no oh there unfilled positions for you to oh no dug a okay got it I see it's not
good just a two spots right yeah welcome to the July 16th 2024 meeting of the ster County Board of Commissioners and we start our evening meetings we start all of our meetings with an opportunity for public comment
and I know that um Jay Palmer and Sean Palmer and Jeff are here and and would like to use our public comment time this hope I know well thank you for this opportunity I just wanted to introduce Jay Daniel to you um he's our son and
I'm his a guardian and um I brought him here you know thank you for everything you've done in the past Fon County but also to let you know that not everything runs correctly and and even though it was resolved I wanted to take some time today to to come to give you a little highlight of what happened to us in
January of this year um got got a note from the Alid County that said we had to uh have a form filled out um by the Social Security office that the Jay uh would qualify for Medicare well we got that form and we sent it to to Social
Security and they sent it to Hon County we didn't hear anything about it and then he got a note that said uh we're going to remove you from ma um because you haven't filled out this form now Ma is is is is important to kids and he's on my insurance and part of this is rein
reimbursement um for me paying for his insurance and his brother's Insurance June same thing happened that we got the note that we're going to quit giving you Ma for J Daniel because you have not filled out this form now Social Security sent it to the county in March
it wasn't filled out correctly but nobody told us that both of the letters that we got weren't addressed to the Guardians her mom and his mom and me are his Guardians we just added our daughter cost two 3 $500 to have our daughter added as our
Guardian but we didn't get a note as a guardian so we found out about it and we worked on it and and finally I had to go to the Social Security office and say please fill this out and they did and she laughed at me and she laughed at me because he's on Social Security
SSI he doesn't qualify for Medicare doesn't there nothing that they could do so I had them sign that form and on Monday they they sent it to them in omson County acknowledged that and now Jay's back on on Ma but to me they
would not reimburse me for $1,700 till June I can float that I don't have a problem with that I don't have a problem talking to people in 21 emails and working through this whole system but not everybody can and I just want everybody to understand that Jay sitting
over here doesn't speak he's have been blessed with three great kids and we've been blessed to be here in the county because you guys have been very good up to this point and I will say that the county people have responded and done a good job again I just wanted to be here to let you know when you're making
decisions is for people like Jay and for people like me but but but for people who cannot speak up and I just wanted to bring that to your attention and I do thank you for your time thank you thank you Mr Palmer you know we don't uh engage in dialogue during our public comment period but I appreciate we
appreciate hearing from you and we also appreciate the fact that our staff have tried to respond quickly when they realized there was this problem so thank you is there anyone else who would like to use the public comment period Jay goodbye thank you um is there anyone else who would
like to use the public comment period is there anyone else who would like to use a public comment per see none we'll move to call our meeting to order in the Pledge of Allegiance I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation
under indivisible with liy and justice for all um members I'm going to modify the agenda just slightly um it's an unusual thing for me to do but I think you'll understand why when I ask K binc and
Heidi Welsh to come forward [Laughter] she looks better and she's older well we have come to a a a momentous time in the history of Olstead
County when two very strong women leaders have chosen different paths and will be departing from from County from Olstead County government there actually was a rumor going around that kinc is going to somehow end up in Dakota County
but I don't think that's true true it's true we will be talking to miss Welsh yes yes we just really we know that you're both wanting to depart rather quietly As you move to your next
chapter um we will have a chance as for some informal Gatherings that not all of us can make this week to wish you well okay and um more of us will be able to bid a more formal goodbye to Heidi in in an informal atmosphere I'm told you
should bring your pickle ball pal P basketball um and others will just bring ice cubes uh so we just really really wish you well we appreciate all that you have done and
uh and you are women leaders of a generation that moved into leadership into leadership positions that were very rare I I remember telling Kay when I was first elected that she did not fit my image of a County
engineer and she laughed just like she did that because she paved the way she wasn't the only female County engineer but she was one of the few and Heidi is our first female County Administrator and now will be Dakota County's first
female County manager so you have been leaders in your in your professional careers you've been leaders uh for other women to move into leadership you've had good successful careers leaving with great respect from
all of your colleagues who are sorry to see you go which isn't always the case when people leave so uh I'm going to open this up for anyone else who wishes to comment um because I think it is important for us
as a board to publicly acknowledge your great service and the fact that we are sorry to see you go and I do have a confucious quote to hand with you which is she who wishes to secure the good of others has already secured her
own and I hope that that is true for you that you feel that this has been a good chapter of your lives and that the next chapter will bring you the Fulfillment you're seeking so let me ask if anyone else on the board wishes to speak I know that commissioner Puli Smith had a
comment earlier today that I refrain from sharing but I think it's worth sharing okay okay well in addition to K all that you
have achieved you've done it all in very high heels where is commissioner right thank you yes and um and thank you you're you're both uh a a constant inspiration to
me and Heidi part of why I ran for public office was to be able to work with you and working with you as my partner has been one of the most delightful
inspiring um um things I've ever done I think things I've ever known and uh I just really wish you all success and fulfillment thank thank you both I'll give it a moment to pause to
see if anyone else is so inspired I know we've both been we were all told that you would not appreciate us doing this to you so maybe others are um are being more respectful of your wishes than I've been but we do really really thank you and if there's anything you would care
to say to us uh you're welcome after Rosman has a chance to speak thank you tremendous comments that have already been said but um to you Heidi um you know I've only known you for about a year and a half my first um this my
first time in public office and I couldn't have asked for a better um leader to to learn the position and grow with and you've really set the standard high for me as the first administrator that I worked with and clearly I mean your professionalism just your spirit
your um really um determination to set the right strategic Direction build a a very strong team around you just so much appreciate all of that and you will be greatly missed but um I really wish you the best in Dakota County they're getting a tremendous administrator and
um K again haven't known you very long but um so appreciate your profession ISM also and if you don't have the answer for something you will make sure that you find it and you bring it back to us and so appreciate that and it it is so
