Meeting to order. All please 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 Welcome, everyone. We'll start off looking for approval of the meeting agenda with the following additions under report of county administration to accept the resignation retirement of Elaine Wolf in public health and fill that position. Someone like to make a motion to approve the meeting agenda?
I'll enter that. Enter by commissioner Schauff. Is there a second? I'll second it. Second by commissioner Casa. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed, same sign. Meeting agenda has passed. Consider a resolution approving the consent agenda with the following, approval of minutes from the 02/18/2025 board meeting, and approval of regular full time status employees. Someone like to enter that resolution? I'll I'll enter that Under by?
In the minutes. In the minute. In the minutes, the first part said I was here, and then later on, it said I wasn't here. So I think the first part needs to be corrected. It was Yes. It it has been corrected. Yep. Is there a second? I'll second. Oh, sorry. Second by commissioner Ekstrom. Any discussion? Hearing none, will the clerk please call the roll? Mister Severson? Aye. Mister Severson? Yes. Mister Ekstrom? Yes. Mister Trot? Yes. Mister Edwick? Yes. That is passed. Report of the board committees. Commissioner Severson?
I attended the Albertley HRA, as ex ex officio. They are applying for some grants, bringing home grant, as well as a pop, loan, it looks like. And they were discussing, doing a cost of living raise for employees, but it was pushed to the next meeting. And that's all I have. Thank you. Commissioner Casa. I have to say I left my calendar at home, so I'm just gonna throw out that I've just attended a couple meetings, with concerned citizens on some stuff going on down in Glenville with the best. Other than that, I can't remember.
Alright. Thank you. Commissioner Schauff? I attended the NACO Health Steering Committee, online, and then I've attended a couple of the first hundred days meetings that they've had. I don't know if anybody is aware of that. They're talking about the new administration and where we're going with that. Okay. Thank you. Commissioner Ekstrom. I was able to attend, Twin Lakes City meeting last evening. I had a Freeborn County Trail Association meeting last evening, and they will be signing letters of support for, what's coming up later on our agenda, those grants to be that we're hoping to apply for.
I had a meeting with Phil about the status of the UP Trail, and I was also Phil invited me to sit in. It just happened to be, right at the same time frame I was able to sit in on his meeting with Peggy Bennett and, that was really interesting. Let's see. I attended the AMC legislative conference and under county commissioner items, I can give you more details. I'm just looking at the clock for the other things and, as far as public hearing timing. So I'll give more details about that at the end of the meeting about the AMC legislative conference. I left the legislative AMC conference right before they served lunch on that last day,
And I went over to the Ramsey, Washington waste To Energy facility and I toured that and that was just really it was really cool to see that. And I'm happy to talk more about that to anybody who wants to listen. And then later this week, Phil and I will be heading up to Waseca County to give them a presentation on, the Union Pacific, rail to trail project and just give them more information and hope that they would be in support of us getting the status of a regional trail. And the purpose of that is to open up different avenues of funding for us
and hopefully less competitive than going a different direction, for example, like a designation as a state trail. So Alright. Thank you. I was able to attend an MCIT open meeting law Zoom meeting and also was given an update. I've been absent for some time, but was given an update on what's been going on with the UP Trail through email from Phil. And that's all I have at this time. Moving on, miscellaneous business. It is our the honor of the Board today for a presentation of the Rose
Olmstead Advocacy Award to Sarah Barnes. I read the nomination letter. I did not print it. Is it able to come up? Oh, you make me read it off that small screen. Okay. We're good. And this is what we received. I would like to take a moment to nominate Sarah Barnes for the Rose Olmstead Advocacy Award. As an adult mental health case manager, Sarah is constantly working towards bettering the lives of her clients in her everyday work. She is a fierce advocate for mental health and wanting all to be treated equally.
In her professional role, she constantly is volunteering to attend community events to spread the word of mental health center and the work that is done in the department. She has written several articles for the local newspaper spotlighting the mental health center as well as the local NAMI chapter. She takes an active role towards being involved in her clients' lives by attending events and meetings at the Next Step Clubhouse to show clients that she cares and wants what's best for them. Outside of work, she is heavily involved in advocacy as well.
She is a current member of Exchange Club of Freeborn County, where she has held numerous leadership roles. She is the current facilitator of the NAMI support group for Freeborn, where she leads a bimonthly support group for Freeborn, where she leads a bimonthly support group for adults struggling with mental health issues. She is currently on a board with the United Way and has volunteered countless times for the food pantry. For many years, she has spearheaded a team and participated in the suicide prevention walk to help spread awareness of suicide and the stigma attached to mental health.
In the past, she has served on boards, taught Sunday school to the youth of her church. In 2017, she was recognized by Freeborn County during National Volunteer of the Month for all of her community volunteer work. Sarah truly is the definition of exemplifying service to others through her job and countless volunteering opportunities that she does. That is quite the resume there, Sarah. Thank you. So at this time, if you could step forward, we could present you with this plaque.
Can we get the board members to come down? Do you have anything you'd like to say? No. I'm very, very appreciative of the award. Thank you, Sarah. Anything else under miscellaneous business? All right. We'll move on. Are there persons of the general public wishing to address the Board concerning matters pertaining to this agenda as well as any other matters? Seeing none, we'll move on. Moving on to public hearing. Public hearing on the adoption of the Freeborn County Cannabis Registration Ordinance pursuant to Minnesota
chapter 342.22. Anyone present wishing to be heard on that matter? Seeing none, we'll close our public hearing and move on to report of various departments, starting with report of auditor treasurer. Good morning, commissioners. Good morning, Daryl. I have one resolution before you today. I have a resolution, to set a hearing to review the preliminary engineer's report for County Ditch 32 repair and improvement. Someone wish to enter that resolution? So moved. Entered by Commissioner Severson. Is there a second?
