we call to order the Winona County Community Health Board um first item would be approval of the minutes from December 5th okay motion by commissioner Meyer second by commissioner Olen to approve
the December 5th meeting minutes any discussion all those in favor say i i n okay um number three uh chairperson's report uh we did have a um sha meeting um at in
December uh again a lot of discussion about um telling the story trying to figure out this is this has been ongoing for 20 plus years is what is the story of Public Health and how do how do people know what public health is and what it does and one of the key things
too is having a clear-cut message to go to our legislators and having many new legislators not really understanding what um Community public health is all about um one of the things one of my issues is our uh free uh breakfast and
everything to our grade school kids and the commissioner was there and I asked her what she was doing about it and monitoring it and she kind of um said well it's not my job uh which I understand it's USDA Food Supplies and everything but I said we need to be at
the table to make sure that it's good quality uh nutritional you know not empty calories and everything so and I was pleased I had um several other people come up up afterwards and say Yes it it is in our realm and she should be at the table um to be giving guidance to
anybody that needs it so anyway that's just my own personal personal little thing with uh kids and and food uh because we do have an obesity problem and uh unfortunately I think a lot of medical people are starting to use these weight loss drug things for children
which is to me very concerning and very uh a very slippery slope we would go down so I think it is something we need to watch um anybody else have anything on the local scene I guess uh there's a lot of crud going around so uh the big thing
is wash your hands um and don't touch your face and everything so yeah there's a lot of lot of stuff going around that uh um we'll get through uh number four uh consent business uh 4.1 to approve a service and Business Association
agreement with Olmstead County for tuberculosis Clinic um do we have any uh needed information G Spiel uh this is just a continued contract uh we had it for I think our last contract was for five years as is this one just allows us
access to the um Clinic to uh treat and monitor anybody that um has tuberculosis without us having to maintain that resource and do we have any cases in southeast Minnesota uh we currently don't have any in Winona County I'm not confident that there's any I have the
information yeah okay all right well that's a good thing I'll move to approve second okay we have a motion by commissioner Meer second by commissioner Olen to approve the agreement with Alstead County for tuberculosis Clinic any further discussion all those in
favor say I oose nay uh General business any he business Emily anything on the horizon that we need to know about Ross um um they're certainly watching bird fle pretty closely currently at the state um nothing that necessarily needs
to be distributed to the public at this time but they're monitoring um all the flocks and things of that nature um and there has been some cases in adjacent counties yeah okay uh question um maybe you don't know maybe Ross um I did see an article about the well uh the free
well testing and such Ross are you yes that is open um so they're we're Distributing the information there there uh um we've done the press releases um
you just go on to the the website and you put put in your information and within 2 to 10 weeks it will send you a water test kit so they're doing that because depending on demand the lab can only handle so many samples at a time so
they they will me kind of meter the kits that are out there so that it uh it it uh doesn't overwhelm the lab so and I was at the counter the other day for other reasons but there's a this has got uh both a thing where you can apply
for Home Free bottled water if you qualify and then for the test kit here counter you said those the those are those have been out for a while now so those are continuing but now they've opened up the
testing to anyone while they have money I did put my information in because I do have my own private well so I'll see if they follow through with sending me one in what two to 10 weeks two to 10 dep depending on on demand so
so they they've left them The Wide Window so that's okay thank you that's fantastic news that's one of the things I was going to mention during the consent me sorry during the comment section end the board meeting that's fantastic news open to all rural private well
open okay any business before the Community Health Board at this time motion to I'll second yeah we have a motion by commissioner olon second by commissioner Mayer to adjourn any discussion all those in favor say
I I'm honored morning to do the O of office for County Commissioner both of you and I understand you're going to do this together you can also do it individually they've already done raise your right hand and this won't take long
I and your name hi Jos hi Greg Olson you solemnly swear solemly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States I will support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of Minnesota the constitution of the state of
Minnesota that I will Faithfully discharge the duties that I will Fai Faithfully discharge the duties of your office County Commissioner County Commissioner exactly in the county of wona in the county of wona state of Minnesota state of Minnesota to the best
of my judgment and ability to the best of my judgement and ability congratulations any comments did good morning everyone morning morning the first order on the agenda of
the first meeting in January is the election of a chair and vice chair ni motion elect Marshall Orton I will second that motion is there any other
discussion I'll just add some comments um I think it's important that the county commissioner chair rotates I think it's important that we view we view ourselves and others view us as five equals um I conf ident that commissioner Ward will be both Fair
respectful we're not going to agree all the time there's going to be some bumps along the road um but we are a reflection of our County in our country so I'm I'm confident that commissioner Ward will be both respectful um and fair and looking forward to um looking forward to getting things done in
2025 any other discussion all those in favor of the motion to elect commissioner Ward as chair say I I oppose okay motion passes three to um I will
then well should we do the vice I'll slide this time I'll move up one okay um I should I pass it to I'll pass it to then we'll figure out the seats yes then we'll do musical chairs
okay uh nominations open for vice chair I nominate uh Comm Meer I'll second that okay we have a nomination for commissioner Meyer as Vice chair any other nominations any other nominations any other
nominations hearing no other nominations uh the motion is to uh have commissioner Meer as Vice chair all those in favor say I iose name approve all right Musical I'm fine I gu the thing in case she needs to
pass the gavel to me but oh it's not it's rare well yeah I think won't pull it up he might hit me on the head with it I don't know has been thank you okay thank you very much looking
forward to 2025 2024 was a rough year personally and and politically and everything so let's hope 2025 is a smooth year uh moving into uh public comments this is a portion of our agenda where anybody from the public has
anything in particular to address as the opportunity both in person and online so is there anyone wishing to address the Winona County Board is there anyone wishing to address the Winona County Board and last time is the anyone
wishing to address the County Board see no hands up on the uh computer screen and nobody in the audience we'll we'll move on um this this is an important um opportunity though for people to address the County Board and a
lot of um many meetings do have this as an option and I'm proud that Winona County Board has had it for many years and uh is a useful tool for anybody that wants to contact all of us at one time so thank you for that uh item four
approval of the County Board minutes I'll move to approve both sets of minutes there we have a motion by commissioner Meyer second by commissioner Olen to approve 4.1 as the close session for December 20th 2024 and 4.2 the County
Board December 20th 24 any discussion all those in favor say I iose nay okay approved um I item five acknowledge receipt of approved committee meeting minutes um 5.1 would be the Planning Commission 5.2 would be the board of
adjustment move second we have a motion by commissioner eling second by commissioner Olen to approve the Planning Commission from November 21 2024 and board of adjustment November 21 2024 any discussion all those in favor
say I oppose nay okay approved acknowledged um consent comments and approval of the agenda uh we'll start commissioner vagle uh I'll have two comments at the end of the meeting please okay commissioner Elie oh gone or excuse
me gone a potential comment about me potentially being gone for the next for meeting in February com all right uh commissioner Olson nothing for me commissioner Meer yeah just one uh announcement okay uh attorney sonan nothing for me today
okay okay and then I have a couple of announcements so with that I'll move to approve the consent agenda I'm sorry the agenda the agenda I'll second then okay we have a motion by commissioner Meers second by
commissioner vagley to approve the consent agenda or the agenda see I got you to do it yeah the the agenda as presented no modifications this month so um those all those in favor say I I oose nay that's
approved um Miss H would you read that into the record please absolutely 7.1 approve conditional use permit for Jeremy and Rea 7.2 approved cancellation of January 14th 2025 County board meeting 7.3
approved purchase of service agreement with Olstead County for for tuberculosis Clinic 7 7.4 approve renewal of service and business associate agreements for day training and habilitation with ABC L Crescent 7.5 approve renewal of service
and business associate agreements for day training and habilitation for ABC Works Caledonia 7.6 designate publication of Transportation projects on County website 7.7 approve amendment to well
sealing contract with Clifford Pierce 7.8 approved 2025 state of Minnesota Federal boating safety equipment Grant 7.9 approved lg220 gambling application for exempt permit Bluff Country chapter of
Minnesota deer hunters Association 7.10 authorized disposal of excess furniture and equipment and 7.11 confirm payment of dispersements I'll move to approve the consent business as red I'll second that okay we have a motion by commissioner
Meers second by commissioner V vaguely to approve the consent businesses read any discussion all those in favor say I nay okay approved uh moving into General business 8.1 review discuss adopt the
Cannabis zoning ordinance and that's on page 107 and here good morning good morning I believe that starts on 107 of the packet and just a couple of points
um our Winona County Planning Commission conducted a public hearing on a base framework for incorporation into the zoning orance on December 19th and the subsequent pages that you have in your packet are a result of the
discussions and if I was to just touch on that it's a very I guess preliminary based framework for regulations to regulate cannabis um we have some definitions that model what the state
template had been provided to us and um essentially the minimum requirements we incorporated some setbacks from the various features for any of the type of cannabis businesses that the county would be engaged as far as reviewing and
permitting we put a chart of zoning districts and what staff would feel would be compatible to allow them through a conditional or inter permit and there is a couple um activities that fell under a permitted use under testing
facilities so with that uh we did have a public hearing um Planning Commission recommended approval and at this point I guess we'd be seeking the County board approval um and Adoption of chapter 17 cannabis for the wiona County ordinance
by no means are we done with this um there's going to be be extensive registration discussion with other County departments and I believe we have a couple of other documents that the County Board has approved as far as um