obvious the respect that you have across the county beyond the county um as an engineer and as a person and um wish you the very best as you spend lots of time with those those grandbabies and move on to to a new chapter of your life commissioner s um
Madam chair I'm going to uh I know I'm I I I better speak because if I don't I'm going to regret it when I get home tonight and uh so you know to both of you just delightful people and uh I I just recall that I think Kay and I go
back almost to mindat days and I don't remember if it was the 65th Street Bridge or a bunch of other projects that we were working uh together on in those days as I was in the legislature and you were with m then all of a sudden you appear in hestad county and U Township
meeting or something like that and uh but just a delightful career and I I was remembering today uh I had a committee administrator name of Susie jiru and and Susie way more than once uh as we were working on the uh Highway
14 44th Street interchange would would tell me what what a delight of all the people she would have to call and get information was she can always call K kiac and and Kay would just be right there and giving her exactly the kind of
information she uh she needed and it was just just a testimony to you just been a tremendous uh asset for our County and uh we just respect you so much and and it just won't be quite the same without you around here it really won't and then
to Heidi of course only worked with her for a year and a half but uh what a joy that has been and what an opportunity to to work with just a great administrator and by the way I told all the uh Dakota County Commissioners over the weekend
that uh they made absolutely the best choice they could have ever made and uh and uh and I know that and I think all of us at the board table know that and we're going to miss you a lot Heidi but uh we uh we understand the circumstances and it's uh and we'll be just fine
because I think you've left us in a in a situation here where we'll get along just fine won't be quite the same all but uh again respect you dearly and just wish you all the best as you move forward in your in your new career and uh I kitted to Joe Atkins uh and you
might I might do this someday I I might come to the Dakota County board meeting as a concerned Citizen and and that would be fun but good luck to you and uh again it's just been a joy and thanks for all the support you've given us uh in all your endeavors really
do appreciate it thank you right all right well Madam chair Commissioners colleagues staff thank you very much for all those kindy words it really has been an extraordinary
opportunity that you've given me over the past seven years this board and the passport you really you really took a chance when you hired me had not been an administrator before and you took a bit of a chance on me and I appreciate all
of the trust that you put in me it's been extraordinary I can't imagine a better opportunity than serving this board and the past board the community and I have to say most especially the 1300 staff
with whom and of whom I am so proud to to be Associated so thank you all God how can I oh Commissioners and uh colleagues yeah I'm not near as eloquent as Heidi
is you know give me a layout or um a reason for a road project and I'll talk forever but I am eternally grateful and ever so blessed to have been part of elate County and thank you all thank you
[Applause] all right we have a consent agenda and on
our consent agenda is to approve the June 18th 2024 County Board minutes to approve the State Transportation fund Grant agreement 105 6755 to approve the the Chester Woods Park car caretaker lease
agreement to approve transfer of a portion of County state aid Highway 18 to the city of oroo to approve transfer of a portion of County state aid Highway 18 to oronoko Township to approve the Legacy Grant
application due to Carlin's persistence to adopt a state of emergency commencing June 16th 20 24 and to an establish an absentee ballot board do I have a motion I'll make a motion to approve consent agenda second
have a motion and a second to approve the consent agenda is there any discussion seeing none all those in favor signify by saying I I I those oppose same sign motion prevails and now
we move to appoint an interim County Administrator and I don't know if one of you planning to speak to this this decision item go ahead or would you like me to wing [Laughter]
it this is completely unrehearsed Madam chair Commissioners what you have before you is a resolution to appoint Pete Geeson or current Deputy Administrator as the interim administrator to last until such time as you have hired a
permanent replacement for the administrator position I would just add a comment that I think Pete is extraordinary in every way he's an extraordinary leader but he's also just an amazing human being he has the
respect and Trust of all the staff and I think that you are could be in no better hands than to be with Pete M chair I would move the resolution I second I have a motion in a second Mr gesson do you care to comment well after
that I'm not sure if I can but no I do thank thank you for the opportunity and I do want to congratulate Heidi as well she has as you've all said put us in such a good position not perfect but but has taken us such a long way from a uh
as an organization but as a person too she sets the example really for just how how to lead in in a both a smart strategic but also a genuine way so that's something that we'll all Miss um
but we also have learned hopefully from and we can grow along with what she's leaving us and hopefully take it to a new level so I'm here to serve so you know and just hope and ask you go through a process and we get our new administrator on board and we can keep
going so thank you thank you I have a motion and a second all those in favor signify by saying I I I those oppose same sign motion prevails um Mr geson I just have to add my own editorial comment that um we are very fortunate
that you are ready willing and able to take on this responsibility and I know that we will be in good hands um with you and the executive management team so thank you for being willing to step into this role all right so now we move to hearing
about our veteran Services we have a Showcase of our veteran services so well Madame chair Commissioners my name is Travis grany a Deputy Administrator supporting Health housing and Human Services and I um told Tiffany that i' just introduce the topic real
quick um and maybe provide a little bit of background uh for those of you that haven't been on the board all that long we used to do an administrator showcase um on a regular Cadence um and that was really a way to uh bring staff and programs before you so that
you could learn a little bit more about them but also just to acknowledge and appreciate the work that occurs all across the county So the plan now is to get back into that Cadence um the one we're doing tonight is the first one we've done I think since before the pandemic um and we'll get into a regular
Cadence then of having uh folks come in from all all the different departments uh and that'll be a regular occurrence uh moving forward once a month is what we've got them scheduled for right now so um all right so we're celebrating a lot
of things tonight we're celebrating K and we're celebrating Heidi and we're celebrating Pete being our new dep or our new administrator and have a and we're also actually celebrating uh it it'll be Tiffany Tiffany will have one year on the job as of
tomorrow so it was about a year ago that you all um well actually we had a judge come down and swear her into office and we thought it would be appropriate for Tiffany to come in and talk a little bit more about veteran services and share a little bit of the work that's happened over the course of the past year and the
