Board Minutes

for

April 17, 2001

 

 

REGULAR MEETING OF THE KOOCHICHING COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
Held on Tuesday, April 17, 2001; 10:10 a.m.

MEMBERS PRESENT: Commissioners Hanson, McBride, Lepper, Chezick, Pavleck

MEMBERS ABSENT: None

OTHERS ATTENDING: Pam Lagoo, Doug Talley, Marty Cody, Barb Paulbeck, Terry Glowack, Jaci Nagle, Doug Grindall, Carl Bowman, Richard Koeneman, Don Parmeter, Tom Worth, Dennis Hummitzsch; Reporters Laurel Beager and Roger Jerome

2001/04-19 Motion by McBride, seconded by Chezick to approve the agenda with additions and deletions. Voting yes: Hanson, McBride, Lepper, Chezick, Pavleck. Motion carried.

2001/04-20 Motion by Lepper, seconded by McBride to approve the minutes of the April 3, 2001 regular meeting. Voting yes: Hanson, McBride, Lepper, Chezick, Pavleck. Motion carried.

2001/04-21 Motion by McBride, seconded by Chezick establishing a .25 nurse position in the Public Health Department from a .25 service contract due to a vacancy and authorizing the Public Health Director to fill the new .25 nurse position. Further, if filling of this new position creates vacancies in existing positions, authorizing the Public Health Director to fill such vacancies. Voting yes: Hanson, McBride, Lepper, Chezick, Pavleck. Motion carried.

2001/04-22 Motion by Pavleck, seconded by Lepper adopting the Emergency Safety Equipment/Furniture Funding Policy as recommended by the Safety Committee which establishes guidelines for providing funding for immediate accommodations and/or corrections of unsafe conditions when department budgets can not cover the cost. Voting yes: Hanson, McBride, Lepper, Chezick, Pavleck. Motion carried.

2001/04-23 Motion by Lepper, seconded by Chezick to approve payment of the Highway bills in the amount of $32,055.79, authorizing Board Chair’s signature to the Auditor’s March vendor payment listing verifying its review, approve payment of $6,177.16 to Johnson, Killen & Seiler, P.A. for personnel legal service with payment from the Administration Legal and Litigation Budgets, to approve payment in the amount of $1,167.27 to Arbitrator James Scoville for the County’s share of arbitration cost for the AFSCME Meal Reimbursement Grievance with payment from the Administration Litigation Budget, authorizing the Recorder to purchase two MS Office 2000 Pro CDs from the Recorder’s Equipment Account, which will cause the Account to go into deficit and require the General Revenue Fund to cover the deficit until the monthly revenue due the account repays the deficit with an anticipated deficit of $850.00 and with payoff anticipated in three months. Payment detail on file in the Highway and Auditor Offices. Voting yes: Hanson, McBride, Lepper, Chezick, Pavleck. Motion carried.

2001/04-24 Motion by Pavleck, seconded by McBride authorizing the Board Chair to appoint their representative to the MCIS Board of Directors. Voting yes: Hanson, McBride, Lepper, Chezick, Pavleck. Motion carried. (Board Chair appointed Doug Talley to be the Board’s representative on the MCIS Board of Directors, effective immediately.) AMENDED 2001/05-04

000 There was no information provided for legislative or Voyageurs National Park business.

2001/04-25 Motion by Lepper, seconded by Pavleck adopting the following resolution supporting Minnesota State Legislation granting funding for a Pilot Land Use Project of the NCLUCB:

Whereas, the Northern Counties Land Use Coordinating Board (NCLUCB) is a joint powers board established in 1993 pursuant to the Minnesota Joint Powers Act made up of ten (10) northern Minnesota counties, including Beltrami, Clearwater, Cook, Itasca, Koochiching, Lake, Lake of the Woods, Marshall, Pennington, and St. Louis Counties; and,

Whereas, the NCLUCB was established for the purpose of providing leadership in land use planning and policy making that meets the needs of the people of the region and the state; and,

Whereas, the member counties of the NCLUCB represent approximately 30% of the geographic area of Minnesota; and,

Whereas, the NCLUCB consists of 21 elected officials representing a diverse range of land use interests encompassing the Red River Valley to the North Shore of Lake Superior and the Canadian border; and,

Whereas, there exists within the NCLUCB region a unique blend and balance of federal, state, county-administered, and private lands; and,

Whereas, the region includes resources shared with Canada, including water resources governed by various international agreements; and,

Whereas, there exists considerable debate and controversy over the land use management programs currently impacting the region; and,

