Rise for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance 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. Welcome, everyone. It's good to see everybody get out on this warm, sunny day. Looking for an approval to the meeting agenda with the following amendment, removal of resolution approving drainage inspector contract with John Huron and resolution approving Drainage Inspector contract for Dave Clawson.
And the reason for that amendment is there's some pay questions and also some other bullet points that need to be discussed before we move forward with that. So looking for a motion to approve the agenda with that amendment. I'll make that motion. Motion made by Commissioner Ekstrom. Is there a second? I'll second. Second by Commissioner Severson. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed, same sign. Meeting agenda has been passed. Moving on, resolution to approve the consent agenda with the following: minutes from the 01/06/2026 Board meeting
approval of minutes from the 01/07/2026, Board meeting and approval of regular full time status employees. Someone would like to make enter that resolution. I'll enter that resolution. Entered by Commissioner Severson. Is there a second? I'll second it. Second by Commissioner Casa. Any discussion? Hearing none, will the clerk please call the roll. Mr. Severson? Yes. Commissioner Casa? Commissioner Severson? Yes. Commissioner Severson? Yes. Commissioner Severson? Yes. Commissioner Severson? Yes. That resolution is passed. Report of the board committees. Commissioner Severson? Yes. I had one meeting.
I had the channel restoration project where we were presented a few different concepts for that. Nothing's public yet, so but there's some exciting stuff coming that way. Thank you. Commissioner Casa. Evelynis. Okay. I went to we had the closed session. I met with had the Hayward Township meeting. I had the Oakland Township meeting that I've attended both of those. I did meet with Shanna Eckberg from, St. John's, and she gave me a very good,
presentation on what they're doing to try to fill the gap from senior resources. I have asked her to come to one of our workshops to let you all know so that it's not thirdhand through me because she does a really nice job. And, had my EMS meeting, District 6. That was very interesting. We're looking at a lot of things there. We had arbitration. The we had the fairground cell tower meeting with vertical bridge. I did the, Shell Rock township meeting. I went to the data the, Data Center 101 at the Hormel Nature Center.
That was extremely interesting as well. There's a lot to do there. Planning and zoning is gonna have a lot of work ahead of them. And that's it. Thank you. Commissioner Schauff? Yes. I attended the NACO Health Committee meeting. That was it. Thank you. Commissioner Ekstrom? Sure. I might, sat in on the Twin Lakes court hearing. I was able to attend a couple of my township meetings this past month. Of course, we were all part of that board workshop with Representative Peggy Bennett, Senator Jean Dornick and a representative Congressman Finstead's office.
I also went to the data center information center at the Hormel Nature Center. And like Commissioner Acosta said, I was so thankful that Freeborn County had that one year moratorium put in place because there's so much that can be learned for better zoning and so forth and development in that area. And then I had a nice conversation with Moore County, County Commissioner, talking about their public hearing or as they call it just an input session dealing with their shotgun zone. And so,
that was just nice to hear how they did it, and they had a nice turnout. They said it was just a very nice meeting. And so All right. Thank you. I attended our policy committee meeting that's moving ahead, very slowly, I might add, but it's moving forward. Also, weekly meetings with administration. The legislative workshop that we all participated in, I thought that went very well. Those that got up and gave a presentation, thank you very much. That was excellent. Our hopes are that they are able to act on some of those issues and
concerns we had. Also, we had union negotiations, went through arbitration. I too attended the informational meeting on the, Fair Tower and, also participated as a personnel committee in, interview sessions for an assessor and, had a special meeting for Albert Lea Housing and Redevelopment. And the discussion in that special meeting was a couple of lots that the City of Albert Lea wants to develop. And that's all I had over the last couple of weeks. So with that said, moving on to miscellaneous business,
we have Ashley Strand from Cedar Valley Services is going to share some information about Smart Transit with us. I'll let Kirk go first. Hi there. My name is Kirk Kachara. I'm the general manager for Smart, and Ashley Strand is the operations manager here in Albert Lea, Freeport County. We just wanted to come and, chat with you for a couple minutes about SMART, give you a couple updates on, a few things that we've been working on and and some of the the highlights of the last couple years. We met with you probably, just shy of two years ago. I think it was in a different room because I got lost on my way
here. So, glad I made it in time. So Smart, if you're not too familiar with us, we're owned and operated by Sierra Valley Services. They've been operating public transit here in Albert Lea since 2004. Smart, kind of became known in 2014 when it was a consolidation of a few other agencies, Austin, Owatonna, and then we added Waseca in 2016. I'm just going to give a big picture look at kind of what we've been dealing with and and what we look forward to, and then Ashley will cover some more specific, pieces of Albertley and Fort Gordon County. The I would say when we look back at the last couple of years,
we've been working really closely with MnDOT on a couple, FTA funded projects. We got a new facility going up in Austin and then another one in Waseca. Of course, we have a facility here in Albert Lea that's pretty, relatively new. It was built, right around the time we started, as Smart in 2014. And then, Otona Building was built in 2022. So that'll give us some new facilities. We're currently, in some really outdated locations in Austin, and then we're renting in Waseca. We've also been dealing a lot with, as has everybody, a lot of the inflation effects.
