I made it. Good. Uh, good morning everyone and uh I didn't I didn't smack my sunglasses. That's even better. Uh, good morning and welcome to the uh, Tuesday, October 7th, 2025 meeting of the Candy County Board of Commissioners.
Please stand for the pledge. To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Want to welcome everyone who's here uh
visiting with us today as well as uh uh as those who are uh viewing us on YouTube. Uh first item business is the uh approval of the agenda. I would move on the agenda, Mr. Chair. Commissioner Index moves. Is there a second? I'll second that.
Commissioner Dwayne Anderson seconds. Discussion. Hearing none. All in favor say I. All opposed. Motion passes. Thank you. At this time, then we also have several items for the consent agenda, including
the approval of the September 16, 2025 County Board legal minutes, approval of the auditor's warrants and claims, and the approval of the September 23rd, 2025 county board special meeting legal
minutes. Uh, do any commissioners wish to pull either uh any of these three items? Mr. Chair, I wonder if we shouldn't do those minutes separately. You and I were not at that meeting. So, if we vote on those minutes, we're voting on something we weren't part of.
Um, anybody can pull something. Let's just do it as a separate item. So go ahead and uh uh uh to the question of the September 16th minutes. Is that what you're saying? Yes. Okay.
Mr. Chair, I so move uh make a motion we approve the September uh 23rd minutes, right? Or 16th 16th. 16th minutes. Yes. Okay. And one of the Anderson should second. I'll second it.
All right. Uh, Commissioner Dale Anderson seconds. Any discussion for those of you who are at that meeting? All in favor say I. I. All oppose. Motion passes. And then the balance of the consent agenda would be items B and C. Also move.
Thank you. Is it second? Great. Uh discussion hearing none. All in favor say I. I. All opposed. Motion passes. At this time, uh, we have, uh, we'll be hearing about, uh, from the US Fish and Wildlife
Service. Uh, Blake, uh, come on up, introduce yourself, and, uh, uh, tell us why you're here today. Good morning. My name is Blake Nisley. I'm a realy specialist at US Fish and Wildlife Service. I'm here to present a wetland easement in section 29 and 30 in
Green Lake Township to the board for what is called certification. Uh did everyone receive the easement packet that I sent? So we're looking at about little less than 10 acres of wetlands that we're we're looking to put into an easement. A wetland easement
protects the wetlands from being drained, filled, leveled, or burned. They can dry up naturally and be farmed. There is no restrictions on the uplands or the surrounding property. It just covers the wetland basin. They can graze it. They can farm it. This property is not open to the public.
It stays in private ownership and the the land owner is responsible for maintenance and everything else on the property the same as before. There any specific questions on this? Are there any questions for Blake? I got a question.
Yeah, normally it's like for a whole property. It's not usually for just the wetlands itself. So, I was kind of curious about that. We have two two easement types. One's a wetland easement, one's we call a habitat easement. The habitat easement covers the upland and the wetlands together. So, it's more the the whole
parcel. This is a just a wetland easement. It's we've been doing these for quite a bit longer. We started with the habitat easements more recently. So, this is just covers the wetlands. Okay. And so, they don't have plans. I mean, right now the land is it CRP or is it farmed or
uh kind of a portion? I don't I think there's an expiring CRP contract on the west part. A portion of the east part is being farmed. We've uh we've kept most of the wetlands off the part that's being farmed. The ones that go out to the farm field are kind of more of a
seasonal wetland. They can farm through them, they just can't run tile through them. So So part of it's farm, part of it isn't. Okay. All right. I was just that that's why I was asking the question because it was the wetlands only. So thank you, Commissioner MD. Yeah. Just usually people ask, well,
kind of where is this in relation to what? And I see Eagle Lake off to the uh to the west there. Correct. The um artifact going through the middle of it, is that the DNR Glacial Lakes Trail? That is. That's the old railroad grade
that going through that's turned into a bike trail. Yeah. Just south and east of Eagle Lake. Thank you. All right. And uh what we were looking for uh Any other questions? first of all
and uh what you're looking for today from us is a uh certification. Correct. I'm asking the board for what we call certification. I'll have a a form here that I'll ask the chair to sign to to note how the how the board votes. Mr. Chair, I'd move on the request.
Thank you. Commissioner Mck moves. Is there a second? I'll second that. Commissioner Dwayne Anderson seconds. You're going to get a lot work out today because I can see you. Oh, okay. He's going to ignore us over here. Uh
and uh uh with that any uh any other questions, comments, discussion. All right. Hearing none, all in favor of the certification say I. I. All opposed. Motion passes. Thank you. And then do you need that taken care of right now before you leave?
I'll leave it with Melissa. She can send it to me electronically. It's fine. Outstanding. Blake, thank you so much and uh have a great rest of your day. Thank you. Next item is Kandra County Emergency Management Department Update and uh uh
we have both Ace Bonama and John Gilbertson uh with us today to present. Ace uh good morning. Good morning. Ace Bonama, emergency management director. I'm just going to give a quick update before I turn it over to John for our department update. You've probably seen enough of me up
here this year. Um, we did get the approval from the governor's office yesterday for that second disaster. So, uh, we'll be letting the townships, county, uh, cities know that they have 60 days now to to, uh, add to the original estimates that they had. Um,
hopefully with the two disasters, that'll be be bringing back conservatively 1.2 million back into our county of tax dollars. So, and I'll turn it over to our emergency management specialist, John Gilbertson, for an update on our department. Thank you, John. Good morning.
Good morning, everyone. Thank you, Ace. He took half my speech, so good. Uh, my name is John Gilbertson, emergency management specialist for Canoai County. I want to thank you for your time today. Today's presentation isformational only. My purpose is simply just to remind you what emergency management does and what
we've been up to this year and a couple of updates. I want to start with what emergency management is. Kenyui County Emergency Management is responsible for the development of community-based plans and programs to maintain a state of readiness to meet natural, man-made, and
technological disasters on a local or countywide basis. Emergency management collaborates with a wide range of partners within KUI County uh including but not limited to law enforcement, fire service, emergency medical service, public health, public
works, hospitals, uh governments, and volunteer organizations. In emergency management, we focus on four main areas: preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation. I'm going to just briefly touch on all four of these and kind of how they affect our uh
day-to-day. So, see, preparedness, assistant training, and coordinating exercises to help prepare public safety and community partners to be ready for all emergencies. This year alone, we had uh missing
person exercise out at Sibly State Park. We also did uh two, three school reunifications uh this year. Um, under preparedness, we also provide education and outreach to residents on how they should be prepared. Uh, this year we have attended the county fair,
Wilmer's welcome week, social media campaigns, and even tonight I will be at the Wilmer Fire Department's family fun night, uh, promoting and educating the next area in response. Um, next is response. Um, for example, in the event
of the storms that came through this summer, uh, we work with cities and townships to complete a damage assessment, as was the case for the June rain event and the July wind event this year. This helps identify what may what may be eligible for disaster assistance
and reimbursement. In the June 2025 storm alone, it was estimated that there is $1.4 million in public infrastructure damage. Uh during the response, we also work with the county board to help
uh declare local disaster status. Depending on the situation, we may call in public works in mind, and we coordinate and channel the services of volunteer organizations such as the Red Cross, Salvation Army, uh the Wilmer area community emergency
response team, which we'll touch on later, and many others. He's kind of touched on the recovery phase. We work with uh Minnesota Homeland Security and Emergency Management. We work with um we work with them for a state
disaster declaration. As Ace alluded to, uh the state uh did declare both the governor signed in both declarations. Uh the final phase we kind of focus on is mitigation. Hazard mitigation planning is Hazard mitigation planning
reduces loss of life and property by minimizing the impact of disasters. The KY County multi-hazard mitigation plan identifies hazards in the county and how mitigating those hazards are prioritized. Our multi- agency hazard mitigation plan
was last updated in 2022 and was approved by FEMA. Also in emergency management, uh we are in charge of the county safety department. Can county emergency management realizes that it has a responsibility to provide safe
workplaces for its employees and safe environments for its citizens. Lost my spot. We accomplish this by organizing hosting safety committee meetings with key staff and representatives from each building. We also implement annual mandatory safety
training and specialized training for specific departments like public works maintenance glacial lake sanitary sewer and water. Kenya County rescue squad is the next item I want to talk about. Ky Canyu County Emergency Management oversees the rescue squad. Rescue squad was
established in 1948 and they currently have 21 on call volunteers responding whenever that pager goes off. The rescue squad receives on average 138 calls per year. There have been so far 126 calls this year. Volunteer rescue
squad members are trained in specialized skills. These skills uh which require training above and beyond the basics. Um some of the training they receive includes first responder, emergency driving, extrication, heavy rescue,
extrication and stabilization, search and rescue both on land and on water. The last item I want to talk about today is uh new for our department but not new for the county is the Wilmer Area Community Emergency Response Team or
CERT for short. Kenway County Emergency Management has a privilege to be the lead agency that oversees C. uh ser began in the Wilmer area in 2018 by the Wilmer Police Department and to this day the Wilmer Police Department and the Sheriff's Office both uh our
administrators for the program volunteers are trained to respond safely, responsibly and effectively to emergency situations, but they can also support their communities during non-emergencies as well. Um
once certified, SER members can uh can only if requested respond to emergency situations such as search and rescue, traffic control, school reunification and sheltering, and non-emergency situations like Polar Plunge, Wilmerfest activities, Spicer Fourth of July, Rockn
Robbins, County Fair, and many others. The ability for CERT volunteers to perform these activities frees up professional responders to focus uh their efforts on more complex essential and critical tasks. We consider CERT a force multiplier. So far in 2025 members
volunteered at 30 different events with more to come this year. Currently we have over 90 members certified. Um and we have if anyone is interested uh we interested in joining cert we have a next we have a a new member
certification class coming up in November think that was in your packet November 15th and 22nd. More information can be found on our website on the emergency management website. Um and Ace, do you want to touch on the
Raymond train derailment and how s helped with that? Brce back up. Sure. Uh C really made us look good. Um we had the train derailment at 1:00 in the morning. Phone rings, dispatch says, uh we need to evacuate Raymond. Okay, that's about 800 people. Where are we
going to go? Made one call to some of our CIR members um down in Princeburg. They opened up the school. Um we went set up the command post and stuff. By the time we got there, shelter was already set up. They had everything established. um the everything from
helping people bring their pets where we're learning that people don't want to evacuate their houses if they can't take their their pets along. We uh we are fortunate that our region hosts the uh the central region's uh kennels for uh for pets and that type of thing. So we
went and got some kennels and dog dishes and leashes and um we were we were set. A lot of good comments. Um some of our C members are bilingual. We had a family there that didn't speak English um instead of trying to have to translate
through through a child or something. Um they were able to communicate and uh it just really made us look good. So um like John had said just so far this year there's over 770 hours worth of volunteer time that they've they've
committed already. Um and still lots of events on the calendar. So, it's a huge force multiplier for us and we appreciate the opportunity to uh to keep that group active and working with the sheriff's office and the normal police department on that. Thank you, Ace. I was not there for the
Roman interailment, so I appreciate that. Um, we'll stand for any questions if you have any. Commissioner Berg and then Commissioner Anderson. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh, you've had quite a year. Very good. uh your
leadership. I know they made you look good, but the leadership that we have here and what's taking place is just I've heard some good things and so many good things in the community about what's taking place and so much else going on. I was really surprised of 126 calls for the rescue squad. Yeah, that was last week. So, I think
it's probably 128 now. It's more like it. It's like one every three days or more. Yeah. Not all of them they respond to. sometimes are cancelled before they get out there, but um yeah, that's how many times our pedro has gone off this year. That doesn't include trainings, their
their monthly trainings or their monthly meetings. We are fortunate to have a rescue squad. There's not a lot of rescue squads like that in the state. Um a lot of them are covered by fire departments and stuff. But our our rescue squad has worked with the fire chiefs association on all the fire departments through the county. um
like filling air tanks for the SCBAs, um helping on missing persons, things u water rescues. It's just there again um really helping out and and making sure that we're providing the best care. We send that page out as soon as there's a crash, not knowing if they're needed or
not so that they can cancel and go home because we'd rather be proactive than reactive in that. We don't want to wait until they get there to find out that they need to be cut out of the car. So, we're getting them going right away. If I follow up on that if I'm Mr. Chair, thank you. Yeah, the fire departments do
that as well. You don't want to waste that time traveling someplace if you don't don't have to. Um, the other question is, and I think you might have answered that then. I know fire departments, they have like mutual aid agreements and so forth. So, the rescue squad will be doing that with other counties or other cities as well. Yeah,
a lot of times I mean Lynchfield has a rescue squad so we can call them to assist as well, but a lot of times we're also getting called to our neighboring counties, especially across the county lines that they may have a truck extrication that the fire department needs a little more support. They have more of the the heavy tools for um like
if a a train car, if we needed to lift a train car, they have the heavy lift bags where some of the fire departments may not have all that gear. A lot of the fire departments are getting into getting the jaws of life and stuff so that they can help, but we're training with those departments as well. So again, it's working as a team.
