Good morning, commissioners. Tony Hansen with the regional director uh University of Minnesota Extension. Uh appreciate having an opportunity to present an update to you today on the Crowing County 4 program. As you can see, we have some guests here today. And so with that, I'll just turn it over to our very
skilled and talented 4 youth development educator, Sashana O'Shea, who will introduce our other guests. Oh, thank you. Good morning, commissioners. Thank you for the opportunity to be here today. I am Sashana O'Shea. I'm the Crowing County
Extension Educator. And with me today, I have three outstanding youth from our 4 program. I have Jared Adman, Adara Jidlinsky, and Heather Nelson. And they will be sharing um what they've been working on this year for a service
project. To get us started, I want to tell you about our vision for Minnesota youth. Minnesota 4 envisions a state where all youth thrive and earn confident in who they are, successful in what they do, and deeply connected to
others, their communities, and the world around them. Through meaningful experiences and relationships, 4 helps youth discover their potential and create positive changes in their communities. The Minnesota 4 youth development
program focuses on three key goals. First, we aim to ignite a passion for learning in our youth, encouraging them to explore their interests deeply. Second, we empower them to lead as innovators and positive change agents in
their community. Lastly, we partner with adults to create high quality partnerships. So, with that in mind, here are a few of our youth leadership pathways in Crowing County. The first program that we have for leadership pathway is the local
ambassadors. Our local ambassadors are made up of youth in grades six through one year past high school. The second leadership pathway is our Clover Plus club. That is a new club this year that we have started with in partnership with
our local ambassadors and that is for youth in grades 3 through five. And our third leadership pathway, excuse me, is our beyond ready to serve cohort which these youth are a part of and they will tell you more about that later on.
Next, I'll go into a little bit more detail about our youth leadership pathways. The Crowing County Ambassadors are leaders, role models, and representatives of the 4 program in our community. This group consists of 18 young people in grades 6 through 12 and
have focus on four key components in their program. The first component is education and skill building through opportunities through training. The second is service within 4 such as club visits, leader
leader training and service as camp counselors and service outside of 4 such as service projects and volunteering. The third key component is getting 4's message out into the community by
promotion. And finally, the opportunity for fun and socializing and connecting with their peers. Our second leadership pathway is the Clover Plus Club. So that is a new offering this year. They meet once a month from
October through April, one Saturday um in the morning. And this club is led by the 4 ambassador club um who have completed a youth teaching youth model training to prepare for this role. This program is really neat in that it
creates an opportunity for those youth to um continue building those skills while the older youth have an opportunity to lead and it also supports our program um retention.
Okay. So for our third leadership pathway, Heather Nelson is going to get us started. Hello commissioners. Thank you for having us. I'm Heather and this is Adara and Jared and we are part of the Beyond
Ready to Serve cohort cohort. Since October, we've been learning with nine working apologies with nine other youth from four other counties to learn about service learning. And today we're here to share our project. >> Hi. Hi. I'm Adara and um at the
beginning of our cohort, I was nervous and excited to meet all the other youth, but I learned how to get along with everyone. I was able to input my ideas and mix everyone and everyone's ideas too to make our project. During the times together, we used the iPod um
framework, which stands for investigation, plan, and prepare, action, reflection, and demonstration. I am Jared. Um, we spent time investigating the needs in our communities. We surveyed
our peers at a 4 regional leadership event, heard from field experts, and did our own research on the topic of mental health and well-being. One thing that stood out to me was that I didn't know how many people were actually struggling
with mental health. My best friend actually struggles with mental health issues after he lost his dad to mental health struggles. Because we all had personal experiences or knew someone personally who struggled
with mental health, our group decided to launch a social media campaign to bring awareness to loneliness and mental health. Our campaign will be featured on the Facebook and Instagram pages in all
the 4 north east and northwest region counties from May 18th to 29th which complements national mental health awareness month. We've created a series
of eight videos that show a short skit provides awareness on the topics of lon loneliness and mental health and gives us simple ideas for the audience to support the people around them. On our
next slide, we'll share more about our project. Okay, sorry about that. >> Being a part excuse being a part of this program has opened doors for us. We were able to attend a regional leadership event and meet other youth from across our region. We'll also get to attend
Minnesota's 4H state leadership conference in June where we will get to present our projects to our peers from across the state. Working on this project, I've realized that it's become something far more real than when it was just be when it just began. Now it feels like we're really changing something.
Thank you for supporting our opportunities like this to help youth grow into leaders who can serve are ready to serve their communities and make positive changes. >> Thank you for having us today. >> Thank you so much.
>> Thank you for your time today. >> Thank you. >> Good job, kids. Thank you. >> Does anyone have any questions for them? I'll just say good luck at the uh state convention. Is that what it is? Did I understand that right? And you'll be
presenting there. Good for you guys. Stand up proud. >> Thank you. >> Next item on the agenda is Kitagami Regional Library. Hello. Hello. Um, good morning and thank
you for your time today to hear about the Kitami Regional Library System and its impact in Crowing County. My name is April Risto and I am the branch manager of the Briner Public Library. Ah, um, who we are? Kitakami Regional Library System um, is one of the 12
regional library systems in Minnesota. We serve a fivecount area of Baltrami, Cass, Crow, Wayne, Hubard, and Wadina. We have nine physical locations and we have a bookmobile that services four out of the five counties. We also have two
associate libraries. Um, we do have 34% of our population that has library cards and we think that's pretty awesome. Uh, this is actually just a quick visualization of Kitigami as a whole. So you see all of our five counties, you
see the um nine associate li well libraries that are with them, and then you see our delivery schedule and our mobile schedule as well. Um we do have our two associate libraries here in Crowing County, which I'll talk a little bit about later.
Uh, Kitigami's mission is to enhance the quality of life by providing access to library resources and services that meet residents varied and continually evolving needs. We like to say we empower libraries to enrich their communities. And then we have five
values which include public trust, diversity, inclusion, innovation, uh, access, and excellence. So that's kind of who we are in Kagami. And this is what we do. So last year, these are our service stats for all of
Kitagami as a whole. You can see here the amount of um circulations that we had, the amount of visitors that we had, um the number of items that are currently physically in our collection, which is about 247,000. And then we also have our ebooks and audiobooks, which is our through our
Hoopla and um cloud library services. through those you can download um like I said ebooks and audiobooks but also magazines, movies, music. So lots of good stuff. So we had about 168,000 circulations out of that. There's our users as a whole and then our um Wi-Fi
sessions. So we do have a lot of people that come in and utilize our Wi-Fi. So how do we do it in Kitagami? Well, we do it because we have uh programs, we have resources, we have facilities, and we have amazing staff. Um Minnesota has many amazing city libraries doing many
amazing things and our regional public library um systems join those libraries together to strengthen um their impact of local and state funding through shared programs and distributed costs. Um together we can do more and so that's why we spend less public funds if we did
than if we did it alone. So that is Kitagami Eds in general. So now I'm going to talk about my location which is the Brainer Public Library. Uh Brainer Public Library is funded by three funding partners. So we have
Crowing County, we have the city of Brainard and then we have Kagami. Money from Crowing County in Brainard stays in Crowing County in Brainer. Except for some funds that are put towards shared collections. We do have Wonder Books and large print shared collections that go throughout our whole
system. We also have those e- resources that I talked about a little bit earlier that are also shared throughout our system. Um, of course we do have some um regional administrative costs as well, technical services and things of that nature. So this is what we did back in 2025 with
those funds. So in 2025 um we had 22,000 um registered users. of those users, 11,000 of them have um when we register for a library card with your identification, it does tell which township and which um city that you're
from. So 11,000 of those are from Crow Wayne Townships. Um on the ones that say Brainard, they have about 7,500. And then we also have something called reciprocal borrowers or outside of our county lines. So that would be like a
Cass County person coming to visit us or it might be somebody from Great River Regional Library System or East Central Regional Library System. So they're just coming from outside of Kitigami and they're coming to visit us with their library cards. We did have about 104 visitors and
170,000 circulations. Right now we're open 6 days a week and we have 51 weekly service hours. Two days a week we're open till 7, but majority of the time we're only open till 5. But in a weekly average, we have about 2,000 visitors and we circulate
about 3,200 items. Next to each one of those statistics, you'll also see that it's bolded and that's just comparing us to our Kitagami fellows. Um, not anybody outside of our state. Oh, should say out of our system.
