Good morning. >> Welcome to the county board meeting. Um, could we call the meeting to order and have a pledge of allegiance and a moment of silence? Pledge to the flag of the United States
of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. First item on the agenda is open forum. I have one >> roll call first. >> Okay.
>> Commissioner Coring >> here. >> Commissioner Loveky >> here. >> Commissioner Baros >> here. >> Commissioner Franzine >> here. Commissioner Lee >> here. >> Okay. Uh first thing is open forum. I only have one form. Um, Tim Quincer,
you'll have three minutes and this is just an open forum. It's not a public hearing, so we won't be responding. >> Yeah, I'm aware of that. Um, uh, thank you. I'm here to ask a couple of questions. Um, I'm very concerned with
the cooperation with ICE in the county. I have reached out to a county commissioner. I have not heard back from him. I have reached out to the county attorney. I have not heard back from her. Um I did talk to the sheriff on Friday. Um my concern is what we're seeing in the news about
uh ICE not following the Constitution, about uh not feeling they need warrants, about detaining people without legal reasons to do so. We read in the newspaper today that the um there's a district judge that is called the leader
of ICE in the country into his court to explain why he shouldn't be charged with contempt because of multiple refusals to deal with orders to release people. Um conversation I had with the sheriff on Friday um he told me that he is not
going to go out and arrest people. I read in the newspaper last night that appears not to be true. Um he said that uh we do not provide names of those people detained. We know from the news
that people are being detained with no legal reason to do so. Um, he also said that, you know, we treat our people well in the jail and we [snorts] even cooperate with people from a local Mexican restaurant to to u
provide u um uh help if we have language issues with people in the jail. And you know, here we hear about this issue in our local restaurant. The newspaper said that four people are arrested but only two people had warrants. Um, I think, um, we should take a look at the
legality of this. As you may know, the attorney general has ruled that it's not legal for a sheriff to unilaterally enter in it into a 287g um, contract without county board approval. County board has not done that. You may also be aware that
Freeborn County has been sued by the ACLU and people in the county down there for not entering into a contract um with board approval. Um I also believe that uh we have ample evidence that ICE is
detaining people without legal reason to do so. I think any detention in our local jail should occur with the names of those people released so that newspapers and other people can see if they're actually held for a legal reason. So, you my two things are
consider a 287g to the board, have a discussion about what this means. Um, make sure the uh county attorney provides a legal opinion on the legality of this, the potential for you to be sued and taxpayers to have to pay for that.
Um, thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> All right. Is there anyone else? >> Um, next is review and approval of the minutes from the amended minutes from
December 16th, 2025. >> Madam Chair, if you'd like to take all three of the minutes as one motion, that would be fine. >> Okay. Motion to approve. Lubkkey. >> Do we have a second? >> I'll second it.
>> We have a motion by Commissioner Lubkkey, a [clears throat] second by Commissioner Lee. Is there any discussion? >> Hearing none. >> Commissioner Coring. >> I. >> Commissioner Lupkkey. >> I. >> Commissioner Baros. >> Hi. >> Commissioner Lee. >> I. >> Commissioner Franine.
>> I. Motion passes. Review and approve the agenda for today. Are there any changes? >> No changes or or corrections. Madam Chair. >> Okay. >> Motion to approve. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> I have a motion by Commissioner Barrow. Second by Commissioner Lubkkey. Is there
any discussion? Hearing none. >> Commissioner Lee. >> I. >> Commissioner Coring. >> I. >> Commissioner Lubkkey. >> I. >> Commissioner Barrows. >> I. >> Commissioner Franine. >> I. Motion passes. Consent agenda.