Sure. The experts in the community or a regional center here. Thank you, Commissioner Anderson. Yeah. Thank you. Uh so you said you need volunteers. You have like 21 right now for the rescue squad. Yeah, rescue squad we have 21. So the rescue
squad we're we're fully staffed. Okay. How many how many volunteers are you looking for approximately for a community emergency response team? Yeah. Last class we did in the in the spring, we had 18 new members start. Okay. And do they get compensated if
they come or Okay. That's all volunt strictly volunteer. Okay. So, if you take the two-day training, you can take the the two days of training and and you get trained on everything from our school reunification, traffic control, um mental health in disasters. There's all
sorts of different training in those two days. You can take that training and just be done or you can say, "Yeah, I want to join the team." If you join the team, you get a backpack full of goodies, hard hat, the reflective vest, flashlights, and all that. Um and then you decide what you want to respond to.
Um it's kind of a it's not a pressure situation where you have to come to all these meetings and you have to come to all the training. We do offer training once a month. One month it's on a Saturday morning and the next month it's on a Tuesday evening. So it can adjust for people's flexible schedules. And
then if there's a call, we send it out either using our rave system or Facebook pages or telephone. Um and just ask people um we have we need traffic control help at prairie pothole days. Can you help out? And so then people will call and sign up for that. Um if
you want, show up. If you don't, that's fine, too. Um so it's really no pressure. We have some people that are just signed up because they want to help us if there's a school reunification plan. So we don't see them very often, but all a sudden we have a school thing and then they're showing up. So it's
just education for them how to take care of their family first, then their neighborhood, then their community, and then we have the dieards that they'll show up for everything. They'll be trudging through the weeds and mud and snow. Um you'll see them helping pass out turkeys later this year. So, um
there's there's all sorts of things that when we're learning how to help with these community events like traffic control that just helps set us up for disasters and it keeps our camaraderie. We know who, you know, we're working with. We know who our our pros are at
moving cars and that type of thing. So, okay. And then, uh when you're looking for volunteers, how far away can they be? Can anybody in the county or is it just a certain radius? It's advertised countywide. we would probably sneak in a few that are along the the county borders um because uh we
see it too and that's when we first started with the Wilmer Police Department and they included emergency management during those planning phases we changed it from Wilmer to Wilmer area because if there's a disaster we know that the people from outside Wilmer are going to have to come help the Wilmer
people and vice versa and it it showed in the Raymond incident you know having people that live in in Princeburg there that that I mean the cert member had a keys for the school. They had the the sup the superintendent's number on speed dial. It was easy getting a hold of you
know it it just makes things work smoother because as the disaster happens we can get those people closer. We can also if they're affected we can get people from the other part of the county that can come help them. Thank you.
Any other questions? Commissioner MD. Thank you. Um, you talked about the staffing. Um, are any of these full-time positions? There are three full-time positions allowed for emergency management. Mine
the deputy director and then John's the specialist. So, we're looking to fill a position right now. All the other ones that we're talking about are volunteer positions. The rescue squad, those 21 people are paid volunteers. So, they do get um paid for per hour for the calls
that they're on. So, and is there somebody at the center all the time? Not not where you reside, but the one over by No. No. Nope. Uh, we have for the rescue squad. I think there are four city staff
that all are pretty close and they can respond within minutes um to the building. One works at at a business just adjacent. He's there within probably less than a minute getting garage doors up and gear on and Thank you.
All right. Anybody else? Well, thank you for the update and uh uh thank you for all that work and uh uh hope that you find another group of volunteers for the next class and thank you so much. Thanks for the opportunity. Thank you.
At this time then we will have uh uh environmental services director Gary Gear uh update us with the uh uh bring us uh the recycling contract uh bids. Gary, good morning. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Gary Gear, environmental services director here
before you this morning with the uh proposed uh recycling contract bids. uh uh scope of work was drafted uh generated and uh put out there and the bids that we received.
Uh you can see are in your packet uh two bids and for two different uh levels of service. Uh the city bid one was cities bi-weekly, rural every four weeks and bid two was countywide bi-weekly.
And you can see those totals before you. And uh with that staff would be recommending awarding bid number two. Um and just for reference sake too for the board the the current contract and then this these two bids uh are from West
Central Sanitation and Donna and Taylor are here this morning. But uh the first 5-year window and contract has uh from my perspective at least seeing things on uh our side uh has really run seamlessly in large part because of their ability
to meet the demand of the the routes and and the number of carts out there. So it has gone well for us and again uh staff is recommending approval of bid number two here this morning and and help me out here. So we have so we have the one
uh number one here and that's status quo. Correct. Correct. Correct. Okay. And staff is recommending uh bid two which is for enhanced pickup. No staff is recommending bid one maintain. This is this is this is why I'm asking because they're labeled bid one and two.
Yep. And bid one is what staff is recommending to to maintain. I thought I heard you say you were recommending two. Did I go bite my tongue? Okay. I'm just I'm just wanting to make sure.
I I apologize if I misspoke. Good boy. I I I might not see, but I Yeah, a little bit. So, all right. Uh, Commissioner Dwayne Anderson. Yeah. I So, I have a question. Um, down my way, I I get a lot of complaints because, you know, the recycling
containers blow away, you know, because there's not much shoulder on the township roads. Um, did you ever look into or ask about how much it would cost like just to do like where you'd have recycling uh containers in town in the
local towns and just do it that way or or we we I did um we that historically is what we had offered. You know, basically for 30 years we had all of the rural area and all of the rural cities. Uh it
was drop site collection only and uh it was Wilmer and Atwater that had curbside collection. Uh in 2020 curbside collection was single sort was the desired direction or path to go. Uh
there and therefore that's where we landed. Uh certainly uh the carts I know uh wind in the rural areas whether it's a narrow shoulder on Township Road or simply uh the wind and and the volume
the the there's limited weight in the amount of recyclables in the carts. So wind is tough on them. Uh certainly folks have come up with ways to uh maintain their cart a little heavier. uh whether it's something on the lid uh that can be added because uh when
because the driver is not getting out of course when they come and pick up and service the carts, but when the the robotic arm moves out or hydraulic arm moves out and grabs the cart, they can make one move, drop whatever's on top of the cart and then empty it. So that's been a significant help to a lot of
folks that were having trouble with the wind. Um we did look at we did have a bid for uh maintaining the curbside collection in the cities and establishing seven uh remote drop sites
in communities. Uh that would be taking away everybody's cart that is in the rural area and then those folks would have to uh find a way to get it to a drop site. Uh there's there's management issues with drop sites too. uh there's just a lot of materials that end up
there that are not recyclable. So, uh there's there's positive negatives to going that direction as well. Okay. Uh Commissioner Bird. Uh thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh just a
couple questions. Um uh some of the recycling that's taken to the cities, we get a small percentage back based on how much we do. And I have a couple questions. Do you have a a a rough guesstimate about how much that money
does come back if any and also um how we're doing as a volume of recycling compared to previous year? Uh volume has really maintained the same from when we were operating on our own facility through multisort and through
single sort collection cart at every house. We're approximately 2500 to 2,800 tons per year is kind of what we were averaging for years before and now currently under this first 5-year window
this contract. Um the the amount we that we get back is just it varies on the market and and it we've we have in a year I think our biggest positive
was like 67,000 back to us and approximately oh 80,000 I believe to the negative uh is is also what we have paid paid out
when the markets were that bad. So, it just the markets continue to fluctuate and we really have limited control over anything with that. But uh the the in in in in trying to promote the best recycling program, the most
difficult thing kind of is there's such limited volume available in the recycling residential program where there's just, you know, every individual home they're just not going to buy more milk jugs, you know, to uh be able to say that you recycled more. And if that
was the case, there's there's such limited tonnage to it. Um, for example, our 2500 to 2,800 tons uh per year that we're averaging is 6%. If all of our recyclables went in our
landfill, that'd be approximately 6% of our annual volume. It's it's really minimal. So, but it's not nothing. But it's not nothing. It's the right thing to do. We want to encourage it. We want to promote it. We want to be
thoughtful or the board I think wants to be thoughtful in how we move forward. Thank you. Uh Commissioner Dale Landers, just a little bit of a question on the pricing of the bids and maybe you don't have this information, but I mean they
basically went a little over double on the on the containers for the carts and and $300,000 for the annual cost. So why did they go double on the carts? We already have the carts out there. So, I'm just a little confused why that cart
price went up so much just for the rural side, not for the city side, but I believe and I would maybe even defer, but I would I believe it would be simply on the extra miles. Um, it's it's not the cart. Well, it's a price per it's a price per cart service,
but it's miles. And the for example the rural routes I have it down here are almost 2200 miles and the city routes are 675. Sure. So it it's miles I believe is the difference. Nope. Just wondering.
Commissioner Mck. Thank you. Appreciate that. Um I've got a number of questions. You want me to just keep asking them or do you want me to go for it? Okay. Um when is the contract uh renewal date?
Uh well, this contract ends December 31st of this year. So, the first of the year, correct? Okay. So, if we didn't make a decision today, it's not like we're going to have a lapse. Correct. Um, but we're if we were
talking significant changes, we would want to be acting relatively quickly because there would be I mean I'm not not sure but just like cart pickup or delivery or uh uh differences in route generating different routes is a pretty
significant step for contractors. Sure. And um you already answered a couple of the questions I had about the the tonnage, the trend. Uh, from what I'm understanding, 2750 sort of cap captures the tonnage. Correct.