I'll second. Second by Commissioner Ekstrom. Any discussion? I just a couple of questions. On the resolution, it says this was was it started in 2017? Correct. Is that correct? Okay. Had the townships that are going to be affected and cities, are they aware of? The note that's why we have, the resolution today so that we can post and publish notice for the, public hearing. Okay. Any other discussion? Hearing none, will the clerk please call the roll? Yes. Up at the table for you, Mr. Eglin. Thank you. Report of probation. Good morning,
commissioners. I have two items before you today. One is kind of a formality. We received a state allocation for the Veterans Court, which we manage for the 11 County District. And because of the fact that we had two federal grants and then started getting the state allocation while one federal grant was finishing, we ended up with more money than we needed. So the district has asked for the money back. We actually didn't receive any cash.
This is just a formality of amending the contract so that it shows the amount instead of the original amount of $212,512 it will be $186,012 which will end our fiscal year state fiscal year June 30. And then we get another allocation for two years. Does that make sense? So basically, what I'm asking to do is just amend the contract today to a reduced amount. All right. Would someone 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 Schauff. Any discussion? Hearing none, will the clerk please call the roll? Yes. Mr. Kostock? Yes. Commissioner Ekstrom? Yes. Commissioner Ekstrom? Yes. Commissioner Ekstrom? Yes. Commissioner Ekstrom? Yes. Yes. That has been passed. Second thing I have before you is a request for out of state travel. This is also for the Veterans Court. The Veterans Court state allocation allows to send, three members to the National Association of Drug Court Professionals conference each year. It's 100% paid for by the allocation.
We don't the county doesn't pay any money for it. But it is a formality that the Board has to approve it because we are the managing entity of the funds. This is to send three people that are on our team. One is an employee of ours, which is a case manager, Ben Babcock. The second is Bethany Butler, who is a VA rep on the team. And the third is Steve Lansing, who is the team psychologist on the team. The cost is $6,500 As I mentioned, everything will be reimbursed. It's going to be held in Kissimmee,
Florida, May 20 6 through the '28. Someone wish to enter that resolution? I'll enter that resolution, Mr. Chair. Entered by Commissioner Casa. Is there a second? Second. Second by commissioner Severson. Any discussion? Will the clerk please call the roll? Commissioner Severson? Yes. Commissioner Severson? Yes. Commissioner Eckster? Yes. Commissioner Trapp? Yes. Commissioner Edmond? Yes. That is passed. Thank you. Thank you. Report of Public Works. Good morning, Phil. Good morning, mister chair. Good morning, commissioners. I have four items for your consideration this morning. The first three are related to grant applications for construction of the trail between Albert
Lea and Hartland. Of those three, the first two involve applications by Freeborn County for funds for grants. So I ask for your consideration for an application to the environment and natural resources trust fund trail grant from the legislative citizen commission on Minnesota resources, which is the LCCMR. Our application includes a grant request for 2 and a half million dollars and would go towards the overall construction contract to build trail from Elberley to Manchester, which we've identified as our first phase.
Someone wish to enter that resolution? I'll enter the resolution. Entered by commissioner Ekstrom. Is there a second? Second. Second by commissioner Schauff. Any discussion? So, mister chair, this requires a 25% match, this one? 30 three percent, actually. So the match amount, from local sources would be $833,000 Have we figured that again? You've been putting money away in your trail construction the last couple years? Currently, we have about $650,000 of committed funds.
We plan to continue to have $150,000 allotments into that, committed portion on an annual basis moving forward. That's what will be presented to the board. The board can choose to increase or decrease that. But if the if we are awarded the grant, in addition to other grants and other matching requirements, there could be a point in time where the board has to make a decision to, increase that portion or, commit funds from other sources in order to meet those matching requirements. Right now, today, we do not have that 833,000 committed.
I think that's your is that your question, commissioner? Right. Yeah. So Yep. And these funds would be fiscal year '20 '20 '7. So the earliest we could start the project using these funds would be July of twenty twenty six, and we wouldn't need to commit them until the end of the fiscal year, which would be June of twenty twenty eight. So we've got some time. So we're putting 150 aside each year, and you have $630,000,000 About $650,000,000 at this time. What was that? So we'll have $2.20 so that whole 600 isn't can't be used?
Okay. To repeat what Pat had said, there's $150,000 being put away each year into this fund, $110,000 of that being towards construction and $40,000 towards maintenance. Do you have $6.50 plus $2.20 more? Any other comments, discussion? When will you find out, Phil? Seventy. The, I believe, April, May time frame of 2025. So right before budget time for next year, you'll be notified if you got a grant, and I hope you could address some of your financial issues at budget time this
summer. That's exactly correct. There are several, two two grants that we are have currently applied for and are waiting for responses back. And then there's the three today that we'll be addressing. So five total so far, and each of those should be known by the April, May time frame. And then we can, have more detailed talks during budget budget time. Any other discussion? Will the clerk please call the roll? Yes. Mister Casa? Yes. Mister Exter? Yes. Mister Scott? Yes. Mister Edwin? Yes. That is passed. Thank you, commissioners. The next item is also a resolution in support of a trail grant.
This opportunity is with the Minnesota DNR Regional Trail Program. We have split out a portion of the work that matches the maximum participation amount of the grant. If awarded, the grant will be used for the upfitting and modification of three existing railroad bridges to make them safe for pedestrians. This work is estimated to be $400,000 The grant amount would be $300,000 and the required match would be $100,000 I ask for your approval for this resolution. Someone wish to enter that resolution? I'll enter that.
Enter by Commissioner Schauff. Is there a second? Second. Second by Commissioner Severson. Any discussion? Hearing none. So are we totaling up all these matches we're gonna have to come up with? Yeah. I would assume you got all the grants. You may not get all of these grants all at once. So you're making assumptions you're going to get all these grants at the same time. These are highly competitive grants. You've got to put in good applications, and there's a lot of people looking for these dollars. So Okay. Any other discussion? Will the clerk please call the roll? Commissioner Stevenson? Yes. Commissioner Hassan? Yes. Commissioner Eckstrom? Yes. Commissioner Schrock?