And just one example I can provide there, in 2020, we purchased a bus for about $90,000 and we just took delivery of a bus a couple of weeks ago, and it was $204,000 So we're looking at about 140% increase on some of our capital expenses. And then, of course, some of the other, operating things like wages and insurance and other things that people are dealing with. And this is a little concerning just on the heels here of, some cuts that we're likely to see at the state and federal level. So, you know,
we're continuing to work with MnDOT on how to best, strategize that. We definitely don't want to see services go away, as Ashley will attend to. There's a ton of great things happening with public transit. One thing I always tell everybody is transportation is something that we all take for granted. I'm guessing everybody in this room can just hop in a car and and go wherever they want, whenever they want. And there's a lot of individuals that do not have that luxury for a variety of reasons. It could be income based. It could be a disability. You know, they're elderly.
So there's a lot of variables there. And that's where public transit really is able to step up and help these people get to where they need to be, whether that's education, work, appointments, or even just have a social life, which is key to a lot of things. So we'll continue to to strive to help the communities that we serve, working with MnDOT. And, and, appreciate all the support that we get from, you know, Freeborn County and the city of Albert Lea. So Ashley can chat a little bit about, what we're doing here locally. Good morning. I just have a few statistics. In 2025, we provided over 60,000
rides across the county. Our services help residents get to work, school, medical appointments, and essential daily activities. We also provide reliable transportation for adults with disabilities living in rural areas, ensuring they have consistent access to work each week. We are partnered with the Navy Healthcare Foundation, which allows seniors aged 55 and older to ride free to any medical appointments in Freeport County and Moore County. Last year we gave more than 1,100 free senior rides in Freeborn County to Freeborn County residents.
And this year we introduced our free shuttle between Mayo campuses in Waseca and Albert Lea with on demand stops in New Richland, Heartland, and Manchester. So that helps give rural residents a dependable way to reach out for medical care at no cost. So and we continue to work with schools, businesses, human service providers and community organizations. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Does the board have any questions for Kirk or Ashley? Yes. Mr. Chair, I just have a couple of questions. Is the Navy Health Care Foundation, are they going to help support them rides to Waseca?
That's actually done through Mayo Clinic Health System. Okay. Alright. Yes. We got really good partnerships with Mayo and Navy, Foundation. Okay. So but financially then that will be supported on the Yes. So between the two, they're offsetting the cost of the Waseca shuttle and then also all the senior transportation in Albertley. Okay. Super. Thank you for that. And then I have one other question. So when, just when I was reading your brochure about well, for Freeborn County, Heartland and Manchester, are there areas where people can park their cars? So for example, if somebody is too nervous to drive all the way to Austin or whatever,
maybe they have a driving restriction and they can or their neighbor can only get them to Manchester where they can catch the bus. Is there an area then? Or have you spoken with those cities where there's We reached out to, New Richland, and we decided on Casey's there right off of 13. Okay. And Casey's is okay with that. Super. Heartland, we couldn't really nail down down a spot. And then Manchester, I think we're in the works with their is it their mayor? Yeah. And and we will I think in those real small communities for especially that shuttle
service, we'll go directly to their home and and pick them up. Oh, okay. So Yeah. The towns are small. Yeah. We won't need to worry about having them park somewhere. We'll just pick them at their home. Okay. Super. Thank you. Because I was just going to say, as the Board of Commissioners, when we go to our small town meetings and township meetings, it would be a good way for us to be working with you as far as spreading the word and the importance of this and if there's a way we can support you even through something like that. But so thank you for those answers. Yes, definitely. Appreciate that. Any other questions or comments? Mr.
Chair? Yes. A quick question. The intent of the Waseca to Elderly route, is that to bring people to the Albertley clinic or vice versa? Either or. My limited understanding is that it's assisting with some individuals getting to Waseca for some same day operations that they're getting, I think like cataracts and things like that. So but it's Are there any persons wishing to address the Board concerning matters pertaining to this agenda as well as any other matters? Seeing none, we have a public hearing at 08:45. We're about a minute away from that. Maybe Amy can come forward and give us a little background on that for about
a thirty second to one minute talk. Good morning, Commissioners. So the City Of Albert Lea has approved an abatement for new construction of a house. And the way the abatement works is it also has to be approved by the county and the school, I believe. I'm not entirely sure how they handle theirs. But this is the part where people come and discuss the ramifications for the tax dollars or if they have a problem with that or but it's basically for new construction of a single family home. All right. Thank you. And Mr.
Chair, we are in an abatement agreement with them through 2026, correct? Through the end of this year, that is correct. At the end of this year, yes. All right. Board Chair? Yes. So that abatement, is that for five years on the subject property? I apologize. I just checked back. Vacation. One moment, please. Usually for five. My notes that I was looking back on said I thought it said it was five, but switched to three in the last agreement. Yeah. 3% comes to mind for me also. Yes, yes, 2%. And I didn't bring my notes from the last one with.
So it's 100% for three years with the potential of an additional 3% at 50%. Thank you for that information. All right. It is 08:45. We will open the public hearing. Is there anyone that wishes to come forward and address the Board? Anyone? Alright. We will close the public hearing and move on to report of various departments, report of the auditor treasurer. Oh, yes. Hello. I'm already here. The first one I have is the approval of the abatement that you just had your hearing for. Someone wish to enter that resolution?