new direction that we're headed and all the hope and positivity we're feeling right now around veteran services so it's all yours Tiffany all right so I have Karen here with me today um we have two other service officers who are unable to attend and I'll introduce them a little
bit once we get going um but I I think I'll let Ken start so Karen um she's our brave Soldier today so to say she um has jumped in and she's going to share a little bit about herself and her connection um to our team and the
department and the work that we do um this is the first time I've done a showcase so in my mind I'm like okay I'm gonna set the bar high for everybody else once a month so we're gonna we're gonna come in with a bang um and I'll let Karen talk a little bit about her experience with Olstead County I think
it's kind of cool to hear her perspective since she's been here for ever which is equivalent to 30 well something years I started in Filmore County back
in 1984 and I worked there a little over three years and then I went to Dodge County in the Veterans office for another three and a half years and then I came toad
County in 1990 so I've been here for 34 years thank you yes thank you before you get going I just need to check are we picking her up for the recording we're fine with the microphone okay I don't want to don't want to interrupt you but I also don't want it
to be okay so inate County I have had nine veteran service officers starting with Tim Burton many years ago um and I've seen a lot of changes over the years technology-wise and I think with my
first job first two jobs I didn't even have a computer so that's kind of Aging um the last year I've seen a lot of changes also we've got um different
programs different hours and I think Tiffany is really killing it with our veterans I think they're they're getting in faster than they were before um they've they've learned so much in just
her year and just since uh Dustin and guy have been here they have they have really learned a lot um up until about three years ago I I could not get accredited with any of
the um organiz service organizations like the American Legion DAV so I was really Limited in a lot of things that I could do if I got a phone call and somebody needed to know an income verification
how much they were getting you know for rent or to you know prove to who they were um renting from how much they got um I'd have to go to the service officers and about three years ago I went through the accreditation process
and and now I'm accredited with four of the five organizations so it's it's really allowed me to do a lot on my own um try to take some of the workload off of the service
officers um I guess one thing I didn't mention um when I first started in the Veterans office I was you know in filmer County but I was very proud because my grandfather was a World War I veteran and my dad was a Korean War
veteran and one of my three brothers went into the Air Force and his children followed after him so we have quite a few veterans in our family and I'm proud to be able to you know say I'm from hestad County it's it's very rewarding
to say I'm working in hestad county and I plan to be here for a few more years it's a good thing you started when you were seven yeah thank you and you know I honestly Karen has
been kind of our go-to person she we're so lucky to have her all the knowledge so I'm very grateful for all of Karen's Seasons that she's gotten to experience with veterans um so I have a little I have a kind of a story to share and I figured
so I was told that for this showcase it's an opportunity for us to be a little bit more personal and get to share a little bit more about ourselves with the with the board and so um I actually dug this out of the archives and this is my basic training photo and
so I just thought that I would pass it around and share um wish should have brought a prize for the first person to take you out if you can find me I'll send a prize um you all look alike one of the somebody told me
earlier today you all look like males and I said well I think that was the point back then is we were supposed to all look the same so um this work you know I think it is a little bit um I feel a little bit emotional getting to
stand here today A year after um accepting or starting the position um I have done a lot of um client centered work in the past it through my Jobing Corrections addictions social work and
so um but deep down I always had this piece of me that I I felt like I was made for more and and I wanted to do more and I wanted to to be a champion and use my voice in a way that was meaningful and I learned about this role and this opportunity and um the fact
that I'm standing here A year later just feels almost a little bit surreal um you know when I look at that photo I was just telling Travis I'm like I was this was almost 20 years ago I I mean 20 years and I was just a a young private
standing on bleachers in Fort leonardwood Missouri and I had no idea what the heck I was doing and now I get to stand here and talk to Veterans every day I get to work with their families I get to work with Karen and Dustin and
guy and you know we're we're constantly problem solving how are we going to connect folks to the benefits that they've earned um and so again I I just feel so grateful I said this a year ago and I don't know that that that feeling
of being grateful has left me yet um so my picture is being passed around um I just thought that would be a fun little way for you to see a glimpse of my past um so I will get start with that I'll get started um we
have a couple of slides we've put together um I'm just going to go through the data points I believe everybody has those in front of them so I'll just briefly touch on those if you have questions throughout the PowerPoint along the way please feel free to ask Karen and I I I think some sometimes I
default to Karen because she's got a little more context than I do um so our veteran services team right now consists of myself Dustin Lai who he worked in Corrections prior to coming to our team we have guy Singh who worked in elections prior to joining our team and
we have Karen applin who has been here forever as she says um um our first slide is just a um a table to show some data like I said a couple data slides so as of the most recent census we know that there are
approximately 7,800 veterans within Olstead County um this one's a little bit hard for me to see down here but you can see these are just chunked out in um uh by category of the wartime eras how many veterans are residing in Olstead
County our uh veterans by age you'll notice that there are our biggest grouping is that um 75 years and older and so I I kind of touch on that point a little bit more into our presentation when we're talking about
how we um intersect with other agencies within the county and then also within our community um another population by age so we have two a comparison slide with the total adult population of omate County and then the veteran
population uh our disability stats and then segueing into the um the heart of the work that we do so a lot of times when folks come into our office to meet with us or when veterans call or families call um there sometimes is a misunder understanding about what it
means to be a Minnesota State Statute veteran versus somebody who served in um has an honorable discharge so I know that Karen probably takes those calls sometimes to what am I eligible for I think that's probably one of the most common questions that we get asked what
am I eligible for what is my loved one eligible for um are there any benefits and we I hear that a lot from our population in nursing homes and aging and Care Facilities um and so this is just a slide that that explains the Minnesota state statute definition is
that you need to be a United States resident and citizen separated under honorable conditions and who has met the minimum active duty requirement or served 181 consecutive days um so as Travis said I you know I
