e e e e e e e go good morning everyone and welcome to the candyi County Board of Commissioners meeting for Tuesday March 25th 2025 uh
please stand as you are able for the pledge I pledge to the flag of the United States of America and to the repic for it stands one nation indivisible with liy and justice
for all first item of of business is approval of the uh agenda uh any additions or anything that we need to straighten out with the agenda if not I'll entertain a motion in
a second Mr chair I'll move to approve the agenda I'll second that Mr chair thank you very much second to approve the agenda discussion all those in favor say I I all opposed motion carries thank you
the next item is the consent agenda this consists of the uh standard uh types of items that come before us that typically don't require discussion uh they include the approval of the February 28th 2025 County Board legal minutes the approval
of the auditor's warrants and claims paying the bills and a uh uh permit application from Prairie pothole Conservation Association uh for an exempt permit uh are are there any Commissioners that wish to uh pull any
of these items if not then i' entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda Mr chair I so move thank you and is there a second I'll second that Mr chair thank you very much discussion Mr chair yes yes I'd
just like to just briefly mention that the Prairie potholes days has changed uh venue last year last time and uh just really put a plug in for that for the public that it's a great uh opportunity to bring your family to uh they got a
lot of different things going on I think they still have a f foner is that how do you say that Falconer right Y and uh a lot of uh different things for the different dogs and so forth going on it's a great family opportunity and it's a great location at at the environmental
Learning Center so uh agreed and uh so noted thank you so much anyone else all those in favor of the motion signify by saying I I I'll oppose motion carries thank you uh at this time uh we're uh
pleased to uh have Dave unach come to the podium uh Dave is going to be our facilitator for the strategic planning work presentation that work begins today and uh Dave the floor is yours Mr chair members of the County Board staff and members of the audience as as the chair
said my name is Dave UNM and I'm honored and pleased to be here this morning to introduce and kind of highlight and overview the uh process I I must make one personal observation uh when I retired from the league in May of 2023 I
uh have attended a lot of different meetings and sessions and that that sort of thing but I've not been at a Podium with a microphone in front of a County board for a while so uh here I am it's great to be back I've been here before it's good to see you again I've had a chance to work with you and meet you a
year ago uh so I'm feel comfortable and confident uh here this morning to kind of talking about our process I just came from a staff meeting that uh Kelsey hosted there's probably 15 or so members of the staff that met from 7:30 to 8:45 where we began the process introduced
myself because they most of them had not met me if not all of them uh talked a little bit about what strategic planning was um answered a couple questions and I raised a few questions with the staff and we had a beginning conversation um gave them my name and phone number to
follow up as we begin the the the collection of data my purpose this morning and I will be relatively brief because the information is in your packet is five things one kind of highlight the objective and goals of this process it was talked about when I was together with you about a year or so
ago as a reference of a potential followup action two kind of highlight a couple key components of the process three what's unique about this work um compared to say what uh I do in other areas with other counties and other cities reference the question that are
in your packet talk about a timeline for that then answer any questions that you may have about this going forward um first the uh kind of the the the overview of the process excuse me the objectives and the goals in your packet under the work plan there are four objectives and four goals so I won't
read those they're there to see and they're there for people to to read but uh really to the most important is to begin to integrate a strategic planning and goal setting process into the County's culture you can do these as one-offs but that's not the way to do it right you it's really important to
immerse them into the culture of the organization and how it operates and that's that's an objective and also talk about strategic planning some organizations that come into do it already they want to update it they want to change it some are just starting many are just starting so let's talk about
what it means what are strengths what are some of the liabilities and so forth and then we have a create a series of engagements that I'll mention here in a minute already set up in the calendar then also to create a vision the mission which makes this a little bit unique and I'll touch on that in a second the goals
to create a three-year strategic plan but also and this is really important to highlight is to to to have a a time to build camaraderie and relationships between each other and between the staff on the board and the board and the staff oftentimes in opening sessions that uh our chair will certainly be able to do
at the April meeting members of the board talk about the importance of relationships and the importance of working together and team building which is an outcome and is a goal but it's also kind of a side product of the plan itself but it's equally as important so why I call that out uh so that's really
the the purpose of what we're what we're doing with this process I'm excited about it it makes sense it's certainly achievable and those goals uh are realistic kind of the the process steps the high level process steps are in the packet I'll just touch on these so we begin today um ironically as in Kelsey
knows and I mentioned to your team I drive to Lichfield after this meeting and I'm kicking off that process with merer County too the timing worked really well to save money for everybody um but I'm not meeting with the board today I'm just doing the staff meeting today and I'm coming back in April to do
one-on-one interview interviews with the board we're not doing those here in CYO because I've already met you I've already talked to you I already know you so it's not not needed and so also a time and money saver to do that so back on April 22nd with our first session it's scheduled for all day that just
means we block the day out the details and Logistics all that to be determined that's where we do introduction to strategic planning do some exercises kick it off have some fun um but talk about Mission Vision role strategy what they mean U and here's what's unique
about candy oh High's process and this is something that Kelsey talked about with me early on is oftentimes the responsibility for kind of creating vision and missions are the facilitators and what Sheet's wanted to do in in all likelihood in conversation with you is to turn that ownership back to people in
