Good morning. Welcome to the February 24th County Board meeting. Would you please join me for the pledge of allegiance and a moment of silence >> 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. Roll call. >> Commissioner Coring >> here. >> Commissioner Lovekkey >> here. >> Commissioner Barrows >> here. >> Commissioner Franine >> here. >> Commissioner Lee
>> here. >> Thank you. Um the first thing on the agenda is open forum. I have three uh people. First is Jane Olstrom. >> Thank you.
>> Um I have two Mad Speakers if you could please just state your name and address for the record too please. >> Sure. Thank you. >> Uh Jane Olstrom, 31897 Green Scene Drive, Breezy Point. Um, I have two topics today. The first is the ongoing cooperation with Department of Homeland Security. Following up on previous
public comment from January 27th, I urge discussion by the board regarding the 287g agreement that was signed by Sheriff Clay without consultation with the board. I reached out to my commissioner prior to that meeting and was advised that it was expected to be a topic at an upcoming meeting, but I
haven't seen it yet. So, I just urge you to take a look at that. Uh my second topic is the potential impact of the SAVE Act on the county budget. Um the act passed the House earlier this month and if passed by the Senate will require all voters to register directly
with the county elections office which will require additional staff. The bill does not authorize federal funding to pay for these new requirements and there's no phase in period which means it could be uh required this year during this election
cycle. I also believe that a single voter registration may require multiple contacts with election staff as the requirements will be changing for documentation and it's unlikely that everyone will have all the right stuff the first time because that hardly ever
happens. Um, the bill also includes a private right of action allowing individuals to sue if they feel the law is not properly enforced. And it would also establish criminal penalties for election officials who mistakenly
register someone without the proper proof of citizenship. Both provisions have the potential add to add additional work as well. If you've already taken steps on this, thank you. Um, I I hope you continue to monitor the status of the bill and put
plans in place as required. Thank you. >> Thank you. Next, Jeff Torno. Jeff Touro, 424 West College Drive, Brainer, Minnesota, speaking on the financial ramifications of our sheriff's department's
cooperation with the federal government through the 287G contract. The 287G task force model agreement was retired in 2012, citing issues such as racial profiling, tension between law enforcement agencies and their communities, but more tangibly an extensive drain on resources at the
state and local levels, as well as the cost of these programs that was shelled out by taxpayers despite promises of reimbursement from the federal government that went undelivered. The program was largely considered to be costly and inefficient. It's for those reasons and more that I can't reconcile our own sheriff signing this agreement
with no oversight from our county commissioners while also acknowledging that our law enforcement budget currently exists in a deficit. Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. We're hearing very familiar promises from the federal government that our county will be compensated for its cooperation with ICE. As of earlier this month, over
$300,000 in counting is the cost incurred from our sheriff's department's participation in the program. We have yet to see any federal reimbursement applied to this sum. We have detainees being held in jails for months on immigrant detainers while other Minnesota counties such as Freeborn, Carver, and Nobles have been sued for
doing the same. Choosing to ignore the legal opinion of our state's attorney general, which predicted these litigations, is reckless and unsavvy. ISIS stated outright they will not offer protection for counties facing lawsuits for their participation in the 287g program, which says they fully
understand these lawsuits will happen as they have in the past. and when they do, the financial burden will be on everyone in this room. We ask our representatives to do as they were elected to do and represent our values as a community, keep our best interests at heart, and to demonstrate respect for the democratic
processes that allowed them to be elected in the first place. I'm asking for our local representatives to coordinate to come up with a better strategy for combating this deficit and not resort to unilaterally passing outdated and harmful legislature. Thank you. >> Thank you,
Judith Peepgress. I'm Judith Peepgrass, 9913 Legionville Road, Brainard. I'd like to share some concerns that have been on my mind. One I know others in the community are beginning to wonder about as well. I recently learned that
Sheriff Clang entered into a 287G task force agreement with ICE without the board's involvement or approval. While I understand the intent may be to support law enforcement efforts, I find myself curious and honestly a bit concerned
about what this means for our county's legal and financial responsibility. From what I've seen, other counties in Minnesota like Candy, Ohio and Freeborn are now facing lawsuits over these same agreements. The attorney general has
weighed in stating that county boards, not sheriffs alone, should have the authority to enter into these kinds of arrangements. I'm also concerned about the county board approved ISGA contract with the US Marshall Service, which allows the use
of beds in the county jail. Recently, one Apple Valley woman, Mimu Mohammed, was wrongfully detained at the Crowing County Jail for two weeks and was subsequently released by order of a federal judge. Who's to say that she
might not press charges or that others like her might follow suit? That raises an important question as we are potentially exposing Crowing County to legal challenges and financial liability without the proper oversight or public discussion.
The last issue I would like to address and Sheriff Glang, this is not directed at you personally with all respect. I think it's directed to the office of the of the uh sheriff and that is when an elected official
takes it upon himself to decide which laws are okay to dismiss, it becomes a very slippery slope for others to follow. In an interview with KX Kaxe, Sheriff Clang appeared to do just that as he defends ICE agents using duplicate
plates in the BLA. With so much at stake, I kindly encourage the board to place this item on an upcoming agenda. A thoughtful public conversation would go a long way in helping us all understand the risk,
responsibilities, and implications of these agreements. Thank you for your time and your continued service to the county. >> Thank you. Next is Tim Quincer. Hello, I'm Tim Quincer, 4982 Mapleton Road in Baxter. Um, Madame Chair and
members of the board, a month or so back, I talked to you about the risk of liability uh that the sheriff's 287g agreement poses to the county and its taxpayers. Since that time, new information has come out that I think you should be aware of and take into account and open up the issue for
discussion in a in a board meeting. Um, multiple national news sources said just yesterday that a longtime ICE official uh in testimony to Congress said that training for new officers had been greatly shortened and that it was
deficient, defective, and broken. He noted items cut out cut out of the training for these officers included training on the use of force and training on constitutional rights. He said that DHS has graduating officers who do not know their constitutional
duty, do not know the limits of their authority and do not have the training to recognize an unlawful order. This was testimony to Congress just yesterday. Um, Reuters News reported that just since last October, judges around the county have ruled 4,421
times that ISIS jailed people illegally and more than 20,000 lawsuits have been filed on behalf of immigrants seeking their release. CBS News reported that um uh after obtaining some DHS internal information that less than 14% of ICE detainees in
the last year have had charges or convictions for criminal offenses for violent criminal offenses and nearly 40% had no criminal record at all. Uh locally here, there's things going on locally as well. We had Kaxe reporting that federal agents right here in
Brainer uh had several vehicles without front license plates and the same exact license plate on the back plate. Um they reported that uh Department of Public Safety said that that was not an authorized use and it was illegal. Um the same article said that um uh federal
officers were based directly out of the sheriff's office here in town doing doing this work. Uh KSTP News in the Twin Cities reported that a 45-year-old mother of three from Apple Valley with an order preventing her um from being deported was um ordered to be released
after being detained for a few weeks here in Crowing County Jail. NPR News reported that a 27-year-old Somali man who had a a pending asylum petition based on torture by a terrorist group in his home country and had attended all required court proceedings. He'd done
nothing wrong. He was in the process, was detained here at Crowing County for several weeks before he was released. I mentioned earlier when I was here before that Freeburn County was being sued. An ABC News affiliate in Wisconsin reported that five Wisconsin counties are being sued for their cooperation
with ICE using 287g agreements and the Wisconsin Supreme Court has agreed to hear those cases. So there probably is some validity of those. Um, what are other counties in the state doing? While the Star Tribune reported that they reached out to the sheriffs of all 87 Minnesota counties, more than half
replied. And of all of those people that replied, they all said they hadn't really had to change anything. They are not um working with 287 G agreements and they they're doing the same things they always were. Um Cass County, as you may know, have
said that they dropped out of their 287g agreement. Jackson County recently did the same thing. >> Your three minutes are up. >> Okay. >> Thank you. Next on the agenda is Tom Jacobson. Tom Jacobson, 204 First Street Northeast, Crosby, Minnesota.