feel like when I when I started this work I don't know that I understood how many layers of Veteran work there was I think the one thing that I really knew about and the one thing that I was passionate about though was putting veterans at the center of everything that we did and so as I've learned the
work which is very disjointed there are 87 counties in Minnesota and all 87 counties do things differently so it is very challenging when you have a question to go to somebody because a lot of times you'll get three different answers um and I and that can be
frustrating and I also kind of took the the mentality that as we're doing this work we're going to put the veteran first no matter what um because I think it's really important that you know you know as people come to us they have been dealing with systems they've been dealing with rejection and denial the
the federal system is so cumbersome and tedious and and I think anything that we can do to provide them some sort of um validation and understanding kind of helps ease ease that pain a little
bit do you have any thoughts on that um well the older generation you know they're they're not computer savvy you know a lot of them aren't and it's really hard I know like some we get a lot of phone calls for the
VA clinic in town well the VA Clinic does not advertise their phone number so people call us and we're like well dial this number press two three times and to me that it's kind of
ridiculous um so a lot of times I might just call the clinic and have them call bedroom themselves yep and and sometimes it's that and also explaining the why behind it so a lot of times if I'm telling somebody they have to call the VA Clinic here in town I'll say Don't
call them when you're cranky don't call them if you're hungry talk to them when you have a 15minute window of time where you're not going to be interrupted and you can be patient with the person on the other end because ultimately you know I think what I try to remind myself
to is the people who are working that system are not intending to show up to make veteran lives challenging but the process is just really stink for lack of better words um so whenever we're having staff meetings whenever we're talking about process in our office we're really
focused how can we make this easier for the people we're serving um here's a slide just a couple of things um the main things that we do um we share information about benefits um I will say that I think as a
collective we've kind of missed the mark As service officers and educating folks and not not our office not my predecessors but I think just in general our our the way that we talk to Veterans about the benefits that are available for them has to change and so now we're
in our office in a spot talking about how can we normalize some of the things that are going on some of the things people are experiencing so that they'll want to reach out and capitalize on the benefits that are available to them for example if I talk to somebody about
mental health PTSD which is post-traumatic stress disorder many veterans will experience those symptoms and yet they will not file for a disability claim they don't believe that their symptoms are severe enough they don't feel like they want to take money
from somebody else who might have a worse disability or they don't feel like what they experienced was really that bad and what I have seen which is a bit disheartening is those family members come to our office office then at the
end of life or when they need benefits or when they need resources and they're saying what's my what's my loved one eligible for and sometimes when we get to that point it's a much more challenging process and I firmly believe that the more that we talk about this
with folks and the more that our office can interact with the community and make sure that people know that these things are available to them they're not taking advantage they're not taking from somebody else the more that our veterans will utilize those
resources um so we're doing um educating helping folks apply for benefits um making referrals I talked about that one of my I feel like this first year in this job I've just kind of been absorbing and now as I'm kind of got the ball rolling I'm thinking how do I collaborate how can I get involved how
can we start branching out making sure that we've got folks um C points of contact or referral points or just you know somebody who we can direct our veterans to um um and then collaborating with nursing homes um helping folks get
records um transportation so we've got a whole host of things that that our office is working on with with our veterans um so I as I again as I've been learning this work my I my brain works
in checklists and my brain works in buckets so I have these buckets and I I don't know if I've shared this with the board yet I think maybe I have um but i' I've kind of categorized how to how we want to continue working and growing our department um into accessibility
efficiency and Outreach so these are kind of some things again that are always at the back of my mind that we're talking about when we're working with veterans when we're having staff meetings when we're training we're kind of always keeping these things in mind so accessibility and I'll have
Karen talk a little bit about some of these these pieces too but um within the past year we have done a lot of work to be more accessible when I started in our office it was very challenging to get in touch with somebody now Karen is
wonderful but she is a one woman show and she was running the phones and I remember one of the first things I said to Karen well I want my my phone number on my business card and she said you're not going to want to do that and I said well I do though I'm going to do it and we'll just see if it's too much I'll
pull it back but let's do it well I started getting calls and it wasn't inundated I didn't feel inundated and I felt like it was a nice um it was a nice connection with folks you know I could say you've got a question call me direct this is me you can reach me and I'll
talk to you about this more um and then fast forward twin guy in Dustin start and we put their direct numbers on their business cards our veterans are all of a sudden having direct access to their service officers and people who can answer their questions again Karen can
breathe between full call and she's not having to let so many go to voicemail so she's able to take more time and be more thorough she's giving more of that veteran centered um care to the person who's on the other line our other service officers they're brand new
they've never been service officers before but they have jumped in they're taking these calls they're researching how to answer we're getting people answers right away and it feels really good for our office to be able to deliver that to them and I think they our service officers feel really good
that they're able to be able to give back in that capacity as well um we changed our scheduling a little bit so we are previously we were closed from 11:00 to 1 every day for lunch hour and then we were closed on Fridays for admin
we adjusted that so that we are open for lunchtime and we are open on Fridays because we realize that working folks need to make appointments sometimes on their lunch hour sometimes they can only get a Friday off so we've opened our calendar up a little bit differently that way
um we are talking about evening and walk-in hours and what that might look like um that's really important that's a passion project of mine I think Karen and I'll let her talk I'll let you talk about this one a little bit but I think the walk-in piece is part of that veteran centered approach where we're
giving folks an opportunity to have that ease of Mind knowing they can go right to somebody and just ask a quick question and take some of that stress and anxiety off of them when dealing with a really complex process yeah um I I do a lot of walk-ins you
