SPECIAL MEETING OF THE KOOCHICHING COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
Held on Tuesday, April 27, 2004; 9:30 a.m.

MEMBERS PRESENT: Commissioners Pavleck, Adee, Hanson, Lepper

MEMBERS ABSENT: Commissioner Chezick

OTHERS ATTENDING: Einar Sundin, Terry Murray, Dennis Hummitzsch, Doug Grindall, Susan Congrave, Jill May, Richard Lehtinen; Reporters Laurel Beager and Roger Jerome

2004/04-29 Motion by Adee, seconded by Hanson to approve the agenda with additions and deletions. Voting yes: Pavleck, Adee, Hanson, Lepper. Motion carried.

2004/04-30 Motion by Hanson, seconded by Lepper to approve the minutes of the April 20, 2004 regular meeting. Voting yes: Pavleck, Adee, Hanson, Lepper. Motion carried.

2004/04-31 Motion by Lepper, seconded by Adee to approve payment of the Auditor claims in the amount of $44,043.22; to approve payment from the County’s Sunset Cove Waterline Account to the City of International Falls in the amount of $63.56 to cover the balance due the City for administration cost and to approve payment from the account held by the City of $1,519.39 to the City of International Falls and $8,411.95 to the City of Ranier; to approve payment of the Public Health claims in the amount of $14,008.91; to approve payment of Community Service financial and social service program claims and administrative claims as presented and to approve payment of burial case #602593 in the amount of $480.00. Payment detail on file in the respective departments. Voting yes: Pavleck, Adee, Hanson, Lepper. Motion carried.

2004/04-32 Motion by Hanson, seconded by Lepper adopting a resolution approving designation of Koochiching County as a ‘Single Covered Entity” for purposes of HIPAA compliance, designating a Privacy Officer and adopting the Koochiching County HIPAA Privacy Implementation Handbook:

WHEREAS, the 1996 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and implementing regulations, impose a variety of requirements on public and private entities to protect the privacy of individually identifiable health information; and

WHEREAS, while a majority of Koochiching County departments, services and programs fall outside of HIPAA’s scope, a small number of Koochiching County departments, services or programs do handle individually identifiable health information and must comply with HIPAA requirements; and

WHEREAS, Koochiching County has developed policies and procedures, in the form of a HIPAA Privacy Implementation Handbook, designed to specifically meet all of the HIPAA compliance requirements; and

WHEREAS, Koochiching County is also required to designate a specific individual as the County’s Privacy/Client Information Officer, in meeting the HIPAA compliance requirements; and

WHEREAS, Section 164.504(d) of the HIPAA Privacy regulations permits individual covered entities to self-designate as a single covered entity if they are under common ownership or control. By designating Koochiching County as a “single covered entity”, we can reduce the administrative burden of HIPAA compliance by allowing individual County departments, services and/or programs to share information internally with a single Notice of Privacy Practices and Acknowledgement; and

WHEREAS, a review of Koochiching County departments, services and programs has confirmed that the County fits the “common control” definition because all County departments, services and/or programs are under the jurisdiction of the Koochiching County Board, which has the final authority over the actions and policies of all Departments, services and programs.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Koochiching County Board of Commissioners hereby adopts a resolution authorizing the following:

• That Koochiching County be designated as a “single covered entity” for HIPAA compliance purposes; and

• That the County Coordinator is designated as the County’s Privacy/Client Information Officer; and acting through a team of the Public Health Director and County Attorney will oversee County compliance and handle complaints.

• That the HIPAA Privacy Implementation Handbook be adopted to comply with all HIPAA requirements and that all applicable County Departments are required to follow all of the compliance requirements outlined in the Handbook; and

• That the HIPAA Privacy Implementation Handbook may be revised, as needed, to comply with all HIPAA requirements. Voting yes: Pavleck, Adee, Hanson, Lepper. Motion carried.

2004/04-33 Motion by Hanson, seconded by Adee authorizing the following internal 2004 Budget adjustment: $1,000 from IFS code 01-030-010.6293 to 01-601.6293 to cover 2004 Extension Committee per diem/expense claims. Voting yes: Pavleck, Adee, Hanson; voting no: Lepper. Motion carried.

