REGULAR MEETING OF THE KOOCHICHING COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
Held on Tuesday, April 6, 2004; 9:30 a.m.

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

MEMBERS ABSENT: None

OTHERS ATTENDING: Jaci Nagle, Doug Grindall, Richard Lehtinen, Steve Nyhus via telephone; Reporters Laurel Beager and Jen O’Reily

2004/04-01 Motion by Hanson, seconded by Adee to approve the agenda with additions and deletions. Voting yes: Pavleck, Adee, Hanson, Chezick, Lepper. Motion carried.

2004/04-02 Motion by Hanson, seconded by Lepper to approve the minutes of the March 23, 2004 special meeting with correction. Voting yes: Pavleck, Adee, Hanson, Chezick, Lepper. Motion carried.

2004/04-03 Motion by Lepper, seconded by Hanson to approve payment of the Auditor bills in the amount of $44,956.32, to approve payment of the monthly County Board expense claims in the amount of $9,450.61, to approve payment to Flaherty & Hood in the amount of $2,324.92 for lobbying services with payment from the 2004 Legislative Budget, to approve payment to Johnson, Killen & Seiler, P.A. in the amount of $325.60 for personnel legal service with payment from the 2004 Administration Budget and to approve payment of the March Board of Prisoners claim in the amount of $2,750.00. Payment detail is on file in the Auditor’s Office. Voting yes: Pavleck, Adee, Hanson, Chezick, Lepper. Motion carried.

2004/04-04 Motion by Lepper, seconded by Adee authorizing the Board Chair’s signature to a Business Associate Agreement with the Northeast Service Cooperative for compliance under HIPAA rules for the County’s group health plan. Voting yes: Pavleck, Adee, Hanson, Chezick, Lepper. Motion carried.

2004/04-05 Motion by Hanson, seconded by Lepper authorizing expenditure up to $4,100 from the 2004 Information System Budget to purchase four additional copies of ArcView 3.x program to expand utilization of GIS in the Assessor and Highway Departments and IS Unit and with cost of one program to be billed to the Highway Department. Voting yes: Pavleck, Adee, Hanson, Chezick, Lepper. Motion carried.

2004/04-06 Motion by Lepper, seconded by Hanson authorizing the Highway Engineer to call for bids on May 3, 2004 for SAP 36-640-03 (CSAH 40) as a single project and SAP 36-606-08 (CSAH 6), SAP 36-625-06 (CSAH 25) and SAP 36-636-06 (CSAH 36) combined as one project for bidding purposes. Voting yes: Pavleck, Adee, Hanson, Chezick, Lepper. Motion carried.

2004/04-07 Motion by Lepper, seconded by Adee authorizing purchase of a MSW trailer at a price of $50,581 with payment from the 2004 Environmental Service Budget and authorizing the Department to sell the replaced trailer rather than trade it in to seek a better value. Voting yes: Pavleck, Adee, Hanson, Chezick, Lepper. Motion carried.

000 The Environmental Service Director informed the Board that Fort Frances is changing its waste collection to a bag tag system and they anticipate recycling will increase from 5% to 30% because people will pay per bag of garbage and therefore will look to recycling to reduce their garbage volume. In looking at this change, the Fort Frances Public Works Director needs to know if the County could handle this jump in their recycling. In preliminary review, the Director felt the increased recycling could be handled but not without filling the vacant transfer station operator position. He believes the additional revenue will be enough to cover the cost of the position as well as the other costs for processing the recycling. The Director was seeking direction from the Board as to whether further discussion should be pursued on the matter. Board members agreed they would not fill the vacant position based on speculation but rather wait to see if the volume increases to the level where revenue covers the County’s cost. The County is accepting plastics, paper, metal and glass from Fort Frances (taking glass as dropped off at the transfer station – discontinued taking glass at recycling sites due to cut injuries caused by handling the glass in the recycling trailers). Director will continue discussions with Fort Frances and bring back more information for consideration.

000 The County’s lobbyist updated the Board via telephone on legislative session activities. On the House side, they are trying to pass their omnibus bills this week and take Easter break whereas on the Senate side they are hanging back. The ATV issue is addressed in the House Environmental Finance Bill and has the best language for the County. The Senate has pulled the finance portion out of the ATV bill and forwarded the policy language as a stand alone bill. The Senate position on changes to the ATV legislation does not support the County’s position and it does not look like there is support to put the issue into further study (to delay legislative change this year). With regards to the state budget situation, it looks like the House and Senate are falling in line with the Governor with taking cuts and using resources at the state level to balance the deficit. However, the next forecast is scheduled for late November (after elections) and it is predicted that there are still major problems for the long term with regards to the state budget and financial situation.

000 The Board Chair called for public comment at 11:05 a.m. No comment was received.

2004/04-08 Motion by Adee, seconded by Lepper to adjourn the meeting at 11:05 a.m. Voting yes: Pavleck, Adee, Hanson, Chezick, Lepper. Motion carried.