I'll enter the resolution. Entered by commissioner Ekstrom. Is there a second? I'll second. Second by commissioner Shaw. Any discussion? Hearing none, will the clerk call a roll? Mr. Stevenson? Yes. Mr. Cassell? Yes. Mr. Eckster? Yes. Mr. Schauff? Yes. Mr. Edmond? Yes. That resolution is passed. Thank you. The next one is for the UOCABA ballot board and mail ballot board, absentee ballot board. Basically, designating my office and my, employees as the people officially allowed to count the absentee ballots and the mail ballots and all the overseas ballots that come in.
And I apologize. I have assigned, oath that everyone takes, but I was out and then I was missing one person. So I can get that to you. But this is basically just so that the people in the office, as we're already here, we're getting the mail, we can go ahead and count the votes. Someone would like to enter that resolution? I'll enter that resolution, mister chair. Entered by commissioner Casa. Is there a second? I'll second. Second by commissioner Ekstrom. Any discussion? Yes. I did vote no on this last year. I'm curious about the process. I understand how much easier it is to have staff do it than Mhmm.
Volunteers from the street. However, Hennepin County did get sued, for not exhausting the party lists that were provided before moving on to, other options. So I was just curious if those lists were provided and, you know, called and people were asked. We can. We also set it up so, we have split parties. It's not we're very mindful of having different parties Yes. Do those particular jobs. If that is a concern for you, we can. Honestly, this is just to set it up because it's convenient and it's easy and we
do have the split party designation. We also have spectacular amount of training. That's what When you say split party up, it has to be balanced between the parties. Yes. We there's a little form I have everybody sign that declares their party. And so certain jobs have to be both parties, so you can't just have one. And the judge did acknowledge that in the ruling, and that they did still have to reset their ballot board because that lift first step of exhausting that list wasn't done. So that's my only concern.
I'm fine with voting for the staff, but that is my concern there. Absolutely. I will I can absolutely be mindful and keep you posted on that as well. Any other comments, questions? Will the clerk call a roll? No. Mr. Koppel? Yes. Mr. Koppel? Yes. Mr. Koppel? Yes. Mr. Koppel? Yes. Mr. Koppel? Yes. Mr. Koppel? Yes. Mr. Koppel? Yes. Mr. Koppel? Yes. Mr. Koppel? Yes. Mr. Koppel? Yes. Mr. Koppel? Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Okay. This one, okay. This is the resolution approving the loans to the ditch projects. Basically the when a drainage system has a project, the county will loan them the money until it's done then when it's done it
is billed to the ditch the drainage system. So this is basically just authorizing the loans of the in process projects. Someone would like to enter that resolution. I'll enter that resolution, Mr. Chairman. Entered by Commissioner Casa. Is there a second? Second. Second by Commissioner Severson. Any discussion? Hearing none, will the clerk please call the roll. Commissioner Severson? Yes. Commissioner Severson? Yes. Commissioner Severson? Yes. Commissioner Severson? Yes. Commissioner Severson? Yes. Commissioner Severson? I'll enter that resolution, mister chair. Entered by commissioner Casa. Is there a second? I'll second. Second by commissioner Severson. Any discussion? Hearing none, will the clerk call the roll?
Commissioner Severson? Yes. Kasa? Yes. Mr. Stone? Yes. Mr. Edmund? Yes. That is passed. I'm mad drunk with power. Thank you very much. Good luck. Report of Environmental Services? Try to follow that and be as entertaining. Well, good morning, Mr. Chair. Good morning, commissioners. The item I have for your consideration this morning is a resolution appointing Mike Lee to the Freeborn County Planning Commission for his first three year term. Shortly after the January 6 board meeting, Mr. Lee approached the environmental services office and expressed interest in joining the commission.
And, again, the planning commission is a seven member advisory board. And if mister Lee is appointed today, the board will be full with no vacancies. Someone wish to enter that resolution? I will enter that resolution, mister chair. Entered by commissioner Casa. Is there a second? I'll second. Second by Commissioner Ekstrom. Any discussion? Hearing none, will the clerk call the roll? Commissioner Severson? Yes. Commissioner Ekstrom? Yes. Commissioner Schrock? Yes. Commissioner Edwin? Yes. That is passed. Welcome. Thank you for being willing to do that. All right. Report of Human Services. Your voice gonna hold out for this?
I should have brought some water. Good morning, mister chair. Good morning, commissioners. Yes. We have a marathon we'll try to get through. First item I have for your consideration is a donation to Crime Victims Crisis Center in the amount of $400 from, Round Prairie Lutheran Church Women. Someone wish to enter that resolution? I'll enter that resolution, mister chair. Entered by commissioner Casa. Is there a second? I'll second it. Second by Commissioner Schauff. Any discussion? Just thank you to the Round Prairie Church woman. Any other discussion? Will the clerk call the roll? Yes. Mr. Casa? Yes. Mr. Yes. Mr. Yes. Mr. Yes. Mr. Yes. Mr. Yes. Mr. Yes. Mr. Yes. Mr. Yes. Mr. Yes. Mr. Yes. Mr. Yes. Mr. Yes. Mr. Yes.
