All right, sounds good. We'll call the uh Tony board meeting to order and we will start with the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible
with liberty and justice for all. Uh, next. Are there any disclosures of interest? >> Hearing none, we'll move on to previous board minutes from June 16th. >> No approval as presented. Anderson >> second.
>> There's a motion and a second. Any discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor say I. >> I. I. >> Oppose. Motion carries. Uh, next is to review the agenda. Are there any changes? >> There are no changes.
>> Move to approve the agenda. Flanders. >> Second passes. >> All right. There's a motion and a second. All those in favor say I. >> I. Opposed. Motion carries. Uh, now there's uh two uh consent agenda items. approved sale of vehicles for auction
and approve the Canon Valley Trail Aiding and Bridge uh construction contract. Move approval of the consent agenda. And I'd just like to make one comment on the trail at the other side.
>> Is there a second? >> Second. >> All right. And that comment I'd like to make is we're not going to see from my understanding um contracts coming forward for at least
a year if not two years from the trail because we we've expended with this contract. We've expended our reserves that we need for match money for um pro projects on the trail. So, it'll
be a couple years probably before we ramp up with um putting away enough dollars to start another project on trip. So, it's going to be kind of a quiet time for a couple years after this project's done before we get into the
next phases to complete the planned upgrades to the trail from Canon. You know, it's nice to see that that uh contract came in quite a bit under the bid and so there's I assume some savings
uh to the trail that can be in fact put in to that kind of fun. >> The savings is that you know typically parks and trails do not like to get money back. They want you to expend it. So they may say
go a little bit farther on the trail, do a little bit more if you have dollars to do that. We we're approving a contract and we may expand that pro program a little bit. The one we're currently finishing up which has been in the works
for a while. There is some dollars left and what we're going to do is take out most likely take out another bridge and replace it with culverts and maybe even add uh a larger culbert in another spot that parks and trails if they agree to
it, it would use the dollars that are in that grant. It's really complicated for them to get money back and then try to reallocate it out because it was approved by the legislature. When a grants issued, they wanted to be used to
improve the trip and they know we'll be >> coming back for more grants on the trail in the future to keep going to finish that project. >> So, if I'm understanding correctly, the idea might be to expand the scope of what's happening with this. Yeah. Thank
you. All right. Uh there's a motion and a second. All those in favor say I. I. >> I. Opposed. Uh motion carries. Uh next up is public works. >> Morning commissioners. >> Morning.
>> All right. Today's item um page is to request a request to proceed with plant park projects. This item has received a lot of questions and comments as of late. Um and I think there's still
several outstanding questions that will need to be addressed. And so my request today might be a little different than what's in the report. Um, but to start out, it's requested that the county board authorized staff to proceed with several high priority park projects.
Background on this, uh, the Goody County Parks, Trails, and Recreation Advisory Board met on June 16th. Uh, in consideration of upcoming budget challenges, the park board requested that the commissioners consider the following park projects and proposed
alternative funding. And as a point to note, these projects have all been in planned capital um for the last several years and are currently um the dollars for those projects have
been levied. So the first one is a Billsby Park fish cleaning station. There was $30,000 included in the CIP in 2024 to construct a fish cleaning station at Bilsby Park. uh funds for that project have been carried forward
by the board um to 2026 and the park board was requesting to authorize reallocation of these funds to the Billsby Park host sites project which is down a couple here on number three. Uh the second project is the
Billsby Park overflow parking. There is $50,000 included in the 2025 capital plan to construct a gravel overflow parking lot. Um the request by the park board was to authorize a reallocation of those funds
um first to the Billsby Park host sites project and then second uh any remaining dollars to the Neielson Memorial Preserve access and parking project. Our third item is the Billsby Park host sites. $50,000 was included in the 2024
capital plan for design and construction of two park host sites at Billsby Park. Uh funds have been carried forward to 2026 uh for that project. Uh we received a quote this year for $36,000 $36,500
for design plans estimate and proposal for that project. um without completing the full design and getting an estimate for that. Uh we're ballparking uh the construction uh in 2027 to be around
$85,000 beyond the initial investment uh of design and construction. Minimal additional expenses would be incurred uh for that project. and by reallocating money from those other projects that that project would be possible to be
funded with dollars that are already available. Uh so the request would be to authorize spending the 50,000 that was levied for the project, the 30,000 levied for the fish cleaning station project and then spending of the 50,000 that was levied
