they will provide the full board with a presentation to show the work that uh the design team has done this far we'll
talk a little bit about uh the purpose and the reason for the law enforcement center Expansion Project and where the design team who again is made up with the County Administrator the county sheriff uh commissioner representation
uh facilities director um and then bkv and and their whole team and as recently uh construction manager Johnson Wilson and um just to give the full board an an update of where we're at in the process
as well as uh have a little conversation and some direction on how the full board would like to see us move forward with next steps and with that I'll I'll turn it over to Henry so it's on their screen perfect here we
go uh it it's it's worth the wait I'm sure I'm sure for you here so uh thank thank you for inviting us um uh we we'll get through this quickly I know we all have uh deadlines about noon to get out of here to uh get to other things that
we all have to do so uh here we go so uh our agenda really uh has has seven parts to it uh overall so uh it's a full full piece here we we'll go through the mission we'll go through changes that have happened since uh we
were last in front of you um site plan then we'll go to the close session portion uh so we can show uh security uh things uh that we don't want to show in the public and then U come back for
exterior image uh you'll see we've got some samples and things so little touchy feely uh pieces there um there is a piece on your Capital Improvement um plan and uh what's been bonded and other
things uh that might be considered uh we want to go through that checklist in detail and see if we can get some concurrence on what you think is important out of that uh grouping and then uh a quick piece on schedule and
and bidding so it's a full uh a full period of time so I'll uh I'll just get right to it with the uh the mission um really you know there four or five critical things as this board uh
previous board had had uh decided on this project one was uh and the top thing was security and uh functionality uh the Sheriff's Office and uh the vehicle sally port and whole bunch of spaces really operationally were
inefficient and lacking in certain spaces that were required uh like evidence let's say for example uh from all of that uh also part of that and all the other Master plans we had put together we had talked about moving the Emergency Operations Center out of the
community center into this uh facility as a piece which also moved the emergency manager out of this building uh out back with the sheriff and uh the rest of the team there for example so a lot of lot of parts and moving pieces
that were going on that uh kind of made it all go but you know all all basically to support the mission uh of the Sheriff's Office and uh and uh to serve the uh the residents of the county overall so uh and the the big piece was
making a good investment in what we were doing and that's part of why we wanted to talk a little bit about the capital Improvement plan uh and potentially moving things uh forward uh that have been bonded and other things that might be of interest to you as we come through
there so since we uh last did the master plan for this uh uh and uh signed our contract um really a couple big things uh that happened uh we uh as we started the process of uh really looking at the
building um your existing law enforcement center was built at a different time with different codes and uh as we had proposed initially two-story building to make sure we maximized parking uh out
there um we found uh that we couldn't actually build the two-story building the um when you look at the um the snow drifting uh that would happen on your existing building uh that would have been a problem the the loads and how the
building was built was not built for that condition so uh looking we looked at you know what would you do to be able to fix that uh and uh still keep the twostory and uh it was just kind of crazy you'd have to basically peel the top off and start over and reinforce
beams and things like that so that wasn't a good option uh from that so we quickly uh redid the scheme actually uh uh works out fairly good uh the big issue was with the parking uh just to be sure that we had enough uh for the
functions that were happening from the um and and we verify that with the with your team and committee overall on that uh to make sure that happened uh there is potential uh if if some overflow was
needed uh to get up higher uh into the um the other areas of the highway department and things like that uh if if that was ever needed uh right now we're not planning for that so uh the big the big Advantage is uh the square footage
went down a little bit it was a more efficient building so uh saves some money that way overall and um so we think uh at the end of the day it's it's a good uh good piece and I know uh Rowan
had advised you on that uh piece but I just wanted to reiterate that um getting uh Johnson Wilson uh uh contractors are contractors Constructors I always say contractors but Constructors uh uh on board uh obviously a big a big uh deal
there that's helping us make decisions as we come through so for example looking at the different wall types and uh being able to get uh the labor force here uh to make that happen and then overall scheduling uh a really big deal
there so we're really happy to have Dean and uh his team uh working uh hand in hand with with him and everybody else and then uh yeah the CIP keeps coming up here so uh you you'll hear plenty about
that but it's it's really um taking advantage of cost uh efficiency maximizing resources minimizing future disruptions so you know if we're replacing piping let's say that goes into the into the jail we want to be
sure that's all coordinated and and done as we're putting a new boiler in for example so things like that um and then uh kind of your you know all tying to your strategic long-term planning as we come through that um so uh it's it's