And I'm here to say thank you. Thank you to you commissioners for supporting law enforcement. I have a funny idea that law enforcement is important 24 hours a day. And I like the fact that they're here to protect everybody. They're here to protect you. They're here to protect
me, our fellow neighbors, citizens and non-citizens. They're there sometimes when the ICE agents pick these people up that they're going to these places where they have warrants. They're not accidentally just showing up and randomly hoping that they can find somebody that's here illegally or there's somebody that's broken some
law. I like the fact that they're our sheriff's department, the local police are there to protect these people. So, make sure that their rights are honored, that they're not getting beaten down or anything like that. It's uh just a good thing, I think, that the sheriff's department and the local police are
protecting everybody. And I appreciate your county commissioner supporting them as far as these ordin this or ordinance or whatever the statute that they're talking about their agreement that the sheriff signed. It's his job to protect this county, to protect the people in this county. I happen to have a lot of
trust in our sheriff that he's going to do that that he's going to protect everybody. I'd like it if we lived in a perfect world where there was no crime, but the fact that there is crime and we have a sheriff's department, local police department, and Sheriff Glang is very good about working with the
officials, state, local, which he's done without his whole career. I basically I trust this man that he's going to take care of us, everybody. And uh I guess that's about all I got to say. Thank you. Thank you. >> Next item on the agenda is the review
and approval of the minutes from the February 10th county board meeting. >> I'll make a motion to approve. >> I will second that motion. >> We have a motion by Commissioner Lee, a second by Commissioner Lebkey. >> Commissioner Coring
>> I. >> Commissioner Lekkey >> I. >> Commissioner Barrows. >> I. >> Commissioner Lee >> I. >> Commissioner Franine >> I. Motion carries. Review and approval of the agenda. Any changes? >> No changes, Madam Chair. >> Madame Chair, I will make that motion to
approve the agenda. >> I'll second it. >> We have a motion by Commissioner Barrows, second by Commissioner Lee. >> Sorry. >> Any discussion? Hearing none. >> Commissioner Lee, >> I. >> Commissioner Goring,
>> I. >> Commissioner Lipkkey, >> I. >> Commissioner Barros, >> I. Commissioner Frany. >> I motion carries. Uh consent agenda. >> Madam Chair, I'll make a motion to approve the consent agenda. >> Is there a second?
>> Second. >> Motion by Commissioner Lubkkey, second by Commissioner Barrows. Is there any discussion? Hearing none. >> Commissioner Barrows. Hi. >> Commissioner Lee. >> Hi. Commissioner Coring >> I.
>> Commissioner Lovekkey >> I. >> Commissioner Franine >> I. Motion carries. Community services. Cara. >> What? >> Where do you want to go? Here. >> Wherever. >> Let's go here. Okay. You can tell we've
coordinated this significantly. Good morning, Madam Chair, County Board. Keratary Crowing County Community Services. here today to talk about uh opioid funding for some internal projects. Um joined by Adam Kronstead and Lewis, pronounce your last name. >> Madriga.
>> Madriga from probation. So first of all um in the past you have supported many internal projects related to the opioid funding and we appreciate that very much. One of the areas that you have approved before in the past is our culture of wellness which is our community services mental health
program. Um, we are asking today for approval of $52,000 to support that program for 2026. Um, basically this program is similar to the sheriff's office mental health program. We work with um similar providers um to support our staff who
may need um support with mental health. Um, as you know, we deal with a number of uh complex cases and folks who are in um some pretty dire straits and supporting our staff to be able to support others is um what we're trying
to do with that program. Um Adam is here today to ask for $46,000 and I'll let him speak um to that program. >> Uh Madam Chair, members of the board, thank you for teeing that up for me. Um yeah, basically as part of the opioid
remediation process, one of the approved um funding sources is to a provision of wellness and support service for first responders and others who experience secondary trauma associated with opioid related emergency services. So much like community
services, our law enforcement um are the first ones on scene dealing with these sometimes applying uh nlloxxone uh having people die in front of them and and dealing with that. We've had the program of our mental health check-ins
for a number of years now. Um also providing therapy services to our staff. We budgeted for this annually. Um, it wasn't until just recently where I discovered that this it would be a uh an approved funding for through the use of
the opioid remediation. So, that's why we're here today. >> We'll just keep cruising through these unless you want to stop for questions at have them at the end. >> I do have one quick question. >> Yes, sir. >> Commissioner Barrows. >> So, the um you mentioned first responders in there. So, first
responders has a big definition of who qualifies or falls under that definition. >> Yes, sir. >> Um, but you're saying this would be targeted more to the sheriffs or the deputies that are out on the streets. Would that be correct? >> Am I saying that the the use of that
definition is just applying to law enforcement? >> Um, no. But the funds would be directed towards the wellness of the officers. >> Yes. >> Okay. >> Yes, sir. >> Just wanted clarification. The third ask and I I forgot to mention
these all came before our blade steering committee which is um our new structure within the blade coalition. Uh Commissioner Lubkkey was at the meeting where we discussed these. So if you have anything to to offer Commissioner Lubkkey, please do so. The third request is $1,000 for a youth scholarship.
Excuse me. As part of our drug-free communities grant, we are required to have different sector representation from members of the community. One of these areas is a youth representative and we've struggled with our Blade Coalition um to have a consistent youth
representative on board. What we've heard from other coalitions across the state is that they've implemented a scholarship program which they offer typically it's around $1,000 to a youth who is graduating high school and and going on to either a four-year degree or two-year community college um to use
towards their uh educational expenses. So, our group um the steering committee discussed this and uh decided to bring forward a request for the $1,000 to be offered to a youth um to participate in our Blade Coalition through the DFC um grant work. This amount is not funded
through the DFC grant. We've already submitted our budget for uh that grant for this year. So, it would be through uh opioid dollars. And the final one I have is the community corrections program. Um the request is Yes, sir.
