Good morning everyone and welcome to the Kio High County Board of Commissioners meeting for May 19th, 2026. Please stand for the pledgece 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. >> I want to say thank you to everybody who's following us on YouTube today, as well as those gathered here in the chamber. Our first item of business is
uh the approval of today's agenda. >> Mr. Chair, I so move on today's agenda. >> Commissioner Berg moves. Is there a second? >> I'll second that, Mr. Chair. >> Commissioner Dwayne Anderson seconds. Thank you. Any discussion? All in favor say I. I. >> All opposed. That passes. The next item
is our consent agenda. These are action items that are typically routine. Uh they include the approval of the May 5th, 2026 county board legal minutes. Uh approval of the auditor's warrants and claims. Uh approval of the human
services warrants and claims. Paying the bill. uh Pioneerland library system lease agreement renewal. Uh those are the four items on the consent agenda. Is there are there any commissioners who wish to
pull any of these items for further discussion? Hearing none, then I'd take a motion to approve the consent agenda. >> So move, Mr. Chair. >> Thank you. Commissioner Mdeck, is there a second? >> I'll second it. >> Commissioner Dale Anderson seconds. Discussion
hearing none. All in favor say I. I. >> All opposed. >> That motion passes. Uh at this time we will convene a public hearing on the petition to recognize Calhoun Lake as the official name for Lake ID 3. I knew
I needed these. 34006200. Uh at this time we'll open the u uh uh we'll have uh our uh auditor treasurer Lisa Whis to uh she'll come up and introduce this uh item for us and uh uh
we will uh ask her to guide us on this. Lisa, good morning. >> Good morning. Lisa Whis, Candy County Auditor Treasurer. Um, as you know, a petition was received in the Otter Treasures Office to recognize Calhoun
Lake as the correct name of Lake ID 340062000. The petition meets the criteria under Minnesota statute 83A.05 and a public hearing is set for this morning. At today's public hearing on the petition, the board will hear
comments from the public on the proposed petition and then following the closing of the public comments, hold discussion and vote on a resolution to support and recognize Calhoun Lake as the official and correct name of Lake ID 3400-62000.
Today's board packet includes the original Calhoun Lake name presentation that was presented to the board on March 17th. the petition received to recognize Calhoun Lake as the correct and official name and the DNR response letter to the
petition. Of note, the DNR letter states the DNR finds that Calhoun Lake would be an acceptable name in accordance with Minnesota statute 83A.037. When the board is ready, I would request the chair open the public hearing for comments.
>> Thank you. Are there any questions for the auditor? All right. Then at this time we will the public hearing for uh uh for this. Is there anyone who wishes to speak uh before the board?
>> Yes. >> Come up there. >> Y come up. I'll move the mic down for you. >> Do you want to come over to the left hand side? Hey, uh, good morning. >> And just for and just for the record, your name and address, please. >> Good morning. Tim Gabrielson, 1488 East
Calhoun Road, uh, Spicer, Minnesota. I'm on the east shore of Calhoun Lake. Uh, president of the Calhoun Lake Area Association. And, uh, this all started out just trying to to um figure out what to call our association, whether it's
Calhoun Lake or Lake Calhoun. Uh for myself, I'm a little bit sensitive to names a little bit just because there's two M's in my first name and my whole life I've gone through having to have to explain that. Okay. So, um thank you for hearing this and taking this petition.
Uh the goal here is to clarify it because we're working on a historical marker for the public access uh to Calhoun Lake because the DNR has spent a couple million bucks on the access partially done and it's absolutely
gorgeous. It's going to be a great spot for kids to go fishing, uh, families to to be at and have picnics. And we just want to tell the history of Reverend Calhoun. He was amazing man. Uh, he did great things here for farmers and the Native Americans, uh, serving them as as a preacher.
And the whole Calhoun family uh, has a long history after being here of being professors and students at Yale Yale University. So, a very uh, extinguished family. They go back to John C. Calhoun, the seventh vice president of the United
States under Andrew Jackson. Uh, and so I've really enjoyed doing the research on this and uh, just wanted to kind of get the record straight. You know, it'd be kind of weird if we called it Lake Green and Green Lake uh, all the time and not knowing which way that stood. So, I just want to take some time and
clear this up. So, thank you very much. >> And thank you. Is there anyone else who wishes to speak during the public hearing? >> Yes, Mr. Chair, commissioners. My name is Pete Ble uh with Minnesota Department of
Natural Resources, 500 Lafayette Road, uh St. Paul, Minnesota. I'm the geographic name staff for the state. Um and thank you for having this public hearing today. Uh the basin in question is named uh currently named Lake Calhoun in the state and federal records. Uh the
DNR would find that Calhoun Lake would be an acceptable name uh for the state and um if you have any questions on the process, it'd be happy to answer. >> Uh I'll open it up to the board as long as we have you up here to uh ask any
questions. Uh my mind would be uh do you get requests like this very often? Yeah, you know, uh the generic once in a while people are very passionate about the where you put lake front or back. You always could tell somebody from out of town how they put in the back or the
front. So, uh you know, it it it's important to the local people and we're happy. It's a name's a name and and I even asked the federal board staff about this and they're they're very um uh in tune to this too. It's a thing across the whole country. People are very want
their names said and spelled right. I guess that's the way to say it. >> Commissioner Mdeck. >> So, I don't know if you're familiar with the entire state and the lakes all over, but there is a lake in the county north of us in Lake George Township in Sterns County. >> Okay. >> Um, the locals call it Lake George and
the map says George Lake. >> Ah, >> do you know which one it is? >> Oh boy, there's a lot of those. Uh, yes. And you know what? It's it's interesting some of these hearings. Uh uh the more interesting ones are family names and you'll have I'll have both families in
the same room arguing about how to spell their last name. So yeah, it's a common thing across the state. Absolutely. >> I bet Tim could find out, you know, what the legal name is at the state. If you don't, he could look it up. >> I'm retiring.