the timeline I believe there's a resolution 202443 that talked about the adult use cannabis and essentially it essentially wanted to reiterate that as soon as possible but um no later than 90 days
after the office of cannabis management adopts binding administrative regulations covering the Cannabis industry as it will operate wona County one Ona County will begin accepting applications for zoning permits and business registrations so essentially that we're
waiting for the state to finish their um amending their final rules and at some point the state is going to be issuing preliminary approvals we do have to um collect information yet from all the cities and townships on what their plan
is as far as registration uh staff did meet with the city of wona the other day too I believe yesterday to discuss uh where they are we do have to start an account with the office of canis management and that will then be I believe the conduit to receive
additional notification from them every step along the way we're starting to receive the township um delegations so we have a document that is for City and Township use that essentially would hand over delegation to the county or use
that form to claim out their own um set of uh administrating it so we are working on a number of fronts with that so other than that if I have any questions I can answer I will otherwise Steve is real knowledgeable here from
the county county attorney's office commissioner Elon kind of having read through that and just kind of briefly going through it here again quick but how much of it is really State and was there any anything in particular in here that was
kind of added through that public hearing that might kind of go outside of the kind of bit of a rubber stamp on think you know what was really awkward or really bad in my opinion was they gave us a template to work from and it was 10 12 pages and they tried to create
a shotgun marriage between uh um planning and owning and zoning ordinances and County Sheriff's Office and the um the auditor Treasurer and it it put us in a bad position because we were trying trying to lay out procedure for things that were outside of our
control so I think we took that 12 pages and thus what we have in front of us is only three or four pages of things that we want to just because we did have a moratorium that expired January 1 and we have to have some base guidelines so I
think we we took what the known were and we're proceeding with that but we know there's going to be things that will be open for discussion and possibly amending soort to follow up on that I honestly I thought I would receive a few more calls on this than what I did but I
I it was actually fairly quiet um but I guess I'm just looking for you know obviously this is going to be the first kind of publicized that's going to go out there and I was just looking for hey this is really more what the state is doing a condensed version of what the state is and we added XYZ based on
public forum you know so basically a lot of this is just a condens version of the state really there's no caveats specifically for wiona in here yet it could come is that a is I'm looking for a summary to they ask we we stayed in our lane on the most part but with that
being said we we that would be our lane is regulating time place and manner okay we identified zoning districts do we open it all the way up no it's not it's pretty restrictive on the zoning districts we incorporated setbacks they could have opted not to have any
setbacks from those features but we did um we did say that we will not allow home occupation retail cannabis businesses we want you know bonified businesses that go through the process to be be eligible for those permits and
licenses um so yeah that's really it we didn't get slightly modified version of the states yes y yep yep we stuck to what we were able to um I also thought that I was missing something I didn't get phone calls and I thought that there was something that
was going to come up but reading over the Planning Commission meeting minutes it was a unanimous vote in support of this stage this step in the process this is not the the end this is just the beginning of the process is that correct correct so um along those lines and just to get it on the table for discussion
I'll move to approve not meant to stop conversation but just to one Step Closer I'll move to approve the Cannabis Zone ordinance before us okay we have a motion do we have a second I'll second right further discussion commissioner Meyer thanks
Madam chair um so I see that we are accepting the limit um of 125 so we're going to limit the number um and I read in the paper that that means three uh so if the city does the city of wona doesn't have any limits and they have 10
does that count towards the three that's unclear at this point in fact we we do not have that in our ordinance that's in front of us for approval that is something we could develop in the registration as far as limiting them for the county but we will have to pencil
that in um taking into account that the city may not prohibit that we may have to prohibit registrations outside of Incorporated limits to three that's something that's yet to be seen I would say so it's not clear what it's not no
it's not firm at this point I would hate to if you do have someone in St Charles that does want to open a retail store and this current Arrangement prohibits that then that St Charles would need to do its own ordinance I guess um the and
and you said that you anticipate that you will there'll be ongoing work so the two areas that I was thinking about oh well the first one was the limits but the second one was I've read the information that came from the state and AMC or the league of Minnesota cities
whoever it was but they also talked about security uh in terms of especially processing facilities that whatever is left overs that's some kind of a street value and um so are you
anticipating for that sort of an issue that if the state does not address it that we may come back and then change our zoning ordinance to address that I mean that's the one issue I can think of but I think there probably are a few more we do the state does have security I think
they regulated under statutes 2023 section 24227 it says uh any cannabis business shall maintain U compliance of security requirements established by the state but not limited to requirements for
maintaining video surveillance records locking mechanisms establishing secure entities number of employees working so they got a pretty extensive Provisions already but if we have one that would come forward in the county we still will be reviewing that as an interim use
permit or conditional use permit so if we think there's something lacking or not going far enough it will be in our purview to place additional conditions and I would just uh point out that in the um in the
definitions um because it was a concern of mine that there are businesses that are currently selling the lower potency hemp uh products but they do have phc in them and that they are by by our definitions they are excluded from this
zoning ordinance I didn't want to affect any business that was already in existence we do have it in our definitions but we do not have it on our table and thus we we didn't we elected not to regulate it at this point is fine with me yeah I didn't want to take away
something that some retailer already had commissioner vagley um Eric I'm looking at page 109 and I want to come back to something commissioner Meer said um 109 page um page 109 item 5B says wona County shall limit the number of
cannabis retail businesses to no fewer than one registration for every 12,000 of the county um that's just that just parrots the state language but what we're currently doing is we're not setting um a ceiling we're setting a floor right so what what it's say so
that's what when I contact staff I was curious if we were setting any kind of limits yet that's that'll be discussed later is that correct correct so right now we're not setting a limit at a ceiling no more than three but we must allow at least three just because of State Statute right is that the correct
yes that's that's I interpreted perfect just make sure we're all on the same the same page okay uh couple questions Eric after the Planning Commission looking at your your chart on page 110 um you have some
keys in there so that means it's permitted but what kind of uh regulations and such I'm kind of concerned with testing facilities um it says it's permitted so what kind of restrictions would we have on testing facilities well there's like businesses
in the CD and business and Commercial and Industry so that means if they meet the guy meet their requirements they're entitled to this administrative over the counter permanent that being said we still look at um parking fencing um
advertising they yeah we in set backs we'd still review a set of performance standards and that was the only type of activity that we felt is if it meets our performance standards and our certain sections of our ordinance they could be
in theory issued an administrative permit over the counter okay and one of the discussions we had at the planning was uh Pro uh when you talk about setbacks it was property line versus building right we F so that would still stand would be proper good that those
changes were inserted in the copy you got today um and I still have a little problem with not allowing it as a home occupation I mean we allow people to sell eggs and meat and everything which are controlled by USDA food standards
and but we're not allowing this as a home occup I I struggle a little bit are we being fair and equitable in that concept and we felt that like home occupation should be secondary to a primary use and these have a tendency to
probably outweigh or out Trump a primary use so got to make money to pay our taxes anything would could be amended in the future too so and you know usually the state sets the rules and counties can always be more restrictive but and
this is kind of a reversal there the state is telling us we have to have so many and we have to do this and that so it's kind of a reversal of roles um which we're not uh used to but they expect us to play nice in the sandbox
and and every county is different every county is struggling with this across the whole state and how it all works um oh so uh one of the questions um everybody says you know you can make a lot of money off of this so any taxes would they be a county tax so if the
city say the city wi owner loads up with you you know unlimited number um and and that does restrict the the smaller cities and out out county is it a county tax system so the county would get all the tax off of this or as far as how if
a sales tax would to be applied I'm not sure I um no it's not a sales Minnesota yeah what they have said before is it's based on the number of licenses that you have right and that the county gets what 10% of 10% wasn't
that what they yeah it was it was a formula but so um would the city went on uh get equal amounts or my understanding Doug last week mentioned that we had already just received a payment for some type of and that was
like the pool from the state nothing that sales that occurred in this county or city that's for the low potency yeah yeah that's I think that's what it was they talked to at one of the Committees I was at that um because the casinos are you know doing a lot of business that
they there's pool that was created and it's supposed to help with the long-term impacts of this I guess Prairie Island I have been told Prairie Island already has an open retail store yes it's Tribal yes the Leech Lake does or red L does
one of right but there was discussion that there would be a pool of money for All Counties to tap into to work with the the overburden of the public health the Human Services the law enforcement and everything so maybe that's part of what there's some allocated to public
education okay all right and again this is just the first and it's flexible and we can modify and we can change as this moves forward within the state of Minnesota and everything I said one quick question yes going back to your question on the permitted for the
testing facilities the only reason why I asked this is because throughout my whole act there's different Labs that exist for this type of stuff but typically they're not Standalone um now I know the state of South Dakota Works a little bit different there's some ISO certifications and different things like