kind of funny when you look at the drawings it's hardly noticeable except the a little bit at the bottom uh uh you know the new one story addition it kind of comes out into the parking lot a little bit other than that kind of the same area kind of the same Zone overall
um with that so um the site plan itself um organizationally not much changed except for that little bit of the parking uh that that uh is impeded there um we do have um enough parking for the
sheriff's full staff uh um if they were all all there at the at the same time so it gives a little bit of relief there and then there is enough parking in the existing lot to take care of the uh EOC and any Community uh events that may
happen in that room uh you know much like this room it's a multi-purpose room so uh uh people can can use it um in those areas um our our biggest deal with uh uh redoing the site is uh right now
everything slops right into the building so uh we'll be um um blasting uh most likely a little bit in that area to make sure the new parking lot fits in if you kind of see on the um the diagram there
where at the lighter part of the driveway coming into the facility uh that's kind of the existing curb line let's say of where everything is so everything north of that where it says new staff parking that's that's kind of that area that'll have to be uh blasted
so uh we'll be making a recommendation at the end of the week uh to Rowan and U um regarding uh some soil borings that we'll need for that area so we can get so we can know exactly what kind of uh Rock we have with the bearing capacity
is and I'm hoping it's really good that we don't have to build a retaining wall that The Rock can do the work uh so we'll uh we'll we'll find that out that'll obviously affect cost one way or the other um so that's kind of a big
deal there um and then um we're also looking at directional signage so you can kind of see the the kind of the north is up in all of our drawings uh the northeast corner of the new edition
see a little red uh Mark there uh that would be some new directional signage so as people are coming uh into the driveway that'll you know Point them in whatever directions we're showing them but uh you know there's a distinct difference between the law enforcement
center uh door that um gets you to the jail and to the Sheriff's Office um for on the public side and then on the North side is really our entry point for the staff and then um uh public EOC and and
um Community use for that room so that's kind of that kind of that zone and then you can see further down to the left uh the vehicle sallyport uh uh access which is much bigger and uh allows a ambulance
to get in uh which is important and um and then there is a maintenance room at the very end of the building there to allow for all the equipment uh that's needed in lawn cutting and snowblowing those kinds of things uh as we come
through so uh we did get um soil boring numbers so we'll get that to rone this week and then um site survey that's been approved already uh we're waiting for the snow to go so I'm rooting for a couple of more warm warm sunny days so
so that we can get that done hopefully in the next week uh they can get out here and do that CU we we need all of that uh to make the rest of that go so that ends the public uh beginning piece um if we can
uh do what you need to do to get to the next part and then we'll we'll get to the other room okay for the public to know that we're going into a Clos session and um this is um part of the Minnesota Section
subdivision 13d .05 3C to consult and look at Future architectural plans e e e e e
e e e e e e e e e e
e e e e e e e back at it um so we um we now wanted to kind of
show the exterior of the building and what a one-story uh Building looks like and uh yes go ahead I I just want I think we need a motion to transition from the CL yeah I guess it would be good we're back
after our Clos session and we're going to have a motion to reopen our board meeting right now did you want to do that yeah okay second all in favor hi you got the grace to now we're official Mountain Dew Mountain Dew won't get you
through I nice you have that yeah I understand I'm on I'm on my plan commission my own uh community so we uh know know a little bit about but I'm anxious for you all here so anyway we um uh excuse me Henry I would just like for
the public to understand the reason we were in close session is it's the law it's all security driven about the what the interior of the law enforcement center plans are and it's not a big secret that
we're building something like this but it is mandated I mean this is security and that is why was in closed session so so we have we know so if you want to buy one of us off maybe but anyway but
that's the reason why public pay attention all right so to build on uh to build on everything else uh you've seen the site you've seen uh the parts the public hasn't been able to see but we do have our our exterior of the building so um
we've got Shane uh here with some samples so we've got some views uh you want to talk a little bit about it yep all right so what we are looking at for this building is we right now we're at the end of SD and we're going to be getting some pricing done with Johnson
Wilson so we have a base option that we're looking at and what you see here the base option is pre-cast um concrete panels and the reason we're going with that route for the base option is that um it's very fast to enclose the building before winter um if we do run
in any winter conditions this stuff can be all installed at any time of the year and what really helps with the overall schedule is that since the constructibility period is so quick when you do get the pre-cast that does save time in the in the back end of the project so that all helps with our