Yes. Commissioner Edmond? Yes. And one has passed. Thank you. The third item for your consideration is a resolution of support for the City of Albert Lea in their application for grant funding for Minnesota DNR Local Trail Connections Grant. This opportunity focuses on connecting parks and neighborhoods that have trail gaps on the system. We have decided that there would be a benefit to have the city of Albert Lea as the applicant to show coordination with the county on multiple phases of this project. If the city is awarded these funds, they would be used to replace the bridge near Shoff Park.
The existing railroad bridge would be replaced with a new pedestrian bridge and is estimated at a cost of $400,000 This grant would be, for the amount of $300,000 and there would be a $100,000 local commitment as well. This trail connections grant and the regional grant that we approved on the previous item are are sibling grants. So, they're they're structured much the same. Someone wish to enter that resolution? I'll enter the resolution. Enter by Commissioner Ekstrom. Is there a second? I'll second it. Second by Commissioner Schauff.
Any discussion? Who's going to have this match, Albert Lee or the Kony? Just asking. Yes. And that Mr. Chair, Commissioner Khosla, that's a very good question. That I expect that to be a point of discussion with the Albert Lea, staff and counselors when we meet on March 25 this month and decide, how how we go about sharing those costs. We have currently entered into a joint powers agreement with the city of Albert Lea, as they had, the goal and efforts of, doing some work to the trail, starting in about 2022 up until about last year.
They did some tree cutting, some mowing. They're managing trash or trees that went down and so forth. So in that grant, there was, a stipulation that if they initiated any construction projects, that they would be responsible for any, you know, local match funding or grant pursuits or things like that. I would say that our partnership has morphed a little bit since that joint powers agreement, where, it might still be the will of of of the county for the city to, contribute towards cost of anything that's happening within the city of Albert Lea, but that'd be a good thing for us to clarify at our meeting in March.
Okay. Thank you. Further discussion? Hearing none, will the court please call the roll. Yes. Mr. Cassell? Yes. Mr. Eddler? Yes. Mr. Stroud? Yes. Mister Edlund? Yes. The resolution is passed. Thank you. The final item for your consideration is a resolution approving a crossing agreement with the Union Pacific Railroad for improvements at the, County State at Highway 48 or Margaretha Avenue in Elbert Lee at the US Highway 65 intersection to allow continued use of the sidewalk following needed improvements to the warning
light system at the crossing. MnDOT is paying for the replacement of the dated signals with federal railroad safety money, and a new crossing is being paid for with a separate MNDOT program that the county applied for. With the new signals, there's a revised sidewalk alignment that is required. Therefore, the sidewalk no longer aligns with the crossing planks, and the sidewalk would be forcing pedestrians over open rail. So the new crossing will, include a widened crossing, and, we'll be able to keep pedestrian service on that route.
The highway department is also going to complete a road improvement project at the same time while the crossing is closed. The railroad agreement considers all costs for the construction and maintenance of that crossing, for this project and moving forward. I realized, this morning that I, did not attach the draft agreement. My apologies for that. It is available if you'd like to review. I did have, county attorney David Walker, review that. It is the same form and function that we discussed at the workshop in February. And, mister Walker had, several comments. Two were,
formatting and essentially typo type edits. And the third, was trying to put some restrictions on the railroad's ability to increase our maintenance costs over the years. I've been unsuccessful in getting a modification to that term, so I'm asking for approval as written. Someone like to enter that resolution? I'll enter that resolution, mister chair. Enter by commissioner Casa. Is there a second? Second. Second by commissioner Severson. Any discussion? Just wanted to note that, that sidewalk is utilized quite often because it serves a residential area and there's also a school,
elementary school on the other side. So for safety concerns that we're moving in the right direction with this. Any other comments, discussion? Will the clerk please call the roll? Yes. Yes. Mister Yes. Mister Yes. Yes. That is passed. Thank you. And may I make one other comment about the impending storm, mister chair? Sure. So, last night, there was a email circulated among, county and community staff, organizing efforts. Kudos to emergency manager Rich Hall for getting that going.
From the highway department standpoint, we will be on the road, trying to keep things as open as possible. Just, advise that if things do get as hairy out there as we think it will, no ill advised travel. Please get your milk and eggs tonight before you go home, and, you know, stay home tomorrow if if conditions are as dangerous as we think they will be. So thank you all. Thank you. Report of environmental services. Good morning, Mr. Chair. Good morning, commissioners. The first item I have for your consideration this morning is a request for the addition of a 5,000 square foot hoop structure at 75417250 Fifth Street,
Clarks Grove, Minnesota, and this is in Section 16 of Bancroft Township. This structure would be used to cover and protect an existing stockpile of black dirt. This black dirt is sold and used throughout the county for various projects. The stockpiling of black dirt and construction debris on this property was allowed through the approval of CUP number 47 in April of ninety one. And because the structure will add to the existing layout of the facility, we've designated this proposal as an expansion of the approved uses. Furthermore, any extension or expansion of the existing conditionally permitted facility must first be approved by
the Board of Commissioners. This proposal satisfies the required development standards and falls within the scope of operations allowed via CUP number four seven. Therefore, we recommend approval of the given proposal. Someone wish to enter that resolution? So moved. Hired 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? Yes. Mister Kasa? Yes. Mister Ekstrom? Yes. Mister Escharox? Yes. Mister Edwin? Yes. The resolution is passed. Thank you. The second item I have for your consideration is an additional request to expand a
conditionally permitted facility. David Malakowski of Freeborn Township has requested approval for the addition of one thirty thousand bushel grain bin and an air system to move the grain from the dryer to the bins that are existing on-site. And this is all happening at an off-site storage facility on Parcel ID 2001350, in Section 13 of Freeborn Township. This facility was originally approved by the Board of Commissioners on 04/05/2021 through the issuance of CUP number 398. And this approval allowed for the issuance of CUP number three nine eight.
And this approval allowed for the construction of two grain bins, a grain dryer, and a small 10 by 12 electric shop, all located outside of a farmyard. This expansion proposal does satisfy the required development standards set forth in chapter 42 of the code of ordinance and falls within the scope of operations allowed through the previous CUP. Therefore, we recommend approval of the given request. Someone wish to enter that resolution? I'll enter that resolution, mister chair. Enter by commissioner Casa. Is there a second? I'll second. Second by commissioner Ekstrom. Any discussion? Hearing none, will the clerk call the roll?