>> Thank you. >> Uh any other questions? All right. Thank you very much. Uh is there anyone else who wishes to speak at this public hearing? Seeing in hearing none, then I would close the public hearing and this matter
then uh uh comes to the uh comes to the county board and uh we have a uh oops sorry now I'm paging through. So we have a >> resolution >> resolution and
>> Mr. Chair, I would move on resolution 2026-24. >> Uh, thank you so much. I wasn't seeing it. I was looking for the number. So, uh, we have a motion to uh, uh, move the resolution. Is there a second?
>> I'll second that, Mr. Chair. >> Thank you very much. Uh, motion made and second. Any discussion? >> I was, Mr. Sure. I was just kind of fascinated by the history that you gave on on uh on Calhoun Lake and you know
there's other interesting his history out there in Irving Township of those first settlements and it gets lost but it's nice to have it resurrected. >> Commissioner Bur. >> Uh thank you Mr. Chair. I'd like to echo the same thing. Very interesting story.
I never thought we'd be dealing with something like this on on as a board member but I'm I'm glad you brought this forward. I did have a question though. I just actually noticed now looking through the the resolution as stated in the packet anyway, it's got your uh
yourself, Mr. Chair, uh administrator Baker, but I was wondering does the county attorney sign off on this too or should he >> typically? >> No, you may typically resolutions the county attorney does not sign off.
>> Okay, thank you. Just clarification. >> All right. Uh anyone else? All right, then we have a motion and a second to move the uh resolution uh uh settling the matter of uh naming the
lake Calhoun Lake. Here we go. Uh all those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> All opposed. That motion passes. Thank you very much. And at this time then we will uh ask uh the auditor treasurer
uh once again to uh come up and uh uh present to us uh in regards to the Lake Andrew Lake improvement district. And by the way, Tim, nice work. Thank you so much. >> Thank you. >> Good morning. Lisa Whis, Candy Ohio County Auditor
Treasurer. As you know, a petition to form lake the lake improvement district was received from the Lake Andrew Improvement Association. Following the public hearing held at the May 5th board meeting, the board and several staff members received information regarding an existing
Minnesota Attorney General's opinion on determining majority of land owners. This was forwarded to our county attorney for review to determine if this attorney general opi opinion applied to Minnesota statutes 103b.521. Following review and consultation with
the county attorney's office, staff is recommending denial of the proposed lake improvement district petition for failure to meet the statutory petition requirements outlined in Minnesota statute 103b.521. While staff is recommending denial of
the current petition based on the statutory requirements, this recommendation does not preclude the Lake Andrew Lake Improvement Association board from continuing to work on the proposal, engaging with additional property owners, and potentially submitting a future petition that
satisfies the statutory majority requirements. >> Thank you. Are there any questions for uh the auditor treasurer? >> Yeah. Could I get a clarification on this because I I read it, you know, I understand that it wasn't
done properly or whatever, but just so I understand it a little better. What exactly was wrong? Uh do they sign more? If they had like two or three parcels, they sign two or three times or how how >> That's one piece of it. Um when we
sought advice on how to determine how to count for the lid, um we were given um multiple different sources told us the county could choose how to determine those signatures. And so we determined that we were going to do it based on
parcels because each parcel is going to be taxed either through special assessment or levy. And so that's what felt equitable as we looked at that. Um upon the closing of that hearing, we did receive this attorney general's opinion
that is related to a different topic, but upon review by county attorney said yes, it does apply to this statute as well. And that statute lays out that it is any. So if a property is owned jointly, both individuals need to be
counted and both individuals could sign. And it further goes on to say that if a property owner owns multiple parcels, they can only be counted once. And so when we went back through then the petition and recounted, we had a different number than what we had before
because we did have some where um we hadn't counted because both spouses had signed. So, we allowed those to count, but then we took out the ones where we had counted um multiple times because they were owners of multiple parcels and
we no longer had that 51% majority. So, um we no longer meet that statutory requirement to move the petition forward. >> Okay. All right. Thank you. Are there uh Oh, I'm sorry.
>> Thank you. So the advice given to the lake improvement or to the lake association that was based on on other lids that have been established over the across the state of Minnesota.
>> Correct. We sought advice from our peer groups on how they're counting for um their lids and we were told the county got to decide. So, if I may, so that almost begs the question that there
are a bunch of um lids across the state of Minnesota that are not legal. >> Yes, >> it does. >> Begs that exact question, which is why I gave the opinion ideas like we just have to restart this whole process.