Whereas, Northern Minnesota counties have a successful track record in managing resources and implementing programs for the maximum environmental and economic benefits derived therefrom; and,

Whereas, the Northern Counties Land Use Coordinating Board seeks to develop a more cooperative and collaborative process for working with appropriate local, state, federal, and private interests, and,

Whereas, the NCLUCB has proposed a rider to the Minnesota Government Finance Appropriations Bill currently in Committee which reads in part: "...$250,000.00 the first year is for a grant to the Northern Counties Land Use Coordinating Board to initiate a pilot project for the purpose of promoting cooperative efforts among county, federal, state, and local units of government regarding land use management issues. The NCLUCB shall also solicit cooperation with Canadian officials who represent areas contiguous to the region and with local organizations representing recreational, agricultural, mining, forestry, and tourism interests. The objectives of the pilot project are to document instances of incompatible or conflicting land policies and regulations and to identify and promote a means of resolving such differences that may provide a national model for management through intergovernmental cooperation."

Now, therefore, be it resolved that Koochiching County, as a member county of the Northern Counties Land Use Coordinating Board, strongly urges the Minnesota Legislature to pass legislation funding the amount of $250,000.00 for the first year in support of the NCLUCB pilot land use project for Northern Minnesota. Voting yes: Hanson, McBride, Lepper, Chezick, Pavleck. Motion carried.

2001/04-26 Motion by Chezick, seconded by McBride to table the following motion until the next Board meeting to allow the Auditor time to see if a meeting room could be used as the Board was not comfortable with allowing the public to use offices due to confidential data and use of county equipment for non-county purposes: a motion by Lepper, seconded by McBride authorizing the use of the Auditor and Treasurer Offices for a telethon by the Catholic Church with the condition that the Auditor is present at all times to supervise the offices. Voting to table: Hanson, McBride, Lepper, Chezick, Pavleck. Motion was tabled

2001/04-27 Motion by McBride, seconded by Chezick authorizing Board attendance to the Koochiching County Historical Museum’s annual meeting. Voting yes: Hanson, McBride, Lepper, Chezick, Pavleck. Motion carried.

2001/04-28 Motion by Chezick, seconded by McBride empowering the Board Chair to appoint two members to the Backus/AB Committee as requested and authorizing Board members’ attendance to said meetings. Voting yes: Hanson, McBride, Lepper, Chezick, Pavleck. Motion carried.

000 Assistant Assessor Marty Cody provided the Board the final draft of the Parcel Based GIS Workplan to be submitted to LCMR in support of our grant. The Board was informed that the Governor intends on vetoing the grant for Koochiching County as it does not support the State of Minnesota and that ARDC is sending someone down this week to testify on our behalf. Commissioner Chezick also stated that the County’s lobbyist and State legislators have been contacted and will do what they can to retain the grant for the County. The draft plan is being submitted to LCMR as requested.

2001/04-29 Motion by Lepper, seconded by McBride to approve the Parcel Based GIS System Work Plan for the $70,000 LCMR grant as presented and further, authorizing its submittal to LCMR as requested. Voting yes: Hanson, McBride, Lepper, Chezick, Pavleck. Motion carried.

2001/04-30 Motion by McBride, seconded by Chezick authorizing Board’s attendance to the April 26, 2001 International Falls and Rainy Lake Tourism Conference as requested. Voting yes: Hanson, McBride, Lepper, Chezick, Pavleck. Motion carried.

2001/04-31 Motion by Chezick, seconded by McBride approving a joint powers agreement between the State of Minnesota, acting through its Commissioner of Public Safety, Office of Technical Support Services and Koochiching County Sheriff’s Office for the MN Department of Public Safety Criminal Justice Data Communications System and further, authorizing the Board Chair and Sheriff to sign said Agreement on the County’s behalf. Voting yes: Hanson, McBride, Lepper, Chezick, Pavleck. Motion carried.

2001/04-32 Motion by Chezick, seconded by Lepper that Koochiching County enter into a Grant Agreement with the Division of Emergency Management in the Minnesota Department of Public Safety for the program entitled Emergency Management Performance Grant Assistance Program for FY 2001. Be it further resolved that Koochiching County Sheriff Duane Nelson be authorized to execute and sign such Grant Agreements and amendments as are necessary to implement the project on behalf of Koochiching County. Voting yes: Hanson, McBride, Lepper, Chezick, Pavleck. Motion carried.