Um, so on those 2750 tons, we wouldn't be collecting the uh tipping fee, would we? Correct. Obviously, of what 65 or what did we just approve? Okay. Um, and the and the trend seems to be
pretty static. Did I hear you say? Yes. From going back even like 30 years ago. Yeah. reimbursement rate that goes up and down with it. Um, did you ask for a bid on every three weeks for everybody
and or every four weeks for everybody? um did not uh every every two week service in cities is with
a 65gallon cart is considered standard service. Uh that's and we're offering a 95gallon cart. So, and I think that was our attempt to try and make it work for people in the rural as well with the bigger card, a third again bigger than
what is standard, even though we're based on the miles aren't, you know, it's hard to make that pencil out. So, we didn't look at I didn't look at four-week countywide. I think in part because of the greater
population that we have that we're servicing with a standard of every two week service um every 3 week as well gives I think in visiting with not only West Central Sanitation but others in the industry
too it's it's an odd number and it just would give difficulty uh to the public every 3 weeks that just people would really struggle to remember when their service date is and our greater population right now gets uh MSW service
and recycling service on the same day that would go away too. So it just would be one more day one more thing and then rotating besides that would I think give some uh difficulty to make 3-week service work. So, um,
is the are all of the cities, Atwater, New London, Spicer, Regal, Sunberg, are they all every two week pickups? Correct. Okay. So, I'm kind of confused. Why?
And is it a different size barrel in town than it is in the country? So, same. It would seem like a a family of four inside the city limits would produce the exact pretty much the exact same amount as on average uh recycling
as someone just outside the city limits. So, I'm confused as to why we continue to do every two weeks if and I don't know if this is linear, but um if we took that annual cost in the city at at
38,000 and cut that or that's per uh every two weeks, right, and cut that in half, is that a linear cost? So, would we cut that that $464,000 in half? I think that's why
I I think that that would be uh that would likely be close to in half, but there would probably be some business costs that I'm not thinking of that they would still leave incorporated in that. But simply the the the difference is for me is just the cost.
If if we're looking at staying with our current level of service or trying to go offer more um and and to not reduce a level of service, reducing level of service is also step backwards, but it would be the same level of
service that people outside the city limits get. Right. Correct. If you cut it in half. So, my back of the envelope math says some somewhere in the neighborhood of $232,000 savings at a time when we're struggling to keep our levy down to to property uh
owners. Um I have I'm having a hard time uh with that. Um that's a lot of money to that's a half a percent of our levy. Um, so we could reduce if everybody was
at four weeks, we'd reduce our annual cost by right now it's costing us on the first first um uh option there just over a million dollars. We'll call it a million dollars a year. Then when you take the tipping fees that we don't
collect on that um you know that adds about another 200,000. Um we're paying a lot of money for recycling that hasn't improved any since we've done that the curbside pickup. Yeah. Uh and then
so are we collecting uh are we providing services for apartments uh up to four units? So so quads. So if you have a forplex we provide that service. Over that we do not.
Okay. And so most of the growth uh in u housing units in the past 5 years, maybe almost 10 years, has been apartment units. Typically 50 units to a to an apartment. And so we're not capturing that recycling.
Um I believe they're we are not in our numbers. I believe they're being provided service uh through commercial contracts, landlord, you know, property owner recycling. Yes. Recycling. So, similar to what at three sisters we pay $57 a month for the for the
privilege of recycling. Okay. So it would seem to me that would be almost make more sense to um reduce those four weeks every two weeks in the cities to every four weeks and then offer uh with the savings offer to those
multi-unit dwellings where you can only only have to go once to pick up say a two-yard container and pick up the recycling rather than charge them uh for for it and disincentivize them for recycling. recycling.
I mean, it is cheaper to to uh do the recycling than it is to do the uh solid waste at our business, but um it just seems sort of odd that we're not providing it for the fastest growing
housing units in in the uh in the area. And and if we're not going to uh we should look at an option of everybody every four weeks and save nearly a quarter of a million dollars. And
I I I think with across the state and across the nation the standard city pickup 65gallon carts you know twothirds your size and two week service being the standard level of service I think we would be if
we go to four week s four-week service in our cities and I I think it's what people have become accustomed to They're and they're not uh collapsing and breaking down their
recyclables as much. They're they're not their carts aren't full every two weeks, but they're also not collapsing anything. So, it really gets to be a an educational thing as to how we could
possibly accomplish that. I the volume could work. I understand in my mind too that it would be hey well four week works in the rural we can make four-week work in the cities uh but we've been offering two weeks and uh
that that's something for the board to discuss so so again I think I heard you say that the barrels that the city has are the same size as the barrels that people Okay so if it works for four weeks for the people outside the city limits Yes, it would be a little bit of
a learning curve where you have to learn to break down cardboard to get it in there. And occasionally there'd be times where it might not all fit in there. I talked to um just last week I asked somebody who lives in the city, they have three children. He said, "We
generally uh put ours out every other uh pickup because we don't need to every two weeks." Yeah. And and there are folks that are that that is true for. I would like to see us uh revisit this with a uh bid uh
for where we go to every four weeks for everybody so we have that option to consider. Commissioner Dale Anderson, I'm I'm really undecided on this because I've had some phone calls and I've had
some emails on this also and and what you just said I guess kind of caught me. Um, so it's okay that the people in the cities don't have to jump up and down on their cart to get the the recycling in, but everybody in the country does because that's really what we do. Um, we
break everything down. We crush everything flat and we pack it down in there to get it to make it that month. And and I guess I I really struggle with it. I understand the miles and I understand all that part, but then give them half
the size cart and cut that cost. Um, I I just think that everybody's taxes are the same. Um, that's the letters that I get and the grind that I get from the people in my area is that we all pay the same taxes and and that's where the argument gets
to be. So, I I really struggle with this. I would I would kind of like to see if how much of the savings there is. Maybe there's other costs that we have to have them rebid this. Um, but I I would like to see, I guess, what it would be for a bid for every four weeks
for everybody. Um, this is a five-year contract. If it was a one-year deal, maybe I wouldn't be so concerned, but once we're locked into this contract, we're locked into it. So, I think we need to really look at this deep and see what if there is options to make it
better or not. I I know you put a lot of work in it, Gary. I I already understand that. I'm not trying to downgrade that, but I just I it's probably one of the things that I do hear a lot of complaining about is the the imbalance between the city and the country. So,
that's my my concern right now. Commissioner Berg. Uh thank you, Mr. Chair. Well, first off, I really want to look backwards a little bit too and thank uh West Central Sanitation for stepping up. I remember being on the board when uh we did our
own recycling as well as a couple other commissioners here as well and we did not know what to do since uh COVID hit and all the other issues. I won't even get into that. But the community was very very concerned and appreciate that the services we have
are good. And I personally feel that we're kind of in a sweet spot. You know, it's hard to find the exact spot. And when it comes to recycling, everybody uh loves recycling and have an opinion on recycling, too. And that's where the
sweet spot spot kind of comes in. And uh I'm comfortable where we're at looking at at option number one. I I do have some concerns. Um and a couple just things just throw out there for discussion, but I I I am comfortable
where we're going right right with us with number one. But my two concerns would be that uh a long contract like this, and this is not the only one. I think often we do long contracts if we can, that's really nice to do. You know, it's good for everybody and and we can
move forward with that. But we all know we do have some budget issues coming up and uh with the state and the federal government not knowing what's going to happen this next year and possibly the next year after that and if we get uh you know in some long-term contacts
contracts uh I'm just kind of wondering if you know that we write some possibility that we can re-examine those somewhere down the road and I'm not saying we correct this I haven't seen the details of this contract at this point to correct that but some down the road anyway as we look more contracts
and not just uh uh this contract, but as we move forward uh uh with our contracts that we do have a way to uh write in them that we can reexamine the cost based on the on our budget going forward because we could take a major major hit
and that's what we're trying to do. And uh option two would be almost a 1% increase in our levy and and I think everybody's not really on to that one at this point. So, I'm okay with going this direction. And um and oh, the other
question I was going to say maybe have even more updates. I know we got a lot of meetings and and and Mr. Gear, you got so much going on too, but uh to have these kind of discussions ahead of time, too, instead of bringing in an action item and this is what the
options we have that we have a recycling committee or or something like that. just I'm just brainstorming going forward, but looking at other ways to have this communication before we get to this point to make a decision all of a sudden on a on a couple uh bids we have.
So, it's just some ideas. Are you volunteering for a new committee? No, but but just checking just an idea, but no. Well, I guess when the time comes up, we'd have to see, wouldn't we? Yes. Commissioner, thank you. and and I I wouldn't be able
to support either one of these today um without more information. I agree with both of the commissioners. One is it's frustrating to get a something for the first time and then we have to act on it, especially if we've got a couple months to go yet where we could gather some more information.
um uh Dale, Commissioner Dale Anderson's um suggestion. Unfortunately, I think getting a newer barrel is not going to be a good answer because it's going to be a cost and then you've got all the but cutting from from every two weeks to
every four weeks is a clear uh savings. and we made we when we certified the preliminary budget um we indicated a desire to uh not certify it at the preliminary level but to try
to get it down and this is one way uh to to take some of the uh burden off the taxpayers. I would Mr. Chair, I would move that we postpone this uh decision till the second meeting in November and in the
meantime get some additional information including the the contract. Um we have we have a motion. Is there a second to the motion? I'll second it just for discussion. Thank you. um
and discussion. So, Mr. Chair, the reason the reason I make that motion is so that we can get more information, including the what it would cost to go to every four weeks in the city versus every two weeks. And and long as we're at it, every 3 weeks for
everybody, we can always dismiss it. Um, but we don't I don't think it's fair for based on what we're seeing here to make a decision today when there's an opportunity to save what appears to be over a quarter of a million dollars. And
again, it may not be linear. Uh, by cutting the city pickups in half doesn't mean we cut the expense in half, but again, that it may be. I want to see the options. If I may, you may. I think I feel like this mic
isn't on. It's a change. Um I think when we go back to and just and we can get those bids and look at more information and options but just to remind the commissioners that this did pass the first time and this level of service and
so when we I guess from in my point of view when we talk about services when we change that level of services in any department whether it's plowing roads whether it's how we look at providing human services and child protection services when we start at we start at a
certain level of providing services and granted this was passed at a 3-2 vote at the first time this contract was approved. Um that's that standard and so I think that's where Gary and I were coming in at with that standard. Now we could go back to a lesser standard and
cut that o closely in half and go back to what we maybe just have drop sites around the county and rural sites bring it in. That will be the cheapest route. that would be the cheapest thing for us to do. Um, and so that is pro, you know, we could come with that, but then that's
not providing that level of service. And I think when we look at state, federal budgetary cuts that we're going to have to be making, providing that same level of service in all aspects also relates to this. And so I think um, we can do that. The second board meeting in
November, I think, is a little touchy. I think depending on how um we work with uh getting bids and things like that and timing and roll out of the contract, I'd have to work with Gary, but I could coordinate that with the board chair and how we could bring this back at another meeting.