So, Brainer Public Library does have a physical collection. Actually, we have a quite of a large physical collection and so it's about 70,000 items. Um those items are not just books and DVDs, though. We also have um Tony's, wonder books, um tabletop games, memory kits,
educational toys. So, it's just not more than um the books and the DVDs. We also have a separate reference desk for our patrons to be able to use and ask for assistance. You see there that we account for about 38 um% of the regional total forth reference. So we do a lot of
technical assistance, meeting room reservations, readers advisory, um anything of that nature that a patron would like to come up and ask us. We also um have of course our public computers, our wireless sessions, and then about 3,800 residents used us for
their free meeting rooms. So, we do have those free meeting rooms available for all residents with our programming. Um, we do programming for um people of all ages and those programmings include story times, author visits, uh book clubs, musicians, art classes as well as
educational courses. We also have a reading dog named Mojo that the kids can register for a time and they can read to a dog for a little bit to gain those reading skills. So those are all what we would call is just our regular programming. We also do special
programming that would be done through partnerships or via the friends of the library and those accounted for about 38 with almost 1,500 attendees. The main thing about this screen though is that you do not need a library card
to do anything that I just mentioned. So, you do not need a library card to use the library, to attend a program, to access our Wi-Fi, to utilize our meeting rooms, or to use our public computers. Those are all free for anybody that walks in.
So, outside of our programming, we have something very special happening in the next couple of weeks. It's actually our bread and butter for the year, and that is the summer reading program. Uh the summer reading program is a huge thing that happens every year in June and July and it's for ages 0 to 18 and it's to
help to prevent the summer slide. And so last year our uh theme was level up at your library and students or um families could choose a challenge and then when they met that challenge they got to get little prizes. So we had 333
participants registered, 182 that completed those challenges and then you see the amount of minutes read. And the really great thing about Brainer Public Library is that when we award, we award books. So we do give out pencils and bookmarks and all those great things
for our students to keep them reading throughout the summer, but we actually do give out physical books as well. And so that is really kind of a fun thing. Um, all of these statistics are for us as the Brainer Public Library branch, but we also provide many other services
to Crowing County and that is through our mobile libraries. So, our mobile library helps to provide local library services to communities who cannot provide their own local library or to residents who can't travel outside of other cities to cities
like Brainard to access a library. So in 2025 we had Nisa Bay Lake and Garrison and you see the circulated items from all of those locations and we also have a partnership with our two associate libraries and those are in
Peekquat Lakes and Cross Lake for those particular um libraries. I contacted the managers to see if they would share their statistics with me. But the great thing about um our partnership with them is that you can pick up Kitigami Regional Library System items at their locations and you can drop off their
items at our locations and our delivery services go back and forth between our partnership. So it is a really great um honor of ours to be able to be associated with them. We of course also for easy access have our e library for online materials that
I talked about a little bit and we also provide something called inter library loan. Inter library loan means that kitigami doesn't own that material but maybe another library outside of ours does and we can request those for our patrons to get. It's really into that um
concept that with less we can well together we can do more. So if we don't have something, perhaps another library, Minnesota does. So looking at our service stats and what we um did in the last year, uh Brainer always likes to see where we can grow
and what we can do in the future. And so we do have some initiatives for 2026. And those include um expanding our presence through the community and going to where the community gathers. With those partnerships, one of them that we
just started is with the shop. We have a youth services librarian that goes out there every month and he does programs with the teens where the teens gather. So, we're looking at those types of partnerships for the future. We are also hoping to expand and promote our two um
new things, well technologies is the hublet and the bibliotecha lockers. The hublet stations you can actually see at the top of the um powerpoint and what they are is computers that people can do video conferencing calls. So if you have a court appearance or you have a
physician that you need to make a video conference with them, you can check out one of the hublet stations. You can use one of our meeting rooms and you can be able to do that with the help of us as the reference team. The Bibliotech lockers which are at the bottom of the screen is a new service that we just
started to provide as well. We have the 51 weekly service hours, but what if somebody wanted to get our services or resources on a Sunday or after that 7 p.m., we can check out their materials to the locker and they can access at any time that they want to for their
convenience. So looking at this and looking at the needs of the community and everything that's kind of been done in the past, one of the things that we realized through statistics is that our meeting room reservations in Brainer Public Library specifically has increased
throughout the last couple of years. Um we did have that dip in 2021 to uh 2020 to 2021, but since 2022, it keeps going up. And so with those we had about an 8%
increase in our room reservations and we had a 21% increase in our room attendees. There was also a um needs assessment that was completed in 2023. So with the meeting room
um statistics and the needs assessment, what we then did was applied for a grant from the Minnesota Department of Education and last year was awarded that grant and that is for this project. So in 2025, we had applied and were awarded
the Minnesota multi-purpose community facilities grant to support community revitalization, connectedness, and equity by promoting education, work, and health. We anticipate the completion of the project for December of 2026 and we
will be going from seven public computers to 16, increasing our third meeting room size um and installing high density storage in the basement. So that 2023 needs assessment showed that our public computers, our meeting rooms, and
our storage needed to have a little bit of a look at. This grant is helping us expand all of those. And again, we're anticipating the completion of 2026 for all three. >> Madam Chair, April, high density storage is that those like like their book racks
that go together. >> Exactly. I'm very excited about it because Yes. It's like the academic libraries. So, you have like a little lever and you go like this and they expand and then you go like this and they retract. It's great for facilities like ours that we're not expanding the
footprint of our building, but we can still store a lot. >> Thank you. >> Thank you for asking. So, yes, we have a lot of fun and exciting things happening this year. I'm very excited for myself because it's just my first year at Brainer Public Library. But one of the other things that we always like to do
is um ask our community for feedback, right? And see what um type of feedback we get from them. And so in February, our friends of the p uh Brainard Public Library and ourselves decided to do a little campaign about why we love our library. We got a lot of great feedback
from them, but I would just like to read two quotes to you today. The one that we received from an adult and another that we had received from a child. So, from our adult patron, I love my library because it is a safe, warm spot for any human being, regardless of social
status, religion, race, or age, where they'll be treated with kindness and respect. And it fosters reading for all ages. And then the one from the um child who they wrapped it up in an envelope and honestly did a really good job. It was like origami action going on was the
workers are very accommodating and try their beast to keep the books organizing. So yeah, so I just like to take this opportunity again to say thank you. Um I've been with Brainer Public Library only about seven months now, but
the community has been so welcoming and everybody our patrons have been so welcoming and Kitigami as well. So thank you for this opportunity to speak in front of you. I really appreciate it. >> So, April, Madam Chair, if I might, a couple things. First of all, the the
wireless and the computers that you provide for the public, I think just shows there's still a gap in the uh need out there for those kind of services that we've done a great job with broadband across our county um in partnership with many of the service
providers, but there's still a gap there and and some of it's based on financial situation and that. So, thank you very much for doing that. The other point I wanted to make was I know as a board member at Sourcewell we have a
initiative of all third graders reading at grade level by 2035 and if you've contacted them you have your summer reading program. Is there any way of collaborating with them to bring that initiative along or where you can be a partner in that?