that but when it says permitted is that is it just want to make sure I'm clear is there a designated permit in order to do that or is it just saying is that is that just saying allowed it would be a through a development certificate that's a application through our office that's
a county a county yep it's a land use permit application even if it's in a municipality no no not this is just to cover areas outside of municipalities in the township areas y okay perfect um Mr
CR looks like he's got wisdom for us um uh two two items just I wanted to make sure you're aware of uh the low potency products I believe they're going to have to register with the state and they have to be go through a conversion process and I think there CES associated
with that so imps them that way um the other thing I wanted to uh uh make sure you knew that brought up before the Planning Commission is that we've established this timeline and we've delayed it past when we should have ordinances in place um because the
feeling uh is or was that uh we need to have the county set its regulations before uh we set ours um the you mean the state the state I'm sorry yes the um recently the state gave some indication that they might be
moving forward more quickly on some of the applications we had thought it was going to be more towards the summer but now it looks like it could be February or March for some of them 175 I think Statewide uh so I think I think it's
important that uh there be a sense of urgency about these adopting a registration ordinance and uh uh uh making sure we have the things that are important to the county in place even if
they need to be Chang later and we have more information I I other counties as I look through what people are doing looks like most counties are pretty much adopting the model ordinance and my guess is they plan to go back and revisit that you
know after the rules come out our our timeline of 90 days after the the the state uh uh adopts its rules it's it's um it's really just for from the county a good faith uh message
that we have a schedule for this and we're going to move ahead if someone walked in the door with an application and they wanted to litigate that it would it could be an issue so uh the state said no moratorium passed January 1st uh and uh you know the there's this
has been a pretty confusing process for everyone involved but I wanted you to make sure you knew uh about that uh risk of uh over the next few months all right thank you it is UN territori you know uh an area
that we're working with but I I do in basic philosophy if we set the rules and then we keep changing I have problems if we keep changing rules so I mean I I think we need to try and get it as clear and concise for anybody that's investing in a business to start with and and of
course will they be will they be grandfathered in whatever the rules are at the time or are we going to constantly change the rules on them I have problems with changing rules on people after they've established a a permitted function yeah and um I I should add too
that under the statute if somebody does apply and they're approved by the state the county has 30 days to uh to approve or deny that uh so if the county isn't ready to act on uh act on them it could result in somebody being approved uh
without much control over it sure okay all right well that's the the legislator off it to put this on our plates so uh so there is a motion to accept the ordinance as presented um any further discussion all those in favor say I I
oppose nay okay approved all right stay tuned I guess um moving into Department recommendations 8.2 discuss and appoint citizen advisory committee volunteers and there was an additional bulletin at our
Meats um and how would the let's that starts on page 121 and I would like to say I was very uh pleased with the number of people that we had uh willing to fill out our application and uh step forward to our
our citizen committee advisory committee that speaks well of the public and their interest in what we do so that to me it was great to see so many applicants um there's some that are uh anywhere we want to start some are um have you know dual uh committees
that they wanted to do some are are um limited and some are uh we still need applicants um any preference how we go down there commissioner vaguely if it's okay with the rest of the board maybe we could take care of the ones that are easier and leave the more complex ones
to the end sometimes if a person has applied for more than one it's better to get um I think planning and board of adjustment out of the way right away we could do that as well or avoid the Committees where there are people applying for both like to me there are
some simpler ones so I'd like to move that for Board of I'd like to us to do Board of adjustment first I'd like to go ahead and move to reappoint uh Jordan Potter and Kelsey Fitzgerald to the board of adjustment I'm second that okay uh there's been a motion
to reappoint Kelsey Fitzgerald and Jordan Potter to the board of adjustment um any discussion still commissioner vaguely just to clarify that's just that's just a first step and a two-step process right commissioner my y we will
need to pick a second person from the right new okay so we have a motion to reappoint Kelsey Fitzgerald and Jordan Potter but that still leaves one one vacancy for a second thing so we'll ask for a a vote on the reappointments all those in favor say I nay okay the
reappointments are standing and so there is one do we want to do the the one vacancy yeah that's because we're at Board of yeah yeah at the page 121 we're at the top of the list so commissioner
eling did you yeah I mean there's looking at making sure we don't double dip here for the planning and I see Mark Clark's on both I'm just thinking of somebody in different areas in the county here you know Larry Larry
Gren would be another one in there um Mark Clark Andy fricken or all be chair did did you have somebody commissioner eling um yeah I guess I would with commissioner or excuse me with on the Planning Commission with
Mark Clark at the bottom I think it would make sense just looking at the different areas that uh we make a motion for uh uh Larry Gren we have a motion for Larry Gren is there a
second is there a second I'll second that Madam chair yes so I know that Mr greeden has been on Commissions in the past I love to see new people so I'm going to move to appoint Amy cordre that's second that a we have a
motion for Amy cordry made by commissioner Maya second by commissioner Olen so we have two we have uh Larry Gren and we have Amy cordry um I I personally I think um
Steve Hol he is um St uh Saratoga Township and we have not had anybody from that end of our our um County and he also served on when Saratoga had their own planning and Zoning he served
both on their Planning Commission and and their Board of adjustments so he is uh knowledgeable of what uh those functions are and again I like uh always looking for geographic distribution um and I feel that that end of the county
has been unrepresentative for some time and I can support that to just agreeing with that it's a bit of a but it's left or right there a little bit for me as far as you know it's a horse a piece that would be a better way to put it okay so do I have a second for I would
second this all right so now we got we got three um commissioner vagle um please remind me we have to have one person who serves on both Board of adjustment and the Planning Commission right so we need to be mindful and it's their decision who they select but we
just need need to make sure that we make it possible for so for several years it has been Jordan Potter right y okay uh I guess we'll proceed to vote uh the first one was Mr Gren Larry Gren all those in
favor of Mr Gren say I hi I oppose nay okay so Larry's out of the running um the second one was Amy cordry um all those in favor of Amy cordry say I I I I po Nay Nay Nay okay
Amy's got three um Steve Holm all those in favor of Steve Holm do we then have enough though well yeah yes would it would be one um but I guess just to give Mr Hol a
fighting chance I mean to have a vote I'm also somewhat supportive of Steve Holm and Andy fricken but if we voted Amy Cordy we filled the vacancies correct yeah well we could be a tie it could still be a tie okay all right yes
no I think so all those in favor of Steve Holmes say I I I opposed okay so now Amy cordry um is the newly appointed to the board of adjustment and you're right the board of
adjustment determines who who carries out both of the the planning and the um Board of adjustment roles at their first meeting okay moving down the list economic development we have uh one vacancy no reappointments and we had one
new applicant um Donald Evenson I'll move to appoint U Mr Evenson to the Eda I'll second that okay we have a motion to appoint uh Mr Evenson like commissioner Meyer second by commissioner vagley any further discussion all those in favor say I I I
oppose nay all right um Health and Human Service advisory we had uh 10 applicants um I'm sorry did we skip extension exension oh I'm sorry I'm sorry yes extension uh we receive we have four vacancies received two applicants one
one reappointment and one new make a motion to reappoint Linda Johnson and Rachel sto I'll second time okay we have a motion to reappoint Linda Johnson and new appointment Rachel stole to the extension
any further discussion all those in favor say I i i n i um now that does leave two vacancies so that'll go on our ongoing list of of openings okay thank you all right Health and Human Services
this is uh six vacancies received 10 applications nobody eligible for reappointment um again a huge uh group to pick from and I thought really qualified this a very difficult this is a good problem to
have and this relates to something I want to at at the end of the board meeting we talk about comments I want to Circle I want to put a pin in this and come back to this because we have a lot of good people and some of them I think their primary interest is human services and some of their I think primary interest would be public health or Community Health so how would the group
feel about offering um we did this with uh Mr Jacobson he's been an ex officio for the last year or so so we can certainly offer EXO ficio to anyone who we don't actually point I don't know how the rest of the board feels about that
if they would be comfortable with a uh voice but no vote I would be fine with that too and they could and they could determine they wouldn't qualify for p DMS per se but they could attend the meetings right but we have had attrition throughout the course of the year so all right so I will move uh to
appoint Ryan buer uh Rebecca CR Isabelle mcnell and Craig pets how many total is that five four it's four do how many do we need six five no
six yeah six okay so that was four commissioner yeah okay also can you start again you said Ryan okay so Ryan and I'm gonna add Morgan Gould Rebecca cran can can sorry pardon
me K I guess I had our attorney on my mind Isabelle MCN Craig pets and uh Teresa Wilkerson I'll second that okay we have a motion for uh those particular candidates made by commissioner Meer second by commissioner
olon um I any other discussion commission vagley um just to clarify Rebecca can is she a County employee no so she used to be a used to be a County Public Health that's how it appears yeah yes so former not current thank
you the only on those and we have all these are very qualified people um the one person that I guess I would like to see on because he's already been be as a ex officio is Mark um Mark Jacobson sure uh would you like to make
an amendment for my motion um sure but I'm not sure who to take off oh geez they're all so good I know um we have two families family Children's Center persons is that correct yeah I think that is haa Valley mental
health yeah Mr ber and burine Ryan buer is hawaa Valley right um and then Mr pets is fam FCC so an Bing no what is an but I didn't include an oh I apolog I thought you did I'm
sorry an is FCC as well okay with while we're kind of juggling this um I think Amanda Rodriguez is community health and it is a Health and Human Service Board and it and it and I know what commissioner vagle and I have
have talked about um in the past of splitting these two committees up but so why don't I withdraw my M Olson did you second it I did but I want to withdraw it now can we do that okay sure yeah it can be withdrawn okay I'm going to withdraw it somebody else take a stab at