Um I'm I'm going to uh just one small question, Dwayne. Go ahead. You haven't you haven't weighed in on this? Okay. So, if if we do if we go back to ask for another bid or different ones, we got to open the whole thing up again, right? or well I would just make a request with
with the contractor so it's not you have to give it open to other contractor it's not this isn't a public bid procedure so no okay and I would just like to add too or or maybe to to follow the motion just maybe not include a date uh and make it as
timely as possible because I think getting to into November is difficult for uh making possible changes uh I'm I I'm going to ask uh uh Don to come up. Uh I think there's something you want to address and I wanted to uh
ask about the logistical side of this as well. Ter Mr. Chair and board. Thank you. Thank you, Gary. Uh just want to address a couple things, not to give you an answer because we haven't calculated that, but to Commissioner Imdike's uh question on
a linear cut. It would not be because you have the same amount of equipment. It would be less to reduce services in the cities to every four weeks. That's correct. It would not be linear because any contractor that does it will still have to have the same equipment on board
to provide that. there'd be less miles uh driven which is where you would achieve some some savings. The amount of product go getting transported to shock to Demcon will not lessen hopefully it might lessen some because you have a little less frequency. We don't know
what that is because you haven't done it yet but that cost is still equivalent. I wanted to address that. The other thing is Mr. here is correct and it's true that um we're we are in 20ome counties that we allowed to operate and we do
county contracts in I think four counties that we provide the same service and it is every other week in the cities and in all those other counties there is no real service I'm correct in that aren't I Taylor there we this is this county is exceptional and
that it did provide every four-week service so that was quite a quite a um um a level of service that's not seen in the state in many places, maybe only a couple other counties. So you are exceptional in the level of service you
give to your out to outside of the cities and that's that's commendable, but if there is a cost to it. The other thing that Mr. Gear stated that is true that is the the challenge with causes actually the county residents are receiving more dollars of value of
service the outside of the city than the city's residents are and it's strict strictly because of the miles and the resources that it takes to provide that level of service. 2,000 and some miles to provide that rural service and only 600 miles to provide all the city
service. So you can see that's what's driving the cost no matter who would provide that service. And so I I just wanted to help clarify some of those comments because I know those are questions that you're you're asking and I apologize if I Okay. And and and I think I heard heard it
said somewhere along the line here that uh basically you're able to do uh what you do in the cities because you're running these routes. Correct. Well, uh you're you're kind of you're doing the pickups of of the recycling on same days every other week. Excuse me, Mr.
Mr. Chair, to answer your question. Um, it was one of the requirements of the bid, which is a wise one, to whenever possible, pair your recycling pickup days with your trash pickup days. That was a requirement that we always tried to work with the county going back 30
years. In fact, we've done that for over 30 years in the county. um when West Central Industries was providing that service or or the corrections unit was providing that, we've always done that because it helps people remember to put both things out on the same day. Um that's not always possible in the
count and the outside. Of course, it's not because a lot of real service rural customers don't have trash service. So, there's not that to to do. And the other the other thing when you start to change the days from like once every other week
to every three now our whole route structure has to be totally looked at to bring the most efficiency to give you the best price. And when we do that we probably would not be able to achieve same day recycling trash pickup in the
city. I'm not saying we couldn't, but it makes it harder to do it on an efficient basis because you're using resources over a certain time period. I know that sounds odd, but when you start rotting trucks, it begins it gets to be quite a diagram. So,
um you uh you're you want Yes, please. You're asking to be rec. Okay. Yeah. Just I thought maybe you were pointed. Oh, no. No. I'm sorry. Yeah. Commissioner, I got to put my finger over you so you can see it better. Uh, thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, I I just want to restate what
I stated before to some degree of this is a sweet spot we're at and I I the the public really wants this service that we have right now and they're satisfied with the service we have to a large degree and not the rural area. I'm not I
understand that. But we've been operating this way and uh I don't think the public is ready for a major change like this. And this is a major change and and from a financial point of view, we're not at that point to make this kind of cut that I feel that this would
have the impact on uh at this point. So I I still support uh uh bid number one uh at this point going forward. Mr. Chair, point of order. We do have a motion on the floor. Sure. Go ahead. So, I'm going to respond to
two two things that were said. Number one, this should not be about making sure we spend the same amount of money uh the city as we do. It should be about effectiveness of recycling. Y and the fact that our recycling has not
changed uh uh appreciably since before we started this program um means that that extra cost isn't all that effective. And because we produce the same amount of recycling in the country as we do in the city, there
shouldn't be any appreciable diminishment of of recycling. And to to the U business mi Mr. Williamson's uh recognition, I said this in the beginning that it's probably not a linear uh effect. And the other thing is
is that just because this is what we've always done doesn't mean it's what we should always do. That was a five-year contract. So once we signed it, we never got a chance to re-evaluate it to see whether or not it it's making a very big difference. And now we have that
opportunity. And I think the opportunity here is to save the taxpayers some dollars by getting a bid on on every four-week pickup for everybody. Um so that's where I'm at. We have a motion and a second. And uh
would you restate your motion? Just I my motion was to postpone this decision till the second meeting in November and request staff to provide um uh bid or bids on every everybody at every four weeks and everybody at every
3 weeks and uh that's the motion you understood. Uh during the discussion I did hear some question about uh from Mr. hear about uh that's maybe you know a ways out it might be potentially problematic to move
it out that far. Uh are you open to uh how long would it take us to get that information? I well I would be working with the the contractors immediately and trying to gather that information. I I just thought we could leave it as an open
date so that we could bring it back as soon as possible. So to that point, Mr. Chair, um I was by going to the second week second meeting in November gives them ample time to come up with that. If they want to do it at the last meeting in December, I'm
fine with that as well. No, I think I think what they're asking is to maybe be able to provide that quicker. Is that how I understood? I'm trying to get here in two weeks. Yes. because we we need if we're to go to every 3 week service countywide that
upsets the apple cart to what they need to do and they need to make it happen on January 1. So we can't I want to try and get it as soon as possible. Mr. Chair, if they can get the information to us for our next board meeting, I'm perfectly fine with that. I thought they'd probably need more more
time to do that and we can So uh so will you be open to amending your meeting? amend the motion to the strike the date and um from the sec postponing from the second meeting in November to uh as soon as
they can get the information to us. Sounds real good. Are you okay with that? There's a second. Oh yeah. I have to since I made the I supported the motion for discussion. I'm okay with for discussion. I'm not sure
agree with it or not. Okay. So, we have a motion and a second uh to send this back for further discussion slashclarification uh under the parameters that uh uh Commissioner Mbeck described. Are we
ready to vote? All those in favor of the motion uh to uh postpone this to a uh to a future meeting signify by saying I. I. All opposed. I
I motion passes. Uh thank you and we hope to see you here in uh two weeks uh or four for sure. Sounds good. Thanks Gary. Thank you very Mr. Chair. Just wish to make a comment and I just want to be
really clear that this is a discussion about recycling and nothing about the service that we that we receive from sanitation. And I also want to comment about your service over the years here in our county that I notice all the time that you're supporting so many other
organizations and that and we appreciate what you're doing. So nothing. All right. Uh we will take five minute recess. Okay. Commissioners is back in session at this time. Uh we will hear from uh human
resources director Katie Zeamer uh regarding and this is an update uh shown as an action item but is actually an update. Uh oh no, it's landfill first. Landfill first. or this one on Kelsey right there. Request for proposals or
update. Okay, my bad. Go right ahead. But you are correct that the next one will just be an update as well. I thought I was on the ball also. Kelsey Baker, Candy County Administrator, uh before you today um I
just have I'm providing an update regarding the request for proposals for the uh newly purchased landfill property. Um, as you can see in your board packet, we had one uh or one organization submit a proposal for the landfill property. It was Tepatitona
Hospitality LLC. Um, today, like I said, is just purely an update so you could see what was within the the RFP. We will come back before the board with a contract. Um, the board will approve. I'll work with
uh Gary Gear and the county attorney on creating that agreement. And so that agreement will come back to the board for county approval. Uh but before you today is just if you have any questions regarding the scope of use. So as you can see in the scope of use there was around 12 items that they would be
using. Staff housing, snowmoiling, hiking, uh hunting, horseback riding, gardens, uh clay course. Uh yeah, hang on. Uh just where's that information then? Oh, was that not Nope. Okay, we have we have nothing in our packet.
Sorry about that. I thought that was in there. That's okay. Um I will tell I will provide you all a copy then. Yes, I am sorry about that. Um it goes over the full RFP and it lists out the scope of use and items and things like that within the the the map and things like
that. So I'll just read through it then. uh staff housing, lodging for members and guests, club events, um youth participation in outdoor activities, hiking, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, hunting, uh clay course, game
preserve, archery, horseback ridings, horseback riding and gardens. And so within this proposal, they would um work with a management company. And so Tepatitona would be uh the sole provider, but they would work with a
management company company to oversee day-to-day operations. This management company they've worked with in the past, and so we feel comfortable with that. Um I will provide this information to the board today. I'll send this out. Um but within this proposal, um they did meet
the requirements um that were submitted. Uh it would be a five-year term uh renewal, five-year renewal as well. Um they would agree to pay all associated operating expenses, repairs, and maintenance. Um they would agree upon current repairs or replacements
contained within each party's property inspection reports. They would work with the county on all of that as well. Um they would inform us of any potential hazard and have the right to cancel at any time, provide the issue if it were to be hazardous. Um
with their approval to lease the execution and thereafter, they would submit any substantiative uh improvements to the property. um have rights and use documented within the if there were to be an ordinance and they would pay 25,000 per quarter in
advance as total compensation to Candy County for the term of the lease and renewals thereafter. And so my apologies I thought this was in the packet. I must have just missed that. So I will include this and send this out this afternoon as well with the media. Um I will get that out there this
afternoon. But that was a really highlevel overview then of what was in the proposal. Like I said, those 12 items of that they would be um utilizing the property were listed under the scope of use. Um then they list under the eight proposal items as well that it
included the 5-year term lease, the the pay, um current repairs and maintenance, those sorts of things. And so, uh very well thoughtout proposal. Um, we feel that it would be a good decision for the county to uh work through a contract
with this company and bring back to board for final approval. Um, that was something that I was hoping to bring back at the 21st or the first meeting in November, depending on county attorney Shane Baker's schedule on drafting the agreement. Um, but I can always push that to the second meeting if you need
me to come back and provide another update. Granted, you have the information. Commissioner Berg and then Commissioner Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just want to comment at a high level as well that just generally from what I've heard that um it sounds like a very positive step
forward and and a potential good fit and a good chance for the county to uh bring in some revenue that significance. Thank you. Yes, Commissioner Dale Anderson. Kelsey, would it start on January 1? I guess that was my only question or that
that was what you're hoping to have it start right at the beginning of the year or I think so that would be something we'd have to sit down and talk to them on a start date. I don't believe we really t whenever that they would be acceptable. Yes. One point maybe just one point on the
date that Kelsey mentioned to bring a contract back to the board. Will you come up to the mic Gary? Thanks. I'm sorry. Gary here again environmental services director. Just uh one comment on on coming back with a contract date. Uh a couple of the uses within what they're proposing would need to be
conditional use permit approved first. So we would need to do a condition condition use lease permit in November. Lease contract agreement probably in December then for a January one start is what would be a goal or of of mine. Those are some timing. Yes.
Issues. Yeah. But I think to keep the board in the loop, we could easily come back at the second or first meeting in November. Yes. once this I wanted this initial meeting to get done and I incredibly apologize. I thought that was in there. Um and so Melissa's making you all
copies so you'll have that today. Um but yes, working through some of those details with uh the proposer um working with Gary if there does need to be a conditional use permit. We need to work out some of those details. Um, but we will keep the board in the loop on
providing information and updates and then bring back the if bring back the contract and agreement for final approval. Commissioner Rimck. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, and I'm sure the proposal will spell out who's
responsible for what cost, but um, I understand that the one structure I think the house um, needed a lot of updating. Have we spent any money on any updating or would that be the responsibility of of the lease or
we've uh we have spent some money on on the home uh just through our uh home inspection report uh the most significant dollars uh were uh on the there's a balcony a patio b not a patio
flat roof rubber roof balcony uh overlooking the second story on on the lakeside of the home uh that was in need of repair. So that we have worked on uh and there's a number of smaller that's
uh that work and then work uh on the cabin structure as well. There was roof repair work that we've had completed there too and staff have completed other more uh uh regular maintenance type of
items that have been let go too. So, uh, but roof repair on the cabin, roof repair on the home are the two things that we've worked on. And did we redo the road and also put in a new septic or did the seller provide that? The seller provided, uh, monies for the
septic system to be replaced. Um, uh, design has been submitted and hoping to be installed in the next couple weeks, but that's being covered by the the seller. Uh, and we did also just uh have the the driveway seal coated.
