It, are you ready? >> Right. I don't see the light. There we go. All right. Good morning everyone and welcome to the Candy Ohio County Board of Commissioners meeting for Tuesday,
July 21st, 2026. Please stand for the pledge. To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for
all. >> Want to thank everyone who's in the room today and thank you for your interest in Candy County government as well as those who are joining us on our YouTube live stream. Uh, first item of business is
approval of today's agenda. >> So move, Mr. Chair. >> Thank you. We have a motion. Is there a second? >> I'll second that, Mr. Chair. >> Motion and second to approve today's agenda. Discussion. >> Hearing none. All in favor say I. >> I.
>> All opposed. That motion passes. Next is the consideration of the consent agenda. Today's consent agenda consists of the following items. Approval of the the July 7, 2026 County Board legal minutes.
Approval of the auditor's warrants and claims. Approval of human services warrants and claims. Cancellation of human services warrants. Letters of support to the congressional delegation. Approval of July 7, 2026 closed session
minutes. 202627 New London Spicer School Resource Officer Contract renewal and uh oops uh resolution uh two resolutions 2026-31
reappoint of veteran service officer Trisha Appleornne resolution 2026-32 reappoint of assistant veteran service officer AnnaBth Wall. Uh are there any commissioners wish to pull any of these
consent items uh out of the consent agenda for further discussion? >> Mr. Chair, just briefly I just want to make a comment and excuse me. Thank you. I just like to pull the uh the letters of support just for a short comment.
>> Very good. We'll do that and we'll take that up immediately after we uh uh immediately after we take this uh the balance of the uh consent agenda. Is there any other items anyone wishes to pull?
I'd accept a motion to approve the consent agenda with the uh uh uh with pulling the uh congressional letters of support. >> Mr. Chair, also move. >> Thank you. Is there a second? >> I'll second it.
>> All right, we have a motion and a second to approve the comments of the consent agenda. Discussion hearing none. All in favor say I. >> Oh, yes. I >> I All oppose. That motion passes. Uh, go ahead with your question, Commissioner.
>> Oh, okay. I just would appreciate you commenting mainly for the audience as well. I read through the letters of support and we talked about them doing that. I just want to uh say I thought it was worded very well. And would you just kind of share what they were for so the public
knew that we're reaching out? >> Right. Uh would you Oh, okay. >> I >> Yeah, Administrator Baker, I should really say thank you. >> Well, um basically this request came from
Commissioner Mike, so he might be really the best that knows about the federal level. Um but it was the request for the the three letters in there like it says in the board packet are the bridges and safety infrastructure for community success. Um in history um public works
director Mel Odin has wrote letters in the past for support. So we had had a draft of a letter like that already. and then for the SNAP program and then the surface transportation reauthorization um to continue supporting those programs to continue uh having local governments
receive federal dollars. >> Thank you. >> Are there any other questions or comments on that item? >> Would you care to offer a motion to I move so so I sure move, Mr. Chair.
>> All right. Uh motion to approve the letters of support. Is there a second? >> I'll second it. >> Thank you. Any discussion? Hearing none, all in favor say I. >> I. >> All opposed. That motion passes. >> Very good. Thank you. And now at this
time uh we have an update from Pact for Families. Sarah Vandar uh executive director uh will present. And Sarah, good morning. >> Good morning. Um I am Sarah Vanderhar, executive director at PAC for families. And I um want to thank you for the
opportunity for coming here today to provide the update um about the work that's happening across Candy Ohio County. And I also want to thank you all for your continued partnership and your support. Um PAC has been serving children, youth, and families across the region for more than 30 years. And throughout that time, our mission has
really stayed um very consistent. Our role continues to be to strengthen collaboration, identify service gaps, coordinate resources, and bring additional state and federal dollars into our communities so that children and families receive support before problems really turn to crisis. Um,
today I brought a brief rep report um that highlights some of our initiatives and partnerships, investments, and that are occurring across um Candy Ohio County. Um rather than walking through each page um word for word, I'd like to just highlight a few of the areas that demonstrate that prevention,
collaboration, and early intervention continue to strengthen our communities. The first page helps to explain um what PAC really does. It's an overview of our programs. Um one of the questions that I often get from people is what exactly does PAC do? Uh the simplest answer to
that question is we help communities work better together. Uh we bring partners together around shared priorities, use data to guide decisions, identify opportunities to strengthen services, and pursue additional resources that benefit children and families across the region. Um so the
first two programs on there are our transition services for journey to independence and road to success. And those have been pretty long-standing programs since I've been with PACT. The partnership for success program actually came to an end in August of 2025. Um we had re applied for additional funding to
continue that program and were not awarded. Um I did recently um this past month submit two more um applications for that funding opportunity and um they were only accepting 60 of applications and two of our applications did move to
the next to the next level. So that's promising. Um, and then our family support services has been a long-standing program that offers family liaison supports to families um, needing a little extra support. We have our cultural outreach and support initiative that's been pretty long-standing. And
our communities that care project started just um, recently um, last June. We're starting year two of that five-year project. Um, so um, we bring partners together around those shared priorities. All of those programs
kind of deal with different um aspects of service, but they all really work to bring those services to the families. So many people know that our program about like one particular program, but Pact is meant to serve as an organization that
helps serve connect um county agencies, schools, public health, behavioral health providers, and community organizations throughout the region. So while each of these um services provides a different purpose, uh they all share one common goal and that is to
strengthen um prevention, support families earlier, improve coordination across systems, and build stronger communities. Um our next page highlights some of the direct work that's taking place here in Candy Ohio County. Um during 2025, uh we did serve 37
families, 58 youth, um and also coordinated weighted blanket referrals for youth experience anxiety and emotional regulation challenges with those. While those numbers are important, I believe one of the biggest greatest impacts
happens kind of behind the scenes. So throughout 2025, Pacted invested more than $126,000 in workforce development through training opportunities focused on trauma-informed care, youth mental health, suicide prevention, prevention
education, wraparound practices, cultural responsiveness, and youth engagement. So every community member, professional, and family advocate that we reach really increases the capacity of our communities to better support children and families. And our goal is
really is to provide um s not to provide the services themselves um ourselves but to strengthen the system that already exists so that more families and children receive the right supports at the right time. Um the next page is actually one of my favorites to share um
because it highlights some of the projects um that began as ideas from our local partners rather than from pact. So, schools, counties, staff, nonprofits, and community organizations identify a local need and PAC provides a small targeted investment that helps
turn those ideas into reality through our discretionary projects. So, during 2025, in the first quarter of 2026, PACed invested more than $22,000 in discretionary projects here in Candy Ohio County, supporting initiatives that expected that are expected to reach more
than 1300 children, youth, families, and community members. Um, two of the projects focused on helping children build emotional regulation skills in early early in their lives. Um, New London Spicer Prairie Woods Elementary expanded a classroom sensory um supports
to help students regulate emotions and remain um engaged in learning. And earlier this year, we also provided funding to the Southwest West Central Service Cooperative to create a sensory room for students receiving more intensive educational services, combining sensory equipment with staff
training to create long-term supports for students with complex emotional and behavioral needs. Um, two more projects focused on strengthening families through cultural responsive supports and early intervention. Um, the community connectors is expanding parent education and early intervention services for
Somali families here in Wilmer. um through culturally responsive parenting workshops, individualized support and assistance navigating schools and community supports. Um Wilmer Early Childhood Filmer family programs partnered with speak the speaking out collective to engage young children and
families through music, storytelling, and puppetry while increasing awareness of early childhood development and mental health. Um the final projects um for 2025 and the first quarter of 2026 focused on youth um on helping youth build resilience to help them see
positive futures. Um Kohai County Health and Human Services continues their passport to education and careers initiative exposing students to career opportunities while helping them understand education connections and um how to connect to future success. And
Dream Technical Academy also um ran a program called Empower You. It's a summer program com that combines wellness activities, life skills, mindfulness, community engagement, and academic support uh to help students remain connected during the summer. And that really strengthens protective
factors, which we'll talk about a little bit later. One thing I really appreciate about all of the projects is that they truly reflect local leadership. um they were not designed by pacted but were developed by educators, county staff, schools and community organizations to
understand the unique needs of the populations that they serve. Um so our role is really to listen to help connect them to those supports and um dollars to identify resources and to support um these good local ideas as they become
reality. Um the next portion is the regional school that's on the same page. Um the regional school mental health initiative and this initiative actually grew out of discuss discussions during our annual planning retreat last September. And it continued through conversations with schools, county
agencies, public health, behavioral health providers, and other community partners. Across those conversations, what we saw was really one theme that kept emerging. Um while many excellent services already exist across our region, there were opportunities to really strengthen communication,
coordination, and resource sharing across those systems. So we looked across the conversations, it became clear that there was really no single organization that could do um the work alone. Um so what we were trying to accomplish with this project was to build stronger connections between
partners. Um, and it was just really the the the base of of where that work went. So, as we're building stronger connections between partners, um, we saw an opportunity to serve as that connector, bringing together organizations that
were already working and doing important work. Um, but to improve communication, share resources, and strengthen regional coordination. So, the regional school mental health initiative and the school learning network were developed to bring partners together, share promising practices, improve regional
coordination, and better prepare schools and communities for the Minnesota's upcoming mental health and substance use education requirements. Um, one of the thing that was really encouraging for us at PACE was to see how willing our partners were to come to the table and share in that work. Um the conversation
during those sessions really shifted from what does my organization to do um to more of how can we work together to to accomplish um the idea of connection. Um let's see the next two pages um
really tell a story about how data helps to guide our prevention planning. So at the regional level we continue to see encouraging trends. Um, alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana use among youth has declined over time. Um, though vaping continues to require some attention. Um, and that is demonstrated
on that final graph um, on the bottom of that page. These trends remind us that prevention efforts can make meaningful difference when communities remain committed over time. Um, we know that our prevention efforts aren't going to be seen tomorrow. Um, so the the importance of it is to continue. Um, but
our regional data can really tell another part of the story. Um to make good local decisions, we need good local data. Um and then this will be on the next page. Um so here we have the share survey and the Minnesota student survey.