the county so we envision creating a couple working groups of people volunteers of staff and board members to do that to to develop some ideas and bring them back and talk about them again in a future session I of course will provide guidance and help and be a resource and all of that but to build
ownership and and build responsibility um we're going to create some working groups of candy Haw County officials which I'm pretty excited about and I've not done before it's not hard to do it's just people haven't done that they haven't felt that they needed to invest at that level and I'm I'm happy to say
that you are and I'm proud of you the second session then this the second formal session is one with the staff where we'll do some more Deep dive into this content and review the work that we've done so far discuss the goals of projects and priorities and then wrap up
the final session in June uh generally speaking the session in May the May 8th and June 11th will be a roughly a half a day uh generally speaking again all those details to be determined including the location and so forth and then hopefully sometime this this summer um
have an adop a plan ready to be presented to you in this room or in some other fashion to be adopted and to move forward uh lots of content and lots of specifics about the planning process and strategic planning will happen on April 22nd that's really the timing for that
that's the high level overview of the process I'll I'll keep going kind of finish my work and then stand for questions and discussion and conversations the first responsibility the board for me is in the packet is those questions so there's six questions
I'd ask that you spend some time thinking about those and then email me your answers and then what I do is I collect them and organize them not by name just by content and commonality I'm doing the same with the staff information that I've gathered they're also following up with me with my email
and I'll show I'll share that information with you on April 22nd we'll compare and contrast the two and at the end of the day they'll kind of come together that will identify really where we go with our top projects and priorities and strategic plans so top pressing issues important for me to know
major issues looming out there beyond the immediate we'd like to identify those or anticipate what they might be things that you probably won't act on tomorrow or next week or next year but are going to be coming down the line for this County what do you do exceptionally well what are you most proud of uh in
your service on the board and what cyw county does um vision and Mission I know that they kind of are technical terms in a planning process and have different meanings but what are your thoughts on what are some key words in those areas and then why is this important to you
it's important for me to know that then finally any recommendations you have for me as a facilitator doing this going forward not too hard but also things that you can think about and be thoughtful about ideally for me if you could have something back to me by March 14th which is 10 days from now
that's not a hard and fast deadline but it takes me a while to organize and combine all these if in fact you want to talk about these with me you know and you want to over the phone or over a zoom call we certainly can schedule that it's not needed on my end but if you want to elaborate I don't need long
lengthy paragraphs just bullets summaries key points kind of in your you know this is maybe interesting word to use in a formal setting but kind what's in your gut how do you feel you know it should kind of just flow out pretty easily for you you're all experienced you know the
county you know what you're doing and you know your work so March 14th would be perfect it's a it's a week from Friday and that gives me time to kind of put it all together and get organized for our next session I create a slide deck which we use as our agenda and um it it should come together pretty
nicely Mr chair members that's kind of my overview um hopefully it's sufficient enough with the content in your packet if there's any questions I'm happy to answer any Dave thank you for uh for the summary of the work that's about to happen and is happening and uh uh are
there any questions from the board I'm kind of going to have one here uh Dwayne do you have something also oh okay um so when you're talking about these questions I I I appreciate the clarification that you're trying to give
uh as so as not overthink uh these different questions but when we get to something that says you know what what major issues Loom on the horizon we have so many unknowns right now as related to the state and
federal uh government and the impact on potential uh legislation and so on and so forth uh upon counties uh it's kind of hard for us to separate that out uh is that is that an area that we should just for lack of a better word be
ignoring for the purposes of this uh of this exercise uh Mr chair no I fact I think you should say that in this exercise and I'm working with other counties of several other counties doing the same thing right now and it's same thing has come up the same thing has
come up in nicholet county and Chisago County it's going to come up in other counties I'm working with the uncertainty of how to plan and do some of this so that should be a driving conversation for what we do and frankly it will impact probably what we create because flexibility and adaptability to
respond to the these conditions and these these these things that are happening are relevant to you because you could have a plan that says this then that happens we've got to adjust and adapt to it so I think that's something we should talk about uh and I appreciate the clarity on this because
uh frankly there's stuff coming down the road for counties that uh should be keeping all of us awake at night right now so uh uh appreciate the clarity on that any other questions just kind of follow up on the same thing I almost feel like this is uh re
recalibrating our Compass where we're going with our Visions our missions and so forth and how to do these things and you are so correct I think we're really concerned about what's happening in our future both on the state and federal level as far as funding we've I don't think we ever ran into something like
this that I recall in my lifetime that uh major changes taken place and to be uh focused as we go forward with the tools that we adjust and and adapt to those changes as they come up so this very timely as
well any other questions for Dave on all right so we have some homework to do uh uh over the next 10 or so days uh and uh uh you've provided your contact information to everyone so we will uh uh
we will uh do our work and get that back to you and uh uh I see any last uh comments on this process oh I think I can touch a little bit on the meeting uh the work session this morning with the department heads I
think that went really well um I think you know when I proposed this idea to Dave about the staff ownership and I I it really stemmed from when you have some ownership throughout this process people want to do better and I think the collaboration we have such an active board and so I