We don't we don't need two septics out there because there is a cabin and there's the house and then I think the barn even has uh doesn't the barn have um plumbing in it? It it does. And and the that
sizing for the bathroom and the barn is incorporated into the house septic system. So they're close enough we can do close enough. together. There is a separate septic system for the cabin that passed inspection and that's uh in good standing. So, thank you.
Uh I just wanted to say that uh Gary did take me out on a uh on a tour of the property and uh uh the repairs that have been done have been uh necessary maintenance uh and especially
uh as we're going into winter uh that type of thing. Uh, and what I think I'm hearing out of this proposal here is that uh any further updates that uh uh the proposer may uh want are going to be
at the proposer's expense. Uh I assume that they have to have them uh approved uh by the county. Correct. Uh as as okay, yes, you may go ahead and do this to our property. Correct. Okay. and anything, you know, they would
be permitting through the environmental services office for any of that type of work and they would be responsible for the costs associated with this. Okay. And in conversations with uh Tepatanka, Gary and I have had, they've been very willing to put in uh the money if they
want some repairs or maintenance improvements made to the property. Um and so we'll continue working on that. Um we'll notify them today. We can maybe start on other the ordinance and things like that. I have one more question on the repairs
you made. Did the seller also leave uh an allocation for those kind of repairs like that roof you talked about? I did not. Anyone else? All right. So, this is for information and we'll see this back fairly shortly I
hope. Yes. Again, thank you Gary. Yes. Um, again, apologize that this wasn't in your board packet, but Melissa got you all copies today, so we don't have to email that out. So, thank you, Melissa. Um, all right. So, then that brings us to
the end of that topic. Yes. Yes. Okay. And then, uh, the next item is the, uh, 2025 health insurance. Correct. Okay. Um, again, Kelsey Baker, Candy County Administrator. Um, these were not included in your board packet. Um, our
human resources director, Katie Zemer, did not really, uh, she did not get these until late last night. Clarifying some numbers, making sure these numbers are corrected. So, you do have a handout sitting before you. Um, regarding the 2026 health insurance rates, not 2025.
Um, but as you know, we transitioned to Blue Cross Blue Shield in 2024. Uh, we switched brokers here. Um, and so this reflects the recent claims experience. What you see before you today would be the 2026 rates. Uh, originally this was
an uh approval, ask an action item. This does not need to be an action item. Um, and so this is just more for your information on what our rates will be. We have open enrollment starting October 27th through November 7th. So these rates will be the rates that will be
emailed out to employees. uh with the open enrollment information. Um given the current loss ratio and emerging risk, our broker recommends um accepting this Blue Cross Blue Shield renewal. And so these are the rates that would um go
into effect starting January 1, 2026. And so this is for your information, Katie. Um and staff will be working on the roll out for open enrollment. Um and so we will be working with staff on doing that.
Commissioner Mhm. Thank you. Um and it's impossible to know at this point how many employees will take which plan, but based on like last year and I assume that so there's been a lot in the news lately about the increased costs of insurance
all over. This is this the latest rates that we're talking about here? Yep. And have we calculated based on last year on how our employees chose last year? No. What the cost of the county was? We haven't done that. No. Or will be, I should say.
We have done that. But this is um based off the 14.9 split. So it's split 50% to the employer, 50% to the employee. So these are those calculations, but we don't know if more people will take the plan or we don't that that didn't include the
latest increases, did it? Or did it? When Karen calculates budget. Oh, is that what I'm talking about? I'm wondering if if we budgeted enough in insurance in our 26 budget to accommodate. Sorry. Sorry, I wasn't following. Um, yes, we always typically do and
sometimes we honestly overbudget so then we reduce that when it comes down to the levy. Yep. Um, yes. So, this is already included. Um, yes. Thank you, Lisa, for that clarification. um this is already included in the 2026 levy
and and and this shouldn't be news to us because we knew uh when we went with this contract that that first year was going to be at the same uh rate level uh correct previous and we knew it was going to be this percentage correct when
coming up for year two. Yep. And that's why we only did two years though. Correct. Yep. In 2024, we went to the 2-year rate cap with Blue Cross Blue Shield at that 14.9%. And so this is year two of that. And so then we switched insurance brokers. And so then
when we get out of this 2-year term, we'll probably go back out to market um to see what our rates will be. And as as you all know, health insurance rates are high. And so one of the big drivers, and Katie probably gets irritated when I keep talking about it, and Lisa probably did too, is we need to educate our staff
on what our health insurance means and adding belly buttons. So when the board approved that health insurance reset, we added belly buttons to our plan. That helps our overall rates. And so when we when we educate our employees on what it
means to be proactive and going in for preventative care, that helps our overall rates and and and can help our premiums then. Um we have really good health insurance, very good health insurance. Um our premiums, we're still working on that. And so I think um we're
still comfortable with these premiums, the staff. Um and so we'll work through this in January and we'll continue looking into this a little bit more on how we can improve. But as you all know, health insurance is a tough world right now. Um, and so we're just doing our best. Mr. Chair, I would move
I've got Commissioner Anderson first if I may. I was going to do the same thing, sir. We don't need approval. I'll move to accept the health insurance quotes. I'll second. Okay. So, this is an action item. Okay.
Yes. It doesn't need to be an action item. No. So, it's it's not an action item. I thought I clarified that at the beginning. This doesn't need to be an action item. This was year two of our Blue Cross Blue Shield. No, that's fine. I initially put this in as action item.
So, that was my fault there. This is more on my second. Yes. So, ignore that. Um, these are just the rates. So, like I said, Katie and her team will work work on sending this out for staff. Open enrollment, like I said, one more time, is um October 27th
through November 7th. I'm going to get Commissioner Berg first because he's been doing everything but sticking his finger in my ear. I have to get it over here so you can see. And then we and then we'll go to Commissioner Dwayne Anderson. We're going to have a lot of fun with this thing before I get it off.
Well, it's a good attitude to have to have fun with it. I guess unfortunately you have to go ahead wherever you are. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um uh question. What percent increase is this compared to the last country? We were rate capped at 14.9. So then it split
50/50 with the employee employer employer split 50/50 per contract. 14% increase that we're splitting overall overall and it's in the budget. So that's really good news to correct here. So yep. Um thank you. That that was my question. So
okay. Oh, okay. Thank you. Well well good. As long as as long as nobody assaults me trying to get my attention, I guess it'll be okay. It'll be worth it. Okay. All right, Kelsey, thank you so much. At this time, we'll call upon public works
director Mel Odin's bid award for the county aid highway 55 overpass. That's right. Been a while. Yeah. M uh Mr. Chair, members of the board, I'm Mel Odin, public works director, county engineer. Before you is
a consideration of award for the Conro 55 bridge overpass. Um just to take you back just quickly. Um this is a federal project. It was there's been a little bit of discussion with the government shutdown. We're in
day seven. Um I did get clarification from the FRA yesterday and their their specific words was there will be no impact and federal grant reimbursement will continue. So, we feel confident uh yesterday morning uh the administrator and and a few of us were on the
conference call with Washington and our lobbyist and that was one of the things that we did talk about and I did get clarification yesterday from Washington that it will uh there is no concern about the money coming through on the federal grant. So, that's a good thing.
Um the project is the last the the very south end of the Hummer Y. It's the final little project finally to connect um what the intent of the warmer Y was and if you recall the intent of the warmer Y was first of all provide safety
by bringing a bridge over two railroad tracks. The bypass of the 1100 and some trains that go by on the west side of Walmart every year we will now go over those trains with this with this bridge. The second thing was is it does provide
a good westerly bypass. So anybody coming in on 40 coming in on 12 can and literally bypass and and the node of the inter regional corridor which is highway 23 will be able to jump on right at the interchange. So that's the second thing. The third thing that was important to
the county almost 10 years ago when we started this project which is kind of crazy is good industrial park back good industrial park access. At that time, if you recall, we were just on the heels of moving the airport. We had just moved the waist treatment plant. We had just
done shovel ready um acres in the industrial park. So, that was good. We wanted good access. And then the the last part probably would be if you go out there today, it's confusing and we the goal was to eliminate the
confusion. So that was kind of some some key like anchor things we wanted to do when we did this project. So with all that being said, the securement of the money, um we did open bids on September 30th.
We had two bids. The low bid was 12% under our estimate. It's going to provide a 300 foot bridge and a little over a mile of grading uh to connect up to 40. And so it's my recommendation, Mr. Chair, to award the bid to the
Matawitz Construction Company out of Sleepy, Minnesota, not Marshall, Minnesota, out of Sleepy in the amount of 9,938,473.76. You've heard the recommendation. Is there? Yep. I I'll make a motion that we uh
award the bid uh as recommended as recommended. I'll second that. All right, we have a motion and a second discussion. Uh, Mel, uh, uh, almost half of this is covered under grant. Correct. Right. Right. We had we got 4.8 million
and of FRA grant. We got a 1.9 million in a state matching grant and then this was a local option sales tax. And one thing that I do want to note is that Burlington Northern is providing a 5% match for the bridge as well. Outstanding.
Yeah. So that's they've been a good partner in this. All right. Uh Commissioner B. Uh thank you, Mr. Chair. Um assuming this may pass, uh to get to this point is pretty exciting. I mean, this is a big deal. One of our biggest votes, I think. And I also want to thank you for
your leadership and and administrator and all the other staff and former uh people and uh in Canui County have worked on this uh goal. And this has been a goal for a long time. We've heard you talk about it for a very long time. So maybe we won't be hearing you talking
about this again, but it is very exciting and your leadership got us here. And I'm just real excited about this. And uh my other question is, is it possible to put the the map up for the public to see on the overhead? Sure. I think I don't I shouldn't agree
so quick. I think you're gonna have to need to do it because I thought that was an excellent map to kind of show a little bit better uh what the intention was and maybe you can kind of point out how that all working if you would. Uh Mr. Odin, I'm going to do um Yeah.
Yeah. No, this this is good. I was going to but I might want me to do that. Oh, no. That actually that that will or do you want to do this so I can use my pen? Let's do that. So I can like I can I'm a whiteboard guy. I There we go.
There we go. I I'm just going to quickly if you can zoom in on on this because if I get one comment, it's it's um and I think I even heard it this morning, but this is been okay here we go
a phase project for for good reason. Um but the confusion for the public is is that all we do is work out there but the reality of it is is we didn't want to do work twice and so that's why there's three phases. Um we we did phase one
originally where we did where we did this uh road realignment. This road used to come down to here. Actually, it used to cross right here, but we wanted to get this built and we just did a temporary connection here, but it made this confusing right here. This was
super confusing. It still is. The phase two is mendot um did the ramps right here. And that way we could we if we wouldn't have done this, they couldn't have done the ramps, right?
