--------- Welcome everyone to the St. Louis County board meeting for the 24th of February. We are in beautiful downtown Cotton and this is the portion of our meeting where we do our listening session. If anyone has any comments, questions, anything they'd like to bring up to the board, we're given the opportunity from roughly 9.30 until 10 o'clock. If we have an overflow, we can bring it back at the end. But that being the case, I believe we have two. Okay, so. As much as I mangled this before, Sarah, Corton.
Yeah, that's what I thought I said. Thank you, welcome. That is exactly what you said. That's exactly what I said. Phil heard it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I heard you too, right on. Sorry. That's all right. Can everybody hear me okay? Okay. Hi, I'm Sarah Corlene. Thanks for hearing me today at County Ford. Very good to see you all. Glad you made it safely. I'm here delivering a petition, it's the same petition I delivered at the last meeting in Duluth. The request is to increase rental and emergency assistance.
So I'm just going to read the text of it. We have about 250 signatories right now, and I'll deliver it to your email inboxes as well later today. To the St. Louis County Commission, we the undersigned would like to bring to your attention the following opportunity for action. For over a month, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE, has been carrying out Operation Metro Surge in our state. Two killings and many detentions have been recorded, and reports from ICE detentions depict unsafe and unsanitary conditions. Although the majority of this activity has been in Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Rochester, we know that
ICE officers have also been detaining people in St. Louis County, such as the high-profile detention of roofing workers last summer. ICE vehicles have been observed driving through the Northland, and it's reported that local jails are being used for detention. As a result, many of our neighbors feel unsafe in public spaces. Across the state, there have been many calls for Governor Walz to issue a statewide eviction moratorium and for the state to provide rental assistance as was utilized during the initial COVID-19 lockdown. These temporary emergency measures would help our neighbors and their children stay safe and housed during this uncertain time,
as well as providing reassurance and stability for our communities. St. Louis County does not have to wait for the office of the governor in order to help our neighbors. We have the opportunity to use our own resources to help the most vulnerable people in our communities and ensure they are not pushed into housing insecurity or made to go hungry because of federal actions. We, the underside, call on St. Louis County Commission to increase emergency assistance and rental assistance until the ICE occupation of Minnesota has ended. We ask you to consider budgeting priorities in this time of emergency and look for projects that can be temporarily suspended in order to keep us and our neighbors safe.
The county along with trusted nonprofit partners can step up to show voters that in the Northland, we take care of each other. Thank you. I'd just like to add that although we are seeing what is being called a drawdown in the Twin Cities area, there have been increased reports throughout the rural areas and central Minnesota especially of ICE agents. And the ICE presence is not the only that people are feeling right now. Since I started talking to people about this, a lot of folks have expressed that they are specifically in support of this measure because of other federal cuts to
programs that they've relied on. Even people are still feeling the effects of the instability of SNAP funding in the fall. Even though it was taken away and then reinstated back and forth, that insecurity is still impacting people's budgets. When you're on a very tight budget, a small change like that can really make a really big difference. we're still feeling the ripple effects of the lockdowns, the self-imposed lockdowns that people have had to live under even the twin cities as well. So even though it might seem like it's drawing down, we're going to be feeling the effects in
our economy for a long time. Thank you for your time, and please keep an eye on your inbox for the full petition. Next, Chester. Oh, there he is. Morning. Morning. Same thing. This is what the trail could draw and rests on. Put there by John Hutchinson and a couple friends while we were out of town. I'm here today because of what can only be described as a coordinated theft of private property facilitated by this county's own legal and
administrative processes. For years I have presented clear evidence that our land was manipulated by the Hutchinson family's false claims and yet the county continues to treat our private property as a public resource or an abandoned easement. The manipulation here is twofold. First, despite having no supporting documents to prove state ownership or management, the county attorney's office inappropriately claimed there was an
existing road bed across our property and then claimed a 50 foot strip of our eastern neighbor's land as tax forfeited property. The court had already seen evidence that this property was never maintained by the county and was private land. Second, our neighbor Brian Hutchinson has successfully manipulated the cartway statute he claimed to be landlocked to justify a 16 and a half foot easement across our property. However, evidence shows that they have
other legal avenues for access, including an implied easement by necessity across a land owned by their own family granter. They chose the route through my property simply because it was more convenient and the board allowed it without a proper hearing on their landlocked status. Then the county approved a resolution based on false premise. It wasn't just an administrative error, it was a state-sanctioned theft of our land.
The board was informed of our lawsuit and the court's findings, yet those facts were ignored in favor of a neighbor's convenience. We are seeing a pattern where private property rights are being traded away for judicial algebra and fraudulent claims of public use. I have even had to win a previous trespass settlement against the county for similar negligence regarding an electrical permit on our land. I am asking this board for transparency and correction of the record. You
must stop allowing the county attorney's office to bypass the requirements of the Cartway Statute. If a petitioner is not truly landlocked, they have no right to our land. I will continue to document these failures on my Chester Cullen Jr. YouTube channel. Until the county stops acting as an accomplice to this fraudulent property manipulation. Sorry about that. Thank you. If you go through with this
rent thing, remember, people got payments, they got taxes, they got insurance. So make it expeditious if you're going to do it. Thank you. Anyone else that wants to address the board? Okay, we'll be here till 10 o'clock. So if anyone changes their mind or someone comes in, we'll be here. We've got a speaker. We have to use it, yeah. First off, I'd like to
welcome you here to the community. I'm a resident of Cotton. And it's nice that you bring your meetings to all these different areas. And so I appreciate that you've come to Cotton. I don't like to go to Duluth necessarily. Not that I don't like Duluth, it's just the congestion that's downtown. And the other areas also. So that you're here, I appreciate that. Well, first off, I guess I should say that, I don't know if I introduced myself and told you I was down to last year. I didn't that it wouldn't be the first
time many years ago when I addressed the board. I started talking. I was pretty nervous about the particular issue we were talking about. And about half a minute into my conversation, Marilyn Kruger interrupts me, Commissioner Kruger, and says, who are you? And so I'm Don Tree Wassefurt Coffin. And we all appreciate the efforts that you all make, the time that you serve, representing your particular constituents, is certainly, should be recognized
as important, and it takes time away from your families. And so recognizing that you all do that, it's awfully admirable to you. A couple of things that come up This year was the high budget, you know, 12% increase was a lot. You guys all recognize that that's unsustainable, so there's no, you guys are working on that, so that's appreciated also. Some of the other things that are of my concern, I moved here in 1971, so I've lived
here a long time. Commissioner Joukowicz would probably understand when I moved here, he said, well, you're not, You're not a resident, you're a PACS actor, you're two generations. Our grandkids are still here, so I guess maybe we're not PACS actors anymore. If you understand what PACS actors are, there's a person that just, there's an immigrant that comes in that just comes with what's ever in his bag, that's a PACS actor. We didn't come here with just what was in our bag, but that was a reference the Iron Rangers made. I worked in the mines and So that's what the
old timers would tell you. That's what they told me. In any case, the 12% increase in the budget is a lot. You guys are working on that. I appreciate that. Efforts that you're trying to make, initiatives that you're putting forward with different things that you're trying to address. How can we make an economic improvement, I guess, in our county? look back on 50 years from the time that I've been here, in 1970 there was 220,000 people in St. Louis County. We're at 200,000 now, so we're kind of a static
county over that 50 years of time. We live in an extraction depletion, on an extraction depletion economy. We need to do something, what are we going to do going forward? These are all things that leaders of the county, which are you guys, are confronted with and it's not an easy issue. Yet it is an issue that we have to deal with. Our population demographics are such that in 1970, it was a pretty even, from young to
old, it was pretty even. The demographics today are Young people from 0 to 19 are down about 50% of what they were back in 1970. And our older people, like myself, have increased probably about 50%. So us old people need more services, so we take more from the community. Young people that are supposed to fill those areas up, I'll stop at that. Anyways, I appreciate you guys are here and giving your most precious commodity, which is your time. Thank you. Thank you for coming.