think by you also having to play a role in working with the staff and I think not only like he said is building the relationship but creating some ownership and wanting to continue working through this plan so but I think this morning sessions went really good um a few
department heads in the room but I think it went well it's it was early in the morning we did a little Icebreaker um but it got everybody talking and it got everybody thinking yeah about what are our priorities and what's our plans and and so I think at the end of the day today was just a good starter with
getting everybody thinking about what what do we want to see throughout this so and I'm I'm excited outstanding thank you for that and uh this is going to be I think uh uh hugely important uh highly impactful process for us to go through
uh not just as a board or Administration or staff but for the entire County and Community as well so we're looking forward to going through this process I should have mentioned earlier uh that uh commissioner uh Roger imde is excused
from this meeting today uh otherwise uh uh otherwise certainly he would have been here uh and he'll be here to take part in uh in these processes as well Dave thank you so much thank you very much all right next item of business uh
is a uh 2025 Woodland Center family Based Services and intensive family Based Services contract Caroline good morning Commissioners my name is Caroline Khan I have the opportunity to serve as the Health and Human Services director for candy oh County this
morning I bring forward the um our next contract for our family inhome services we talked in extensively at the beginning of February when we brought forward a different contract for inhome services so now that that one has passed we brought forward our our other partner uh that we work with um to provide
supports and services to families in their home to prevent placement so this morning I have before you our contract with Woodland centers for the calendar year of 2025 to both provide family Based Services as well as well as intensive family Based Services which is a unique program that really gets um a
further mental health aspect into the homes of those that we serve and elevates our ability to work with people um in a different capacity than just other skills so uh my recommendation for the board this morning would be to to approve uh our ability to continue to
engage in this work with Woodland centers all right you've heard the recommendation of Staff m Mr chair I'll make go ahead C Mr chair I I move that the board approved the Woodland Center family base services and intensive family service contractors within
senators and I'll second it thank you that we have a motion and a second uh any discussion I just want uh for the public uh I understand that uh there is a uh uh uh smaller amount to this next
contract uh but the services are going to remain same correct would you explain that for the public yes I'm sorry I should have included that in my earlier discussion uh we did talk about that uh during our February meeting that we looked at our inhome services and the way that we engaged with family as well
as went back to our staff um and some and the families that were serving and and found that we could find a stewardly way to kind of Shepherd our program differently this year so we're a pivoting from our Woodland Center contract to allow for some greater services with first language Services
through our ukap contract contract so overall decreasing um our total amount spent on inhome services and and streamlining some of our services so we will not be decreasing the way that we serve families we're just pivoting our Partnerships slightly very good any other questions
for Caroline all right we have a motion a second to approve the recommendation of Staff all those in favor stay I I I all oppos motion carries Thank You Caroline thank you so much our next item of business uh empg Grant
contract uh agreement uh and with us today will be uh Ace Bama our Emergency Management director ace good morning good morning Mr chair Commissioners um Ace Bama director of Ky County Emergency Management and um here today with two
action items and one resolution but before we get to that I wanted to introduce my staff um they're probably familiar faces to you first is John son um John has uh worked for the county for 4 years in the assessor's office he came over to replace Melissa's position he's
our Emergency Management specialist he's been there about five months and um in our Deputy emergency management job is uh Jim felt Jim recently retired from the police department and uh he's been working about three months as our Deputy emergency manager and when we're talking
about Emergency Management um we also need to mention the 21 dedicated rescue people that uh um are volunteering and are are a key part of our emergency management team and then just a quick personal update um I know some of you
have uh asked about where we're at on our weather Gap process I'm happy to say that I'm testifying next week in front of the uh senate committee on um Senate file 5:30 um hoping to get that bill passed to get those Radars across the
state and then we're also have a meeting that night to get some hopefully the placement of the radar that's going to be key to this area so there's progress being made there so now to the business uh first action item is the approval and contract signature for a new Rescue
vehicle that is uh being that we're using public safety aid for this truck will replace our primary unit which is a 2012 um F550 and that unit's going to replace our oldest unit which is a 2003
F550 vehicle is being purchased up the Minnesota state contract and we'd be happy to answer any questions that you have uh thank you uh a I think uh we we have the order uh uh as as related to
the grant contract agreement first let's take that one first and uh and then I think there will be a my apologies perhaps no no worries and then I think there will be a a question in regards to the truck okay the uh the item that you're referring to is the 2023 em MPG
which is the Emergency Management performance Grant this is the money that's passed down from the feds to the state through Homeland Security emergency management it helps maintain um Emergency Management Programs and this uh this is our application for 2023
States a little bit behind on the contract processes they just released the 2024 uh application a week ago so we're looking for a signature on that document okay so the request is to approve resol olution
[Music] at the time we want to to do another resolution so it'll call out the Emergency Management by position so that if I get hit by the bus I don't have to come somebody doesn't have to come and do another resolution basically to to
have this uh approved by you so so we're asking that we get the authorization to sign this in the future and then we're asking you guys to sign this year's since we need that to uh on the current Grant request thanks for clarifying that
so the request is uh to have the board approve the 2025 uh contract 2023 2023 that is correct okay uh 2023 contract agreement for the uh uh empg and the amount of $