Thank you. The next item I have for your consideration is a purchase of service agreement with Doctor. Annette Smick. Doctor. Smick is our one of our psychiatry providers. She is a doctor of psychiatry. And if you'll recall, we recently approved a purchase of service agreement with our other psychiatry prescriber. Our psychiatry services completely pay for themselves through third party, billing and through grants from the 10 County initiative. So requesting a resolution to approve Doctor. Smick's purchase of service agreement. Someone would like to enter that resolution?
I'll enter that resolution, Mr. Chair. Entered by Commissioner Casa. Is there a second? I'll second. Second by Commissioner Severson. Any discussion? Will the clerk please call the roll? Thank you. The next item I have for your consideration is a purchase of service agreement with Cedar Valley Services for extended employment services. Extended employment services are for individuals who have certified disabilities that prevent them from active labor market. They need additional support to maintain employment. This service is mandated, through Minnesota statute. There are waiver grant funds to pay for a majority of these services.
We also provide, a small amount to be budgeted for individuals who either are waiting waiver certification or have lost that waiver certification in order to help them continue to be gainfully are actively employed in the labor market. So requesting a resolution to approve the purchase of service agreement with Cedar Valley Services in the amount of $47,670 Someone wish to enter that resolution? I'll enter that resolution. Entered by Commissioner Severson. Is there a second? I'll second. Second by Commissioner Ekstrom.
Any discussion? Hearing none, will the clerk please call the roll? The next item I have for your consideration is a purchase of service agreement with Independent Management Services to provide semi independent living services. This is an additional vendor. At our last board meeting, we approved a few vendors for sales services. The State of Minnesota grants Freewind County $299,513 to be split among all of the different providers we use for sales services. So this is another one of those providers.
So requesting approval for the purchase of service agreement with Independent Management Services for sales. Someone wish to enter that resolution? I'll enter that resolution. Entered by Commissioner Severson. Is there a second? I'll second it. Second by Commissioner Schauff. Any discussion? Will the clerk please call the roll? Yes. Mr. Kraso? Yes. Mr. Kraso? Yes. Mr. Kraso? Yes. Mr. Kraso? Yes. Mr. Kraso? Yes. Mr. Kraso? Yes. Mr. Kraso? Yes. Mr. Kraso? Yes. Yes. That is passed. Thank you. The next item I have for your consideration is a semi independent living services purchase of service agreement for Lutheran Social Services.
Again, it's for individuals with disabilities who are certified as eligible for these services. And this is another provider that shares that $299,000 for sales services. I do apologize. In the packet, I had inadvertently submitted the IMS contract twice, so I do have the real LSS contract for signature. But in the packet that was online, there were two IMS contracts instead of one for Lutheran Social Services. So we're requesting approval of the purchase of service agreement for Lutheran Social Services for semi independent living services.
Someone would like to enter that resolution? I'll enter that resolution, Mr. Chair. Entered by Commissioner Casa. Is there a second? I'll second it. Second by Commissioner Schauff. Any discussion? Hearing none, will the clerk please call the roll? Mr. Stevenson? Yes. Mr. Crossett? Yes. Mr. Eckstrom? Yes. Mr. Schauff? Yes. Mr. Edmond? Yes. That is passed. Okay. Thank you. The next item I have for your consideration is the last SILS provider contract that we have for the 'twenty six-'twenty seven contract term. So Unique Abilities, also provides semi independent living services for individuals in Freeborn County who have disabilities and
just need that additional assistance to live independently in the community. They, again, are one of the providers that, we split the $299,000 grant from the state of Minnesota. So requesting approval of the purchase of service agreement with unique abilities. Someone would like to enter that resolution. I'll talk to that. Entered by Commissioner Schauff. Is there a second? I'll second. Second by Commissioner Ekstrom. Any discussion? Will the clerk call the roll? Yes. Mr. Kaslow? Yes. Mr. Eckstrom? Yes. Mr. Schott? Yes. Commissioner Hedwig? Yes. That resolution is passed. Okay.
Thank you. The next items, the rest of the items I have for your consideration are purchase of service agreements for, guardian and conservative services. So the first one is a purchase of service agreement with Serenity Services, to provide, guardian and guardianship and conservative services for individuals, within Fairburne County, for whom our department refers. There are some individuals who are able to seek and provide guardian services for loved ones outside of the county's involvement. We step in when there is nobody else,
that's able to do that. So, the amount that we have budgeted for all of the guardianship and conservative services, for '26 is $93,000 So Serenity Services is one of those providers where we split that budgeted amount. So requesting approval of the purchase of service agreement for Serenity Services for Guardianship and Conservator. Someone wish to enter that resolution? I'll enter that. And then by Commissioner Severson. Is there a second? I'll second it. Second by Commissioner Casa. Any discussion? Mr. Chair, just one quick question.