Mister Severson? Yes. Mister Casa? Yes. Mister Mister Yes. Mister Yes. That is passed. Thank you, commissioners. Thank you. Thank you. Report of county administrator. Good morning. Got a few resolutions here for you. The first one is to consider resolution accepting the resignation of Alexa Jacobson, public health home and community based service RN, effective 03/07/2025. Someone wish to enter that resolution? I'll enter that resolution, mister chair. Enter by commissioner Casa. Is there a second? I'll second it. Second by commissioner Schauff.
Any discussion? Will the clerk call the roll? Yes. Mister Kasa? Yes. Mister Ekstrom? Yes. Mister Chuck? Yes. Mister Eklund? Yes. That is passed. Next one is to consider resolution to fill the vacant public health home and community based service RN, PHN social worker position. Someone wish to enter that resolution? I'll enter the resolution. Enter by commissioner Ekstrom. Is there a second? I'll second it. Second by commissioner Casa. Any discussion? I just I have a question for Pat. We were over budget $200,000
plus in public health ending 2024. Is that how it ended? Okay. Okay. So my comments at this time, and it goes for all the positions that are coming up here for filling in public health, with being over budget, and I know it was because of the revenues had dropped. But I'm wondering if some consideration should be given to looking at efficiencies and how that department structured before we fill all these positions going
forward. Okay. So with that said, did we add additional monies in the budget going into this year to adapt for that shortage in 2024? So again, what I've said. If I may? Yes. Last week, Sue and Aaron and I sat down and looked, kind of the staffing of, public health. Their budget is roughly $4,000,000 Roughly just over $100,000 comes from levy for $4,000,000 budget. So it's not very much as far as the levy dollars. Most of these positions or a lot of the positions within public health are obviously
funded by outside grants and contracts that we do have. You don't get to $4,000,000 from $100,000 without a lot of outside dollars. Most of those grants, most of those contracts that we have have certain stipulations and they're how many clients we can have per employee and things like that. And we are very much bumping up against those numbers. We are having more clients per worker than kind of allowed by some of those contracts. So if you really want to look at that,
we're not faring very well. We're kind of short right now looking at that. And that may jeopardize some of those funding sources, which are hundreds of thousands of dollars that we receive from those funding sources. So when you sign those contracts, you do agree to certain stipulations and certain amount of have a certain amount of bodies, certain amount of employees within those departments to carry out that work. So once again, dollars 100,000 levy for a 4,000,000 budget. So with that said, it was looked at, discussed prior to with administration and the department?
Yes. All right. Unless we did. Okay. Any other discussion? Hearing none, will the clerk please call the roll? Yes. Mister Picasso? Yes. Mister Exstroff? Yes. Mister Exstroff? Yes. Mister Exstroff? Yes. Mister Edmond? Yes. That is passed. Alright. And the next one is to consider a resolution to fill the vacant public health community health worker, and this is due to an internal job transfer. Someone wish to enter that resolution? I'll enter that resolution, mister chair. Enter by commissioner Casas or second? Second. Second by commissioner Severson. Any discussion? Hearing none, will the clerk please call the roll?
Yes. Mister Casa? Yes. Mister Exchar? About twenty two years with us. Someone wish 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? Just thank her for her years of service. And I should say that it's effective March 31. I didn't have that on there. Sorry. Any other comments, discussion? Will the clerk please call the roll? Yes. Mister Kasse? Yes. Mister Kasse? Yes. Mister Kasse? Yes. Mister Kasse? Yes. Mister Kasse? Yes. Mister Kasse? Yes. Mister Kasse? Yes. Mister Kasse? Yes. Mister Kasse? Yes. Mister Kasse? Yes. Mister Kasse? Yes. Someone wish to enter that resolution? I'll enter that. Enter by commissioner Shaw.
Is there a second? I'll second it. Second by commissioner Casa. Any discussion? Hearing none, will the clerk call the roll? Mister Casa? Yes. Mister Exter? Yes. Mister Schrock? Yes. Mister Edwin? Yes. That is passed. Alright. Let me take so then the next one is not on here. I don't know if it was mentioned at the beginning. It's to consider a resolution to terminate employee number 725. This has been looked at by myself, the administrator, sheriff, and our attorney. And if there is any questions We also briefed the personnel Yeah.
We briefed the personnel's committee this morning on this. So if there's any questions, we direct them to sheriff Shea. Someone wish to enter that resolution? I'll enter that resolution, mister chair. Enter by commissioner Casa. Is there a second? Second. Second by commissioner Severson. Any discussion? Hearing none, will the clerk please call the roll? Yes. Mister Asa? Yes. Mister Ekstra? Yes. Mister Schrott? Yes. Mister Edwidge? Yes. That has passed. And the last one is to consider resolution to fill the vacant patrol deputy position. Someone wish to enter that resolution? I'll enter that resolution,
mister chair. Enter by commissioner Casa. Is there a second? Second. Second by Commissioner Severson. Any discussion? Hearing none, will the clerk please call the roll? Yes. Yes. Mister Escobar? Yes. Mister Escobar? Yes. Mister Escobar? Yes. Mister Escobar? Yes. Mister Escobar? Yes. Mister Escobar? Yes. Mine. Okay. Next couple of items are mine. First one is something we discussed at work session last month. It is the addition of the Minnesota Deferred Comp four fifty seven program as a benefit to our employees. This is a four fifty seven, a defined deferred comp, which is similar to a four zero one or a four zero three plan.
Freeborn County currently offers nationwide as our deferred comp provider. This would be over an addition to nationwide where employees were able to select, this plan versus nationwide. The fees are somewhat lower than nationwide, but it does have fewer offerings than nationwide. As far as investment options, this is a very bare bones, low cost plan that is available to the state and to other local entities throughout the state of Minnesota. It's run by the state of Minnesota. It's a fairly well run plan,
but it is very low cost and very inexpensive. So with that, I would like the commissioners to consider adding this as a second deferred comp of four fifty seven plan to our current employee benefits. These funds would be taken out of the employees at their discretion. This could possibly be used for that $50 per month, which you drew to offer to exempt employees. And this would be available starting April 1 once we get the program set up. So if there's any questions, we did go through this at work session. Someone wish to enter that resolution?