And I'm really uncomfortable that um we the county gave is giving conflicting messages here. one is yes, this is the way to go forward and now no, this isn't
the way to go forward. And maybe it would have been nice to have this early on uh instead of at the last hour, but uh I think it's it's unfortunate that it's come to this. And uh
I don't know if we could have had that opinion early on, we probably would have saved a lot of work by people who put a lot of effort into this and based on good faith advice that they got. Um yeah, it's crazy.
And and so do you go back to the watershed districts and and to mod the Minnesota Association of Watershed Districts and other and say okay you know what do you have have you had legal precedence on opinion on this because there there's
probably more than one one story out there. >> I did contact the DNR and the individual I was working with at the DNR and the advice I was given was to contact my county attorney and use the advice of my county attorney. So the DNR is not taking a position on it. The DNR is
directing me back to my county attorney to make a determination. And so that's what we did. It's interesting you mentioned watershed districts because within that statute, at least one of the provisions for petitions does base it on the land owner, the land itself, not on
the owner. It actually has both statutory provisions that allow for how you count. >> Mr. Chair, Administrator Baker. And I would say to Commissioner Imik's point, this is incredibly unfortunate. We met with um a few of the committee members
last week and um explained what happened and the process and we I'll say it and we couldn't get anything in writing that the other counties have done it this way. Um and so I the same question you just asked I also asked um to our county
attorney and we have to at this point we have to go off his legal opinion. Um and we said we would absolutely help the lake association continue moving forward um if they so choose. So it was tough to get something in writing that um the
recommendations that we did receive have been done um but however based off that AG opinion and then our legal opinion um would not fall under the definition of property owner.
>> Commissioner B. Uh thank you Mr. Chair. Um I also have the it's unfortunate uh that this did happen. I'm I'm feeling bad that we uh had a public hearing. Is there some re way in the future that the
procedure to get legal advice that before we have a public hearing on an issue like this? I mean how do we correct this in the future that we go through that whole process before we make this decision that this is not legal?
Right. Um >> well it would be never to trust what your peers do and then always seek my opinion which probably is not effective way to do business either because those who have experience doing an activity we
should be able to rely on them too. So that's why it's difficult is that process was done because it's not like this is an everyday occurrence done by counties and okay fortunately as opposed to passing something have a bunch of
have a lid in place having them tax the property owners and then people pay all that property tax or that financial thing and then come back later and have questions over whether that was legal. That' been way worse. >> Commissioner Dwayne Anderson. Okay.
Yeah. So now, so that I'm clear, if we deny this, they can they can just come right back again. They don't have there's no waiting period before they >> no maintain the proper number of signatures. >> Okay. >> And so we're doing some other determination based on some of the
ownership structure of some of the um properties which can be complex. So we're working through some of those pieces already. >> All right. Thank you, Commissioner Bur. So to be clear though, we'd have to go through the same process again with a another public hearing. >> Yes. Okay.
>> That's the unfortunate part. >> Commissioner and >> So if the petitioners do decide to uh take another run at this, will it be clear to them this time what they need to do? Yes, we're working through some of those
ownership structures of those other properties that are complex and we will give them some numbers so that they know what those numbers are to meet the majority. Uh I uh I just I just want to say that I think I do think that county staff did
act in good faith on this uh given the uh information that uh uh obviously you're going to reach out for your to your peer groups for uh information and I don't know that there was anything uh that you know conflicted with what
you were hearing. Clearly, these lake improvement districts have been formed under that type of an opinion. Uh we're just the ones that are finding now that uh uh that this probably isn't the way that this isn't the way that it should
be done. So, um I u I think it's uh I think it's lesson learned and we uh uh for anybody who's uh looking to uh advance one of these lake improvement districts across the
entire state. I think this will uh this will probably uh cool off some of those efforts across the state as well uh until they get uh uh get the requisite numbers that they need. So
um so at uh at hand then we have uh an attachment what is a what is our course of action here? >> Okay. Um the you have attached an order to deny the establishment of the Lake
Andrew Lake improvement district and so I would um look to have you act on that denial via voting on that order. >> All right. So uh can we have a motion on the uh order to deny?
>> I'll make that motion, Mr. Chair. >> Thank you. Is there a second? The chair will second discussion. I'm I commissioner. >> Go ahead. I'm sorry. >> Um I'm you know I'm I'm not opposed to
this. It's just it's just that uh you know we got to dot the eyes and cross the tees properly. And you know, I know people will be upset about it, but at the same time, it's better to do it right than to have to come back and uh start all over again. I mean, it is kind
of a little late in this in the process, but at least we caught it and uh we can we can move forward from here. And um I know there will be a lot of people frustrated by it. Uh but uh this is the proper way to do it for now.
>> Commissioner Dale Anderson. Um, yeah, it's really uh unfortunate. I know there's a lot of work put in on this. I mean, I was in phone calls with with the lake association trying to get this put together and it is a new animal. It's a new thing that isn't being done all
over. So, I guess this is a bump in the road and when and we'll get there. The one thing that I guess I want to say to the lake association and to all the people, I've gotten a lot of emails about this, a lot for and a lot against. My biggest concern and I hope by this
going back that maybe that this can be worked on. I would like to see 70 80% of the people sign that petition because if we don't have the support of the whole lake to me it's really hard to have a split group of people um basically in a
battle after we approve to do this lid because we got you only have 51% that are for it and then you got 49 or whatever percent that are against it. It just makes a controversial thing for a lake association and a group of people that are trying to do the right thing.