So and I'm sorry if you said this and I was looking at my notes. So the $93,000 where does that money come from? That is a budgeted amount from Federal Reserve. Okay. Where's the other ones are Medicaid funds or state where this is a Freeborn County amount? Yes. Thank you. Okay. Any other discussion? Hearing none, will the clerk, Colorado? Mr. Severson? Yes. Mr. Casa? Yes. Mr. Exro? Yes. Mr. Trot? Yes. Mr. Edlund? Yes. That has passed. Thank you. The next item is the guardianship and conservator purchase of service agreement with Southern Minnesota
Guardianship Services. So requesting approval of that, purchase of service agreement. Someone like to enter that resolution? I'll enter that resolution, Mr. Chair. Entered by Commissioner Casas. Is there a second? Second. Second by Commissioner Severson. Any discussion? Hearing none, will the clerk please call the roll? Commissioner Severson? Yes. Commissioner Severson? Yes. Commissioner Severson? Yes. Commissioner Eckster? Yes. Commissioner Scott? Yes. Commissioner Edmonds? Yes. That is passed. Thank you. The next item for your consideration is a purchase of service agreement for guardianship and conservative services through independent management services.
This is also the same organization that does provide sales services as well. Again, the guardianship and conservative services share that $93,000 budgeted for this item. So requesting approval of this purchase of service agreement with IMS. Someone like to enter that resolution? I'll enter that. Entered by Commissioner Severson. Is there a second? I'll second it. Seconded by Commissioner Schauff. Any discussion? Hearing none, will the clerk call a roll? Commissioner Severson? Yes. Yes. Commissioner Eckert? Yes. Commissioner Schauff? Yes. Mister Yes. That is passed.
Thank you. The final item I have for your consideration is a guardianship and conservator contract, with unique abilities. Also, this is a provider that provides sales services, and they share in the $93,000 budgeted for guardianship and conservator services. So requesting approval of that purchase of service agreement. Someone would like to enter that resolution? I'll enter that. Entered by Commissioner Severson. Is there a second? I'll second. Second by Commissioner Ekstrom. Any discussion? Will the clerk call the roll? Commissioner Severson? Yes. Mister Kasa? Mister Ekstrom? Yes. Mister Schrock? Yes.
Mister Enwinis? Yes. That has passed. Thank you. At some point, I'd like somebody to count the number of times I said services in the last ten minutes. Thanks. Have a good day. Take care. Who wants that assignment? You can go back and listen to the recording. Yes, I can do it. All right. Moving on to Report of Public Works. Board, Chair and Commissioners, our engineer is off at a conference this week, so I will present this. He has one item for consideration. It is a resolution approving a funding participation in construction agreement with Alden Township for
the replacement of Bridge L5-six 11. The project is planned for the 2026 construction season and will be one of three bridge construction projects planned for this year. This agreement requires Alden Township to pay $20,000 of the cost of the project per Minnesota DOT state aid policy. The remainder of the cost of that bridge is funded by MnDOT using the highway user tax distribution fund. Someone would like to enter that resolution. I'll enter the resolution. Entered by commissioner Ekstrom.
Is there a second? I'll second it. Second by Commissioner Casa. Any discussion? Hearing none, will the clerk please call the roll? Yes. Yes. Yes. Mister Edmonds. Yes. Mister Edmonds. Yes. That resolution is passed. Report of county administrator. Good morning. I got a couple resolutions for you. The first one is to consider resolution accepting the resignation of Joe Johnson, maintenance effective 01/23/2026. Someone wish to enter that resolution? I'll enter that resolution. Entered by commissioner Severson. Is there a second? I'll second it. Second by commissioner Casa. Any discussion?
Will the clerk call a roll? Yes. Commissioner Severson? Yes. Commissioner Severson? Yes. Mister Eckstrom? Yes. Mister Straub? Yes. Mister Edlund? Yes. That has passed. And the next one is to consider resolution filling the vacant maintenance position. Someone would like to enter that resolution. I'll enter that resolution, mister chair. Entered by commissioner Casa. Is there a second? I'll second. Second by Commissioner Eckstrom. Any discussion? Hearing none, will the clerk call the roll. Thank you. Are there other items necessary but unknown at this time? Then we'll move on to county commissioner items. First on is a resolution to approve Rule 21,
voting changes, and this pertains to our Commissioner Policy and Procedures. Would the administrator like to give us a little explanation here? Certainly. So our previous, manual allowed for abstentions. No. If you abstain from voting, it was automatically a yes vote and, definitely needed to correct that. And as we have adopted Robert's rules of order, what I'm proposing here would follow that. An a or an a in Robert's rules, as long as the board understands and doesn't find disagreement,
could also be accepted as a yes or no. Either way, a yes, nay, no. And abstentions would be allowed and would not be considered an effect to the vote. Would someone like to enter that resolution? I'll enter this. And then by Commissioner Severson. Is there a second? I'll second. Second by Commissioner Ekstrom. Any discussion? Yes. Mr. Chair, just one quick question. So the other items then on here, those are taken right out of Robert's rules then, so we are totally consistent then with Robert's rules? Yes.
Okay. Thank you. Any other discussion? Mr. Chair? Yes. So the last two items, the emergency actions and that we changed the verbiage on that, is there a reason why from what was previously adopted? I know we're taking this up because of the abstention vote, but a lot of this has changed Do you want to would you give clarification on what was changed previous to now? Well, the emergency actions read something to the effect of, in the case of war and insurrection.