>> Absolutely. >> I just throw that out there. I don't know if you have contacted them but it's an opportunity >> you know and that's the one thing that libraries love is opportunities and partnerships so we like that idea together we can do more so thank you for that yes thank you >> thank you
>> thank you other questions >> thank you very much >> thank you for your presentation >> good Morning. >> Good morning, Madam Chair and commissioners. Thank you. Uh, land services has uh, two items for
discussion today. Uh, both are easements. Uh, I thought it would be good to just kind of run through our easement process and how we get to today. So when a land owner um is requesting access across county land and they feel they need an easement, they
reach out to land services and we vet those through the land asset management plan and the forest resources plan that the county board approved. Um the first step we usually take is is we just have a discussion with the landowner to say, you know, and inform them of our policies and our procedures that all of
our forest roads are open unless posted closed. Um normally that kind of solves their their issue. uh and they're like, "Hey, we can, you know, continue to use the road that we've been using and they officially don't ask for an easement." Um once they once they feel that they
need an easement for for some reason or another, um we continue down the process of of uh coming before committee the whole to talk about the easement request where we present the easement. Um and the landowner can talk about it as well
if the county board feels that it is a reasonable request. um they go back and they complete the survey work and they draft the easement and then that comes back to you for approval uh at a regular county board meeting. Um so the unless there's any questions
the the first easement request is from uh Kurt and Samantha Shener. Um land services was contacted by Irondale Township uh last month concerning a driveway that was constructed on county administered lands. Uh the county property P71060542
is located adjacent to property owned by Kurt and Samantha Shaneer. P uh 71060541 off of uh South Black Bear Road, Irondale Township. Staff had investigated and found that a newly constructed driveway um was on county
lands and contacted the adjoining land owners of the Shaneers. Staff spoke with Mr. er who believed he had originally located the driveway on uh his property. Um and after we discussed those, you know, particulars with the land asset
management plan, Mr. Schneer uh um wanted to proceed with asking the county board for an easement. Um we uh we did give him some options about locating that onto his private property. Um uh but there's some there's some difficulties there uh with the uh with
that uh the box in yellow there. That is a large wetland. So Mr. Shaneer's property does border a township road, the South Blackberry Road. But because of this wetland, um there is not, you know, reasonable access uh from the township
road onto his property without filling in a large extent of of wetlands. Um according to land asset management policy uh um you know we do believe there is no reasonable alternative to obtain an access uh on their property. Um and we believe that exercising
easement will not cause significant uh adverse environmental or natural resources impacts. >> Tom, what about um if you look where the E is, it almost looks like there's a trail there or something going up. is that that that wouldn't be an option to
go up to the township road. >> Um just are like right here you >> No, where it says wetland area. If you look where the E and the T are. >> That's a different property. >> This Oh, yeah. So, this is this is would be the neighboring property. >> Oh, that's not their property.
>> Correct. They own um just this 20 here. >> Oh, okay. >> Yep. Yep. So, this this uh the request is a little bit abnormal in the fact that, you know, they believe they were on their own property and they did construct a driveway already. Um they
have since stopped using that. Um and that's why they're here asking for the easement so they can continue to improve that driveway and get legal access to their propert. >> But anybody at any point, you know, if somebody's sitting there parked on that white part
there, anybody can sit there. It's on county land and it's on that driveway. I mean, the shineers can't say he can't use our access, right? >> Correct. Yep. That's that's one thing that will be listed in the easement. Um they can't pave the easement. They can't put up a gate to block the easement.
They can put a gate up on their own property to block the road going in, but um it the easement does not preclude anybody else from using the tax for land. Tom, if somebody was on that road, you know, the easement that we're granting them, they're on that road. Something
happens. Who's liable? Because we're granting an easement to Chener, right? And but it is our land that we're just granting him. We're we're not just granting him an easement. We're granting anybody an easement that could be on that up to his property.
>> Um the easement would be to the property. Um, and I'm I'm not an attorney that I will let the county attorney answer who's liable for that. It depends on what it is. You know, I I can't answer that question, >> but I guess we would have that no matter where we have a a forest road, a forest
trail because it's all public. >> Mhm. >> So, this still remains public. We're just allowing >> Yes. We're allowing him to construct a driveway across and have legal access to his property. >> Okay. Okay. So if if
>> well I would just say that I'm I'll I will support this but I will say that I don't like all these easements coming forward and and in essence kind of putting a perpetual easement on the taxpayers's land. I I guess I don't like
it but I guess there's no other way for them to access their property. I mean they don't do they live there. >> I I believe Mr. Shaneer is in the audience. if you'd like to hear from them. >> Um, >> yeah. >> No, it's it's raw land. There's there's
there's no structure. It's just raw vacant land that I purchased uh last November. And uh at the time at the time when we looked at it, we didn't have a survey. And >> it looked like there was >> a sliver of access where the yellow line is right below the 31 there that we would be able to access it. And then
kind of found out the hard way that that was not the case. It's a It's a very interesting piece of property because you've got that massive wet land in the front and then it's a very steep hill to get up to the back of the property. It's a beautiful property. It's just uh hard to get to.
>> Was that was that county land before it was private or was it? >> No, the um the the house over there underneath the the wetland verbiage. Uh it was he owned both lots. Okay. And then um it's been in their family since the lot was in existence. and uh older
generation passed away, left it to the family and then they decided to divide the the two lots. So the original owner still lives in the house there. >> So you did not have a survey of the land before you bought it or >> No. No. >> Yeah. Because if you would have, you would
have known that that road would not >> hindsight in hindsight that would have been something I would have considered. Um, this isn't the first raw vacant land I've owned before and usually my past experience I owned 80 acres in St. Louis County and and it was a track of land
where there was multiple 80acre lots and no one really was too particular about where the lot lines were. If you wanted to build something, you wanted to get close then you would get a survey. But, uh, that was under I was kind of under the same protocol there and and it's a little bit more of a township than where
I was at before. So, I'm kind of just apologizing now and asking for forgiveness and hopefully we can make something come together here so we can have access to the property. >> I know that's something that I think we required on on anything that's uh repairarian lots is we're requiring if
anything is done that they have a certified easement. It it creates it creates less hassle down the road when you do that because we we face those on a regular basis because they weren't done. >> Yep. >> And uh stuff. So something to think about maybe down the road
>> for sure. >> Okay, that's all I had. Thank you for being here. >> Madam Chair, >> you have any other? >> So I've got um I'm not opposed to the easement, but it it to me it kind of falls in you
always hear that it's easier to ask for uh forgiveness than permission. And this is kind of worrisome to me. um as far as you know what's the next person that wants access to their property, they can just go in and put in a road on their
own and and then uh come back and ask for forgiveness and we just randomly grant it. Is there uh is there any repercussions for coming in after the fact? >> I'm sorry. Can I just say one more thing, too? I I did um when I did
purchase the land, I did reach out to um Irondale Township and requested a permit for a driveway. And at that time, he said just go ahead and start clearing a path to get through and then when you're ready to put in a drainage pipe. And I just I called the wrong person.