So, I encourage the lake association and the people working on this to get 70 80% of them people to sign this in in favor of it. And I know you're never going to get everybody, but I think it's important to get more than 51%. So, that's what I hope that can come out
of this by going back. I feel bad that it is going back. I know there's been a lot of work put in it. Um, and I think it's it still is a good thing that could be done if it's if it's done with everybody having an agreement. So, um, I
apologize for not making this work and I think everybody feels the same. So, that's all. Anyone else? All right. We have a motion and a second to uh move the order denying the
establishment of the Lake Andrew Lake improvement district. >> All in favor say I. >> I. >> All opposed. >> Present. >> Four eyes. Uh you voted I. Yes. Okay. Thank you. Four eyes, one present.
>> Uh the motion is agreed to and uh I echo Commissioner Anderson's uh comments. Hopefully uh hopefully the parties can work this out and move something forward. All right, with that
we are on to planning commission uh recommendations. Uh Christa, >> good morning. >> Good morning, Mr. Chair, members of the board. Christa Krupa, environmental specialist here today with a recommendation from the planning commission following its May 11th
meeting. This recommendation is for a conditional use permit requested by Mike Dah with Wild Haven Sportsman's Club Incorporated for a gun and archery range. This this request is an issuance or renewal of a conditional use permit that was previously approved in December
of 2024. The reissu the reissuance is necessary because the permit was not utilized within the required one-year time frame. The current request is essentially the same as the original proposal in terms of description of the use and operational proposal proposals. However, with the purchase of an
additional 40 acre tract to the east, the site plan has been amended to achieve a layout that better fix fits the applicant's needs. During public testimony, similar concerns were raised as was in the 2024 public hearing with the primary focus being on safety and
dust control. The planning commission engaged in a thorough discussion on both topics and the outcomes of those discussions are reflected in conditions four and six. Following discussion, the planning commission unanimously recommended approval of the request subject to the 12 conditions and
findings outlined in the draft minutes. >> Mr. Chair, I would move on planning commission recommendation citing the uh findings and um conditions. >> Thank you. Is there a second? I'll second it. >> Thank you. We have a We have a motion
and a second to move the uh conditional use permit discussion. >> Commissioner Burn. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just a quick question. Any idea when uh if it's approved when they expect to have it finished? >> I think that they were going to be up and going or they wanting to get going
as soon as possible. So, >> I would venture to guess we would see some some real moving forward pretty quick. >> Thank you. >> Anyone else? >> Seeing and hearing none. All in favor of
the conditional use permit with the findings and conditions signify by saying I. I. >> All opposed. That motion passes. >> Thank you, >> Christa. Thank you. Thank you. >> Uh let's uh let's move to uh Mr. Odin's.
Uh Mel, you've got about three items for us. >> Mr. Chair, members of the board, um Mel Loens, public works director, Kyu County. Um the first item that I've got is a um vacation request that we
received on March 31 of this year from um some people on the Northshore Drive. It was Richard Michelle Schaefer. There are the current owners of this property. And this is uh not an uncommon thing even though we don't do it a lot. This
is the process that we use when we receive a vacation request. We review the site internally. We re it review it for um utility conflicts in this case because of we have our own water and sewer around the lake and then we review it for consistency with any other
property in the area that we've done and in this case um all of the above check the boxes. We've re we've um vacated property exact like this just west on the adjacent property was this is
property that used to be Northshore Drive and and we the road was slid slightly over I think in the neighborhood of like 30 ft to the north. So, it's my my recommendation to um pass resolution 2026-23,
post the notice at the county office auditor's office for 10 days uh to vacate a portion of unused rideway on Northshore Drive, Highway 30. >> So, move, Mr. Chair. >> Thank you. We have a motion. Is there a second? >> I'll second that.
>> Motion to second. Any discussion? Seeing in hearing none. All in favor of resolution 2026-23 say I. I. >> All opposed. That motion passes. Thank you. Mel, go ahead. >> Mr. Chair, the next one I have is for the Diamond Lake um boat access final
payment. Um last June we received bids to um completely regrade the west access on Diamond Lake would be on the northwest corner. Um, you might recall that we
prior to this project, we had received state park road account to redo our old county road 4 and then we received some DNR money, $160,000 to redo the lot. Um, we coupled that with levy dollars to completely
reconstruct the the u parking lot because the boat access because of the the condition was um almost unusable sometimes in the spring. So, with all that being said, we we reconfigured the lot. We added four parking stalls. Um,
the project was was started on August 6th of last year and was completed October 24, two and a half months. We did run into some uh um some subgrade prep that we had to do. So, the contract was slightly over, but it's uh the
project is now complete and it's our recommendation to accept the project and authorize final payment in the amount of $5,132.34 to Brower Construction LLC of Raymond, Minnesota. >> Thank you. Is there a motion? >> Um, Mr. Chair, I'd like to make a motion
to accept the project and authorize the final payment to Brower Construction LLC. >> Thank you. Is there a second? I'll second it. >> Thank you. Discussion. >> Uh, Commissioner Bur. >> Uh, thank you, Mr. Chair. Just a
comment. This is going to be a great improvement for that for our parks there. >> Yeah, it's it turned out nice >> for everybody. >> Going to help with our tourism. Thank you. >> Anyone else? All in favor say I.