for that thousand. Can you just go into what the qualifications are for that and when it would be reimbursed >> for that student? Yeah. So, um qualifications at least at this point which the steering committee must discuss a bit further before um we're ready to allocate the dollars is that
any person at age of 18 or younger who is planning on pursuing like I said a college degree whether that be four-year or two-year um and once they have graduated high school and what we discussed was they would enter their first year and
pay for their first year and then the second year we would offer the $1,000 um as a part of the um scholarship. Is that what you remember? Sergeant or Captain, sorry. Um so that's kind of what we discussed, but certainly we have to finalize that um if we're approved
today >> and that would be given to them upon successful completion of that second year. Correct. >> Of the first year, completion of the first year to apply to the second year, the dollars. >> Okay. All right. Understood. And um as a
part of the steering committee uh commissioner, we um welcome your input on what that should look like too. So absolutely. >> Okay. Number four, the community corrections bike program um is requesting $5,000 and Lewis is here today to share some interesting data
about the program that he created in corrections. >> So a little information about why the program got started. I supervised a case load of mostly alcohol-related DWIs uh as well as some
drug offenses and um a significant number of my clients struggled with transportation needs due to having their licenses revoked um which became a barrier for them to make progress in areas of substance abuse
treatment, community support through alcoholics anonymous, narcotics anonymous um as well as challenges to um get to court, probation, um the grocery store, and uh recreational and
leisure. So, I reached out to um people in the community to try and find resources of bikes could be donated. Several were donated from colleagues and uh people in
the community. Um, and we went through those rather quickly. I was successful in making contact with local police departments and obtaining bikes that had been abandoned that needed some work to fix up. And so
I was able to do that and provide bikes to my clients. I have a number of uh questions here that I've answered and I'd like to share them with you. So, um, currently my bike program has 15 bikes
that are in the process of being services serviced, uh, so they can be donated to clients in need. Um, I'd like to add that initially this program started off just supporting my clientele and has grown to offer support to anyone
in the community. and um we've been able to work closely with social services to provide people in need with several several bikes there as well. Um I'll also see people in the community walking
from the homeless shelter into town and stop and check with them and offer them opportunities to obtain some transportation as well. Uh the total number of bikes donated to the program is estimated to be around 100. Um the
effort that goes into making these bikes functional is on average 10 to 30 minutes per bike. Um these bikes come to us sometimes in great condition and sometimes not so much. We'll piece together a few broken bikes to make one
good one. Um typically replacing tubes, grips. um they need to be cleaned and tuned up before we can give them out. Um the consumers impacted um over the year 2025
um was 50 bikes. I was able to provide 50 bikes to clients working with probation and social services and another 50 to residents in the community residing in sober homes as well as homeless individuals.
uh the cost of the program over this time frame uh from February 23rd, 2024 through December 16th, 2025, I invested a total of 83 hours into the program. And in this time frame, I also raised
$1,000 which provided tools and parts. So in total with my wages and the funds raised um in that time frame the program cost $4,154 roughly.
Um this program helps people to live life and invest in themselves in ways that would be too burdensome for them otherwise. This program has helped people in Crowing County to get to work, attend AA, go shopping, make it to court
and probation appointments, and enjoy life with family on bike rides. One bike this year uh made its way under the tree of a family for a young boy, which was facilitated with the help of uh social services. And I think that's probably uh
the best news that I've received from this whole program was being able to help with that. And um this grant that we're seeking today would allow me the opportunity to obtain quality bikes at a discounted rate and create more enjoyable experiences for participants
as well as provide me with the opportunity to be more creative and expand on the services offered within the program. Thank you. Any questions? >> Yeah, I've got just a couple questions for you. Um, when you talk about your
wages, is that something is this a project that you're doing aside from your Crowing County duties or would that be Crowing County wages that you're referring to? >> I'm referring to Crowing County wages. >> Okay. Um, I had a second question about it too and
now I forgot it. >> Well, disregard. >> Thank you. >> There anyone else with any questions? Just for clarification on that issue, those 83 hours that you've put in are outside of your normal probation duties, I would assume, and your fundraising
efforts are outside of that, but you're just equating your county wage to the efforts that you've put forward for this program. Correct. >> The time invested in this program within that 83 hours was approved and
>> Okay. I was paid with county funds to invest that time into this program. >> Thank you, >> Madam Chair. >> Yes, >> Madam Chair. I would just say that I'm I'm going to support all the requests
today, but I would reiterate what I've said multiple multiple times that I believe this is I guess everybody interprets the uh opioid dollars um
however they deem fit. I I look at the opioid dollars as dollars to at the front end to try to educate to try to keep people from either getting on drugs or doing any
opioids or or anything anything like that. A lot of times like the things that we're talking today are after the fact and it's I don't know that it's helping
people. Yes. That are have either had troubles with uh alcohol or drugs, but but it's after the fact. I guess I would like to see I I guess I interpret the opioid dollars as a preventative to
try to educate people and I just point that out. I still believe that and I'll believe that that's what those dollars really should be used for. Even though these these certainly are worthy causes, they're worthy causes and I'll support them, but I believe that money should be
spent on prevention. Thank you, Madam Chair. >> I remembered my question now, Madam Chair. Um, how long have you been doing this program with the bicycles? >> Um, started this program
um February 23rd, 2024. >> Okay. Are you tracking any of this in any way to see um are these bikes coming back into the program after they're done with them or a success rate with the people that are
using them? >> So, when someone's interested in receiving a bike, I sit down with them and go over the program expectations. Sometimes the bikes are given to them permanently. Other times bikes are given
to them as a loan and they're requested to return them um when they obtain their own bike or their vehicle. And um we've received a I guesstimation of probably like
eight bikes returned that then are given back out to somebody else in need. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you. Any other questions? >> Okay, we have four asks. Do we want to do this as one motion or four separate
motions? >> I'd like to do it as one motion. >> Okay. So, who will make the motion? >> I will make the motion to approve these four requests. >> I will second that motion, Madam Chair. >> Motion by Commissioner Barrows, second
by Commissioner Lubkkey. All those in favor? Commissioner Lupkkey. >> I. >> Commissioner Baros. >> Hi. >> Commissioner Lee. >> Hi. >> Commissioner Coring. >> I. >> Commissioner Frany. >> I. Motion carries. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you.
>> County Highway. Madam Chair and Commissioners, I have two related items for you today. both of them regarding the safe streets for all federal grant that we applied for back in 2024 and then receive notice that we
are awarded in 2024. Um just as a reminder this this program is to make an assessment of and put together a comprehensive safety action plan. very similar to what we have done
in the past with our county road safety plans. We've had those for several years and have uh used them successfully to both leverage funds but also have a better understanding of the safety needs in our county. So, this is a federal
grant from the FHWA. It's it there's a lot of recipients around Minnesota, around the nation. As a matter of fact, Cross Lake received their own $200,000 grant to study what they call vulnerable users.
Basically, that's bikes and peds. And so, looking at those areas of our transportation system that have vulnerabilities uh where vehicles uh interact with pedestrians to take a close look at that. So, this uh federal grant um was
approved, we were awarded it back in September 2024. We had the first draft of this agreement with the FHWA about a year ago. And over the course of that year, there's been a lot of changes at the federal level for a lot of different reasons, and that has
led to delays. and we're finally here one year later uh to having worked through that and through some of the challenges with the FHWA. And so the grant agreement before you is to um it is directly with the federal
government and the FHWA to um use this SS4A grant to come up with this comprehensive safety plan. And a lot of the agreement outlines how the money's to be spent. It doesn't talk about necessarily the requirements of the
action plan. There's a whole different um set of correspondence on what has to be in the plan and we're actively working on that and and that's actually my second item that I have for you. But the first one is to officially accept the grant where both parties sign on it
and that we uh agree to uphold a lot of the federal stuff that comes with it like the federal laws around civil rights and a lot of those things. Those are listed in in the agreement. >> Okay. Do I have a motion? >> So moved. Is
>> there a second? >> Second. >> Motion by Commissioner Barrow. Second by Commissioner Lee. Is there any discussion? Hearing none. >> Commissioner Coring >> I. >> Commissioner Lovekkey >> I. >> Commissioner Barrows >> I. >> Commissioner Lee
>> I. >> Commissioner Franine >> I. Motion carries. >> Thank you. And the second related item is actually how we're going to spend the money. So this is a essentially a planning study. There's it's not
implementation dollars. We're not going to be building anything with it, but it's taking a comprehensive look at all of our system uh within Crowing County and that does include some even some local roadways that high have higher volumes and crashes and risk factors
associated with them. And we originally back when we thought we were going to get into this agreement over a year ago that we were going to do that with our in-house staff. Uh we have very talented staff at the highway department. We were able to
we thought we were able to do it. We had a down year this year in terms of construction and we're going to really focus in on planning and due to these delays um it it that is not feasible anymore. So we do need help from an outside consultant. There are many consultants around the state around the
nation that are familiar with doing these and putting them together in a efficient way and leading us through and guiding us through those. And so, uh, what you have before you is an RFP to go out for those services utilizing those
dollars that we that you just, uh, approved to get into the grant, uh, with the FHWA with. In addition to those funds, the state had a has a program to match federal dollars. So, we were, um, also a recipient of that. And so that
brings that covers the local match with the $200,000 which essentially brings the cost to Crowing County zero to come up with this very important action plan. Another good reason to go out with RFP and uh hire a consultant to do this is
because Cross Lake is ahead of us. They were able to unlock it somehow. I think they had a little bit uh less um to work with in terms of their agreement and they are off and running. They've hired a consultant already to talk and and
learn about those vulnerable users throughout our system, those bike and pad areas and it is a good idea I believe to hire a consultant too to coordinate with those efforts. These two I see these two plans merging together.