Um and they are two very important surveys for our region. Um and over the past several years, participation has declined across Minnesota, including here in Candyohigh County. Um the top slide shows um in blue the candy county
participation. You can see back in 2017 there were 68684 students who participated in the survey. Um in 2025 we only had 410 that that was about one school district here in Candyohigh County. Um so when fewer
students participate it becomes more difficult for us to understand what's happening within those individual schools and communities making it really hard to identify emerging needs and tailor prevention efforts appropriately. So, as we continue strengthening relationships with schools through the regional school mental health
initiative, um, and increasing participation in local surveys, we will have an even clearer picture of the strengths and needs within our communities. For us, collecting the data is only valuable if it leads to action. So, one of our priorities this year has
been to strengthen how we use community feedback, strategic planning discussions, and local data to better understand community needs and identify opportunities to strengthen services. We're working to have more intentional conversations with our partners about what those needs are and where PAC can
best provide support. Um, one example of this approach um is in our grant development efforts. Earlier this summer alone, PAC submitted three major grant proposals. Two federal SAMA partnership for success proposals and one um to the state for the Minnesota Rural Health
Transformation Children's Mental Health Initiative proposal. If funded, these projects would significantly expand prevention programming, strengthen schools and community partnerships, improve coordinated mental health supports, and bring substantial additional state and federal resources
into our 5count region. Whether or not the proposals are funded, ultimately um we will continue looking for opportunities to expand um and add additional investments to Candy County without increasing burdens to taxpayers. Um the next page um highlights what has
become increasingly important in our work. Um for many years prevention efforts have really focused on primarily um reducing risk factors. Um today we know that it's equally important to an intentionally build protective factors. Um the protective factors
project has really come to light in our communities at Carework and I have bumper stickers for each of you if you would like one. Um this is our newest initiative um to get people interested in our communities of care project. So we're trying to build a community board that can help us make database decisions
um about how to move forward with prevention. So they're magnets. They can go on your fridge, on your car, in the bathroom stalls, wherever you want. I'm going to be throwing them on at people's cars at Walmart soon. So be on the lookout. Um but today we we have we know
it's equally important to intentionally build those protective factors. Some of those factors can include positive relationships, trusted adults, school connectedness, opportunities to contribute or have a sense of belonging, um, and be supportive families. So, these positive experiences are often
referred to as protective factors or benevolent childhood experiences. And you can see that that many of our students are reporting that they have um, benevolent childhood experiences, four or more. Um, so that's great news to see from our reports. Um this is regional data across the five counties.
Um we also know that those benevolent childhood experiences help children become more resilient even when they have experienced adversity. Um and you will see that while many of our students don't have ACEs or adverse childhood
experiences in that first column on the top um you will see that about 23% have one or more. So there are quite a few kids who are still experiencing adversity. So these protective factors are really what mitigates those ACEs. And >> Commissioner B interrupt you. Can you
explain what ACES is? >> Yeah. So adverse childhood experiences um are adverse things that happen to children. Some things could be um watching seeing your your mom abused or having a parent incarcerated. Um
parental divorce has been listed as an ace. Um sexually abuse abused. um just those adverse things that happen to kids that they don't have any control over. So um sometimes those adverse childhood experiences can lead to um
health concerns later in life. Um some kids with adverse experiences may turn to substance use. Some of them may have mental health challenges that they have to overcome. And sometimes it even is um related to physical health. So, um, our
job with the communities that care project is to build up those protective factors which offer a buffer for those ACEs. And that's where we're really trying to focus is on building up those protective factors because we know how important it is to create that buffer for those kids. So, even just one caring adult um in a child's life can really
make a difference. And so, that's what the communities that care project is all about. Good. Okay. Um, so one of the things that really encourages me as we're beginning to see committee shift, um, is that the conversations have changed from
simply how do we reduce problems to how do we intentionally create the kinds of experiences that help children thrive. So that perspective now influences nearly everything that we do at Pacted, whether we're supporting communities of care, funding local discretionary projects, strengthening school partnerships, helping develop the family
resource center, or co coordinating the regional school mental health initiative. We are all working on the same outcome which is to help more children experience the relationships, opportunities and supports that allow them to thrive. It also influence influences how we think about professional learning. So we spent um
many hour many years helping communities understand the impact of adverse childhood experiences and now we are expanding that work to include the protective factors framework. So, one of our staff recently became certified um to provide that training and we're looking forward to offering that to our
partners very soon. So, as we move forward, our prevention priorities continue to include strengthening school and community partnerships, improving local data and to guide decision- making, building protective factors and resilience, supporting evidence informed prevention strategies, and continuing to
bring additional state and federal resources into our communities. Um this final page just highlights the broader regional investment that supports this work. In addition to local discretionary funds, um PAC contributed nearly 2.85 million in regional investments during
2025 through state, federal, local collaborative and partner funding. um approximately 91% of those dollars um directly supported prevention, early intervention, youth services, and family support activities, while the remaining funds supported the infrastructure
necessary to coordinate those efforts across the five pillars. One thing I really appreciate about this page is that it res represents more than um funding. It represents partnerships. It represents trust. It represents schools, counties, public health, behavioral
health providers, nonprofits, and community organizations choosing to work together around a common purpose. It represents additional resources being brought into our communities that might not otherwise exist. Research consistently tells us that prevention is one of the wisest investments
communities can make, reducing long-term costs while improving outcomes for children's and families. As I close today, I hope that one thing stands out with all of you, and that is that Pact exists to help communities work better together. Um, strong communities are built through collaboration. Um, there's
not a single agency or organization um within the five counties that can meet every need facing children and families. But when counties, schools, public health, behavioral health providers, nonprofits, and community partners work together, we can create such stronger
systems of support. Um so PAC's role is to help strengthen that system um those connections, leverage that additional resources into the region and support the partners that we're working with to achieve um what we're hoping to achieve for youth and families. So I want to
sincerely thank you for your support and for letting me come here today and share these updates. And I'm happy to answer any questions. >> Any questions uh for Sarah >> Commissioner? Not a question, but more of a comment. And some of you may have
heard me say this before, but Supreme Court Just Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Anne McKe at a presentation I was at a couple of years ago said something in the neighborhood of 85% of all people who uh are in the uh justice
system, criminal justice system have had a child adverse childhood experience. >> Absolutely. to the point of commissioner Berg what is a AC ace adverse childhood experience and I think the uh I hadn't seen this term before about the benevolent childhood experience was
basically encouragement and that I seems to me that that can go a long ways to counter some of the effects of the adverse uh childhood experiences they have so appreciated that >> yeah it absolutely does and that's why I always like to tell people if you can be the caring adult in your community in
your neighborhood just talking to the kids and letting them know that you care is is a positive experience that will live with them forever. So, thank you. Sarah, you uh noted the drop in participation in the uh uh uh in the
survey. Uh are these school districts that are just choosing not to? >> Yes. >> Uh >> yes. So, the Minnesota student survey um over the last two um years that I've seen it um implemented has lost
participation. Um many of our conservative school districts um in our rural regions don't appreciate some of the questions that are on the survey. Um so, it's created a little bit of stigma um in collecting that data. parents aren't interested in asking their kids
some questions about gender. Um, things like that. Um, some of the other questions just are not wellreceived. So, school districts have decided not to take the survey. Also, schools are very tired of surveys. So, they um they just were not
participating. So, we're working right now um with our share survey to really develop a youth wellness report. So the schools that did participate in the share survey will get a nice packet talking about the strengths of their schools um some of the ris risk factors
that were coming out through the data but then also offering suggestions or implementation strategies to help improve the environment of the school. So we're hoping that by making these small changes that we can see an increase in um participation the next round. Yeah, that's really unfortunate
that uh uh something like this that is ultimately helpful uh for helping students get through uh school and family and social interactions uh becomes a political football. And
it's uh it's just really too bad that so many school districts are not uh appearing to be that particularly concerned about uh the mental health and well-being of their children. >> I wouldn't say that they're not necessarily concerned about the mental
health and the concerns um that come from it. I think that it's more about finding the time and with all of the other um requirements within the school districts, they're just really having a hard time trying to prioritize different things. So that's why with the regional school mental health initiative, we're
really working to engage those superintendents and school boards to ensure that um the information is available and that we can give them the information they need to make an informed decision about participation in the future. >> Yeah. And you didn't say it, I did. Uh
>> I didn't. What? >> You didn't say it. I did. >> Okay. uh uh because uh uh honestly if you're if your kids are truly important to you as a school district and as a school administrator uh you'll find the time to help organizations make
data-driven decisions uh because that's the only way we're going to get anywhere. I understand that nobody wants to uh uh that that there are folks who object to the uh uh gender-based questions and uh uh preference based
questions, that type of thing. But you've got to have the whole picture. >> Yep. And you you do have the option to skip some questions. So there's that, too. >> Then then it should work for all of them. >> Yeah. >> So >> we do hope so. >> My my editorial comment for the day so far.