Sure. Okay, anybody else after the fact to sign up? We're good? Okay, we'll go right into our regular... Part: 2
We have a long-standing tradition with the St. Louis County Board for a moment of silence before we do the Pledge of Allegiance for victims of violence, foreign and domestic. So a moment of silence and then the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance 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. Thank you. Okay. Brief note. Where's Dana?
Dana Kaisel, birthday today. Happy birthday. Thank you. Excellent work for us and we appreciate everything she does, but you were lucky enough to have a birthday on County Board Meeting Day. So, lucky too. I'm gonna celebrate. Okay, consent agenda. Oh, I'm sorry, roll call. Commissioner Harlow? Here. Commissioner Boyle? Here. Commissioner Graham? Here. Commissioner McDonald? Commissioner Musav? Commissioner Nelson? And Chair Commissioner Njigamish? President just for the
record we have some members not here today doing the county's work we appreciate that but they could not make it in today but we are here and we will do the best we can with what we have missing out on some very important pieces but we'll do our best all right now you want to do that first yeah you know what the proclamation for the depot day March 3rd you're right we can do that committee members oh you got it okay Commissioner Harlow would you be so kind as to read the proclamation thank you depot day in the first district so whereas the st. Louis
County Heritage and Art Center the depot is a historic landmark in our county seat of Duluth and has welcomed people to our region since 1892 And whereas St. Louis County has owned the depot since 1972, supporting a vision of turning the building into an arts, culture, and his, Center for Arts, Culture, and History, and whereas the depot now welcomes 200,000 visitors every year, with current tenants being the Lake Superior Railroad Museum, the North Shore Scenic Railroad, Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra, St. Louis County
Historical Society, Minnesota Ballet, Lyric Opera of the North, Arrowhead Regional Arts Council and the Depot Foundation, and whereas this county board continues to support the Depot and its mission by funding critically needed mechanical improvements, a project that officially commenced on March 3rd, 2026, and whereas through this proclamation, which will be placed in a time capsule at the St. Louis County Heritage and Arts Center, the St. Louis County Board sends its greetings and best
wishes to the future residents who read this. Therefore, the St. Louis County Board, which includes the 2026 commissioners, Annie Harla, Patrick Boyle, Ashley Grimm, Paul McDonald, Keith Mussoff, Vice Chair, Keith Nelson, and Mike Jugovic Chair, hereby proclaims March 3rd, 2026 as the Depot Day and wishes continued success for this facility as a resource for all citizens and all visitors to St. Louis County. Thank you. And we have some staff here that want to speak. Okay, perfect. Come on up. Welcome.
Morning. Chair Zugovic, Commissioner Harlow, Commissioner's Deputy Administrator Gottschold, Attorney Mackey, Oliver Nielsen, thank you for this. I don't do a lot of public speaking, so I'm just going to read directly from what I wrote. The depot is a deeply special building and an important piece of history for our county. I work every day to support the activities of the public, nonprofit partners, and our incredible tenants, all who know how special it is to be in the building. We are so proud of the proclamation and it reflects the dedication
of our office and our collaborators who all benefit from your support and in some cases who would not exist without it. Thank you for this. I spend a lot of time researching the history of the depot, our beautiful building in downtown Duluth, and I'm always thrilled when I find little weird tidbits from the different eras of our building. I was stoked when I found a county statute banning smoking in the building, so I can't even imagine how excited the next generation of depot nerds will be when they find about this proclamation. The love, care,
and investment shown by this board is evident. Thank you for being stewards of our building. We have a note from Director Tannis as well. She wrote, I'm honored to share this day with you all. Each and every one of you has supported the efforts of our small but mighty team for over the years. This is such a lovely summary of your support and one we will celebrate today and every subsequent year in the future. What a privilege to serve this beloved building with you all. Thank you. Thank you. I want to bring up on the third, there is an event, correct? Yes. So we want to make sure as many people know about that as possible. Can you
tell us a little bit about it? Yeah, we are doing a kickoff event to just commemorate the fact that this HVAC project has started. It is from 5 to about 6.30. There's going to be some food, some drinks. You'll be able to see old and new blueprints of the building, some historic things we've already found that have been uncovered throughout the project as it started. And to be able to write some love letters to the depot, there'll be some speakers, including Donna Chertukovic himself. Yeah, it's going to be great. I hope you can make it. So that's the
third? Yes, March third Tuesday at 5 o'clock. 5 o'clock. Be there. B square. Alright, thank you so much. Appreciate it. Next. Director, good to see you. Thank you, commissioners. I just want to say thank you for your investment in this building. It's been a long time in the making. I believe it started in 2016 that the needs were identified. The critical infrastructure that's needed to support the depot long term. So it's been an honor to come on board and be a part of this and to see this thing
across the finish line. You know, the investment that you're making is going to sustain this building for the next 50 to 100 years, and it's going to lead to a lot of operational energy efficiency. So thank you for the critical investment. Thank you. Any questions, comments? I know we've all been involved with the depot. We appreciate everything that's gone on through staff to get us to where we're at. this is something that's important to us, our county, so we felt it was something that we needed to do. It's a big investment, but it's a big part
of our history moving forward. So we are all in on the depot and looking forward to the next 50 to 100 years. Thank you. Do you guys say something quick? I just really wanted to acknowledge staff too and the work that's been done. Colleagues on the board have all gone to the Capitol and put in an incredible amount of work. And seeing staff throughout the years, I remember when I first started on the county board, oftentimes people would come into the depot and be like, I
don't know, is the Great Hall having a private event? Can I come in here? And to see it throughout the years, Staff like working with the tenant organizations Like building this cohesive vision and goals for what it looks like and feels like and just being more fully utilized like seeing that come to life and staff Do that has just been really incredible. I also love Nikki Cage night at the depot. It's so fun It's just like one of like There's so many events
that you do to just draw in a lot of people who probably had never come to the Depot before and now come regularly. So thank you so much for being here and just big shout out to colleagues who helped get this across the finish line. Are we still doing weddings at the Depot? Yes. I went to a wedding there a few years back. It was just a blast. It was great. Ken had... the trade museum open and pictures with the train.
It was really turned into quite a little event, everybody wanting their photographs with the train. And that is a nice addition. We can use that for weddings. Very nice. Okay. Thank you very much. Okay. Did I miss anything else, Phil? Phil lets me know what I missed. Consent agenda. Motion to approve. Support. Boyle? discussion all in favor opposed motion carries regular agenda
public works and transportation recreational trail program equipment grant sponsorship with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources with Quad Cities ATV Club and it has not been to spin rules okay motion is suspended second discussion all in favor aye opposed okay motion carries Moved by Boyle. Support. Support by Harlow. Administration. Thank you, Chair Djujevich. The request before the board is to authorize appropriate county officials to sponsor for fiscal year 2026 federal recreation trail program
equipment grant application and to enter an agreement with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and a cooperative agreement with the Quad Cities ATB Club for a project to continue maintenance on their Quad Cities ATV Club trail system. There is a grant application deadline of February 28th, so we appreciate your willingness to consider this at today's meeting. The request is for $75,000. We do have staff, Deputy County Administrator Faldese is here if there's any questions, but we're working with the ATV
Club to help them secure some funding for their projects. Okay. Jim, anything to add or are we good? So, Mr. Chair. Okay. All right. All those in favor, signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Okay, motion carries. Thank you. Next is the trail program grant sponsorship with DNR with Quad Cities. It's another, and it has not been to the committee. Move to the suspended rolls. Moved by Harlan. I'll second. Second by Grimm.