Okay. And so we had to do this and leave this connected. they can do the ramps and now we're here where we can get rid of this little road and put the bridge in. But if you, as you can see, the blue line, the blue line and the blue line never have changed. So that's done. We
never had to redo it. So traffic was able to when we put this bridge in right here, traffic was able to get into town, get into town, and we do this bridge here, they can get into town. So there's never a never like a detour again here.
Now, I will say when we do when we do this bridge here and we take out this road, we will detour up on 40. So, there's there's two residents on this piece of road up here. Um, but that's
it. And quite honestly, they can go north and it's only, you know, half a mile, I think, at the most. But just for for the sake of what we're doing is this is the the hairpin turn. we're removing. And then this is the bridge. And we will
put some stakes out here for the public. So you can kind of see where this is. I was talking to the um the Levi at the paper earlier about trying to get the best way for visual. This is this is a
not a maybe a welltraveled road for most residents and so it just kind of is out there, you know, and so this would this would give us a map of where it is for those interested. Commissioner Dwayne Anderson. Okay. So there will be a detour on this.
Um not this year, but when when when we when we remove this road, okay, next year there will have to be a detour at some point in time. And the detour would go, it would only be a detour for the two people that live on 55. Yeah. First of all,
and then it would only be to on to 40. So, at first though, when you start the project, will there be a detour or No, it'll just be like for a shortest time possible. So, this fall, what we want to do is we want to searchcharge this area right here and search charge this area right here. That's all you're going to see
this fall. This road will just stay will just be just like it is. Okay. all winter long and then next spring this has got to this has got to sit in searchcharge for u for six months. Okay. So it's a it's a it's a long time. That's why it's it's paramount that we
get this thing. So there'll be a detour then starting like May or June roughly hopefully even later than that. Okay. Um, now there are some nuances like we did take it to well, it's just off the page here that box cover's going
to be replaced. Okay. So, there's going to be some interim closures, but yeah, as a as a general rule, the detour will be late next summer. Okay. With the December of next year completion, but I assume that culvert was already on
the list uh uh to be done or is that part of this as well? That's part of the project box. Uh, thank you, Mr. Chair. And I'm assuming then on number five uh the impact on that as far as detours or anything would be very very small until you actually hooked up to it.
There won't be any detour for five at all. No, not at all. Even when you hook up. Okay. So public still can come through there. So when you I just want to be sure they're aware back to this this here. Yep. This is the third and final phase.
Um, if you're gone, you know, once again, it's the industrial park access, access to town. These ramps will never close. This five will never be need to be closed. Oh. Oh. Anyone else? Commissioner,
thank you. Uh, this is, uh, pretty exciting. It seems like, uh, I was barely a commissioner when we first start. Well, actually, I was barely a commissioner when the Wilmer Y first got proposed. And initially this was supposed to be part of the scope of the
Wilmer Y but in order to keep the cost down I think was the reason. No well the cost and the environmental documents right so they they reduced the envelope of the project so which eliminated uh this prospective bridge and I'll make one slight correction if I may. This
isn't quite the last piece of the puzzle. There's the two and a half miles of pavement that everybody's aware of uh that's also there. But if you go if the picture was back up there and if you looked at those ramps, we've had a really uh great working relationship with MDOT. I remember coming home from
making a delivery of furniture south of Marshall and drove the bridge had just been completed over over Highway 23. And as I drove through there on my way home, I'm thinking this is so damn crazy that we've only got one ramp on this on this
bridge. The very next day, I think or two days later, uh, former former administrator Klein Doll and Mel and I were in John Husby's office along with Susan Carnowski and maybe somebody else. And it wasn't very long after that we had the ideas for the the ramp was
going. So, there's a lot of progress, a lot of progress been made out there. This is almost as exciting as closing the gaps for me just because of the time involved. Um, but we had our Highway 23 Coalition annual meeting last week and Highway 23 Coalition has been very very
supportive of not only this project but also uh those last two and a half miles of pavement. Um, that comes with a caveat though because um most of the people up and down that Highway 23 coalition recognize where most of the benefit will be uh for those two and a
half miles of payment uh being completed if and when we get that job done. Yep. All right. Anyone else? All right, then. So, uh, we need to, uh, we need a motion to award the bid. Yes. I think
we have it. Yeah, I did that. We have a motion in a second. We have a motion in a second. Thank you. Uh, anybody else? All right. Uh, then on the motion, all in favor signify by saying I. I. All opposed?
Motion passes. Mel, thank you. Uh at this time uh uh I think we'll move because they're here now. Uh let's uh recess the county board meeting and we will move reconvene as the uh drainage ditch authority and we'll come back to
the other two uh items uh as the board after that. So eagle. Oh okay. So, we will recess the county board meeting uh and then we will uh convene as the drainage ditch authority
u and we're just having them come in momentarily here. Austin, step right up. Good morning. Must have skipped ahead. We did. All right. Go ahead and take whatever
time you need to get set there. Yeah. Let's see this. Thank you. All right. We are convened as the uh drainage ditch authority. So go right ahead. Good morning, Mr. Chair. Dar authority members Austin Hill branch drainage manager. I guess the first item would be
on the agenda would be to approve the meeting minutes from August 19th. So move, Mr. Chair. We have a motion to approve the August 19th uh drainage authority minutes. Is there a second? I'll second it. Commissioner Dale Anderson seconds. Any
discussion? Hearing none. All in favor say I. I. I. All opposed. Motion passes unanimously. Thank you. And then uh uh you are bringing to us a petition. Yeah. Next, we received a petition from the middle fork of the C River Wershed
District to modify the existing outlet structures for Green Lake and Lake Calhoun under Minnesota statute 103E227. Um the main purpose of the meeting today was to acknowledge that we received the petition and initiate proceedings under 10327.
The project um is referenced in the petition as project 2024-14. The petition and plans can be found found on page 50 in your packet. Maybe just pull that up for them. Um the petitioners state they want to
modify the existing outlet structures um to incorporate rock arch rapids. A portion of this is in the channel of county district 20. The petitioners do not seek any drainage system funds for the project. Um project costs will be the responsibility of the petitioner funded through the Minnesota statute
103D funding sources and through an agreement with the state of Minnesota. Um the county attorney, county auditor, and I have determined the petition meets the requirements under Minnesota statute 103227. Um after we receive a petition under 10327, the drainage authority must
appoint an engineer to investigate the effects of the proposed insulation and file a report on the findings. Once we receive the engineers report, the county auditor will set a public hearing date where we'll ask the engineer and the petitioners to uh come and present the project to the drainage
authority and the public. The petitioners contracted with Stantech engineers to design their project. Um they included me with in all of the design meetings. Um petitioners requested the drainage authority at points uh point Stantech as the engineer required by statute. My recommendation
to the drainage authority is to appoint Stantech to investigate the effects of the proposed installation on county 20. Appointing Stantech um is included in the draft findings in order receiving the petition and initiating proceedings. Um I can try to answer any questions about the project. We also have Josh
Kavanagh in the audience from the DNR. Um if there is any specific questions about the project as well. Um after that I would seek a motion to adopt the findings order receiving the petition and initiating proceedings as drafted in your packet. Um the finding findings
order can be found on page 102. Uh I'm going to have one question for you. I believe I saw an email from you that uh questioned whether or not uh the county was going to be taking any of this over and that's not the case. Correct.
Correct. Yep. on uh it's number number eight in the petition. It's on page 50. The um in the we we reached out to Rinky Nunan and either way with this wording, the petition still meets the requirements, but yes, with the final
order at the fi at the public hearing, we would address that the state maintains control of the uh structures. Um the county attorney reached out to Rinky Nunan who's representing the middle fork of the Crow River wershed district and yes that was a mistake on their part. It's supposed to say the
state of Minnesota and he will get us a correction to the petition for the final meeting. So outstanding. That's uh I I figured that might not fly otherwise. Y uh any any other questions for Austin? No, but I think I heard that there might
be two recommendations here. One is to adopt the petition. Was there uh the the recommendation would be to um uh adopt the findings order receiving the petition which which includes um
appointing Stantech as the engineer and authorizing the county auditor to set a hearing a public hearing date. So just one one recommendation. Right. And I would move on that. Perfect. All right. So, and and you're moving
based upon the recommended motion uh here. Would you just uh read through that quick just for the record? I The recommended motion is I Mr. Mr. Chair move to approve the draft findings and order receiving the petition and
initiating proceedings as presented by our public drainage manager to acknowledge the petition. Appoint Stantech as the engineer for CD20 and direct the Kenny Kenoi County auditor treasurer upon receipt of the engineers report. Set a date, time, and location
for a public hearing on the petition. And I'll second it. Commissioner Dale Anderson seconds. Uh thank you both. Uh we have a motion uh and a second. Is there any further discussion? I have one question. Go ahead. Um, we we I have received, as you might imagine,
all summer long concern about the water level on Green Lake. Now, this new structure going in will neither raise nor the current level of of the water. Correct. That they're required to submit a hydraulic model or the hydraulic
model. They cannot increase the water level upstream by this new structure. And they also can't increase the water flowing downstream at a faster rate. So yes, that specifically with the county ditch 20 channel, they're replacing the bridge. Because they're replacing the bridge, they have to install a sheet
pile structure with a cutout that matches the existing abutments of the existing bridge that's there now. Plus with the that in combination with the where they place the rocks at the 3% grade in the channel that would that the hydraulic model is says that that
matches the what's there. Now there's a Supreme Court decision I believe it was a 19 uh 34 54 53 1953 that sets that that that water level is set for both the outlet of Calhoun and
that diversion dam. Thank you. Mhm. All right. Any other questions? Ready to vote? All in favor of the motion as stated signify by saying I. I. All opposed. Motion passes. Thank you.
And then Austin, you have one other uh report for us here. Yes. Yes. And this is in respect to the uh uh June 13th flood damages. Correct. Yep. The next thing I have for you is the 2020. It's going to be 2025 public drain inspections for the June
13th flood damage. Um historic rainfall on June 13th caused severe uh damage to public drainage infrastructure in Candy County. My inspection reports document all the flood damage found. Um, all repairs listed in the reports qualify for state aid disaster public assistance. I'll run through these
reports with you quick here. So, that's going to be page on we'll start on page 107. Oh, perfect. Yeah. Go two more. There you go. Next page, please. Thank you. So, the
there was a total of five systems inspected or five systems that had flood damage. I inspected several other systems or flew several other systems. Um, but the five systems that had flood damage are JD1, JD7, county ditch 24, county ditch 10, and state ditch one.
Um, that's total about 118 miles for those systems. I found a total of 74 repairs. I know we've had other updates with with the pictures and stuff, but this is just the official report. Um that so we can authorize these repairs
under 10375. So there was 74 repairs, like I said, um 70 of them are bank erosion, mostly on corners, two large blowouts where the ditch or the water from the fields blew the whole bank away. Um and then two spots for channel blockage or debris
removal. So on that page there, it shows the repair estimates. Um the grand total that I estimate is 900,000 900,67758 for to repair these with RIPA. Um state aid would cover 75%.