>> Thank you for your support. Commissioner B just real quickly uh I'd just like to comment about pack four for families. My understanding over the years you brought in tens of millions of dollars in prevention type of help in in the five counties. Uh can you comment? Uh I know
originally legislation when the legislation came out, it's my understanding that it was kind of a setup of a county, you know, uh program where, you know, with public health and human services and community corrections or it wasn't even community corrections back then, but get get together like it
is now anyway to get together to communicate communicate better. uh but we're unique with five counties and could you just comment a little bit about the membership we have and and if there are any other counties operating this way because I think the advantages
would be all that collaboration that the feds and this and the state look at that cooperation together and that's what people that's what government wants people working together and looking at the problems. Interesting that you say that. I just met with the state yesterday and was talking about um some
a state plan for children's mental health initiatives and um we talked about how PAC is a fivecount joint powers and how many of the other collaborives are just within their own counties which makes it really easy for the state to communicate with them about
the state plan and how they want to move forward with all of that work. But with with our collaborative being five different counties, I'm not in each of our family service um centers. So then I am not always involved in those conversations. While our directors do a wonderful job of communicating things um
but I was able to share a little bit about how our collaborative works and how we could support a children's mental health initiative across the state. Um a more regional approach. Um, so they're very interested in hearing about that and um, Wednesday I'm going to be visiting a little bit more with them in person um, trying to figure out if there
is a regional way that we can move this um, state plan forward or if we continue to look at it state quarter by county by county or and you know communicating that with partners will be important too and figuring all that out together um to me to to see what makes the most sense.
So just always looking for innovative ideas um to support partners um and counties to do all of the good work. >> And who are our who are the collaborating counties? >> Um Candy, Ohio, Mloud, Mer, Renville,
and Yellow Medicine counties. Um and yeah, we have 44 partners um that we work with pretty regularly. We're always trying to expand. um community organizations, um nonprofits can all be part of um part of the collaborative. So, if you know of someone who might be
interested in being part of that work, let me know. I'll send them an invitation. We meet monthly um and just have time for networking and learning and sharing about all of the work that's happening across the five region. >> Yeah, it's great. >> All right. Anyone else?
>> Sarah, thank you so much. >> Keep up the good work. Thank you. You want me to leave the bumper stickers? >> Yes, that'd be great. >> Thank you. You guys have a great great rest of your week. >> Thanks. >> And you as well. Thank you. >> All right. Very good. At this time,
we'll have uh Angela Larson, the family services director for UKAP, uh come and visit to visit with us regarding local homeless prevention aid funding presentation. Angela, good morning.
>> Good morning. Thank you for allowing us to come and speak with you today. United Community Action Partnership um serves 13 counties with emergency housing services. Candy Ohio probably being our largest one. I'm the family services director for United Community Action
Partnership and over the last couple of years we've been partnering with Candyohigh County um with the local homeless prevention aid fund. So I want to talk to you about how that's went so far and then um some different changes we're proposing for the future with that program.
So if you move to the program overview slide, um the local um basically local homeless prevention aid was created so local governments could help ensure that families with kids and youth avoid homelessness as much as possible. So
they've allocated funds to each county and local tribes um to develop programs that will then um hopefully prevent homelessness. UKAP serves people with from emergency housing to permanent supportive housing with people with disabilities and everything in between.
But ultimately, of course, our goal would be to prevent homelessness from happening at all in the in at all. Um the target populations for families are families with children ages um prek through 12 and they have to be experiencing some kind of housing
instability. So they could be living in overcrowded situations, paying more than 50% of their income towards rent, lacking a fixed regular and adequate nighttime residence or other situations like evictions, which is probably the most um common uh reason that people
come to see us. When it comes to unaccomp accompanied youth, all of those situations are also true, but they may be just in need of an alternate residence um in order to be eligible for the program. And this is something that we've been doing in most every pro in most every county that we've been
working with this program on. They have to be a targeted um in the targeted populations listed. The income eligibility is 300% of federal poverty guidelines. They must be a resident of the county um where the program is for at least 30 days. And they must not have
been served by the family homeless prevention assistance program. Maybe they're over income or their needs exceed the funding available and they need ongoing assistance. So, the reason for that is because UKAP also does receive the family homeless prevention and assistance program grant funds to
cover that 13 counties. Um, but we were finding that there were some families that were just over the income guidelines and that's very hard and fast. We, you know, if they're just a dollar over, we can't serve them with those funds. So, we've basically targeted these programs, the LHPA funds
to serve those who can't be served by the family homeless prevention and only in Candy Ohio County. So things that we do with the program or the program activities on the next slide. Um the biggest one is that we provide a rental assistance. Um we provide some other assistance like if they're behind on
their utilities and that's um causing their housing instability. But one important part is that we provide support and case management services to improve housing stability. And then we connect them with all the different resources in the communities that might be a way to surround them with supports
and help them to avoid this in the future. So basically it's we help them with the funds but we support them in trying to make sure that this is the last time that they become housing um unstable. So when it comes to the use of the last funds that we um were working together
with for LHPA um we served 30 unduplicated households and that was 97 unduplicated individuals. That's 2024 funds that had to be spent by the end of 2025. So that's kind of the time frame we were looking at. And when you look at the breakdown of
assistance on the next slide, the u by far the money that was used most often was for rent or deposit and a small amount was used for other direct assistance and that was primarily utilities. Um on the next slide, the breakdown of the total funds was about 55,600
and most of the funds were used directly to pay for um direct assistance for families. So this is rents going directly to landlords, utility payments going directly to the utility companies, and a um a smaller amount for d uh admin and supportive services. So a really
tiny amount for administration, but most of it for case management to work with those families on those supportive services. So like I said, this these have been primarily used to help fill the gaps where the family homeless prevention and assistance program isn't meeting the
need. And so it was really excellent as a gap filler. um we were able to um do some ongoing assistance with families if it was needed. Um and that's something else that the FHPAP program does not do. So if someone maybe needed a month or
two of assistance, we were able to assist them with a maximum of three months worth of assistance. Um 100% of the um people served participated at least in some case management. If it was ongoing, it had to be at least monthly. and 100% exited the
program with their housing stabilized. So, that was really good outcomes for the program. Um, when it comes to some of the situations that we see with people, some people have lost their lost their job and maybe they got a little bit behind on rent. So, sometimes they only needed a couple hundred dollar before their
next job would kick in and then we were able to stabilize them and that's all they really needed. Others it took them a little bit longer to increase their income so they could afford their housing ongoing. Um overall I think the um average amount of assistance that anyone was provided regardless of the
length of time they were in the program was around $1,500 with the low part being around $300 I think. Um so if you go to the upcoming year's funding there are two pots of money
that's are currently um available to Candyoa County. There's the 2025 funds um that have to be spent by the end of this year and then there are 2026 funds which is a reduced amount and that has to be spent by the end of 2027. So you in the last few months we've met
with Candyo High County and we talked about ways that we could improve the program and one of the things we decided was that we should put like a cap on the amount of assistance. So, we were considering $2,500 as the max amount of assistance um for families and that um financial literacy and budgeting
participation. So, even a little bit more than what we've been doing um to try to really stabilize families would be required if they require any kind of ongoing subsidy. So, it could be waved if they only required one-time assistance, but if they needed support for uh one or more extra months, they
had to participate in those other types of services. So, that's what we're proposing is to have it a little bit more intense for those longerterm families and then to place a cap on this year's funding. Does anyone have questions about the program? >> Any questions for the director?