for the overflow parking lot project. The fourth item is the Neielson Memorial Preserve access and small parking lot. $30,000 was included in the 2024 capital plan for access and small parking lot at Neielson Memorial Preserve. Funds have
been carried forward to 2026 for that project. Uh the improvement that's necessary there is to essentially get a small parking lot and access to the parks. we can start doing projects and then start getting visitors into
that park. Um there are some challenges with that in citing the location of the parking lot because of wetland issues, minimal amounts uh and other drainage concerns. Uh the request would be to authorize spending of the 30,000 that
was levied for this project and then to request authorized spending any remaining funds that were levied for the overflow parking lot project. uh once the park host site project was completed. The fifth item is the Fieldsby Park
playground replacement. So out of all of these um this item was has not been levied for and was in the 2027 Apple plan replacement. Um the hard structure playground at
Billy Park uh will be 20 years old and was included in the 27 capital plan with an approximate replacement cost of 320,000. The request uh was to authorize staff to work with vendors to develop a plan for
replacement playground apply for $100,000 in Greater Minnesota Regional Parks and Trails Commission legacy grant funding in 2027. If successful funds would be available starting in the summer of 2028,
uh we would request to authorize staff to apply for other grant funding, manufacturer discount programs, and to raise as many private funds as possible to offset purchasing costs and then further to request to utilize park fund balance to pay for any remaining uh
expenses that would be realized with that project. So under this proposal um really no additional funds that have not already been living for prior to either this would be required from the capital fun
in 2027 for this project. So going back to my initial statements, there have been a lot of questions um and comments regarding um this request and we previously discussed this at our budget
board discussed this uh lightly at a previous budget committee meeting. Um so we thought it would be appropriate to bring this forward. There's still a lot of questions and I guess if uh if the board feels that it would be prudent to
maybe come back with the committee as a whole at a future date further discuss these items we can certainly do that. Um but for now I think I'll open a couple questions from I'll just start out. I think a committee
of the whole and further discussion is a boring thing. The one comment that I would have is we all know that uh it's going to be a tough budget year and I think we have to put everything on the table together. So we're making decisions about the whole budget and not
pull out a piece and approve that and have that impact what we can do with the rest of the budget. So I think a committee as the whole is good but I think this request has to be considered as part of the entire budget. Anybody else have a question or a
comment? >> I guess isn't it already allocated? You already have it, right? I mean it's not part of the budget. >> I I think there's money that's set aside. I think we've chosen in the past not to do the shells, not to reload. And
um I I that money didn't go out of parks, but I think that we have to make a decision about how much we think is reasonable to be spending on this park as compared to everything else that we're being asked to that. That's my
opinion. I like >> I like the fact that we uh we are going to put that whole site as a priority just needs to be. So uh moving those other funds I am definitely in favor of that
to that whole site. I would concur that the post sites for the park are very important because of the fact that then there is somebody there the whole time. Um, I think that's very important and
I I recognize that funds have been set aside for these things and while I wouldn't want to see them move from the park park fund to somewhere else, but do you see any major
things coming up that you would need to use these funds for something else rather than spending on the park. I >> mean there there's always going to be there's going to be continued maintenance need of all the facilities
that are at those parks. um which is why we now have capital plan and outlay facilities assessment and stuff. Um I mean sort of sort of allocating these future these
dollars future projects. Um, and right now the need is for the whole sites which would take care of of some of the monies that we're already paying to the port for service and maintenance to our
pavilion. Um, there's a little bit of an offset there. We're having our own staff and people able to take care of our property. Um, I think there's a benefit to the pay
off over a number of years, but um, immediate needs, I don't see any, but my crystal ball is about as clear as everyone else's immediate needs. >> All right. Thank you. >> Questions.
I guess this whole issue has caused me a lot of heart. Um first 2017 we approved a master plan. These are all projects that are in that master plan. Um
2020 we approved the P master plan for Neielen. Um these are all part of that plan. Um we've allocated dollars. We voted to put them into capital plan. We voted to levy the dollars. We voted
to carry over the dollars twice. We've included them in the capital plan. We just did it in in February. We voted to carry them over again knowing full well what our levy was.