Um the ditch system cost would have to cover 25%. Um if you look at each individual system, JD1's total would be about 101,000. JD1 that the repair fund can easily cover that cost. JD7 93,570
the repair fund for JD7 can easily cover that cost. 20 county does 24 25,000 um repair fund can easily cover that cost. And then county ditch 10 and state ditch one are smaller numbers that easily covered by the repair fund. The the 900,000 will be able to we'll be
able to cover that till we're reimbursed with the ditch with the ditch system funds. There's plenty in there for that. Um, so we will go to the next page. This is that that map that we've all seen a few times. Um, it shows where we got the biggest amount of rain, the four
watershed districts. Um, the red red lines are where all the drainage damage was. We had some drainage damage in Fallen and Lake Elizabeth Townships coming out of the hills where the original rain dropped. And then most of the most of the damage is actually on the outlets for for all these bigger
systems where the where these where the ditch either sat flooded for two months or or flowed really fast when the in the case for JD7. So So the first report there would be for JD1. Um there's 40 sites. Um it lists
lists my standard stuff for the inspections. It and it points out that um this is flood damage caused by June 13th and qualifies for state disaster assistance. On the next page, it lists the total for for that specific system.
And then these repair numbers are all listed in that inspection report. You can reference each repair number to each site. We would, like I said, most of these, they're all going to be repaired with granite rip wrap.
Keep going down to the next system. Keep going. Keep going. Keep going. There you go. There's JD7's report. There's 24 sites for JD7. Again, the total repair estimates at 374,000.
We list all the maps again for each site. J7 had majority of it was on corner damage or swirling at the road pipes and we can keep going. The county is 24. There are seven sites there.
Total of 103,000. The estimated cost would be 25,000 for the ditch system. And then county ditch 10 there's two sites there and state ditch one is one site. One state ditch one is a little bit unique.
That's where the cattail bog shifted and closed the channel off. I'm going to hire a specialized boat to take care of that. Any questions on the drainage inspections? Commissioner B. Thank you, Mr. Chair. If I understand you correctly then that you can start
proceeding on this immediately. Correct. And then all these individual bids then you'll be bringing them in for board approval then or you group them together or how do you do how does that all work? The individual individual contracts are all going to be under the required amount. Okay.
That you guys required to for me to bring to you as the board for each individual site. So we'll be seeing a lot of you. Yeah. No, no, you won't be you won't be seeing me at all. I didn't think I was trying to avoid that. All right. Great. Yep. Commissioner Mdeck and then Commissioner
Dale Anderson. And Dwayne, I'm sure you want Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, Austin, all of this report is for the event on June 13th, correct? Correct. Yep. And I can only assume there was other damage that happened from subsequent events. Is that fair?
Correct. There there I do have some damage from the would be the July 27th disaster that Ace was talking about this morning. Correct. I do have some damage up in the northwest part of the county for that. And so those would not qualify for any uh state aid funding.
I I I do plan actually to submit to state aid. We at first I did not have enough um to qualify for that $4,000 minimum, but now I do actually. And so yes, there is about nine sites and then come for that. This is a tremendous amount of work.
Correct. How long will it take you to? Um so I have two contractors lined up so far that are going to give me at least four weeks each. um we'll be at the mercy of how if the quaries run out of rock. Um if not, we will finish it in the
spring. If we can't finish in the spring, we would apply for an extension. We finish it next fall for sure. So, I have no Yeah, no doubt that we can for sure finish it by next fall. Um I'm going to try to get it done this fall. Yeah, I guess I have two things. I just want to thank Austin. I think he's done a lot
of work to make spending the time flying all these ditch systems and being in a boat. I'm sure you're sick of water, so you know, definitely want to thank you for all the work you've done. But I just want to make a motion to adopt the public drainage inspection um for the
June 13th, 2025 flood damage and authorize all repairs. I I'll second that. We have a motion and a second. Uh discussion. Uh Commissioner, I just want to say that Austin has had a very very busy summer and thanks for all
the hard work you've done. And just to be clear, the state aid comes in the form of reimbursements. Correct. Correct. Y. Okay. So, our costs will be reimbursed up to that 75% 75% of each contract. Y. All right.
I want to make one quick um clarification. It's not our cost. It's the ditch systems cost. So, if anybody's listening to this, it's not taxpayers outside of the ditch systems that are paying for this. It's the ditch systems in addition to the state aid money.
Yeah. And if if I would I mean the the this reimbursement from the state is a great thing for the ditch system. I mean that to we're going to get a lot of lot of rip wrap armoring you know with never let a good crisis go to waste. Correct is what you're saying.
Sure. All right. Uh with that any other discussion hearing? None. We have a motion that's been made and seconded to adopt the uh reports and authorize the repairs. All in favor say I. I. Okay. All opposed. Motion passes.
Thank you. And that brings your business here to a conclusion. Correct. Yep. All right. I get confused on this one. Do we close the uh drainage authority? No. All right. We will close the drainage authority. And I'm looking at the clock.
Uh and we will remain in recess for an additional five minutes uh before we reconvene the county board. Josh. Josh, let me grab you. Attack. The uh Candy High County Board of Commissioners is uh back from recess and
we'll move back a little bit then into the agenda. We've got two items from our county administrator. Kelsey, go ahead. Uh Kelsey Baker, KUI County Administrator. Before you today, we have the Eagle View Agreement for Candyoi County. Um this was included in your board packet. I just not let myself live
that one down. Um, and so this is a four-year agreement. We've had a contract with Eagle View, um, formerly Pictometry. So, GIS, this is how we get all of our images. It's a four-year agreement. We do a fly over every two years. Uh, cool thing about this
agreement is we are going to 1 inch uh, pictures, which they will be a lot clearer. Specifically, this will really help our assessor's department. And so how this agreement benefits Candy County internally is public works, planning and zoning, law enforcement, public safety,
dispatchers, assessors, auditor, treasurer, environmental services, glacial lake sewer. I could the list could go on. I use it all the time. It's a great service that we provide to the public. The public uses it a lot. Um and so uh this is annually the cost will be
117,365 um dollars per year for every four years. We will be utilizing some of our technology funds in our recorders office which is uh Minnesota statute 375.18 that we can you utilize these funds for
this service and then we will be utilizing um other technology funds to offset some of the payments as well. Um this is something that we want to continue to do to provide for the county. Like I said, it supports a wide range of functions um internally and
externally. So before you today, I would be asking for approval uh regarding the agreement. Um and then just to one note, the county attorney has reviewed this as well. All right. We uh uh you've heard from the administrator.
Yes, Commissioner Berg. Uh thank you. Yes, I had a just a couple questions. So this is covered by our budget going forward. And uh the other question is is this necessary and what I hear it is very necessary in so many different especially on the emergency
management end of it. Absolutely. I just listed off a few but really you could essentially say all county departments, all county functions. Um we contract with our county surveyor which does all of our GIS work. Um and so we a portion of that
yes is levied then to pay for the service and then we're utilizing the these technology funds as well. And then Mr. Chair I would so move uh to approve uh so Commissioner Berg uh moves to approve the uh uh contract with Eagle
View. Is there a second? I'll second it. Uh Commissioner Dale Anderson seconds. Any discussion? Yeah, sure. Just a clarification. So the cost is 117 and change uh per year for four years. And then do they do this every 10 years
or something or does it or is it because I think you said every year for four years? Yep. It's a four-year agreement. They do the fly over every two and then when the four years are up, do we start over again? Is so is this going
to be an ongoing budget item roughly of 120,000 a year? roughly around 120 we would be planning for budgetary item. Correct. And is that because things change um or new structures, new building permits, uh things like that? We've had a lot of new
builds in 24 and 25. And so it helps our assessor staff uh look at property and not go out to the homes. And same with public works, I think. Same for planning and zoning. So the chair uh Commissioner B. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh, how much was
the increase then from before roughly or do you have that by HS? It was I'd have to look in my email of what we're currently paying. Um, you can get that to me later. Yeah. Fine. Any other questions of the
administrator? Hearing none. Then we have a motion and a second to uh approve the agreement. All in favor say I. All opposed. Motion passes. Thank you. And then our next item uh is uh the
Candyo High County logo. Elsie, go ahead. Sorry, Mr. Chair, if I may just answer Corky's question because I was like, God, I feel like I've seen it. It is um this equals the same amount that we had for the project um spread over six years instead of four prior. So, this was
prior a six-year agreement at that 117 and so we're getting it for the four-year agreement at the 117,000. Okay. odd change. Okay. Correct. So, yeah, it's really and like I said, the 1 in going will be very beneficial. Correct.
So, sorry. Um, again, Kelsey Baker, Candyoy County Administrator. Um, so Melissa, will you pull that up on the screen? Um, today before you, we have the logo introducing the new logo for Candyway County. This
is something that was kind of spurred before um spurred within um administration, talked about within the strategic plan. Um it's it's kind of a it design is change and change isn't always easy. And um but I think at this
point with the board approving the strategic plan, um looking at where we're at, this gives us a fresh look and represents who we are today and where we're headed tomorrow. It's a reflection of our growth, our values, shared commitment, and serving this community
with integrity and purpose. Um, and so over the past few years there, if you go to the next slide, our county logo has um this was around 10 10ish 12 years old. Um, prior to the current logo,
there was a different modified version of this logo. Um, and so when we move forward with this strategic plan, it's also became clear that we need a visual identity for ourselves and this uh uh logo that we currently have maybe
just no longer fits who we are today. Um, we're hoping that this updated logo captures the energy and represents our rich history and provides the momentum that we're looking at moving forward. Um, we did gather feedback from staff, department heads, and community voices.
We asked,"What does Candy County mean to you? What does that look like? What should the people look at when they see Candy County logo?" Um, we had our design partners create several different concepts, uh, several different concepts that we looked at. And so as you can see
here um we have the current existing logo and the proposed new logo that we would be going with um which we hope that symbolizes the strength of our rural roots uh the natural beauty of our lakes and prairies manufacturing industry and the connection between
people and the place. And so we this clean design um hopefully represents transparency, progress, and trust um that define who we are for public service. If you go to the next slide, we kind of put in um what this means for
Candy County. And these were words that we've talked a lot about within our strategic plan. Um it's a visual expression of our mission and to empower communities through integrity, purpose, and collaboration. And so the colors we
can always change. Um we felt that this navy color represented the lakes and who we are. Um that can change per department if you know if we look at that into a little bit more detail. Um but we do feel that um our employees we
want that mission to be real through teamwork, innovation, dedication to public service. And we hope that our new logo ties in those values and gives us a consistent, professional, clean image that represents who we are today and who we will be tomorrow.
Um, one thing to note before we go to the next slide, as you can read those words, um, this was a very low financial cost. This is going to be a gradual roll out. We aren't getting rid of anything um, currently with the logo. We will
gradually roll this out. Um we have worked with a local uh graphic design company here in Wilmer um that is doing this um at no cost. There will be a cost if we roll out certain new logo items
with employees. That is budgeted within administration. Um very low cost to that as well which would be my goal. Um but one thing to note is we didn't want this to be a a quick or a large change. We wanted this
to be a gradual soft roll out. Um, you know, you might see our logo on a county vehicle and we might be having the new logo, but we're not going to toss that out right away. Um, and it's a decal that we work with public works on doing. Um, and so if you go to the next slide
though, it does kind of show um what it would look like on our email signature, maybe on our employee internet, on our social media pages. We will put it on letterhead vehicles. Um maybe not vehicles. Sorry, I don't know why I said that. We just talked about that. Um uh
we want we want people to know who we are. And so there will be some rolling out of different things on social media which are no cost for us. Um, and we will try, like I said, keep the cost at very minimum is our goal and just to do a gradual roll out. And I think with the
strategic plan being approved, um, this will align with our mission and values. And like I said, changes isn't always easy. Change is hard, but change can also be really exciting. And I feel that with the staff that what we have now and the board that this is a meaningful
change and does reflect on who we are. And we hope that this new logo um will unite us with connecting with our past, present, and future. Um and that our residents and partners and staff will grow to appreciate this and we'll continue building a strong KY.