>> Madam Chair. Yes, >> Madam Chair, could uh could I just before we have a motion uh for Commissioner Barrows who's on the airport commission, maybe just a little small explanation of 5.3 signature resolution for the 2026
capital projects for the airport operations. Commissioner Coring, this is a a normal authority given to the chair at of the airport commission. um we enter into agreements with the FAA and the chair has to have the ability and the vice
chair to sign those agreements. So it expeditates or or moves the process along and we do this each year I believe if I'm correct. Yes, >> that is correct. [snorts] >> All right. >> Okay. Sounds good. Madame Chair, motion
to approve the consent agenda as presented. >> Do we have a second? Second >> motion by Commissioner Coring, second by Commissioner Barrows. Is there any more discussion? Hearing none. >> Commissioner Barrows >> I. >> Commissioner Lee
>> I. >> Commissioner Coring >> I. >> Commissioner Loveky >> I. >> Commissioner Franine >> I. Motion passes. >> Administrative services. Good morning, Madam Chair and commissioners. Jory Danielson, Crowing
County Administrative Services Director. I'm here to request consideration by the board for a public hearing to amend Crowing County's fee schedule. Uh the reasoning for this is a public hearing uh would allow the the county to seek input on a proposed amendment
establishing uh registration fee for state of Minnesota licenses issued related to low potency hemp and cannabis. Uh this change is needed to ensure our fee schedule fully aligns with Minnesota statute 342.22. Uh the background with this is that when
the county board originally adopted the 26 uh fee schedule in December of 2025, it included cannabis license registration but did not explicitly include low potency hemp registration fees. Under state law, both cannabis and hemp are under the same regulatory
framework. As a result, uh the county lacks clear authority to assess a registration fee for low potency retail uh license registrations. So the primary and um technical compliance update to the fee schedule uh is intended to
ensure that we have consistency with the state statute provide fair and uniform treatment of our state vetted regulated businesses. Uh cost recovery for administrative and compliance enforcement similar to liquor and tobacco underage compliance work already
required of a Minnesota county. Uh without this correction, the county absorbs the cost for mandated administration and enforcement compliance checks that the state allows uh us to recover. So the reason for the public hearing under state statute
462.353 requires a public hearing and public notice 10 days before a public hearing before amending the fee schedule. The hearing ensures transparency and gives affected businesses and residents an opportunity to comment, which has been a long-standing practice by this board.
So, the action I'm requesting is um your consideration to call a public hearing on February 10th, 2026 at 9:05 a.m. in this county boardroom. Uh if the board approves the public hearing, uh you will retain full discretion on whether to
approve the fee schedule amendment request following the public hearing. All right. Is there any discussion? >> Can I have a motion? >> Madam Chair, I would make the motion to approve. >> There's a second.
>> I will second that, Madam Chair. >> I have a motion from Commissioner Barrows, a second from Commissioner Lubkkey. >> Commissioner Lubkkey. >> I. >> Commissioner Baros. >> I. >> Commissioner Lee. >> I. >> Commissioner Coring. >> I. Commissioner Franzine.
>> I motion passes. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> County Highway. >> Good morning, Madam Chair and commissioners. I am Tim Bray, the Crowing County Engineer. I have one item for you today. It is a follow on to a federal grant
that the partners of MIDOT uh Baxter and Nissa and First Assessment District entered into or applied for last year for a federal grant from the build grant which is a better utilizing investments to leverage development
which is one of those acronyms uh to make in improvements to the 371 corridor. Last year that partnership was unsuccessful in their application for approximately $25 million. We've received some feedback from those um
evaluating the grant have made some changes. The partnership is back uh together again to um apply for the same grant and that uh is due on the 24th of February. As a reminder,
it is again to uh implement some of the near-term um improvements that have been identified in the 371 corridor study. We've been working on this with our partners since uh 2023.
And there's a listing in your packet of what those near terms are. Maybe you can show those. There's a Amber, there's a map there that talks about it. It utilizes some of the things we've seen on the 371 corridor which include J
turns, some channelization to uh provide better sight distance for those turning left and uh some road realignments particularly a couple for the first assessment district at Johnson Road and Barbo, trying to get those um to square
up a little bit better to to 371. And then also um it introduces the dynamic messaging sign. So this is a really good improvement that a lot of people are excited about. It's
essentially message boards up and down the corridor making drivers aware of roadway conditions, uh congestion, maybe blowing snow and and things like that. And uh so again, it's the it's the essentially the same grant, the same
exact projects that we had talked about last year, and we're just going for another round. One thing that might uh jump out to you is uh on federal grants like this, it this one's a particularly an 8020, so 80% federal, 20% local match
requirement. and for Crowing County and the partner cities that is um actively being worked on and we feel that that's going to be much closer to zero because of the status of um the corridor and there's an
area that's identified as a area of consistent poverty. It's hard to imagine Crowing County has one of those, but they do up and down this corridor. on the north side first assessment district area and through that it allows for much larger federal participation.