And these days, we might need to keep that in there for all the craziness that this world has given us. But no. I'm just saying we open it up to address the abstention. Mhmm. And we're addressing other things. I made the point privately to the county administrator that we opened up this whole thing just to do rule 21. We opened up this whole policy. I like opening up the whole policy and going through the whole policy, such as during the public hearing today,
I missed I missed the if you're a proponent or opponent or you don't get to read that these days. Yeah. It might have to do with somebody never showed up. Nobody showed up. Anyway, would you like to see an amendment to the resolution then striking the the rest of the verbiage and only focusing on the abstain? I think that might need to be talked about. I mean, we're opening it up for the abstention part. We're addressing the abstention part, but we're changing the rest of rule 21.
And I just wondered if there's a reason why that some of the majority vote or the majority plus one votes, some of that, language was taken out. It's my understanding, and I can be corrected, but it was to follow Robert's rules of order, which we adopted. But I would say the majority plus one in e and f are probably due to state statute, not Robert Roberts Whirls of order. So when we're if I may,
section e in your voting policy stated the passage of any public emergency ordinance, an ordinance that takes effect immediately expenditures for any calamity or violence of nature or riot or insurrection of war and provisions for a lesser emergency such as budget amendment shall require the affirmative vote of at least a majority plus one of the whole membership of the Board of Commissioners. And so what's being presented is emergency actions require a majority plus one of the whole membership.
So that does align with what you had before. It just simplifies it. My question is the majority plus one, everything we vote on is majority except for these two items and then to change the auditor or change auditor treasurer and recorder to elected officials. The state put in it had to be a super majority. And so my question being is, is this in the state statutes with that verbiage versus If I may, could we defer to the attorney?
My understanding would be that we've adopted Robert's rules. We follow Robert's rules, but we are also bound by state statute. So if there is a specific piece of that, you're required to address that. But Mr. Chair, good morning, commissioners. Robert's Rules of Order controls the procedure. The county administrator is the parliamentarian for the board, so the expert on the question of those procedural rules and the application of the Robert's Rules of Order. But statutes can clearly control certain votes.
I even researched the question of whether or not there's a specific statute that says if the board is acting in the case of an emergency, it has to be a certain number of votes or a percentage. So that would be the question. I'm not aware of it, but I can look into it. I don't think it would take long to find it, but everything you vote on is potentially subject to a specific statute that says you have to have a certain number of votes. Correct. And our revised rule 21 under section e was to simplify what was previously stated,
which it would still stand with those bullet point items. We could add those back in and not go with the simplification. I like simple. I like simple. It it only pertains to certain items. Well, mister chair. Yes. And that was my point that most of what we do is majority vote. Correct. There's only special instances that it's majority plus one, and that's usually by state statute, I would guess. I haven't looked at the state statute myself. And this provision regarding the emergencies is majority plus one of the entire membership,
not just a majority of the quorum. So it would be four votes. It requires four votes for that emergency action. Would it be we'd be best suited to add an appendix or something with those defined? Or portion F, all other motions require a majority of those present and eligible to vote in accordance with Minnesota state statute. Mr. Chair? Yes. I would advise, Mr. Chair, if we're not confident of the reason for that change and the basis for it under law,
then the board should maintain the previous rule because this board has been operating under the previous rule for years. And until the board understands and appreciates the legal basis for the change, it shouldn't change. That's what I would recommend. Well, the reason for the change was the abstaining was considered a yes vote, and that doesn't work out well when a commissioner has conflict and wants to abstain. Board Chair? Yes. And we did just count a vote that was an abstention as a yes vote,
so that does conflict with prior practice? And that's what the rule provided for. The prior rule or the existing rule now provides that an abstention is a yes vote. Mr. Chair? Yes. I brought up the position that we do a resolution following Robert Searls' order at the beginning of each year. And would that supersede the rules of policy? I would say it's the opposite. Right. Because this board has the authority to provide for the procedure that you wanna use. So the general provision I mean,
generally speaking, when you interpret provisions, if you have a very specific provision, that provision controls. If you have a general provision, even if that arguably applies, the specific provision is the one that controls. Okay? So if you have a general provision like we're going to follow the Robert's Rules of Order, Robert's Rules of Order would control in any situation in which you don't have a specific rule to cover the the, whatever the controversy is in question. So in this case, if you're talking about an emergency vote, if you have a specific rule that you have adopted,
that specific rule is going to control, not the general provision that Robert's Rules controls. So Mr. Chair? Yes. So the way I understand this is we're correcting the yay nay thing with the abstention being nothing. Then you have the tie the tie vote is a fail, which is always. Then we have just has to be a majority of the whole membership for the ordinances and whatnot. That's the whole membership. Whether there's only four of us here or five of us here, it still has to be a majority.
Then the emergency one is the whole membership. So it's always got to be a four vote because there's five of us, correct? And then the other ones just have to be a majority of the ones that are present. But in the emergency, we have to count everybody. So we're just simplifying the whole thing, correct? Am I do I understand this correctly? Correct. Yes. Section e is simplifying Yeah. A paragraph taken from So we still all know it has to be a four vote to pass in an emergency. Yeah.
Whether there's only four of us here, four of us have to vote. If there's three of us here, we can't do it. Correct? That's right. Yeah. That's right. So so, Mr. Chair, I think we just simplified it. Yeah. I like the idea of the simplification. I do think it needs to be passed as far as the abstention part. Quick question then. So under the emergency action one, if that's kind of a sticking point here, is it Robert's rules that says it has to be a majority plus one? Or is that a freeborn county rule that says it has to be a majority? That would be a statutory requirement.