>> I. All opposed. That motion passes. and you have a bit of work. >> The last thing I have is the um grooved in wet reflective striping that we do every year. It's edgeline striping, the white. We did 42 miles this year and and
that's a 9010 federally funded project. 90% in this case is federal and 10% or about 27,000 is our levy dollars. This is all in our five-year construction program. We took bids on May 12th and
it's my recommendation, we received two bids. It's my recommendation to award SP34-070-16 to Sir Lines of Edina, Minnesota in the amount of $270,673.78. >> Thank you. Is there a motion? >> Mr. Chair, I so move.
>> Commissioner Berg moves. Is there a second? I'll second that. >> Thank you. Uh any discussion? All in favor say I. I. All opposed. That motion passes. Thank you. >> Thank you.
>> Um Christa, >> no. >> Melissa, I'm sorry. >> We'll take a 10-minute recess. It shouldn't be. That road is dark. >> It are you ready? >> Ready. >> That'll that'll thanks for about perfect
though. >> The Candy County Board of Commissioners is back from recess. Uh at this time we will uh receive some information on semi-independent living services contracts. Melissa Elgusen.
>> Melissa, good morning. >> Good morning chair. Good morning board. Thank you. I am here to present our sills contract. Sills is semi-independent living services. I believe you have the contracts in your packet. Um I just want to share a little
bit of information. Um, semi-independent living services are services needed by an adult with developmental disabilities or a related condition. In order to be eligible, they need to be 18 years or older. They need to have been determined to have a
developmental disability or a related diagnosis. They need to be unable to function independently without sills. And it cannot be someone we currently have on one of our home and community based waivers. Sills covers a variety of services for individuals. The idea is to
help them engage and function in community living. Um they might assist them with um social activities, recreational activities, transportation, um maintaining personal hygiene, some financial money management, those sorts
of things. We currently have three SIS providers in Candy County. Those are REM, South Central, Presbyterian Family Foundation, and Divine House. All three of our Sills providers are receiving the same rate for that service. That was
something we modified two years ago when we updated the contract. It didn't make sense to pay different providers different rates when they're providing the same service. How Sills is funded is it's 85% state dollars and 15% lead agency dollars. In
2026, our state allocation is $32,843. Our county match, which is the amount we are required to spend in order to get our allocation, is $5,796, leading to a total amount available to spend of $38,639.
my the the contracts that we had for July 1, 2024 through June 30th, 2026 had a rate of 39 $38 per hour. My recommendation would be a 3% increase, which would increase those rates to
$39.14 per hour. I would also just like to note that in 2025 our allocation was $24,832 with a county match of $4,282 which got us to 29,214.
So our allocation has gone up. The county match the amount that we are required to pay only increases by $1,514. Um, we are also with the SIS grant, we spend within the grant. So that money that we have available, that's what we
spend. So I'm just I'm asking for approval for those grants with an increase of 3% for the $39.14. >> All right. Thank you. Uh, uh, Commissioner Mdeck, >> thank you. Um, Melissa, when was the last time that this contract had been
adjusted? >> They are adjusted every two years. So, I was here in June of 2024, I believe, for a 2-year contract. >> So, if I may ask a follow-up question, the 3% increase is uh per year or over
the two years of the contract >> for the two years total. So, 3914 would be the rate for all of 26 and all of 27. >> Mr. Chair, I would move on the recommendation for the rate increase. >> Thank you. Is there a second?
M >> M Mr. Chair, I'll second that motion. >> Thank you. We had to do it. >> We have we have a motion and a second to move the recommendation of staff uh to uh uh regarding the sales contract. Uh
just a quick question. Uh how many uh clients uh are covered approximately under this? As of right now, we are serving four individuals. Um, that does fluctuate from time to time. Um, but as of today, it is four individuals that are being served.
>> Okay. Very good. Uh, any other questions? Mr. >> Chair, Commissioner Burke. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just a comment. Excellent update and u uh presentation. It's good to have some explanation about this program and I'm aware of this program
over the years and it's really an asset to our community and our region and and us being a regional center. So I I think it's a very important pro program and I think it's a very reasonable 3% increase on one hand in a sense the impact to our
financial uh contribution from the county is small compared to the dollars we bring in. And I know staff are I'm not say we should be doing more but it's it's a very good uh uh presentation very
good uh contract you're presenting. >> Okay. Thank you. >> All right. Any other questions? All right. On the motion, all in favor say I. >> I. All opposed. That motion passes. Melissa, thank you so much. >> Thank you very much.
>> All right. We are at uh administrative updates. Uh uh administrator Baker, anything for us today? >> Yes, we would need to approve. So, you have on here for calendars. Um the board of appeal and equalization. The regular board meeting uh for June 16th is
scheduled at 9:00 a.m. and then the board of equalization is set for 6:00 p.m. Um in the past, it's been done both ways. Um, most recently we have moved the board meeting to 400 pm. So you have the regular board meeting right before and then you go right into the board of
appeals and equalization. So that's really up to you if you'd want it to start at 4. Um, and then we'd go right into the board of appeals at 6 p.m. >> I'm comfortable with doing it either way. What uh what are the members wish?