[clears throat] Any cost share that we would have would be um those things that are outside of MIDOT rightway. Everything within the corridor within uh their rightway limits will be MDOT's cost and any cost share percentage would
be based on uh our percentage outside of that. And these projects do not have a lot of that. So I do not anticipate a lot of cost participation exposure for us on this one. And so the recommendation for today is to uh adopt
a resolution authorizing uh me and directing me to submit an application for the $25 million build grant on behalf of the partner agencies. There are two letters of support from Baxter and NISMA contained in your packet. And
then again, also a summary of the the types of projects uh we're looking to build with those. And I'd be happy to answer any questions. >> Are there any questions for the county engineer? >> Madam Chair? >> Yes. >> Um county engineer, this is just a a
grant. This if we do get this 25 million, that's just to do the planning and do all the layout or is it actually to actually produce something on the ground? it the planning study has been done to identify these they they those concepts need to be further developed.
It is my understanding that this money could be used to further those but it's primarily for the implementation construction in the ground to improve safety along that corridor >> because some of those uh proposals that they have have not been actually laid
out in front of everybody and and stuff like that. So it's still still a work in progress. >> Correct. There are the specific projects are in the conceptual stage. Okay. >> And each one of those will have to be further developed. There'll be maybe touch points for each of the entities
involved, maybe even specific businesses. I think you're you've uh expressed your concerns about some of the >> some of the potential improvements at Crowing Power and uh those are included in there and there's still some more development and coordination that needs to be done before it actually gets built.
>> Okay. Thank you. That's all I had, Madam Chair. >> All right, >> Madam Chair, if there is no other discussion, I would make the motion to approve. >> Do we have a second? >> I will second that motion, Madam Chair. >> Motion by Commissioner Barrows, second
by M. uh Commissioner Lubkkey. Is there any more discussion? Hearing none. Commissioner Coring >> I. >> Commissioner Lubkkey, >> I. >> Commissioner Baros, >> I. >> Commissioner Lee, >> I. Commissioner Franine. >> I motion carries.
>> Thank you. >> Land services. Good morning, Madam Chair and commissioners. Uh Tom Stra, environmental services supervisor, and Chris Pence, our environmental services manager, here today to talk about some construction we have proposed for the
county landfill. Um the ask today is is to authorize the land services director to advertise for sealed bids for a project we have proposed. Um and first I thought I'd start with uh just kind of a quick rundown of the county landfill for those that may be in attendance today or
watching online. Um, so this this outline here is is the county landfill. Landfill is located at 15732 State Highway 210 and Briner. Um, just north and east of the airport or about halfway between Briner and Crosby on State Highway 210.
>> So, as as somebody were to pull in um here to the county landfill, they stop at our our scale house where they're met by our landfill operator. And at that point, the landfill operator helps them determine where they take their either their waste or their recyclable goods.
Um, so let's say they have um recycling or something for the household hazardous waste or mattresses. Um, they pull around here to the right and they go up to our recycling center. As you remember, we built that um 2023. And as somebody pulls in there, they can dispose of their household hazardous
waste, things like waste, oil, paint, old gasoline. They can also dispose of electronics or mattresses. And then you can pull around um coming through here and and you get some other uh things that aren't supposed to go in the landfill. So, used tires, uh scrap
steel, um those types of things, propane tanks. Uh for those residents that um don't have recycleable items or maybe they also have garbage, they continue down to the actual landfill here. Um so, the the space you see here, we started
filling um in about 1991. This was cell one here on the south and we've we've worked our way north and we're currently filling in cell five. Um that is that work is guided by our landfill operator. They're out there taking in that garbage, making sure that they're compacting it and what's going in that
landfill is supposed to be going in the landfill. Um as you look to the north here, uh this is cell six. This is something we're talking about today. We'll get to that in a little bit. And then as you come down to the south here, these are our Lee ponds. Um, leeate is basically any water that comes in
contact with the garbage. So, as snow melt or rain hits the landfill, it if it goes through the garbage, there's a a collection system on the bottom of the landfill with pipes and it sucks it out and brings it into the leech ponds. Um, the leech is uh is uh treated and
managed by our landfill operator. So, we're making sure that we're pulling out the bad stuff and then and then we um land apply it to the south here on our land application field. And so, we've just got some uh some things that we need to to work on and and expand a little bit as we take in garbage. Um any
questions about any of the operations in the landfill first? Okay. Um so, as I mentioned here, um you had cell one, cell two, and then you can kind of see some differences here in in the grass cover. This is cells three and four. So cells three and four um are
starting to finish up and it's time for us to close. And so as we fill the cell with garbage, when we get to a final elevation, we like to close that. So that way any water that comes in contact with that final cover, as we call it, sheds off in storm water and doesn't end
up as leech. Lee is very expensive to manage and dispose of properly. And so what we're proposing for 2026 is a couple things for cells three and four. Uh this lighter purple here is final cover. And so what happens is uh a a
membrane a rubber membrane is laid down laid down and then they follow up with um sand rooting zone material and and black dirt. And so we try to grow grass keep that final cover in place. So any water that ever hits that spot runs off and storm water doesn't enter the garbage.