That's a statutory requirement? I don't know what the statute is, if you're looking to me to confirm that. Board Chair? Yes. Commissioners, another option is you've already adopted Robert's rules. You could simply, make a motion to amend this to just state you are going to adopt Robert's rules for voting practices as and and follow Minnesota state statute. I was just I was gonna suggest that as well. I was also going to suggest just an amendment to, line f to read all other motions require a majority of the whole membership unless
a different vote is required by law. I you're not always gonna have all unless I'm misunderstanding. You're not always gonna have all five commissioners present. All other motions require a quorum? I think Or we just go with Melanie's suggestion. We could do, yes, that or we could simply change just that line item that gets more specific to the abstain. We could amend it to just that at this point in time and take and visit the rest of it at another time.
Board Chair and commissioners? I think Commissioner Schaff is correct, and we have discussed this whole thing could use a rewrite. And so if there is something that you want changed, we can always change this again. But otherwise, the emergency actions are, as stated in your previous rule. So I'm sorry. So what are you saying? So are you saying to pass it with just the amendment to be? Correct. You could pass it as is. You could make the correction that,
as the vote aligns with Minnesota statute requirements, or you could just simply say, we've adopted voting as outlined by Robert's rules and Minnesota state statute. It's as easy or as difficult as we wanna make it. Mr. Chair? Yes. To move forward from this exercise, could we just pass A through C that would A through C as written in the revised. And then as the policy goes forward with the policy policy committee,
whether that's now or in the future, and have the ability to look up the state statute and see what words are needed for the rest of it. Would it be wise to just do an amendment passing a through c, and then we can move forward from there? That's kinda where my head was going. Another option would be because I don't think this is gonna be an issue for the next couple weeks, but we could table this whole thing, get it right, and vote on it at our next board meeting.
Which would be on the February 3. So either way, I'm comfortable with. Yeah. I guess, Mr. Chair, for me, I would rather correct the A, B and C then and then just because we will have that board meeting on the third. Again, it's just something comes up where there's that conflict. It shouldn't be a yes vote. We don't have a workshop in between. No. So you're not going to discuss it. No. We can discuss the rest of it at the workshop and then pass it pass the rest of it on the tenth or I'm sorry, on the seventeenth?
Who wishes to amend the resolution to include only A through C, A, B and C? I would make that motion All right. Is there a second? I'll second it. Second by Commissioner Casa. Any other discussion? So the amended resolution that is on the floor is to only include revision to Rule 21, B and C. Any other discussion? Hearing none, will the clerk please call the roll? Mr. Severson? Yes. Mr. Casa? Yes. Mr. Ester? Yes. Mr. Schott? Yes. Mr. Eglick? Yes.
That has passed. All right. Next on the agenda, we're going to set a date and time for a public input meeting for the shotgun zone ordinance. And we have to have a decision on this by the March 1, correct? I believe the March 1, we are supposed to be notified by DNR, and then we have a time clock ticking. But just to be a little proactive here and get it on the books so you'd have some time to discuss it further. So we want to set a date as soon as possible, but allow enough time to reach out to some different groups and
individuals that might wish to participate in this public hearing. Right. Mr. Chair oh, I'm sorry. Are we discussing this first? Or do you want to do a resolution first? No, that's a resolution will set the date, so yeah, so we can discuss. So I don't know if this is anything that we need to have on a workshop first where we become focused on kind of how we're going to handle it. I mean, we can still set the date and time, but then have it be after that workshop. I don't even know if that's necessary. But like I said,
Moore County just talking in Moore County and Melanie can always reach out to the administrator and find out how they handled their they called it a public input session, so people understood that it is just for input. Nobody's voting. It's and but also to make sure that we have time, and I think we need to decide how we're going to advertise that because I know a lot of people in my district don't do social media, as they have told me. And so if we want to decide how we're going to notice that, whether it be on our website,
for those of us who do do social media, but if it's going to be in the Albert Lee Tribune, the, Alden Advance, just because I do believe a lot of people will feel like it's an important topic to be heard on. Yeah. And another consideration might be, we have our meetings 08:30 in the mornings for most, and, I think some of the individuals that would like to be involved work during the day hours. So may wanna consider a time in the evening too when we do this. I know Moore County had theirs,
from 05:30 to 7PM so people could come. They were given two minutes to speak just so people wouldn't, you know, so people could just kind of voice their concerns one way or the other. When do we have to vote on this spot? May 1. We need to have something in place by May 1. March 1 is when the DNR is supposed to even though the DNR has been proactive with notifying us already, March 1 is when the DNR was supposed to reach out to everybody saying, Okay, what are you thinking? But May 1, I believe, is the drop dead date where if you're going to have an ordinance.
So like Commissioner Edwin said, the sooner, the better because depending on which way we go, we would need enough time whether we adopt just what the DNR suggested. You still have to have a public hearing and so forth, so. Someone have a date, time in mind? Commissioners, Board Chair, if you want that, February 10 would be our workshop to put that on and then scheduling out from there. But if you had specific people you would like us to reach out to, it would be good to do that maybe the sooner to get people able.