2004/04-34 Motion by Lepper, seconded by Adee accepting the recommendation of the Assessor to grant the following abatements: parcel #92-17-02040 for reduction in value due to clerical error and parcel # 15-50-00362 for calculation error in limited market value. Voting yes: Pavleck, Adee, Hanson, Lepper. Motion carried.

2004/04-35 Motion by Hanson, seconded by Lepper adopting the following resolution supporting assisted voting equipment for disabled voters but opposing the requirement that every polling place in Minnesota be required to utilize precinct based optical scan vote equipment as proposed in legislation:
Whereas, the Federal Government has passed the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002 in an effort to improve election administration throughout the nation; and

Whereas, HAVA provides funding to individual states for election administration and Minnesota's share is estimated to equal roughly $39 million; and

Whereas, the Counties, Cities, and Townships in Minnesota are given the authority of providing election administration on behalf of the State of Minnesota and fund the majority of election costs in Minnesota; and

Whereas, the HAVA law requires the use of an assisted voting technology machine that allows disabled voters to cast their votes in private; and

Whereas, the HAVA law requires that a voter be given the opportunity to correct a spoiled ballot prior to casting and outlines a number of ways a local jurisdiction can meet this requirement; and

Whereas, the federal HAVA funds should be used to meet the federal requirements in an efficient and effective manner that does not obligate any local unit of government to significant on-going capital or operational costs after the federal funds are used; and

Whereas, any bill that appropriates the federal funding should conform to the following criteria:
(a) Local governments should retain authority over decisions on how to meet the federal requirements the most efficient way in its jurisdiction.
(b) Purchasing of equipment from vendors who can provide certified equipment should be allowed.
(c) Federal funds should be made available to all counties for both the purchase of equipment and for the substantial costs in order to operate, store, maintain, train, and program ballots for use with the purchased equipment.

THEREFORE, the Koochiching County Board of Commissioners supports providing the assisted voting technology equipment required under HAVA for use by disabled voters. The Koochiching County Board does not support the requirement that every polling place in Minnesota be required to utilize precinct-based optical scan vote tabulating equipment as proposed in House File 1703. Voting yes: Pavleck, Adee, Hanson, Lepper. Motion carried.

000 Commissioners Hanson and Pavleck updated the Board with regards to ATV legislation from recent discussion with the county’s lobbyist and Senator Saxhaug’s Office. As last reported the House language for changes to the ATV legislation is most favorable for Koochiching County but proposed changes on the Senate side is still too restrictive for Koochiching County due to the vast amount of wetlands. Senator Saxhaug is looking for written testimony from area residents as to how the restriction on ATV usage impacts their property access and/or livelihood to provide more support in fighting for less restriction in the Senate. The Board discussed ways in which they could support the Senator in seeking this personal testimony.

2004/04-36 Motion by Lepper, seconded by Adee authorizing the Board Chair to work with Senator Saxhaug’s Office to inform the public of the Board’s concerns with strict restriction of ATV usage under current law and proposed legislative changes in the Senate and to encourage testimony from Koochiching County residents to the Senator demonstrating how the wetland restrictions impact ATV usages in this area. Support could include a letter to the editor stating the County Board’s concern with the current law and their concerns with the more restrictive position in the Senate for changes and request department heads to submit their written testimony as to how restriction of ATV usage for county operations would be impacted due to the vast amount of wetlands. Voting yes: Pavleck, Adee, Hanson, Lepper. Motion carried.

2004/04-37 Motion by Hanson, seconded by Lepper to approve application for a 2004-2005 Adult Mental Health Grant in the amount of $198,102 for each year to support mental health services in Koochiching County as recommended by the Community Service Director. Voting yes: Pavleck, Adee, Hanson, Lepper. Motion carried.

2004/04-38 Motion by Hanson, seconded by Lepper authorizing Board Chair’s signature to the annual General Notice to Control or Eradicate Noxious Weeds and to authorize a temporary hire of a Seasonal Weed Inspector at a reduced work schedule due to limited program needs as recommended by the Land Commissioner. Voting yes: Pavleck, Adee, Hanson, Lepper. Motion carried.