28,258 uh is there a motion I'll make that motion Mr chair we have a motion the chair will second uh any discussion questions this is something that's
pretty standard this is an annual yes uh uh Grant right all right anyone else hearing none all those in favor say I I I I all opposed motion carries thank you and then the next item would be uh to
approve resolution 20 25-8 to allow the Emergency Management director to be the authorized grantee of the uh annual uh Grant that we just approved is there a motion Mr chair I'll move resolution 202-828-8303
uh vehicle so um very very uh important and uh it'll be great for us to uh to get them some new upgraded equipment and the question that I was going to have uh you had referenced uh a
state contract and this is uh uh this is under a Cooperative purchasing agreement correct where the uh uh and and and there are all sorts of different ways that counties and other local units are government can leverage uh these types
of contracts uh to get pre-bid pricing uh approved uh often times at the state level uh uh always at the state level in order to be able to uh uh have maybe more favorable terms and certainly uh uh
known and uh uh more uh uh cost certainty correct okay all right and uh any questions is there a motion to approve the uh purchase of the new rescue truck
Mr CH I will move uh the purchase of a new rescue truck and is there a second I'll second that Mr chair all right motion a second discussion yeah I have I have a question um so when you order it how long how far out are they you know
with CCT buses are like years in you know two years two years okay all right thank you thank you that's not exactly like you can go and pick it up off the lot right you you you want what you need and so on and so
forth so any other questions please a uh do you want to just expand a little bit on the public safety Aid dollars or do you want me to do that these were funds that came from the state during the 20124 legislative
session and so they are can be used in any aspect of public safety um and so the work and this has been in the process for quite a while uh but the conversations that we've had with not only ace but then um going back to to
directors uh conversations with also the sheriff on how this also plays into that Public Safety Aid um and how this utilizes These funds um in a in a affordable way for the taxpayers all right and uh uh
we're replacing the oldest truck uh that's getting uh retired I presume is a 2023 uh F550 2003 two or 2003 sorry it's been around for a little bit 22 years yeah so well maybe only 20 because it
probably took two years to get that one I don't know if it was that bad then but uh and so and so what happens to that one does that one just get uh auctioned out or um it's kind of up in the air um there's there's some talk about if if that one would probably get auctioned
off I believe um you know we we're always trying to be resourceful and see what the best value is if if there's something else if we can turn it into a certain vehicle or something or um but in this case due to the age and stuff um
maybe getting maybe just boing it might be the best option so okay very good uh commissioner uh thank you Mr chair normally would say well that's a pretty big expense with everything's happening as we see possibly uh not going real
good in in the Horizon but this money is budgeted and it is available and I think it's so important that we Supply our Rescue Squad uh with the up most upto-date equipment as possible they're saving lives out there and they're doing a fantastic job and we're lucky that we
can do this and this is one way to uh say thank you for what they're doing too yeah and and this wasn't part of the speech or anything but uh we got notified over the weekend they were directing traffic a car accident nearly
had a couple people run over and they're putting their their uh theirselves online all the time and and we appreciate the work they did and giving them the best equipment um just makes their job easier thank you all right anyone
else right we have a motion a second to approve the purch purchase of the truck all in favor say I I all oppos motion carries thank you so much thank you good to see you next item of business
uh Green Lake sanitary sewer water district congressionally directed spending letter of support Mel Odin good morning Mr chair members of the board um the first item I've got um Mel Odin Public Works director first
item I've got is consideration for the board to uh sign a letter in support of Staff applying for Congressional directed spending through the federal government this project that we're looking to do is uh rehabilitate both
the Spicer and the green link water towers um we did rehabilitate the New London water tower as part of our Capital asset improvements um each one water tower is right right at a half
million dollars so this request is is 1.29 million so it's about $600,000 a piece so um the option or the opportunity presented itself to get federal dollars this is a very qualifying project we worked with our
lobbyists um pracy group to encourage us because these are projects for um safe drinking water and public health that are relatively easy projects to support so it's my recommendation to
um request the board uh endorse and sign this letter of support for federal money to um redo the water tower for both Spicer and Green Lake all right you've uh heard the request of Staff uh any any questions of
now first off uh there's a a fairly short window to get this application in as I understand yes correct it's I believe it's March 31st yeah okay Mr chair I'll make a motion that uh
the chair signs the letter of support on behalf of the County board for this project thank you is there a second I'll second it all right discussion go ahead so when I when I read this at first I was like well didn't we just fix a water tower so I thought it was like a you
know misprint are you know put in there by mistake and then you read through it and it's okay it's another water another couple water towers actually so Mel do you have I guess with the situation in DC do you have concerns about not receiving this if we apply for
it just because we might not get Federal funding for anything anymore you know we're we're watching not really close primarily we're watching because the the the grant we did get for the real grade separation um but I think for some of these
projects yeah is there concern yes there's concern to answer your question directly yes there's concern but that doesn't mean that we don't apply because I think as things settle down these are you know these should be a priority on a
national level bipartisan um it's basic life needs all right any anyone else all right we have a motion in a second to approve uh uh the directed uh
congressionally directed spending letter of support all those in favor say I I all opposed motion carries thank you and Mel you have a resolution before us resolution 2025-the U money that is pass through account
through the county and it's an apportionment to all 24 of our townships based on population and Road mileage and which is set up in statute we do 60% Township Road miles and 40% uh Township population um but