I'll make a motion to approve. Oh, we need to vote. Yeah, okay. All those in favor? I forgot we were doing that. Aye. Opposed? Okay, now the actual grant. I'll make a motion to approve. Perfect. Back in. There we go. Thank you, Chair. This is a second request to support our officials' work with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the Quad Cities ATV Club. to apply for federal recreation trail program funding. The amount of this grant
is $200,000. Also has a February 28th application deadline. Again, they need a resolution of support from the county board as the fiscal administrator of the grant funds. This particular grant application is to support them in their continued phase one work of a multi-phase trailhead facility and parking area located in Virginia. ATV Club. So we look forward to your support. Okay.
Anything further? Okay. All in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Okay. Motion carries. Under finance and budget allocation of remaining 2026 non-committed mineral royalty funds to the mineral royalty scholarships, builder count, it's letter 2688B. Can I make a motion to table this? Just table definitely to next week. I had a colleague reach out and ask. They wanted to be part of this discussion, but due
to economy business, couldn't make it today. Mr. Chair, it first needs to become to come before the assembly so it needs to be moved and seconded first and then a motion to table needs to be made. I'll make a motion to approve. Motion and second. Now a motion to table definitely to our next meeting which is on March 10th. Is there a second? Support. Okay, support by Boyle. All those in favor, signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Nay. Okay, motion carries. Next up we have the permit application for gambling for
Ganesan Fire to operate out of Waters, LLC. Island Lake Inn has not been to committee. Another one. Oh, are we busy with? Motion to suspend the rule. Motion by Harlan. Support by Boyle. Any further discussion? All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Okay, motion carries. Now we have the quick motion. Okay, oil. Support. By RLA. I need to. Thank you, Chair
Commissioner Djukievich. Both of these premise permit applications are being filed by the Genesan Volunteer Fire Department. This particular one is for them to participate in the sale of bingo raffles, paddle wheels, tip boards, other lawful gambling at the Sportsman's Inn in Ganesan Township. And we would support this request. Okay, any comments, questions? I'm just saying your bingo's really fun. It's a fun time. Okay, all those in favor,
signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Next is an application for lawful gambling with Ventures Sportsman's Inn in Gneeson. It has not been to committee. Second. Second by Harla. Any discussion? All in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Okay. Motion carries. Now we have the Ms. Boyle? Second. Second by Harla. So
I actually got ahead of myself. This one is the application for the sportsman's in location. The previous one was for the Island Lake Inn. Both are in the Eastern Council. Again, both of these have been before the county's committee that reviews the applications we would support. Okay, any comments, questions? All those in favor signify by saying aye. Opposed? Okay, motion carries. Commissioner reports. Well, Mr. Chair, I
don't like to put myself in front of commissioners, but if you'll indulge me, I have a report, or at least something I'd like to mention. Absolutely. And it's especially fitting today because there was so much process in what we just did. that I wanted to recognize that this month is the 150th anniversary of Robert's Rules. It was first published in 1876 by a dude named Robert, as you might guess. U.S. Army Brigadier General Henry Martin Robert attended some post-Civil War meetings and was dismayed at how unruly and unorganized they were. So between 1863
and 1876, he traveled around the country and put together his book of rules and then went to publish that. In 1876, he published it and brought it around to the country. And since then, it has been adopted as the preeminent rules for deliberative assemblies, like county boards, church commissions, et cetera. The first, like I said, was published in 1876. There have been 12 editions since. The most recent was 2020. the 12th edition, about
every 10 years, descendants of Mr. Roberts and others who really, other nerds who really like process, get together and decide how this should be revised. So I know you're all gonna hold your breath for the next edition in 2030. I know I am, I already got my order pending at Amazon. Just wanted to recognize that since it does affect so much of what we do here at these board meetings, that we should recognize the work, the good work of Brigadier General Robert in 1876. Thank you. It's like a very history filled meeting.
I like a lot of other commissioners spent some time at the Capitol last week and saw in committee and Commissioner Harla testified For the rental assistance bill on the House side, which unfortunately did not make it through committee, it looks like it's, at the time it looked promising through the Senate, so I'm not sure where that stands right now, but it's something that will be good to watch as we're seeing community members really suffering and we're seeing some
programs where we've done a lot of intervention that are kind of drawing down. So for example, Check and Connect, which has really helped graduation rates and reduced truancy rates. And right now we know that there's a lot of truancy with kids in our community. And so I want to flag that as something that we can look at with both the county angle and the state angle to make sure that we're getting those needs met. And it was really active and great day at the Capitol overall. Thank you. Anyone else? I just one thing.
I, you know, we don't always hear the good stories. Sometimes when we do something that people don't care for, or we do something wrong, we hear about it, which we should. But I, I had a great experience last night. I was in touch with a veteran in need. And it was after hours. And I put the call in after hours to our veteran service office in Duluth. This morning, I mean, literally a minute or two after they walked in, I was getting a phone call today on my way here
telling me what they were going to do. They were going to get a hold of the gentleman and they were gonna do everything they can in their power to help them out. I also contacted AEOA. They were on the ball immediately last night. These are the kinds of things that we don't hear enough of, of county services that we are able to administer to do good things for people that really need it. So when we have veterans that have given so much and don't always want to be in a position to ask, and it's unfortunate, but
that's the lay of the land and that's the way it works. And we have our people going out of their way to make sure that these people are taken care of. This is why we're here. These are the good things the county does. These are the heroes helping our heroes. So I just wanted to let everyone know I got a call, two calls, one from staff, one from Director Wells telling me all the things that they can do. We have good people. We have good people doing good work. and they don't always get recognized. So when you have an opportunity
to give somebody a pat on the back, we do veteran services, AOA, above and beyond, St. Louis County Social Services, I think we'll be involved in this as well. We want to do everything we can to help people. And in this day and age, again, there's not enough of it. There's too much division. When we have an opportunity to help, we do it. So kudos to everyone involved in I made me proud to be a commissioner knowing that these people were on it and I had a phone call minutes after they walked in the door. They checked their messages and I got a call. That's why we're here. So that's all I had. So thank
you. Motion to adjourn the meeting. So by Boyle. I second. Grimm. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Okay. Motion carries. We're adjourned and we will take a few minute break. How about a five minute break? meeting state. We're on. Okay. Welcome back. We are ready to start our committee of the whole. Clerk Chapman, could you do a roll call please? Commissioner Harrell? Here. Commissioner Boyle? Here. Commissioner Grimm? Here. Commissioner