know I just tell people call before you come in well you know see if I can help you out and if not we'll we'll make an appointment you know with a service officer and they're they've been able to get in within a a week or so whereas before sometimes we were scheduled out
for a month if not more um yeah we we've got different different different systems with the phone it's it's amazing how much time I have now to concentrate on getting things done
between phone calls whereas before it was like I'd hang up the phone and right away it would ring again and it's hard to keep track of things when that happens um yeah on on Fridays
um the previous service officers they just they tried to leave that day for um paperwork you know there's a lot of paperwork and and now we we still have plenty of time for
paperwork um just a little tweaking of that schedule and it was it was a little bit I was a little bit taken back by how we were able to kind of navigate just the amount of phone calls and folks coming in and also you know I'm constantly checking in with the new guys how are we
feeling overwhelmed underwhelmed do we need more do we need less and you know the general consensus right now is we feel good we feel like we're seeing a good amount of people we're making sure we're we're getting our paperwork done um and it seems like
there's a good balance here and that's a good a good feeling but I'm not working at night Karen saw the evening hours that she said what is that um but again we're just we're in that space of being creative how else can we make this um ch ible for veterans
in our community who don't have a generic schedule um are efficient office operations so I I have heard this countless times in this role Alstead County you need more service officers why doesn't Alstead County have any more
service officers and you know again year one absorbing the information kind of assessing my surroundings I I was really questioning the way that we were doing some of the things our phone calls our hours the way that we were interacting
and I don't know that we were maybe necessarily using time as well as we could have and I think maybe I'm going out on a limb here but I think Co did that you know I think prior to co we had the office had a great you know great way to do things and then it things got
upended and schedules changed and times changed drastically claims changed claims changed like the whole VA everything changed and so then it was almost like you know when I stepped in I I had an advantage in the fact that I wasn't a service officer so I was able
to and we were able to kind of take a step back and say hold on a second and I was able to question a couple of things and and now I'm feeling like we're implementing some of those efficiencies and it's helping like Karen said I think if you go on our website we have appointment availability as early as
next week which is fantastic um we changed Microsoft bookings that was a big one um that's we had this old scheduling system that was very clunky and cumbersome and it was really nice to Sun to Sunset that that
one and pull on um bookings um and then just standardizing the way that we work with one another we recognize that when you know we're doing the work UPF front and making sure the fund focusing on the fundamentals when we when we're doing those things it makes the future better and work um a
little bit easier and then Outreach um one of the things again you know when I when I think about covid and how that kind of stopped our ability to connect with one another face to face I think these were all things that were going on prior and
and they were stopped and we haven't picked them back up yet and so now we're in a space again a year into this I've got a little wiggle room and I can breathe um we're having conversations how do we get back involved in the community um what events are going on who can we collaborate with where are
the important places to be going um how can we advertise how can we advertise we just had that conversation I said I'm going to wrap guy in Dustin's face on a city bus I'm going to put them on the city bus and drive them around city so I don't know if they'll actually let me do
that that was my idea um and so just re-engaging with our community is one of our top priorities right now and I think guy and Dustin they're both veterans themselves they have ties to different veteran communities and so between those two myself Karen we kind of have this
awesome opportunity to reach out and and touch a lot of people's lives um and that's really neat that's it's really neat that we have that capacity measures of success so this one was important to me and as I'm thinking
about this you know how do I know that our office how do we know that we've made it as a team how do we know that we're doing our community Justice and the veterans that we serve Justice and these are just some things that I in in my mind may maybe wishful thinking but
um open appointments within two weeks in 2024 and then I'd like it to be down to one week in 2025 um I think sometimes going back to that stigma and mentality of I don't want to apply I don't want to take from somebody else who's more deserving um sometimes you need to just get folks in
when they've got that motivation and when they're ready and I want our service officers and our team and our department to be available to people who are in that space um our phone calls calling back the same day or the next day I think we're I think we're nailing that one right now
um and then we're going to come up with a survey too I you know I I kind of James guy Dustin and myself we took a uh this presentation on a road show and um we were asking the service orgs what do you need from us how can we be helpful
how can we better interact you and serve your your clubs um and so that feedback is coming back and I want to be able to do that to the veterans that we serve too so that way we can continue to adapt the way that we're working with folks and that is what I have for our
presentation and I'll stand by for questions members other questions I have a question anyone else you know that I would right great I don't have a question I have a comment but uh I'm I'm
very pleased to see that uh the changes that you're bringing to the office and the ability that you're really attempting to make to get as many veterans in as soon as possible with long waights
um and as you will are well aware of uh the veterans that we serve in hestad County serve their country they were promised a whole bunch of stuff when they were recruited and it's only fair that we do our best that we can do to
make sure that they get those Services uh when they need them so that's very good and I do understand the many of the veterans I hear from them about the idea that I don't want to take
that service because other people need it sooner and you know all of us probably when we talk to the veterans say no that's that is a uh uh contract that they made with you so you need to
uh get those Services even though you might think that somebody else might need more of them so I think that I appreciate all the efforts that you're making there to and and also to advertise and get those veterans in so
the question might be that I do see the numbers that you have from homestate County do you keep track of the veterans that come from other counties because other counties might not be providing the services that Homestead county is so
we have a system called etk that is our technology and that is how we track our data and as part of that we could pull the counties of where our veterans live so I don't have the exact number here today for you but I can absolutely we can look that up and we do keep tabs on
that but there are some there are and I will say that personalities personality is a big deal when you're meeting with somebody and so you know when we have people in that and oh I tried working with this person and I just didn't click we'll just come on