timeline on when we want to occupy this building so what you're see in here is basically the the north elevation so on the right side is the sally port and then when you get towards the middle portion um that's that a larger conference room area and what you're
seeing here is some different material so what you can do with pre-cast is the nice part about pre-cast is it's very durable it's all just one large piece of construction with insulation in the middle and what you can do is you have different finish options so what we're showing here is because the existing
building has Brick we're looking at doing some couple options of thin brick and then there's what they call form liner so the the bottom portion of this wcot area instead of doing traditional masonry which is very expensive and very hard to get laborers to perform this um
up here and really anywhere in the region is you can get stone look which is like a basically a stamped concrete that's stained um same thing with that sally port we showing like a CMU block same thing it would be a stamped concrete version of that so looking at a couple different thin brick options form
liner stone stone panel as well as a potential CMU um outside so just showing you a variety of things that can happen in a 12T panel you can have a variety of finishes within that panel and then there's no extra trades on site it's just all tilted in place and installed
really really quick and what you can see here is so this is where the existing building connects to the new edition and what you're seeing here is kind of the Deputy office area so what we're showing is we worked with the sheriff on some of the different uh window configurations and
the one that was most desirable was to have instead the existing Windows like you see now where the visual point when you're sitting in your chair looking out you look at the mullon we're looking at raising the mullon up but still having operable windows up high with the with the awning windows so we can still get natural ventilation to the space but we
also get that nice visual and light coming into the space and you can see with the different colors of Brick we're starting to look at is ways we can integrate um and sort of mesh with the existing building that is there does that color permeate that that
service material or is it something if it no so actually I can show you over here it's it's if you're it's full depth yeah if you chip it and it's red it's still red yeah that's what I want to know yeah yeah so here's a good panel to show you what that looks like so the
through color is one the pigment that you pick and then these are different levels of sand blasting that you can do but what also happens is they can embed thin brick into the panel so it's not something that's stuck on the outside of the panel it's actually embedded into the cast um and then same thing with
different brick looks and concrete looks there's a lot of different um pieces you can do as well as even form liner wood panels you can get some texture in there and stain it so there's a lot of variety of options where we can make it look like a brick building um we can show Stone we don't have to have all those
extra trades on site and it's just all ingrained in one panel thank you and these are just some kind of elevations showing the the heights of how we're doing things it's just all flat but it gives you gives you a sense that the you know we're not changing the
height of the building because we can't except for the sally port uh area of the back so just the way we're kind of tiing the structure we're basically just showing the addition about a foot higher or so from the existing so that we can tie in the parit correctly but then the only spots we're bumping up right now is
if you go to the next elevation sheet you can see where we're trying to tie some existing look from the existing building which has the main entry bumped up a little bit we're doing the same thing on this new edition as well as the sally port the reason that portion is higher is because we have a 14x 14t uh
overhead coiling door so that just allows us to we need to bump the structure up a little taller to accommodate that got to be able to get that allterrain uh yeah the all-wheel drive ambulance yeah ambulance in there so they're they're much taller and that helps us kind of break up some of the the pieces of the facade too so that
it's not just one linear long building it helps create a little variety and interest in there as well um so these are some wall sections so what we're looking at is again that pre-cast concrete wall system is the base bid and then what we're also doing just to verify that costs are similar as
far as timeline schedule and also constructibility is the second alter um second alternate that we're going to have is basically looking at doing a CMU wall with uh um what am I trying to say
so yeah pre-cast wall or uh pre-cast wall is the base option and then the second one is CMU with insulation and then a fiber cement panel and then still having a a Wayne's C at the bottom like we showed on the existing building and the new so that we'd still have some masonry there so we feel that because of
the time and labor and cost and everything with that with the alternate we really feel like the pre-cast is going to be the best option for the project so that's why it's our base bid but we want to show due diligence of that you know there are other options but let's show what the pricing and schedule are for those so that we can justify that our decision makes sense so
that's part of the SD exercise with that and then the third wall section which we want to touch base on is when we're looking at that East elevation of the existing building we understand that there are currently insulation and moisture issues so what we'd like to explore in the SD pricing is basically