>> Commissioner Anderson. >> So, I I serve on the UKAP board, so Angela kind of knows me, but um this isn't like easy street when they get on that. There's requirements that they have to do. They got to, you know, there's strings attached with these funds and and it doesn't go, the funds
don't go directly to that individual. Generally, it it goes more to like pay the utilities or the rent, >> right? It goes right to the property manager. No funds go directly to the client. And like we said, they have to participate in case management in order to get that next month's worth of
subsidy. So, if they don't participate, that doesn't happen. Um, I will say that uh UKAP is receiving some additional FHPAP dollars. One of the reasons why we're seeing such a crunch right now is because starting October 1st, there was a drastic increase across the state in
those funds. So, it was decreased by about 80%. Uh we went from having about $5 million in two years to serve our 13 counties to about $1 million in two years. And that was just because COVID and some special appropriated funds were
no longer available and it went back down to the base funding. Um we did find out that we're going to be receiving some additional dollars in the region um as well and UKAP um applied for and is going to be receiving those funds. It's not for sure exactly how much we'll be having for our um 13 counties, but that
will restore some of the funds that we had available. I think we'll be getting around $1.3 million for that program. But again, this program is for those that wouldn't qualify for FHPAP. So it's good news that we'll have more resources than we've been dealing with for the last several months. And you also help,
if I can, uh you also help them with budgeting and and try to get them back on their feet that way so that uh they can kind of see where where they got to focus their resources when they do hopefully get a job. But it I think it's a good program for the area because you
know sometimes the wheels just fall off when you're moving through life and need a little bit of a help and and so it gets them back in and they get to participate back in society and then when they pay taxes you guys help them do their taxes and with volunteers who
imag who can imagine volunteering for doing taxes but anyway that's another topic for me but it it really brings a lot of money back and I think was like 7 million something this last time and and it's it's amazing and and people that have low income >> and pretty much anybody when you get a
refund from the government, you're going to spend it and you spend it locally and that's just a great program, I think. >> Catching up on bills. You're you're right. We served over 3,000 households with that program and over $7 million in tax refunds. So, that was a that's a good program, too. Thanks, >> Commissioner Rimdick.
>> Uh yeah. Do you still have the automobile program where you take in donations and they get them fixed? And because it seems like uh access or reliable transportation to work is a huge factor in people um getting over
the hump on self uh self-s serving uh for their own good, >> right? That is a transportation is a huge issue particularly in our most rural areas. you know, they might be be able to afford to live in a smaller community, but the jobs are maybe in a larger communities, but if you can't get
there, it's really hard to hold out a job. Um, we do have that program still, so people can donate cars. It's pretty limited. We don't get a lot of donated cars, but when they do, we get them ready and out to the families that uh qualify for that program. Thanks,
>> Commissioner B. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just really like to comment about UKAP or United Community Action Partnerships been around for years and one of the things it does is be filling in the gaps or services that are needed and you've done such an excellent job of that. You know,
with regular county government, we have so many other rules and regulations specific that you have more flexibility to find those gaps and fill them and you've done a good job. Thank you. >> Thank you. We've been around 60 years this year. >> Yes. Okay.
All right. Well, then let's segue into the next item, which is a consideration of the local homeless pre aid contract. And our human services director, Caroline Khan, is here to present. Caroline, good morning. >> Good morning. As Commissioner Gardner said, I'm Caroline Khan. I have the opportunity to serve as the health and
human services director for Candy Ohio County. Um and before you for consideration is a continuation of our um purchase of service contract with UKAP for this year the 2025 funding period dollars um given to Candy Ohio
County um to facilitate our local homeless prevention aid dollars for the community. So as you will see it'll be $35,000. Um we did put up to $3500 per client internally. uh they will be having a $2,500 cap, but we wanted to
leave them the flexibility to as needed. Um we what we've noticed in the community is there is a an extreme um back rent issue that we keep encountering. So leaving some flexibility. Um we trust our partners. This is our third iteration of this
contract. Um and giving them the flexibility as needed and the autonomy to to to work with our clients um in that way. Um, as Angela mentioned, a priority will be focused on that budgeting and and case management support within this grant period. This
will finish out this year. Um, and then we will be able to focus on the next year or the current year 2026 funding period for the next year as we move forward and look forward to partnering continuing our partnership with UKAP in that time period as well. Um, I do have
an update on this funding. We did find out in the last legislative session that they are looking to extend this funding for another four years. So this is very minimal funding that the state legislature has put forward that is able to make a very significant impact in our local communities. So um very excited to
see that continue. So I staff recommendation it would be to uh approve the contract with uh UK United Community Action Partnership in the amount of 35,000. Questions for the director wishes of the board.
>> Mr. Chair, I'd like to uh make a motion to uh uh provide those um financial support for uh UKAP of up not to exceed 35,000. >> All right. Thank you. Is there a second?
>> I'll second it. >> We have a motion and a second to approve the uh contract with UKAP. discussion. None. All in favor say I. >> I. >> All opposed. Motion passes. Caroline. Thank you. >> Thank you.
>> And now we'll hear from Jennifer Swenson, Prairie Woods, ELC, uh, executive director, uh, on their funding request. Jennifer, good morning. >> Good morning. Thank you, chair and commissioners for having me back. Jennifer Slenson, executive director
with Prairiewoods Environmental Learning Center. And um just um to recap that at your last meeting, you approved resolution authorizing our application to the Greater Minnesota Legacy Grant and then
we talked about the project in more detail. Um, and then there was a funding request made by Prairie Woods and that was tabled until today's meeting so that all the commissioners would have the opportunity to participate. Um, so as I mentioned at our last at your last
meeting, uh, we've continued working to refine the project through our building and grounds committee and board and staff and um have already completed several rounds of refinements mainly to keep costs under control particularly with the education building. uh
renovation while still preserving the project's highest priorities which is accessibility. And um today we have uh continued to do cost estimates and we have um been able to work with the architects and
engineers as we're finalizing the application. And as I mentioned by focusing on the highest priorities, our maximum budget is now 3 million for the project. and that's what we're planning to um apply for as a maximum at the end
of this month. Um, and so we are still preserving the project's core improvements, the new accessible lower level entrance with an interior connection and parking closer to the building, additional parking, the flat accessible walkway that addresses the
long-standing challenges that we talked about in more detail last time, um, which is access to the building without so much effort. Um so before you today is um a conditional
county commitment funding of $250,000 to be used only if Prairie Woods is awarded the Greater Minnesota Regional um park legacy grant and then Prairie Woods is um prepared to contribute up to $750,000
in local matching funds. Um, so the county's participation would allow us to submit a very strong grant application and to maximize as much uh state funding as possible in that way for these improvements to this
county-owned public facility that will, you know, improve um its access and use for residents and visitors for many years to come. Um, and from the county's perspective, the $250,000
is contingent upon receiving the grant and would be funded throughout the life of the grant, which is multi-year, not to be spent all at once. Um, thank you for your consideration. There's many at the table that are
involved with the project. So, um, I'm happy to answer questions or be involved in discussion at this point. All right, questions for Jennifer. Commissioner MD, >> not so much. A question that I was at the uh governing board meeting last
night. We went over much of this last night and it some tough decisions had to be made with some between wants and needs, I guess you could say. the the upper level is uh had been um envisioned to have some improvements and
and some uh efficiencies made and we've had to set those aside to focus on the real need. And if you look scroll down to one of the pictures of as you walk up, uh that's a great facility, but it's starting to see some age. And therefore,
I'm going to support the request and make a motion that we uh approve the $250,000 as uh contingent on the grant. >> Thank you. We have a motion. Is there a second?
>> I'll second it. >> Have a motion and a second to approve the funding request. Discussion. >> Uh Commissioner B. Uh, and just a question about the where's the money going to come from? It's
>> if I may, um, this isn't a budgeted item, so if approved by the board, we would pull it from reserves. And in conversations with Jennifer, and correct me if I'm wrong, it wouldn't necessarily come out of one year. We could budget for it, you know, in 2728.
Um, if not 27, we could budget for it in 28 then or just pull from reserves. Um if the board would like to be specific in that request or um we would put money into the budget for 27 or 28 or just pull from reserves
>> or some com combination there. >> Correct. >> Yep. >> Uh leave that up to the discretion of uh of the administrator and uh and her team >> as to where the funding comes from. Appreciate
that. Thank you. uh the 7 750,000 uh I assume that that comes out of uh some reserves that you folks have as well. >> Correct. Yep. Through some private donations, trust contributions that we've been saving over quite a period of
time now for this project. That's like I said, our highest priority. Um and a great partnership with Greater Minnesota Regional Parks and Trails Commission um with their funding. Mr. Chair. Yes.