you you might note in I believe in the cover letter in the packet this money went up by 18% over last year and primarily that is because of the the transportation advancement account on the delivery ref fee that was a special
Revenue fund that a percent of that fund goes to a variety sources but I believe 10 177% I believe I have to look at that I don't know the percent goes to townships okay so there's about a $4 million money that goes from that fund
transferred straight to the township it's got to stop at the County board for approval before we issue the check to the township so it is an 18% increase last year just on the on the kind of the abbreviated ta the transportation advancement account it was up 12% so
what does that mean for a Township like how much are we talking so on a small Township um I was making a phone call and uh commissioner Anderson caught me but for East Lake Lan for instance they
got $2,500 more okay um another example would be New London Township they got about $10,000 more so you can see the variation but at least on average our 24 townships got about 4,000 an increase of about
4,000 and so these end up being uh uh being dollars that uh uh we uh we are they don't have to Levy for correct that is correct it's it's a straight pass through for their bottom line yes yep and and even in a small
Township uh with with relative uh uh $2,500 or $20,000 uh that's still meaningful in those cases yeah yeah it it all it all it all it all helps and just so you know there is talk about changing that law
that's in fact I've got to go to St Paul uh today um there there is talk about taking some of the delivery fee money and going to the general budget but then trying to backfill this this account with like the black license plates and some of those some of those accounts and
so I think there's a value to keeping it because it it does get to the small cities and the townships and we get about 100,000 on our casa our state aid County state aid which isn't a lot but we can it's every dollar is good um so we're going to try and keep this account
this Revenue fund active so that we see news like this where it goes up 10 12% a year and and do I remember that there is even some uh uh thought as to doing away with that delivery fee and when we talk about that that's the uh uh delivery fee
on uh miles uh from say Amazon or correct or uh whatever and uh and and that's a new of funding uh that's only been in effect for about a year or a little over yes correct yes last year y
it seems like we would be going backwards right I I don't know that I mean we never know but I hope the hopes would be that it wouldn't go away uh but uh but if it doesn't go away but it's not specifically directed uh to uh
counties townships uh there's really no guarantee that that's actually going to get backfilled if it just goes into the general fund right and that's kind of the I assume the essence of what you and your associations will be talking about when you're testify right yeah because
this is important to see history would tell you that they you know this is the small cities and townships didn't get any money like we get County state aid Municipal state aid they were not getting any of those dollars and that's why this account was set up so that they would start to get
some of those dollars okay so outstanding now that I've blathered on for a little bit I need a reminder did I ask for a motion no um Mr chair I'll make a motion to pass resolution 2025-the is authorizing payments to the townships
in cany County thank you for keeping me on task with that is there a second I'll second it thank you any discussion all right heing all those in favor of the resolution say I I I all opposed motion carries thank you so much
now all right at this time we will uh hear from administrator Kelsey Baker uh in regards to an agreement agreement between candyi County and the state of Minnesota in relation to the 16 bed
hospital Kelsey go ahead good morning uh Kelsey Baker candy County Administrator um as the chair said I would be asking for approval today regarding the agreement between um Candy Candy County and the state of Minnesota for the conveyance of real property um
this agreement has been reviewed by our County attorney Shane Baker um this is a very standard conveyance agreement that the state has done with facilities this is in regards to the 16 bed um as you recall um back in August I came to the
board and asked for approval to start this process um and it has taken a long time um there's still a few things that we need to have completed prior to doing this but what I would be asking for today is the approval of this agreement
contingent upon uh receiving the Wells Fargo termination lease and having the arvig um having the right of way partial release of easement signed by doing this it sets us up for the closing we're shooting for March 31st and so all of
these documents would have to be done prior to March 31st um and in conversations with the state and our County attorney we we didn't want to slow this process up we've had this agreement for quite some time now we've kind of got back and
forth with the state on this um Shane has had some questions I've had some questions so we do feel like it we're ready to take action on it from our level if you have any questions please let me know excuse me
but if you go to under Section six uh there's some closing costs involved however the closing fees would be split 50/50 with candy High County and the state um there might be some very minimal fees but for instance like
the state deed tax or transfer fees those aren't going to be applicable at this time there might be a recording deed fee that we would we make uh another department within the county also pay that deed fee and that's $85 within our at from our County and then
if there's any wired transfer shouldn't be anything like that but there would be some small fee with that other than that there is no additional fees so I wanted to point that out and clarify that a little bit um because I do think that's a pertinent question the other thing I
did want to clarify is that this building is listed in our financial these books that you get with uh Clifton LaRon Allen they are listed within our Capital assets they're not called out so it's overall listed in our Capital
assets dollar amount we value this at 2.5 and so that would be decreased but we um Karen Anderson our CFO had a conversation with our Auditors and we will make sure that they'll put a note within our financial statements to to
show that this was a transfer uh of property between the county and the state any questions uh thank you uh any questions for administrator Baker yeah the pration of those costs seems pretty straightforward and
standard uh and really nothing to uh be be terribly concerned about uh and uh just to clarify then uh we are looking at uh the necessity to uh have several things uh several contingencies
removed as you uh as you indicated a Wells Fargo uh termination or release agreement uh the right of way with our vict uh and then a final reconciliation of the Master Lease that's uh that's
what we're uh looking for today then is uh approval of the agreement uh with those three contingencies is there a motion I'll make that motion Mr chair thank you and is there a