to put new insulation in front of the existing brick and then a new cladding rain screen system in front of it to fully alleviate all these issues that you've been having with moisture and um air infiltration and then we would provide new windows as well as as part of
that and it'll be an option so you'll be able to make decisions as as we go forth uh the the other way to look at it is you know can you inject more insulation in the existing walls and that there' be some limited success perhaps of of some
of that but U it'll be an interesting piece when we when we do go and look through those options it' be really helpful to know the the cost difference clearly but then also the energy usage and that cost projection So yeah thank you yeah that's that's it's an important piece your your uh Staffing is your
number one costs in a building like this and number two is energy so uh it's really important and and because we're looking at re-roofing everything you're going to be adding insulation up there also so the you know that benefit alone
is going you know makes you want to do and reclad that wall the other walls seem to be you know working properly so um at least from what we we see um and that brings us to the capital Improvement uh plan uh hopefully you've
had a chance to look at this in advance um you know the big the big deals uh really are um about uh cost uh efficiency um with the project of this scale you know happening up here you you
want to be able to take advantage of having the labor here and the materials uh that makes sense and you have quite a few things that are already approved uh to for your bonding that's available um
but uh some of some of it not not yet um so hopefully we can kind of call those to a point of where you think we might be looking at and we can then uh Dean Dean can start thinking about how to price those you you already have a
dollar value from your last review from a couple years ago uh on that um so it's it's just all strategic and uh you it's all up to you none of that uh none of these parts really are part of our contract the only thing that we were
asked to do is the re Roofing uh as part of our contract to begin with so the um um so uh the bonded list uh there's about a half million dollars worth of uh items uh that we would have uh that we
looked at and we're recommending some of it uh um was scheduled uh earlier uh has those items have not been complete so for example the underground uh uh
propane tank um has an example so um other you know you can see there the uh the roof uh under exterior enclosure uh so there's you know about half of that number is really in the roofing of the of the re roof of the
building but um you know that that's a good one and then a couple of different pumps and things that we probably uh can accommodate reasonably with with what we're looking at overall there so I'm assuming
uh you might be agreeable to all of these at this point since they're already bonded so if if that's the case uh I can go on to the next slide uh if if you tell otherwise ask questions are other things considering the cost of
that re-roofing um we're also looking at another project that has a rubber roof and so I'm trying to think they do need to be replaced after 20 years or whatever are there options I know it requires a slope and all that but are there options for a sloped metal roof um
not on the existing building uh we just don't have any structural capability uh of doing that it's too long of a span to put like a a rof trust over it um it's a possibility um on the uh
addition um we've kind of explored some of that uh the committee's thoughts overall were flat roofs are better uh from that standpoint so that's kind of the direction we were given at that point okay thank you you know a standard
warranty is 20 years you can go out as far as 30 I it's a cost it it's built into to the cost don't wrong but we just keep that in mind yeah thank you and with the rooftop unit and everything we're putting on the roof for
us maintenance wise getting on the roof a flat roof much easier we have leaks and issues like that with the metal roof you can't get on them EPDM is really nice to work with and and it's a it's a
perfect application in this thank you bro okay all right the next two slides then are the the uh non-bonded uh items that were in the capital Improvement list uh it's uh
tried to organize them a little bit by the types of things that are going on uh overall um couple of uh there's a lot of uh HVAC pieces and
parts that all would fit um with uh what we're looking at uh we as part of this project we will be uh replacing the boiler that exists you're at the end of the life there it's it's uh uh that's an
important piece and then what ties to that is all the piping that goes back to the various um uh areas um uh that control uh uh the volume and comfort uh within the within the jail and other
other places within the building so there's a lot of that as you see uh like the bottom three items on this sheet for example uh a a lot of those kind of tie to that but your your boiler is your big piece at
154 so um that was scheduled for um 28 so you know within a few years when the building would be done so it' be better to get that done now if we can but it's unb uh it's not bonded yet at this point
and then the same with Electrical uh pieces and parts uh some of the site in uh you it's a good time toh put put a new layer on the uh the parking lot for example since uh there'll be a lot going on and uh so there's all kinds of things
happening in these areas um and then generally on the next page uh it finishes with everything uh you know to the mechanical U ventilation systems a lot of uh piping and uh um valves and
things like that that all tie together with the boiler and and those pieces uh uh upgraded UPS uh uh at that point and then um a little bit on uh uh the
cameras upgrading some of those uh that that haven't been um and uh the uh bigger piece is a generator and the capacity we're still verifying uh final capacity needed for the addition but it