>> So, part of the what you're asking is, you know, how does Prairie Woods uh generate income? And we have a lot of programs out there that uh for the youth, but I'll put a shameless plug in for about
one and a half months from now or or just over a month from now is the Music Under the Stars annual event that is held every year. It's the major fundraiser for the organization every year. And there's uh if you've never been to it, it's a very enjoyable evening and an opportunity to support a
really good regional uh uh function and and project. >> Commissioner B. Uh, I've been impressed ever since it was organized and Kandui County took that step to do that and it's I find it hard not to be supportive of it and it certainly does need some
upgrades but it's it's got such a big footprint when it comes to tourism in Kandui County and as we all know that's our second biggest industry and it's a good investment. It's a very good investment. >> All right, anyone else? All right, we have a motion a second to
approve the funding request. Uh, all in favor say I. I. >> All opposed. That motion passes. Thank you, Jennifer. Good luck with the application. >> Thank you very much. We'll continue to keep you posted on the application progress. Thanks. >> Very good. At this time, we have zoning
administrator Eric Van Dyken. Uh and uh here to talk about a nuisance abatement. >> Eric, good morning. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair, members of the board, Eric Van Dyken, County Zoning Administrator, here before you today
with a um action item request relating to a um nuisance concern. Um the staff proposed um action would be for the board to order the abatement of the
nuisance in question and that the uh abatement cost be assessed to the property. Um the property in question is owned by Roger Moon. It's in um just north of uh Long Lake um North Long here
in the county on 212th Avenue. Um the a portion of the nuisance has been abated. Specifically, the unlicensed vehicles have become licensed. So that that portion of the nuisance is no longer um of concern. the um the item or the area
of concern that remains is the condition of the home on site. Um the home has had a um fairly large hole in the roof for a good number of years now and it has rendered the home to be in a a very poor condition. A lot of water of course has
come through that um roof and has caused collapse and structural concerns within the house. So, um, that is probably an overview. If you have questions, I could, uh, do my best to respond to them.
>> Uh, questions for >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh, Eric, last time we postponed this, uh, action because we were a little uncomfortable whether or not the uh, homeowners had received the um, notice. Do you know
that that they have and that they received the notice? and number one uh number one and number two was their response. >> Yeah. So um on June 17th Gary uh did speak to Mr. Moan who had indicated that
he had been late in receiving some of the communication. Gary then also did um send out a letter um certified mail return receipt on that same day and that was uh signed for on June 25th by Wanda
Moan and um so that uh that is confirmation that they've received the notices >> and if I may did they indicate that they were going to take any action or they were comfortable with us just mitigating it as we see fit or was was
>> there was no more discussion about anticipated further action, just a uh um just a notice that this this action was potentially upcoming. >> And so how would you see the mitigation taking place? The cars are gone or at least they're licensed at this point,
but the house is still pretty tough shape. >> Mitigation in in this case would would consist of um demolition and uh um disposal of the home. Okay. And the cost of doing that would then be applied to the taxes.
>> That's correct. >> And I think we asked last time if the taxes were current. I'm not sure you had that. >> They were. >> They were current. Okay. >> Thank you. >> All right. Uh is there anyone here uh uh
are the homeowners uh in attendance at all today? >> Uh would you care to uh address us in any way? >> Sure. Um, >> and uh, uh, yeah. Yeah, I'll pull that down towards you and just introduce
yourself and your address. And, uh, I'm Roger Moan. I'm the owner of that property you're just talking about. And, uh, let's just say it this way. Ever since I moved out there, our one neighbor has been calling pretty much anybody and everybody under the sun. I
have had cops out there at least a hundred times for stupid things because the one homeowner, they just don't like the way the place looks. They ever since we moved out there, it's just been one hassle after another after
another after another. And right now, we just can't afford to fix anything right now. We're trying. We're doing the best we can. We had to move out back in November. My wife had to do all that by herself. While she was
doing that, I was in the hospital off in Fargo. While there, I found out I have a bone infection. I need a special operation. And the people that are working with me are trying to find the doctor to do it. And it's just been it's been a nightmare
from day one here. And we're just we're doing the best. And like the for the vehicles I at at one time I thought you could have vehicles on your property, but I guess you can't unless they're licensed. So we're keeping the license up to date. We just
got them we just didn't get get out there in time. And the one thing I would like to know who's going onto my property to look at these vehicles because they're not near the road. One's behind the house. And for somebody to even see it, they have to literally walk
onto my property and get back there to look at it. So, somebody I'm not talking to anybody that works for you. Somebody personal is calling and they've been going on my property without primary permission and I can't do anything because I don't
know who they are and with the laws and everything. They nobody with the county can tell me because it's all anonymous and I don't know who to talk to about that. I have one neighbor that's watching the property for me right now
and he's keeping the grass cut and everything, keeping it look right because if I don't cut the grass, all the neighbors are literally yell at me. They'll go on to the they'll be on the road and if I'm outside they yell at me and it just just we've been dealing with
this for 19 years and it just it got so bad few years ago the last sheriff we had he actually told his deputies to quit coming out because he said the calls are just ridiculous.
They're call about uh dogs not getting walked. Uh supposedly at one time we our house was full so full of dog poop that I couldn't get through it. I'm in a wheelchair. If I run over dog poop, it's going to be on my wheels. It just the the different things that I've had child
protection out there. I've had adult protective services. I've gone through every single county action to get help and I'm either got too much money or the house doesn't qualify. And I right now we're just trying our
best to just stay above water. And if I could afford to sell it, I would because you sell your property, you got to clean it out anyways. And to tear it down, I need money to do that. And it's just right now we're just like I said, we're just barely staying afloat. Like me and
my wife, we don't know how much longer we'll be able to stay in the apartment that we're in right now cuz my my income ain't that great. I I went to banks and they told me I don't have an income. I go to the county. The county says I have too much money. So, I'm I'm I'm literally banging my
head against the wall. I talked to one company that, you know, try to get the roof fixed. They won't work on it because it's a modular home. They don't consider it a real home. They told me to burn the place down and start all over. So, I'm like I said, I'm just pretty much screwed.
I mean, the house, yes, it's in bad shape. I'm not going to lie. It needs to be completely redone or tear down. One to two. And I've been looking at trailers and the cheapest trailer I found was, you know, $14,000. I ain't got that kind of money,
you know, and I have one neighbor offer me to buy a place, but like I said, for me to sell it, I got to empty it out, you know, and that's going to cost money, too. And my wife can't do it because when she moved us out, she got a what to I think they call it a hernia,
you know. So, I'm just right now I'm just trying to, you know, get by until I can figure out what's going on with my health and everything. And I I I don't know what to tell you guys anymore. And like I said, I've just I'm been banging my head against the wall.
Everywhere I turn, it's always no. I went to TriCap, uh, Habitat for Humanity, they have all said, "No, we can't help you." I go to the social services, they say, "Oh, we'll help you. We'll help and then two weeks later go, "Oh, we can't help you. You make too much money or you don't qualify
or if you do qualify, here's $75 in food stamps." That's the most they could ever give us, you know? So, it's like I don't know what to do. Um, >> thank you for listening, >> Mr. Chair. Commissioner, >> so you mentioned consideration of
tearing it down. Have you gotten an estimate as to what it would cost to tear it down and and prove that you can I know that much because, you know, to get like a an excavator or whatever out there, that's a couple thousand dollars
right there alone. I know that much. >> Does staff have any idea of what it might cost? Because we have public works do it or hire somebody. Correct. >> Works. >> Yep. Um because I know no matter which way I go,
you got to get a dumpster to get the stuff put in the dump, then it goes to the dump and whatever. >> Well, and you can appreciate the position that we're in as the board and what the community is in. So, we have to find some way forward to to to mitigate this both for your benefit and for our
benefit. So, >> yeah. >> And the one thing that gets me is I do I know who's doing all these callings, but since I don't have a name, I can't do anything. And I'm not afraid if I confront them, it's going to get ugly,
you know. And I, me and my wife, we we don't know what to do. When when we bought this place, we thought we got a great deal. We turned out we we got a great deal. All right. Turned out the shingles were actually recalled and nobody told us. There's no
waterproofing. It's just it we found out why we got the place so cheap. I'd like to I'd like to ask our county attorney Shane Baker. Uh Shane, what you
know is there anything else that we should know as a board uh in terms of process options? >> Uh at this point I I couldn't give that kind of legal opinion. is just
looking into that. >> Yeah, cuz we were told that we had to move out of her or the county attorney was going to evict us or something like that. I'm not exactly sure what the deal was. So, my wife, she worked with a social worker from adult protective
services. They found us at a permanent. Um, like I said, while that was all going on, I was up in Fargo. >> Okay. Anything else you would like to add?
ju just that uh I would I would just love to hang on to this property because that's the only thing that we actually own that I could cuz I do know there's going to be a day that I'm going to be gone. It's just that's life and I'd like to have something to give over
to my son and daughter and my wife so they'd have something to turn on to for financial. That's my, you know, hope. But my biggest hope is actually get this place fixed up so it doesn't look so bad because that's what the biggest problem
that these people have is the looks. And they've let me know many times they don't like the way I was doing things out there. I mean, we had a hole underneath our house at one time. My wife tried to fix it. Neighbor came over and yelled at her, "You can't fix that because the the the cats that live here
need someplace to go." Well, we we said, "Okay, fine." Next thing you know, the hole underneath my house got destroyed by these cats. They ripped out all the insulation. There's frozen pipes. I mean, it was just ugly. And we And if we try to say
something to them, they say that we're in the wrong. This one person that out there, he thinks he's in charge of the whole property. I'm not the only one that's ever had problems with these people. That's why I'm not going to say who's helping me because if they find out, they'll make his life a living hell.