I'm not willing to put parks um at risk. I think these funds and our staff has worked numerous hours to gather the information. Our parks committee numerous hours in every meeting we've
talked about this. So while there are questions, at some point we need to trust that the citizens that sit on the park board are making a judgment based on community input that they're hearing for these
projects to go forward. And if we put any value in having park board committees, extension committees, planning advisory committees, if the public's input there doesn't count for
something, then I think we're missing the boat. My gut reaction is every bit of this should go forward. every bit of it's been worked on uh by staff for a lot of for a lot of hours. And to pull it all out is like
going back to square one. And now next time if we ever approve any of this, they're going to have to go back and do all that work already. It's a waste of taxpayers money not to continue down a plan path. Good county has been built on people with a vision
for the future. Whether that was redesign and working on that HHS building, whether it was building a a law enforcement center and judicial center, whether it was building outount
county shops, they were all done with a vision toward the future. This is a vision toward the future. We need to do it. And I don't know why there's a million questions about it. the money has been voted on so many times. I don't
see why you should go backwards. That's my gut reaction. My my reaction is there's really only two things in here that need to be approved. One to go out for um grants for the playground equipment and two to transfer the money from the
fish station to the host sites. The rest of it's all been approved. It's all been worked on. It's all should just move forward. That's just my position and I've worked on parks ever since I got on the board. Worked on an extension committee ever
since I got on the board. I feel the recommendations from the public should make a difference. Thank you. >> Anyone else want to comment? Well, I thank you very much for your
time on the board and I would agree with the majority of what you say. Um, as far as working around Billsby Park, since we have not started Neielson, I still have a problem with starting to
invest in Neielson because once you create something, you have to keep it up. However, I also heard that the buckthorn and the invasive species are taking over
and we don't want it ruined. But that one I guess I would like to hear more about, but I certainly would support what you say about this. >> Just a comment about Neielson, and I don't know how much the public really knows. Um, Harold Neielson donated I
think it was 77 acres of land. good to come. Probably worth about a half a million dollars. He donated it, wanted us to use it for a part of some sort. He really had a vision of it being something educational. And I think that's what that's what the master plan
tells us to do with it to make it an educational forest. And I think this is the first step to doing that. And for us, in my mind, we're charged with taking care of the public's interest in investments in Giggy County.
He felt certain that this investment in donating that to the county would be a worthwhile thing. And I think since its inception, we have spent zero dollars on it. And I think that's not
taking care of a major investment into that's just my opinion. And I just wanted to make one note. I don't know if the board's moving forward with this today or not, but um or moving towards a committee hall, but if you are moving forward with it, the one thing I
would note is that on the host sites, I think it would be worth exploring uh looking at a design build option. um as I mean the design portion of this is almost as much as the construction portion of it is. So to me there might
be some efficiencies if you look at design build you know two sites for 36,500 of design is pretty excessive I think any other comments otherwise I'll just make one you know we
had a board retreat I don't remember what month it was February or March and there were two things the board had consensus on that they wanted to hold off And so far we haven't been successful at either one of those. The the two things
were to hold off on spending money on parts until we knew what we were going to be able to do with the 2027 uh budget and we still don't know that. And the second was to uh the goal was to decrease um outside agency funding by 5
to 10%. And so far we haven't done that either. And those things were decided at a a board meeting. And I think that we need to make again I'll say again make this a part of the discussion of the larger budget because of the budget pressures. I've got nothing against
parks. I love parks. Nothing against parks. And uh um I also think the outside agencies do wonderful wonderful jobs. But I'm very concerned about where our levy's going to end up and what that
impact is. So when we're raising tax money significantly faster than what household incomes are going up, that has a real impact on the people of the county. And when people call me, I at least in Redwing, I'm not getting calls about parks. I'm getting calls about the
expense and and what are we doing to try to not increase it so high. So, I I I it's not that I'm against parks. I'm not, but I think it needs to be part of the entire budget process and not pulled out. And I think our situation is
different now than it was in uh 2024. And I think it's probably different than it was when the Neielson property was obtained. So, Brand, I respect you and your opinion, but we don't share opinions on this. >> And I I agree. you and I are on very
different sides of this issue though. Um but I will say um you also uh well first thing I want to say is a budget committee meeting is not
a board meeting. So decisions made there are not decisions. They're suggestions for staff to bring us stuff back with a different look. I think they have. I think we found out that what we created to be a 20.5%
levy increase in 27 has been whittleled down to somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 or 11 or 12. We've already done that. We've got this $160,000 that we're talking about here. If you're going to claw that back, it is the most
inefficient way to do government when you voted so many times to approve to go forward with it and then yank it back at the last minute. I have problems with directing staff to do stuff and then not
following through with it. So, it's about it's about efficiency and how we move forward. And if we're always going to be I don't know if we're should do that, we're not going to get anywhere. We need to make decisions. That's what we're elected to do. We made
