I think we're ready to ready to go. We'll start with the pledge of allegiance. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all. Uh, next are disclosures of interest. Hearing none, we'll move on to the previous board minutes from April 7th. >> Approval Anderson. >> Second. >> There's a motion and a second. Any further discussion?
All those in favor say I. >> I. >> I. Opposed. Motion carries. Uh, next is to review the agenda. Uh chair, there is one item we'd like to remove uh consent agenda item four
>> which is >> cannabis uh >> all right. So we'll remove consent agenda item four. >> Move approval as amended. >> Second >> motion in a second. Any further discussion?
All those in favor say I. >> I. Nay. Motion carries. Next is the consent consent agenda. There's now three items on there. >> Move approval. >> Second. >> The motion and a second. Uh all those in
favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed. Motion carries. Uh next is the uh county attorney up to uh proclaim April as sexual assault awareness month and child abuse prevention. >> Morning. Morning.
Excuse me. Consider Thank you. Whoa. Now we are live. Um, we're asking that you cons um uh adopting the sexual assault violence prevention and child abuse
prevention proclamation for Goodw County. We know the statistics. They were in my uh letter that I submitted in support. They are pretty staggering. One in three girls, one in five boys. And
then we know that the type of trauma continues and follows into adulthood. We know that sexual violence and child abuse has no geographic boundaries. We know that Good Hugh County is not immune from the impact of these types of harm.
That are lifelong harm impacting the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual part of a whole person. We're asking you to stand up, join together to speak up against these types of harm by
listening to the proclamation and considering adopting it. I'm going to turn it over to my partner and then we would stand for questions. Thank you. Proclamation and recognition of sexual assault awareness month and child abuse prevention month. Whereas the issues of
sexual violence and child abuse have many connections, both are part of overarching experiences of harm that contribute to the continued reproduction of trauma and oppression in society and across generations. And whereas sexual abuse, assault, and
harassment affect individuals of every background. And whereas people who are immigrants, refugees, migrants, black, indigenous, people of color, people living with a disability, LGBTQ plus,
women, and/or young people are among the communities most heavily affected by sexual violence. And whereas sexism, racism, homophobia, classism, abbleism, religious oppression, and agism are significant
barriers to survivors accessing support and resources. And many victims and survivors continue to face challenges in finding appropriate, culturally responsive, or quality services. And whereas every child deserves to grow up
in an environment that supports their ability to reach their full potential. and where sexual violence is not tolerated. And whereas the purpose of sexual assault awareness month and child abuse prevention month is to raise public awareness about these issues,
educate our community on how to prevent it, and share resources available to those impacted by sexual assault and child abuse. And whereas ending child abuse and sexual violence is a community responsibility, we must work together to educate our community about what can be
done to prevent child abuse and sexual assault and how to support survivors. And whereas anyone can be a leader in preventing and ending child abuse and sexual violence. As employers, educators, parents, and
friends, we all have an obligation to uphold the basic principle that every individual should be free from violence and fear. And now therefore, be it resolved that the Good Hugh County Board on behalf of all residents of Good Hugh County do
hereby proclaim the month of April 2026 as sexual assault awareness month and child abuse prevention month in Goodw County to keep our community members safe from these crimes and to stand with survivors and victims of sexual assault and child abuse.
>> Uh thank you and thank you for all the work you do. Um, I think you said you'd stand for questions and what I wondered was is if you can speak to the trends in Goodyu County and if they're similar to statewide trends or nationwide trends or
not. Meaning, are things getting better or worse or staying the same? And how is Goodyu County doing you? >> Um, we can talk about it from two different perspectives. >> Okay. I can talk about it from cases that are
reported to law enforcement and go through the court system and Melissa can maybe talk about um the hotline where people are calling for services and support and maybe just the walk-ins as well. I would say that reports um are
pretty consistent. I think that there is a lot more awareness out there. When I first came in um in 1997, I began prosecuting sexual assault, child abuse cases in 1999 exclusively.