Uh, also on cells three and four, uh, because of the way the landfill is constructed and and future plans, it kind of piggybacks and builds off itself. And so on the west side here, this this blue dark blue, um, this is will be a raincoat kind of can think of it like a big bed sheet, big plastic bed
sheet. Any water that would hit that would run off into storm water. Um, this is a cheaper solution than final cover. And the reason we didn't go with final cover is just because, like I said, we're we're coming back to build off of that. So, the intention is that will stay there for about 20 to 30 years. At
that point, it'll get removed when we come back down south. And so, this picture on the left here, um, this is where the that raincoat will be installed. Uh, moving as we talked about going as we go to the north, this is cell six. Um, the orientation of the map, if you
go south, you're looking looking up. North would be down. Um we uh we we started to dig cell six earlier, but now it's time for us to um install that that clay liner, that membrane, the leech collection pipes, get that ready uh for
2027 um or 2028 depending on how much garbage we get to start filling that space. And so it's um it's time to get that project bid and uh and get that completed. And then the final thing with the
project here is is the is the lie ponds themselves. So you'll see up here um ponds one, two, and three are getting to the end of their lifetime. Um ponds one and two were constructed in 1991 when we first did cell one. And then pond three was done in 1995. And so our our plan is
to uh basically reline those ponds, put a new membrane in. Um, as the sun beats down, as we fill the ponds, the the membranes get brittle and and it's just time for them to be redone, replaced. That way, we're making sure that we're protecting the environment, making sure that Lee isn't soaking into the ground.
It's staying where we want it to. That's a uh a quick rundown of um our construction for 2026 that we have planned. And and like I said, the the ask is uh to authorize the land services director um to enter or to advertise for sealed bids. Uh we did budget
approximately $4.9 million for this work for 2026 and 2027. Um our engineers estimate as of right now is about 4.6 million for that work. >> Madam Chair, go ahead.
>> Go ahead. >> Who's going ahead? >> You are. >> I am. Okay. Okay. So, a couple of questions either for Chris or Tom. First question is, is Crowing County or any
county required to have a landfill? That's the first question. And the second question is, is what's the benefits to Crowing County in the county board having a a landfill? What's the benefits to the the residents of Crowing
County? >> Uh, Madam Chair, uh, Commissioner Coring, that's a great question. Uh, a county is not required to have a landfill. What counties are required to do is to have a solid waste management plan that's approved by this Minnesota
Pollution Control Agency every 10 years. And then in that plan, it addresses the the goal, the plan for how the county is going to dispose of its solid waste. So that's a requirement that a county has. The benefit to having a landfill is that
um it while it may seem like, you know, this the cost that we're talking here, this $4.6 $6 million to to construct the landfill. Um cost something like it costs a lot of money. Um the way that the the county board has organized it over the years is that the the landfill itself is a in an enterprise fund. So it
pays for itself by the fees that are paid by folks who dispose the landfill. So if you if you dispose of the landfill, there are certain fees for garbage and certain fees for mattresses, electronics, and that sort of thing. And those fees are used to maintain and then
to um construct new additional um cells as we move into the landfill. Also is is there for just the day-to-day maintenance that we need to operate. So, if if somebody never brings any garbage out to to uh to the landfill, they're not going to actually have to pay
towards uh that service except for um there is a $25 um fee that is assigned to all the real property in the county that is used basically for to help us manage our non-landfill related items like the recycling, the mattresses, electronics. And so, the benefit to
having a landfill is that um it's very cost-effective. The other benefit is that it keeps crowing Crowing County's waste in Crowing County. And while that might seem like an odd thing to say, um, anytime you throw garbage away or that you manage solid waste, there is
liability to what gets thrown away. And so, um, you know, there are a lot of counties in the state, you know, have a transfer station set up where, you know, they basically, um, have contract with a different landfill to truck and haul that garbage to them. Um, but if there's