Apparently, I I just I did make an attempt. So, it wasn't like I just cowboyed into it. I I did did try spoke to somebody and got a >> a phone number and and sent them my address. I sent them this form. This is the copy of it. So, it wasn't it wasn't like I just completely ignored all government together. So, I I did try. I
just I should have Mr. Mr. Stra here was um the person that really needed to call call and I I called this the township and not the county and that was probably where I where I I sometimes when you have these jurisdictions, you don't know if it's state, county, or local jurisdiction to call and clearly I
probably should have called all three. So, my apologies. >> Great. So, Commissioner, if I can help answer that question. Um, so if if the circumstances were different here where uh where when we looked at the land asset management policy and Mr. Schneer had a had a different access that was
off of county land, um we would make them remove the driveway and we wouldn't be requesting this today to the county board. Um so that's that's one way that we deter that, right? if if it was if the circumstances were different. Um but because you know there is that large wetland and and he doesn't have an
alternative other than the go through county land that's kind of why we're here today. Um the also the other thing to point out is is normally the fees for the easement are set based off the acreage that they um encumber the county land and that's we run that through the county assessor to determine that value.
Um, there is also, you know, it's the county board's decision on what they want to charge for an easement, right? You have the ability to say yes, no, and what that value is. That's that's another way that this can be deterred. >> Okay. Thank you.
>> That's all I've got. >> I would just reiterate that I'm I'll support this, but I don't I don't necessarily like all these easements coming forward, but but I can I can see the need for this one I guess.
>> So, Madam Chair, does this go on consent then? >> If you are okay with it going on consent, yes, it would be on the consent agenda. >> Please speak that. >> Yep. >> All right. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Appreciate your time.
>> Thank you for showing up, sir. That makes a lot of difference. >> Uh my pleasure. I I when I first started to speak with Mr. Stra about the this meeting, I was like, I'd really like to be there. I'd like to to meet all of you. It's um I'm not from this community and looking to be part of it and just wanted to to get a chance to meet y'all
in person. So, I appreciate the opportunity. >> Thank you, Kirk. >> Okay, we will uh move on to the next easement request. Um once again, this easement request is a little bit different than our normal uh process, but um you see up on the map uh this one
uh was Kurt Johnson as the easement request. Uh, so land services was contacted by Kurt who owns property at 43766 Little Pine Road in Emily. Uh, Mr. Johnson is requesting an easement across county administered lands to obtain legal access across his property. Mr.
Johnson does own 120 acres and he plans to sell the 40 acre parcel along the Little Pine Road. That would be this parcel here. >> Which one, Tom? >> The the top one. This parcel right here. He he plans to sell this one. >> Can you use the other marker? >> Oh,
yeah. this one. There we go. >> Holy [ __ ] He's gonna he's going to sell this one and then he's going to retain these two. >> Okay. >> Um uh currently Mr. Johnson is using the existing uh forest road across county lands to access a smaller cabin um as
allowed by the forest resources plan. So if you see on the map here, there's a small cabin here and he uses this existing logging road to get from his main residence down to here. Uh >> but he doesn't have an easement on that. >> Correct. Yep. And and his access is he's
allowed to use that, you know, per our policies for the forest resources plan that says anything that's not um posted closes open. Uh once again, land services believes there are no reasonable alternatives to obtain access to this small cabin property. Um and
exercising the ement would not cause would not cause um significant adverse environmental or natural resource impacts. Um Mr. Johnson's two southern properties are connected, but they are separated um by wetlands. Most most of this property is is land spruce. Um this
request is unique because Mr. Johnson is willing to give the county a reciprocal easement across his property to access the county administered lands. Uh Mr. Johnson has allowed land services staff access across his property numerous times in the past to prepare, administer, and harvest timber sales.
And if the county can obtain easement, this would allow permanent access. um to uh about 280 280 acres of county lands that would otherwise require difficult wetland crossings or a considerable uh distance access through Aken County. Um
so this this kind of teal line here um this is the reciprocal easement Mr. Johnson would grant the county in exchange for the easement here in yellow. Um, and as I mentioned, we've we've been through here many times with with loggers and and staff to um work on
the tax forfeited land here. And then that tax land continues east towards the county line. Um, Mr. Johnson has contacted uh KLD to complete the necessary survey work for both easements. Um, if it would be approved by the county board, um, both parties
are receiving an easement and there would be no cost to the county for this work. Um, and Mr. John Mr. Mr. Johnson would be um bearing the cost of the survey. >> So when land services comes forward with these easements, whoever it is, does
land services have an opinion on whether or not they think it's a good idea or bad idea? Do you bring a bad idea forward? I I that's probably stupid question, but >> so if if there is a request that does not conform to the land asset management plan um and and and anytime we get an ement request, we talk to the
commissioner that's in that district. If there is one that does not conform to that, um, we will reach out to that commissioner and and get their input. And if the landowner still wants to bring that forward, we allow that. Um, but it is your guys' ability to say no. >> But I would say that being that you're
bringing that last one and this one forward, you land services probably thinks this isn't going to hurt anything or or you think it's a good idea like on this one with a reciprocal. >> Yes, Commissioner. Yeah, we we feel that they're um exercising these won't cause
any significant environmental or natural resource impacts which includes logging and this one does have some benefit for us and that we will have permanent access to the county land. >> So then another question, what is what is this diagonal like? It looks like a landing strip almost. What is that?
>> That is a power line. >> That's a power line. Okay. >> Madam Chair, Gary is online and would like to say something I believe on this. >> Oh, hey. Thank you. Sorry, my camera ain't going. Um, just wanted to say to Commissioner Curring your your question.
Um, don't know if that was a dumb question or not, but I will say um if it meets like Tom said, I just want to reiterate whether we think it's a good idea or a bad idea. It's kind of a moot point. It's we go by the policy that you
set. And sure, maybe sometimes we maybe would think it would go one way or the other. We might have a conversation with a a commissioner, but by all means, it's the policy that you set is what drives these to be in front of you or not be in front of you. >> Okay. >> Thank you.