At that time, it was just a really different awareness in the community. When we would go through a court system and we would go through uh jury selection, we would ask at least three to four times, have any you or anyone you know in your close circle experienced sexual violence,
uncomfortable touching, sexual harassment? It really wasn't until the third or fourth time that a person, a potential juror was asked that question and they said,"Well, there was something uncomfortable that I had." And what when it with more questioning, what what they
finally disclosed for the first time in their whole life is that they had been systematically abused as a child by a family member for years, what we would consider child rape. But there really wasn't the words in the community and there really wasn't the words um it
wasn't okay to talk about it and certainly was what was happening in the home was to stay in the home and what was happening in a rural neighborhood you just stayed away from maybe that person or that home and then as a we started to come um as a community and
the names of the victims started to be said out loud and we know the names more than the offenders. we know Drew Shadine, Jacob Weatherling. We start to hear those names and we associate um a reaction and an anger about that this
should not exist and this should not stay the same. And so what happened with that collective community outrage is that the laws changed, penalties increased, awareness became much more prevalent. And I think that with that we
continue to um work on modification of the sexual assault laws, child abuse laws, and we also try to put funding into prevention. But the largest thing that can change is all of us to speak up, speak against and be supportive of
anyone who discloses what they've experienced. So I would say yes to answer your question. Is it um more or less or the same? I would say that it is um pretty much the same because it does
take an incredible amount of courage to make a report to law enforcement. It takes an incredible amount of courage to continue with that report through a prosecution cycle and um that amount of courage should be noted and certainly should be supported.
>> Thank you. some of the and I've only been working in uh good hugh county here for four and a half years, but some of the um cases that kind of stand out to me I noticed is now that we have our youth advocates in three area schools notice more kids
disclosing like dating violence or you know stuff going on at home that they're not quite sure is this considered abuse or you know what's all happening there. Um, and then I noticed as well, um, there's been a lot more men coming
forward with their stories saying that they were abused by a spouse or were sexually assaulted, you know, during their military service. And some of those folks, I mean, they won't talk about it for decades. And then you find
yourself talking to a 88-year-old guy and said, "I never told my wife about this, but I got to get it off my chest because it's, you know, trying to heal themselves from PTSD and just dealing with all of that." and kind of a lot of
the lately I'd say we've had a lot more uh victim survivors coming forward over the age of 60 is a now it's it's a lot easier to separate from a spouse who's abusive.
It's easier, you know, to get a divorce nowadays than it was, you know, 20, 30, 40 years ago. And so folks are starting to realize more that they're not stuck, that there's resources out there even in rural areas like ours. Because when I
first started working at Hope Coalition, I was based down in Wabasha County and almost everyone I talked to for the first year I worked there said, "Well, I didn't know the service existed in southeastern Minnesota. I thought we had to go up to the cities to find a shelter
or to find an advocate." So know words getting around now so people have a >> a lot more hope that they can have a better life and not just sit there and and have to suffer through it. >> Susan, go ahead.
>> Thank you both very very much for the work you do. I am well aware that it's very difficult work. Does Hope Coalition still offer sane exams? >> Yep. Could you explain briefly what a sane exam is and how important it
is? >> Yep. So, a sane exam is a uh sexual assault forensic exam that is done by a nurse who is certified to collect evidence for a sexual assault kit. Uh folks come in and they call our crisis
line. We connect them with a nurse and an advocate and we try to have a less than 90 minute response time. If someone needs an exam, we have an exam room at our office and we've partnered with the nurses at St. Croy Valley SART to be
able to provide those forensic exams any time of the day or night. Um, we don't close for holidays or anything. So 24/7 365 we can offer that service and the nurses give folks information on
what some options are, whether or not they need medication, if they know the offender has any uh sexually transmitted diseases, anything like that that they can get the medication for right at that moment. And then our advocates sit with
them during the exam to offer emotional support. And then we provide after care as well if they want to pursue a harassment restraining order or just have an advocate to talk to until they can get in somewhere where they can see
a therapist to talk about what happened. And yeah, and some folks um we've uh we've been talking to folks from since before we had the forensic exam room at Hope Coalition, you know, that
are still talking with their advocates about, you know, how their life has improved since the day that they met their advocate had folks call us just to say like, "Hey, I have grandkids now and just wanted you to know." And >> thank you very much. It used to be that
that victims would have to be taken to Rochester or up to the cities and now we actually have a forensic exam room in Good Hugh County. And >> what if I could just um add one thing to that is that um so sexual assault isn't
such an unusual crime. Generally there is no witnesses. If somebody is burglarizes you, you know that um there's types of evidence other than what you saw or experienced. Things are missing. Maybe your door is kicked in or
your locks are broken. For sexual assault, we've always heard that expression, he said, she said, or she said, she said. Um a sexual assault exam actually takes it out of that kind of conversation into more of a specific conversation about what the evidence
says. This type of exam um treats the victim's body as um a piece of evidence. Uh so it's generally a six to eight hour type of medical examination with a very uh specialized type of nurse. And so
when uh Commissioner Flanders talks about well before we had one available here in God County, you'd have to go to Rochester or north to the cities. That is quite a bit to ask a person when you're adding another 2hour roundtrip
driving to a 6 to 8 hour exam. And that's actually once they get into the exam room and the exam starts as we know you really have to wait in order for your turn and to have a medical exam. So you could be waiting for hours in in the
waiting room before you want to undergo that exam. And then why does that exam take so long is because the the nurse is listening to the experience of the person who presents with sexual assault and then they are collecting evidence
from every part of that body that was involved in the sexual assault. They're looking for DNA. They're looking um for injuries. Um they're trying to make sure that they leave that they have all that is available. they are collecting it,
sending it up to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for further testing and profiling for DNA. >> Thank you very much. >> I would first move to adopt the proclamation and then I have a comment after it's got a second.