something that were to be thrown away illegally that isn't allowed to be uh thrown away into a landfill and it's discovered at a later date, that county would be held liable for that. And so um we really keep a close eye on what gets thrown into our landfill and disposed
of. We have a a landfill operator who does a great job of monitoring that and making sure that um items are disposed of properly in the county. So having a landfill um I think is envir it really it's environmentally smart for the county. It's a great investment and it
provides a really solid um return on the investment for the taxpayers who um who really end up funding that through through tipping fees and and that and not through their tax dollars. >> Madam Chair, just one other question for Chris. So, do you think the taxpayers of
Crowing County are are saving money on their garbage bill because we have a landfill? I know the answer to that question, but I'm asking you that because I want to want to prove to the taxpayers that we really are trying to to help them. I mean, if we're if they
were in uh Pine River in Cass County, I think it's Remind me, Chris, I think it's $95 a ton is the tipping fee. And I think we're at 60 something in Crowing County. >> Yeah. Uh Madam Chair, uh Christian
Coring, thanks. That's that's a great question. Yeah, our if you look at our tipping fee right now and like you mentioned up in Cass County, they're up in the 90 plus range per ton. We're in that 70, you know, 74 I think is where we're at per ton right now. And so I I
do think there is a definite savings there for the folks that that since we have that landfill here, I do think that if you were to compare the cost of having garbage service in, you know, in area counties, I think that you'd see that our costs are going to be probably lower than that.
>> Thank you, >> Madam Chair. Just one quick question. [clears throat] 4.6 6 million we're going out for bid for, but you've already done some construction on cell six, >> correct? >> What would be the total cost for cell
six? So, the public understands how much it costs and our legislators because I've testified before them. Um, but let's get the real number out there. So, we're we're already partially built. So, [clears throat] what would be the total cost? Tom, you can correct me if Madam Chair, Commissioner Mur, and Tom,
correct me if I'm wrong, but it didn't cost us any money to to basically dig the hole. We worked with we've worked with contractors who need that material for other projects. Okay? >> And so they we've we've worked with them to to haul that material out at no cost to the county and to basically in essence, you know, um dig the hole so
that we're ready when it's when it's time now [clears throat] to actually do the construction. And so that's what we've that's so the the actual cost of of digging this hole didn't cost the county anything. >> Okay. So, does that happen every time we do a sale? >> The one previous to that, it didn't. We we actually paid to have that one. I
think that had been cell five, I believe, we had um we had a local contractor and that did cost some money. So, we figured we figured out a way to work with some local contractors who could use the fill for other projects and it didn't cost the county any money. So, we're always trying to look for ways to be more um more effective and more,
you know, find cost savings for the citizens of the county. >> I applaud you for that. But I just >> if we don't have those opportunities, >> the cost runs much higher than 4.6. >> It would it would I would I would um garner to say that if we had to probably pay somebody to dig that out and remove
that, it' probably be in the million-doll range to for that or a little bit more probably. >> And that's what we tell our legislators is >> somewhere between about $6 million. >> Yeah, I think that's a fair that's very I think that's fair. >> So I have no other questions. If there
are no other questions. >> Yeah, I do, Madam Chair. Um, so we're at, you said cell six. Um, and how long is this have we been operating that landfill with like cell 1 2 3 4 5? How long does it take us to get to another cell?
>> Yeah. We started in 1991 with the with cell one. >> With cell one. Okay. >> And so we built the first uh cells one through four uh and then um cell five. we built a little bit of a larger cell and then we happened to have the the ' 08 recession hit. So we get when the
recession hit the you know we saw a decrease in garbage as well. So it's taken a little bit longer for us to fill that cell up. But I think an average cell we expect to be anywhere from five to you know 5 to seven years is what it takes to fill up a cell. >> And with the property we have out there we have ample room for cell seven, cell
eight, cell 9, cell 10. Do we get to a point where we're out of cells? We've looked we've looked at the numbers and the acreage and we we figure we have a 100 plus years worth of space out there for landfilling. >> And you were mentioning that if we ship our garbage out, our liability goes with that garbage.