McDonald? Commissioner Musa? Commissioner Nelson? And Chair Commissioner McAdams? I am still here. All right, we'll move on to the consent agenda. Anything that anyone would like moved or? Moved. Okay, is there a second? I'll second. Second by Grimm. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Okay, motion carries. Establishment of public hearings. Chair Howell, I'd like to do the first step. Thanks. The first one is Resolution 26-103, Establish a public hearing to consider off-sale intoxicating
liquor license in Beatty Township, Tuesday, March 24th, 26th at 10 a.m. in Lavelle Town Hall in Havage. Do I have a motion to approve this? Moved by Commissioner Yubovich, supported by Commissioner Boyle. No discussion on that. All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed, same sign. Motion passes. Do you want me to take in violent or do you? You know what you did such a good job. I had to roll my hearing. Yeah, yeah, the next one. I have commissioner Harlow do it because she was outstanding. Oh, there's two public hearings on yours. Oh yeah,
excuse me. Phil doesn't miss a trick. Thank you, Phil. Wow. He'll be here tomorrow night speaking at township supervisor. So if you really want a good time, everyone tune in. or come down and see him live, he's better live. Alright, next we have the established, resolution 26-104, established public hearing to consider off sale intoxicated liquor license, unorganized township 61-12, Tuesday, March 24th, 26th, 1005 at Laval Town in Hibbing, Minnesota. Do I have a motion to approve this? So moved by Yugamit, supported by Foil, no discussion. All those in favor, please
signify by saying aye. Aye. It passes. Thank you. You did so well, I'm just going to throw environment and natural resources on you if that's okay. Sounds good. Thanks. Next we have Resolution 26-105, Establish Public Hearing to Consider Adoption of Proposed St. Louis County Ordinance 62 Amendments, Tuesday, April 14th, 26th, and White Township, Intermoral, Minnesota. Do I have a motion to approve this? Moved by Commissioner Yugovic. I'll move it. I'll second it. Seconded by Commissioner Graham. All those in favor signify
by saying aye aye opposed same sign motion carries back to you Mr. Chair Wow that was flawless all right thank you I will go on to the regular agenda Commissioner Boyle Yeah Public Works first up we get the adoption of St. Louis County safe streets and roads for all safety action plan 26-106 I'll move it do I have support Seconds? Boarded by Commissioner Harlow. Director Fuldesi. There he is. Thank you Chair Boyle and
Commissioners. I am going to ask Vic and Matt to come up and give a presentation on Safe Streets for All Action Plan. And I think it's a really good news item. It's going to open up potentially new funding sources for us for a Infrastructure grants and so with that I'll turn it over to Vic and Matt. Vic, welcome Matt. I just want to make it known that if Vic wants to go long, he has my full support. He married into Chisholm, which gives him the opportunity. He can stay here all day. You're
golden. Please take your time. Thank you, Commissioner. And thank you, Commissioner. We're talking this morning about the adoption of the safety action plan, which is really a third edition of our County Road Safety Plans that we've been operating underneath since 2012. The safety plans are essentially a prioritization document, so it looks at our roadway system and breaks it out in curves, intersections, and segments, and it prioritizes those locations based on presence of risk factors, right? So you think about your personal health history or your family health history, right? give maybe propensities towards certain diseases or things
for us to think about. We do the same thing with the roadway system. The SS4A program, Safe Streets and Roads for All, was established by the current federal transportation law. Provides some funding for planning as well as implementation, but it opens up, the safety action plan opens up, or basically it's a key to open up implementation funds for the county And to date, a good news is that over $30 million has been received by the county in dedicated traffic safety projects since 2010. Over $30 million. That's just to the county road system. So great news story there.
You can probably see a lot of those projects on the ground. Think about those intersection projects, the roundabouts, the J-turns, the curve signing, the roadway markings, all that good stuff comes from our safety plans. So with that, I'm not gonna belabor the point too much longer. I'm gonna hand it over to Matt, who is our project manager with SRF. They were helping us develop a safety action plan for you guys to consider today. And we'll stand for questions if you have any at the end. Thanks, Vic. So just starting over here. Hey, Mr. Chair. You should have handouts in
front of you for the presentation if you wanna follow along. Yeah, we'll go ahead and start then. I think Vic's got the first slide pretty well covered, so we'll start with the second. So as Vic stated, this is a safety action plan. Funding for that was through the federal government, and they have different components that need to be covered in this plan. So when Vic was developing the scope of work for this plan, he made sure that all of those components were covered. You can see policy review, goal setting, engagement, and we'll go through each of these in a little
bit more detail here. vulnerable user summary evaluation of safety strategies Identify prioritizing the recommend projects there was a lot of coordination with other agencies that went into it and then the actual development of the plan along with which ties into the Goal setting the county board presentation here at then and that's where we're at today So as we looked at this plan and looked at the different roadways within st. Louis County and We really focused you know for segments and curves
anything that was paid whether it was county state aid highways county roads or unorganized town township roads with a rural context And really with the highest focused on the county state aid highways when we looked at intersections We kind of tiered in three different tiers, you know high medium and low What we considered a high risk intersection was Any county stated highway that intersects with the trunk highway or another Cassa roadway medium was county road with the trunk highways and then low was a
county road or Cassa with Another county road or on on organized township or UT The next slide or slide number see if it's done here really just illustrates what funding has done in the county when I look at that if you look at the black line that is funding throughout the years starting in 2015 to 2024. So if you look at the safety funding has increased throughout the years, it's relatively long with a reduction in overall
crashes, or those are three-year average crashes. Then the orange bars, those are our KABC, which are fatal serious injury or injury crashes. know it doesn't trend is down quite as much but we still see that 13% reduction but then it's those most severe the fatal and serious injuries you know generally we see a low low number but those tend to be you know that the most challenging really to have an impact so
at the next slide, St. Louis County, this is the KPIs or KPIndex. You can see the blue is kind of the running three-year average. You know, we see a decrease here, you know, through kind of 2011, then it increases, and then the fatal crashes again, you know, kind of averages around that eight to 10, but really up and down. You know, it looks like the lowest three-year average was three. So now getting into more of the
tasks, one of them was policy review. So we took a list of different policies that the county has and really looked at how can we better incorporate safety into these documents. I think we've got a list of 10 or 12 different documents here. You know, started with the TZD resolution back in 2016. Looks you know we looked at all of the different components of the safe system approach and where it meets and how how we can incorporate the safe system approach into these documents And then vision and goal setting
you know as part of the federal funding really the ultimate goal is to achieve zero deaths or Serious injury crashes, you know we looked at the crash history and and identified these goals. We kind of did a two-tier, a short-term and a more long-term approach. We said that by 2037 or approximately 10 years, we'd like to achieve at least one year of zero traffic fatalities. And when you look at those charts, we've been close, but we just haven't been able to achieve zero. And then maintain a three-year average of three or less traffic fatalities.