>> Commissioner B. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um I'm I'm supportive of that. And my question is an hour and a half enough for the board meeting for the agenda, >> you know. And I was just >> budgets and stuff like that. >> Yep. That's a Yeah, I was just talking to Melissa about that this morning and I said, you know, I could argue, you know,
we maybe could do 3:30. We were looking at the topics a little bit and what's been on there. Um June 2nd, we're going to have maybe a little bit more on the agenda. June 16th. We try to keep it later, but if we did 3:30, that would give the board more of a buffer before 6
p.m. So, and honestly, staff are working hours anyway, so they would be here at 3:30. So, if you wanted to do 3:30, that would work, too. >> Commissioner Amd, >> I usually eat supper after 8:00 anyway. I'd prefer to go to 4 rather than because if we do get early now, we got a
a gap there to try to fill some. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. If we can adjust the agenda accordingly, I think, >> right? >> I mean, we can make it work. >> I'm good with I'd rather have it four. >> Doesn't matter to me.
>> All right, then. Uh, let's let's set that for 4:00. Do we need a formal motion? Uh, I'd accept a motion. >> I'll make a motion, Mr. Chair. We have it at 4:00 on the on June 16th. >> Thank you. Is there a second?
>> I'll go ahead. We have a motion and a second to move the June 16th board meeting to 400 p.m. instead of 9:00 a.m. discussion. Hearing none. All in favor say I. >> All opposed. >> That motion passes. Uh, anything else
for us? >> Uh, uh, department budgets are due tomorrow. We have, um, a few that have been submitted and good students. I'm just kidding. We don't have a good student over there. Um, and so they're working on that. It's a little We are a month ahead of schedule, so it's it's
not our normal um but we're waiting to see kind of that full recap from legislation. Um we'll do more of an update on legislative issues at the June 2nd meeting. Um so we'll have a a better idea on that. Um working through the this budget. So we'll have a good budget
update for you guys hopefully in the beginning of or uh around June. And then just recently, just yesterday, we did um I did a board workshop training. And so we had around I don't know 20 y >> 20 individuals, supervisors and
department heads attend the training. So how to provide information within your board packets and how to present at the podium, you know, and we just kind of went around the room and learned that you're not alone when you feel nervous. And a lot of them are like, "We can do public speaking, but it's very different when you get in this room in front of
the you this table here." Um, and so we talked about that and I think that was a really beneficial training. I just wanted to let the board know we did that. Um, and other than that, just working on the budget and standard administrative issues. >> All right. Uh, any questions for the
administrator? >> No. Um, yeah, it's just a comment. Maybe it's just a general observation, not very accurate or not, but I've noticed lately that a lot of the presenters staff uh are anticipating a lot of our questions ahead of time, more so than normal, but maybe it's just me
observing it, but they're doing a good job. >> Yeah, >> you are quite predictable, just so you know. >> No, I think it was honestly I do think it was really good training. It was a very interactive training. Um I've heard some good feedback. Um Melissa walked through I compass on how to submit
things. Um you know just working through different administration. I we want to provide the best information for you guys in the board packets. So we're trying to get better at that and I would say everyone not just this isn't just one department. So we're looking at all departments being cohesive on that and
providing the best information. How do we do that? And um so if you do have any ideas that you would like to see differently please let me know. Um but we are working towards more information in your board packets. Um different things like that like I said the work sessions. Um so if you have anything
else let me know. >> All right. Thank you very much. Uh no appointments. Uh any uh committee reports? Uh >> oh I can I can start. Um just a just a couple things that I thought were kind
of interesting. I went to the opioid settlement strategy summit um on Wednesday, May 13th. It was really interesting to see um the big amount of money that some of the counties got. I mean, I know we didn't get a big share of that, but there's some really good
programs that they are able to do with that money and different things that they are working on um with that money and different things that they are doing to help people that are coming into the jails and coming into different situations with medications that I
thought was interesting um to help the opioid problem. Um that was a cool thing. Um and the other meetings I attended that are uh is a CCT. Um we had a meeting on the
when what was it? Uh last Friday. Um I don't have the name wrote down, but we hired a new administrator for that uh organization and hopefully that person can take off and and get that kind of back on track. It had a little bumpy
ride, so hopefully that all goes good. Um, and then last night we had a Prairie Woods meeting. Um, really interesting to see a lot of stuff is changing there. They're working on redoing um some more of the uh prairie and getting some of
that back to its original if they can. And then also there was a a huge um discussion about uh the building improvement and um kind of in front of the main building they're looking at changing the parking lot and the
landscape there and adding on to the the main building for um going into Prairie Woods. So a lot of things will be changing there also. Um but them are the big ones that I thought were important. >> Thank you. Um, who would like to go
next? >> I I can >> Commissioner Mdeck. >> Um, last week uh and I was at the meeting last night, too, so I could skip that one. But last a week, last Thursday, I had futures at AMC and uh like they did last year. They put out an
appeal across the state, not just the futures, but several of us were there. Anyway, we went over to the capital to visit with the uh legislators. It was sort of a last minute push for the um the the three main priorities that
Association of Minnesota counties had and when we got there Thursday morning, one of them had already been dealt with so we could kind of give a show of appreciation rather than to button hole them to say please support this. that was the $75 million for um modernization
which was a huge uh lift. And then um but we did go over to the capital anyway and and one of the things we wanted to focus on was uh because the counties have really received a lot of attention the last couple of years. Um and and we
seem to have a better voice at the table than we have had in the past to show that appreciation to legislators for uh listening to the concerns of the county. We don't always get the resolution we want, but uh it's better than if we weren't it.