>> It absolutely does. >> And so right now we know where the liability will be. It'll be our garbage in our county and we're responsible for that liability. >> Absolutely. Um, I know there's some real challenges with the PAS and some of the other treatments we're trying to do for
the leech, but uh and and that seems to be kind of open-ended right now and what we can do with that. Right now, we're applying it, but we're not moving it. It's just being applied. It isn't going away. It isn't there are some processes they talk about where it where it incinerates it or it concentrates it and
stuff like that. So, and those those projects are pretty costly. >> Correct. Uh uh, Commissioner Lupkkey, we've over the last probably 12 years, we've been looking at different technologies out there to, um, help us, you know, assist in doing the proper
treatment of our leech. And, you know, POS is definitely one of the concerns, but there's other concerns as well. And so, the we found we think we found some potential options that might work. And that the question is just scalability of just getting it so that because we we generate um millions of gallons of waste
of of this leech shape water at the landfill and we just have to be able to get to a scalability piece of that. And so and it it's probably going to be you know maybe a couple different of these technologies working in partnership to to really make it work. But we have some time from the state to get this figured
out but um we we've got to get it figured out um sooner than later. >> Yeah. and sitting on the the solid waste committee and also on the AMC solid waste work group with other counties. Um you know is it do we still know what we're going to be doing with our demo
landfill yet? Is that is MPCA come down on that at all yet on what we can do? >> So as far as a demolition landfill we do with our demolition >> because that's unlined at this time. >> Yeah. Right. And that's the way it's been managed across the state. So all the demo landfills across the state have been managed as an online facility. And
so the the state is in the process of working on rules that would then require you know potentially for like for you know these demo landfills to be lined. And so that would have an impact on Crowing County on on how we would manage our demo. Um I think the idea you know
there's some different ways we can we can either you know construct and build a line demo landfill or the other option is to you know take the demo and put it in our currently lined landfill that we already have. The question is just there's a taxation question with that. is there's different the taxes are different if you're putting mixed solid
you know um you know basically municipal solid waste in the landfill versus um items that are considered construction debris and there's a the tax is lower for that construction debris. M >> um the other question is is as far as the MSW which is our normal hazardous
land landfill you know that goes in our cells how much is our demo amount I mean is it a ratio of you know we get you know 100 tons of this and only 10 tons of that or do you have an idea in your head that uh to get an idea of the size
that that if we had to go demo line what that would be? Yeah, I think uh Madam Chair, Commissioner Lubkkey um for last year we were at about 55 56,000 tons of MSW that we brought in and our demo was considerably less. I I don't have that number off >> 10% of it maybe >> if Yeah.
>> 10% is a number that I would that >> that that's I I don't remember the numbers but it was something I was >> Yeah. >> So if we do have to do it, it would be a line hit that would last a long time. And the only the only other consideration to make with that is that if if if the state does push the lined
mandate um a lot of the privates are probably not going to do that because of the cost of lining it, treating the lead shade and that. So they a lot of those we would expect might um might close down and then we would we might we would probably see an uptick in our in our CND um you know disposal coming into the
into our landfill. >> But because it's an enterprise zone, we would make sure that the fees that were absolutely that that came in would offset the cost it takes to manage it. So it becomes a >> we we've had that discussion with the board about showing kind of what our you know from a reserve basis and how much we need to have as far as fees to make
sure that we're at that point of where when it comes time to you know invest in the landfill that we have that money available in reserves to be able to make that payment. So we have okay >> we've been working very close to that. Thank you. >> That's all I have. Madam Chair, >> is there any more discussion?
>> If not can I have a motion? >> Madam Chair, I'll make the motion to approve. >> There's a second. I'll second it. >> Motion by Commissioner Barrow. Second by Commissioner Lee. All those in favor. >> Commissioner Lee. >> I.
>> Commissioner Coring. >> I. >> Commissioner Lupkey. >> I. >> Commissioner Baros. >> I. >> Commissioner Franine. >> I. Motion passes. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> County Sheriff Morning, Madam Chair, members of the board. Uh Liz and I are here on the
behalf of emergency management director Clayton Bard uh asking the county board to for a resolution for adoption of our hazard mitigation plan. The Federal Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 requires counties to update their plan every five years to maintain
eligibility for the FEMA's hazard mitigation assistant grants. Um, in doing the update, we've partnered with the University of Minnesota DUTH to conduct survey to collect data from our communities, our local municipalities,
uh, cities and townships to understand where the hazards are that they've identified in their communities. um such as uh severe weather awareness and preparedness, improving storm water management, removing existing buildings from flood and erosion prone hazard
areas. Um uh our fire department friends and partners uh are are interested in increasing defensible space around homes and high-risisk wildf fire areas. Uh also in constructing tornado safe rooms and v vulnerable areas such as mobile
home parks. um a burying of overhead power lines that may fail due to heavy snow, ice, or wind storms. So, uh essentially, we've uh reached out for public input because it's an essential part of our plan.