So if we have public input on the twelfth in the evening after that workshop? On the twelfth, that Thursday. That's a Thursday evening. That works for me. Works for me. 05:30 again? I'm fine with that if that works for other people. Works for me. So February 12, 05:30 to 7PM? Correct. K. Someone wanna enter that resolution? The Valentine's weekend. Oh, we still got somebody looking at their calendar. Valentine's weekend. No. I'm just looking at I don't care about that. Miss Sharon, did she say that I've entered the microphone again?
February 7 or February 12 at 07:00 is Hayward City. Council meeting is all. I knew I had somebody that night. That's Hayward City's at seven is their city council meeting. Okay. But if they were able to attend prior, like 05:30 to 06:30 or No. If we have that big enough of a window, then 05:30 to seven because I think it will be difficult because just even looking at We start looking at all the different townships and cities, and it's going to be very difficult to So Yeah. Well, if you end I'm just thinking that if you end up going with the third
week, most of them have had theirs by then, and that would give us an opportunity to go to their meetings and let them know it's happening as well. But if we went to the third week, then we don't have a board meeting to vote on anything until after the March 1. That's true. If we're looking at a vote prior to March, I guess. I don't care. I think I would make a motion to do February 12 from 05:30 to seven P. M. And what would the location? Would you want this here in the boardroom to be the location?
Yes. Okay. And will somebody be available to let people in downstairs in the courthouse? That's security wise, we'd have to I can work that out with Sheriff Shea. Okay. So we have just a resolution or a motion, Commissioner Shaw? Would this be a motion or a resolution? The County Attorney said that she was parliamentarian, but I think resolution because it's Okay. A hearing. Alright. So we have a resolution on the floor of February 12, 05:30PM in our Freeborn County Boardroom for a public input meeting for the shotgun zone
ordinance. Would someone like to second that? I will second. Second by commissioner Severson. Any other discussion? Hearing none, will the clerk please call the roll? Yes. That has passed. Thank you. Now I do see we have the Albert Lea Tribune here and probably need to talk to a couple of the local radio stations. Maybe we can get some PSA announcements out there too. Mister Chair? Yes? I would say would recommend that any advertising that people could submit, paperwork. You know, if they can't be here, like,
if whoever's meeting, they could submit a written statement and have that part of the advertising. Yeah. When we put it out, yeah, that would be good. Or to contact their commissioner as well. Yep. Okay. And I have a correction. I said it was Hayward. It's not. It's London, and theirs is at 8PM. So Okay. Doable. Alright. Any other on that? Okay. We'll move on to, approval of claims. Anything to note? I'm sorry. I'm not awake. Did have a few things, questioned. Claims on page eight, there was a Department of Finance for real estate assurance and surcharge in the amount
of $5,574 That is a recurring fee for the recorder's office. That that's about what I have on that. I don't have additional information. I know it's for fees. Page 20, Verizon, $1,815 listed as communication. That is for multiple cell phones for one, department. Page 20, MCIT insurance. That is for our property and casualty premiums. And then page 25, the Social Services Collaborative, that is a reoccurring DHS fee. Susie, could you break that down further for us?
Or or not. I don't wanna put you on the spot, but it was, the social services collaborative. Without knowing specifically what it is, so the human services collaborative from the state, the collaborative funds come to DHS as the fiscal host, and then those funds are transferred to the collaborative, which is a separate entity. Is is that transfer what the I'm sure it would be showing that amount in transfer. Okay. Thank you. And this With that said, it brings to mind before you move on, brings to mind the finance department was giving us a line on that collaborative because
it was supposed to be a no cost to the local taxpayers. I'm getting heads nod back there so they're aware. Okay. Anything else? The last one was on page 31. AMC technical assistance. That is a $5,500 fee, and I believe that was a recommendation when you were working through obtaining an administrator and maybe an interim influx. It was to provide HR support. We will go ahead and get that canceled. You know, we do have other resources now, able to work directly with a lot of the other,
commission administrators across the state. We have a chat forum that we we can connect on, and then we have our HR support as well that we do the same with. So Alright. Someone like to enter a resolution for approval of claims? I'll enter that resolution, mister chairman. Enered by commissioner Casa. Is there a second? Second by commissioner Severson. Any other discussion? Hearing none, will the clerk please call the roll? Yes. Commissioner Kasloff? Yes. Commissioner Eszter? Yes. Commissioner Eszter? Yes. Commissioner Schrock? Yes. Commissioner Kasloff? Yes. Yes. Yes. Abstaining from credit payment to credit bureau of Albert Lee.
Claims have been approved. And with that, do we have any, commissioner items to share? Commissioner Severson? Not for me. Commissioner Casa? No. I'm just simply enjoying my retirement. Commissioner Ekstrom. Nothing. Thank you. And I have nothing. Commissioner Schauff. Nothing much happened today except a lot of inaugurations because it's January 20. So I'll let you, dust up on some of those speeches later on this evening. Sorry to throw the a wrench in the policy thing.
Not my favorite thing to discuss, but I think, it just needs to be a little more measured, I guess. I was gonna use the word verbiage as much as Susie used the word services, but after a while, it was beyond hope. So that's it. All right. Thank you. We are adjourned.