And we had one gentleman that helped us. These people are so bad that this gentleman's girlfriend broke up with him because he was helping us. And I asked, "Well, are you sure you should?" He said, "No, that's the reason she broke up with him because he was
being helpful. I I just I don't understand these people, and I don't understand what their problem is with me and my property. Yes, I know what a house with a hole in the roof. It doesn't look great, but they don't know my pension issues,
my situation or anything. >> Mhm. >> I ended up buying $5,000 worth of lumber thinking we can get up there and fix it. And then my wife ended up getting sicker, so she couldn't get up there and I can't afford to hire anybody. So, I I mean, like I said, we're just we don't
know what to do anymore sometimes. >> Thank you. So chair, >> thank you for listening. >> Commissioner, yes, just maybe a couple questions too if if I may. Um, looking at this, I I commend you, you know, efforts you have made, you know, that apparently you're paying your taxes and
you license the cars, except this, you know, just can't go on either. So what what would be the procedure then? If we move on this, then we clean it up and then sell the property. And if there's no, we would just clean it up and put it on their taxes.
>> Yep. >> So, >> that's the board's option. >> Okay. >> See, I have children and nobody else can help you even though you want to give it to them. >> Yeah. I just I mean, I can't even turn
to my family because it's that's a whole another story. >> Okay. But it's I I mean we had to leave a lot of our property in the house in the garage, you know, we just didn't have room for it, so we had to leave it there and we're kind of using the
building as storage right now. You know, >> if I may, the the language, this is in the Kandy Countyy's nuisance or ordinance. Um and the language does say if the the owner, the responsible party does fail to comply. Um it is the wishes
of the board if there's documentation that prove that and if they have had communication. Um but it would be the wishes of the board but the process if the responsible party fails um to move towards the abatement process.
>> Commissioner. So Mr. If you had a had some time to come up with a plan, you think you could come up with a plan for mitigating the nuisance because we are required by the nuisance.
However, I would ask the county attorney. Um, you know, >> as I know, if I understand everything right, the biggest nuisance is the hole in the roof and the licensed vehicles, but I'll stay on that. That's no problem cuz I'm keeping the vehicles as a backup for the
vehicle we have because with my medical situation, I had to I got to have a car cuz I've already driven like I said all the way up to Fargo just to see a doctor and next doctor you're going to send me to is out in South Dakota. But to answer my question, if we had if
you had some additional time, would you be able to come up with a plan to keep us from using our resources to mitigate the >> I honestly I wish I could say yes, but I really don't know. I I I I want to say yes and actually do this, but I
don't know. >> The way my luck has been going is probably going to be no. Um, I'm going I'm going to ask uh Eric to come back up. Roger, thank you so much. >> Thank you for listening us know this
information, >> Eric. In in in the process, uh, has the home been determined to be not habitable and and and it has to come down? It has been determined by the building official that the home is not habitable. That's
correct. >> Okay. And so it's structurally unsound and and all of and and and all of those things that would trigger an action like this. >> That is correct. >> Just just to follow up on that, >> Commissioner Berg question. So just
fixing the roof is not going to solve the problem. It's a matter of safety, health and safety uh trying to live in that. Correct. Structurally the trusses are are significantly compromised. The the roof has collapsed or ceilings have collapsed and the floor is significantly
compromised. Aerial photography does indicate that water would been again at least five six years. Um so that that course of time and and moisture over that course of time does um significantly impact the structural integrity.
>> So may I follow up? So, it's not realistic to repair anything at this point. >> Well, I would just say that a repair would be a significant undertaking and would have to be working with the building official to ensure that's done in a in a way that meets code and and is
itself a safe repair. >> Commissioner room. >> Thank you. I recall shortly after becoming a commissioner about a a complaint that we had over on in the Eagle Lake area and I can't remember the address, but I want
to say it's on the kind of the souththeast side of Eagle Lake where there was a structure that was uh in terrible condition. And I believe at that time a decision was made that um there's nothing we could do about it because it
didn't meet some standards and the taxes were up to date. Now before I can support this abatement, I would like a review of what the ruling was on that property. Uh and is it still there? I think it's referred to as the pink
something. uh pink house or pink is I know there was a lot of consternation about mitigating that and the decision was we can't do it because of and I think it was because the taxes were were current
>> this is the commissioner Berg do you recall this >> yes I do the details of it no but in many ways it's a whole different situation and it says that person you know wasn't having the health problems like this situation of somebody who just
wanted to live there and just that's how he wanted to live and in that condition. This is a whole different thing and he can't transportation's an issue of you know getting food and everything. This is a lot different situation. >> Well, but still you have issues.
Exactly. Right to choose where they want to live. >> I could be wrong about this but it >> it seems like this was a place for them. you know, they might have lived someplace else and it was a place for them to go to. Some like some of us have a cabin offsite from our home that we go
to. Um, you know, so I I'm just I'm not going to support mitigating this at this point until I can get some and I see the county attorney making some notes. Um, get some recall as to what happened in
that case because if there was precedence there, it may apply here. >> Mr. Mr. Chair, if I may, um, Commissioner Mik, do you recall the year or approximate time frame for that? >> Well, it had been the last 12 and a half
years since I was a commissioner at the time, but uh, it was early in my in my 12 years, but >> they were living there full- time. >> No, they weren't living there. >> It was their place, a second place for them, just like it appears to be in this
case now. He's living in they're living in an apartment and I I don't know that our nuisance ordinance distinguishes between wanting to live in some place and place to come to to hang out.
I just would feel more comfortable getting the background and the ruling on that one. >> Do you recall where on the lake that property was located? Not not I wouldn't have the address but I seem to recall it was on the southeast side near that Lawler Beach area where you Lawler Beach
Road I think it's called I see public maybe you know the place >> is it still there >> and is it ever been nothing's ever changed there and if this if this
moves to mitigation then that should say then the other one could be mitigated too and probably should be. >> I think this Mr. Chair this Thank you, Mr. Chair. This is a different situation to but I still think maybe legally we need some advice at
this point. It's a different situation that one. So I'm thinking that we can't I can't mentally compare it that well. This is a situation that that um maybe not have the resources but
it's it's a nuisance. The ordinance is there, right? >> Mr. Chair. >> Yes. >> If I may, uh I would just note that staff has simply proceeded according to the language of the of the ordinance um and the process laid out for us and um
that leads to the recommendation that's in front of you. >> Yeah. >> Yep. and we and and we understand your process and your uh and and your recommendation, >> Mr. Chair. >> Yeah. I think the the concern is if we
proceed, are we legally based on the information to uh okay to do that in the county? >> Mr. Chair, and I apologize that I didn't think about that situation last time when we postponed this decision to
today. Um but I guess I would move to postpone it one more to one more board meeting the next board meeting um to to get a explanation of how that one was handled on on Eagle Lake. >> Well, I guess
Kend County Attorney Baker I think I would you you know want to hear back that these decisions this is legal and we can do it. So we have a motion to postpone until date certain our final decision on this
to our next meeting uh which would be the first meeting in uh August. Is there a second? >> I'll second that. Mr. Chair, >> we have a motion and a second discussion. >> Mr. Chair,
>> yes. I and I would encourage the owner to to if you have a plan or can have a plan that you get that to us by the next meeting or there's feels like there's going to be a likelihood that a decision will be made and so um you know
>> I can >> we're doing the best we we can as well to satisfy neighbors and the nuisance ordinance that we have. >> All right. Uh, we have a motion in a second. Any other discussion? >> Could I say Could I say one thing as a
building official? >> You may. >> Chris Lson, Kate County building official here. So, I do remember that house. Roger. It's on Marway Beach. That one doesn't have no physical structural damage to it. Right now, the roof has been reshingled. So, everything watertight has been being kicked out,
kept out. So, that I can say on that one. currently just by doing our inspections around the county and seeing it. So that's probably why there's no more talk of that one. >> But that's true. >> At the time,
um that wasn't the case. It went for some time after that. I believe there was vegetation growing up through the sophets and through the roof. And the decision was made based on those conditions that day, not on if you would get it fixed, you know, going forward. They did decide to get it fixed, but I'm
just in the abundance of caution suggesting that we get the opinion from the county attorney. >> Thank you. >> All right, we have a motion and a second. Any final discussion? All in favor of the motion say I.