it how about if we just go around and mention maybe each person could share one or two or three people and people can pass as well um clarification um Mark Jacobson has been there but as an ex official correct and he um is he um I think he
would help meet one of the criteria in terms of those that we provide services for ETC so that's why I think he's an important otherwise all of them seem very qualified okay so commissioner vaguely you want to uh advocate for Mark
Jacobson yep okay that's one I see we got you know we got six slots uh anybody else I or we'll just go the first we'll go go right around commissioner Elie I'm a little bit indifferent I think they're all pretty well qualified I I I don't know if we
can really rank them position that says one or two so I you know honestly it's for me it would be just if if everybody has a voice and probably equally obviously Rebecca K I know who that is Craig putz me these people would
probably be good that have some experience and see a balanced balance board here so okay so potentially yeah Miss can yeah I believe so okay all right commissioner Olson I'll go with Craig putz and he is what family and
children do we have not now currently no okay so that would fill a a slot okay all right uh commissioner May um Isabelle mcnali oh I I'm fine with the ones that have been mentioned and U Miss Morgan
Gold okay and she's what the substance abuse yep she works for ASAP okay so that's five okay I would add advocate here um with everybody having Amanda Rodriguez because that is a public health position right and
um we need that so we got five was there anybody else this list was also a ex official so we do not have um we have two people who applied from high different positions within hawaa valy mental health I think either one of
those would be fine Ryan berer or Teresa Wilkinson I don't know either either one I'm not sure was Teresa more the communications uh housing support and arms practitioner I think he probably has more direct experience well then
then again Ryan ber he formerly was a director of Developmental achievement Center so he has a ton of exper there are two fantastic people well housing is a big thing um so maybe go with Teresa and like commissioner Meer said those who we couldn't find a spot offer a
chance to join as ex officios so then we would make that offer to Mr ber and Mr and an beri no I think to Teresa Wilkinson so you picked Ryan no I picked Teresa wils right so I'm saying we'll offer an ex officio to Ryan and right
well to any of them I guess I heard to any of them that didn't oh I picked Isabelle as a yeah can we go we put we already put yeah we'll go over the list again and Rachel stole actually we did appoint to the extension committee so
that we don't have people serve on two committees so um unfortunately that was your second but um I guess you're right we have seven people right we've picked seven people yeah did we pick seven I we did with with this with this last go around and I had Mark Jacobs and Rebecca
K Craig Poots um Morgan G Manda Rodriguez and Teresa Wilkinson I I had asked for Isabelle and for Morgan G I got six on my list who do you have I have Mark Jacobson moving up from a ex
official I have Rebecca Can U being the one of the public health I have Craig Hutz and Craig is Family and Children uh Morgan Gold is um substance abuse uh
then I have Amanda Rodriguez is public health and tereso Wilkerson was was um housing I just that that's the six I had written down is and then offering ex official roles to anybody that did not
get directly um so that that only leaves what an Ryan an and Isabelle Isabelle Isabelle if they if they would like to be ex official they're more than welcome to the table I can live with that I'll be okay with that no move all right I'll
second all right we have a motion in a second Miss hty did you get the list yes ma'am okay all right and again this is a good problem to have it makes for a clunky conversation but it's far better to have this problem than not have enough people absolutely okay and they're all very qualified well are we
all clear as to who we're appointing think so any further discussion if not all those in favor say I iose nay okay they are our appointees um parks and environment we had uh seven vacancies received six
applications we have reappointments of Dave Eep eastep Amanda Gentry Beth Stanford and then we had uh new Kate birg Dale Hadler and an Morris the wishes of the board this is one of this is another
issue well commissioner Meer made the point about doing plan with commission and board of adjustment first because one approach would be just appoint those six to fill seven vacancies but one of the individuals Dale Hadler is also applying for the Planning Commission and I would love to see Dale on the Planning
Commission so I'll make a motion to um to reappoint Dave eastep Amanda Gentry breath Stanford and then to also appoint uh cat Berg and an moris I'll second that okay we have a motion to reappoint Dave epep Amanda Gentry Beth Stanford
and a new appointments catb and Morris any further discussion Commission well I know Dale has written down one it seems as though he's kind of passion especially considering Iran for so in water so in water and just how in depth
he is on that side it makes a little more sense I think to keep him on the park and envir environment advisory versus you know where his experience is versus in the Planning Commission that was just my thought because we we have plenty of people in the Planning
Commission we don't have enough people for the parks and environment so it mean I realize it might be one and two listed but I just look at experience and I look at the fact that we had the opportunity to fill that um closer to what it is so I realize it might not be perfect but we
do have plenty of people down on the Planning Commission to pick from so I guess I I wouldn't support that just based on trying to maximize um efficiency on these committees and boards and the fact that they are signed up because we've signed up Rachel sto as her number two also instead of number
one m so so I guess I would sooner see it that way all right wishes of the board I my preference would be go ahead when we get done with we come we get done with them we'll come back and revisit that
one if they still available okay then we won't make any appointments to the parks and environment at this time I supp no I I apport I support the motion that was made by commissioner Bagley okay commission uh motion made by commissioner vagle to reappoint um Dave
fep Amanda Gentry Beth Stanford and New catur and an Morris all those in favor say I I I those n n okay all right so those will be the new appointments at this time we make them back to that because it would be actually there would
be um two vacancies on that committee correct as right now yeah as of right now as we had seven and we only appointed five okay uh the Personnel Board of Appeals we had no uh applicants so that one will stay on our ongoing
list um Planning Commission uh again we received 11 applicants uh we have three eligible for reappointments and um one two three four five six seven eight but uh actually uh Jordan
Potter really wouldn't be eligible to be appointed because that he may carry that role from the board of adjustment because we've already reappointed him yeah commissioner vagle first I have a question do we need to appoint him because perfect that's the board of
adjustments they have other options they do they could appoint any one of the five to carry do that dual he's done a great job yeah absolutely so I'd like to make a motion to reappoint Eugene Hansen John Nicholson Lewis reeman and then to also
for new appointments um Steve or Steven Holm and then Dale hedler so because we needed to appoint five and at least one needed to be from a rural Township is that correct so it would be the reappointing the existing three and the two new ones would be um Steven ohol
that's Saratoga Township correct and then Dale Hadler which is city of hona I'll second it okay we have a motion to reappoint Eugene Hansen John Nicholson and Lou Lewis Ryman uh and new appointments would be stepen Holm and
Dale Hadler I did Madam chair yes yeah unless I didn't want to jump in on you you had your P up um so technically by State Statute this is your appointment yes and I'm wondering do you want our input are you willing to abide by the
input of the full board well I I I'd like to make yeah I I think having Mike Miller would be also great especially just some representation from the Western um side of the county it is a municipal
you know stepen Holmes would be also good um obviously Jordan is but we'll figure that one out Mark Clark would be good there's a lot of really good names on here yep but um you know our in essence or municipality over there would
really doesn't have a lot of active people that get into the boards and it'd be nice to see some Western representation so I would support Stephen hman Michael Miller and you're right that for some odd reason our our zoning ordance say with the state statute as well so we
can't change our ordinance because the state says well we can always challenge the state I'm always up for that um somehow I think that's true but the board chairs can agree to abide by it right the currently um we have um John
Nicholson he represents the mega uh Megapolis of Dakota I think he's he's On The Fringe but he's really close um Shep Dale AED he does live in the city of Lewiston so he is a City uh person uh
Eugene Hans rural Lynn ly Carlson has has completed her her terms um technically Jordan Potter does he live Ines he lives in Winona C so and our rules say that
um only so many can be from the city right so I and again I I am leaning towards um uh Steven Holm because of the Saratoga we have no representation there and isn't St Charles our next biggest city or is good viw is St Charles bigger
than good viw good no I don't know anymore yeah they're close they're close but but we again we haven't had anybody from St Charles Area for some time and it is still part of Winona County and it is impacted greatly by um some of the
things Olstead County does um because they're right right next still count is that what you're saying yeah yeah we we still have them uh threatened to Annex them at times you know um but um it it just uh that part of the county sometimes gets uh a little under
representative in my mind um Madam chair could I just the the zoning ordinance um it allows for so many right well and it it says at least five of the appointed members shall be residents of the portion of the county outside the corporate limits of municipalities right
excluding the County Board member and his or her appointment alternate yeah so still we would still be under that but but you know my strong feelings of of people making rules for people that don't live in the area and U actually Mr Miller would live in the city of I think
he lives in the city of St Charles and and to also have a balance so as you're as you're doing so yeah geographically diverse membership right and with the idea that we can go back and uh give Mr Hadler a position on Parks and environment which reading his
application and knowing um Mr Hadler and his passion for uh conservation and environment and everything I think he could really fulfill a good role there too so um I do take the advisement of the the whole board but I would like to um new appointments I would like to make
uh Steven Holm and then Mike Miller the two new appointments for the Planning Commission so that fulfills the whole yeah that gives us f a total of five all right so I guess there really isn't a vote on that no no but there's a motion
on the table made by commissioner a motion for this yeah it's just a recommendation from the yeah a motion of recommendation so okay vote on the motion of recommendation and that was to be Mr Hadler and Mr H and and included the three reappoint and the three
reappointments so all in favor of that say I oose nay nay okay so uh it's just a recommendation it's not binding but yeah I would again I'd like to see Dale hler and Steve um I do think that um Mr Miller would also be a good addition it's also
another I think it is important to include the western part of the County as well but maybe that's at a future date I think some other folks are going to come up in is it two years from now other two others will at least two others Limit Out Etc yes um uh Mr Flynn
ends in 2025 and that's the only one I have on the sheet I care so at least at least one every it seems like one every every year okay so with that recommendation I will uh go against the total