And I'm really trying to talk smart, but I'm going to just quote Clayton Bar because he and Liz are the brains of this. Uh in Clayton's words, hazard mitigation planning is a central part of our emergency management program. Understanding the natural hazards that
can cause serious impact to our communities and taking action to reduce or eliminate the impact of future disasters makes us more resilient. Hazard mitigation helps us to break the cycle of damage and repair caused by things like flooding, ice storms, and severe wind events that can damage
property, stress economies, and threaten life safety in our county. Um, with that, if you have any questions, Liz would be happy to answer them. >> [laughter] >> Are there any questions? >> Just a comment, Madam Chair. um working with Clayton over the last
few years. It's been just a pleasure in working with that and and talking to the other communities that up in my area have had some problems with with you know storm damage and and and they've all appreciated the fact that Clayton is as professional and does as much as he can to make sure that we can apply for
anything for those townships and stuff that end up with a big chunk coming out of their revenue or their budget when it comes time to cleaning up after storm damage. Just wanted to make that comment and uh it'd be nice to see him here today. >> Yeah, we don't want to pump his tires
too much. He has an awesome team working with him. Not only Liz, but our our county partners with public health and community services as well. So, yes, Clayton does an amazing job and we are proud to have them. >> Yeah. Thank you. That's all I had, Madam Chair.
>> Okay. Any other discussion? None. Could I please have a motion? >> I will make that motion, Madam Chair. There a second. >> I will second it. >> Motion by Commissioner Lubkkey. Second by Commissioner Lee. >> Commissioner Barrows. >> I.
>> Commissioner Lee. >> I. >> Commissioner Coring. >> I. >> Commissioner Lupkey. >> I. >> Commissioner Franine. >> I. Motion carries. Thank you so much. >> Thank you. >> Attorney. Good. Excuse [clears throat] me. Good
morning, Madam Chair, commissioners. I don't have anything for you this morning, but I'd be happy to answer any questions if anyone has any for me. >> Thank you. >> No questions. >> Okay, no questions. County administrator. >> Madam Chair, the first item I have for you this morning is the senior
management team report. I we did meet yesterday. I was about halfway late for that meeting as I was attending another meeting at the time. So, I've asked Tim Bray to give the update on the senior management team meeting. >> Well, good morning again, Madam Chair and commissioners. a really good uh SMT
meeting yesterday. First, we had a general overview of the continuous improvement uh program. Uh Jory and Tammy gave us a good overview of that. We currently have 18 projects in the pipeline. They're kind of in various stages of development. We're still
looking for more um because this is well a continuous thing. We've been working on it for many years and it's been um a great program for us. We talked about uh the future of training uh green belts and black belts. These are the leadership part of that program and we
talked about some potential of using online platforms rather than some of the traditional in-person uh training that we've done. We also received a good update from Tracy Giza about a specific project that was been has been going since oh 2024 I
believe and this is the clean out of our main uh server or the F drive. You may have heard it. Every single department has stuff in there. And as you can imagine over the years it gets very large, a lot of redundancy and those physical servers that are at the IT uh
department require maintenance and cost and there's storage. You have to buy more storage. So we're looking for ways to reduce the redundancy and kind of move towards uh secure cloud-based systems. And so Tracy gave an update on the progress we've had. We've we've made progress. There's still more progress to
be made to reduce that. Um, we took an opportunity to review the employee engagement survey that all employees participate or most employees participated in in October. Um, Amy gave us um, a briefing after talking to our
consultant who helps kind of boil down this very large amount of data. Um, it showed improvement in many areas but still areas where we there's some uh, improvement can be made. One of the better parts of the discussion was just
exchanging ideas how each of us have um worked with some of the numbers that are coming on how to improve them or how to continue to do things that seem to have brought numbers up over over the years. So, a really good discussion about that. Amy came in and talk about lead worker
positions. There's a couple different uh categories of that and we just talked about strategies on how to um standardize uh those requirements for those uh lead workers and then get them in their performance review so they can uh be held accountable and also get
credit for the work that they do in those positions. We also talked about the lead program. This is the program uh it's a cohort of about 10 to 15 high potential employees every year. We're talking about that program's kicking off
soon. We're finalizing the members who each of the SMT members have nominated and then uh just again just talked in general about that and how we can continue to improve that program. And then Jory stopped in to talk or came to talk about um just employee parking
around here. We want to make sure that uh parking in authorized areas so we make sure that we have the room needed for our uh guests and customers that come in to see us and just a brief discussion about that so we can be more efficient with the parking. And then
lastly, we talked about the legislative brief that we're going to be holding at uh 1:00 a.m. or 1 pm with our area legislators coming up talking about those what to expect and things like that. So that's my report. Thank you very much.