it uh looks like that might be uh something going on uh that we might need to do there uh it also may affect um the uh the size of the propane underground propane tank because we think there's a
requirement in with propane to uh have a separate tank but uh our our team's still looking at that um so there's a little bit little bit going on there so essentially these items um that uh are
total a little over a million dollar which I know is a lot of money um but these are all items in your Capital Improvement plan just not funded at this point so if there's um you know a sense that you know the board would like like
to do these things we'd like to incorporate these into the project and into the design right away uh they can always be articulated uh for separate bids or something also so that could be
the main part of the building and you know get some some pricing there makes Dean's life a little crazier so he's probably going like this and not looking yeah talking but if if there is you know question on
that but we we' obviously have to design it and do things too so there' be and something else will update your budgets so yeah more real I mean some of these are pretty far off skewed but at least you'll have more real numbers to like the generators going be significantly
more than that yeah I mean so but at least it gives you a more realistic look at today's market um so I guess the the question at the end of the day are you know as you've looked at the these um are these items you would like us
to uh include uh with what we're doing uh to take advantage of that or are there things that you kind of like like a consent agenda pull out and not consider U from that standpoint yes and just the only other
piece of context I'd like to add we've talked about it a few times but aside from the cost associated with the Deferred maintenance and the schedule that's that's aligned with it we've talked about savings and having mobilization having these trades already on site having these workers already
here we've also talked about minimizing the disruption to the law enforcement center to say that it's a 247 365 shop and this is you know to say the least going to be very disruptive to what they do yes and so to get this done and then to come back another couple years and to
be looking at making significant changes again would would add disruption to that operation and so just from my perspective I think that should be part of the consideration Dr gam thank you madam chair uh you mentioned like with the roof yes as long as we're here let's do
the whole roof yes and uh I've always believed there's been things that have been sort of agitating with buildings and and uh but you don't have the money the resource right now to commit to it but when you get to a point where you're addressing other issues now the time to
do it which is sort of what you're speaking to I think when we look at it in the context of all of the things that inform the decision which is the the inconvenience having things because we're remote having it up here and available to do it and get it done it's
just a matter of looking at all of those things as in the context of prioritizing this when we're trying to balance the fiscal responsibility with what makes sense as what we do so I guess that would be my position in the concept of
evaluating on all these different Matrix so to speak okay another thing I'd like to add to that too is the same kind of route we're we're we're being proactive in the repairs and we can plan we can we can
make the repairs correctly and and more cost effectively than being reactionary if we have a a sudden propane tank leak on a 12,000 gallon underground propane tank that we don't know the condition of I mean it's going to be a much larger issue than if we don't
plan ahead and do it the way we're planning on of this way thank you madam chair the other thing usually that drives some of these decisions is it's going to be cheaper now than later I don't really like that
argument but um uh the uh the the fact of the matter is is is that when we look at that evaluation relative to cost now and then is what about what we're projecting as being a long-term
solution and that's a matter of knowing Futures when you're projecting where we're going on these things and so if you can support it through that type of perspective it it justifies then well we didn't know but we didn't look you know
kind of thing so yeah yeah I I really appreciate you guys identifying these these items and um I think it's really helpful to to put them in the list um part of the project I think being proactive I I understand the
the dislike for the cheaper now versus later um and you have to weigh that also it's just what what's the interest rate on the bond for it um versus the costs later so um but just based on um history of other projects and
other counties it seems like um if we can address this sooner rather than later it's it's more cost effective um but again prioritizing those costs it can be tricky but um we learned that a few years ago when we did some replacement like the
windows we don't do windows like they did years ago right Pat commissioner white um and with the impend uh the tariffs on Canada and Mexico and Lord knows where else the uh nothing is
going to be going down in price it never really seems to have in construction anyway there was one year when plywood was really cheap but it costs are never going to go down they are not going down I mean they're not going down goes down
and labor never goes down and we are not going to become closer to anywhere we are here so I am in Rec I recommend it's it's going to hurt now and it's going to hurt more later but
going for it so Pat did you have something to offer too I just wanted to get this on record since since it's a public uh public meeting but I want to expand a little bit about what Rowan was saying that you know the disruption is not only just for