If you think about vehicle and pedestrian and bicycle safety throughout the county, it it all comes together. Now, it might not be the same exact consultant that that gets it. Um, Cross Lake has already hired theirs, but we
expect that we'll have a lot of interest from uh consultants around the state to do this that are very familiar with it. So the action before you is to authorization and direction to release this RFP that's in your packet that outlines the scope of services.
It's it's pretty robust, but it's a very robust plan. It's very important that is done right. And I just want to I'm very prescriptive about some of the stuff I do so we get the product um that we're looking for and deserving.
>> So I'll be happy to answer any questions. >> Manager, one question for you. Yes. >> Uh obviously the grant if that's if we receive the grant all the funds are covered as you spoke of but if we don't get the grant where are those funds coming from?
>> We will not do the we will not do the comprehensive safety plan. >> Yeah. Thank you. >> And so I we're on track. We this has been worked through the FHWA and the attorney look has looked at it too. And so I'm I'm confident that we'll get the 200,000 and by getting that we'll
automatically get the state matched for a total of $250,000 to to do this action plan. >> Okay. Thank you, >> Madam Chair. Um Tim, are we going to have much overlap? I mean, you were saying that Cross Lake has already got theirs. Are we going to really work hard
to make sure we don't redundancy and and and have that overlap, you know, to keep it from reinventing the wheel? you know, if they're inventing a wheel, do we need to invent the same wheel? Can we merge those two together enough to make it, you know, we'll get more out of it than
we would trying to do it on our own? >> Absolutely. I don't I don't believe that these will be two independent efforts. They've just started and so there was a little bit of urgency for me to to get this out in a timely manner where Cross Lake has not leaned ahead too far. I
believe that the two public comment periods will overlap uh to some degree. Um, I've written in the RFP very specifically that they must coordinate closely with the city of Cross Lake and their efforts think about sharing the
comments if it's two consultants gathering their own public input that they must talk together. So, I was very careful about that. I don't believe that they're completely uh independent and I I I wouldn't be surprised if we could get it to where it's merged into one
document. If you think about safety around the transportation system that whether it's vehicles or pedestrians, it should be all contained in one. >> And and we're talking countywide, correct? We're not talking I know because Cross Lake's already ahead of it, but we're also talking countywide
for this. It's not a specific area. >> So the Thank you. Uh the distinction is so for our grant, it's vehicle safety. Think about all the intersections and segments of road throughout the whole county, including some local connections, even within the cities. Some of the higher volume ones we want
to capture in there, too. For Cross Lakes grant, they were um their $200,000 covers those pedestrian bike connections essentially on the top twothirds of the county. That's what the application was.
That's what they're awarded. Think about the river is kind of that diagonal line that cuts through the cities and the rural areas north of that will be included in their grant. I have in hours tried to fill the gap with the other
third of the county south of the river to ask them to look at the vulnerable users and those pedestrian connections with the transportation system. So we'll have both vulnerable users covered throughout. part of it will just be covered by our grant. That makes sense.
So, theirs is the top twoirds and ours is the whole county in terms of vehicle. >> Thank you. >> Any other questions? >> Can I have a motion then to authorize the county engineer to solicit proposals
to develop a comprehensive safety action plan? >> So moved. >> Is there a second? I will second that, Madam Chair. >> Motion by Commissioner Barrow, second by Commissioner Lubkkey.
>> Commissioner Lee, >> I. >> Commissioner Coring, >> I. >> Commissioner Lubkkey, >> I. >> Commissioner Baros, >> I. >> Commissioner Frany. >> I. Motion carries. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Veterans report.
Madam Chair, members of the board, morning. >> Thank you for having me here today. Today we're going to be talking about just doing going over 2025 recap and how the year went and and the review. Um, I always like to start out with our
mission statement because it grounds us on what we're doing and what our what we're going to be um striving for. And our mission is to set the standards of excellence in serving our veterans, fostering by fostering meaningful relationships, engaging proactive outreach, providing high quality claims
assistance, and delivering comprehensive education of VA benefits to our veterans. and we are committed to honoring the service and sacrifice of our veterans through unwavering support and advocacy and dedication to their well-being.
Um, our core values again are integrity, excellence, compassion, advocacy, and collaboration. So, those are very important to our office and how we uh serve our veterans and
their spouses and their families. Um, next one. Our priorities in 2025 were to strengthen relationships with veterans and community partners. Um, outreaches to veterans who are
underserved based on location and health transportation. We provided 57 outreaches to veterans in rural uh or unable if they were unable to make it for transportation barriers and health issues. Um, we've partnered with we we partner very much with uh
community services and adult protection. When they come up with cases that we're not aware of, they share with us and we go out on outreaches with them to help bring together a comprehensive plan to be able to help with their well-being. Plus, it just allows us to be able to get eyes on their living conditions to
see what else is there that that we can help them with with their needs um beyond what our normal services are. Um, we I attended uh 14 veteran uh events,
reaching out to more than 500 uh veterans in at these events. I attended community partners meetings to introduce and educate veteran benefits uh and our role in assisting veterans and their families in the community and how it can
impact their organizations and businesses. uh daily interactions with our veterans, providing excellent customer service and claims development. We had 240, I'm excuse me, 234 new veterans in our office that had never been in our office
in 2025. That's just short of one per day. Um and that uh we we've had a range of veterans based on war era um peace time, but a lot of new younger
veterans from Gulf War time frame. Um we're getting a lot of lot of them into our office, which is great. Second uh priority was continue to deliver high quality claims assistance with e uh efficiency and accuracy. So we
do a lot of staff development uh and education on VA benefits. Uh we have quite a few 20 20ome hours of of uh required training that we have to do to keep our accreditations with our service organizations for claims and being
accredited with the VA. Um, but we have uh free uh trainings through the Minnesota Department of Veteran Affairs uh weekly that we can attend and don't always get to all of them cuz but most of them we try to get to especially the
ones that we need uh updates on and we are continuing to um just learn. It's a it's a constant changing environment and and we need to stay on top of those for our veterans. uh client case reviews and and feedback.