2004/04-39 Motion by Adee, seconded by Hanson to approve a Right-of-Way Permit to John and Mary Maish to cross and develop road access on any part of the east 33 feet of the NE ¼ of the SE ¼ of Section 7, Township 70, Range 23 to access their land with the condition that this is an extension of the constructed UT 281 and therefore is public access thereby allowing the public to utilize the existing and/or new reconstructed trail as stipulated in the permit and with the permit to allow public access for recreational vehicles on frozen ground. The permit fee will be waived due to area being retained as public access. Voting yes: Pavleck, Adee, Hanson, Lepper. Motion carried.

2004/04-40 Motion by Hanson, seconded by Lepper awarding the following bids as recommended by the Highway Engineer: 1) Hired Truck: tractor and trailer combination – James Kennedy and Tom Netland for Zones 1 through 3 and James Kennedy first and Tom Netland second for zones 4 through 7; tandem axle dump truck – Tom Netland first and James Kennedy second for all zones; 2) Culverts: riveted steel culverts to Johnston Fargo Culvert, aluminized spiral culverts to Johnston Fargo Culvert, concrete culverts to Elk River Concrete Products, concrete arch culverts to Hancock Concrete Products and concrete box culverts to Hancock Concrete Products for smaller box culverts thru 8’ by 8’ and Elk River Concrete Products for box culvert over 10’ by 9”. Voting yes: Pavleck, Adee, Hanson, Lepper. Motion carried.

2004/04-41 Motion by Adee, seconded by Hanson to approve a Memorandum of Intent between Koochiching County and the University of Minnesota Extension Service for housing the Nutrition Education Program in the Public Health Department with the county’s match of $11,500 for a half time or three quarter time (to be determined) Nutrition Program Educator covered by in-kind services within the Public Health Department. Voting yes: Pavleck, Adee, Hanson, Lepper. Motion carried.

2004/04-42 Motion by Lepper, seconded by Adee to approve application for an Underage Alcohol Drinking Prevention Grant with a proposed term of over three years to be used in collaboration with law enforcement and the schools for prevention of underage drinking as recommended by the Public Health Director. Voting yes: Pavleck, Adee, Hanson, Lepper. Motion carried.

000 The Environmental Service Director informed the Board that written confirmation was received by the MPCA on design changes submitted by the County for the Jackfish Sewer Project to bring per household monthly cost to $100 as supported by the majority of property owners by survey. The MPCA approved elimination of the equipment buildings at each of the pump station location, modification to the pump stations controls and the design change for the grinder station. The approved changes as stipulated by MPCA have no adverse impact and therefore require no further environmental review. Based on this information, the project is ready to proceed to public hearing where the changes and finances will be reviewed and that the public hearing will be a continuance from the December 2003 hearing on the project and is tentatively set for Tuesday, May 11, 2004 at 1:30 p.m. in the Courthouse third floor courtroom. The Director stated that $400,000 of federal grant dollars is still outstanding for the project and at this time is not considered in the cost. Though the federal grant dollars were approved it is dependent on approval in the federal budget. If approved, the dollars will then be worked into the project cost. The Director stated that the pending lawsuit on the project is scheduled for court in June.

2004/04-43 Motion by Lepper, seconded by Hanson to schedule the continued public hearing for the Jackfish Bay Sewer Project for Tuesday, May 11, 2004 at 1:30 p.m. in the Courthouse third floor courtroom to review project design changes and finances. Voting yes: Pavleck, Adee, Hanson, Lepper. Motion carried.

000 The Board Chair called for public comment at 10:55 a.m. Einar Sundin stated that recently television aired a rescue effort to find a man missing on the Iron Range where ATVs were being used to search and wondered if the ATV law, now or through proposed changes, will allow usage for search and rescue. The Board Chair stated that current law does not allow for this type of usage but is an issue being considered in legislation change. However, this is another good example of what is wrong with the ATV law. No other comment was provided.

2004/04-44 Motion by Adee, seconded by Lepper to adjourn the meeting at 10:55 a.m. Voting yes: Pavleck, Adee, Hanson, Lepper. Motion carried.