recommendation but I will appoint Stephen Holm and Mike Miller to the Planning Commission all right reappointments yeah just to be clear and reappointments and sometimes in the past you have waited until a later date to make the appointment but you are making it right
now right because we do have we we're skipping that meeting I I would have waited till our next meeting but we're canceling that meeting so and the Planning Commission meets for the next next meeting okay I think it's important to have a full um full board and I do
encourage um staff I know you you get your plate full but to allow give all these new appointees some type of training um the materials and everything and and the responsibilities and everything and such so and not that you don't have anything
to do but put it on your lists thank you um moving then to the Stockton rolling rolling stone Minnesota City Watershed we had one applicant um Diane Miss Diane dingfelder I'll move to appoint Diane Diane dingfelder to that
position second okay we have a motion made by commissioner vaguely second by commissioner olon to appoint Diane dingfelder to the Stockton rolling stone Minnesota City Watershed District any discussion all those in favor say I I iose nay approved uh veteran service
advisory um we have uh one vacancy and reive two applicants commissioner vagle um two very qualified uh persons two um two great um individuals I'll move to uh app Point James aigo to the veteran services advisory
position do I have a second like a second then okay we have a motion in a second to appoint that's a tough one both good it it's the main the main reason is John Gart is is is does a lot of great work with veterans um but
he's not veteran he's has family members who are veterans but James aalo is actually a veteran I don't hold that against him but it's we forc to pick one so I I definitely you know with our with our past actions could we offer um and I
don't remember how we set it up could we offer Mr Gart a exop ficial role suppose we could yep have sit in and just listen yeah if he wants to partake and along with CLA who who has a has v a vote are you accepting that as a
friendly Amendment uh yes and I'll second that friendly Amendment okay so we have a motion for uh Mr obalo to be appointed to the veteran service advisory and offer uh Mr Gart an ex official role on that committee and I'm getting a nod from Mr O Bigalow he
thinks that would be a good thing uh any further discussion all those in favor say I po n okay appointed back to yeah I'd like to swing back to parks and environment and nominate de second all right um we have
a motion and a second a motion by commissioner Meer second by commissioner Olson to Appo Dale Hadler to the parks and environment advisory any discussion all those in favor say i iose n appointed commissioner yes um in regarding veteran
service advisory committee I know that there has been some staff um change over Etc but can we schedule a meeting that it's been two years since the idea began and so if we could and the idea was to meet twice a year is that correct yes so if we could look at I realize it might
not happen this month but sometime soon so we can let the folks on the committee know so they can plan ahead yes thank you great and we will get an updated um I depend on my listing of all our
committees on that one spreadsheet thank you all right again thank you for all that uh took the time I know our application process is is very detailed but it gives a lot of good information and I appreciate everybody that that took the
time and and participated in that okay um our next item of business Madam chair yes I just wanted to point out uh I sent a note last night to um Administration The Joint airport zoning committee
incorrect is incorrect in July we appointed commissioner eling oh are we is it sorry put me 10 words on the grid sheet that was out yeah and and that is incorrect In we need more Airlines just be careful
of the drones might okay all right so this brings us to our hold on we had a lot of applications we did oh my gosh which is lovely it was good to see yes 244 245 I
know yeah spanning here sorry and you're still good with airport well let's see so actually Roden Bridge so yeah it's on page 245
245 join are good for me a couple ones in there might be land record committee if that's something uh commissioner Olson might be especially just considering it's close for
you closer um that might be one that I could let go of that um just because I am on the other one here I chair the Road and Bridge trying to cut down a few of these
because I'm think I'm on 11 of them though where is the airport I can't find it um way yeah kind of about join perfect so we had just redone the zoning
ordinance and for the airport yeah and so my guess is they won't meet again for 10 years yep but actually we want an active airport because then that increases the viability of our business community and everything so well I just I got it just
because I've been in the aviation industry I was yep so is there anybody else that wants to a little bit of knowledge there makes total sense anybody else wants to swap any anything said if commissioner olon would be interested in land records you
want to just swap positions I'm the alternate I used to go like especially in the beginning because I just want to know what it was but if you want to swap it could be either way yeah I just I one of the things I'm trying to encourage with all these meetings is that we try to do them same day or same week or
something because what's happening is just the amount of drive time and rearranging schedules and I know I realize for staff it can be easy to just hey 9:00 you know but it's difficult for me to try to get so I'm trying to plan and coordinate things that work better in the evening or the same week and
things like that so we hav't brought that up at that last one um I enjoy being on it I think you know I I'm hope that I brought some good banter to the deal but yeah we could definitely swap if you'd like it's okay if it mhm are you okay being the alternate yeah I'm okay the
alternate or the land records yeah y I'm the alternate anding is the primary so we'll just switch okay anything else commissioner vagley well with um with that one change and assuming that the airport is is it so
it's commissioner elen and commissioner olon ol so I'll make a motion to um approve the ex existing what we s see on page 245 with the two changes one is the correction that the airport is commissioner Olson and commissioner elen
and then land records just flipflops the primary and Alternate sounds good I'll I'll second that okay we have a motion to adopt the the County Board appointments to board and committees with the the changes um with a future
discussion uh on the one eye of the health and human service advisory committee uh commissioner vagle and myself are the the main ones in the alternate is commissioner Meyer and my desire is to split those up um commissioner Meyer would you like to be the main and I'll be the alternate and
then hopefully I'll and then I'll hopefully get my split at some point sure try to come anyway I know such a big function of the county and it's um yes I'll accept that as a friendly Amendment than okay all right we'll just switch that I can still listen in but I
don't have to I can no oh yeah it's hard and then the audio doesn't always work for you and it's well it's an odd time of the day to come back into the city okay so with those what two correct two Corrections one correction and then two revisions okay uh is any other
discussion all those in favor say I I nay approved all right and I guess you know the big thing is of course for us to be at these meetings and be fully engaged and I know we have some other opportunities with other um bigger
meeting groups that we're in with when they're multi-county things so I encourage people to take part in those multicounty uh jurisdictions and we go from there thank you okay we need us 8.4 item is to
approve the well um approv voucher payment for Clifford Pierce well sealing under aluro well sealing agreement second okay we have a motion to approve the Welling agreement for the Clifford
Pierce any discussion excuse me all those in favor say i i n approve Welling is an important uh function of keeping our water supply protected so thank you for doing that I
think Sheila thank you all right uh 11 let's see that's a committee reports and Communications commissioner vaguely um three things two of which we've already discussed I just want to um thank the staff again for sharing the
information about private well testing and I hope we can encourage to keep on pushing that out to the public it'd be nice to know like 6 months from now it um if this if that's okay with the staff just to get an update on like how many how many requests came in um and how that's going and we need to find better
ways to like get that information out was it's free testing for private Wells and that's a fantastic I think I have already asked for that as an and she can't get some of the data but maybe it'll improve so that's in process the request to get an update is in prog
perfect so so I I'm glad hear that's going to happen I want to congrats uh our County attorney Karen sonan again for being um appointed to the make sure I say it right the Minnesota State Association for County attorneys Minnesota County attorneys
Association you're the state yes thank you yeah I knew I I messed that one up congratulate that's a big Ro thank you for doing that thank you um and then lastly I'd like to um make a request for a future um Committee of the board
discussion regarding um one advisory committee that's the Health and Human Services the possibility of um having starting a discussion to look at at the advisory level to have two different um advisory committees one for Community
Health and one for Human Services and and I would second that so we can put that on a future because we had been waiting for staff in new director Etc and then things have kind of been and just be to begin the conversation at the advisory committee
level only that's it thank you okay thank you commissioner eling yeah just a few quick points uh first of all happy New Year to everybody uh second of all um I just want to touch on that private Wells um you know it's going to be interesting to see as this continues to happen it's actually been happening for
quite some time especially you know through the S water uh distribution and different things we've done in the past but what's interesting with that is as it's being exposed uh just as Ross had alluded to since ' 84 every well that's been done um has been near perfect 3% so
I really think what we're going to find out is that um for quite a few years we had very poorly drilled Wells and uh so what this going to do is expose what the true problem is with is very poor drilled Wells and um because when done
correctly we don't have these problems and that's been an ongoing thing for what's 84 to now 20 40 years we've fixed the problem so what we're seeing is just poor Wells so it's great I think we're getting to the bottom of the true causes of some of this yes we realize there's definitely some things we can do better
in agriculture but I think it's also going to help people see that hey I read it on the internet it must be true um you know we continue to kind of debunk some of these myths so um I'm excited about that um probably not for the same reasons but uh I do I do think it's going to help people that have these
things understand what they're what they're doing um second one is I potentially I am going to be gone for the February meeting February 8th is that correct that's the first it's at the second Tuesday of February second uh
February 11th excuse meary I'll be gone 8th to the 14th there February 11th is our first board meeting I'm going to attempt to zoom in we're going to see how good the internet is where we're at and um it is a little bit clumsy when we have to zoom in so if we don't have much on the agenda it probably makes sense just to not to zoom in and miss the
meeting but if if we have a if we have some relevant important things so um if perhaps I could see a little preview to the agenda before the agenda so I can make some of that determination and uh for that meeting so I just want to let everybody know if there's any concerns that will be potentially I will be gone
it's just a matter what I'm capable of doing in Puerto Rico so um that's it for me all right thank you commissioner Meer thanks uh I don't have enough of these for everyone but I don't anyway so the Minnesota Intercounty Association is having its annual