>> Appreciate that. >> Um, one other question. Um, if if we let Mr. Johnson have this easement, he improves the road, he's going to do work on the road, does he is he allowed to do that? And then if we come across there with logging trucks and and and you know
rut up the road, are we responsible or the logging company responsible to bring the road back to what it is because he expended dollars on that road? >> Yes. So, uh the easement does allow for um maintenance and improvements to the road. Um, in this particular situation,
this ground is is a wetter ground. So, we're only in there in the winter time, but it is part of every logging uh contract that we have that the loggers responsible for fixing that road up to as good or better condition than they found it. >> No matter who had originally fixed it up, like in this case here, if he fixed
that road, brought in some gravel on that road, he did that on his own expense. We allowed him to do that on our property if >> and the logger truck wrecks it. he still has to bring it up to that spec. >> It it would be if if the logger damages that road, whether that's an easement or
on county land or anywhere else, um it is our expectation that the logger fixes that to as good or better shape. And if the logger doesn't, we have a performance guarantee that we will go in and fix that because the end of the day, we want to be good neighbors. We don't want to leave a mess. Okay. >> Thank you.
I'm >> okay with it. consent. I I don't see a problem with it. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thanks, Tom. >> Now we're down to Carrie. >> Morning, Madam Chair, commissioners. Uh
Cara Terry, Crowing County Community Services. We are here today to present um data or information from the student survey that was conducted um at the local schools as well as a couple other um I Melissa's going to I think go
through or I think um as well as um other events that we have held throughout the community uh engaging parents and students. We wanted to share this data with you today. Um as this drives our uh work with blade, our um
steering committee and blade group h will be seeing or has seen this data. So we wanted just to bring it forward to you to help inform inform your policymaking decisions. So Melissa with Wilder Research is going to present this information to you today.
>> Thank you Carara. Okay. Can everyone see my slide deck? >> Yes. >> Okay. Wonderful. Thank you so much. Um, Madame Chair and commissioners, thank you for this opportunity to present um some of the data that the Briner Lakes Area Drug Education Coalition is using.
Um, Belade is currently funded through a federal grant called the comm um drug-free community grant. Um, and data are so important. Um, they were used to justify the need for funding um, for Blade to prevent and reduce youth
substance use. Um, we use the data to guide decision-making on which substances to address and what factors are associated with increased use of substances. Um, the data are also invaluable for evaluating efforts to see if the things that blade is doing to
prevent substance use are working and then also to justify the need for additional types of funding for substance use prevention. So, um, as Cara mentioned, I'm going to be sharing data from the 2025 Minnesota student survey, as well as trend data.
Um, data from the Know the Truth Survey, which is a curriculum that Blade implements in schools, and then some data from community events. Um, I wanted to give a big shout out to anyone in the room who encouraged um, school districts in their area to participate in the survey. The data are so valuable. Um, in
2025, um, you can see there were 52 eighth graders from Crowing County, 45 9th graders, and 247 11th graders from the county who participated in the survey. And part of the reason for the big discrepancy in numbers between 11th grade and 8th and 9th is that the
Brainer School District only surveyed 11th graders. So most of the MSS data that I'll be sharing today are um for 11th graders. Um, I also wanted to note that um, while the data I'm sharing today are prim primarily related to substance use, which is Blade's focus, there's also a host of great questions
on the survey. So, young people are asked if they participate in afterchool activities like 4. They're asked if through participation in those activities, they build meaningful connections with peers and adults and learn leadership skills. Um, they're also asked where they typically go after
school in a week. And one of the response options is libraries. So, um, building on a couple of those earlier presentations, um, we can get a lot of great information from the survey. I cannot make that same connection with easements. Um, so, a little bit about the student
survey. Um, oh, I'm sorry. Um, yeah, we're just going to dive right into the data. So, this is taking a look at trend data from 2019 through 2025, and these are 11th graders reporting past 30-day alcohol use. That orange line is
statewide data for Minnesota. And you can see that um alcohol use has continued to decline from 2019 to 2025 um from 23% down to 10. In Crowing County, we didn't see that same um steady decline among 11th graders. You
can see it dropped from 2019 to 2022, but then stayed relatively flat into 2025. Similarly, uh young people were asked whether or not they vaped nicotine in the past 30 days prior to the survey. Um and again, you can see that statewide
that orange line um dropped steadily, whereas in Crowing County for 11th graders, um it dropped to from 2019 to 2022 and then kind of plateaued. Similar situation here with students reporting past 30-day marijuana use
statewide. Um that trend steadily declined. In Crowing County, we actually saw a bit of an increase um from 9% in 2022 to 12% in 2025. >> Melissa, >> young Melissa, go back to that. Um when
you're when you're saying 11th grader trends, is that when you're looking at the state Minnesota wide, is that also looking at only 11th graders in the state? >> So it is an apples to an apples comparison. >> Exactly. >> Okay. Thank you. >> You're welcome.
Um, so the students who reported vaping nicotine in the past 30 days were then asked how they got it. You can see the most common source is getting it from friends, which always begs the question, uh, where do the friends get it? Um, followed by getting somebody to buy for me, which feels like it could be
actionable to try and address those um, situations where a person of a illegal age is buying for younger people. Um, and you can see that almost 10% of those who reported past month vaping said they bought it at a tobacco or a vape shop or bought it on the internet. Um, and
definitely, um, curbing that those sales at vape shops, um, feels like it can be actionable. Um, similarly, young people who reported past month marijuana use were asked how they got it. Um, and similar to nicotine vapes, um, getting someone to buy for them and getting for
from friends were the top two. Um the next one in line is getting it at parties. So there are some opportunities for doing um social host ordinance enforcement. Um among students who reported past month marijuana use for the first time
in 2025, they were asked how they used it. Um and the vast majority of young people who are using cannabis are smoking it or vaping it. Um, I was a little surprised to see the somewhat lower rates for eating THC infused edibles or um, consuming beverages that
are infused with THC. Um, young people are also asked about the extent to which they think substances put people at great or moderate risk of harm from using. Um, we can see uh perceived risk of harm from
alcohol dropped unfortunately from 2019 to 2022 and then stayed pretty flat with 63% of um Crowing County 11th graders feeling that alcohol puts them at greater moderate risk of harm. Fortunately, um perceived risk of harm
from b vaping did increase from 2022 to 2025, which is great and I think in part due to Blade's amazing work um with their know the truth program. We also um which somewhat surprised me saw an increase in the percentage of students perceiving risk of harm from marijuana
use. Um while we unfortunately saw a bit of a decline from 2019 to 2022 in perceived risk um from prescription drugs that did increase back up a little bit in 2025. Um, and just a note that um, the 2025 survey did not ask a
question about past 30-day prescription drug misuse like it does of the other substances, but young people are asked about past year prescription pain reliever misuse. And um, the good news is that only three 11th graders in Crowing County reported pain reliever misuse.
Um, also some good news. Um, there are two questions on this survey that get at a measure of depression and two that get at a measure of anxiety. Um, and we saw a pretty hefty increase from 2019 to 2022 in students reporting past two week
depression and anxiety symptoms, but then thankfully saw those rates drop in 2025. Not quite back down to 2019 levels, but going in the right direction. Um, and this could definitely be um a a COVID impact here.