So moved. Enter by Commissioner Severson. Is there a second? I'll second. Second by Commissioner Ekstrom. Any discussion? I was going to say, we have some reservations because Nationwide has been a very good partner with NACO and AMC through the years. But the more choices for people, the better. Thank you. Any other discussion? Will the clerk please call the roll? Yes. Yes. Mr. Ekstra? Yes. Mr. Straub? Yes. Mr. Edwin? Yes. That is passed. Next item I have is the phased retirement pro option. This is a policy that the board asked me to develop,
put together. What you have seen before you is exactly what we reviewed at work session last month. Really, the policy is located on the bottom one third there, the recommended retirement option if they do meet the requirements that are listed above. The employee the department head, the administrator meet to discuss if this position and the employer are a good fit. If they are a good fit, information is put together, and that information is brought to the county board for approval. They will be approved, basically for the remainder of the calendar year and then once per year at the
end of the calendar year brought before the county board if they are going to continue with the para pro or the phased retirement option into the next fiscal year so they can be budgeted for. I think this will clear up some of the issues we've had with para pro, how it was done with the past. And this does allow the board their input and approval, for these to be done on a year by year basis, right before budgets are finalized. So with that, I can answer any questions. Otherwise, I would ask that you approve the recommended procedure as listed. Someone wish to enter that resolution?
I'll answer that. Enter by Commissioner Schauff. Is there a second? I'll second it. Second by Commissioner Casa. Any discussion? Thank you, Mr. Pettis, for your work on this. And through our discussion, just to note, it does all come to the board for approval and the timeframe. ParaPro is mostly used for training, the incoming new hire position and it is at the Board's discretion on how long that training period will be through our discussion at the workshop.
Once again, by statute, it is a five year maximum, and that can't be extended. Any other discussion? Hearing none, will the clerk please call the roll? Yes. Yes. Mister Exter? Yes. Mister Chopp? Yes. Mister Edmond? Yes. That is passed. Last item I have listed is a discussion on the assessor and appraisers positions, with the Freeborn County. As you know, we have been without an assessor for a number of months. We did contract with DDA, a search firm looking for a county assessor. So far,
we have received five applications. None of those applications, met the minimum requirements. Two of those were received prior to DDA and three of them were received while DDA worked on this. Some of the issues that they brought forward to us is pay. So based on that, we did ask DDA to review the position, and they are coming back with a two grade increase from 20 to 22. I think I have my numbers right there. So I think that that should be implemented at some time before any discussion of hiring an extra person for the assessor is done.
I would agree with that. It does fit well into our pay grade. So I believe this morning, we might have received another person who applied for the appraiser position. And that one looks like they may have the, minimum requirements that we do need. So we will push forward with that. Our timeline with the state is running out. I do have, an email I do owe back to Department of Revenue, Sherry, on how we're coming with our filling of this position. They are very anxious for us to get this taken care of.
I believe we do need to start reaching out to some of our neighbors, neighboring counties, for some type of a long term, interim position that we can fill and partner with one of our neighboring counties so we can get through this as we work forward to hiring. I have not I've made one reach out to one county and they are not interested. I believe we need to go through, see who they have in their departments to see if maybe some of their more junior positions would be eligible or interested in working for us. We have pulled the SAMA, AMA, CMA listing off the DOR website,
and we are going to direct DDA to start reaching out to those individuals. I am looking for additional thoughts and those individuals. I am looking for additional thoughts and information from the board on how you want to move forward with these two positions. I don't really have any magic wand. I don't have any secret potion. But I do need some direction on how you want to pursue this. Are you looking at some type of bonus? Are you looking at some kind of moving allotment, something like that? Are you looking at, a long term agreement with another county, paying, working together? What we're doing right now has not been working, and this does need to be addressed as our like I said,
our time line is about the April before our ninety day extension. Our second our first ninety day extension, the original ninety days does run out. So looking for thoughts from the board. So Mr. Pettis, Mr. Chair, we're looking to possibly do a pay grade to twenty two. It's at twenty right now. But did you not tell me that most of our other department heads are at twenty two? So it would be a reasonable bump, correct? Yes. It's re it does require. Yes, it does. Yeah. It's a reasonable request. That's a reasonable placement that they came up with,
in our opinion, yes. Any other discussion? Yes. Mr. Chair, I'm in favor, of course, of bringing it in line to the 22%. And so maybe that's a first start. But in the meantime, if we do need to make agreements with other counties, I appreciate you working hard on this to to get things figured out. So that ends up buying us any more time before we can get our own. I hope it does. I really hope it does, but it's not looking favorable at this point. We'll see what happens. In the short term,
I would say that we continue to see if we can partner with other counties. And probably a step we could take today is enter that resolution to move that pay grade to a 22. And then in the near future, the first possible opportunity to have more discussion as far as if there's other options we can utilize. I should have more information by next week's work session for you to go through. Mr. Chair, what happens, Mr. Pettis? What happens then if we continue to get applicants that don't meet the requirements and
we aren't able to get counties that want to partner with us. You risk being, you risk having issues with the Department of Revenue, which may impact which may impact your ability to collect property taxes, which is about a $50,000,000 revenue source for our local governments within this county. Dollars 50,000,000 is off the top of my head, but I'm fairly close on that. Any other questions, comments? Question. If there was someone in our department currently who was interested,
would the county possibly be interested in helping them attain that licensure? Is that something we could do? I mean, that would be if anyone was interested. But I don't know how many years out that would be, but I don't I don't know the math. As of right now, we don't have anyone down there that is AMA. Okay. So You may. You have to be, I think, at least an AMA working towards your CMA. I think that's a good question, though. Any other discussion? Is it a resolution to move the pay grade from a 20 to 22?