Um so any it's our practice that any any veteran that makes uh contact with our office that we spend the time even after the conversation with them that we review their their claims file. Uh many of those veterans just have general
questions. Um uh tax season was just around and it is still around. So that's a big question that we get. Do we do we do taxes? do we know of any services? But we allow that time where we we take a brief moment afterwards to really dig
into their file, see what their um benefits could be, if there's been any changes that affect them, and what we can do to help uh get the benefits that they've earned that they're not receiving at that time.
um mentorship and continuous focus on our mission statement. So daily conversations with each other. We we work on cases mostly independently in the in the VSO office but we are very highly integrated together working
collaboratively uh to discuss claims discuss different cases. It's always good to have a sounding board on on uh a route and and strategies that we're using for getting those benefits in some of the most more complex cases that
we're working on. Um three minds, four minds are better than one. And so we have daily conversations just kind of reviewing what do you see in this claim? What else could we go for? And we all have different uh kind of expertises in different areas that we that we have
high skills in. Uh so we're challenging each other and learning from each other as well in our office for the benefit of our veterans. Um I kind of went research on case files, review old denial claims and
ensure quality of development by past veterans representatives and decisions by the VA. So, kind of touched on that a little bit that we do review uh most claims that when we come in contact with veterans, but we also look at decisions, past decisions that there was
denials. You would be surprised at how many how many claims that we come across that had prior decisions a decade ago that the VA didn't make the right right decision on it or it was something that we can overturn fairly uh easy or just
with a little bit more development we can get that service connection for them and so I think I think that's been our big priority in 2025 which does take time it takes time to go through um multiple
files and and looking at the laws and and everything. So, it's been it's been really a big deep dive and and that takes up quite a bit of our time, but we don't allow it to affect our other areas of operation in our office.
Uh provide accurate analysis of their claims and benefits and assisting veterans with a blueprint and a guide of what they need for high quality claims. So, a lot of it is putting coming up with a good plan, a strategy for the veteran. Uh, if they haven't been doctoring for a while, if they haven't
doctored at all for a claim that they're coming in to file for, they need to have a diagnosis. And so, it's walking through them through that process of um, you know, sometimes it's how to go to the doctor and how to how to mention
their ailments to their doctors. um and what what the focus should be on and um how to gather the evidence that they need for to support their claim. Um we submit highquality claims. And when I
say highquality, I'm talking about the best claims that we can put together. They might not be the best ever, but they're the best that we can put together based on the information, the evidence that we have to us. and um in our our advocacy for them
track we track the claims uh and review the VA's development decisions. So when a veteran comes into our office the moment that we submit submit a claim or submit paperwork, we track that all the way through. um make sure that you know
when a veteran calls and says, "What's taking so long for my claim application to be processed?" We usually already have an answer for them without saying, "Well, let's let me go and take a look and see what's going on." Um very high feedback from our veterans for
doing those things and it definitely helps instill the trust on the veterans into our office that we are serving them the best that we can. And we also follow up with veterans throughout the claims process uh as
needed reviewing all decisions of of the claims and the veteran to ensure accuracy and what is needed for appealing the decision if needed. >> Madam chair, just a just a question. What's your battering average? Because you're talking about bringing in claims and going up there. How how have you
done? I mean I mean I'm sure not all of them get approved. Not all of them do get approved, but we have a very I would have to recalculate the the I don't keep track of batting averages, but I know we have a very high success rate. um if I
were to estimate right now um 80% in success rates and then when you come back to appealing or looking at a um to get the decision overturned or find the other evidence uh to get that
submitted that also goes up in our claims as well. Um sometimes we we do what we can to preserve the benefits for our veterans. So sometimes if a claim isn't as as developed as I would want it to uh submit it but their time is coming
up uh from the intent to file which gives a year uh the veteran a year to file a claim from that intent to file to preserve the earlier effective date for that. We'll submit the claim knowing that it could go either way. um but we
still have something that we can bring back to the table after that decision's made if if a a decision wasn't um in favor of the veteran. And so uh preserving those those effective dates, ensuring that the veteran gets the most
benefits uh for that is is good. And it a lot of it is taking the cooperation of the veteran and what they're willing to do and what they're not willing to do. I we remind the veterans, you know, you're coming to us. I'm going to work the claim as if it's my own claim or if it's my father's claim or or somebody that I
know. That's how much care that we put into these claims. But we need you to do that as well on your side. It is your claim, but we're here to assist you with that. So, >> thank you. >> Um, we that kind of is a good segue into
this next point here. We empower veterans through comprehensive education and resources. So, um I take a stance that if we're providing services for clients and and not just veteran services or if if we're going
into something, we should know what the process is and we should understand what's going on. And so we go to community events, we talk about the claims process, we talk about what needs to what needs to be covered and what evidence needs to be there to be able to
get a a positive outcome for those claims. We coordinate and partner with um other community resources organizations and provide education connecting and collaborating to uh reach veterans. Education of benefits uh
provides a spark in conversation um and questions. This leads to empowering veterans to understand what is available out there for them and we lead lead them to connect with programs and how to navigate the system for
education benefits and healthcare. Um, if we can get out there and and create a spark or plant a seed in in them to wonder what is out there for them, that creates communication and and
outre um them reaching back out to us, which which we can assist. And just because you reach out to our office doesn't mean there's something out there. But knowledge is power and understanding uh what is out there and what's not available um helps relieve
some of those questions or what if uh you know down the road. What if I would have just reached out to them before? Uh so some examples we went the Camp Ripley Retirement Conference has a span uh spring and fall conference that I
work with Morrison County with on that. Um great great place for retirees to go to and and learning and getting updates on benefits. Um really good feedback with that. Um community services meetings in collaboration with mutual
clients, veteran organization meetings, BFW, American Legion, DAV. um county booth fairs. Get a lot of new clientele that that uh are walking through a lot from other other counties that come through our our uh county
fair. Um and it allows us to again get that out, reach out for them and bring those questions uh to their to their office in their own counties as well. Uh we've done presentations at Lakes Area Habitat for Humanity and Quantis
Club uh VA town hall meetings and brainer at the Briner VA clinic and radio and social media presence for staff development. I guess I did uh touch on this a little bit too. Um but we we do have top training throughout the state. We have excellent trainers,
excellent uh programs out there that provide us with those up-to-date uh rule changes, uh legislation changes, and keeping us aware of what might be to come so we can have those answers when when the panic starts coming uh down the
road with with a bill that might be coming through. So, we can have that knowledge and research to be able to um be able to talk about it. um outreach programs and projects. Let's
see. Mentorship case deep dives we've kind of gone over. Sorry, kind of went over a little bit here. Um and just missionoriented um we'll go to the next slide. So in our office um we provide a
financial assistance uh to veterans as well. Not just claims work but also veterans in need. um SSAP grants or state soldiers assistance programs. Um our office process about tw $83,000
for Crowing County veterans for SSAP grants between 24 local veterans. Approximately 70% of those were dental and optical vouchers. Uh 20% were for special needs grants um and assisting with housing and utilities
and 10% for subsistence. Somebody who a veteran who had a medical condition that couldn't work and needs to get keep ends met or or their bills paid to be able to help them out so they they don't
continue to struggle. uh for MA MAC or MACV. It's a state program primarily for housing. Um we assisted with eight veterans with MACV applications who received approximately
$14,500 with direct housing assistance and utility payments. Uh this was uh funding that assisted paying uh paying for past due rent, mortgage, and first deposit fees, first month of rent to
help them get into housing and uh keep them from being homeless. And we work a lot with our local uh veteran organizations, American Legions, VFWs, DAV, Minnesota Homeless and Wounded Warriors. Uh we've given out uh
$1650 worth of gas cards to veterans and spouses, surviving spouses in need. Uh food cards, uh $1,400 worthy worth of uh grocery cards given out as well. And again, these are some of the areas that
we really focus on when they're coming in for needs, financial needs that we are really trying to maximize and see what we can do to assist them with sustainability uh with their veteran benefits. And that's been pretty successful over over the the last year
and and since I've been here. Um immediate financial assistance paid to vendors. So when they go through the local organizations for uh uh utility shut offs, uh car repairs,
things like that, they uh pay the vendors, not not the veterans. Um just to make sure that the money is going to where those needs were allocated for. and over $25,000 for those for those uh were given out by those organizations.