our staff the disruptions are also going to be for Public Safety Services in C County um there are going to be times when um this then is what we're working on I mean we we will have to move our entire Dispatch Center to a a a
remote location to get this done um so doing that will have an impact on Public Safety if we don't do it correctly um if if we have to go back again because we skipped something that saved a couple thousand doll that will have an impact
on Public Safety in Cook County as well um you know I I may not be here at that point but I would rather see it get done correctly now and if it costs a couple more dollars then you know that's the price we have to pay for Public Safety
sometimes very good point thank you yeah I I really appreciate that that perspective and um um the fact that it's part of our Capital Improvement plan already um we're going to be spending it it's just
or that's the plan at least um it's just now or later so and I think what you're saying as far as the disruption with with Public Safety and staff and and just the efficiencies it makes sense to take care of it sooner um it's an opportunity an expensive opportunity but
it's an opportunity we do know we we've looked at everything in the capital Improvement plan we didn't select everything um because some of some of the things things like replacing Plumbing fixtures for example you know we've been able to
look at those and say you know that's it's on the list but it's not needed um you know the use Factor the you know just because it's aging out doesn't mean it necessarily you know needs to be replaced at this point uh there's no Cod
issues and things like that so we've been trying to be very um very good with with the money that's uh so and those are the things that they don't cause A disruption if they do fail you know we can change out fixtures you
know the other thing I wanted to kind of clarify when I meant it's cheaper to do it now than later is if we have a some of these items we could have a catastrophic failure with and to mobilize everybody to come up and do a propane tank or we Blow Fly call lines
and we're you know that's where they kind of really have us and that's when things get really really expensive when we have to mobilize stuff in the middle of the night for emergency catastrophic failures commissioner Salin I just want to say I personally support everything
that's on that non-bonded list and I I think we should as a board support that um for Public Safety to avoid the disruption and for long-term sustainability of this facility it's going to be here for a long time so
let's do it right commissioner gam thank you yeah it's uh the long term is is a hard thing you're on the verge of retirement so in all of all of your
experience you know going in what we see in what we what's our lived experience and so just I'd appreciate your opinion in the projections of what you've done in your career and how we've seen that
match up with that longterm you know phrase that we use yeah you know the items that we've selected as a team um all tie into what we're going to be doing for the building anyway um so
we're going to need more boiler capacity ERS are at the end of their life um things like that so everything we've put together makes sense from that standpoint I would I I can't sit here and tell you that you know I wouldn't
recommend these because of that um but I I think you you do find the value um uh and with with Brook being new to your team and and all of that and uh and a young young version there uh he's going to be maintaining these buildings and I
think he's going to be the type of guy that actually takes care of that and and as you plan for the future that that's always the key is the maintenance of it all uh so if you spend the capital to get the building back into into the
proper shape based on the on the improvements that we're talking about and the maintenance happens and you support that um this this will serve you in the community for a long long time it's um you know I think I think it's a you know
from my experience the boards that make that investment my own Community uh did that 25 years ago on on my recommendations uh and it's it served them well and uh they've been able to you know just normal maintenance and
things like that really help those things so that that's what my years of uh experience brings to it is a followup Madam chair the reason I I asked the question is that um when there's an unknown and this is why I referenced your retirement
yes that that experience over years the knowledge you gain becomes wisdom and so we seek wisdom which puts things in context yes and a lot of times we can put together presentations that that the glitter you know the unknown which we
haven't qualified you know in many cases uh attracts us to something and so what we project if what we project is credible as much as we can then our experience is going to realize
expectation me meeting met and um uh there's a scripture that says that faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of Things Not Seen and so people place their faith until the
points that the substance of things hoped for is realized yes and this community has had many things that have come to us of hoped for that are predicated on good reasoning and have not met expectation which tends to erode
trust and so it's you know incumbent on us to make sure that we're asking the right questions in the context of what we can know and appreciate the information and the perspectives that help inform decisions yes but this is why I'm saying that when you look at
things the number one thing is the best thing about these decisions in my experience has been this the number one thing that is most disappointing has been this and so that's that's basically the root at which I'm asking the