>> Second. >> All right. I think this is a prime example of having resources close to the need and thank you for the work you do. Thank you for to Aaron for
the work you've done over the years. I'm I'm convinced that um in 1997 this was not as easy or not as not as uh seamless and not as focused on the
victim as it was on the crime. And now we're focusing both on both, but with uh considerful empathy towards the victim, which is really where we need to be for them to heal. So, thank you for the work
you do. Thank you, Aaron, for all you've done over the years in regard to this. Um, we're making headway. >> We're making progress together. Is there any other discussion, questions? All right, so we have a
motion and a second. All those in favor say I. I. >> I. Opposed. Motion carries. >> Thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> Next up is admin with the budget committee report. >> Thank you, chair. The uh budget
committee did meet this morning. There was two items on there. One was an out ofstate uh travel request from the sheriff's department where everything except for meals and mileage uh uh uh is covered. Um and the second uh item was
to uh pre-order our uh public works um uh tandem trucks uh for 27. I shouldn't say tandem trucks, tandem truck, no s. So, uh, we, uh, have 14 of them and we order one per year. So, and the, uh,
current lead time on that is projected that if we order it now, we'd possibly have it the fall of, uh, 27, last quarter. So, um, but there's no guarantee on that either. So, but this does, if we order it, it does say that
in the budget there will be a tandem truck, and it does mean that we're planning on budgeting and levying for that. And >> both were recommended for >> both were recommended. Yeah. >> Move to approve the recommendations. >> There's a motion in a second. Any
further discussion? >> Hearing none. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> I. Opposed. Motion carries. Uh next is the personnel committee. All right. Good morning. The personnel committee met this morning to review a
request from the sheriff's office to hire two temporary summer employees to help out with the boat and water division. Um there's been some organizational changes to um have efficiency in the in the sheriff's office and um this request is to hire
non-licensed employees to be able to help out in in boat and water given um the the complexity of the work and and trying to be responsive to the calls that that are out there and and mindful of um the boats that they are are um
docking next to um and to promote officer safety and in those requests. And so the personnel committee heard this request this morning and was in favor of of moving it forward. I'll just make one comment. I appreciated Marty's comments and the the
two officers aren't in the same boat. Now it's one officer and one assistant, I guess, is the right word. And it used to be that always the two officers went out together. Um, and so the other thing that Marty said is that they've gotten
really good at uh using officers time when there's no snow on the trails and the uh river is full of storms and waves and nobody's out. And so I think that uh that's cut back on the overtime and improved how we're using these officers
for the benefit of the county. So we were we were in support and I want to thank Marty again for that. Move to approve. >> Second. >> There's a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor say I.
I. >> I. Opposed. Motion carries. >> Thank you. >> Uh, next is an update from land use management. >> Good morning. I'm going to just read a short section of the staff report and then maybe answer any questions that the
board might have. Um the agenda item really is intended to provide the board with updates on the steps that the county will be taking to rectify the unpermitted construction and land alterations on county land that is part of Bsby Park. Um along with private
property located at 4659 Scout Ridgeway, Cannon Falls, Minnesota. Uh in August of 2022, county staff observed unpermitted work um on the subject property located on Scout Ridgeway and issued a stop work order.