Um, young people are also asked about how comfortable they would be talking to a counselor or social worker at school if they were feeling upset or stressed. And you can say see that um it's a small percentage of young people who say they would be very comfortable talking to a
counselor or social worker. Um, and over on the right you can see that the percentage of young people saying they wouldn't be at all comfortable talking to a counselor or social worker increases by grade level. Um, so I would be curious to know if the 4 students learned anything about what might be a
barrier to seeking that help. Um, also new to the 2025 survey, young people were asked about their use of um, the screen time or technology. So, playing video games, watching videos, texting, or using social media on a
school night between midnight and 5:00 a.m. So, um on the left are students saying that they do not use technology between midnight and 5:00 a.m. um on a school night. Um the middle group are students saying they do it one to two nights and the far right are those who
are reporting doing it 3 to five nights. So, you can see a majority of Crowing County students um across the three grade levels are using um technology and screens late at night, which is a bit concerning. Um and especially taking a look at those eighth graders with um
four out of 10 saying that they use technology 3 to five school nights. And why that matters is that um among Crowing County students, you can see that the percentage of students reporting vaping jumps up quickly when it when students report um using that
technology late at night on 3 to five school nights. You can also see a big jump in the percentage of students reporting anxiety if they're on screens at night. Um not quite the same pattern that we see in Crowing County for the association between late night screen time and marijuana and depression. Um
you at state level data we do see um a steady climb across all of these. Um also um there's some great data um on the survey on protective factors. So young people who are engaged in learning um they go to class prepared, they pay
attention in class and they think that what they're learning is important are two times less likely to say that they vaped in the past month. Those who have one or more trusted adults they can talk to about problems are also two times less likely to vape. and almost two times less likely to report cannabis
use. Um we see even more protection among young people who feel a greater sense of empowerment. So students who um get to help make decisions um and are given useful roles and responsibilities through programs like 4. Um and then young people who have a positive sense
of identity and self um were over three times less likely to report vaping. I also wanted to share a bit of data um from some other sources. Um as I mentioned, Blade um goes into schools in Crowing County and delivers a Know the
Truth curriculum. Um in the 2025 2026 school year, um the Know the Truth Curriculum reached 9th graders in both Brainer and Crosby and Iron. The vast majority of students um who completed the survey after the curriculum reported
no past month use. um they were least likely to perceive risk of harm from alcohol. Um they were asked um young people who reported not using what their top reasons were and the top three um both school districts were feeling that
their parents would disapprove, concern about health risks and concern about the potential for addiction. They're also asked a couple of open-ended questions. Um so what is their big key takeaway? Um, and the top themes that we saw were that substance use is risky, that
concern that it can lead to addiction, and just the importance young people shared of encouraging others to seek help and just being aware of the resources that are out there in the community and in the county. Um, and in terms of recommendations for how Know the Truth could be improved, um, they
wanted to hear more about what the recovery process looks like for people who are struggling with substance use disorder and a bit more of the impact of substance use disorder on family relationships. Um, especially young people, noting if they have a household member or a family
member who has struggled with substance use and the impact it's had on them. We also did some polls at community events. Um these included the um recent Brainer Lakes Expo, um Warrior Days at Brainard High School and Central Lakes
College Health Fair. So adults through this poll were asked, "How do you show up for young people in your life?" And young people were asked, "How do adults show up for you or how do you want them to show up?" Um and these themes are in order from most frequently mentioned to
least. And these cut across the three events. These were the top themes across all of the events. So the first one is just the importance of spending spending time together and really being present. And what these examples looked like were um attending young people's events, whether those are concerts or sporting
events um and doing fun activities together like games and puzzles and really putting the phone down. Um, the next most common theme was showing love and expressing encouragement, letting young people know that you're proud of them, um, praising them, and then just being very kind to them, being
neighborly, say hello, and calling them by name. The third most common theme was really listening with respect. Um, the word really was stressed a lot. Um, listening without judgment. Um, and again, putting the phone down was a common theme that we saw. Um the next
most common themes were holding young people accountable and setting a good example. And these came from both youth and adults. Young people said, "Adults in my life um correct me when I'm doing something wrong. They provide guidance and um they set a good example by making
healthy choices. Um and they're just predictable and reliable and there for me." Um young people also screen time came up again. um knew that adults were showing up for them if they communicated expectations about limiting screen time.
Um mostly young people talked about how adults show up for them by providing care and food was very frequently mentioned by young people. Um and then the next um most common themes were adults volunteering and mentoring for young people, providing a safe space um
and then trusting young people to make good decisions. We also did a survey at the 2025 recovery walk. Um, three out of the four people who took the survey are themselves in recovery. Um, one in three were supporting friends and family
whether they whether or not they themselves were in recovery. And about a quarter of survey respondents were there for work or volunteering or just to generally support Crowing County's recovery community. Um the recommendations that they provided for resources and supports that they want to see are housing for people in recovery
and transitioning back to community especially for women. Um having social events like the recovery walk um people said Blade is doing a great job and um just encourage them to continue doing the good work that they're doing. Um and then increasing access to mental health
services and supports. Um then the last slide I believe it is um in 2025 Blade um went into the Briner High School and had an event called Dying to Make a Difference where young people were able to tie dye um bandanas and um wear tie-dyed shirts. Um 194
students um took a survey at that event. Um as a result of the event, 82% said they were more likely to seek help for themselves or seek help for someone that they know. Um 72% agreed that their school community is supportive of students who um are seeking help for
substance use disorders or concerns and eight out of 10 said the event was at least somewhat changed their view of people struggling with substance use disorder. So I know that was a lot of data but I'm happy to field any questions you might have.
Uh, Madam Chair, um, on page eight, Melissa, of your presentation, you talked, it talks about the, uh, being able to buy, uh, you have 11% marijuana sources, 11th grade student reporting past use. Um, it shows bought at
dispensary, 11%. They're not even supposed to be in the building unless they're 21. Correct. >> Correct. But that that doesn't um note whether or not that dispensary is in the state of Minnesota and it could be that they
travel to another state where enforcement of um not allowing minors into the dispensaries. >> Okay. And which also brings out there's some other uh chemicals that are out there that are available for anybody who
walks into a into a convenience store or whatever that don't even have any age requirements on it. And the one that I've learned about a little bit is isratom and I see that and and that isn't even on the radar here, >> you know. Correct. Not in your study.
Anyway, um the other thing is on page 12. Um, even though I think we'd like to think we're working really hard to get people to feel more uncomfortable to get the stigma of of mental health out of there, it doesn't look like it is very
comfortable yet for young people to seek help. Is that am I indicating that by these results? >> That's what I'm interpreting that as. Yes. Um, and sometimes it's um, not feeling like there's enough privacy
or confidentiality. Um, if other students see you walking into the counselors or social workers office. Um, it would be interesting to do some focus groups with young people to find out why they're not feeling comfortable >> because I think we've worked really hard
in our society today to look at the mental health and the the mental wellness or whether it be even behavioral health. Um, so I just I I like I I I will always ask on these studies where are the numbers coming from? I don't want I don't want to see a
report that has the numbers skewed because somebody wants to create an agenda. I like getting numbers and so I'll always ask where does the source come from? How accurate is that source? So we have good data to to make our decisions from. So thank you for the report. That's all I
>> And what makes what makes me feel confident in the numbers is that we see similar low rates of students saying they feel very comfortable statewide. and I see it in all the other drug free community grantees that I work with. >> Okay. Thank you.
>> Uh question for you. Did all 87 of the counties report? >> No, not all 87 counties have data and then within counties um districts can choose to participate or not participate. Um parents can opt their
students out and then students can opt themselves out. Um, so there are counties that I work with that don't have any data from 2025. >> Okay. So that would skew that Minnesota number lower then. Correct.