And then by the year 2047 on the county road system, achieve at least two consecutive years of zero traffic fatalities. And you do see noted here, this is outside of the MEC planning area, the Duluth area. And the reason why we specify that is because while that MEC area is part of St. Louis County, they are in the process of developing their own safety action plan, so they'll have their own goals. Then one of the next tasks we get into coordination. There's
a lot of efforts going on in St. Louis County. You know, you can look, I mentioned that Mick, you can look at other agencies that are developing safety action plan. Boys Fort Band, they've completed a safety action plan. The Fond du Lac, I just learned last week that their board or their Reservation business committee approved consultant to assist with them. So that's going to be starting anytime here now We talked about them PO and then MnDOT while the funds for this
particular safety plan aren't available to state agencies MnDOT is in the process of developing a District safety plan so they're looking at all the trunk highways and US highways in district one So there's some overlap there when we look at trunk highways with Cassas and we just want to make sure that recommendations align and really look for partnership opportunities to champion implementation across the different plans I know there's already coordination going on between MnDOT St. Louis County and the boys for band
on a potential project or trying to coordinate funding on that so that's where coordination comes into play then another component is engagement For this, we've hosted a comment map and an online survey. We've used social media to get this out there to the public. The reason why we decided to do online engagement for this particular project is because it is countywide. It's gonna be challenging. If you're reconstructing a roadway and evaluating different alternatives, it's very
easy to get public interest. Anyone that lives near that area, but when we're talking countywide, we felt that an online presence was better. But in addition to that we did invite Cities and townships to participate we did host focus group meetings You know this was specifically we had three different meetings one was for law enforcement and first responders We really wanted to get their input. You know they're out on the roads every day We did meet with transportation departments for public schools in the county as well as Local agency leadership and you know we did have a
handful of general public invited to these meetings The BRU analysis that's another component. You know there's just some facts here This looks at crashes by nonvehicular or that Involved pedestrian or bicyclists just those that are the most vulnerable You know we broke it down on the left side you can see urban segments urban intersections rural segments and rural intersections and Just one takeaway from this it might not be a
real big surprise, but 52 percent of the vulnerable roadway users happen on 5% of the networks are within those cities With a you know, I guess to me it makes sense. That's where people are walking and biking for the most part So we really focus there We also one part of this we did it wasn't necessarily a component of the safety action plan or the federal highways, but we did a before and after study We really wanted to know we know that st. Louis County has been a leader across the state as far
as implementing Safety strategies, but what we wanted to do is get an understanding at the local level You know are those how well are those strategies working? You know there's a lot of national research out there But we wanted to know within St. Louis County, you know, are the projects that have been implemented reducing crashes. And just some quick takeaways on this. As far as intersection projects, roundabouts, G-turns, and median closure projects were the most effective, you know, at a national level. And we just confirmed that at a local level that it's working. For segments, shoulder
rumble strips and six-inch ground in, wet reflective edge lines were the most effective. You know, and that's one when it comes to that edge line, that's something that's becoming kind of standard practice in the county. You know, so that's what kind of part of the reason why we developed this plan is to seek, you know, additional projects. Centerline rumble strips, most effective segment project for reducing K&A crash densities and head-on crashes. You know, really with the centerline rumbles, that is the most effective way other than a physical barrier. to reduce head-on
crashes. And then curve projects, again, we found the curve warning signs were the most effective, as well as high friction surface treatment. And again, with the high friction surface treatment, there's just a handful of curves with that treatment, or not very many, so our sample size was there, there was low, but we did still see that they were effective. So through the project with our analysis, we took kind of the prioritization that was developed through the county road safety plans, knowing that the county already does a lot of the strategies that
were recommended in those plans, we tried to incorporate additional strategies. So for intersections, there were 1,426 intersections that were evaluated. We narrowed that down to 247 intersections were made. actual project locations, you know, just the most at-risk locations. Similar segments, 1,151 miles were evaluated. That was all the paved roadways. 214 miles is what we recommended projects at. And then as far as curves, 1,457 total
curves were evaluated, and we made recommendations at 901, and that's a higher proportion of the curves But really our goal here was to make recommendations on all the Casa roadways for Chevron's. So on the right you can look at the intersection projects in the table, really focused on kind of those higher dollar projects that we can, you know, H-SHIP is pretty limited, so here there's other funding means, you know, such as the
implementation of grants through this program. So our recommendations were J-churns, left turn lanes, skew correction, and intersection lighting. On the segment project, since the county is already doing the six inch edge line and the rumbles where appropriate, all of our recommendations were locations where there's a risk for head on crashes, so center line rumbles. And then for curve projects, it really came down to Chevrons and curve warning signs. So yeah, so at this point, we're in the final stages of finalizing the plan. We've had a draft, we've had it through agency review. So we're working through
just getting that finalized here in the coming week or two. On the last side, you can see the focus areas of projects. Again, we really hit on lane departure crashes and intersection-related crashes. And then kind of the last thing here, the county board. This was our brief presentation. I'm just looking to officially adopt a safety action plan. And then I'll just quote real quick. Thank you so much, Matt. There is one last round of SS4A implementation funding that's available under the
current transportation law. So typically that's released in May timeframe, kind of late spring, early summer. So we will have our safety action plan available for that. And then the question would be the big question of the day of many questions with the federal transportation law is which programs are retained in that program going forward. So we hope that the SS4A program will be kept, which I have a hunch that it will be. That's just my one and a half cent opinion. But if it's there, we'll have that funding source available to the county,
but also with our other primary funding source, the Highway Safety Improvement Program, which is also federally funded, but has been in place since since the early 2000s, that's where that $30 million figure, the vast majority of that funds have come through the H-CIP program, and that will still be accessible with the Safety Action Plan, as well as other discretionary grants that are out there too. With that, we'll be happy to answer any questions from the board. Thank you, Vic. I appreciate all the work you guys have done over the years, 16 years, $30
million in. And now we're gonna see some, you were the initial ones to do this, not only in the state of Minnesota, federally, but now to see the numbers hold on what we've done for safety, whether it's change terms, roundabouts, left turn lanes, intersection lighting, you've been on the forefront and you've saved lives, there's no doubt about it. So thank you for all you've done on that. Commissioner, comments, questions? Yeah. Yeah, thanks. I'm...
you're providing additional support to the mic on this as well to him on that planning for this is that an area where I know the work we're done on Lowell that would be included in something like that for Lowell Elementary? yeah excuse me, Rice Lake Road, yeah exactly so that'll certainly be a part of the mix safety action plan evaluation how specific to that particular intersection with Lowell Elementary is the cop I think these safety action plans is more of a higher level, maybe like a sledgehammer versus like a small, bulky hammer,
right? It's a little bit more broad in its scope and it's not quite getting to that detail of those, for example, as you're aware, the county's doing a study for Rice Lake Road at the Carnes Road intersection. So it won't go to that depth, but it certainly will identify roadway segments as well as intersections from a priority level. And really, it's the priority piece that from the safety plans take to the next level at the practitioner level to say okay this is the priority it's in the top two percent we want to do something at this particular location then it
becomes more of a prescription with the engineers and planners that are involved at that point thanks for clarity on that thanks mr. chair appreciate your work commissioners 3,000 miles of roads 600 bridges please do what most states do so good work appreciate work have you drilled any holes in Dewey Um, not this one. The fish are getting by for another year. Thank you. All right, commissioners, seeing no other questions, we'll move this to a vote. All those
in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. Next up, we have pavement marking maintenance project, awarding low bidder of certain lines a lot. I always enjoy saying. just in the amount of $1.2 million. Motion to approve? I'll get a motion to approve, do I have a second? Yeah, could you wrap it? I could wrap it, I could wrap that up. I could wrap that up. Another day, another time, but I'll wrap that up. Yeah, director.