The work that was being done included substantial ex excavation and dirt work on both private property and county land um and the installation of several large retaining walls. Subsequent attempts for compliance were made after the initial
letter was sent um without obtaining compliance. Other factors have complicated this case, namely the lack of a public road access to the site since the property is only accessible through a private easement. Um an alternative access point
is possible from the county-owned lakeshore property along Lake Bilsby. um that access has been compromised by a lease agreement between the county and the adjoining property owners. Recently, a plan has been agreed to with the adjoining property owners for
construction access, which was the missing link needed to get heavy equipment in and out of the site. Um just recently, uh two weeks ago, the land committee did meet um talked about all the moving parts with this case and
the action plan to move forward. Um the land committee thought it would be prudent to bring this um in front of the entire board as anformational item. Um and then really for staff to outline the steps that are going to be happening over the next couple of months. Um and
really in conclusion with an assessment that will likely take place next year. Um I did outline an action plan just some steps. The first thing really that is done which is uh project design. Um
that project design will then be put out to bid. Um the once bids are received we will staff will bring back a recommendation to award the bid. That will take county board approval. We're anticipating having that back to you um
by June, probably the end of June, the last second meeting of the month. Um we do need to our staff needs to finalize an agreement with the Burns property which is the property that we need um essentially to work with access over to
get to the neighboring the um subject property. Um we just we do need to verify a easement or court order um to work on the Kman property that is in the works um with the attorney's office to be good neighbors. um just a good old
notification to everyone in the neighborhood on what to expect. Um there'll likely will have to be some coordination with the park and public works just you know there's going to be users at the park that um we need to be mindful of everything from parking to
noise. Um and then commence work in the fall of this year getting as much done as possible. Um, ideally the bulk of the work is done this late fall and early winter. Um, there might need to be some ground cover reestablishment and seating
and um, verification that our erosion control measures are in place and working into the spring of next year. Um and then essentially next year would be recouping the costs um and deciding on
um how to essentially pursue, you know, obtaining those costs, whether it be um an assessment um or, you know, presenting the property owners with a bill that they of course would have the option to pay in full um or working through an assessment.
I did kind of go on and provide some detail on some of the leases that are in place, some of the what I would consider kind of outlying factors that staff has been working through. Um, and then also some just so the county board has an
idea of the time and cost involved with with this case. So that is all I have. Uh, does anyone have any questions or comments for land use? Sorry, I didn't have my mic on. So, just send that letter to the township, but
detail where we've been and how we've gotten to this point because I think um although it's Goody County property, it's in the township of Stanton and it does affect Stanton landowners so that they understand and
that the leases are going to be complete and they will not be renewed going forward for any of those three land owners. So, just so they're I know you guys know what I'm talking about, but we just I just think keeping them on the upfront rather than them asking
questions later is much better avenue to take. >> We don't want surprises for them. We want them to know and be >> Well, I don't think it's a surprise to them, but at least having it all documented and how we got here and how we're going to proceed from here forward makes a lot of sense to me. If I was a
township officer, I would want that down. >> Um, do you feel that all the land owners out there know that the county owns the shoreline? >> I I wouldn't be able to say. There's um
I've had direct contact um with only one of the three. >> Okay. Um the others are I think one of them is a seasonal resident. Um I wouldn't be able to answer that. >> Okay. I mean to me >> just curious why they started and it uh
it's it's frustrating because I would assume they would know that but um >> my take on this kind of coming in on the tail end is um clearly they either didn't know or there was some um you
know some some lines were blurred, miscommunication, assumptions were made, your classic miscommunication. Um, I don't know how, you know, to me the lease agreement, the property lines are clear, the legal descriptions are clear, the leases are clear. Um,
but >> thank you. >> Any other comments or questions? >> If not, thank you, Lucas. Good morning, commissioners. >> Morning.