>> Yes. Um, that's something that we think a lot about. Um, historically we had 90 plus% districts participating and that has really been declining. It dropped to 70% of districts in the state in 2022,
then down to 61% in 2025. Um, in 2022, people were concerned about metro data because Minneapolis and St. Paul didn't participate. In 2025, people are concerned about greater Minnesota data because that's where we really saw
a drop in participation. Um, and the state's Minnesota student survey inter agency team is thinking that moving forward they might have to start waiting the data to make sure that it is representative. >> Okay. And do you happen to know why
Brainard wouldn't have done the surveys in their eighth and ninth grade or excuse me nth and tth grade? They only did it in 11th. Um, Cara, do you know like why the the school board settled on just 11th grade?
>> Um, we'll have to go back and watch the meetings specifically. Um what we had concluded is that we uh that they felt uncomfortable sharing those kind of questions um with the younger students
feeling that they might be suggesting things to do as opposed to asking about are you already doing it. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Any other questions?
>> Thank you so much Melissa. appreciate your time. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, Cara. Appreciate it. >> Thank you. So, we have the next with um >> Breezy Point. >> Joe Garcia from Breezy Point. They were a recipient of the Blade grant dollars
to help purchase the equipment that Joe is going to share with you today. Um you might remember at the last cow meeting, we had other presenters of the um programs that received grant dollars. So, this is just sharing more information with you on the impact the grant dollars are having in our Crowing
County community. >> You bringing up your suitcase there, Joe? >> Yeah, >> that's only one that's only one of his suitcases. >> Do we need it for anybody up here yet or not? >> I hope not. Okay. >> It's It's ready to go, though. Um,
madame uh, chair, commissioners, I appreciate you giving me the time to update you on, uh, this program. Um, what this is, Breezy Point, a lot of people already know, the city of Breezy Point Police Department, um, is unique
in that we um, operate a an advanced life support EMS program with some of our patrol officers. We uh have two paramedics and one advanced EMT and we are also uh in the process of training two more emergency medical technicians.
Um this is uh our newest uh piece of life-saving equipment. Um this project uh was made possible um because of the Cin County Commission, the Blade Grant and um in partnership with the city of
Breezy Point. The total cost of this unit is $53,000. Um, of that $20,000 uh was generously granted to us um by Blade and and the commission. Um and the reason why this program matters is pretty simple. When
you get out in greater Minnesota, out in the smaller communities in Crowing County, minutes matter. Uh we continue to see um an increase in medical emergencies throughout the county and sometimes with that come increase in
ambulance response times. The benefit of putting this and other equipment like it in the hands of police officers is we are generally the first ones on the scene. Um where this comes into play with uh
opioid dollars is um even though in the state of Minnesota we deploy Narcan or Nlloxxone to all police officers, we're seeing an increase in um in synthetic drugs and other analoges um
drugs containing fentanyl um carfentyl, xylazine and other combinations uh which can be resistant to nlloxxone and advanced care can mean the difference between life or death in that situation. This is a lifepack 35. It's made by
Striker. Um it provides uh advanced cardiac monitoring. It can do um the same 12 lead EKGs that you get in the hospital. It does um end title carbon dioxide monitoring which can tell us the effectiveness of the ventilations we're
delivering. It also integrates seamlessly with um the AEDs that are carried by all of our um law enforcement officers in the county. They all carry a uh an AD that is made by striker as well. So, it's just a matter of
plug-andplay with that. This also um we've se we've seen an increase in the deployment of Lucas devices, which are automatic CPR devices. Um, in law enforcement, Breezy Point has four of those units. Um, Brainer, I believe, has
one or two. Uh, and many of the local uh, fire departments also have those units. The thing with this technology is it has what's called uh, CPR insight. So, we don't have to stop CPR to evaluate the the underlying
cardiac rhythm because every time you stop CPR, you're restarting uh the clock. So, the longer you can keep compressions continuous, the better. Um, since the deployment, we've used this on 30 patients uh, in the field.
And while we haven't yet treated a confirmed opioid o overdose, um, it's already become an important operational tool that addresses not just overdoses, but a wide range of medical uh, emergencies. Um,
one of the unique things about this is it records everything. So, uh, not voice or or video, but it records everything that is done on the monitor. So, I can go back, um, and our phys our physician medical director can go back after these
calls and watch the whole playout of the call on the screen, which is really important for post incident review and quality assurance, making sure we're doing the right things with the right stuff at the right time. Um, more broadly, uh, I believe that our
program and specifically our advanced monitoring capabilities that we can do with this piece of, uh, equipment reflects the evolving role of law enforcement, um, in the county, responding to a wide range of emergencies, whether it's, um, emergencies dealing with people in
crisis, substance use disorder, or um, the increase in emergency medical calls that we're seeing. Um the program uh is fully deployed now. Uh we have one of these units. It replaced a legacy unit um which like I said earlier is bigger
and heavier and less capable than this one. Um and uh moving forward, we're going to continue um collecting operational data and evaluating hopefully if resources allow uh deployment of of additional units of
this of this type. Again, I want to thank Crowing County. Um I want to thank Blade um and also the the city of Breezy Point um for supporting this initiative. Um I think it's it shows what how we can
uh find unique solutions to the problems we're facing with limited resources and increasing demands. So >> I will stand for any questions. >> Joe, uh how many of those are in the county right now? >> These? >> Yeah. >> One >> right there.
>> Yep. right there. >> How long have you been an officer in in Breezy Point? >> I've been with Breezy Point 22 years now. >> How many life- saving awards has a mayor given out in Breezy Point? >> I I don't know.
>> I mean, it's more than >> it's more than one a year, I can I can tell you since I've been there. So, um you know, I know when I was doing the research on this um just over the past I think I went I don't remember. I think I
went back five years. Um we had had over 10 um over 10 life-saving awards uh given just in those 10 years. >> Thank you. >> Joe, can you just explain like I I'm
more I learn by example. Yeah. And so >> you want me to hook you up? >> No. Let's do it. >> I don't mean that. But I I I'm just saying if somebody's having like a fentanyl overdose, >> you get there
and so is their heart stopped and then you hook that thing up to them or I don't I guess I don't understand how it works. >> We we the the the syndrome or the squal or or the constellation of things that happens
when you overdose on fentanyl. Um what it does is it suppresses your respiratory drive when you so you stop brea you slow or stop breathing which then you deplete the oxygen in your blood which makes your heart slow down >> which then eventually
>> if it slows down enough it stops. Um the goal in cardiac uh in overdose care should be the uh f first is to establish an airway, provide that person oxygen and then hopefully with using medication
reverse the effects of the the opioid. What we can but what if that goes on long enough your heart will either stop completely in what we call a cy or flatline or um often times it can go
into a disorganized rhythm that we call ventricular fibrillation. Um this is a defibrillator. We can uh use it to hopefully correct that ventricular defibrill or fibrillation. The other thing it does is um with that entitle
CO2 as we're treating you by establishing that airway starting to breathe for you um and delivering that oxygen is it measures the CO2 that your body is producing and CO2 is a is a really reliable indicator of um
metabolism and we can tell how how well your body is or get insight into how well your body is still functioning. So if you're if we can breathe for you and your body's still making CO2, those gases are exchanging at the in the
lungs, then we know, you know, we can we either have to change something that we're doing or what we're doing is is correct. >> So if your heart stops, this thing can you've got the padless hooked up. It can shock you. Yes, it can do that, too.