Is that something we wish to move forward with? Yeah. All right. I don't have any anything official in front of us. Can I just make that resolution and Sure? Alright. Mister chair, then I would enter that resolution to move the pay grade from a 20 to a 22 for the assessor's position. Commissioner Ekstrom has entered the resolution to move the pay grade for the assessor from a 20 to a 22 grade. Is there a second? I'll second it. Second by commissioner Casa. Any further discussion? Hearing none, will the clerk please call the roll?
Yes. Yes. Mister Ekstrom? Yes. Commissioner Schrock? Yes. Commissioner Edmond? Yes. That is passed. Mister chair? Yes. So do we let DDA know that so that they can repost or whatever? Okay. Thank you. Any other discussion on this topic other than the fact that, we will be talking about it more at our next workshop? I will respond back to the Department of Revenue's request. Respond back to the Department of Revenue's request, today. Alright. Was there anything else you needed from us for your response? Okay. Any other night items necessary but unknown at this time?
Then county commissioner items. Commissioner Severson. I don't have anything. Thank you, commissioner Casa. Well, it's Minnesota. It's March. It's always a mystery. So I would reiterate, Phil said everyone should stay safe and warm for the next batten down the hatches. Also, my Glenville area constituents, just a reminder to them that if they want any comments or concerns entered for the impact study on the BEST program that is project that is being considered, they have to have them submitted to the state by March 10.
That's it. Thank you. Commissioner Ekstrom? I have a number of things. First of all, just a quick clarification for the cannabis ordinance registration. When do we actually vote on the ordinance then? I guess my I assumed that we were gonna vote on it right at the close of the public hearing. That was my assumption as well today was that we're gonna vote on it. I mean, that's typically what we do when you do a whole pull the public hearing for an ordinance at the board level, but there's a whole bunch of commotion going on. I don't know if that's something we can bring forward today yet and vote on
before the meetings ended on the resolution. Meeting hasn't ended. Okay. I did submit a resolution with the ordinance developed in it. It's all ready to go. And we've had that in our previous packets as well. We had that in the last packet. Correct. The last two or three, I think, Yeah. So is that I mean, because I again, our small cities have been waiting, especially the small cities that have asked the county to handle their registration process for them. Yeah. Correct. We have a lot of questions with the delegation authority coming to the county.
And so, I mean, we've had plenty of time to review that, and we've now had our public hearing, which is what we wanted to make sure we had done correctly. And so before the close of the meeting or even right now, I would bring forward that resolution to pass that cannabis registration ordinance. Thank you. I was gonna raise my hand kinda out of order in the back and bring it up, but I'm glad you brought that up right now. So, mister chair, just for the point of order, should I any questions or anything before or do you want me to enter that resolution? You can enter that resolution as of right now.
Okay. So then I would enter the resolution to pass the cannabis, registration ordinance. We have a resolution on the floor by commissioner Ekstrom. Is there a second? Second. Second by Commissioner Severson. Any discussion? Hearing none, will the clerk call the roll? Commissioner Severson? Yes. Mister Severson? Yes. Mister Yes. Mister Yes. Mister Yes. That resolution is passed. Sorry about that. Nope. That's okay. Thank you very much. Mister chair, just I'm sorry. Just a little follow-up to that. Because the last time the OCM put anything out,
now they've included a link that the smaller cities are supposed to now go to that link even though they've already maybe passed their resolutions at their city levels for the county to handle their registration process. So, will you be sending that link to are you able to, I guess? Yeah. I will send out, I'll probably communicate with Matt Benda. Okay. And since he's kinda got a majority of the smaller cities, and I'm sure he's well aware of the link, but just to set out that reminder that we've passed our registration ordinance, and the OCM is asking all the cities and townships to go in and just
click a button whether they're gonna delegate or they're going to take on the registration themself. With townships, it's gonna be as simple as clicking we delegate to the county because there's not a single township in Freeworn County that holds zoning authority. So that will fall onto the county for that. But they do have to do it. They do have to go in and at least put that mark. So the state knows. And I'm not sure I haven't gone on the website yet. I'm not sure if that's something we at the as the county can go in and click here's the small cities that have delegated with us yet. I'm not sure what the website flow is gonna be.
But you're gonna let them know But, yeah, I will send out a mass mailing to all the townships and small cities saying there is a website. Please go on and let the state know what you're you're anticipating doing for registration. Okay. Okay. Thank you. And then, mister chair, one other thing, for Trevor is just making sure then that those get put on our county website even though it takes a while for the proper codification Correct. But under that the new ordinance section. So people just because with this licensing process now, people will be, I think,
looking to different counties to see Yeah. What the policies are. Yeah. Mr. Chair, Commissioner Ekstrom, I have had several constituents already kind of reaching out and asking, you know, how is the county gonna handle it? None of them have been, you know, moving forward with anything, just feelers. And, it'll be nice to be able to have something codified and sent to them rather than just kind of having conversations off the cuff. Did you have additional commissioner items? Yes, sorry. I'm sitting here jotting my notes so I don't forget things. Okay. Just,
I just thought I would give you a little bit of an update on what I learned at the AMC legislative process, at the legislative conference. First of all, with me being the only one from Freeworin County up there, I, kinda joined in, especially with Waseca County. And then when we were meeting with Representative Bennett and Senator Doornink, we were in there with Waseca County, Faribault and Steele County. We pretty much all have the same concerns. The main concerns that were dominating the conference were the governor's proposed budget shifts and,
or cost shifts in particular focusing on Department of Human Services. The big talking point was upgrading their antiquated system, in particular with, again, unfunded mandates and the mandates that they have, regardless of if they're funded or not. Bottom line is they need to get that system updated to make things work efficiently. Things that we at Freeborn County have already heard, people have talked about the issue of having a hard time hiring and keeping staff, especially the younger generation when they are used to, up to date electronics and computer programs, and that just isn't there.