legislative Forum it's going to be hosted in Prior Lake it's on the 30th starts at 2 goes till like8 o'clock at night um we hosted it last um I did just want to give an update about Micah um they had asked me
to be on the search committee because Matt massman is the executive director left and took a position um at UMD um we had narrowed the field down to six really good candidates the inperson
interviews were on the day of our last board meeting so I couldn't attend that so I haven't gotten an update yet but um I thought they were I I think there were two of those six that for sure could handle uh and do as well a job as as
Matt had done um they have also as me to be on their executive committee as the I think the treasure and the vote on that will happen at their January meeting fantastic just a quick question I know a number of the policy analysts
are retired have retired or Steve Novak retired yeah he did retire the others were still intact yep okay yeah well I mean so Carly she kind of goes quit and they hired somebody they like hired a service to do that in the same way they hired
golf public to be the to do the environmental stuff but they did hire a replacement for Steve Novak who does transportation and she was at the last meeting and she spoke and she is certainly has great credentials okay good good because I just ch in an
organization absolutely yeah all right thank you anything else well and Nancy Nancy ziny zeleski had she had she's filling in until the replacement hire happens and they had a pretty aggressive schedule for that that so I it may happen as soon as later this month okay
all right anything else no okay uh couple things that I had is uh I'm not sure if everybody saw the announcement but my energy um our rural uh Electric Cooperative received a Federal grant uh they got 14.1 million in a grant and
14.1 million in a loan from the USDA for a fiber optic project and it'll serve like 2,255 people 55 businesses and two 235 Farms that is just awesome I know they came to us in our Eda and however we can
support that project um it just brings you know that part of the county up to a you know I've said before it used to be when you bought a rural property is you have electricity and you have good water now it's electricity water and internet is is know demand and commissioner Meyer
for your information today they were sentch my other rural Coop was supposed to be hooking my house up to the fiber that they that they laid last spring we will see your shiny face in future meeting because I used to you know that the squirrels weren't running fast enough and I wouldn't couldn't do video
and audio at the same time um but bringing us up into the new new generation of of U uh electronics and and communication and then um January 9th is uh considered a Federal holiday uh the passing of our our past President
Jimmy Carter um so it is a Federal holiday but the Winona County will be operating and functioning as as normal um a a great man that outlived you know a long time what first president the longest living president and so now um
that that's gone but uh he did a lot of great things and a lot of people are REM remembering him not only as the president but as his work after being president and the things that both him and his his wife did so January 9th that is a recognized holiday um other than
that uh commissioner word I apologize um following up on commissioner El um announcement about February I just um I think we do this anyways but if any commissioner has it gone for any reason if if you have something you want to um not only to me there's two questions is
is it worth you know trying to figure out the technology to to zoom in other issue is is there anything that you on the agenda that you want um to wait we as Commissioners we the rest of us should just talk with staff about let's just bump it back so that we cover something when you're
here yeah we'll leave all the controversial stuff for all right with that I would entertain a motion to adjourn so I'll second that okay motion made by commissioner Eline second by commissioner vagle to adjourn any discussion all those in favor say I I I was nay adjourn let's take just
about five it's seven minut break please yes and thank you what's BO discussion about The Zing ordinance it's a continuation what have been taken comprehensive plan I'm sorry
comprehensive plan that's what I meant to say and I am leaving you all in Steve's good hands okay it's discussion I have to well yeah his hands are they weren't so good
last with all the comprehensive plan and I'm not sure Who's Gonna Leave This Lou thank you good morning um so uh we've had a couple short commune of
the board meetings where we uh um just kind of heard some of the concerns um but didn't really have time to discuss so um um this is up in my face here um now it's in front of my
notes um the overall what I had heard um from comments previously is um um why now um why so much um why not review internally was kind of the three areas that have
takeaways um and so I guess I'll I can start by just addressing some of those to start and then we can go from there um you know why now uh we we talked a little bit about that but um um there State Statute 39423 two sub division 6
um that states um um update every 10 years and so that's really why we're looking at it now is because it's been um 10 years since the last plan um but beyond that I mean the reason that the 10 years is there um is um um is because
uh things change over time and we need to have um um time kind of designated to review and um look at at the past what's what's worked what hasn't worked what's new and then have a chance to um um incorporate that into um um the
comprehensive plan so um there are a number of things that um um we do have needs for that have been identified over those uh those years and um this is a advantageous time to do that um you know why why a bigger update and not a
smaller you know review um similar to what we did in 2014 well in 2003 20013 um somewhere in there is when um the previous comprehensive plan was was adopted and that was a much larger consultant um was involved much larger
review um at that time um in the next 10 years then it was a smaller review in 2014 really now it's been 20 years since we've really getting gotten into a lot of the data background and inventory in the in the in the comp plan we know that
we need things like um um we don't have an existing land use map um we we we that's been something was identified in the the housing study that was um um a barrier um our future land use map really is um from
20013 as well so that didn't get updated in 2014 um so it's largely the same and um you know like just for example um things like housing um you know U are completely built out our residential
districts are are full you know there's really nowhere else to build um uh a subdivision um in the county and the comp plan doesn't guide um as to where that might be done or be appropriate to be done um in the future um that's just one example
um also um it's worth noting I think that now is good and um as opposed to like in a year even because um of availability of Consultants um the the metro area is um they they're required they're on a schedule as well for for
updates and their their updates are are starting and uh you imagine all the communities within the metro area are going to gobble up Consultants time that's going to be really um a priority for um um a lot of it so part of why we got um good uh responses I think is
because of the the time frame that we're in right now um we got seven um proposals good proposals um in a year that that very well may not be the case um and it may be um more expensive because of that as
well um um so yeah that's kind of my why now um piece um why so much um the cost uh is good questions I mean it is a lot of money I understand that absolutely um
our housing study ended up being 72,000 um that's kind of a um um that's that's a something that's much smaller than a comprehensive plan so it gives you an idea of what you know cost of um of of these processes go
um especially when they're um when Consultants are involved but um generally we we went out and we we spoke with before we put out our RFP we went and spoke with many consultants um and other communities uh to get an idea of U of cost and to make sure that our
request was um was reasonable um and um in general um what I would hear back I mean there's there's variables but in general you're looking at for a comprehensive plan $100,000 um for uh comprehensive plan with um
with zoning ordinance amendments so they're they're looking at not only the plan but then they're looking at your ordinance and and what amendments in order to to to bring them in line which is also required um you know with those zoning ordinance review is
150 um our plan what we're proposing also includes um some other things like um uh management plan for fers Park um one consultant um con um uh quoted us 35,000
for that as a standalone I think we get some um um some efficiency incorporating into the comp plan a lot of the um the Consultants um when we got proposals a lot of those were like in the 6 to 8 to 10 was their line item for the for
Farmers um but that's that's having it as part of the comp plan um the um if you're doing it as Standalone it could very well be more along the lines of like you know I thought 35 was was a bit high but um I I would have um expected
it certainly probably around 20 um so um and maybe I mean and I could just be wrong on that too it could just be 35 is what that's that's going to cost um so just to give you an idea of um of costs and things that are going
into um um this project um um um looking at comparisons to other communities um you know city of Winona's um contract was
200,000 um St Louis County was a very large County um but 200,000 um Jefferson County Wisconsin 180,000 uh groing Becker 100 Benton 115
Sherburn 148 um Warren 128 so give you an idea um of where um a lot of those um um a lot of counties are at for um their their comprehensive plans and what they're spending um for Consultants there was also a question as
to um you know the contract price is somewhere around 150 um um and if that was going to um if there would be contingencies is that going to grow um Our intention is is to keep that on budget and that everything
is that we need to do is included in that contract price um the approved budget that you all approved in 20122 was for 18 87 or 86 or something like that um don't quote me exactly but that's a ballpark right now because we already
spent it down a little bit um it's at 178 um and um so we do have a little contingency space there if we need to in the existing budget what's currently budgeted um but uh again my intention is
to keep it on budget and um um and at the contract price I don't foresee any any needs at this time and if we did have some that come up um I guess we can address them then um so that's what I have for um
that piece um and then um the internal review um again it's it's really comes down to scope um and um and and resources um um staff does not have the resources to do a um a larger project
like that um or the the expertise that's needed in multiple different areas um so it's really an opportunity to bring in um expertise um that we don't have inous to help us um um chart um the next 20
years um again this is a 20-year Horizon so we would be reviewing in 10 years but I would assume in 10 years if we were able to go through this more robust planning process now in 10 years there would be you know a smaller review that we could do internally hopefully similar
to 2014 um um yeah so I guess um that's um that's all I have to I guess get the the conversation started if you have questions um um go from there may I have a
question um so what you're really telling us is that I think that some Commissioners have felt like maybe this time we should do a small review because last time was a full-blown rewrite and I think what I'm hearing you say is no 20 years ago was kind of a full-blown
rewrite and last time and 10 in 2014 was actually just a small review so you're advocating that we are it is time for us to do the full review again and part of the justification is then really has to do with that land use map which I I do
notice that in recent Planning Commission meetings we don't really refer to it but when I was on the Planning Commission we you know we used to so is that part of the 150,000 that would be included yes well I have um I'll share this I I