>> Yes. And so then if some if the officer gets there, you know, you guys are a long ways from the hospital or any hospital. >> And so you get that you're all hooked up and then when the ambulance gets there, do you leave that does that thing go
with the ambulance or do you or you're not or >> it can um so there in the it really depends. It's a case by case basis. oftentimes um I will the officer will the paramedic if it's a paramedic
officer will accompany the ambulance and we'll just leave them hooked up onto this until we get to a more opportune time. Okay. >> Um what we never do is we don't uh if we're going to fly that person in a helicopter, we always switch out the equipment. >> Sure. But
>> and so then I would assume that you know if a squad car is sitting out at night and it's 30 below that thing gets carried inside, left inside, charged up and whatever have you? Okay. >> Yes. >> Okay. Okay. >> What is the maintenance on something
like that? Is there a software maintenance that has to be bought? Is there a do does somebody does Striker come out and and make sure it's all up to snuff? I mean, you know, I mean, it's not something you can just lay on the shelf and two years later pick it up and expect it to work.
>> Correct. So, um, they update software periodically. It hooks to the Wi-Fi in the police department and does its updates is, you know, just like your phone does. And then with part of that $53,000 was a a preventive maintenance contract. So, they come out annually,
they test it, they make sure everything is working correctly, everything's calibrated correctly, um, and that it it it meets all the necessary um, requirements to be a medical device. >> And you said we only have one of these in Crowing County at this time.
>> We have one of this specific brand. Now, there are other like we have this is the Life Pack 35. um the older legacy model which um ours are from 2011 so they're you know 15 years old um and the these definitely
have an operational life cycle window um and they're reaching the end of that but we have life pack 15s like the ambulance carries um a different brand um but and then the the fire most fire departments and most
normal uh law enforcement officers just have your standard AED regular. >> Um, one of the big things this does, it does 12 lead EKGs. So, one of the some of our biggest success stories are the identifying um life-threatening uh
cardiac conditions um before their heart does stop. So, we can activate the the hospital system or a helicopter to get a person with um with a with a life-threatening cardiac
condition to a kath lab um really early. So, >> Madam Chair, if I might. So, Joe, have you presented this anywhere else outside of Crowing County? >> No. Have you presented it to other
police departments? >> Yeah. Um, so we we periodically uh so the program itself um the the EMS program itself has been recognized previously. It was recognized by the Humphrey School of Public Administration
as as a local government uh program of innovation was recognized by the Minnesota Chiefs of Police. Um and then um last in the winter of 2024 um a representative of the Northern Iron
Ireland Police Service came over. Um he was doing a fellowship uh in their police college and and studied our program as and in with the ambitions of taking something similar back over to Northern Ireland.
So, have you um So, you're going to see where I'm going with this being on the board at Sourcewell again. >> Sure. >> And it sound like I'm repeating myself, but you know, they offer grants under public safety. >> Mhm. >> And I would think this would fit very
well under that, but you have to have a larger impact than one police department. >> Sure. So presenting it and you'd have to have the support of other police departments, other county sheriff's departments to approach receiving a grant for that and and more than one
grant because they would all be um >> Amy Amy Picarski is one of my top contacts on my email. So I I I'm hounding her all the time for different grants and things like that. And I
agree. Um, and I have data to show that even though this this program is run out of one police department, that it it does have wider ranging effects. And I I'd be more than happy to sit down with with any administrator um to kind of
talk out um the nuances of of starting this. Um it it is no small feat. I can tell you in 200 Well, it took a couple years to get it started. It's our program's been running for about 20 years now. Um it started early 2006
maybe late 20 or yeah 2005 and it was no small feat for um at the time chief uh Steve Rudek um to get to get this program started. Um and it's gone it's it's in its kind of second iteration
now. We used to have to our our officers who were part of the program used to have to hold part-time employment with North Memorial Ambulance. Um, which has its benefits, but it also has its drawbacks. Um because
you guys all know you are all busy adding just one more part-time job with with time requirements and stuff like that on top of, you know, your full-time job as a police officer plus continuing education as a police officer, continuing education as a as a paramedic
and then having to work a part-time job. um can can get cumbersome and it can deter people from o other police officers from being interested in joining the program. So >> So again, I see this as a great opportunity. I will be at source this
afternoon and I don't know if I'll see Amy, but I will see Paul Dange. >> Yeah. >> And that's her boss. Y >> and I will bring up the opportunity that I think should be given to you to present on behalf of other agencies
around our fivecount area. So >> um I'll just acknowledge that I will carry the water for that push them for that. So >> sounds like another part-time job for you, Joe. Yeah. Yeah. So no other question.
Uh, how many paramedics? How many agencies have paramedics now? >> Now in the state of Minnesota, >> uh, just in Crowing County, >> zero. Other than us, one >> point. Okay. >> Well, I I guess I I should say um there
is a paramedic who works in Peak for Peekquat Lakes, but they don't have a program like ours. They don't have a medical director. They he can't practice as a paramedic. Okay. >> Do you know how many agencies have EMTs?
>> I would say several. I mean, I think that's more common. I know the sheriff's office has a couple EMTs and and um some other smaller agencies have some. Yeah. >> Okay. And I would imagine this is
probably paramedic only or EMTs use that as well. >> EMTs can use a lot of the functions of this. what they the only thing really the EMTs can't do is they can't um use some of the manual electrical functions
of this. >> They can use it. It functions as an AED as well. They can set up and and run the 12 lead EKGs and they can do the entitle monitoring and things like that. Um but there are certain aspects of of these
types of monitors that they can't use. >> Okay. Well, you know, I think this is fantastic that you have this tool and you're able to use it. It's wonderful. I think back to when we were working and when I when I left, we didn't even have
AEDs in the squad cars. I think you were actually you you personally were the only one that I remember even having an AED at that time in a squad car. So, it's amazing that there's so many of those out in the community and we're getting a lot more life-saving tools in
law enforcement's hands cuz they're they're there long before a lot of people or anybody else can get there. So, I remember a specific call when I came upon a car up on uh County Road One that had a heart attack going on and
turned out I had two heart attacks going on at the same time and you were the first one there with me and AD would have been nice before you got there. So, >> yeah. And >> that was when you were just with North at the time, I think. So, >> it um yeah, it I I know just as a police
officer, I mean, I we're encouraged to help out our our neighbors and and other agencies in greater out in some of the neighboring areas. So, we we do a lot of that. So,
um I always, you know, if if our EMTs and paramedics can think that they can help at the scene of a medical, um they're they're given license to to leave the city of Breezy Point and go do that good work that they do. So, in
fact, someone asked about life-saving awards. I think the vast majority of the ones that we've had over the last two years have occurred were given for incidents that occurred outside of the city of Breezy Point, whether it was Niswah, Cross Lake, Lake Edward Township, um Mission Township,
and things like that. So, >> you guys have a fantastic program there. It's you guys should be proud of what you've accomplished there. So, >> yep. not but for the support of our city, our residents and um the people of the
greater community. So, >> thank you >> very much. >> I guess we're adjourned. >> Thank you. >> 10:27