That's what I got. >> Thank you. Uh Commissioner B. >> Sure. I'll go next. Um I uh started out the two weeks after the last board meeting with a KCED uh Brie or business
retention and and support uh program and committee and we had really a good discussion and we're looking at planning to do as many visits and organize visits to existing businesses in our community of uh being supportive to them and and
thank them for being in our community but also getting feedback what their needs are and how we could uh structure that. So, um it's it's kind of an exciting time on that committee and I think we're moving forward quite well. I
had Prime West all day and this was Jim's very last day. So they had a retirement and Matt Magnus uh and the new CEO going to be taken over after this and um it's been a very good uh time for Jim after many many years of
experience is going to be missed but I think the leadership's going to move on without any issues at all. Um I had an 18 county mental health uh uh consortium uh meeting in Marshall. took most of the day on uh on Friday the 8th and really
just reviewed some of the strategic planning we're doing as well as a lot of the budgets and started to prepare for our uh uh joint boards meeting that we'll be have coming up. Um had a hot creek project meeting and that was a very interesting meeting. They had some
updates and also updates and maybe the public's not aware of it but creek project collects a lot of the monitoring of rainfalls throughout the area and I know there's the states looking for volunteers and a lot of times there's a uh there's a need for volunteers but in
our region they're collecting from the three counties uh information that people then are keep have uh keeping track of the rain and report it to the hot creek project and they mail in that uh uh information together as one group and the advantage of that is we get
additional information locally to look at the different trends in the water as well. uh the impact of all the rain. Um and uh also we had a one watershed plan and this is uh one of our first meetings
uh with new changes there with Chipoa County Water and soil uh administrating the program for uh for us and uh was uh very uh productive, very good meeting and we're moving forward quite well and laying out some strategies for this
coming year. So I got that was most of that and uh I oh also attended elevate with administrator with the chair commissioner gardener uh elevate graduation of at minest on Friday
evening and what a program uh it's just going on on really strong I think it was 154 graduates now if I recall right uh from that program in our community and these are new small business people and they're starting out with that kind of a
background. Most small businesses don't uh have that opportunity to have that kind of training available to them. So, and I hopefully I didn't think too much of your information on that. Otherwise, that's all I have for now. You're you're you're doing great. Uh I want to make
note that of the two of us, you have perfect attendance at uh the Elevate Graduate. >> So, do you >> uh No, I missed the last one. Oh, did you? Oh, >> and uh otherwise I would have been able to say that. And so when uh when you're
done uh you'll just need to keep showing up. >> Okay. So u couple of items that uh I wanted to just make mention of real quick. Uh back on the uh I guess it was the 7th already. Uh uh Melan Kelsey and
I uh were out uh uh at an impromptu uh uh groundbreaking I guess of sorts. Uh visited uh with Senator Clolobashar uh coming out uh and this is in regard to the uh project uh out on the southwest
end of town. Uh that is part of getting all of that area finally all buttoned up and uh getting that project complete. Uh we did remind the senator that the uh maybe once or twice that uh we still
have about three miles of uh two or three miles of fourlane that we'd like to see uh completed. And uh she she she said, "Yes, I know. I know." and but she was uh she was there and she was very gracious and uh it was great to have her
out for that. Uh we u uh also were at uh I was asked to help kick off the opio opioid summit uh here last Wednesday. Uh said a few words and said them better than anything I've said here today. So
uh I guess that that says something. Uh uh we had a shack executive committee meeting uh uh as I was driving down to the Capitol. Um so I was just kind of passively listening to that. Uh and we did uh Commissioner Mdeck and I did have
the opportunity to visit with our local legislators and of course uh thank them for uh everything that uh that they've done to help advance our uh priorities. One of those uh was the uh local sales
tax uh that uh we had moved on in legislation to uh request authorization to go before the voter voters uh to build a justice center across the street and do uh remodeling here. Uh as it
turned out there were uh no uh local option uh sales tax uh projects that were authorized. uh uh they could not get through uh the Senate and they could not get through the conference committee process. So uh what that means for our
project going forward uh we'll have to see what statute says and uh what the time frame is going to be on that uh in terms of being able to revisit that. Of course, uh next time we do that, it'll be with a uh uh newly composed board in
at least some fashion. And so, uh we'll be starting over to a point, I would I would imagine. Um we had that and uh like like you said, the elevate uh graduation. Uh my uh former nextdoor
neighbor was a part of uh part of that, Josh Liippard. uh and uh he's uh started a construction company uh I believe it's called Everstead uh construction and uh and it was nice to reconnect with him at
the uh Elevate uh graduation as well and uh uh West Central Industries. We had a board meeting. Oh, and then of course the joint powers meeting. I want to uh go back to that for CCT. Uh the new
executive director out at CCT is Kathy Schultz. Uh she has an extensive career in public transportation. Uh and uh most recently uh approximately a year and a half at MIDOT. Uh and so she knows an