over we'll work with them and vice versa I'm sure you know myself guy Dustin we're not everybody's cup of tea either so we just do our best to be as accommodating as we can all right thank you did I see another hand up go ahead uh thank you madam chair and
thank you Miss Canfield and your assistant I just have a quick question uh and I have not necessarily heard this referred to or talked about a lot in in hestad County but but in in other places uh veterans homelessness and Veterans
housing is a is a pretty big deal and gets talked about in a specific sort of way do do you encounter that issue here a lot veterans homelessness veteran housing need yes so yes commissioner we
are we do encounter that instead County and we're very fortunate to have a case manager who works side by side with us her name is Lisa joer and she works with macv macv is an agency that is designed to help homeless veterans stay get
housed get housed and stay housed and then also to stay employed and gain employment um and so oftentimes when things like those referrals come through we're immediately collaborating with our macv and our homeless case manager for
veteran services it's the Minnesota assistance Council for bedrooms thank you for the acronym explanation yeah thank so I can just so macv is a is a state organization uh
that that works to house or otherwise help veterans uh not only in our County but of course the state would it say for instance in homestad County homeless veteran find their their Sol inad County or would they be looking to some other
the Twin City area or or how does that work so Lisa works with um a uh landlords within Olstead County to house veterans um she has contracts with folks over at Bear Creek they just started a new home I think this one's over by
Silver Lake the Pentagon house um and she's got various other landlords who will rent to Veterans and the beauty of that is they're often times housed with other veterans or in proximity to and the landlords are a bit more willing to work with Lisa and the Tenant because
they know that they're a veteran and maybe have some different challenges and barriers perfect thank she is running herself ragged I mean she she works 12h hour days sometimes trying to get our veterans into housing as on as side we do have a
meeting coming up to looking at a path to home and um the the work group that's working on that we'll get to hear an update at our retreat but we can probably get a count for how many how many veteran specific um transitional housing units we have you know we got
six out at Bear Creek um that were MCV helped finance and helped create six single room occupancy our studio kind of style and then the Pentagon house is another new one and I just don't remember the total number but we can ask that question thank you um remind me
though um who who else anyone else with a question okay so I um as as County Board chair I often get contacted when the people have concerns about issues and there were concerns expressed just as you said Tiffany about how come mad County doesn't have more
veteran services officers or how come omad county has all new veteran services officers or how come whatever but the one that's been been posed to me most recently is one that I'm really going to ask Travis to answer which is why is it that omstead County's veteran service
office is not is not directly accountable to the County Administrator but is part of Health housing and Human Services so um U Travis and there's I I have my own Theory which I've shared
with Travis but I'm being asked that by some mostly small counties where they don't have a very large uh staff filmer County Dodge County and uh the County Administrator scope is a little bit different so um Travis would you mind
answering that question I'm I'm bringing it up because I think the rest of you are going to be asked this question because it's coming from counties in our region to me and when you go to other meetings you'll probably hear the same question thank you madam chair yeah I I think I have two answers to your
question um the first being that uh veteran services as housed within Health housing Human Services because it provides hopefully um a more integrated access to the rest of the services that we offer whether that's chemical health
Services mental health services or any other of the services that we offer across HHH I mean the whole design in HHH is that we um tear down some of the silos that the systems create and make sure that the people that we serve have
access to the services that they need regardless of what door they walk through uh so that is is one of the reasons um the second which is unique to hestad county that I don't think um should go unspoken and I think is easily
defensible by you if you receive this question there's a huge benefit in the way we have this structured right now in that Tiffany reports to a veteran he is a division administrator who has um also served this country his passion for these
Services uh create um support for Tiffany support for that whole team and a drive to make our veteran services office the best in the state of Minnesota and that's something that an administrator in any County without that experience I don't think can offer uh so
for us it makes sense to me for those two reasons and and I get particularly passionate about the second one because I know that James uh pours his heart and soul into this program as much as Tiffany and guy and Karen you know and
Dustin and that matters I think that matters thank you Tiffany Karen any final comments I think you know I'll just add on to what what Travis was sharing and
um I I think I have a Social Work background a social work heart Social Work background and and so it's always important for me to be collaborating and there's a lot of conversation um being had not just recently but always as I've been doing this work in various capacities of um no
wrong door no no wrong way and I think is how you were talking about it and um something that is a continual conversation in our office is how do we do that if we can't offer a veteran a service or if they don't qualify for something because of their time um what
else do we have what's our checklist who else can we connect them to and I touched on this a little bit and maybe I didn't speak so eloquently to it but being able to know for a veteran in our community and and Travis said it too I've kind of been been saying this
behind you know to them to James and Travis but it's really important to me to make this program one of the best if not the best in Minnesota Dustin and guy and Karen all share that all share that drive and passion and this for us for
our team goes beyond just showing up at our office pushing our paperwork getting the next one in and out we want to make sure that we're doing the best that we can for folks whether that means making referrals having an inside connection with somebody else within the county um
knowing a community resource I mean there's so many things within the community Rochester specifically that is helpful for our our veterans um being able to educate I don't think a lot of veterans know that you can be receiving disability compensation and also using
other County benefits um and so just being able to talk about which ones overlap and how to use those to give that person the best quality of life it's really really important to us and I do appreciate James's drive and his passion because I know every time I have
a um an idea or a question or if guy and Dustin or if Karen you know if one of us needs something I know for sure that we have um we have leadership that's going to support us and encourage us and help us make our make our dreams a reality
really thank you I I'm I do have one more question for you would you hold up the picture please who I my guess let let me just have everybody guess my guess is that you're in the second row fourth fourth or fifth from the from the right hand side the
picture does anyone else want to haard a guess I know I was looking at your nose trying to pick it out side profile hat like this like this I think commissioner cascaden I think you got it got