2001/04-33 Motion by Pavleck, seconded by Lepper to authorize the Complex Superintendent to expend up to $28,000 of the Building Project Budget for connection of the Courthouse and Forestland Annex telephone and network systems by fiber optic cable installation. Further, that partial reimbursement of the connection cost be sought from the KCCS Budget per the County’s billing policy. Voting yes: Hanson, McBride, Lepper, Chezick, Pavleck. Motion carried.

2001/04-34 Motion by Lepper, seconded by Chezick authorizing the Highway Engineer to call for bids for CSAH 24, CSAH 29, County Road 106 and County Road 152 paving work as recommended by the Highway Engineer with a letting date of May 14, 2001 at 2:00 p.m. Voting yes: Hanson, McBride, Lepper, Chezick, Pavleck. Motion carried.

000 Tom Worth, Chair of the Boundary Waters Treaty Coalition, and Don Parmeter of Northern Resources Center, provided the Board a proposal to establish a framework of agreement with Canada on common ground border water issues. The proposal requests $13,380 from the Border Waters Grant, which the County is fiscal agent for, with $5,880 to send a delegation to Ottawa to meet with Canadian officials and $7,500 for professional and administration services. Canada expressed an interest in finding political solutions to their common border water issues, especially after the federal ruling on the Brown/Armstrong Case on waterway rights in Voyageurs National Park. Parmeter stated that border treaties did not get attention in the Brown/Armstrong Case as Canada did not intervene, however, Canada believes strongly that the treaties be upheld.
Commissioner Hanson questioned the development of a waterway plan but after discussion, he was comfortable with the proposal of developing a framework on common ground issues and processes to jointly work on them. Commissioner Chezick did not feel the proposal provided a clear objective. Parmeter stated that it would be presumptuous on his part to outline the objective as this needs to be decided by the parties when they meet.

2001/04-35 Motion by Pavleck, seconded by Lepper to approve up to $13,380.00 from the Border Waters Grant to establish an International Waterway Management Framework to include travel expense up to $5,880.00 to send a delegation to Ottawa and $7,500.00 for professional and administrative services as supported by the Boundary Waters Treaty Coalition and as proposed by the Northern Resources Center with payment procedures as established by the County as fiscal agent for the grant. Voting yes: Hanson, McBride, Lepper, Pavleck; voting no: Chezick. Motion carried.

000 The Board Chair called for public comment at 11:56 a.m. No comment was brought forth.

000 The Land Commissioner presented the results of the March 27, 2001 Land Sale. The sale included 76 parcels with 39 parcels sold. The appraised value of the parcels sold totaled $84,035 with the parcels selling for a total of $118,158. Per County Policy, land sales are to be held every other year but because of the large amount of staff and time commitment required to prepare a sale, meeting this timeline is difficult. With regards to the remaining parcels, signs will be placed on the properties to let the public know they are for sale and the department will look at other options to try to move the parcels. The Board Chair supported efforts to move the remaining parcels and to hold land sales more often.

000 The Land Commissioner presented a proposal from Attorney Mark Anderson who is representing the Bois Forte Reservation Tribal Council in the purchase of tax forfeited lands on the Nett Lake Indian Reservation. The Band proposes purchase of the tax forfeited undivided interests at fifty percent of the appraised value of the land and timber. The Land Commissioner stated that the County has no control of these lands and felt the request was reasonable because of the nature of the ownership interests. However, since we do not have a market land and timber value established, he suggested we get input from the State as to types of appraisals acceptable in a sale of this nature then proceed based on information obtained.

2001/04-36 Motion by Chezick, seconded by Lepper authorizing the Land Commissioner to seek input from the State on an acceptable system for appraising and/or establishing land and timber values on tax forfeited property located in the Nett Lake Indian Reservation for negotiating a sale to Boise Forte Tribal Council and to come back with a recommendation, including costs, for the Board. Voting yes: Hanson, McBride, Lepper, Chezick, Pavleck. Motion carried.

000 The Land Commissioner informed the Board that of the six lakeshore leased lots obtained from the State by the County, four lessees purchased their lots and two have acknowledged that they will purchase the lots. Sales will be completed within the next few months and the County will have its total revenue for these sales, which will be held in an Environmental Trust Fund as required under law and as established by the Board.

000 Board Chair recessed the meeting at 12:12 p.m.

2001/04-37 Motion by Lepper, seconded by McBride to adjourn the meeting at 3:20 p.m. Voting yes: Hanson, McBride, Lepper, Chezick, Pavleck. Motion carried.