decisions and we carried it forward so many times. I don't know why there's so much heartburn over it right now because we voted to do this in February. And every time we take a vote, we're giving staff direction on how to move
forward. and in February we said move forward with it because we carried it. So I I just there's a very difference in how you move this county forward and and how you give direction to staff and
every vote we take gives direction to staff. So, it's my understanding that this is money that is already in the budget that we have already approved and therefore it's not something that's attached to
the 27 budget. Correct. >> Correct. >> Right. So, I do see that as different. So I would more support Brad's and again I definitely support the numbers for Bills Park and doing
those suggestions. Neil, I'm sorry I still have to put on >> any other comments. >> I guess >> as we uh get these information and and you you try to make a decision with the information you have in front of you and
when that information changes and it has changed kind of rapidly. I you know am I making a mistake by making that first comment that first commitment it uh when the information I mean when I'm
looking at a potential 20% levy I'm going to cut but now all of a sudden when it's cut in half I'm going to take a second look at things you know so >> we haven't received budget >> we haven't received it but that's potential that's and and the same thing
that's what the 20% was potential >> so we We we don't know and and to make those decisions and say, "Okay, oh, this is cut in stone now." But but when a situation changes, we have to be flexible and and and look at it. I feel
>> I I'm not disagreeing with that. I just think it needs to be part of the overall budget, which we have not seen yet. >> Y >> Go ahead. I I think there's there's obviously plenty of challenges with um having to run run with this through an
entire budget process that will be completed until the end of December. Um having to wait that long after having waited you know several months already. um trying to prepare plans and get projects off the ground and the work that we want to do at Neielson for
example um to go after the invasives we have to focus our time and a limited period uh when the trees the buckthornne retains their leaves later than all the rest of the trees and getting out there to remove those in October, November,
December before we get too much snow is kind of imperative. So unfortunately delaying a project like that kind of pushes off our ability to get out there and help control those invasive species. Um beyond that uh the work at Neielson
Park. Um right now there is no act direct access to the park where people can park unless they park on the road that's there now which legally you shouldn't be doing. Um, there's no great off-road place to park and without the
ability for people to get there, have a reasonable, we're not talking a large parking area, relatively small parking area to get people into the park uh on the trails to enjoy what's there and then allow our staff to be able to help
manage the forest. Um, the forest is quickly degrading. They haven't done anything with this park for uh when did we receive the land? Was it 2015, I believe? >> So, we're we're we're past a decade of not being able to
manage that that big woods forest. And unfortunately, the canopy is starting to open up and we're just going to see more underscored growth and that's just going to degrade the natural resource that we've been entrusted to care for. Um, so
beyond beyond just the management and care of of that park, um, being able to get other entities in there to enjoy it will help us to build the the community and and the friends, the potential friends of the park group that we would
like to work on to be able to get um, other people in there to then maybe start to um, work with us on getting donations. and then we can start applying for grants, but we have to start somewhere with that park and so far we've started nowhere. Um, so the
the minor investment and what we're asking for will at least help to kick off, uh, community involvement and investment hopefully. Um, but beyond that, uh, I guess my question for the board would be direction from you on what you would
like to see moving forward if we're going to talk about a whole What kind of information would you like? Are there questions you would like answered at that committee as a whole potentially? Um, and just knowing where we should go from here.
>> All right. Back to Billsby for a minute. The Billsby post sites and Scott's suggestion about uh design and build quote. Is that something you see as could be reasonable?
Oh, certainly >> design build is a that's a common practice. So, what what we did this year was um Jennifer Zeamer uh worked very diligently on putting together an RFP process that we solicited to several uh
consulting groups. Uh we landed on one that we were that we thought would do the best job. They came back, gave us a proposal on what it would cost to get the design uh taken care of. So we didn't pursue that initially but we had to we had to stop the process with them
um unfortunately. So we'll have to revisit everything again if we go through that process but it is very doable commissioner. >> Just one question about that and then I think we have to decide if we're going to you know make a decision to where we're going to go. I think that the post
site is mainly I understand they'd be doing some things with trash and locking gates, but it's mainly about the security. Is that correct? >> As opposed you want someone there overnight. We >> we want someone there to be able to to visit with the guests that show up to
help to manage uh what's happening in our pavilion to ensure that we don't have people spraying for feed facilities. It's it's it's all encompass. >> Does the park have a closing time permit? >> It does. >> Yeah. So that so they would be there
after the closing time primarily for security. >> So if there's a party or something's happening in the pavilion or there people are being loud, whatever. Is that correct? >> Yep. >> Okay. >> Yep. It would be overnight, >> right? But but for security purposes
>> you're making it too simplistic. the park hosts is an all-encompassing position. It's someone who lives in a camper at the park. Somebody's on call all day,
all night. Somebody can respond all the time. Right now, sheriff's office goes out and visits the park. They won't have to do that if we have park hosts because the park host is going to call them if there's a problem.
They're gonna have to do that. It's it is really about protecting the investment that the county residents and quite frankly the largest investment out there was made by the state of Minnesota in the grant for that pavilion.