it one it's the fourth or fifth yes goes to commissioner well see I I'm I'm glad to leave tonight as a winner so thank you very much for your service to my veterans um most of all and uh I
think we leave here all of us with confidence that we have a great team in our veteran service office focused on the veterans rather than their own convenience and um I think we also are prepared now thanks Travis to answer the question of why do we have it organized
the way that we do so thank you both for for your service thank you for your service as a veteran and thank you for your service to the residents and to all the veterans in hestad County thank you very much thank you all right so we have a couple of
committee reports or uh assigned reports and I hope everyone's ready and we're going to start with perhaps commissioner Wright you're on for two reports southeast Minnesota Association
of trails and Parks right uh the trails report that I do send out every once in a while basically is dealing with trails that have already been planned and so the update is what those trails are
unfortunately none of them are instead County uh that they're working on but the message is is that those Trails because we have talked about the debuk trail and uh one that would take the
stage coach route West basically if if those communities really want that the way to do that is that they have to form some kind of a union or collaboration within each of the counties in order to get that done because that's how all the
other Trails have been done and um it's a long process you in order to do that and every one of those communities put in some resources in order to get that
done right um but the good news is that there is money for trails and somebody's getting them because they have figured out the process of how to do that all right um the other one is of
course DNR is completing the trail from the city to our Chester Woods Park so that that's going to be done fairly soon we heard a report at that at the physical development committee so that's in process there's just a little bit of
space that they have to do there and then that will become a a trail head at some point uh for those bike trails um I do believe that we're going to need
U some parking area out there in order to accomodate some of the bikes that are going to come in that are going to ride that trail parkboard was kind of disappointed by the fact that we didn't apply for uh some of the grants in order to build the
Welcome Center they're very patient they will put it on their agenda they'll come back for that but one of the suggestions might be that there are certain things that they could do to to reduce the cost of that and that might be if we could
find some ways to fund the road that will eventually have to be there in the first place um because there's a loop that comes into the park to go to the parking place and then back out again that's going to have to be done
regardless so if we could do that earlier because we kind of we already know the layout we know where the road's going to be that would reduce the total cost of the um the grant that we would be looking for the other one is I don't
know that you be surprised at this is they're struggling with what to do with dogs uh at Root River Root River is is a very nice park it's one of our Prairie Parks but it does not
have um surveillance they don't have anybody there that's at the park all the time we have signage but there isn't anybody there uh to say no you really can't have a dog in
this area you know the sign tells you that we'd like you to observe that so what we do is we hear complaints from other people that don't like the dogs there or their kids are afraid of
dogs um and so I think that the the park board is trying to struggle with how we're going to manage that system of what we're going to do with the uh the dogs at at r River Park all right
um oh and then I should say that our our new park manager came in on his own time before he was officially hired and did introduce himself to the park board and talked about his background and park
board's very pleased with the the hire and I think that they're going to work well with that so there's your report thank you I can't help but note that the trail that DNR Trail through Chester Woods that's going to connect to the Great Plains Trail I worked on the Great Plains Trail 25
years ago and uh and withad County 23 years ago 27 years ago I mean it goes on forever trails are hard to build so the reasons why you have to have longevity in the legislative process in order to get anything done absolutely so I was
assigned to um bring you an update from three verus Community Action and I have their one pager um annual report and mostly I want to invite you to kind of flip over to see the data on the other side and to call out that um uh the the
range of services that Three Rivers does in uh in our County because they actually of course serve uh I think about six counties so what we probably uh know them most for is the housing program uh and they've just recently
they're applied for the uh applying again for the funding for the the 36 unit of apartments that will be just up Fourth Street between about 7th and 9th and the good news is is that with the scoring system that we're all getting a little familiar with last year they
scored 108 points this year with the assistance from the Coalition and with the work that was done to get the state agency to change the way that they score access to Transit they scored 134 points so they should be in really really good
uh position to get get some of the state funding to move that project forward this coming year they're also building projects in in uh Austin and in other places uh and they have the contract through the coalition to do the mentorship program and the uh education
program we heard about before for the bipac uh population you probably know that they do the hawaa land transit system that serves a number of counties or one of the transfer providers in our region you may not know that they do Head Start they don't do Head Start
instead County but they have a fairly active Head Start program they're very active in Rice County uh and goodu County they're more active in those two counties than in ours and then of course they have older adults programs which includes some some in some um uh Meals
on Wheels some caregivers assistance chore Services now they don't do all of those things in omstead and one of the questions that I think the board may want to look at in the future especially since we have zcat coming in now asking us for fun for their Meals on Wheels program I don't really know the history
of how it happened that some community action programs starting in the 60s and 70s you know they all have to have County board members on their board they have to have consumers on their board and I don't know how the services got divvied up but in hestad County we have
semcac serving uh congregant meals and Meals on Wheels um we have three rivers with an office instead County very active in the housing Arena and and uh working a lot on the homelessness issues as well and so there might be a a future
to have a conversation about what's the best um what do we really need and who's best position to service Three Rivers Community Action does not ask counties for money semcac does Three Rivers uh being on their board this year if you look on the backside only 3% of their
funding comes from local grants and contributions out of their $8.5 million budget and last year they increase their budget by $3.5 million mostly mostly with grants so um uh you can get a good sense of their housing expenditures
their Community Development Transportation um and the the amount of number of meals delivered and the ridership on their Transit is kind of I think kind of astonishing so uh they do have staff assigned here instead County
and their offices out at uh at rctc in the hind Center and um I've been just on the board now for you know four or five months um but um they've been a long long partner to