question given your experience yeah and to me the the having the the the the foundation underneath everything uh in the Mechanicals and electricals and all those those are important Investments we have to make some for the addition
already so to change out the boilers for example and do it right now as part of this project instead of waiting till 2028 is is a smart investment um and and yeah it's not on your in in your bond
right now but those kind of Investments um the public doesn't see but those are the ones that cause Brook the most heartache at the end of the day because you know if that goes down you you're uh you're not only inconveniencing uh any
potential uh people that are in the jail but you've got dispatch you've got all kinds of other things that are going on in there along with the sheriff's full operations that you can't afford to be down so um I think my my experience
tells me you know if if your base is good and and your roof is part of that base all always um th those are the right Investments uh I could care less about putting new colors in and new new
you know new uh Carpeting and th those are important pieces and and you can schedule those and and do those as time goes on but uh these kinds of things uh you can't uh you can't do easily and uh
particularly with the Labor uh uh sense and having trades people up here uh um to do it I think you know that's what my experience tells me that's that's why we're recommending it uh otherwise it'd be pretty simple we just build the addition and life goes on right and you
you'd figure out how to do these projects uh as as I'll be long retired but uh but I think this for me my experience tells me you know if we can get it done let's get it done and and get there and uh that that's what makes sense to me overall thank you thank you
for all your work I appreciate all of the um samples of the um building pieces and um as a board I think we're going to wait for the next report from you and some of the surveys and some of the ideas that we need to make further decisions on any other comments or
questions for PK commission is there anything else that you need direction from us today no if if if you're good with the list uh we'll you know Dean will be pricing
those to see what what the real level is from from when that was done a couple of years ago um we'll put a proposal together to get that moving because there'll be another you know in in about a month we'll be back uh with the
pricing uh that that Dean will have of all of this um we will then also um um was going to share the the overall schedule uh again depending how this thing l out uh our goal is to be
done um with phase one of uh construction documents at the end of May so that we can bid this in June and begin construction you know July with foundations and Blasting and you know
all kinds of fun stuff um it's it's it's accelerated and it's it's you know ideally you'd want to do this in one big pack Ag and get the whole building and know the price for certain uh so there's a there's a little bit of risk uh involved there but it's also part of the
big risk so we're still trying to evaluate whether we could actually get everything done but I want to be sure that we can get this thing enclosed with a pre-cast um and you know everything we can we can get those walls up quickly the timing works with the with the
people that uh we've been talking through in the industry on the walls so I think it's possible to get this thing done which means if it's enclosed we can start finishing the interior and get this thing going to uh you know get you
in the building um so when you look at the moving and occupancy um anticipated moving in uh maybe in uh you know March April time frame of uh of 26 um with the full addition and then
you would start doing the work inside the building uh to connect pipes and other things that need to be done as part of the uh part of all of that so um so we'll we'll be back in about a month uh for that
board meeting and um and Dean will be uh be the star of that show and in the meantime we're going to we're going to move on forward that's the direction we've been given to uh get these things going um we should be able to get uh
soil ings and things done here quickly and if the snow goes away we'll uh get to finish the survey work quickly and uh and then that should all fit in line with the time frame that we're looking at okay commissioner Mill it would be great too as we get these updated
numbers on the capital Improvement list that's been identified to compare them to our current numbers to see the the difference in cost over that time and it'll give us some perspective on what if we wait another two years or what if we wait four years you know that sort of
thing so yeah I've done I've done some sampling on those numbers and some of them are pretty close and some of them are like our way off but I mean that's just the market and the vision and now like mean generator for instance well now you're including an extra the extra
Edition onto it which when you guys were planning that probably wasn't enough longterm plan so yep all right we're done okay thank you thanks so much thank you thank you hope you make your flight yeah me too
okay we can move on to any other administrator updates uh Roman we've covered them today thank you sure commissioner reports are meeting does anybody have anything they need to share with us I have a lot of things to share but
um they can wait till the next meeting and we will coming back from the legislator meeting too absolutely will be lots yes the only thing to say is the uh pasties from the hub for their fundraiser they were really good but they were small but
they're really good so they aren't alone when it comes to making things smaller so we have a list of uh meetings coming up um correspondent Meo memos and sales tax comparison through December of
24 meeting is adjourned thank you thank you thank you guys