second I'll second it all right there's a motion and a second to approve the agreement uh with the state of Minnesota a discussion I think to note with the Wells Fargo uh lease there isn't
anything wrong on either end um what happened was when we the County Board signed this Municipal lease agreement with Wells Fargo back in 2007 um I don't think either parties knew that they would need to have a termination lease clause and so nobody
did anything wrong we just are waiting for that document but in the span of 2007 to 2025 2425 uh Wells Fargo has disbanded that unit and so they don't we don't even know who to talk to and so we have now
contacted our bond Council which in talking with her um was just very refreshing she was like Kelsey we do this all the time we'll write up a one-page document um because in all Essence Wells Fargo holds those assets until we get that termination notice and
so we just need to make sure that that is done but I do feel that we are on on the right path now in order to close by March 31st Andy and his team have been doing such a phenomenal job during this time because we were set to do this
December 31st of 2024 and so we are still working with the 16 bed they're doing some transitioning as well um that we're trying to back off but like uh the chair said we'll still have to do the reconciliations from January to the end
of March for for 2025 with the state for any services that we provided if I read between the lines you feel a little bit better about this now after talking with the bond Council I feel a little bit better yes there for a while there it was pretty touch and go because I don't
think anybody you know we have auditor staff that have been here 20 plus years um I know the previous administrator was reached out to many times um I think it was just one of those things that wasn't really communicated very
well back in 2007 or maybe wasn't even talked about nobody's at fault um it's just one of those things that we needed to actually convey the property um and if we didn't have that we're we're not able to do so and so having the
conversation with our bond Council and um Karen Anderson and uh the the State team has been really beneficial and you know another little props working with the state of Minnesota on this conveyance was um the G that we have been working with
is very determined and was very helpful with um kind of pointing Us in the right direction of how to get this done because this is her main job you know this isn't something that we do every day and so she was very helpful in that and their team and so providing the documents that we need to get done and
having those conversations and just staying on top of this so it's not you know two years down the road she did say mention though that when they do transfers like this within the states and a city or a county or whatever other government enti entity it does take
about a year and so I do feel comfortable we're right on track really we started this discussion back in July June and July brought to board in August so I do feel that we're doing really well still with our timeline commissioner bur uh thank you Mr chair I just want to just restate
what has been stated already basically I'm thinking that this decisions been made before and this is just to finalize all this and uh as We Know transfer property and everything it takes a lot of work and a lot of time and little details and crossing the te or the tees
and dotting their eyes and the minimal the cost is very minimal the way it looks so I support this all right anybody else with questions all right and uh then we do have a motion in a second yet yes yeah
okay so there's a motion uh and a second to approve resolution the agreement between candyi County and the state of Minnesota all those in favor say I I all oppos motion carries thank
you uh we have come to the uh end of the business on our agenda uh we do have probably some administrative updates uh and uh uh report outs from uh uh from the board uh but at this time we'll take a 5 minute uh recess and then we'll
reconvene to hear those okay e e e e e e e e
e e e e e e e e e e
e e e all right the CI County Board of Commissioners is back in from Recess uh we are at the towards the end of our agenda uh we're down to administrative updates appointments and so forth uh are
there any appointments uh to any uh committees or commissions or anything so yes not at this time but we will have the Middle Fork Watershed District appointments coming up um except for the April 1 meeting thank you and I know we have uh
something pending uh I believe from City of Wilmer recommendation or two in regards to the HRA board so we'll be waiting for that yet um uh administrator Baker any uh any
updates anything you wanted to touch on from our time last week at the uh legislative conference yeah so I've been doing some thinking and kind of looking at the calendar um next Tuesday you have your health and human services March
11th uh work session uh the agenda will be going out on that this later this week um then the work session on the 17th regarding the County Board operating guidelines and procedures and then we have the board meeting on March 18th and we'll just kind of roll into the Road and Bridge work session we'll
also have a ditch hearing through at that time um for the month of April I had planned a budget work session which we're still going to do however uh I would like to push that to May or the end of April we do have a the
strategic planning full day session is in April as well so I don't want to bombard your full schedules but I want to make sure that we get a little bit further um within the legislative session so then I have a little bit better idea and we can do maybe a recap of the cost shifts that will be coming
out uh to help better lay a road map for the 2026 budget and then that way we'll be able to do the full 2024 uh recap report for the budget and then we'll do a full first quarter uh financial report at that work session as
well for 2025 uh so just a heads up on that that you might not see that budget work session in April but it would for sure be in May then uh we I'll just kind of see what session brings as well yeah I think that's uh uh
that's prudent it gives everybody enough time to be able to pull the numbers together and uh uh and uh uh I know we have had a uh uh plethora of work sessions scheduled for the first 3 four
months uh of uh of this year and I want to thank uh uh the entire board and all of our staff for for their patience and uh uh in indulging Us in in this work but it's it's been necessary as to the U uh board
operating guidelines uh uh it would be our goal I think that uh this upcoming uh uh work session should be our last one uh in regards to that uh that we get this uh uh that we get this
item knocked out and uh uh ready for the uh for the board to look at uh in uh in one of our uh regular board meetings probably in probably in April I would say so that
that'd be the timeline on that it's uh it's taken a little longer to get where we wanted to be but uh uh I think the uh work product will be uh uh will be pretty pretty close to what we want so