And they're incredibly frustrated, and they leave. They go find jobs other places. So it's interesting how, that antiquated system does have a ripple effect, not to mention being able to, serve the very people that they're supposed to be serving. They emphasize the fact that they're spending so much time sitting behind a computer screen instead of actually being out with the people that they are supposed to be that was, one of the things that really dominated a lot of the conversations. As I said, it was very productive conversations with representative Bennett and senator Doornick, very empathetic to the county's concerns about unfunded mandates,
generally speaking, as well as the governor's proposed budget shifts. In my another thing just so I will emphasize this. In the very beginning, so the governor did address the AMC, delegation, I guess, if you wanna call us or all the county commissioners. And it it I don't believe it was viewed favorably. There was a lot of conversation among commissioners from all the counties, the night before, as well as right after. Just kind of instead of taking comments from commissioners, a number of commissioners had met with the governor in committees the night before and
just emphasized again his proposed budget shifts and what that would do. And instead of being met with, okay, we'll do an analysis, it was met with, blaming the federal government for for their budget issues and and their their freezes on different funding. So that wasn't met well. It was also, after the governor spoke, the House of Representative, both minority and majority leader as well as the senate majority and minority leader, they all sat up and fielded questions that AMZ posed to them.
And they very much, both the Democrats and the Republicans, they very much separated themselves and wanted to reassure the counties that, the governor's proposed budget was not their budget. And so they said work will be done on that. So we will wait and see. Another big factor, again, even though I'm environment and natural resource and I'd like to talk all those things, the, again, dominating the conversation was this, and and and the name is so long they refer to it simply as the
ACT, the, African American Family Preservation Act. And, just that title makes you wanna think maybe in one tunnel in particular, but it's not. It is far reaching. It is not African Americans. It deals with people that are in, the department of, human services, people that and Susie could talk at more length even during a workshop. But bottom line is this act has the potential to cost counties a significant I mean, significant sums of money that will not be funded by the state government,
and not just the cost of all the avenues that this act requires, but the increase in staff that it is going to require. And so that is something that maybe Susie at another workshop can talk to us, at that, but I don't know that the legislator is going to be revising that act at all. So that is something that looking into a budget season, we're gonna have to have close communication with, with Susie on how that's going to impact us. Department, so for me being, environment and natural resource.
So then the next day when I broke out into my sessions, oh, a number of things there. Of course, we emphasized, funding how the state continues to keep 27% of the solid waste management tax, and they use that in their general fund instead of giving that to us. As you know, I've talked to you guys about this, how, and you see it on our property taxes, how our assessment continues to go up for solid waste management handling, our required recycling. Those fees continue to go up because the state is not giving us the money that was originally supposed to come back to the counties.
So we did talk about that. There is, proposed legislation. Again, we're hoping that the state at the state level, that they will act and, give us more of those funds. What was really interesting, again, such unfortunate political climate between the state proposed, shift but also with the federal government. For the county, it really is going to be a double whammy for us. And so during my environment natural resource, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, they started out by giving us a presentation. With federal freezing of funds,
they use those funds to go out and ensure that groups, governments, private entities are making sure that they are in line with our, pollution regulations, our clean air and water acts. And if they do not have those funds, they don't have staff to make sure. And those are critical acts that protect the citizens. And so, they talked at length about the impact of those federal fund freezes. The DNR also spoke. They have significant fee increases that they are looking at to cover costs.
This is also a combination of reasons. One of the things that I was, not pleased to hear about is they are looking at raising daily and yearly state park fees. I would like to draft a letter to the DNR, and I can either do that on my own. I was actually starting to draft that this past weekend, letting them know how that will impact us here in Freeborn County. With our state park right here, it sees a significant amount of visitors. I'm out there a great deal, and I see people that probably could not afford these continued increases.
People on fixed incomes, people of lower income, and they are out there enjoying nature, and we all know the benefits of that. But to continue to increase these fees, I'd like to see them find some funding from some other areas whether they need to shift shift some of their costs, but not by raising the start the state park fees. That also has a ripple effect. People that camp out there, they come from all over and, they frequent our gas stations. I've run into people on Main Street in town. They've come in. They say they're from out of town.
They're in town asking for recommendations on restaurants, and they're hitting the local bars uptown, not to mention our bike trails and all the the ripple effect again that bringing in those people to our state parks, how it benefits our community financially. And so, anyway, like I said, I'm happy to draft that email, or if that's something that you want me to show you with the workshop next week, whatever route you'd want me to go. But I but I am going to send something to the DNR, especially since we have that connection through our environment and natural resources.
And with that, I would also like to, you know, copy people here on the city of Albert Lea, as well as, AMC and, people from the Regional Parks and Trails Council because they also well, at least I know they are opposed to the raising of the fees. It just starts to make it unachievable for some people to be able to go over there and visit. And then the last thing I'll just, finish up on unless you guys have any questions for me is we again emphasized to representative Bennett and senator Doerning just the importance of bonding for our infrastructure,
not just roads and bridges, but other infrastructure that needs to be upkept. And, obviously, we know they didn't pass that bonding bill last year. Representative Bennett said she's very open to considering a bonding bill for this year. So again, we just tried to emphasize the importance of that. And, that is all I have. Alright. Thank you. And I will speak next before we move on to our history lesson. But just to piggyback on what you said, it kind of comes to mind with the legislation and the mandates and the cost
of and passing on to our local citizens. Even something such as fees to our state parks that at some point in time, our government has to stop growing, and we have to figure out the difference between wants and needs. And, because as was said, there's individuals that live in our communities here right within our county. They can't afford all this. And this legislation that they're moving forward with, if it's not funded, we have to raise taxes. So at some point in time, it has to stop. And I think,
currently we're going in the right direction. We're taking a hard look at some of these departments. From what I understand, there's 2,000,000 federal workers and the cost of that and are we being efficient with the money, whether it be at federal level, state level or local levels. And that's what has to be figured out. We have to become more efficient with the money we have and decide what is needed and what we can take a hard look at as far as what's wanted. Beyond that, while I was away, I received a phone call from State Senator Dornick,
and he had some questions and concerns about the battery battery energy storage facility in Glenville. In Glendale Bess. I shared what I knew about that, and then I also connected him with commissioner Casa, which that facility is in her district, and also Trevor Borland in environmental services, so they could give him further information. I just want to say I hope that as this project moves forward, they're hearing and looking at all the concerns and what needs to be done.