>> My item for today is related to a potential system conversion of our computer assisted mass appraisal, otherwise known as our KMA system. Um so just to start out going into the background of how we got to where we are
today. Um back in May of 2021, Goodyu County selected um our current system to be uh the replacement of Avenue which was our tax system property tax system and Vanguard appraisals which was our
CAMA system at that time. Um that decision was made at the unanimous uh recommendation of staff that were involved in the project. The reasons why staff recommended Tyler for tax and ka was it was a means to have one fully integrated system. Um there was going to
be various benefits that would include reduction in staff time due to duplication of work, reduction of potential errors when transferring valuation data and central transization of valuation notices. truth and taxation statements and property tax statements
to one single place online. We've discussed this many times, but um there's a limited number of tax systems available in the state of Minnesota just due to the way our system is set up. We came from Avenue Insights and Analytics.
Um and this product is in the process of terminating. U the the software company that owns it is shutting it down. There's only a few uh counties that are still actually on it and then it will be completely shut down. system was ran on the AS400 which the county has fully
decommissioned at this point and we cannot ever well we cannot go back on AS400. Um for your information the AS400 that's the green screen that's the black and green screens um that system the old DOS based the one that we're system that we're
currently on is with Tyler Technologies. Um, other systems include MCIS, that's Minnesota county's information systems. This is also ran on the AS400, which we have fully decommissioned. There's CPT, that's counties providing technology, um, real estate taxes
system. This one is also ran on the AS400, which again we have fully decommissioned. And then the last one on there is Momentum Technologies. Um, the quote that uh, Goodyu County had originally received was for tax only. It was not a fully integrated system. So
that um staff shied away from and additionally that was also cost prohibitive. The initial quote that went out to the counties that were looking for replacement systems was for about a million dollars for that first beta county to to convert.
Um so since conversion um back in December 2023, we've received a significant amount of feedback from both external and internal stakeholders related to the KMA portion of the system. Several professionals use our public appraisal data in their work. This
includes bankers, insurance brokers, real estate agents, private appraisers, among others. Common feedback we've received includes that the system is not userfriendly. Necessary data is no longer available. Users are having difficulty in finding the information and too many clicks are
required to access that information. Frustrated individuals end up calling our office which bogs down our staff and pulls their attention from completing their required duties. Data entry in Tyler is also not as efficient as it is in Vanguard. Tyler requires more clicks. The system is not
as intuitive or userfriendly and some data changes must be made on multiple different tabs in order for those changes to actually take effect. Additionally, the sketches did not convert and sketches are required by statute. We must have a sketch of each
um structure in the county. Those um sketches did not convert in the system conversion which is causing staff to recreate that data. All the factors factors noted above cause inefficiencies, increased workload as well as increased stress levels for our
already busy staff. We've now been on the system for nearly two and a half years and significance improvements to the system itself have not been made at this time. So we've obtained a quote from Tyler Technologies to reconvert recon convert
from the fully integrated system uh solution to their camel light solution what they call which is just the tax and assessment administration only solution. Um so the tax portion that's the actual calculation of the property taxes assessment administration that um deals
with the classification of each of the properties as well as all the special programs um to include senior deferrals green acres and those types of programs. Um the quote for the project is $178,200 and $190,000 is in the two 2026 budget.
Any additional costs from Vanguard appraisal should be less than the remaining $11,800. meaning that the overall conversion project should come on under budget. While the conversion project cost is significant, it will lead to a decrease in ongoing operational costs. Once
implemented, software costs will decrease by approximately $25,000 per year. When compared to our current spend of just shy of 111,000 per year, the new annual software cost for the CAM tax systems would be approximately $86,000 per year. This reduction is due to the
change in the tech Tyler technology solution as well as the elimination of the apex sketch software that we are required to get in order to actually start sketching those properties effectively again. And that is not required if we use Vanguard appraisals
because they have their own sketching software that's integrated in that system and it works very well. If the board wishes to stay with a fully integrated Tyler technology solution, the ongoing software costs could increase to approximately 124,000 per year with the addition of Marshall and
Swift and mobile assessor modules. Both of these modules would require additional onetime implementation costs and we would also ask uh to purchase six tablets um for appraisers in the field which we would not we would not need that with Vanguard.
Recon conversion of the fully integrated solution to the camel light solution with integration of Vanguard appraisals requires a full system conversion. The first step of this process would be to get the data into the Vanguard system current as of today. There are a few different options of that. One would be
exporting the current data out of the Tyler system or since we've been on Tyler for a couple years now, just work towards manually getting the Vanguard system up to date. Um uh both options would require
significant staff time um to to clean up and get that data up to date. Um next, Tyler would need to undo all their current camera setups and implementation tasks in their um camera light and set up their camera light system.