Far more than what we've spent out there has come from the citizens all over the all over the state of Minnesota. So, we need to take care of that. We're charged with taking care of that forever. So, either we do it right or we shouldn't have ever done it in the first place.
And I I just to get off the dime, I'm going to move that we move forward with the proposal that's only. >> Uh there's a motion. Is there a second? >> I'll second it.
>> I'll second it. Is there any further discussion? >> There's a motion and a second. Uh, all those in favor that. >> Okay. The bottom of this memo says,
"Under this proposal, no additional funds that have not already been levied for in prior years would be required from the capital improvement plan in 2027 for projects. So just confirm that you're not talking about any additional
funds. You're only talking at the moment about what has already been allocated. >> Yes. >> Thank you. >> Any other questions or comments? >> Okay. All those in favor of moving forward say I. >> I.
>> Opposed? Nay. A motion carries. Uh, next up is the sheriff's office and the uh PSA operations update. >> Morning commissioners, Mr. Chair. Um,
so we just wanted something a little different. uh for the Louisiana Valley Fair and Andre asked us to put something together and we had recently made a partnership and it's more chat wheelhouse than live so that's why he and Rachel are up here
fire chief is here too. Very good. Uh good morning. Thanks Sheriff Kelly. Uh good morning board. Uh thanks for the opportunity to come in front of you today and bring our uh PAP operations update to you. A lot of cool unfolding things in our 911 center that I wanted to share that is happening. uh and then
two months just as a side note I hope to do the same thing about emergency management activities that are going on in the county. So in the dispatch center uh last month we partnered with gov works com coach gov works is a solution that uh provides training quality
assurance um hiring assessment realistic simulations and AI uh assistant support for our public safety telecommunicators. Essentially the platform uh does everything several other services we have used over the years all in one. Um
one example would be our medical uh EMS service providers often want us to follow more scripted protocol. This solution uses a system that listens in real time to non-emergency calls and emergency calls and provides the dispatcher with guided credentials and
guided questions that are being asked based on protocols and the proper response. Um it ensures consistency. Um but then not only that, Gupp works solution also provides uh a module called assist. What assist does is
assist is also an AI powered tool that supports them while they're actively handling those calls. But more importantly, and here's a great example. Let's say a caller reports that her husband's suddenly having or unable to speak clearly and is acting confused. Uh what assist does is the call unfolds. It
recognizes indicators of the possible stroke and prompts the dispatcher with additional medically relevant questions, recommends the appropriate protocol, and highlights the critical information to relay to the responding EMS. Think about
that. That is gamechanging. This is the technology that I have pushed for years that I know was going to come eventually when AI was going to be integrated into it because it's what makes sense. It makes things more efficient. It handles those calls more efficiently. So quote
unquote, you're not beating around the bush and and ultimately you're getting responders to where they need to go in a more timely uh manner. So but what EI does not do, it still does not replace the basic decision makers or and it's not dispatching EMS services in that
case. Um you can think of it as this having an experienced coach sitting next to every dispatcher on every call. um and that and and it's uh helping ensure that those important details are not overlooked in these high stress situations. So, one part of it um it's
important to note that uh this contract with Gov Works, it's entirely funded through Minnesota's 911 special revenue funds. There is no local impact to our levy dollars and there will be no moving forward. It will be covered year-over-year with those funds. Um, I'm
a big proponent of uh spending tax dollars, whether it's these funds, which ultimately are tax dollars, in the most efficient way we can. And I put off some of these technologies for these reasons. So, when initially came out, they were extremely expensive and not not feasible
regardless of the size of your dispatch center. So, Gov Works is a very cool thing and I'll stand for some questions on that side of it. Uh, but please just let me uh cover some of these other things. uh operational improvement. In the last several months, we've worked collaboratively with Canif Falls Fire
and EMS um to modify some dispatch procedures to better align with their response protocols. Essentially, uh the Can Falls Fire rescue group was being dispatched to a lot of what we'll call minor medical calls and to the point where they're call they're sending
burning out their staff. Uh their volunteer staff, they're burning them out and we had to see what we could do to make some changes. Again, as as Chief Miller sits down next to me here with Can Falls, my biggest thing is let's use the tools that we have today. If if if you're going to come forward with a
solution that costs hundreds of thousands of dollars, I'm not interested in hearing that. Um because it doesn't work that way. We have tools and we have things that we can do to to reach certain common goals. So, we have done that and and I'll let Chief Miller speak on that, but essentially these changes were put into effect. Um and it's it's
reduced the number of their calls about 40% as I understand it. um and other agencies have expressed similar uh interest in in looking at this protocol and how we handle that and I I suspect they'll be reaching out to us. So that being said, if if Bryce Mil or uh Chief
Bryce Miller wants to say anything about that. >> Yeah. So how how all this came about is I just have some quick call stats. So for our department and I don't think we're any different than any of the other volunteer departments in our county. Back in 2020, our call total volume was 353.