Thank you, Mr. Chair and commissioners. Yes, this is our annual maintenance striping contract, so you see this contract every year. We did have just the one bidder, sir, lines a lot. However, reviewing the bid, the pricing is within what we expected. Just a hair under the engineers estimate, so we're happy with the bids. Good, that's local. Commissioner comments? Seeing none, we'll move this to vote. All those different things, aye? Opposed? Motion passes. All
right, next up commissioners, we have aggregate surfacing project in the allow the little bit of you and brothers and more of just over $700,000 I'll move it to support for the sure to pitch thank you chair Boyle and commissioners you and brothers yes is the low bidder about 14% under the engineers estimate you also see that we had a healthy list of bidders there again happy with the bids this is actually an interesting project in that I This is a fire response
project. So essentially we're getting about $620,000 worth of state emergency relief funding to deliver the re-graveling project on the roads up in Fairbanks and Bassett Township. So essentially the roads were pummeled pretty good with the fire response, all the heavy equipment, bulldozers, fire trucks, all that traveling over those roadways that aren't normally used to seeing that level of traffic. And so we applied and we also helped the town of Fairbanks apply on their organized township roads
to essentially re-gravel. So this is a little bit of a silver lining that goes along with disaster type projects we're able to get funding to help boost our infrastructure. So with that, we'll also be looking to have town of Fairbanks pay roughly $130,000 worth of the project. Commissioner, questions? Seeing none. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. Next up, the Central Range Transportation Building.
the architectural and engineering services agreement and approve any amendments authorized by the county attorney's office with Krauss-Anderson Construction Company for the central range transportation building. Commissioner Trubitz, you want to move on? Absolutely. Second by Commissioner Grimm. Director. Thank you Chair Commissioner Boyle and Commissioners. Yes, very happy day when we saw these bids come in. Kraus-Anderson was low at $30.8 million. You'll see that we had a host of bidders there and very
competitive. So again, very happy with these bids, considerably under what we had expected. You know, looking at other expenses outside of this contract that are required to complete the project, such as the furnishings, equipment internal to the building like cranes and all those types of things on the new build contract admin and testing water and sewer lines have to be run to this site fiber
communications so you know you look at that number in the board letter of we sold 44 million dollars worth of bonds to deliver this project and what are we gonna do with all those funds? Well, there's a lot of costs outside of this construction contract that need to be expended and invested to deliver the project. So those numbers add up to roughly about $8 million. And then as you recall, when we're having discussions about this project, in the
possibility of coming in low, we have an additional roughly $5 million worth of projects on other campuses that we could put our bonding fund towards as well. So we're going to get the project going, basically get out of the ground. So when you do all the site work out there, that's usually where the variability, that's where potential overruns could be in the project if you encounter a lot of bad soils, things like that. Once we kind of
get out of the ground, we'll really know where we're sitting on this project and then we can make some more decisions about some of these other additional things that we wanted to get done with these funds. So that's kind of the game plan, but we're very happy to be in this position. Commissioner Collins, Commissioner Drew. Great to see the numbers come in low, thank you Mr. Chair. Come in low, the ability now to turn around and do projects above and beyond with some of the other buildings we have will go a long way
because obviously everything is very expensive. We got good numbers going in so we can do more with what we bonded for. So I'm pretty excited about the ability to not only take care of the new campus but do additional repairs and expansions where needed on our current facilities. So that's a win-win. Any other commissioner questions? When are we hoping to open this building up? Our goal is the, it'll be September of 2027 so that we're in there before the snow season of
2027. Gotcha, so a year and a half. Gotcha. And are we doing any half cent sales tax on this? This is funded with transportation sales tax as the payback for the bonds. Thank you. Excellent. Well, we need to get our roads up to the standard that we're at. Now I think we can invest in making sure those roads stay at that level. Correct, Mr. Chair. And remember, we're at the point now where we're essentially
using about half of our annual revenue stream for transportation sales tax on bond payback. and half is being used as pay as you go on road and bridge projects. Another thing just so everyone's aware, and sometimes it gets kind of lost in it, Hibbing needed space. So when we had the opportunity to get out of our current building, build new state of the art, more energy efficient, green, all those good things that go along
with it, we also did Hibbing a solid and made sure they had the space they need for the expansion. I mean, Hibbing is the largest city size wise, not population in the state. So when you have an opportunity for them to get more of their equipment housed because they cover such a huge area. You talk about Commissioner McDonald's district in St. Louis County, Hibbing has got a similar situation where miles and miles of roads and things to take care of. So this
works out for everyone. We can help Hibbing out and they are very appreciative of the fact that they are getting our facility in Hibbing. Chair Commissioner Boyle, Commissioner Djugovic. Yeah, we were able to work both with the city of Hibbing and MnDOT to essentially vacate the existing Hibbing facility early so that they could accelerate their construction project, get their public safety building addition essentially going and consolidating all of their public works into that facility. And so we're essentially in temporary digs
with our maintenance facilities and then also temporary location with our engineering staff in Hibbing for our bridge division. And so they are They're all looking forward to getting in their permanent location as soon as possible. And it is centrally located bulk and township. Correct. Centroid. With the extra dollars that may come about with this, are we looking at investing some of our salt and sand domes? Are we looking at that? Correct. Chair Boyle and commissioners, so
we're looking at potential salt sand domes, truck washes essentially where we don't have them today so that we can extend the life of our equipment. We have a number of parking lots that have actually gone past their useful life at Virginia and Pike Lake. So we're looking to do some repaving there. Generator, installation and or replacements at a number of facilities so that we can make sure we can operate in the event of natural disasters. So a lot of
those things that you struggle to try to get done within the regular budget, those are the things that we put on the list. Also, we have a spot for the veterans van that has, it's outside the courthouse in Hibbing. They have to go out, clean it off after the snow. This will be so nice to get in the vehicle, in a warm vehicle, get out, pick up the veterans and get them to their appointments. So we have a space for that. And that was one of the things that Jim and I talked about. It's not just a convenience, but when they have veterans that need to be places, you don't always
know that van's going to start when it's been sick outside and you know, frigid temperatures. So nice heated building will get more life out of that vehicle as well. Chair Boyle and commissioners. Yeah, we, you know, when we look at a building facility like this, we obviously reach out beyond our department. We, we have asked those questions of other departments. What are the area needs? And then we also try to make sure that we're in a place that, well, a good example is that end of the county doesn't have a
large conference room. So as part of our project, we have a large conference room there for training and other uses that will obviously be open to all departments in the county. Will that be in the Vic Lund wing? I don't know if that's been named yet. Very good. Other commissioner comments? I see none. We'll move those to a vote. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. All right. On item number
five, grading, bituminous, surfacing, and lighting project to low bidder of KGM contractors in the moment of just over $1.8 million. move it go out of support support by Commissioner Juvedich thank you chair Commissioner Boyle commissioners speaking of safety projects this is one of those projects so this is at the intersection of Midway Road and County State 8 highway 45 North Cloquet Road if anybody's driven through that intersection you can feel uncomfortable with the hill and the intersection right there
on Midway Road and so We've been looking at this project for a long time, went through a decision-making process and the right solution, and in this case it's adding turn lanes and then also taking down that hill so that we can increase the site distance at the intersection. We're lucky enough to get one and a half million dollars in local road improvement project money to fund this. So on this $1.9 million roughly project, We're contributing about $375,000
in our state aid funds, but otherwise LRIP is paying for this project. KGM was low at, like I say, a little bit over $1.8 million, which was an amazing 40% under the engineer's estimate. And kind of the big difference there was the rock excavation costs We had estimated that they apparently were able to get a sub that could do that a lot cheaper than we thought it could be done for us So we're very happy
with these bids you see that you know was a very tight bid between KGM and Uland and and the other two bidders and so we're We're confident in those numbers. We're happy with the bids and we're happy that We were able to get a LRIP grant to cover most of the costs. Thank you, always good, you do a great job of bundling with county dollars with state and federal matching, so always great. Commissioner comments, questions? Seeing none, I'll move this to
vote, all those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. One last item, Jim, we've got aggregate surfacing and aggregate based stabilization project consisting of three different projects to low bidder of KGAM in the amount of 1.01 million dollars. I'll second it or Harlow second it. Thank you chair, Commissioner Hoyle and commissioners. This is our annual RIP project, gravel road investment project for 2026 and you'll see it's a collection of roads in Alden
and Duluth Township and yes 0.28% under the engineers estimate. So our engineers estimate was right on. In this case, and again, you'll see a lot of bidders, so we're very happy that we're getting a healthy bidders list on most of these projects that you're seeing today, and very tight bids again, so happy to recommend this for the board approval. Commissioner comments? Seeing none. We'll miss the vote. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion passes.