um anybody with any uh uh uh reports uh who who would like to start Ahad thank you mine's pretty quick uh I had had a few meetings not not as many as sometimes because uh about two or three were cancelled because there
wasn't really anything to discuss um but we had our Pioneer Land Library meeting um that was uh kind of interesting pretty big turnover in our board I know commissioner Dale Anderson was there too and uh it it was It was kind of
interesting but then kind of a little pressure on those of us that have been there a while that uh now we got to step up and so I I ended up being a vice chair and then uh Eric uh redning and he from Swift County he ends up uh being the chair on that uh committee so uh it
you know not not that we're better than anybody else just that we're we we've been there and a lot of people were it's their first time at that meeting so so that was kind of an interesting meeting just because of that um and then uh of course we did the legislative conference
at first I was thinking why are we even going because the way the legislature is you know not really getting along but it's good to have our our uh it's good to have our presence at at the state so that they don't forget who we are and uh
and we can maybe be top of mind when when uh issues come up and and they can contact us if they have any questions um and then last Friday had a county ditch uh 40 had a meeting um with the land owners and um it's basically they got a
county tile that it's it's uh it was put in in about 1908 so it's very old and and it's it's time to be replaced and so they just had to be presented different options and and basically they're going
to just replace it with uh new dual wall um non-perforated plastic tile there a section that will be perforated but um that was kind of their best option I I don't know they still have to make up their mind on what they're going to do with it but uh that was probably the
best option so that was basically all my meetings thank you very much um commissioner Dale Anderson um okay I was at the library meeting with Dwayne like you said I went on the finance committee kind of the
same thing they asked for volunteers and and uh she had sent me an email and asked if I would be on the finance committee so we meet monthly for that so a little more activity with that um and the other thing we had our space study um work session and that was really
interesting to see the uh what they found for needing in a space that of square footage for all the Departments that was kind of cool um we attended the AMC legislative um thing um and I'm really happy and I probably should have
said it when was in the room but I'm really happy that we um are getting closer with that Gap um radar Gap issue because I mean I think that half the snow that we've gotten this year has never showed up on my radar so I think it's something that's going to be a a
really big plus for the area and for the parts of the state that don't have that if it'll get done and and we have a little more safe Summers hopefully with that so somebody doesn't get hurt um talked about that in our um in our
committee meeting also a little bit um not a lot of other um things talked about special in our in our committee meeting but it was a good good legislative thing I thought it was fun to hear Steve testify I haven't actually
experienced somebody that I knew testifying before so that was kind of fun to watch watch that process and then um on Monday of this week uh yesterday I had our tourism meeting and um I always find it interesting um we did a February
visitors profile and it's through the 21st it's kind of a preliminary one but the five top cities where people came into our County were from Minneapolis St Paul Marshall St Cloud in Madison Wisconsin and
37% of um the visitors were out of state um for this time and um the breakdown of what they basically spent money on was food gas retail and accommodations were only at 3% which surprised me I thought
we would have had more than that with the amount of meetings that we have in this area but that was a breakdown um one of the other things that were talked about was um uh Beth got an award for the uh for some work she did with um
showing the diversity of food that we have in our County so that was a cool thing that she received an award um um the other thing that was talked about was sway State Park um is behind schedule on they're redoing their
Campground so they're hoping to be open by Memorial Day weekend but he really doubted it and the interpretive Center won't be open till the 4th of July and they're remodeling and redoing that so just a couple updates on that and um
some of the one other thing that was kind of interesting was the um the I'm not going to be able to say the name um little crow um Hotel center and event center is now listed in the Windom
Resorts and there's only a hundred of those that are that are in that so it was quite an honor that they got put into that to that list of resorts so that was kind of a cool thing also um but that is really all I had I
guess very good thank you so so much commissioner bur uh thank you Mr chair uh as we all been talking about this last two weeks have gone by really fast with the legislative conference and our building work session I mean that was three full days just just there um I did
have uh I attended the AMC Zoom prior to a legislative conference on the Wednesday before to get some updates as well uh it was very interesting that same day I had the Prairie Lakes youth program uh uh join po board meeting and uh just to update the board on that
Kristen Christine Johnson she's appointed the new acting director there uh Holly booth now left as of the end of February the last day of February and we all wished her really well and um she's certainly going to be missed and she did
a great job of developing a good management team and that's going to make it so much easier moving forward so we're in a good position uh to move forward uh everything we're dealing with right now including the building that's been remodeled and just an update on
that with the city of Wilmer all the zoning has been completed everything's still going forward with construction and I I am just guessing I don't know anything special but I'm guessing hopefully maybe by the end of the month or the first next month that'll be up and running and maybe even the board
could have a a tour of of the remodeling job there we're interested we'll have to see you know how time uh works out for everybody um so feeling good about that uh we had Woodland Center's uh program meeting we spent some time discussing uh all the uh
several of the very good and excellent programs that they provide there in the area of mental health including the mobile uh uh uh uh crisis team that that goes out and and the numerous calls that they get and and the contacts that they
make it's a really important needed service in our community and and and it's really being used uh we also we had a regular discussion uh of the full Bo board on the Woodland Center's board and you know one of the discussions was
Medicaid and that's a really concern that's an important uh aspect of funding for mental health services Medicaid since a lot of the individuals come in and it's uh they have to take whoever comes in the door and they want to do that as well providing services but