We jump ahead to 23, we have 579. Had we not made these changes this year, we were on pace to run 717 calls. Um, with these changes, we're on pace to run 498 calls.
Ends up being a 20% decrease from last year's 646 calls for us instead of an 11% increase. In just the medical side alone, uh, since we track, we started this March 17th, so we started tracking
every call in our service area, whether we paid or not, it's been a 62% reduction in medical calls. That's medical call only. If we add all of the other calls into it, fire, power line down, all that type of stuff, it's been
a 30% call reduction for us. So, huge impact. Um, lots of reasons why we want to do it. It's not because we don't want to serve the public. We definitely want to serve the public. There's a lot of calls we show up on and forever, let's just use a a illness, a sick person case type case,
they call 911. We show up with four for fire. We'll have one or two officers show up and then we have two to three EMTs show up. That's a lot of people for not a lot meeting. So, I think it's a common sense approach. Rachel and Chad have helped us
tremendously. We've had unbelievable support locally here from EMS and our police department. They're responding to all the calls, taking taking call load off from us. I mean, this isn't a can of false problem. It's
not a county problem. It is literally a United States problem. It's do any type of search with volunteer fire service and medical call and how it's impacting them. Um, we all have wives, families,
we all have full-time jobs, part of sports organizations, boosters, clubs, church groups. Trying to juggle all of that and and then our department on top of it, um, 12 of our 30 members are one to five
year members. So, we're trying to keep these people around. We need, we have a great department. That's not a knock on our department, but um we needed to do something and it's been an awesome change for us. Hopefully the other department. >> Yeah. And and I'll just comment the
reason why I think this was a good thing both for for us and and the changes we could make is because again we use the technologies that we already paying for it. Uh really what this cost us was staff time. It was it cost us staff time. Rachel Dolly, you'll be here in a second behind me and myself and our
chief deputy sitting one-on-one with these guys. figuring out what works for them. Now, what we did for them is not going to work for some of the other agencies across the county. Everyone's a little bit different. But now, here's where I'll tie in Gov Works. This protocol works for Can Falls. This new Gov Works solution. We can scan in that
protocol and the AI assist will come up with questions based on what they're looking for specifically. That to me is a game changer. That is efficiency and and another solid use of that service. And it worked out for Canon and we suspect they'll take off. So that's been
a win-win for us and um again a low to no cost solution that we were able to come up with. So really happy about that. So thanks Chief for your partnership on that. Um just some other things. Obviously 911 centers are being inundated with responsibilities um constantly
request demands high expectations, right? What do the people in our communities think? If they call 911, go darn it, it better work. Um and so and I agree 100%. Um Sheriff Kelly, Chief Hani
and I are constantly reviewing overall operations in the sheriff's office, but specifically within each division and we reviewed our PAP. When I say PAP, if you don't know, I'm talking a public safety answering point and 911 center. We reviewed our organizational structure.
Sitting next to me is uh Sergeant Rachel Dah. She was recently assigned to an administrative sergeant role and her responsibility is to better support our CAD administration, computer AED dispatch, the training, the data management and assist me in regional coordination. This was a reallocation of
existing personnel. This is not an increase in staffing. Um, it helps me tackle some of the overall director management responsibilities that I have while also ensuring that our stakeholders have a partner Monday through Friday that they can guarantee to get a hold of. Um, so this has been a
great thing. Um, it was a goal to better position our PAP for the growing demands placed on us. And so if Rachel has anything she'd like to say about that, I'll I'll turn the mic over to her. I know she doesn't want to say anything, but this is my opportunity. So, >> good morning and thank you for the
opportunity. Um, I'm very excited to take on this role. It's like Chad said, a new position, but just an allocation of um kind of what I was already doing, but now able to do it Monday through Friday to better help um communication with a lot of our external partners. Um
being on the rotating shift that I was, um there were days on end that I wouldn't be in the office during that Monday through Friday and only available on weekends and it just didn't really align with some of the goals that we were trying to accomplish. um like with this new gut works program that I think
is really a great step forward for us. So, I would just like to say thank you to the board and to the sheriff's office. >> Thanks, Rachel. Um yeah, lastly, in closing, I'll just say I'm a huge fan of efficient government. I'm a huge fan of
not spending money unwisely. But I also know, and I'm sure the sheriff behind me will agree, some of the divisions that I oversee, emergency management dispatch, probably cost some of the most amount of money in our office. every time I turn around I'm asking for a new technology whether it's dispatch or applies to the whole office it's very expensive and so