Thank you, Chair. Thank you. Under finance and budget, Chair Harlow. Thank you. The item on my agenda is the item 26-112, 2025, Land and Minerals Department proceeds apportionment. Resolution recommending the St. Louis County Board approve the apportionment of the 2025 Land and Minerals Department proceeds according to relevant statutes. Do I have a motion to approve this? Moved by Commissioner Yugovic, supported by Commissioner Boyle. Over to you, Director. Excuse me. Thank you Chair Harlan. We do have Director Meyer here from our Land and Minerals Department. Consistent with what
we have done in previous years, there is a small window where we have to get the Land and Portionament proceeds approved, yet we are still paying bills for 2025. So your packet includes a board letter that does not have all the detail information filled in. we will have that detail for the March 10th board meeting this could be moved without recommendation to the regular agenda or would you like to just have us fill that in and have it on consent it's easier yeah we're probably just consent
maybe it's it's straightforward okay so pursuant to Minnesota statute There is an apportionment of the balance that is split between school districts, county, and cities and townships. Director Meyer is here to just briefly speak to the process from where we go from here. Yeah, good morning commissioners, Chair Commissioner Harlock, commissioners, I'm Jason Meyer, director of Land and Minerals. As you know, Land and Minerals Department operates on
revenue we receive from the lands through the sales of timber, land sales, gravel, peat, and miscellaneous lease fees. Any revenues over and above our operating costs is apportioned by Minnesota State statute. And as Deputy Gottschall mentioned, because of our tight time frames, we have to start the board approval process early without giving the specific numbers here. And I talked to
our financial analyst this morning. They were changing this morning. She did not attend, so I can give you a little estimate. It looks like they're gonna be coming in with an apportionment or a net revenue over and above costs at about between 1.5 and 1.6 million this year. Good news, as you know, we've weathered Land sales storm of Tyler, we're in our second year of back in getting the proceeds over and above cost.
And the proposal from the board here, even though the specific numbers aren't written in here, the resolution is proposing by statute we can put up to 30% of the apportionment amount into our Memorial Forest Fund. These funds go to, we can reinvest back into the land, we can purchase land, we could buy seedlings, prepare planting sites and further bolster those investments in our lands. 20%
can go into economic or recreation activities. It's being proposed that the 20% goes to campus for maintenance and things that are needed there. And then the remaining apportionment is divided up between the county, school districts, cities and towns. So the county is proposing with the remaining 40% to support our land survey monument, remonumentation program through our public works. Schools
would get the remaining 40% and then cities and towns are remaining 20% of that. So that's a really brief snapshot and I can provide some estimates if you'd like in that apportionment. Otherwise you will get the, before the March 10th board day, you'll have the real final numbers there for the vote. Any questions or comments? I've always supported the money going to Camp B. Camp Esquagama does awesome things. It'd be helpful at some point if we're using the maximum that we can, again,
for Camp B, which is 20%, which if it's 1.5 million, that's going to be 300,000, right? Yeah, right now, today's estimate, this is, don't quote me on this, Camp B would be getting about $317,000 in that neighborhood. be helpful to see from camp e like what what their ongoing need is and kind of where that fits with the projects that they need because we've invested a lot in camp e recently which is great um so but i don't
know the existing need the buffers all of that would be really helpful it looks like direction graver actually speak to that a little bit because I know in the past we've done a lot of like capital things for Camp E this would actually help us maybe offset levy in 2027 since we have 2026 budgeted on the levy we would be using these funds that we're setting aside for 2027 and because we're gonna have to do some targeted use of either fund balance or different resources
or sources of funds rather than levy this could help reduce the levy in 2027 if we use these funds and it's less risky since we hope that the land department can continue to have revenues exceeding costs so we're hoping that this could be a continued budgetary savings maybe at least in the next couple years down the road as well so this would actually go toward its operating which is about 261 thousand plus the 25,000 for the foster care program So hopefully that helps
a little bit. Super helpful, thank you. Director? Director Graber. Director. One second. As far as, we know that we do the scholarships, and is that in that budget for, how much is that budget for? This is about 25,000 for the actual foster care piece of it. The other one, the 261 or so, is the general operations support. And then obviously Camp E makes their own revenues as well. And that's why we have not had an increase ask from them for quite a while since they have been doing well from a
child's way. So everyone is aware of Camp E. We do not turn kids down for an opportunity to go to camp. This is something we are very proud of. We have invested a great deal of money in Camp E. And if anyone has not been to Camp E, we do have a meeting there annually. I would invite everyone out. come and take the tour and get a better idea of exactly what it is that we do. Because not every kid can afford camp, but we don't turn anybody down. We make sure every child has that opportunity regardless of your economic
status at home. We want these kids to enjoy Northeastern Minnesota and everything we have to offer at Camp East. So that's a great, for me that is a fantastic use of some of those dollars to make sure that underprivileged children get an opportunity to go to camp. Anything further you wanted to add? No, Commissioner, I think that's it, unless there's further questions. Hearing none, all those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed, same sign. Motion carries. Thank you very much. What would you like to do in central management?
I'm going to actually ask Commissioner Grimm take over for the literally big shoes so then today I've got a couple items first is the civil services supervisor unit 2026 through 2028 collective bargaining agreement is there a motion so moved by Commissioner Harlow seconded by Commissioner Jumovic and then I'd like to this over to I have the benefit of being able to see your title on the tag deputy county administrator thank you thank you chair
commissioner Graham commissioners the request for the board is to approve ratification of the 2036 to 2028 civil service supervisors but the bargain agreement this party unit represents approximately 128 employees that work across the county and supervising They're supervisors, they're managers of the work that we do throughout the county. This is the sixth collective bargaining agreement to come before the board. And the general wage adjustment pattern is similar to that that's already been approved for the other units. For
2026, it's a 4% general wage adjustment. For 2027, a 3% general wage adjustment. And for 2028, a 3% general wage adjustment. This unit also agreed to the language proposed for administering the state of Minnesota Earn Sick and Safe Time and the Minnesota Paid Leave Acts. In addition, some new language that was agreed to is language that the supervisory unit agrees to have their own annual increments, their annual steps or their longevity steps,
be tied to their completion of performance reviews of the staff that they directly supervise. We would consider this a best practice and we are very appreciative for their willingness to put their own salary increases on the line to ensure that we are making sure that we have timely completion of annual performance reviews and increments tied to those performance reviews, again, for the staff that they supervise. And so, other than that, the language is, housekeeping language is fairly similar to what we've already seen in
the other contracts that's become for the board and we would support ratification. Any comments or questions? Mr. Harlow? Thank you. Deputy Administrator Grouchold, I'm wondering was that a hard fought discussion or was it an open, that's a pretty big change. Remembering growing up with my mom there were discussions around like as a teacher whether or not student success was tied to a parent teacher's salary. And so just, it's a big shift in thinking and it's surprising
to me. So can you talk a little bit more about that process to get there? Yeah. Sure. Chair Grimm, Commissioner Harlow. It was not a hard fought request. In fact, this entire contract was settled in one day. And we were not surprised that they embraced this language. The span of control in some cases can be quite broad. Some supervisors might have seven, eight employees that they're directly responsible for, some might have over 15. And it is difficult to do the work of being a manager, a hiring manager, someone
who works with performance management, someone who works with other coaching, and to also be on top of the performance reviews of the staff that you're responsible for. But it was not a hard ask to get them to agree to this language. And we would look forward to other units that are supervisory units to also entertain some more language. Thank you, Chair. Any other comments or questions? Seeing none, then all in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed, same sign. Motion passes unanimously.