got permission to share this email I got a very um outlined email from a constituent and concerns about it thank you yeah I I hands that out I guess you a more
informal meetings here I I received a multitude of phone calls on this you know just questioning you know and I I don't expect the public to know everything you know obviously as to what and why especially you know the more information
we have could change that but just what is the I guess the few CP topics that have been brought up to me is is it mandated which I believe isn't um you know and I'm summarizing all the different conversations is what's the true public need um you know what are we
gaining from this is it is there something major that we're gaining that offsets 150,000 on a positioning agent to where we're going we're not growing um and you know does it need to happen now is there a dire need that hey we've
got to run right out spend this 150,000 sff the whole course of the county um to some projected idea and again it is is nothing um I'm not I'm not saying I'm you know that it's nothing against
what you're saying I'm just these are the things that have been brought up to me that I've kind of categorized the different concerns and quite honestly I I can't give an answer because I don't know any really one particular public outcry that we have to have this and so
some of the things that were brought up and I guess I would have to con a little would be is there actually even though time has passed um you know whether it was major and minor or whether it was minor and major um it's still like kind of saying hey I'm gonna change a
perfectly good engine out for a brand new engine even though this engines has 150,000 miles left on it that's kind of the way it was presented you know why are we spending all this money on something that actually isn't broke yet just because we can see down the road at some point it might have to the question
I have is is yes things are probably always going to get more expensive but if we exponentially ride on that um it's it's going to be that way no matter what because now we just increase the date closer to having to do it again so in essence um and again I'm just kind of word vomiting here all the different
things that have been brought to me is that I'm just looking for what is the major need that we say we are going to recoup $150,000 wor the taxpayer's money just to get to zero let alone any potential
savings that this might bring in and is it justifiably done or is it something how we've done similar in the past with a little bit of public input a little bit of public committee type scenarios uh I I I I would have to firmly agree that the staff if we're going to rewrite
a whole comp plan I don't think we could necessarily have the staff take that under but I think we can do little segments and pick away at a little bit if there's something major or something that maybe stands out a little bit that we could do um rather than just saying
hey here's 150,000 let's reset the clock because in 10 years if we're going to keep it on a 10e cycle is that it just moves the clock forward again so I just thoughts and uh well and I I realized I just got this yesterday and and and made
copies this morning sobody and we don't make any decisions or anything here but I think there's some very valid points in here and I've raised some of the same questions at our our subcommittee meetings um and it's not we're not saying it's anybody's fault it's one of these projects that always goes on the list of
things to do you know but you never get to that down on the stack of things to do and I think uh Miss Hoffman here does point out some things that that we didn't follow in our existing uh comp plan and so why are we trying to write a
new one when we really didn't follow what we had on the one that was sitting on the shelf and just a concept to think about is to uh reauthorize the existing one and then continue to do some of our homework I know we can't do it all in
one big swoop and it's yeah it's easy to hire a consultant and they'll come in and they'll do their you know do their their research and everything but it's our plan and our citizens so I guess I'm proposing that we just maybe every other month or something through the Planning
Commission take one little part of these and analyze what's going on and such and do we really feel the need to to spend the the the big amount for another document that unfortunately sometimes gets set on the Shelf I mean but again I know I just handed this out and it's
something to contemplate and think about um but yeah this is some of the feedback I'm getting too commissioner veger just a review in terms of where we at I so this is this is this this is an important discussion to have but the process is still moving forward right or are you stopped until the board gives
you clear Direction honestly we um um the next step is to bring a contract to the boards so I'm I'm you know I it's there's enough uncertainty at this point that yeah I don't feel comfortable offering it and um moving forward until we have a consensus from the board um
and this isn't 150,000 150,000 new dollars this was something that was allocated in a past budget of course we don't need to spend things that are allocated in the past but this isn't new dollars um in as the board chair before I I didn't comment on this very much I want to offer a clear uh statement that
even it is a lot money and all this stuff I'm still in sticker shock in terms of what everything costs now in terms of government functions and Consultants but I think that since this has come from the staff and through the staff um and just the little bits and pieces I see from The Economic
Development Authority and from the parks and environment committee this is needed so I think I I think that we should I I support the spending of these funds for this service and I hope we can get started sooner because like you said there are only so many consultants out there we need to move sooner and later
so that's speaking for myself only and this is a committee of the board non-binding but I hope we can encourage the staff to move yeah and I guess when when you asked um if um where we're at in the process um I mean we don't need um we we don't we don't we won't be
bringing it forward for like a decision um but um we would like you know consensus and support to continue to move move along you know so we what seven proposals proposals and the subcommittee kind of
narrowed it down to three to three and I'm not sure if you're doing a comparison uh those because there was some U unknowns what actually the contract included I think one of one of the things that you mentioned was Farmers Park was that included or wasn't
included was it a high 35,000 or was it 6,000 yeah and it was different depending on the Consultants but yeah we did follow up with a couple questions and um requested some information so alluding to commissioner Ward's topic I mean what would be the major because
this is the question I'm getting asked what what's the major public outcry what's the major thing happening here that we we are what's the what's the thing that we're really trying to accomplish to do that I know it's it's hard to um it's hard to describe to
constituents because there's not um it's a planning process you know you mentioned before like you know cost benefits um I mean I'm sure we could run a cost benefit analysis but there isn't like a there's not like a revenue stream that we're watching come in because of this and um that we're hoping that it's
going to pay off in a number of years it's it's more um obscure um benefits over over time um based on land uses and efficiency of government and and these types of things um we don't have those num numbers
inhouse um I'm not really looking for a number what I'm saying is what's the major topic what what's driving you we can actually event just set a year let's just say let's just say we couldn't tell time right we don't know what time it is we don't know what year it is so then we would have to have a purpose so the
purpose would be we are trying to accomplish this grander task that's outside of the capabilities of all the different committies and and departments that we have so I'm just curious what's the grand task that public is saying hey
we need reform to we need a review and reform to some degree yeah and I think I mean it's it's it's and we can get talking points and that's something that we will produce if we move through this process we'll have talking points for um for County board members as well as the as the
public um and um a robust it's part of the cost is you know getting out the word getting information out so people can understand um um the purpose of the process but in general you know comprehensive planning is to um
um um create that that Community Vision those goals and policy um um um uh policy uh guidance I think they get what it is but I'm what's what's the what's the change what's that that's the everybody keeps
asking me what do you need to change I don't have an answer for it yeah we might not we want to we need to hear from the the public on on a lot of that there are I mean we have a laundry list of things internally and there's things that have come up through um you know things like our um um our Board of adjustment Planning Commission when
they're looking at petitions every month there's issues that we grapple with and that we struggle with that a comprehensive plan guidance would help with um there's things that from staff level that we certainly hear from the public people coming through with um applications they want to develop a
piece of land um and we struggle with giving them answers you know because it's not laid out um in in the in the zoning ordance well and it's not guided or there's not background information in the complex plan that would support you know a a change to the ordinance even um
especially um I mean got on the Fly here um it's it's a little difficult but um things like uh that PO to mind rural businesses um struggling with um how to incorporate commercial uses in a district um you know where do you draw
the line between um you know uh something that is um that uh we're we're constantly struggling with um um and and F so um that's that's what it is trying to find the balance between you know what goes in like think about living on
your on your Farmstead your home and your neighbor wants to build a large commercial Enterprise next next door um and they're used to seeing and um interacting with their environment in a c certain way and um um and now we have
um um something different that's more commercial or even Industrial in nature um and then that also has um um cost to public services like roads and electricity and water uh it really does
it includes all that stuff it's hard to qu quantify and qualify that but those are the types of things that we're constantly um trying to Grapple with on a month-to-month basis on our Planning Commission and count and um and board of adjustment um real quick um um to that
point there's also things like Dwayne said um our Economic Development Authority and our um our parks envir M committee and others um that these things kind of come up that they've been talking about for years um issues that they want to get resolved and um you
know this is an opportunity to to do that so um know those are good questions and they are notoriously hard to answer and but we will do we will do our best to try to do that um um as we move
forward Olson I've participated in the the last one I particip cre at the city level when they did them there uh as a citizen so I do see the benefit of them and I I support it so and you know just I guess you could as a show of hands
maybe we could cut the uh discussion short well um so I'm going to refer to the document here and and you allude to things but we don't hear those things and again this is this comp plan is is a philosophy I find Great Value in
updating the land you the zoning ordinance but this is philosophical but here again the plan maintenance I mean a number of land Ed permits process number of subdivisions changes in uh preparation of an annual report I guess I would like you know
before we jump on the bandwagon is spend so how many um variances did we have the last I don't know pick a time frame what were they why were they requiring variances and I know a big majority of them are septics that are too close to property line so maybe that's an area