The last step would be them for them to train our staff on that that new version that we'll be using. At this time, Tyler Technologies anticipates that they will begin um they'll be able to begin this project between late Q2 and early Q3 of 2027.
This timeline is subject to change based on other county conversions that are currently in line ahead of us. Additionally, they expect the project to take between four and 6 months to complete. And again, there are still um some counties that are on Avenue that are that are still waiting to get
converted off of that system. So, that's why there's a backlog. So there are a few options moving forward that I've identified here. The first of which would be to approve the system conversion quote for Tyler Technologies to switch to the Camelite product for taxation and assessment
administration and Vanguard appraisals for KMA. The second option of which is to stay on Tyler for KMA assessment administration at taxation. This option chooses to stay on a more expensive and less efficient camera system and the 190,000 that's in the
current budget would remain unspent. Staff recommends that the county board approved the quote from Tyler Technologies for recon conversion to the Camelite solution as noted above in option one. And I'd be happy to answer any questions that you may have.
Second. There's been a motion in a second. Are there any further discussion? >> Realtors. >> I didn't turn my mic on. For for all those people who use that system, my
hope is that we'll convert back to this our zoning departments getting the permit stuff online and that we can incorporate so that that can all be looked up online and that is going to
free up our staff with a lot less work cuz everybody's calling. I need this, I need this, and you can't get it or they can't find it. And what our staff can see on the site is not exactly what the
consumer can see on our site. And it's got to we got to be able to share what we can share and they need to be able to get it online. And it is totally about being more efficient. So we need to switch. And I sat in on the meetings
when we were looking at the changes and all the promises that were made and those systems don't work like they said they were going to work. They just plain and simple don't. So >> I just wanted to say I'm I'm happy to
see that we are going to switch. I also have gotten many many calls from people complaining about how this didn't work the as well as what was there before. So, I'm glad to see it happen. >> And I'll just comment that I think it was the people calling in, but I think
for the staff themselves, it wasn't as efficient. It uh was much more frustrating and uh much more time consuming. So, I'm in agreement with that. >> And and I get it. You know, some of the counties that switched to Tyler 15 years
ago, Tyler would tailor things to meet them. Now, as they got more business, they can't tailor it or they won't tailor it for each county to fit how a county does their work. And I get it. Their business, they're going to do it the way they want to do it. It just does
not work the way we intended it to. So, >> all right. There's been a motion in a second. Are there any other comments? Okay. All those in favor of going back to the previous uh program and switching to Camelite uh signify by saying I
>> I >> I opposed. Motion carries. >> Thank you. Next is the uh for your information and I don't see anybody from HR here, but my only question was, you know, I look at how many people have left and I'm
wondering if we're getting any more exit interviews and getting good information back from those exit interviews than we have in the past. So, that was my only question. >> Yeah, we are actually getting more exit interviews than we have in the past. But I as far as the type of information, I'
I'll maybe have uh HR send an email. >> All right. Thank you. >> Thanks. >> Any any other questions or comments on the four-year information? >> Okay. Next is new and old business. >> Jason >> comment. I asked staff to put together a
report based on the fact that we're having we want to have a board workshop to discuss the levy. So levy comes in at 20% and I'm just trying to be respectful staff time, my time, and everybody's time where I don't know if there's three votes for 20%. Maybe I'm wrong, but I
just think it would be a lot more productive before we even go into a meeting or workshop to even give staff the direction or information about what you guys are expecting, what you plan, what you do. One of the bigger drivers with the levy now is all the building improvements. whatever the consensus or however we got
to that point that's why I asked for them to be removed because of the other options we have for them so that you can have an understanding if we go into them does that leave us at 10% are we still at 20% or what your plan is asking for everybody to have that understanding so we don't go to a
meeting just again I just don't feel it's productive time to go in there with an understanding that you have a 20% levy make productive use of time so >> you know I'm the one who requested the meeting And what I felt like is that we have to sit down and and talk and decide
what we think is a ballpark reasonable number. And I don't I don't believe it'll be 20. But I also think we needed to go through our options for uh bringing that number down. And some of them would be short-term options, some of them would be longer term options.