And we'll move along to the unrepresented employees compensation plan update and salary range increases for 26 or 28. Is there a motion to move it? Moved by Commissioner Boyle, seconded by Commissioner Harlock. I'd like to interrupt you again. Thank you, Chair Grimm. The unrepresented employees compensation plan is made up of seven staff that work in county administration. One of the changes that we saw since the last time this plan was before the board is the group that
is represented under this plan has been reduced by the court security bailiff staff that organized in 2025 and are now represented by law enforcement labor services. So it is a smaller group. While the plan does not have an expiration date, we do want to make sure that we are making updates to the language similar to the Minnesota earn sick and safe time and so they leave laws and also to address the general wage adjustments for 26 27 28 that follow the same
pattern of the collective bargaining groups 4% general wage adjustment in 26 3% to 27 3% to 28 We would support ratification or approval of the new compensation plan And any commissioner comments questions Seeing none all those in favor say aye Any opposed same sign motion passes and then the last one is following the same trend management compensation plan update and salary range increases for 26 to 28 I can move that
one is there a second Seconded by Commissioner Boyle and then a petition it's pretty straightforward like I'd like to open it Thank You chair Graham The management compensation plan is made up of 32 unclassified and elected department heads in St. Louis County and deputy directors and unclassified managers. This group also will receive the 4% general wage adjustment for 2026, 3% for 27, 3% for 28, and the language for the Earn Sick and Safe Time
and the Minnesota Paid Leave, and because what is good for our supervisors and managers will be good for our department heads and other deputy directors and managers. This group too will have the language to ensure that they're completing in a timely manner the performance reviews of the staff that they directly supervise. And again, we applaud this department for this group of department heads for embracing that language change and to lead by example. Any other comments or questions?
I see none. All those in favor say aye. Any opposed, same sign. All right, motion passes. And then back to you, Chair Duplich. Thank you. I will take environment and natural resources. First up, we have a cancellation of contracts for purchase or repurchase of state tax forfeit land letter 26-116. Motion approved. Motion. Is there a second? Support by Boyle. Thank you, Chair Djukovic. The request for the board is to approve commencement of cancellation process under Minnesota law, which is related to purchase and repurchase contracts for tax-for-fitted
lands that are now in default and to further approve disposal of any property, abandoned personal property that are on those properties. This is a process that is highly regulated. The Land and Minerals Department works very closely with the County Auditor's Office. Director Meyer is here if there's any questions of the board. Welcome. Chair Commissioner Dugovic, Commissioner Jason Meyer with Land and Minerals. As Deputy
Gottschall mentioned, highly regulated process. We do sell lands. These are our legacy lands, pre-2016 forfeitures, and we allow those purchasers the option of going on a contract. Each year, we do bring to the board a number of contracts that are in default for non-payment. Just want to mention, they are given several opportunities to pay. They were sent letters in December, January, and February of recent months. And then if the board
so chooses to cancel or terminate these contracts, notices will be delivered and those folks will have additional 60 days upon notice to come current on the payments. Those folks that we can't talk to in person, serve notice, we give them a mailing, they'll have additional 90 days. become current on their payment this year's list we
have 57 folks on contracts on this list since last week when we submitted the board letter we have had eight of folks come in and and concurrent on their payments and we have a couple more in process so it's We expect that list to be a little shorter even by March 10th as our next board meeting here. So occasionally some folks come to speak to the board. We haven't been notified that there's any
speakers today related to this issue. So the request for the board is to authorize the termination of contracts that are interlinked. any comments or questions about the process or anything? Thank you. Okay, without any questions, we'll move to a vote. All those in favor, signify by saying aye. Opposed? Okay, motion carries, thank you. Next we have the Tax Forfeited Land Sale Directive 26-117. As you know, we've
had conversations about how we're going to work at decreasing the levy. And I think we currently have about 800,000, what's our acreage that we have? We have about 880,000 tax corporate acres. Okay, so the goal is to get it back on a tax roll. I know we had a conversation earlier. that we are working towards trying to get our levy down. This would give us the opportunity to sell some of these lands where hopefully people build homes or whatever the case may be, they go back on the
tax rolls, which is important to the levy. I know Boyle would like to buy some more land so he can chase swamp donkeys in November and hopefully he has some luck. But at the end of the day, we are looking at options to try and lower the levy. So this is just another opportunity 40,000 sounds like a lot, but when you've got that much tax forfeited land, it's not. So everything helps with the levy. So this is where we're at. I will move it. Support. Support. My Harlow,
any discussion? Small donkey. Director Meyer, so this is going to take a lot of time For your department on this how are you gonna be able to? Handle this or do we or do we need to get you more help to take this tackle this or? To be determined so Chair Commissioner Dugavich Commissioner Boyle Yeah, as this Directive is worded here. I'm comfortable with that you know we
Commissioner Drew which mentioned we have a lot of lands out there I do want to point out the board has been very generous over the last decade allowing the county to receive former potlatch own land so we've received some of the most productive forest lands in the county over the last decade to help offset some of that you know we do have a We do have lands that we can dispose of. We've been managing them for timber and other resources over the years, but they're either displaced from our core area or they're along
service corridors that are probably better served in public hands. We have quite a workload with Tyler sales. We have settlement sales, we have corporate chairs, And so I worry a little bit about that, but I'm comfortable with the acreage figure and I'm comfortable with reporting. There's a caveat in the resolution. We recommend, you know, we report back to the county board on our progress each year. It's possible I could ask for one or two positions.
However, we like to get a little creative here. I'm having one person. There is a, using a realtor option out there also. and check into that too. So, like to be creative on this. Even our forestry staff as we speak are kinda doing a project to kind of use a fine tooth comb, going through our lands to see what actually are those lands that we'd recommend to retain versus to sell. So, I don't know if that answers your question, but I'm not asking for additional positions today. That could be a possibility.
I do gotta watch our bottom line because we have downsize in our department over the last few years and our land sale team is very busy with those Tyler sales. But as we get into the groove of things here that workload should lighten up. Would you anticipate coming back to the boards with properties that you've... Hopefully as soon as this fall here. You know the board approves all auctions. The board directive allows us to take advantage
of all land sale means under statute, including in-person auctions. So we are putting together tax for the land sale. That'll be probably in the fall. We don't have an auction date yet, but that'll be coming to the board for approval probably late summer, I'm guessing, or abouts. For our first stab at this. Anyone else? Okay, all in favor signify by saying aye. Opposed? Okay, motion carries, thank you. Commissioner comments? This Saturday at the depot is the Every Child Ready event. It's a great, it's
my third year going, it's a great early childhood event and it's always neat to see kids super young, engaged in that space. They use the entire place from musicians down in Studio Four to our public health is there handing out toothbrushes and gun locks. And a lot of books that are available. So if you're around and you have littles, feel free to bring them there. I'll be there with my boys on Saturday. Thank you. Okay, thank you very much. Appreciate
everybody coming out today and I'm looking for a motion to adjourn. Support. By Boyle, by Harlow. All in favor, signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. We stand adjourned. Thank you.