um talk to any of the vendors that I deal with and I think they'll tell you Chad can be uh intimidating because typically I'm the one that's calling these vendors out on the floor and I want to know what are we really paying for Um I'm not your typical government employee that goes oh okay I need that shirt I'm going to ask those questions
so I I pride myself in that and I think that's important that you know that I know the sheriff knows that because uh we trim where we can Um, we have really good staff. We are staffed in our dispatch center with uh 13 authorized FTEEs. Uh, we have one opening to fill one spot. We have an expecting
retirement uh to come up later this year. But uh I think overall we do very well. One thing I always say to our regional partners, and I'm fortunate, knock on wood, there's none around here, if we have dispatch staff that we hire, they get out of their communications training officer program, which is a
minimum of 16 weeks. They stay for years. Um, and I say years, I mean the retirements we have are 20, 30 year employees and and the staff now too are we, you know, we have young staff, but typically once they make it through training, if they make it through training, they stick with us a long
time. So, we pride ourselves on that and and we don't have those struggles that some of our partners do, unfortunately. So, with all that, I'll turn it over for questions because I can talk a lot, right, Scott? Well, I I just want to say thank you and it's really wonderful to hear how you're using new tools in a way
that benefit the people and isn't uh costing them a lot of money. So, I think that's terrific and hopefully it makes everybody's jobs a little more satisfying because they're going to places where they're uh clearly needed with maybe more likely the right number of people. So, I think that's great and I want to thank you for your work on
this. Um go ahead, Brad. >> Just a comment. Um, it was probably two two and a half years ago when Tim Malach come and talk to me about this exact issue, how the burnout was happening, how we
were sending the wrong people to the right to the to a call um, and that we could do a better job. And this is the culmination of all the work you've done collaboratively with Canon Falls to get to that point. And I really appreciate
it. I cannot sitting here and of what I've heard and what I know talking with Tim um I can't imagine why this wouldn't be wanted to be used all across. I I don't know why it wouldn't want to be used all over
because the object is to get the right people to the right address as fast as we can. Not too many people there when most of them are just going to stand and watch. We just want the bite before. So, thank you.
>> I'd uh just a compliment to the staff. I I did apply for dispatch 30 years ago and I felt like I was in kindergarten trying to keep up. So, it's amazing the job that you do and how hard and efficient you have to be. So, thank you. Uh, one
question, Chad, is you take this into my community. I'm first responder in Wamingo. I don't have an ambulance there. Also, I don't have police in town. Is this going to work as efficiently in my because Wan Mango Fire is
that's who we call in Waco, you know, and I think some other communities are similar to that. So, I yes, if we can see some efficiencies, awesome. Do you feel that we're going to feel that level of efficiency? >> You know, I don't know. And that's where those other dynamics come in. Uh the benefit here in Canop Falls is not only
they have their own fire department, they have their own ambulance service. Y >> and so whereas in Wanamingo you have your fire department with your first responders, but you don't have an ambulance service that's stationed in town. And so those are >> correct. And so those are the difficult challenges at the end of the day.
>> Someone calls 911, someone's got to respond. Uh and some of the conversations we've had certainly in the Wanamingo area is well Waningo first responders don't necessarily want to go help someone who has fallen and got just needs a lift, >> right? >> And we've heard the same thing from the
Zimro ambulance which services that area. Well, we got to send somebody. And so, um those are conversations that needed to be had, but that is a dynamic dynamic that is different across the county. And that's why I say what worked for Canon here doesn't necessarily work for the rest of the county. However,
while I preach consistency a lot, we do recognize that there's areas of the county that need a different response and that have different levels of service and uh developing those protocols with the assist of gut works here now. We can get there. We'll figure something out
>> and I think it uh it definitely will help that uh it is just a lift assist, >> right? >> But I've been at lift assist that we ended up doing CPR at also, >> you know. So, how do you and I think that's where good works will actually analyze that better and and uh try to
make a better call for us that we uh in our response. >> Yeah. And uh just last thing I'll say in the future we will have a scenario table set up somewhere whether it be at a fair or somewhere or we'll maybe we'll do a committee of the whole. I would love to see how our commissioners can handle a
911 call. That would be really interesting. But that's what this allows us to do, you know, >> very poorly. What what's cool about this is that real time simulation. I'm just going to take a little extra time to mention this. We actually here we just
had an afteraction review with a a cardiac arrest situation on the Canon River outside of town. Um, and we are taking that all those 911 calls we've received on it, all the feedback, all the input we've put, we create scenarios in the GVWorks uh, program and now we