And I think we have to know what there's three people who if what what three people are willing to consider whatever that is whether it's uh uh change in departments change in staffing uh trying to uh jointly work with other counties
or with other communities. And I just think as a board we need to sit down and talk about what we're willing to consider and what we aren't willing to consider. And not that a decision would be made, but the five of us can't can't talk. We can
each talk to one person. And so then I don't feel like I know where folks are coming from. So that's why I wanted the meeting. >> I get that. And I'm just saying that if I don't know what your plan is, again, I'm trying to have respect for staff time. So if you're going to load up the staff and want everybody to show up
there at 5:00, I I re I know where I'm coming from. If you guys can't say where you're coming from or what your plan is and you want to sit in this meeting and have this discussion about your thoughts, feelings or what direction you want to go did that last year. It took you six
meetings to get to what? I don't know. I just the comment came from me because of the question that came up. Why are we having this meeting? And I'm not going to take my time to come and sit and listen to you guys talk that you can't make a decision. So that's where the conversations I had with you. I said, I
will present this and bring this up and say if if you guys want to get together and talk about where you want to go, that's fine, but don't hold it against me or expect me to show up and staff to take their time to because we already had a workshop and we couldn't get it discussed then. So, if this is a plan
now, >> well, I know I'm going to I I will not vote for a 20% levy increase. That's not going to happen. Um, would I be comfortable with 10? Um, I don't know. I uh it it it's
a double digit is I don't see any other counties doing that and I'm I'm frustrated where we came up in the last this is my sixth one and uh there was nothing even remotely this high. So I mean what have what have I missed? what of uh what and that's where I want to
sit down and and let staff tell me you know this is where this got to you know this is why I mean what are I mean there's going to be some drastic cuts here to get from 20 down to 10 I mean that's if it's going to happen so I need
information and I I do want to you know sit down and discuss it >> right right >> that's why I asked for this because if you look at where we presented last year and we had the big increase what Did it come from capital plan with $3 to $6 million added into it? So just I mean be
straightforward and come it. If you're not going to vote for 20% but you want to get these building improvements done, you got to look at the other avenues of doing them and give your opinion and direction to staff of what you want to do. >> That's I I agree with that. But but I I
think we have to talk more with each other to get to that point. Um, and I too wouldn't support a 20% increase. I I really feel like we have to live within the means of our county, and we all have different ideas about that, but our county is not growing. Our county is aging, and incomes aren't increasing
anywhere near even 10%. So, um, I think it's, uh, I I have some issue with the taxpayer paying higher and higher percentages of their income to local government. Um, so, so I I for me, when I say everything's on the table, I don't
mean I do everything. I mean I want to learn about it. I want to talk about it. I want to hear where people are coming from. So that's that's where I'm at. >> I think, you know, I think that obviously we need to focus on we need to look at capital and figure it out. And I
think we I know there was four of us that said we wanted to do um the building upkeep we need to do. That's a significant chunk over the next 20 years or 25 years. And we wanted to do it pay as you go. So we have to know
what that looks like. I think we do know what that looks like. We talked we knew it then. it was a certain amount per year and or we could bond and it would still be that amount or more. Um so I
think yes we need to focus on it and and my my thought with this workshop is yeah we need to focus on capital. We need to we understand what the ramifications of doing A B or C is to know how can we
change or lower that or maybe we can't. We got to know that we can know um what we can project pretty close to what our personnel costs going to go up because we've settled all our contracts. So
that's a number we can work. A lot of things will depend on where things go through the budget. And we always have to remember that 20% all that is is saying this is what it's going to cost to run the county and this
is how much revenue we have and this is the difference and it doesn't account for using any fund balance which there is fund balance we can use and there is judicious ways we can do that and it also doesn't account
for where we're going in the budget this year. Um I mean we heard from land use last month they raised a rate um in talking with with land use now um that's going to make up some of the difference in the building costs and they're going
to come in under budget again. So I think we need to know those things cuz there's a lot of moving parts at this point and we aren't even halfway through the year. We need to start somewhere. I think there's some concrete ones we can
start with personnel cost and and uh capital costs. We can start there. So I think that it can be a very productive meeting as long as we don't get off on some tangent on something where we don't have solid numbers, right? >> We do have solid numbers in a couple of
spots and that's the ones we need to focus on. >> Yeah. And I I don't have any issue with focusing on capital, but I think we have to look at the overall big picture to think about where we're we're going and what's reasonable for the county. So, it's not that I have an issue with focusing on capital, but I don't think
it's reasonable to only focus on capital. Well, following up with your discussion, there was a big discussion on the same topic at the Association of Minnesota Counties Board of Directors meeting last week and several of the even more rural
than we are commissioners were talking about how rural Minnesota is truly struggling with cost shifts that are coming um and also cost shifts that are based on an aging population that we're getting older more than we're bringing
in new people that are um that are actively working. So, what some of the commissioners were saying, they've got no capacity for the new regulations and the doubling of the workload that the um federal workload is going to be requiring. Um specifically, the case
review every six months at the county level. Um, so the I won't say it's a push, but it's a recommendation at the Association of Minnesota Counties that seriously the
smaller counties start looking at regionalization of certain areas that they think they can um do that with. And also this time it was the first time it ever came up that the really small counties might
seriously consider coming together and becoming one larger county. Whether or not how that even would work, I don't know. But it was it came up in the discussion because of what a struggle rural counties in greater Minnesota are facing moving forward.