For our claim stats, um compensation claims for disability, we had 290 claims in Oh, I thought somebody said something. Sorry. Uh 290 claims in 2025. A little less than what what uh 2024 was
from. Um, sometimes we have that. I think that's the first year that we've had less claims and haven't continued to go up. So, um, I'm looking into that a little bit more, but I I have a suspicion that some of them are are from more of the
new veterans coming in that do take a lot more time digging in and deep digging into um, you know, establishing their claims and and all that stuff. but also with uh the intent to files. We've been utilizing the intent to files which gives us a little bit longer to be able
to uh assist them with their claims as well. Supplemental claims or appeals uh 100 claims in 2025 just short right around the same as 2024. DIC claims uh so dependent indemnity compensation to our surviving spouses uh
for service connected deaths of their of the veteran. 26 claims in 2025 and a little bit up from 2024. We had 27 applications for 100% property tax exemptions for veterans and DIC recipients.
24 applications for 75 70% property tax exemptions. VA healthcare applications are 142 um compared to 149 from 2024. We had approximately seven visits,
client visits per day in our office last year. About 17 phone calls each day. Again, 57 outreaches going to uh for claims and education information for them. And uh new clients, as I had said
before, about 234 new clients. So this next page I want to talk about. So the the VA they come out with the GDX every year. It's the gross expenditure um gross domestic expenditure report for
how much the VA is is spending or or um veterans benefits are receiving from the VA. It came out late this year. It came out in November. Usually comes out in June. So, I didn't have a report for you guys on that earlier. Um, so that would
be for 2024 that I'm reporting on with this. Um, total VA expenditures were just over $und00 million that of benefits going to our veterans in Crowing County. Um,
total direct expenditures were 45 million. uh 41 of that was for compensation and pension. Uh there's insurance and indemnity of of about 100 about 200,000 and then DIC and survivors pension uh about 3.53 $3.6
million uh for 2024. Indirect expenditures was $55 million and that's direct medical care about 53 million 53 and a half and then about 210,000
were for memorial benefits such as like uh internments, headstones, markers for veterans who passed away and and are utilizing that uh education and vulk rehab employment uh about 1.3 million and in special
adaptive housing about just under $100,000. So, I went a little bit farther with that on this next slide and I wanted to like break down like what how does that affect uh Crowing County and how does it affect our our veterans and and try to
put some context to that. So when I when I looked at that report, I kind of ranked Crowing County out of all of the counties and ter territories in the United States uh for 2024 that were being reported on. Crowing County ranks
10th uh I'm sorry, we rank 614th out of 3,226 counties and territories that are in that report. That's for how much that uh our veterans are receiving into Crowen County. Um, in Crowing, Crowing County ranks 10th
out of 87 counties in Minnesota for for their GDX. Breaking that down a little bit more, I wanted to kind of know like, well, how much how much uh federal funding, VA funding, uh, is going towards veterans,
uh, each veteran, and it's about 20 just shy of $21,000 a year for each veteran. We rank 13th for the average expenditure uh per veteran in Minnesota for countywise.
11 of those counties that rank higher um have a significant lower veteran population than Crowing County. Um the a 11 counties that rank higher for a higher uh per veteran uh expenditure
is a uh county population of about 1,253 veterans while Crowing County has approximately 4,800 veterans. Um, the only one that beat us in that in that uh, and it's not a contest, I guess, but the only one that ranked uh,
that had a higher population was Sterns County. And when I compared that to Crowing County, um, 70% of the uh, GDX dollars were for direct medical care, which makes sense because the St. Cloud
VA healthcare system is there. um when you look at the comparison for like the compensation and pension, we are higher than them for per veteran. So, I think that kind of tells us that we're doing a pretty good job. Um you would expect
that lower population uh counties with lower populations would have more time uh to be able to invest into their veteran population and have a higher number for that. Um, I think it kind of
shows that we are hopefully meeting our mission and our purpose here in Crowing County to serve veterans well in our county. This next one on the left side, no, if you want to go back, sorry. Um, that is
just kind of a breakdown. The left one is a breakdown of of those 13 counties that uh to show you where their their fundings are. Um, and then the right side just kind of
shows a trend of the GDX per year since I started 2019 all the way to 2024 when which is this last report that came out. And you can see a pretty significant rise in the six years that we had from 66.7
or 66.8 $8 million per uh for expenditure to our veterans to just over hund00 million now. So, um challenges and obstacles. I think uh the big thing out there for our veterans
that are that they're challen being challenged with as as well as affecting our county is the predatory claim sharks. They don't like to be called claim sharks. They don't want to be called something else, but uh it's pretty much a payto- file service. uh you get uh attorneys out there that are
charging our veterans for things that they should be getting for free. They're representing themselves as professionals. Um and they're undermining uh our county veteran service offices in in our uh in our state and and throughout the
country. um they're paying astronom they're having they're charging astronomical fees to our veterans for benefits that they for easy application fill outs and things like that. Um so that is a one thing that we've been challenged with as
well as our veterans. The feedback that we get is once once a veteran goes with an attorney or a different representative, one of those representatives, they sign a contract and they're obligated to that contract. We cannot help them with the claims process if
they have any questions. If those lawyers or those uh organizations aren't reaching back out to them, we cannot touch their claims. We don't have access to their claims. We can't help them because we do not want to break that contract that they have with their client, the veteran, because it could
have legal ramifications on the veteran themselves for breaking contract. And I don't want to see that coming to our county as well where they said that we interfered with their with their process and their claim stuff. Um, >> Madam Chair, who who gets the who pays
for that? Is the veteran actually paying for that or is the VA actually paying for those fees? >> The the veteran pays for that. So, >> pay for that out of pocket. >> Yep. There's multiple different contracts out there. Some have to pay I've heard of people paying up to $5,000
just to be before they can even have their claims worked on. The most uh the most common one that I see out there is where they sign the contract and they're given a percentage of or they're
given all of their retro. So, if you think about these these uh not all of them are bad. I'm going to say that some I'm not fully against the these these organizations. There's a lot of states out there that don't have
county veteran service offices. They're veterans need help. There needs to be regulation on on what they can charge. But to go back to the point, they're they're charging, you know, their claims are taking forever and it's only for the benefit of of some of these
organizations out there that are having these contracted with veterans because the larger the retro, the larger money that they get paid from the veteran. Um, so that's that's an issue for me that that they're having to pay for these things and that they're being taken
advantage of. Um, what hap what Yeah. So, I kind of went over that the the for-profit companies aggressively market help with disability claims while charging high fees for their services and accredited rep uh provide we provide free free uh
service to our veterans with their claims process. And then we've also seen a lot where these these companies are working illegally where they're um they're not supposed to file new claims. are only supposed to work on appeals.
And you can see I can easily see in the system where they are telling the veteran how to fill out the claim and what to write down and then they're charging them for that. Um they're operating in gray areas such as
coaching and counseling and medical evidence packages. So you know some of sometimes they can say well we can do all the doctoring. we can do all the medical evidence for you. Just sign with us and they do it. Veterans end up getting good results on their claims,
but I I question I question how the efficacy of them. You know, a lot of these a lot of these organizations have uh medical providers that are providing medical opinions that they're getting paid to provide a medical opinion that's
going to win. And and how it's being done, I I don't know what the oversight from the VA is. on on making sure that they're legit claims being being sent uh processed in. Um kind of go over why is this trending?
