REGULAR MEETING OF THE KOOCHICHING COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
Held on Tuesday, August 12, 2008; 10:05 a.m.

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

MEMBERS ABSENT: None

OTHERS IN ATTENDANCE: Pam Tomevi, Ryan Heinen, Phil Miller, Arden Barnes,
Terry Glowack, Doug Grindall, Richard Lehtinen, Dale Olson, Steve Blair, Dan
McCarthy, Louis Kurhais, Einar Sundin, Susan Congrave, Dennis Hummitzsch, Terry
Murray; Reporters Lisa Kaczke and Jerry Franzen

2008/08-01 Motion by Lepper, seconded by Adee to approve the agenda with additions and deletions. Voting yes: Pavleck, Hanson, Adee, Lepper, Briggs. Motion carried.

2008/08-02 Motion by Hanson, seconded by Lepper to approve the minutes from the July 22, 2008 County Board meeting. Voting yes: Pavleck, Hanson, Adee, Lepper, Briggs. Motion carried.

000 The Board received notice of the temporary hire of Elisa Green to assist the Auditor/Treasurer Department with the 2008 elections.

2008/08-03 Motion by Briggs, seconded by Adee adopting the following resolution for enrollment of part-time deputies in the PERA Police and Fire Plan:

WHEREAS, the policy of the State of Minnesota as declared in Minnesota Statutes Section 353.63 is to give special consideration to employees who perform hazardous work and devote their time and skills to protecting the property and personal safety of others; and

WHEREAS, Minnesota Statutes Section 353.64 permits governmental subdivisions to request coverage in the Public Employees Police and Fire Plan for eligible employees of police departments whose position duties meet the requirements stated therein and listed below.

BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Commissioners of Koochiching County hereby declares that the position of part time Sheriff deputy meets all of the following Police and Fire membership requirements: (1) said position requires a license by the Minnesota peace officer standards and training board under sections 626.84 to 626.863 and that the employee hired in the position is so licensed; (2) said position’s primary (over 50%) duty is to enforce the general criminal laws of the state; (3) said position charges this employee with the prevention and detection of crime; (4) said position gives this employee the full power of arrest; (5) said position is assigned to the Koochiching County Sheriff’s Department.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Koochiching County hereby requests that the employees hired as part time Sheriff deputies and submitted to PERA by the County be accepted as a member of the Public Employees Police and Fire Plan effective the date of the employee’s initial Police and Fire wage deduction by the County. Voting yes: Pavleck, Hanson, Adee, Lepper, Briggs. Motion carried.

2008/08-04 Motion by Lepper, seconded by Briggs to approve payment of the Auditor claims in the amount of $32,802.01 and to approve payment of the monthly County Board expense claims in the amount of $7,995.21. Voting yes: Pavleck, Hanson, Adee, Lepper, Briggs. Motion carried.

000 The Board was informed by Soil and Water Technician that he would be leaving his position with the Koochiching County Soil and Water District for other employment opportunities and wanted to thank the Board for the opportunity to work with the County. Board members in turned thanked him for his services and for a job well done. The Soil and Water Coordinator informed the Board that the Agency has interim plans to continue to service the County’s wetland and water management services under contract with Environmental Service until the vacancy is filled.

2008/08-05 Motion by Lepper, seconded by Adee accepting the recommendation of the Coordinator for the following 2008 Budget adjustments: internal adjustment of $11,866 in the 2008 VSO Budget for staffing changes; a $27,000 adjustment to the 2008 County Recorder Budget for staffing adjustments with an increase in 2008 revenue Budget of $17,000 and a transfer of budget funds from the 2008 Budget Contingency of $10,000; to transfer $10,000 from the 2008 Legislative Budget to the 2008 Budget Contingency. Voting yes: Pavleck, Hanson, Adee, Lepper, Briggs. Motion carried.