that just needs to be Dakota yeah yeah in the small little little areas um but truly what have what are the numbers I mean because we don't have an annual report that says this were the things and again I do you have time to do that I don't know we we actually we do um
Eric presents it and um gives it to you every year in um in usually in February um there is one um for the last number of years and there will be another one coming um so we can provide the one from 2024 again um and uh you'll be you should
look for one yeah it's okay I mean it's easily forgotten at the beginning of the year but um um but yeah that does come out read some of these other counties that you threw out and I my gut tells me I could change the name and accept the report um because again it's it's a lot
of high it like commissioner 's asking for what are the specifics that drive this and again to me the specifics are the zoning ordinance not the comp I think I I just think it's a disconnect that we do this we spend the money we go
through the effort but Public public just looks at it and says well what changed my life you know I do take that hard get paid by totally understand yeah we get paid by them and so the common consensus from what I'm going to say are some pretty reputable people in the
county that you know they're their business owners their their their their W2 employees their Farmers whatever they might be I've had multiple people reach out to me on this probably probably the most I think I've had since I've become a commissioner and part of it was I think the article in the post I think
stirred the pot here a little bit um very potentially but I mean that this is this has more eyes on it than what we realize right now and there's a lot of people going what's the need what's going to change you know and so I think we really just this is just my opinion
um and I thought this beforehand too understanding what comp policies are and you know realizing what it is I think what the taxpayer is saying is hey um please don't spend any more of my money frivolously is this we already hire these people we hire a lot of
people um there needs to be a clear and concise agenda as to why we need to go spend this it can't be just hey because and maybe and we should maybe do this or that I I would heavily suggest that for public perception for transparency but
probably more so accountability that we take a look and come up with a few bullet points that have are heavily weighted if necessary towards spending this kind of money or can we maybe allude to what commissioner Ward said
can we just break it down in certain little segments and Tackle these little segments as time goes one of the big things about putting a grand plan together and I've done this I'm currently doing it in our own business with a merger acquisition is trying to predict everything in a small amount of
time it's virally impossible and so I don't care how good you are how good of a business person how good of a consultant you are things will come up and require those changes anyway so time sometimes it's easier to peace meal little things together because then you get the aha moment in the carry out of
that that says oops we should have went back and done this and then the redundancy goes down I yeah I mean I I I totally hear you and um um um just one just quick um response to people I mean
an easy response to give to people when they're asking um um and we'll get better um responses as we go along but um um it is um um you know it the process is created by States for State
through State Statute and um the reason that the connection is between the comprehensive plan and the um and the zoning ordinance is is is that it the comprehensive plan really needs to support your zoning ordinance and your your your standards so if you're making a lot of changes to your zoning
ordinance and you're not looking at the comprehensive plan there can there is a legal argument to be made and your decisions can be challenged so um you know that's the easiest I think response to people is that you know um we're looking at this because it's legally required to we need to make sure that
we're in alignment um and we need to make sure that our decision-making at the board of adjustment and Planning Commission is um is supported and we can defend those decisions you know I think that's the easiest you know way to explain it to people and it really it it puts it on you know State Statute and
the legal system as to the reason why we're doing this it's it's because we need to be making decisions that are legally defendable and I'm not I'm not picking on you I'm not this isn't a pick on the department that's not at all I'm just trying to I'm trying to I'm trying
to justify it for the people that are calling me saying hey this is necessary yes we have to or we don't need to in the common consensus I'm just letting you know is that um uh I'm not going to say this in a loose I won't say it the way it's been presented but um I I'll
paraphrase it is that they feel as though our government locally is just pawning off to somebody else again something that may or may not necessarily need as much work done as what they say um because it's the easy thing to do rather than us internally
segmented it out and saying hey there's really not a whole lot there's no public outcry nobody here is worried I I realize there's some legality to this so I just think for us to just disregard that go throw 150,000 at it um you know the countability behind that I think the
public is asking for more and yeah and I I mean I'm I I take um all these comments are great because they they I mean we will hear it as we go through the process and um and so that feedback is is really important um that's also why comprehensive plans incorporate lots of public engagement because it really
does need to be um you know as much as possible um citizen driven you know so we need to hear from um from citizens and you know what their vision for the community is and and and how and how these these issues um impact them personally so that we can incorporate
that and then have you know ordinances that also reflect the the the will of the people looks like Mr CR has some words of wisdom he wants to yeah I I just wanted to re reinforce that it is it is important aside from
how much money to spend it it is important that the comprehensive plan reflects what the community wants and what's happening in the Planning Commission and the board of adjustment because a lot of the findings of fact or some of the findings of fact that are used to make decisions have to be
consistent with the comprehensive plan so if if there's an old Vision in the comprehensive plan that doesn't request doesn't reflect current thinking you could end up having to you know uh Grant something that that is not wanted um um
and I I I I think the other part of of from a legal standpoint is that the the comprehensive planning process is the public input opportunity to set the big picture that will guide the decisions which makes them easier to defend when
somebody challenges them um you know a little bit like like a constitution and then you implement the laws you know the Constitution would be the comprehensive plan and the zoning ordinance would be the laws and you know Constitution has been amended 27 times that's ironically
about once every 10 years so so I just wanted to make sure you understood the correlation between you know I think we do it's just the question is exactly what you just laid to which is what needs to nobody knows nobody can give me one thing that needs to change why are we spending all this money that's the
issue they realize their part they realize what it's for they know what it is I think what it is is nobody's come up and said there's this major thing that needs to happen you need to take my money and review all of this they're saying can't we just do the few little things we need to do I think they get
the point I think they understand what it is I think the legalities are there all that stuff is there the question comes we're throwing a lot of money at something with zero public outcry that something needs to happen nobody can give me one thing that needs to happen other than some generalities that I say
can we handle them internally so as a as being accountable to the taxpayer I'm just looking for this these not the overview and the why it needs to happen and all that but the what what are we actually physically trying to change
achieve the the physical action that's going to take place hey we have a need because we've got a major development in the county and it's disrupting all these things you know that's what they're looking for that we've got to go through and rewrite the whole program not just a segmented aspect of it that I I hope I'm
explaining myself M thank you um I do support um moving forward um hiring the consultant and upda um I think for me the one issue that I keep hearing about is housing and
I I heard um Mr over hog talk about how one of the issues that we really need is places where it would be appropriate to do subdivisions that spand housing and for sure at the Planning Commission almost every month we get one sometimes
two uh requests people asking for conditional weuse permits because they want to build rurally they don't have 4 acers um and then there's the whole issue that has to do with prime soils and it's always this tension between
housing and farmland and guidance in terms of where to put subdivisions and the ability to to sort of encourage that which is one of the outcomes I think would be important for us in terms of also meeting this goal of not um taking
away Prime soils or prime Farmland I noticed that um in her application for reappointment on the board of adjustment um Miss Fitzgerald said we have so many condition uh so many variance requests and they really are for dresbach and
Dakota and those lots are like City Lots they're not big enough for septic but they don't have Community septic and so she was saying in there is there a way for staff to to just uh have more ability to make those decisions on their own because they're almost always better
for um the the planet just in terms of their less likely to cause pollution than the existing systems and yet they're not in compliance with the um with the ordinance so I do see some issues that we've been grappling with for the six years that I've been a
county commissioner and the three years prior to that when I was on the Planning Commission so uh if if we can address some of those things then I I I I think especially that is a big need so I do support moving forward but we'll leave you with this thought there's a line and
I forgot I don't have all my notes there's a line in our comp plan that says and I think it's a separate paragraph economic opportunities for all and every so in the next phrase why are we trying to ban an operation through our zoning conditional use permit there
I guess that's a conflict we need to resolve Economic Opportunity for all but no only certain things will allow in Monona County all right is that what you did you get out of us what you needed today um I think so I got good comments from all of you so thank you very much I
do appreciate time yes appreciate time thank you and uh we'll look forward to Eric's report because I just don't remember seeing that one pressure's on yeah pressure's on you got to perform I'll to adjourn the committee of the board second uh we have a motion in a second
to adjourn the committee of the board all those in favor say I hi n sure thank you all right so Marine do we have interviews at 124 I saw 12 I had 12:30 written down and then 1230 they asked us to be here
at 12:30 12:30 are you going home coming no I'm just staying I it doesn't uh we're trying to refill the accessor yeah okay see you see you guys bye
did okay okay gota go see the computer guys are you having trouble with your this particular one won't open up PDFs my little red one I just hit it and it opens up this one wants me to buy
something wants me to do something well that's annoying yeah it is is and I don't I don't know what it what's different about it it's an Apple product different yes see you
later all right well let's hope it gets up to 20 again today yesterday was pretty nice in the end the Sun was shining I know when I walked up to get the mail it was a pleasant surprise beautiful light Skies oh yeah yeah beautiful sunrise this
morning really pink see we touch some point absolutely both you yeah um you remember I had a Campa yeah after he left working for he went
to work for snow design s okay uh so we're the group is still trying to stay