can send all of our staff through that exact same scenario and they can learn from whether it be a mistake or no mistake. They can learn from those situations using real-time data. We can also build scenarios that are applicable to Goodwill County. I think Rachel is working on one at the St. James Hotel
and the dispatchers take time when they have some downtime. they can do these live trainings and the AI bot will actually engage with them and throw certain injects at them. All of that's a learning experience. And then the quality assurance part that essentially is making sure that our staff is doing
the same thing consistently on every call and allows every call to be quality assured. I don't know if you all know this, but right now quality assurance is the last thing that happens at any 911 center. Big, small, or medium size. It's the last thing to get tackled. By law,
we only have to do a quality assurance on a telephone CPR call. We don't have to quality assure anything else. What Gov Works is going to do is quality assurance check on every single call, 911 and non-emergency. That's huge. And it's going to do it automatically and send the supervisors
an update on what that looks like and then help coach the staff to be better or do better. And it's not meant to be punitive. It's meant to be a coaching thing. That's why it's called uh comm's coach. So really excited about the whole thing. This the simulation thing we will set up. We will have you all do that at
some point if you're interested. And uh I think even Sheriff Kelly's going to do it. I think so. >> Uh one question. Um can you just confirm for me with gov work? So that sounds like it's a wonderful opportunity
that anybody calling 911 isn't will get a real still get a real person. >> Absolutely. Yes. I I never foresee that changing. I do foresee in the future when you call the non-emergency number, you talk to an AI bot. >> Yes, I have. Thank you. That's why I
wanted to confirm the 911. >> Yes. >> All right. >> Absolutely. Uh one last uh kudos to Chief Miller Can Falls. I constantly talk to our responders and and there's a lot of time there's there's I'll just call it a beef between responders and dispatchers. Dispatchers don't always know what's going on in the field. Our
responders don't always know what dispatch really does. And so I am constantly encouraged, come sit in our dispatch center, spend some time in there. And so kudos to Chief Miller who has spent at least two small shifts visiting with us. And on one of those visits, he was able to experience what
the dispatchers go through on a structure fire call that happened in his jurisdiction. I don't know if he found it valuable or not. We think he did. Um but kudos to him on that. >> Thank you. Okay, now we're on for your information.
Uh the project status report, the monthly finance reports. Any comments or uh anybody want to say anything about that? All right. Next is new and old business, Linda.
Well, on hold business, the last meeting when we were talking about the congressionally directed funds grant that we receive for broadband and it kind of got tabled while we tried
to sort some things out with the new requirements. But last week I we were able to have a phone call with county staff with deed with USDA with Senator Smith's office
with Senator Clolobashar's office and USDA in Washington to see if there's any way that we could work through it. Um the response was that yes, the
supervisor will look into it and connect with the county and see if there's any way we can work it out before it just falls apart. Since broadband is extremely important for people within the county to move into the 21st
century, which we're a quarter of the way through already. So that's just >> I'll add that Brad Finstead's office was also represented. Just >> Yeah. >> Any other new or old businesses? >> Any committee reports? All right.
>> This is from the Association of Minnesota Counties Board of Directors meeting. Few things. the um AMC, that's the Association of Minnesota Counties does have interns, two interns working on projects for counties, Minnesota
counties this year. One is uh property tax classification. Turns out Minnesota has one of the most complex task tax classifications in the country. And so one of them is working on that. The other one, the
other intern is working on inventory of resources because the juvenile delinquency age is changing in Minnesota. Um, a video is going to be made regarding the election process for 2026
to help people understand or answer questions that have come up in regards to elections. And the Minnesota Department of Health is offering free soil testing. So, counties can request that a soil testing
um event be put together at an event they're going to have like a county fair, this fair, whatever, any event. And Minnesota Department of Health will come if requested and residents can bring a soil sample and have it tested
for lead if they are interested. Thank you. Any other committee reports? >> Hearing none. Is there a motion to pay the bills? >> So move Anderson. >> Is there a second? >> Second.
>> All those in favor say I. >> I. Opposed. Motion carries. And is there a motion to adjourn? >> So moved. >> Sure. >> Sorry. Just want to thank you guys for coming. Appreciate it.
>> Sure. >> Thank you guys for coming on behalf of the fair. I'm the vice president. Um it's been a struggle, but hopefully the rain will set set aside, but I just wanted to say thanks again for all you guys coming every year and it's been a pleasure and thanks for everything you guys do.
>> Well, thanks for having us. Your sound system is very nice. Thank you. >> So, I think we have a motion and a second. Any other? Uh, all right. All those in favor say I. >> I. Meetings adjourned and we'll take five minutes and then get started with
HJ tips.