>> I. >> All opposed? No. Four eyes, one no. The motion is agreed to and we will stand in recess for 10 minutes. Okay. Well, I'm sure you can.
>> T, are you ready? >> Find a time that works. >> Okay, we're >> the Candy Ali County Board of Commissioners is back from recess. Uh at this time we will hear from uh our HHS
supervisors uh in regard to uh the uh data sharing agreement. Uh and uh uh Dana and Carrie uh please introduce yourselves and uh tell us what you have for us today. >> Dana Wenish, financial assistance
supervisor. And I'm Carrie Sharp, financial assistance supervisor. Um our ask today that we're coming with is we are looking for approval of a data sharing agreement. Uh what this is is it's something it's a pilot project with DCIFF or the department of children,
youth, and families in collaboration with our caseworks program which is our electronic filing system program. What they're doing is they're teaming together to um create anformational only portal for clients to be able to look up
the status of their cases. So, they can use this portal if they haven't gotten approved yet. Instead of calling um or coming in, they can take this portal and look to see, oh, I'm still missing my payubs. I'm still missing my residency verifications.
>> Sorry, I didn't know where you >> No, that's okay. So, right now, this is not available for the healthcare cases. So, it's not something that's going to replace our portal that we have through caseworks. is something that's going to work really well for the clients that have like that shorter approval time. Um
cases like snapping cash have a much shorter window that they have to have those cases approved. So there is often a lot of interaction with these clients or a little bit more urgency to get documentation from them. So we feel it'll be beneficial for those clients
and for the workers if we would be able to do this this program >> cutting down on the phone calls um and in agency the emails there's no cost to Candyo County with this program um and it will be able to provide that real
time update for clients and workers. >> All right. Uh questions. Yeah. Other counties doing the similar thing? >> There's a handful. Um I thought they had said >> I thought I saw something there. >> Yeah, there's maybe like 11 or 12 I believe. Um they asked for voluntary
participation and um I put our name in the hat to see if they'd let us give it a whirl and we were chosen as one of the pilot projects. So >> and so then the counties that are already participate participating in this, they are seeing a reduction in
calls. Yes. and people being able to look at this themselves and say, "Oh, I need this that." >> Yes. And it helps that it's 247, >> you know, so it's outside our business hours, so if somebody works at the same time we work and they're not able to contact us, they can check on it while
we're not here. >> Sure. Sure. Uh and that'll segue well into the next uh item that you're going to talk to us about as well. uh administrator >> say elaborate on and you did you just elaborated on that now uh clients will
be able to access this at 6 pm or if they are getting off their shift at 10 p.m. they can follow up instead of you know if they don't have time to call and then that all gets lost and then things get behind. >> Um so if there was anything else that was missing I think that's a really important piece of this is that um we're
allowing our clients to access this information outside of normal business hours to keep things moving and overall reduce those calls. >> Yeah, Dana and I do believe this will help with our 7-day snap window as well. So, that reduces >> the motion then. >> Yeah, that's
>> uh so so this is >> so this would be a we would need a motion to authorize staff to enter into the data sharing agreement uh with uh next chapter technology. Is there a motion to that effect? >> I so move. >> Thank you. And a second.
>> I'll second that, Mr. Chair. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? >> M Commissioner Mdeck, >> I'm wondering you you mentioned about the segue into the next subject which isn't an action item, but it seems to tie into
maybe substantiating the rights that you have for this data sharing. Is that is that what that is? >> Um sort of Leah. So, what what we're looking at more of the tie is is the time saved for our eligibility workers that can help cut
down on some of the um the lags that we're having. >> So, Eva can only share public information. Eva can't go into the our programs to share that information. This program is able to share that client
information and they create a secure account. So, they're logging into a secure account with the two-step um Yeah. Thank you. So, the clients are able to actually see their information versus calling in and just asking
>> Correct. And if they called in and asked Eva, "Where's my what's the status of my SNAP application?" They're going to have to talk to their worker. >> Got it. Thank you. >> So, yep. >> All right. Anyone else? Have a motion, a second to approve the
request. All in favor say I. I. >> All opposed. That motion passes. And uh Eva update. >> This one's Leah. She can come help me with some statistics that she got. >> Hey, good morning.
>> Hey, good morning everybody. Um I'm Leah Fernelius, administrative coordinator for health and human services and we are working on for all of Health and Human Services implementing the EVA project in basically multiple phases. However, we
have gone live with EVA um RNR which is um >> rights and responsibilities. I couldn't think of that. I was thinking of rest and relaxation but that was not the right thing. Um >> wouldn't that be nice? It would be nice and I really want to share um where they
are. Dana's unit has been primarily the unit that has used this and what rights and responsibilities is. If you remember from your demo is every time they do an application for SNAP, they have to read a rights
responsibilities. It is like 10 miles long. It goes on forever in English. if they have to use an interpreter, basically that 10 mile long document has to be read twice. Once by the English speaking person and then
interpreted by the um natural language person. So as of last night, as of yesterday evening, we launched this on June 11th. We've had 159 calls go to EVA rights and
responsibilities. That has saved 21 hours and 41 minutes of staff time, reading rights and responsibilities, which in reality that is low because it doesn't take in
consideration that right now we have Spanish available that there isn't interpreter time figured in with that or interpreter billing time as well. So, it's it would actually be more, but it's very hard to determine what that is when you don't have that interpreter in
there. Um, of those 159 calls, 153 calls were completed. That means that the person that listened to the rights and responsibilities did provide a response and that was noted. So then the staff can go in and finish their process of
that SNAP application because the rights and responsibilities has been completed. We had six uh calls that terminated. The staff can see that they can call that person back. Two of those six were us testing. So only four have hung up at
this point in time. We are also um soon going to be launching the Somali version of rights and responsibilities that will greatly increase more staff time. Um do you have any questions on rights and responsibilities? That portion.
>> Commissioner Mdeck and then Commissioner Burke. >> Well, I would make number five hanging up on before I heard it. It reminds me of the agreements that you have to scroll through. >> It's exactly it's exactly that. Do they get an opportunity to fast
forward and say, "Yeah, I agree." >> But they can't fast forward. They have to. And that's one thing that's required is they have to do that. That is part of the requirements. >> Even if they get up and cup of coffee, >> they can't because they ask somewhere in
the middle for you to attest to this. You can't do that. >> Okay. U How long does it actually take to go through that? Eight minutes and 27 seconds on average. >> Feels like 28 minutes. >> Yeah.
>> Yeah. Trust me, our workers feel like it's about 10 times that amount. >> But now think of you have a, you know, if it was, you know, two months ago before we launched and you've got a Spanish speaking person or Somali speaking person, you've now doubled that because you have to read it. the
interpreter has to say it and you keep going back and forth in small sections where we don't once Somali is launched we don't have to deal with that >> Mr. Chair. >> Yes. >> So how many times a year month does this happen?
>> Daily multiple times a day. >> So that would have been several hours of staff time when you add up those 18 minutes or whatever it is and sometimes times two over here. >> If you look at this that's five weeks. Um, and it's 159 calls. So,
>> is this an action item? >> No, that's not an action item. >> It's an update. Don't worry. >> You've taken the action. And the peak is interesting because the peak times are 11:00, 1:00, and the 2 o'clock hour. So, our staff are pushing people to EVA RNR
the most at those times. But it is available, you know, really at at all times of the day for us. If if we happen to have somebody working at 1:00 in the morning, they can push it to Eve at 1:00 in the morning for RNR. We don't, but
it's there. It is a 247. As well as if we have, let's just say in a crazy world, we had 50 staff and all 50 staff pushed people to RNR at the same time, she can do it. So,
>> well, I'm glad to hear that the that it's moving forward and that we're looking at some possibilities of um some great times. >> I think it, Mr. Chair, if I may. >> You may. >> It really checks off the boxes for government. You know, um people campaign
on on the two E of efficiency and effective. And this is being very efficient and I think it's an important thing to do, >> right? And on the EVA side with the rights and responsibilities, even if um the so what happens on our dashboard side, if this person says their name and
they kind of mumble it, it's not super clear. We can listen to the recording and hear their voice uh attest to their rights and responsibilities. So we have that that piece in there. >> All right. Anyone else?