As far as that project goes, the county has no say Because of the size of the facility, it all goes through the state. But again, I hope that they're taking the proper steps and not trying to push this forward without hearing out the people that it's affecting in our county. So with that, we'll move on to Commissioner Schauff. Mister Chair, I'm sorry. Yes. Just to talk about that battery storage and and some of these other issues.
Even though we have our legislative conference just one time, and even though such things like that battery storage then is dictated by the state, it doesn't mean we have to be quiet about it. I think we as a board, you know, if we wanna hammer out a letter in a workshop, letting them know how it would affect us or how it affects a district, I think we need to continue to make our voices heard and let them know because it's it's really easy. Even when I sit up at AMC and I listen to these things, it's really easy to feel like things are out of our hands,
and in certain situations, they are. But again, if the if we make our voices heard, you know, I I think that's our we need to be doing that. Mister chair? Yes. So I I was very specific at the two we've had two informational meetings since because the meeting that they had to have statutorily, They had it at the, historical museum in Albert Lea when we had specifically suggested that it be held in Glenville. I don't know why, but it wasn't. And it was the same night as the school board meeting. So we have had two community meetings since where we have a gentleman who has
been in the alternate energy industry for twenty six years talk about the concerns. Even people in that industry have huge concerns about this one because of the fact they are going to be placing it about 300 feet from the riverbank of the Shell Rock River. We've had people from Iowa not happy because in the event and you you don't, they all say they're, you know, modern technology. They're improving. They're they're safe. But you have to also remember that that possibility exists of a they're called thermal
runaways, or there could be a leak. It's gonna be, you know, that close to our river that we worked so hard to clean up. Anything polluting that is gonna go right down into our neighbors in Iowa. At these two meetings that I've been at, I have specifically made sure that I've told everyone I was not there as a county commissioner because I'm only one vote, but that I was there as a concerned citizen who's gonna live about 4,000 feet from that as well. It's also only gonna be about 3,500 feet from our high school. And we have a little volunteer fire department,
and it's a 600 people city. We want they want answers before anything happens. It's not like running out and buying a fire extinguisher when your house is on fire. You want that fire extinguisher in your house. We wanna know what an evacuation plan is, where these people would go, what's safe, who how well are they going to be willing to train our fire department. They say they will, but there's no specifics. So, yes, there's a lot of concerns. And, Peggy Bennett is trying to get us an extension, but I told everyone there they need to assume we won't get the extension.
And it isn't that their comments and concerns have to be postmarked by March 10. They have to be received in the office by March 10 if they want them considered and addressed in the impact study. So that's where they're sitting right now. That's all I can tell you. Mr. Chair, is this information, though, that can be shared with the rest of the board so we also get this information? I can send it out. I can send your email out to commissioners. I prefer to do that way. Yes. That would be super. Okay. I think it would be beneficial for us all just like I think that the
farm is coming. They're going to give a presentation to the board. There are a number of substations in the county. It's not like we would be taking revenue away from the county. There's other places that would be safer locations for that, but it's just the location is all the way around. It's a bad choice. Yeah. It'd be nice for us to hear that information too. Thank you. As a former volunteer firefighter and attending a county association firefighter meeting, one of the topics was these battery storage facilities.
And you basically, your only option is to secure the area, evacuate if necessary, and watch bad things happen. And as Commissioner Casa had told me, a fire had started in one of these facilities out in California, and it burned for five days. And then they got it out and it was freaking out. And this is located near a populated city, the river, and a school. So I do want to add before we move on, you had mentioned the storm, Phil, and suggested we stay off the roads. I do have to be in Austin to pick up an individual and have them
in Minneapolis by 10:30 tomorrow. So if I could commandeer a driver and plow truck, it would be much appreciated. I recommend you take them today. Alright. Moving on. Commissioner Schauff. Well, thank you for lightening the mood before my turn. But I think in looking at the AMC thing, I think the AMC executive team met with the governor. Is that right? Yes. I believe that's what it was. Mhmm. Or who it was. And as far as the human service thing, it's been used a few times, but AMC has requested letters from all 87 counties.
Does anybody know whether that's happening on this human service opposing the budget or whatever? I mean, it's rare that AMC has done that, and it takes some herding cats, but it seems like it's pervasive throughout the state. I mean, if it's gonna cost us x number of dollars, what's it gonna cost Hennepin or Ramsey? So regarding the governor's proposed budget Yes. That, I do know that all 87 human service directors, fewer than that because there are some combined, all human services directors in the state were provided the request from AMC.
And that's Okay. Information that has been, on our part anyway, funneled back to the administrators, for sharing with AMC, if that's appropriate. Okay. So We can discuss that at work session if you'd like to. Thank you, Trevor. So before we get into history lesson, we're going to have an English lesson. I want to thank Phil for teaching a new word today. So if I was looking up my phone, I was looking up what this word meant. Do you know what it was the first resolution. Do you know what it is? I don't know how to pronounce it. Apportenant? I'm sorry. Apportenant,
a p p o r t e n a n t. What does it mean? Basically pertinent. We could ask. Not putting you on the spot. So we were discussing the UP Trail, and I think we bought that in 2014, something like that. And for years, I kind of made it a joke, but it was true that if I didn't bring it up, no one was going to bring it up. So I appreciate this board, the last board, in going forward with this. And we should have been applying for this stuff years ago. We just no one felt the need.
So thank you once again. Not much happened in history today. FDR got inaugurated. And Newt Rockne, the Notre Dame football coach from years ago, was born in Voss, Norway. That's for all my Norwegian friends out there. So that's it. Yes? It's Fat Tuesday. And tomorrow is Lent. So Ash Wednesday. Wednesday tomorrow. Yes. All right. Moving on. Would someone like to enter a resolution for approval of claims? I'll enter that resolution, mister chair. Enter 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? Yes. Yes. Mister Eschar? Yes. Mister Eschar? Yes. Mister Eschar? Yes. Mister Edwin? Yes. Claims have been approved. The board is adjourned. Thank you.