awful lot about programming and I'm excited to see where she can take the agency. Uh that's going to be a uh uh that's going to be I think a great fit. uh and the board was pretty excited to uh have her come on board. So, um you uh
you mentioned it been a little bit of a rough ride lately. I see what you did there. So, um uh in terms of the legislation, we there were several local bonding projects that did uh uh pass muster. I believe Lake
Lillian and Candy, Ohio are getting some infrastructure. Spicer as well, I believe. No, just I think right. >> No, Spicer. >> Oh, I missed that one. I went through them this morning. I didn't see that. >> Spicer got 2.1 million for a lift station. >> Oh, yeah. Good. So, there were some nice
efforts there and we're appreciative of our legislators for carrying uh carrying those forward. systems modernization at DHS, as Commissioner Mckex said, $7 million over the bienium uh with the promise of more funding on the way
because they know uh this is about a half billion dollar uh endeavor uh over time uh to get these systems uh uh functional and working within the parameters uh needed in in the 21st
century. uh especially with uh uh the potential of AI to actually do some good within uh within those types of systems um could really really help uh with
workforce and with process and and better outcomes for everybody all around. Uh no action on SNAP, no action on uh transportation, unfortunately. And uh commission uh administr I almost promoted uh administrator Baker uh we're
probably going to have a little fuller report on that at our next meeting you indicated. >> Yeah, Caroline Khan, the health and human services director will be here for an update and then I might pull in some other departments um to provide an overview of what happened during the session for each department.
Uh, I know several of us probably sat in on the uh uh AMC update uh yesterday and those poor folks have been pretty short on sleep and it uh and it showed uh but uh but they put together a nice a nice presentation for us. Uh and I see in the
paper that uh filings for office start today. So, u uh you know, good luck to everyone and uh uh whoever it is that uh uh steps up and files. Uh first of all, thank you for doing that. It's a uh uh it's something that most most people uh
the comment I hear from folks more often than not when uh when we're talking about these types of uh uh issues that we're uh dealing with here at the county. At the end of the conversation, they say, "Well, thank you for doing what you're doing. It's uh I'm glad
somebody's willing to step up and do the work. Uh and so for those folks who are filing again today, uh thank you for stepping up. Uh does anyone else have anything for the good of the order? Oh, yes, Wayne. I'm sorry. >> That's okay.
>> Yeah, >> that's okay. Mine Mine's real short. I I just had uh three meetings. Uh one on the 8th, one on the 11th, and one on the 13th, and it was Central Minnesota Jobs and Training. Uh that day we had a planning session. So it was an all day event. Uh and then on the 11th I met
with uh our health and human services director and we had a committee meeting like we do pretty much every month and that that was okay. It was a good update on what what's all going on down there. Uh and then uh uh on the 13th I met with
the C6 uh drug task force and then just got updates on what's all going on in the area as far as uh apprehensions and drug seizures and all that kind of stuff. So it was pretty much routine meeting but very interesting.
>> Well, thank you for that and thank you for your grace on that. That's >> I knew you'd come to me. >> Been an interesting time. >> Did you have something? >> Yes, Mr. Chair. Thank you. I'd just like to add one more thing about the Elevate program. >> Yes. >> Yes. And I really want to give a shout out to the, you know, I talk about it
being the KCED program, but really it wouldn't exist without the Southwest Initiative Foundation, and they've been funding the big big bulk of this whole program making it work. So, we are really lucky. They've they initiated this. They get a lot of credit for that.
So, kudos to the Southwest Initiative Fund and and investing in this program. locally here. >> I I I think it was uh really eyeopening that Scott Mark >> Yes. uh from Swift uh uh mentioned that
uh they do a lot of things uh within that uh foundation uh that advance economic development, but this is really the one thing that he gets really excited about to every time he gets to come to Wilmer and uh Candy County and
do a uh elevate graduate and be a part of that. And so, uh, I think it speaks to the importance of the, uh, effort and and he really, uh, went out of his way, I thought, to make sure that, uh, everybody who's been involved with
Elevate in the past, uh, uh, uh, that, uh, the different folks who have, uh, uh, worked within uh, within our agency there to start that program and really bring it forward. uh he made sure to make uh uh
make note of their contributions as well and that was greatly appreciated >> and commission program may I just finish up on this yes u without Scott's leadership it would have never happened he invested in time and training himself on this whole process and and initiated
that with the DC >> that's correct commissioner >> I did forget one thing um so and Senator Lang told me a couple days before we met them in in St. Paul that the uh the funding for the extension from Sibly
State Park into New London was uh is a done deal. So construction should start next year. And and uh I was not yet a commissioner first time I tested on behalf of that extension. And so boy things don't happen fast in government
but you know if you stay the course and and keep pestering it can happen. So that's that's exciting. >> Well hallelujah. And that money came not from the bonding. It came from LCCMR, legislative commission on Minnesota resources, which
is part of the money that comes from uh lottery. They get 40% of the lottery. >> Outstanding. That's good news. Anyone else have anything for the good of the order? All right, then. Happily, we are
ajourned. Thank you, everybody.