The growing value of disability benefits has created a lucrative market for these companies and organizations. They are bombarding uh our our veterans with online ads, social media posts, targeting veterans, using languages that
should never be used, saying we can guarantee, you can't guarantee anything, but they're using we can guarantee you that we get you 100%. And that's the hook for a lot of these veterans that are looking for uh that are don't know the claims process and don't haven't reached out to us. This has also kind of
helped our office, I guess, in a little bit because they come and ask us about these uh claims and and we we guide them the right way and and take them under our wing and help them out with their with their uh claims. Uh impact on county office on our on
county, not just our office, but other county veteran services. Um veterans arrive after signing contracts or submitting flawed claims. Um, extra staff time is required to unwind bad filings. So,
you know, it if they if a claim doesn't go through, it's already we can't we're not able to we're going to have to go through the evidence that was submitted and try to try to unwind that and and uh get the VA to to change or, you know,
submit the evidence that we need for the veteran. And it takes a lot of extra time to figure that stuff out. And erodess trusts when veterans think that all claim claims help costs money. Um
so we're doing whatever we can to to maintain the trust with our veterans. I think we've been doing a really good job in our office. I think you could talk to any veteran out there that's worked in our office and and they would be very happy with with the services that we provide them.
um and not just the the result of of what we're able to help them with, but also just how they're treated. Operational barriers. Counties with limited have limited authority to regulate private actors, but we absorb the consequences. We're we're trying to
figure that stuff out uh and and help them out. And when we tell a veteran, we can't help you with your claim when you're under a contract with another with a different organization. Um, it hurts us, but it also doesn't doesn't
make us look good in that veteran's eyes either because they're asking for help. And in that part, we we just can't help them until we get a notification that their contract has been terminated. And that's been under the guidance of how Minnesota Department of Investment
Affairs and and um kind of the the organizations that we work with that we are operating uh under um their stances as well. Um veterans filing claims alone without representation.
So what's happening is many veterans are self-filing online believing that it's a faster and easier way. uh do-it-yourself claims often lacks supporting evidence, nexus letters or correct filing strategy. And so we're we're
coming up to them and and after meeting with them and we're trying to trying to correct uh the way after it's being done. And anytime we work on a an appeal or a supplemental, it it's added hours and and added effort into their claims process.
Why it's trending? uh expansion of online filing tools and information overload uh cultural tendency towards self-reliance among veterans. We don't always like to ask for help as veterans and we're trying to break that stigma in our office. Um misleading
marketing says that uh assistance is unnecessary. Impact of our counties, we got higher rates of denials, more appeals from veterans who file their own claims, heavier case loads for us. uh really digging deep into to get that turned around. Um veterans seek help
only after setbacks which makes the cases harder to fix and more time spent on education rather than uh proactive assistance. And operational barrier preventing outreach uh uh preventative outreach requires staffing and funding that many
counties don't have. And then the next one, this one's a little longer report, maybe more than the 20 minutes that I put down on there. I apologize. Um, inconsistent ratings and decisions with long long claims processing time. So, this is more on the VA side of things and the and the errors
that we're seeing uh as they're being processed. Um, veterans with similar conditions can receive different disability ratings depending on one examiner's interpretation, evidence, weight, or review pathway. Really what that's just meaning is
raiders aren't rating the same at all times. And so we're when we do the the claims review and the decision review, we're really looking at the evidence out there and and we're we're uh uh just
trying to get get a good strategy to to combat that. Processing timelines for initial claims, supplemental claims, and appeals can stretch months to years. evidence requests, uh, scheduling exams and rework cycles slow cases even when file
the filing is strong. Um, sometimes they're just asking for information that they already have and it's like you want to point out to them like if you look on this page, it's right there, but they're doing continuous development. Uh, which which makes claims go a little bit longer.
and why this is trending. High high claims volume following eligibility expansions like the toxic exposure policies and increased system load. Ongoing policy updates and guidance changes create variable v um variable
well in how claims are uh evaluated. And then workforce turnovers at the VA and training differences among raiders contribute to inconsistent outcomes uh in the US Department of Veteran Affairs system. How does it impact growing county veterans services and our veterans?
Staff must manage expectations and provide repeated status uh support during long waits. More appeals and refilings in increases case loads and administrative workload. Veterans frustration and financial
stress intensifies often surfacing at the county offices or county office. Uh extra time is required to review decisions, explain ratings, and develop corrective strategies and operational barriers for counties. Uh not just ours, but the counties around us. Our our
office has no control over VA timelines or rating outcomes, but we absorb the the service burden. Um unpredictable timelines make workload forecasting and staffing allocations difficult and emotional support is needed needs rise when outcomes appear unfair or delayed
for our veterans. >> Do you have any questions? >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Wait, there's more. Thank you, >> Madam Chair, commissioners, Eric. Thanks for that report. I feel
like I got a PhD and while I was sitting back there listening to you, so I was very good information. Um, last week I had a chance to uh to testify down at the uh um down at the
cap and uh that was my first time testifying down there, but it was very important topic. it was on uh law enforcement data being private and not public information and it was for a number of reasons uh for safety of the officers and also for our correction
officers as well. So um after I was done with that that it moved right to the Senate. So I guess I'll be going back down there again during that time to uh present again uh down there. Uh we did have a report for you uh but we actually
um found some errors in it so we changed it and you'll have that uh the next next time we meet. Um I I think last year I emailed it to you. If you'd still uh appreciate that or if you want me to go
uh do this, I certainly can as well. So you guys okay with me emailing it to you? >> We're fine. >> Okay. Um, we got some great cases that we're working on right now. Um, I wish I could share them with you. Um, as our
investigative division is doing really well and, uh, I'm excited about the things that are, uh, that are going to that are coming up. So, uh, with that, I'd certainly entertain any questions that you have for me. >> All right. Have a good day.