>> Thank you. I think the smallest county is under 4,000 residents and my guess is their >> I think Jackson's like 3,500. >> Yeah. Yeah. Traverse is very small and my guess is their medium age is higher than Goodyu counties which is already fairly high. So >> So I mean the point she was getting
across is well of course every county wants their own stuff. I mean you've got control over it then you know how um to get the work out to your residents. But the point that was being made was that perhaps we can't afford that anymore.
And I think we're all facing that right now. It's becoming very clear. >> Um any other comments about that meeting? >> Uh anything else under new and old business? move on to committee reports.
>> Thank you. Okay, so May 19th there will be a committee of the whole on the updated housing study uh that was done by Mstead County. Is that correct? >> Rochester area coalition. >> All right. So May 19th there will be that there was some very very in uh good
information um coming forward. The other one is uh Association of Minnesota Counties is in the process of doing a mandated non-mandated study on all county departments. I know we've asked for that in the past. I know it's
a lot of work for staff. Whether or not we want to keep using our staff time when the to do something like that when AMC is doing it, I don't know. Um that should be ready in June.
Do you want to respond to that? >> I certainly can. Uh we've already done it. Um so it would be a matter of updating it if we were going to do anything and we probably would not do that again unless the board was requesting that. So it was a ton of staff time. >> Yeah, I'm sure it was. I'm very happy
that Association of Minnesota Counties though is doing it for all county departments throughout the state. And the last Did you want to respond to that? I I didn't think they were doing it for all departments. I thought they were focusing on
human services. >> Did they really? >> AMC >> AMC is doing all >> they're they're going to attempt to do all. >> Yep. They've got several of them are already done. They are going to finish the rest by they're hoping June. And we did that and
we got all got that report several pages on the spreadsheet >> and that was countywide, wasn't it? For the most part. >> Yeah, that was countywide. And >> yeah, we have that >> all department. >> Yeah. And it's it's not going to change
if you took new numbers and put in there. It's not going to change percentages going to change much at all. >> No, it's not. >> It's going to be pretty same pretty much the same as what we already have. But it was interesting to hear that all counties are facing that same lack of
information and wanted that information. My last thing was that came up at the board of directors meeting that there are federal cuts coming to emergency preparedness and that that is a big concern for all of the commissioners because of the fact that more major
weather events are happening. Um they did say there are now some hazard mitigation grants that are available. Um and there's also discussion at the federal level that emergency managers
should be considered essential workers. um and that moving forward emergency managers should really start connecting very deeply with IT because of the um
the hacking and the taking over of county IT. So that's the news from the board of directors meeting. Um I just have one thing. Three Rivers does an annual report where they go over how many households they assisted in
each uh county. And in Goodyu County, it was 1,178 households. And they print up a nice two-page flyer. And I got one for each of you. So I'll give it to you at the end of the meeting. Anything else on committee reports?
All right. Uh next is claims bills. >> Second. Any discussion? All those in favor say I. I. >> I. Opposed. Motion carries. Uh motion to adjurnn. >> So moved. >> All in favor? >> I
>> I meeting is adjourned. >> All right.