Medicaid is a concern and we uh uh it's uh it could affect us going forward what can happen to a lot of our nonprofits so we just had a good very good Financial discussion I also had an EDC meeting uh
with uh uh commissioner Gardner and uh commissioner mde and we uh reviewed and uh spent some time uh I said EDC Economic Development commission U for the city of Wilmer and Cy UI County and
uh we narrowed the number of candidates for the new position down to four people and we're going to be have uh uh interviews uh coming up uh right now there's uh four candidates and one is uh any they're all really well qualified candidates and we're excited about
hearing from each one of them so uh we're looking forward to that I think I covered everything so thank you Mr chair uh thank you so much and uh to that uh uh uh item in regards to the KC executive
director position uh those final interviews will take place on March 21st uh at a location yet to be uh determined I'm still figuring Logistics out on that uh but there will be opportunity for the public if they so desire to uh uh
observe the interviews as they uh as they take place uh and uh if anyone is interested in doing that they can certainly uh uh uh keeping your out uh for that
um as to my report out uh primarily uh uh a lot of uh a lot of uh Zoom meetings uh over the past week or so and then of course we had the legislative uh conference but before that we did have
the work session uh and we received the uh uh initial uh findings of the uh uh space study and uh uh that's going to be pretty informative I think uh especially if you dovetail that into uh the work
that we're going to be doing in the way of strategic planning uh and so you know that'll be uh something that is uh uh going to come come to us uh uh not right away but uh hopefully at this uh spring
early summer and uh and it'll be it'll be good information for us to have uh you know we have uh buildings uh that are under consideration here that are up to 60 years old uh that uh uh we need some uh
uh e either a refresher or repurposing of and so you know whatever that is that it looks like uh you know rest assured that this will be uh uh factually driven and uh uh the overriding goal be to uh
uh do whatever we do based upon need and not want uh we understand that talk of uh uh facilities uh is sometimes sometimes concerning for folks uh uh
especially when they look at their tax statements and uh uh and they're looking at the impact of uh what we and the state and federal government do so uh you know in all of that process you know it's it's going to be our goal to be good steward WS uh within that process
uh as Dale mentioned and others uh we had the legislative conference down in St Paul had the opportunity to uh uh visit with our legislators and uh uh uh as uh as Dale mentioned I did have the opportunity to testify uh in front of
the U uh house uh elections and uh uh General operations uh committee uh in support of uh uh house file 977 which provides uh for some slightly enhanced funding uh for uh counties to uh uh be
able to upgrade their election systems and if necessary hire uh uh hire people and especially uh looking at uh uh enhancing uh and upgrading security within those systems so uh uh it's a relatively small amount of money over
the vium about $5 million but uh every little bit of it helps and I know that here in candy oh high County uh uh this last election we uh uh we needed to hire some temporary staff uh and we're also looking to upgrade some of the U uh
voter machines uh from the old Auto marks to the new Omni ballot uh devices uh and uh uh of course within all of that uh uh the hope is that we have enhanced security because uh quite
honestly nobody runs elections like uh Minnesota counties uh and uh uh you know maybe individual counties uh have a little more bandwidth to uh uh to do different things but uh but overall uh Minnesota is the gold standard when it
comes to running elections uh and we have that reputation and uh uh this funding will help us to uh uh continue doing that uh I did want to uh make note of a uh couple of things and uh uh one
is that you should have received an email um uh that uh that I sent out on behalf of uh uh a group here in town that is working with an organization I think most of us are familiar with
braver angels uh and uh that uh is uh uh going to be an all day session that uh uh that organization is going to have here on Monday the 28th of April uh and they're going to invite uh elected
officials uh uh there'll be some uh uh some sessions specifically for uh elected officials uh and there will be whoops and there will be more to come on that uh oh darn it there we go I lost my lost my page for just a moment uh and so
that'll be like I say on the uh uh on the 28th I also had the opportunity uh to uh uh join uh some of of our uh uh residents uh Saturday night uh was the uh uh first night of Ramadan
uh as uh uh as our friends who observe uh uh at the Islamic Society of Minnesota had invited members of the public uh to a community meal uh to uh uh celebrate that uh that first night
and uh uh and there were probably about uh 20 or 25 of us uh from the community who attended uh and it was uh uh it was a wonderful time uh and it goes back to and I want to reference the uh uh
gentleman that we had here uh giving the invocation at our first meeting this year uh abif uh had uh uh headed up this effort to have this meal uh last Saturday night uh and uh and if you
recall they talked about Unity within Community uh and that was the entire uh theme of uh of of the entire event for us uh certainly it takes one out of their own comfort zone uh to attend to
attend an event like that and it pales in comparison to uh the discomfort that uh folks have uh when they have to leave their country of origin uh and they come here and they're making a new home uh
and this is home now for uh for our residents uh and uh and and I just want to say that uh each and every one of you are appreciated uh and uh and valued by this community uh and look forward to
more opportunities to uh uh to work with and collaborate with all of the members of our community uh Mel I want to ask you very briefly uh uh road restrictions did you want to have uh did you want to say anything about that certainly can they
went into effect on Monday um and that's to protect the our roads or the spring thaw when they're in their weakest condition and they historically they used to be on for 6 weeks but now we go by temperatures of um the soil and and
the condition of the soil so it it's not it's not when they go on anymore is not a guess or it is a is a guess if you're trying to out guess it so they there's usually a three-day notice and then they go on so they did go on Monday and they will go on um until the weather gives us
we have probes in the ground we don't but the state does and that gives us indication of when when the strength is back so okay uh thank you for that and uh daylight savings time coming up this weekend does anyone have anything else that they uh uh wish bring up uh
anything uh uh Community or County related or otherwise all right if not uh then we will adjourn this meeting of the candy oh high County Board of Commissioners