2008/08-06 Motion by Briggs, seconded by Adee authorizing the reimbursement of meals and parking expense for the transport of persons by the Sheriff Department from the Sheriff’s Petty Cash Account upon transport drivers submitting receipts for client’s meal expense and parking fees. Voting yes: Pavleck, Hanson, Adee, Lepper, Briggs. Motion carried.

2008/08-07 Motion by Briggs, seconded by Lepper to approve an Emergency Management Performance Grant with the Minnesota Department of Public Safety in the amount of $13,351.00 with a $13,351.00 county in-kind staffing match as recommended by the Sheriff and further, to authorize the Board Chair and Sheriff to sign said Grant Agreement. Voting yes: Pavleck, Hanson, Adee, Lepper, Briggs. Motion carried.

2008/08-08 Motion by Hanson, seconded by Adee to approve the election judge appointments for the 2008 primary and general elections as submitted and recommended by the Auditor/Treasurer. Voting yes: Pavleck, Hanson, Adee, Lepper, Briggs. Motion carried.

2008/08-09 Motion by Hanson, seconded by Lepper accepting the recommendation of the County Assessor to cancel leases and 2008 taxes for Severed Mineral Leases on Parcel #s 56-030-1100001, 63-025-11000002, and #63-036-11000003. Voting yes: Pavleck, Hanson, Adee, Lepper, Briggs. Motion carried.

2008/08-10 Motion by Hanson, seconded by Lepper to approve a two-day 3.2% Malt Liquor License for Brady M. Hasbargen for August 16 and 17, 2008 for the Birchdale Men’s Softball Tournament as recommended by the County License Committee. Voting yes: Pavleck, Hanson, Adee, Briggs, Lepper. Motion carried.

2008/08-11 Motion by Briggs, seconded by Lepper acknowledging the resignation of Lucina Phillips as the Koochiching County representative on the Arrowhead Library System Board with the Board to send its sincere appreciation for her service to the County. Further, to appoint a County Board member to serve on the ALS Board for the remainder of the term. Voting yes: Pavleck, Hanson, Adee, Lepper, Briggs. Motion carried. (The Board Chair appointed Commissioner Briggs as the County representative on the ALS Board.)

2008/08-12 Motion by Hanson, seconded by Briggs accepting the recommendation to appoint Steve Lindberg to the Convention and Visitors Bureau Board of Directors as the area retailers representative. Voting yes: Pavleck, Hanson, Adee, Briggs, Lepper. Motion carried.

2008/08-13 Motion by Briggs, seconded by Adee that upon advisement of the County Attorney with regards to the County Board’s requirement under Cartway Law, to re-consider the Cartway Petition filed by Thomas Jacobson for a cartway on property owned by Ronald and Delphine Nelson, Kenneth and June Henrikson and Milo and Kay Larson on Tuesday, August 26, 2008 at 11:00 a.m. in the boardroom of the Koochiching County Courthouse. Voting yes: Pavleck, Hanson, Adee, Briggs, Lepper. Motion carried.

000 At the request of the County Board, the Coordinator provided the County Road Vacation Request Policy which was revised in 2005. Though it was the intent of the Board not to consider road vacation requests that abut public waters, it was not written in policy and that the Coordinator has a pending request for a road vacation that abuts public waters and needs direction. A member of the audience informed the Board that the City of Ranier has a policy not to consider road vacations to public waters in the best interest of the public. Another member of the public inquired as to what the County does when private property development encroaches on public accesses. The Coordinator stated that in 2005 a process was recommended by the Survey Committee to inventory the county public accesses, determine the current status and its future public need and go through the process of formalizing the county accesses in record. But due to lack of county resources, this has not occurred. The Coordinator suggested that the County Board discuss this in the 2009 County Budget process to consider contracting the project work.

2008/08-14 Motion by Lepper, seconded by Briggs to amend the County Road Vacation Request Policy stipulating the County’s position to not consider road vacation requests that are determined to abut public waters unless the vacation is requested by a public body in the interest of the public. Voting yes: Pavleck, Hanson, Adee, Briggs, Lepper. Motion carried.