>> Thank you. Thank you, County Administrator. Madame chair, commissioners, the first item I have is a senior management team report and there is no report because we did not meet yesterday as we had no agenda items and we don't meet just for the sake of meeting. So I have nothing from the
senior management team and nothing else for you today unless any of you have any questions for me. >> Um I'd like you to give an update about the Briner city council meeting and the annexation. >> Sure. Madame Chair, commissioners, uh you may recall last Tuesday the city of
Briner was before you with a request for a discussion item with regard to orderly annexation for some properties in the first assessment district. Remember first assessment unorganized territory. As the county board, you are the township board for any of the activities
that happen in unorganized territory. But there's no separate township board, if you will, for that purpose. So, it's just action that takes place at the county board table. The city of Briner is considering an orderly annexation process. Um, you may recall that there
are three ways annexations can occur. A property owner could request that a property be annexed in order for them to partake or get value out of a particular service, whether it be municipal sewer in infrastructure or some road project,
whatever it might be. a property owner could petition to have their property annexed into a city. The city would take action on whether or not they would approve that particular request. A second way, which is what the city of Briner has brought forward before you at this time, is for what's called an
orderly annexation, where basically both municipalities, the city and the township, would approve a resol a resolution that would allow the city to annex in parcels as services become available or based on what their ongoing
plan is. Um, basically what an orderly annexation does is says that a township will not contest or stand in the way of a city annexing properties as long as they have a plan of how that is going to move forward. The third way is through a contested
case hearing of annexation, which oftentimes occurs when you have a township who is opposed to properties being annexed into a city or there is a not a valid reason, if you will, for
that annexation to occur. That is more of a court a legal proceeding which then goes before the boundary adjustment office boundary hearing. The hearing officer would then take that information into consideration. There is a
discussion on what the benefit is to the properties that are being proposed to be annexed and then the court makes a ruling on whether that annexation can occur or not. At the city council meeting last Tuesday, the council did take public
hearing even though they're not required to do so. They took some public testimony and heard, I think pretty overwhelmingly, that there weren't a lot of folks in favor of the annexation. They did not take any action at their city council meeting on the resolution that they had for consideration. Rather,
they directed staff to bring them back some more information. I'm not exactly sure what kind of information they were looking for, but there's no item before you today because there's no item from the city at this point in time. Your role as the county or as the township
board if you will in this case is once the city approves if they approve an a resolution for orderly annexation that would then become before you for you to consider the same annexation resolution or if you do not want to take that
action if there was something else that would be coming before you at that point in time. I would say there's no role for the county in this regard. You are not the ones who are setting any of the assessment information. You are not the ones who would be controlling any of the annexation piece. You basically are
agreeing to this process or not agreeing to this process is what your role as the county board is. Just as a reminder, the first assessment district does have a separate tax levy for things that are specific to the FAD outside of the
regular county levy. So fire service is provided through a separate levy to those folks at the township level, if you will. There's a coordinated agreement with the Brainer Fire Department to provide that rural fire service. Um they pay for any road maintenance activities, snowplowing
activities in the first assessment district that is handled through contracted services, not through our county staff. So those services that they're getting at the township level, they are already paying for municipal services in that regard at that township level separate from what the county
level levy dollars are. So just a little bit of nuance when we talk about the unorganized territory. Sometimes it gets lost in the shuffle because they don't have a separate town board and you all serve as the town board of that regard, but there's not really um a lot of
legal, and correct me if I'm wrong, madam attorney, over there, but there's not a real lot of legal standing that you have in an annexation process outside of what the city process is going to be. I hope that helps. >> Thank you, >> Madam Chair. Madam Chair,
>> Commissioner Coring. >> Madam Chair, I just want to say thanks to Deb for that explanation. I'm sure all of us I at least I have been getting a couple emails and I did talk to somebody yesterday that's in that area that does not want to be annexed. And
and I really appreciate the explanation here because somehow they believe that they said, "Well, I didn't see anything on the county board agenda. this isn't up to us. So, I I just really appreciate a good thorough explanation. So, thanks
for that, Deb. Much much appreciated. Mr. >> Just uh one question that came up um as you explained that I thought about it after our meeting last time too, but uh if a person can petition, a resident
can petition to be in um a city limit if they are forced into annexation, can they petition to be out of a city limit? >> Madam Chair, Commissioner Lee, not really. Um, a city can choose to basically annex by they can annex by resolution. Basically saying we're going
to annex this portion of it. Basically at that point the contested piece comes into play and there could be a court process that would be that the city would have to prove whether or not there is benefit to the property to be annexed or not. Typically a city can by
resolution annex if there are island type of situations which is something you maybe have heard in this circumstance. There are a couple of properties in this area that have done the petitioning process to be annexed and I believe you saw that on the map that they were showing last
Tuesday. There are a couple of areas within that defined boundary that are already in the city of Brainard because they had petitioned to be asked to be annexed or the city had taken a action to enex those particular properties. So there's not really a petition process to
say I don't want to be annexed. We could go a whole down a whole different rabbit hole with regard to detachments. Properties that are within a city can petition to be detached and put into a township, but that's a completely separate process than what the annexation process is.
>> Okay. Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, in doing Deb, in doing some homework on this, I've seen that as far as unorganized territories of all the 87 counties in Minnesota, we're probably it's probably about the only unorganized territory that has that type of
population that we happen to have. I don't I haven't found another county that has a lot of counties have unorganized as we have another >> second assessment district. Um and the other thing is is is in in the case of uh uh Belrami up there uh Biji has been
moving around the lake and right now there's a northern township up there that is looking at going into the process of actually becoming a city. Correct. >> Which would be like 854 855 cities looking at doing that versus versus and doing on their own form of government
versus looking at becoming part of the city of of Bumiji. I just read that article yesterday. In fact, >> it's kind of interesting. So, there is things moving around out there. It's just that we have a unique situation here in Crowing. >> You're exactly correct, Commissioner Lubkkey, on the unorganized territory some side of things. You know, if you
think about our unorganized territories that we have in Crowing County, there are two. There is the one that's just north of Briner and Baxter here, and there's one over on the east county line, if you will. They could not be more different. Typically, when you think about an unorganized territory, as it's applied across the rest of the
state, there's not a lot of population in those areas. They are more rural in nature and not very developed. The FAD, the first assessment district here in Crowing County, if it was an organized city, would be our third largest city. It's our third largest population center
within the county. And having that type of development and that type of um density is very unusual for a township or an unorganized territory situation. There are a multitude of different ways that municipalities can design
themselves either through annexation through a mutual agreement. Uh you may recall 20 years ago almost now the city of Pekquat Lakes and Sibi Township agreed to a merger which basically absorbed all of Sibi Township into the
city of Pekquat Lakes. There have been some detachment situations in Breezy Point that have put those back into Pelican Township. So there are a variety of different ways that typically are addressing whatever the need is of that particular area around our lakes. Making
sure that we have protection of those natural resources and that environment is always a very tricky situation and as more density occurs you are going to see some additional changes in some of those areas. >> Thank you. >> Any more questions?
>> Thank you. Um now we'll go into close session. Do we have a >> Do I have to stay here or can I >> Madam Chair, as Amy's making her way to the table, she will give you an overview
of what the close session will be involving. >> You want a >> Good morning, Madam Chair and commissioners. We are going to be going into close session persuant to MS13D.05 05 subdivision 3A for the performance
reviews for veteran service officer Eric Flowers and county administrator Deborah Ericson. We will close the session and you'll we scheduled 30 minutes but whatever discussion time you need you'll have discussion with Eric on his performance and then when he is done
then Debbie will come in and you'll have a discussion with her on her performance for 2025. Then after that, she'll leave and I'll come back in and take some notes on some key highlights and topics so I can pull together the summary that will be on the next county board agenda
summarizing the performance for each individual on that. Do you have any questions for me? So then we just need the motion to go into close session. >> Okay, >> I'll make the motion to go into close session. >> Second.
>> Okay. Motion by Commissioner Lee. Second by Commissioner Barrows. >> Commissioner Lukey >> I. >> Commissioner Barrows >> I. >> Commissioner Lee >> I. >> Commissioner Corin >> I. >> Commissioner Franczine >> I. Motion carries.
>> And since Eric already gave you a summary of a lot of the work, you can hit the ground running on discussing it. >> Maybe we'll have him repeat it again. We need Waiting for the stream to restart. >> Okay, so we are back to the open meeting.
>> We need a motion to open it, don't we, >> Paul? Do we need a motion? >> No, I don't. No, no, no, we don't. We we we we just All we did is the the county board meeting was still in progress. We went into close session. >> We came out of close session. So, we're
in open session now. >> Yes, sir. >> And all we need is a motion to adjourn. >> Moved. >> We have a motion from Commissioner Barrows. Do we have a second? >> I second it. >> Second.
>> Second. I'll second it. Second. >> All right. >> Motion. >> Motion to adjurnn. We have um Commissioner Lovekkey >> I. >> Commissioner Barrows. >> I. >> Commissioner Lee >> I. >> Commissioner Coring >> I.
>> Commissioner Fransy >> I. Motions adjourn or meetings adjourned. >> 12:29.