uh bad County in many ways and so uh I think having that kind of L they're they're federally required to have County board members that the counties they serve on their board so uh that is uh that is also um by having a board
member represent them that we help them meet their Federal Federal requirements so that's I can't think of anything else on Three Rivers but I think that's yeah Greg was already smiling at me like I spoke no it's Three Rivers is a great organization I was on the board uh two
years ago I think and then uh palky Smith was on it yeah yeah my name's still on there because I was so outstanding they didn't want to take me off of that but one of the things that I did talk to them when I was there is is
about Transportation because they have a great transportation system but at that time it stopped at homestad County you know and I kept saying can't you apply for you know more move it in and I think
they've worked on that so but I mean I think that that's one of the great services that they could help us out with well there is a separate study underway right now about creating a Transit management organization yes for our region and they are going to be at
the table as part of that discussion so is s so is the Smart transportation service out of uh that serves freeorn in M County sure and and I just wanted to point out that the the the 36 unit that they're hoping to get is also in
District 3 so something else that I encourag them to continue to work on when I was on the board and they have all right uh any other committee reports for members I
have a report from last month uh commissioner Wright and I had a presentation from uh on the public health services Advisory Board uh from environmental health and there are many
services that Olstead County provides that Olstead County residents might not know about uh but wouldn't want to live without for even a day and these environmental health services are are
part of those programs so here is just a an overview of uh the areas that environmental health um ensures safety for or provides inspections for food and beverage public lodging swimming pools
manufactured home parks um youth camping tobacco retail massage businesses out break responses vector and rabies consults and the sanitarian on call for the day uh
and so some updates affecting environmental health so some some um new issues are uh vacation home rentals uh the delegated program by the Minnesota
Department of Health um has reinterpreted the definition of a hotel and motel to include a vacation home rental and that means that a hotel or a motel is a structure where sleeping accommodations are provided to the
public for periods of less than one week uh the state has directed environmental health to license unexpect and inspect all the vacation home rentals instead County so uh Rochester
the city of Rochester licenses over 600 50 short-term rentals per city ordinance and environmental health will now need to facilitate the transition um to County licensing for most of them so that was a very interesting
update and uh there are other responsibilities that up that environmental health will be responsible for with regard to cannabis legalization and I won't go through them all but they'll be very busy um uh including um
the special events and of course a great deal of Education regarding cannabis use um and so those are my updates M thank you anyone else all right well yes go ahead uh Madam
chair most of at the table know we uh commissioner Rosman and I were in in Tampa over the weekend uh for the N meeting uh and and maybe just a couple of things I I just really want to encourage board members to think uh next
year in particular try to try to try to take advantage of these opportunities it's uh you sort of go out of your shell a little bit and and and really understand or begin to understand uh that you're in this together with other count counties across the country but you also pick up uh ideas along the way
and uh I think if I came back with one uh thought with respect to this year's experience and it perhaps I felt the same way other last year as well but I I think that we could do a lot better in
in the area of Grant procurement seeking out grants and I mentioned one at physical development today and and uh you can believe or not believe a $50,000 Grant or a $500,000 Grant is either a big Grant or a little Grant but there is
$550 million uh sitting in a uh a an account called the uh Energy Efficiency and conservation block grant program uh waiting to be procured and uh the application dates
are uh the deadlines rather are October 24th uh the submittal uh as was told to us at least in our environmental committee are are not meant at all to be complicated complicated they're they're geared around trying trying to get this
money out especially to smaller counties that don't have sophisticated staffs and and so on and so forth I just think that we need to maybe kind of step up a little bit in this area in particular and and then the other one you just you know you can go to the sessions you can
pick up information but then you can also just sort of uh out in the hallways and uh I had a chance yesterday to sit down with a a commissioner from mecklinburg County North Carolina just kind of circumstantially as we were both
looking for coffee and she told me about a a Citizens Academy that she has run in meinburg county for a number of of years an eight week session where they bring in citizens within their County to just
to learn about County government to explain it to them and it it's not complicated it's not difficult they've worked with the University of North Carolina to to make it a nice program you wouldn't have to in Minnesota but I think we've got most of the basics already put together
in our County but it's just one of those kind of simple things that uh we could think about doing and I think just enhancing our if you will engagement with the community the understanding of the community in terms of what our County does uh and I think the more we
do that the better government we are so again you just pick up these ideas we've all been there we've all done it but uh kind of those are a couple of my take homes thank you anyone else
well I'm going to end with the quote today I hope uh you will think it somewhat timely given where we are with the Republican National Convention underway a recent assassination attempt on our former president our current
president uh trying to decide if he's fit to run or not uh and a lot of anxiety among Americans about what our future holds and I thought that this quote from is not going to be a reassuring quote but I think it's
appropo to the time it's from Ronald Reagan freedom is never more than one generation away from Extinction we didn't pass it on to our children in the bloodstream it must be fought for protected and handed on to
them to do the same or one day we will spend our Sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free and then from Barack Obama in the face of impossible odds people who love
their country can change it for we remember that in our past men and women have demanded Justice and fairness and equality not only because it was in their own self-interest because they believed in an ideal the idea that all men and women are created equal and deserve the chance to build their
destiny that is the power of democracy and finally from Thomas Jefferson we do not have government by the majority we have government by the majority who participate and everyone on this board
participates and many on this board are running for re-election this year and all of us are concerned that we preserve the Integrity of our elections and have great faith that our staff will do their utmost and we all have a role in promoting civility between units of
government and between political parties and people with different points of view we all have a role in preserving our democracy and with that in mind I'm going to adjourn our meeting we are adjourned