2008/08-15 Motion by Lepper, seconded by Adee to deny the Road Vacation Request by Maxine McEldowney under County Policy as the roads requested for vacation abut public waters. Voting yes: Pavleck, Hanson, Adee, Briggs, Lepper. Motion carried.

2008/08-16 Motion by Briggs, seconded by Adee to add the CSAH 43 Road Project to the agenda at the request of the Highway Engineer due to construction season timelines.
Voting yes: Pavleck, Hanson, Adee, Briggs, Lepper. Motion carried.

2008/08-17 Motion by Lepper, seconded by Hanson that upon receiving notice that the construction plans have been approved by MnDot for the CSAH 43 Road Project in the City of Littlefork, to authorize the Highway Engineer to call for bids with a bid opening on September 15, 2008 with bid results to the County Board on September 16, 2008. Voting yes: Pavleck, Hanson, Adee, Briggs, Lepper. Motion carried.

2008/08-18 Motion by Hanson, seconded by Lepper to ratify the Board Chair’s authorization to allow the Complex Superintendent to call for bids on the Courthouse Roof Replacement Project as planned in the 2008 Budget with the bid opening of August 25, 2008 with bid results to the County Board on August 26, 2008. Voting yes: Pavleck, Hanson, Adee, Briggs, Lepper. Motion carried.

2008/08-19 Motion by Adee, seconded by Lepper to authorize expenditure up to $11,500 from the Sinking Building Account for unplanned expenditures in replacement of ACs and repair of the Courthouse boiler as recommended by the Complex Superintendent. Voting yes: Pavleck, Hanson, Adee, Briggs, Lepper. Motion carried.

2008/08-20 Motion by Adee, seconded by Lepper authorizing the Environmental Service Director and District Commissioner to hold a public meeting on September 10, 2008 at 6:00 p.m. at the Ranier Community Building to review the result of the feasibility study for waste water treatment for the mainland going east from Tilson Creek to include the possibility of extending the sewer system from Jackfish Bay. The other commissioners were asked to attend to hear the public comment if available for the meeting. Voting yes: Pavleck, Hanson, Adee, Briggs, Lepper. Motion carried.

2008/08-21 Motion by Lepper, seconded by Briggs to approve a revision in the Benchmark Engineering Contract for the Jackfish Sewer Project for a rate increase of $8.00 per hour for the engineer assigned to the project per contract, effective August 12, 2008 due to the original contract based on services for a two-year period and is now going into its fourth year. Voting yes: Pavleck, Hanson, Adee, Briggs, Lepper. Motion carried.

000 The Board Chair opened a public hearing at 11:05 a.m. for the purpose of reviewing the proposed County Subsurface Sewage Treatment Ordinance and receiving public comment. The purpose of the Ordinance is to provide minimum standards for and regulations of subsurface sewage treatment systems in the County and that the County is required to adopt such Ordinance under state law. Environmental staff reviewed the components of the draft ordinance. In review with the Board, Section 3 (3aii) was deleted, Section 3 (3bii) was changed from 20 to 45 days and Section 10 (A1, A2 and A3) were deleted. The Board Chair called for public comment, noting no written comment was received on the matter. Dan McCarthy inquired as to who decides what is an imminent public threat as it relates to the ordinance which staff responded that the definition is set in the standards. Mr. McCarthy felt that education and training is a better means for public conformity to the standards and regulations rather than permitting and enforcement. Louis Kurhais inquired as to how the ordinance will be enforced and staff stated that due to limited resources, would rely on a complaint driven process, noting that the public in general has more focus on environmental issues than in the past. Mr. Kurhais asked what does a household do when an imminent threat is determined and the County shuts down the system. Staff stated that each case will be different as to how the County would handle a situation. Mr. Kurhais asked who is ultimately responsible for household systems when the household is required to hire a person to design it, install it and have it inspected. Mr. Kurhais felt the responsibility can’t be with the home owner as they have no say in the system in following the rules and regulations set by law. Steve Blair, with regards to the review of permitting in some instances to tract tank installations, stated that the MPCA requires the County to report annually the number of tanks installed which the Department questions why the installers are not required to report this directly. The Board closed public comment and agreed that since changes were made to the draft, to provide one more public notice of the availability of the draft for review with the County Board to act on the ordinance at its next meeting.