>> Thank you, Tim. Madame Chair, commissioners, the second item I have for you is the Sourcewell Board of Directors vote. The If you recall back in October, you took action to unanimously support Commissioner Barrows pursuing reelection in the Sorwell board
of directors. He is one of two candidates that is up for election this year. And the action before you now is to cast a vote for that board seat. Uh just for clarification, Sourcewell board votes are a little bit different depending on if you're a school
district, a city, or a county. At the city level and at the county level, each organization, so in our case, Crowing County's board gets one organizational vote. School districts, each board member gets a vote from a school district. But at the county level, each
board gets one vote. And that one vote has to be cast and determined by a majority vote of your board. So you basically have to take action to cast a vote on the ballot. So the question or the action before you this morning is to
cast a ballot cast a vote for Commissioner Barrows on the Sourcewell board of directors. And we will need a motion, a second, and a vote for that particular action. >> Okay. Do I have a motion? >> Motion to um nominate. Is it nominate or vote?
>> It says nomination, but it's actually a vote. So, it's actually to vote cast for Steve Barrows for the uh Sourcewell board of directors. >> Okay, I have a motion. Do I have a second? >> I'll second it. >> I have a motion from Commissioner
Lubkkey, a second from Commissioner Lee. All those in favor? >> Commissioner Lubkkey. >> I. >> Commissioner Lee, >> I. >> Commissioner Coring, >> I. >> Commissioner Franine, >> I. and Commissioner Barrows. >> I
motion carries. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. And the last item I have for you is the citizen committee appointments. This should be the final, correct me if I'm wrong, Amber, but this should be the final piece of our committee appointments for 2026. The list that you have in your
packet are those final ones that we've now got the new term expirations that are expiring at the end of uh January here. So, these folks would need to be reappointed. And Madam Chair, this is a chair appointment if you are comfortable with the names that are on the list.
>> Yes, I'll make those appointments. >> Thank you very much, Madam Chair, commissioners, that's all I have for you, but I'd be happy to answer any questions if anyone has some for me. >> Thank you. Any additional business? >> Madam Chair, one quick thing. I want to
thank the board for your u vote of confidence for the source board. Um and other than that, I'm hoping that uh others follow suit. I I have enjoyed my time on that source board. They do great
things in our 5count region. I know in 24 in my letter I put out there, I think it was 23 or 24 million that was invested in the 5count area. Very proud of that. I know the school districts have enjoyed some of that. Public safety has enjoyed a lot of that. Um, our
communities, our townships all have received benefits from the money that comes in from source. Well, just to let you know, we recently signed a new contract with the um, United States Army Reserve. So, the
military portion of our cooperative purchasing program is exploding on us. We're trying to keep it at scale so we can make sure that we provide the quality of service that they want. But it's um what it's creating is an opportunity to
have tremendous investment in the five county area. That's what the state legislature has said we need to do with the dollars that we receive. So um I'm hoping and watching very closely that those dollars come there. Some of it is
about scaling, but there is a profit margin there that I think will we will see a return on investment from source in our fivecount region. So, thank you very much. >> Thank you. Anything else?
If not, >> Madam Chair, a motion to adjurnn. >> Do we have a second? >> I will second that, Madam Chair. >> Motion by Commissioner Barrow, second by Commissioner Lubkkey. Commissioner Lee. >> Hi. >> Commissioner Coring. >> Hi.
>> Commissioner Lukey. >> Hi. >> Commissioner Barrows. >> Hi. >> Commissioner Francy. >> I motion is or meeting is adjourned at 9:48.