I just want to say that uh I saw some of the earlier efforts and uh uh to go from what was at that point in time to this is is night and day. Uh uh uh I I I absolutely love this and I'm hard to
please when it comes to graphic uh uh stuff like this. Um those of you who are on the um uh EDC Joint Powers Board uh uh know that I had some concerns about that particular roll out and and and and
it's fine. Uh but I'm really pleased that uh this is going to be uh a lowcost uh update uh and it's going to uh be a gradual uh roll out. Uh no need to throw away any uh letter head or anything like
that just because it has the uh uh old logo on it. Uh so uh I think it's I think it's smart. I think it's current and uh I think it's time. Uh anyone have any questions? Commissioner Dale Anders. I guess I don't have any questions, just a comment. I did have a couple people
that had concerns and questions and I actually asked a few people this morning before our meeting what they thought if we changed our logo. And I think the biggest thing that and I talked to Kelsey about it. The biggest thing is that we aren't going to make this a big expense. I mean that that's I think
everybody's biggest concern is that changing a logo usually costs a lot of money. And if we can do this at very little cost or no cost, that's to me the important part. Um, the one thing I really like and and I'm looking at what you have on the screen right now is the
fact that we can use different colors for different things to make it a little bit original for each different application. I think that's one thing that really adds to the to the effect of of changing this logo. But other than that, I'm I'm fine with it.
Roger. and the uh commissioner. Thank you. Um so from what commissioner Dale Anderson just said, are there going to be different renditions of of this logo? So like all five of us could be wearing a different shirt like Commissioner Gardner is and have a
different brand on on each shirt. No, it's still going to be the same design, but let's say uh public works environmental services, we we put them in the orange color um and it says public works and the branding on the bottom. Um lots of times you'll see a
commissioner with the same color on the print for the t-shirt. Do you know if it's gray on gray? Gray on tone on tone. Yeah, tone on tone. Thank you. Um, that's something that we would do, but I think for the embroidery and the logo and the clothing, we're not going to change those colors.
So, if I may continue. Yes. Um, and I think it's I think it's valuable for people to uh especially in branding to recognize, oh, that's three sisters or that's, you know, Canyu County. The consistency and and having
it at least pretty similar. The other question I had is because if this becomes a Minnesota state flag, um who is we? When you say we, uh who is we? When I made who made these decisions?
Yeah, we talked to department heads and staff. Melissa and I talked to staff and then she emailed the county commissioners and then she went to certain departments and buildings and talked to staff. So when I say we, administration, department heads
and staff. Okay. And and and I had seen some of the earlier work and some of the ongoing as well. So uh Commissioner B. Uh thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, well, first off, I want to say I understand uh, you
know, things have to change and I'm probably one of these I I deal really well with change, but I do like the old logo and but again, there's times it was not functional. You know, when we put it on the flag for Prime West, it you could hardly see the detail, but I do like the
the old one and I I like the two guys in the fishing boat and I can think of maybe myself and somebody else in that boat. So, but this will work and I'll support this going forward. And um it it does identify us quickly who we are. But the old one,
can I ask one clarifying question? Pardon me. Go ahead. So, in in every case, it will be the KC with Canui County underneath it, right? Um whatever case. So, like you can see on the the example with the Kandy County
internet, um we maybe wouldn't put the wording underneath, but it would have that wording in there. Kenya County. It does. Yep. It does. Yep. So, like if you purchase a shirt, it would say Candy County underneath. Yeah. Because you don't want them to
think of it as Kansas City Royal baseball team or something like that. Yeah. Right. Or Kabic County. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Any other questions, comments? Dwayne? No. No. Okay. Uh,
so, uh, it is the recommendation of staff that we, uh, adopt, uh, this new logo. And, uh, uh, do we have a motion? If not, I'll I'll offer the motion. Is there a second?
I'll second it. Uh any further discussion? All those in favor of adoption of the new logo signify by saying I. All opposed. Motion passes. Thank you and thank you for your work on this.
Thank you to everybody who is involved in this. I think it is absolutely stellar work. Um with that we are now at the uh point of uh administrative updates uh
appointments uh calendar and committee reports. Uh I see there is a bullet point under here. Uh Mel uh has scheduled for road and bridge uh work session bus tour uh after our next uh
meeting 1 to 3:00. Um Mel, do you have anything to add on that? Is that going to be pretty similar to last year? Yeah, what we our vision is is we would look at uh local action sales tax projects um work our way to uh Spicer,
look at a trail that we got federal funds for. um go to New London, look how the interchange where the interchange um work our way up to the Howick area and then come back to the Diamond Lake um access that we did through State Park Road account and as well as Levy dollars
and then return home. So, um and and we might point out a few things along the way, but it's it's just uh grab a cup of coffee and let's go and we'll have a map. Uh thank you. Uh then uh uh we'll go to
uh uh uh there are no appointments, correct? I didn't see anything. Uh how about uh uh committee uh uh calendar and committee reports, commissioner reports. Uh yes, I'd be happy to go first. And I'm going
to just really skip over my reports, but I do want to say a couple of different things. Uh I just want to give credit and uh talk about just or share about the flags of honor. uh lunchon we had and that was an excellent job recognizing all the people in Candi
County that's from the veterans uh doing that service and it was really well done. So thank you for everyone taking part in that. Also like to me mention Commissioner Mdeck uh you may not mention it you got appointed to the board uh for the highway 23 uh uh
coalition. So he officially on the board and he and I attended that meeting. So that's and then also Britney from public health got some award. Do you want to just comment on that real quickly or um I should have I don't I don't know much about it. I No,
but yes, I will I can provide the paper. Yes, Britney Schmalls received. Yeah, she Thank you. That's all I have. All right. Thank you. Uh Commissioner Mdeck, uh do you have anything? Um I don't recall after the TW special
meeting did we do report outs? I don't think that was that was a long time ago. I would just comment that um uh along with the public works director and yourself uh Commissioner Gardner, we were in Washington DC for the transportation alliance and I think it
was pretty productive. I mean that 10 days later maybe as a result the government shut down as a result of us being there. But uh anyway, we uh we advocated obviously for transportation. That was the function and focus of the
meeting. And and uh I think we also had a great opportunity to with our own delegation in regards to uh congressionally or community directed spending earmarks uh to advocate for the two water tower reclamations in uh uh in
the glacial links system. So there was that and uh yesterday we had the AMC policy coordinating committee that commissioner Gardner and I were both on as a result of being policy chairs and um oh I attended the MAC uh at Craig's
last week. That's always a really good uh conference and some of the best speakers I've heard in my 13 years always seem to be at Macak. In fact, the one that keynote speaker may be showing up at AMC in the future.
That's it. That's it. Thank you, Commissioner Danders. I'm kind of quiet. So, the only thing I had was a tourism meeting yesterday and that was at uh at uh Oh, I'm going to draw a blank. Um I drew a blank. Sorry. Did you go did
you go to the uh the Norway games? I did not. Okay. I did not make it to that meeting. So, let Dwayne go and I'll think it'll pop. I I feel your P. Uh Dwayne, go ahead. All right. So, since our last uh county board meeting, I had uh three different
meetings. actually fairly light which kind of surprised me but I had the armors or uh central Minnesota emergency services board meeting was on the 24th of September. Um that was pretty much routine. Uh then on the 25th I had a
UKAP meeting. Um they you know those places they're building uh oh let's see be on it well I think of it as county road 23 coming into Wilmer but uh uh they're they're finalizing that they still are going to have they're going to
have an open house on it eventually I guess and tours but uh not sure when that date will be yet but that was kind of the exciting part of uh UKAP. Uh and then on yesterday I had a vision 2040 meeting. Um and so a lot of stuff going
on kind of coming up and stuff. But uh one of the things I mentioned at at that meeting was um uh October is manufacturing month and uh there are some local businesses that are giving tours. Uh, and if you want to know about
that, you got to contact uh maybe Central Minnesota Jobs and Training or maybe Career Force might be able to uh connect you up with uh tours if you want to go see some some of the local businesses that are manufacturing stuff. And uh one one thing that I found out on
on my that committee is uh that the highest paying jobs in Minnesota are uh in manufacturing. So, and they said if you if you question that, they said just go look at the parking lots and see what kind of vehicles they drive. So, that's surprising. I always thought it was um
healthc care that was the highest paying. So, that's mine. Thank you. All right. Now, I can do it. You're good now. Uh so, it was at at Dickerson's Resort and that place has been around for hundred years. So, it's it's kind of a a rarity thing that we have a resort
that's been around that long. Um and they had a good meeting there. Um the other couple things I went to was we had a watershed chop shakip creek watershed meeting up up in uh Glennwood and um
just updates on different um projects that are going on. Um we have a project on on uh on Norway Lake that is being funded by that right now um to study how the water quality is in that lake. and uh just an update on that. And then I
was at a library meeting with Dwayne on the on the 18th for financial part. So that's all I have. All right. And uh I'll go last and I'll be brief. And no, I am not a big fan of pirates, but this is kind of kind of a
necessary thing. A week ago, Monday, I had a procedure that uh found that there was a tear in my retina. And so instead of a two week recovery like I was anticipating, this is going to be about six weeks. And they tell me I can't
drive because I don't have decent uh uh uh death perception. And and I get that, but it sure puts a crimp in my style. Uh so there's a couple of things that are out of town this week that I'm just not going to the shack retreat. uh uh
Commissioner Snow from Renville County is going to be there as well as uh our two public health uh folks uh and so they'll have that covered and then uh I am uh not going to be at the AMC board
meeting on on uh Friday. So, but hopefully I'll be able to start picking things up again shortly shortly after that. This took a little bit of the starch out of me, I guess. Uh just just to uh uh comment on the uh uh Washington
DC uh uh trip. Uh I thought that our uh meetings with uh uh with the members of the Minnesota delegation and their staff were uh uh were were good meetings. I think they're going to ultimately be uh productive in one way, shape, or form.
Uh we were very happy to uh uh get some uh well it wasn't undivided time because she was uh in a ways and means committee meeting at the time but uh uh to be able to have representative Fishbach listening to us about some of those things that we wanted to advance uh uh
and and uh hopefully uh hopefully that is able to uh uh be well heard and and amount to some uh action for us. Uh and uh the other thing that I have is that uh we
are uh tentatively scheduled for uh the 6th of next month which is a Thursday uh to uh have uh a group of folks interested in uh housing uh go up to uh Ottertale County visited with board
chair uh Wayne Johnson up there as well as their u economic development uh uh director ctor uh and they'd be willing to take us out on a a tour looking for about 25 or 30 folks from all across the county uh to be able to uh uh sit in on
this. Uh they have what's called the big build. Uh and that's a goal of 5,000 new affordable homes, either rehabbed or built new. Uh and we're talking single family here. And right now they're up to about 3,200.
We might as well learn from somebody who's doing it. uh and doing it successfully and find out what it is they're doing, see if there's any of that that we can replicate here. Uh so we're going to be working on uh on getting that put together. If uh you or anyone out there
has any interest in that, uh contact me directly. That'd be uh that'd be great. And with that, that's that's all I have. Do we have anything else for the good of the order? If not, then we will adjourn this meeting of the Candy County Board of Commissioners. Thank you, everyone.