2008/08-22 Motion by Hanson, seconded by Briggs to accept the recommended changes to the draft County Subsurface Sewage Treatment Ordinance as presented in the hearing and directing the Environmental Staff to put notice out to the public that the final draft ordinance is available for review with the County Board’s intent to adopt the Ordinance at is August 26, 2008 meeting. Voting yes: Pavleck, Hanson, Adee, Lepper, Briggs. Motion carried.

000 The Board Chair called for public comment. Dan McCarthy thanked the Board for their investment in the Airport as vital transportation infrastructure for the County and suggested they look at options for out of county bus transportation service as an economical means of travel for the public. The Board recognized Einar Sundin with a plaque for this 30 plus years of service to the County. The Board Chair recessed the meeting until 2:00 p.m.

2008/08-23 Motion by Hanson, seconded by Lepper to renew the Medica Health Plan Contract for the Public Health Department for the term of September 1, 2008 through August 31, 2010 for reimbursement of health services as recommended by the Health Director and upon approval of the County Attorney. Voting yes: Pavleck, Hanson, Adee, Lepper, Briggs. Motion carried.

000 The Public Health Director reported that the Department is down a part time Health Educator, part time Public Health Nurse and a full time Public Health Nurse position and submitted a request to fill a full time Public Health Nurse position funded with the Local Public Health Grant, Emergency Preparedness Grant and non-county, non-homecare revenue sources. The Department currently has grant funds and therefore grant obligations it must meet and can not do so with current staffing levels. Board members referenced policy in that when the funding sources stipulated for the position do not sustain the position, the position is to end. In response to the question, the Director stated that hiring a Public Health Nurse rather than a Health Educator position gives the department more flexibility. In response to an inquiry from the audience, the Director stated that the position is a nurse with a Public Health Nursing Certificate. Due to budget problems at the state and to come our way, one board member questioned why the education/planning work could not be redistributed to existing staff and stated that with the home care service cases declining, nursing service in this area should have also declined.

2008/08-24 Motion by Hanson, seconded by Adee authorizing the Health Director to fill a full time Public Health Nurse Position with contingency that when the position funding as stipulated no longer sustains the full time position, the position ends or the Director comes back to the Board for reconsideration with new funding sources. Voting yes: Hanson, Adee, Lepper, Briggs; voting no: Pavleck. Motion carried.

000 The Land Commissioner reviewed the results of the August Timber Auction: 21 of 22 tracts sold in the intermediate auction and all 11 tracts were sold in the regular auction for a total of 18, 393 cords at a sale value of $478,761. The Land Commissioner informed the Board of the current audit being performed on the County’s request for Forest Certification.

2008/08-25 Motion by Hanson, seconded by Adee authorizing the Community Service Director to sign the State Rate Variance Request from ITA Bel Koo DAC for reimbursement for services from state dollars as recommended by the KCCS Director. Voting yes: Hanson, Adee, Lepper, Briggs; voting no: Pavleck. Motion carried.

2008/08-26 Motion by Lepper, seconded by Hanson to renew the Decker Family Care Contract as recommended by the Community Service Director and upon approval by the County Attorney. Voting yes: Pavleck, Hanson, Adee, Lepper, Briggs. Motion carried.

000 The Board set a committee session for Friday, September 5, 2008 at 9:30 a.m. for the Community Service Program review with the Community Service Director.

000 The Board Chair adjourned the meeting at 2:45 p.m.