>> I just want to update you on a phone, too. >> Yes, please. So, Eva Phone is the piece that you guys were thinking about when they were talking about um the the status tracker. So, Eva Phone is our AI attendant that can answer questions. no
personal information, no access in, but um we are working on getting that launched so that um when citizens call in, they will be greeted by um Eva to help answer any questions they might have. A lot of times they're just
looking for some information and Eva can do that. We are also launching that in phases. The first phase that we'll launch will once again be income maintenance. So right now when you call uh 231-7800 you get a tree of choices of things to
do. If you select one once we launch Eva will be the first first grab of that to say hey I'm Eva. I'm an AI assisted phone person and I can answer any questions. If they say hey I want to speak to my worker she'll transfer to the worker. If they say hey I just need
to know what it takes to apply for SNAP. She'll be able to help with that. So, we're still in the process of getting that done, working um very closely with Scott and it because this is also part of the Microsoft phone piece. So, um
Scott has signed the contract and we're waiting for Microsoft to process that contract so we can get the licenses to get those phones set up in the income maintenance portion. So, once that's in there, then we'll be able to continue to move forward launching that.
>> So, Mr. Sure. >> So, someone remind us what our investment in EVA has been to because there's different um components that we can purchase sort of all a cart. But what what did we commit to? >> We committed to EVA phone and EVA rights
and responsibility. The one that we did not comp um commit to was called Eva Companion. And Eva Companion is behind the scenes to for staff behind the scenes. It's not a forward- facing piece. It's a backfacing piece. maybe
something we move to later on, but right now we're not going to focus on the EVA companion. I don't remember what our cost investment was >> about 150,000 for two years up front. >> Yeah, they locked in that price for two years.
>> Can't remember it was 115. >> Yeah. And they've been a an amazing company to work with and work on getting things done. Um, also there is a state user group because more and more counties in the state are using it. So we have a state user group meeting every month to talk about things that are very
specific to Minnesota, especially our Somali speaking population and getting that moving forward. >> I u I think my local pharmacy uses something similar. It may even be I'm not I'm not sure. But every once in a
while I get I get texts, you know, this is whatever my your AI uh pharmacy assistant and your prescription for X is ready. >> So which is kind of a nice thing. >> Yeah.
>> All right. Uh and so this was a this piece is just for information only. We already voted on the other. >> Yep. So you determined that. >> Appreciate that. Yep. We just want you to know what's going on with that project since it's rather large. >> All right. Outstanding.
>> Any final questions? >> No. >> Have a great Thank you. >> Thank you so much. At this time, I'll ask uh County Auditor Treasurer Lisa Whis to uh come up uh with a request for appointments.
>> Good morning. Lisa Whis, Candy County Auditor Treasurer. I'm here to request appointment of two commissioners to the 2026 primary election canvasing board. Per Minnesota statute 204 C.31, the county needs to appoint two
commissioners to the county canvasing board. The appointed commissioners may not be candidates for election. Both Commissioner Berg and Commissioner Gardner, who meet the criteria of not being candidates for the election, have volunteered to serve on the canvasing board. The canvasing board will meet on
August 13th at 1 p.m. in the conference room at the county office building 400 Benson Avenue Southwest. I request the board to act on resolution 202630 that appoints Commissioner Berg and Commissioner Gardner to the 2026 primary
election canvasing board. >> So moved on the resolution 2026-30. >> Thank you. Is there a second? >> I'll second that, Mr. Chair. We have a motion and a second to approve the appointments to the canvasing board. Discussion
hearing none. All in favor say I. >> All opposed. That motion passes. Lisa, thank you. >> Thank you. >> You >> administrator Baker with a uh uh 2026 fiber internet project update.
>> Kelsey Baker, Kio County Administrator. before you today, you have a request from um I almost said the the broadband committee um but not quite the broadband committee, but it did resonate within the broad broadband committee through KCED um for the Whitefield Township to
continue um making that connection. Before prior to this, it was brought forward to use uh the remaining ARPA dollars. Since then, we found out we should there should have been a contract in place. Um since then with internal discussions um with commissioners Mark
Bash and our broadband previous broadband chair committee um or broadband committee chair and then KCED they've had conversations with Whitefield Township. I've had conversations with Vibrant. We feel that this is um for connectivity a good
project to see to fruition. And so prior the the the original dollar amount to ask was $100,800 and today the ask is $88,927.98. Um this would be 28% of the total cost
um for 70 passings in Sava in Whitefield Township. And so therefore, I would recommend um these dollars would come from reserves um and would be one-time expenditures when requested from Vibrant to complete the project.
>> All right. Uh thank you for that. Any questions for Administrator Baker? >> Um Mr. Chair, I make a motion that uh we proceed with this and find the reserves out of or find the resources or the dollar amount out of the reserves. I'll
second that motion. >> All right, we have a motion and a second. Uh uh any discussion? Uh Commissioner MDC. >> Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair. So there, as you recall, there was some leftover dollars, ARPA dollars for broadband at
the time, we had to make a commitment. And so actually those dollars went into reserves and now they're just kind of coming back out. So it's not it's not new levy dollars that are being used here. Although even if it was, I'd probably support it. But the other thing about this project is if this project
gets done, then Vibrant gets to uh has been approved for some line extension grants, which don't cost us anything. So, it's really more >> more drops than what is indicated here that will take place as a result. >> And if I may, Mr. Chair, to Commissioner Mikke's point, this wouldn't be the
first time the county put in levy dollars for a broadband project. Um there were a few projects from the beginning that the county put in the 50,000 to match a township. Um so this wouldn't be um you know that we're setting a precedent. This has happened before. We tried to use those ARPA
dollars and I would say the county with the broadband committee were very successful. Ku Kandandy County was very well known down at the state with deed with their broadband department on going after those dollars with our matching ARPA dollars. Um so I I agree with Commissioner Mike's statement. This is
just opening the door for the line extension grant as well. >> Yeah, there were a lot of areas that those ARPA dollars could have gone into and uh the county at that time and I was just coming on at that time made the
solid commitment uh to uh put these all towards 75% of those AARPA dollars towards broadband and I it's a it's a tangible benefit uh to the entire county. Uh, Commissioner Berg, did you have your hand up? >> Uh, yes, I did. Uh, just quick question.
I think it was even higher than 75%, but yeah, it was significant amount. I'm very proud of being part of that with the board that that we made that decision. And along that same line, it's I just want to say it's it's if it was levy dollars uh and and if we have
plenty of levy dollars, I think this is infrastructure and this is a good expenditure. And you know, we we made a lot of progress. We still got a ways to go. You know, it wouldn't be a bad thought to even look every year at our levy dollars. What more can we do? And
just be an automatic thing that we might want to budget for this to finally get to a certain point to match and we'd budget try to match other funds and so forth, just not just to pay it straight out. Th this item on the agenda did uh poke the bear a little bit
because I was getting phone calls yesterday about hey what about my township area of the township and >> uh I'd remind folks that these have to be initiated by the internet service provider. We can't say hey >> spectrum or hey vibrant why don't you go
although I've tried >> um >> they have to make the decision that it makes sense for them based on other resources that may or may not be available to them. So, >> sure. >> Uh hopefully more of that will happen um
as they get their infrastructure built. What was the one from rural that didn't cost anything? Vibrant did so many um >> I know Atwater they uh they came in and did Atwater. >> There was one USDA grant though that
allowed companies to apply for grants that didn't cost any matching dollars. No broad no borderto- border money. uh but it was contingent on being a very low population area. Well, that allowed them to expand their map by quite a bit and now they may be able to go into some
areas uh because they got that close to a more populated area. So, hopefully that continues. >> All right, any other questions? >> I just want to say one thing since it's in my district, I appreciate all the support for uh this little community of
Sava to uh move forward and get uh fiber to the home. Outstanding. And uh with that uh and uh no other questions uh we'll move to move the question. All in favor say I. I. >> All opposed. That motion passes. Thank
you. >> Uh we are now down to uh administrative updates, appointments, calendar, and committee reports. Uh I think in the interest of time uh if you have any uh committee report uh maybe just keep it
to one today. Um because we will be moving downstairs into our work session shortly. Uh any administrative updates? Uh I note uh on the calendar we have uh a tour uh following our board meeting on
August 4th over at Safe Avenues and another budget work session following our board meeting on August 18th next month. So uh anything else that anyone else wishes to cover? Commissioner B. >> Thank you Mr. Chair. Just a quick update
on the Prairie Lakes youth program and u that the current building that we're leasing to buy uh uh we're moving forward on that and made a decision to that yes we want to buy that building that we're using for classrooms and
right now and we get reimbursed to a large degree from the uh school system but also it's good office space for us now too and we're in the process of just checking which banks to go with you do have uh options from several banks.
>> Very good. Uh does anyone else have anything they wish to report on? >> All right. Hearing none, then uh we will adjourn the uh uh this meeting of the Kandai County Board of Commissioners and we'll reconvene for a work session
downstairs uh momentarily. Thank you.