Commissioners vote against mandatory wearing of masks and self-screening at county facilities
Tue, 07/21/2020 - 10:13am
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By:
Karen Edelbach
The Clearwater County Board of Commissioners met on July 14 to discuss recommended wearing of masks and self-screening at county facilities; reconsider the Renewable Energy Ordinance; consider motion for Northwood's Riders plans to construct an ATV trail; and hear Veterans Service update.
Details of the Renewable Energy Ordinance hearing and adoption of the Ordinance is covered in a separate article.
Corona Virus: To help slow the spread of the corona virus, the Emergency Executive Committees recommended required wearing of face masks and self-screening of customers, visitors, and employees in county facilities when they met on July 13. When the motion to approve this recommendation was put to a vote by the commissioners, only two voted in favor of such a mandatory requirement, while three were against it, so the motion failed. Commissioners John Nelson and Mark Larson voted yes, while Commissioners Mark Titera, Dean Newland and Neal Illies voted against such a requirement.
Some of the reasons given for the no votes were a difficulty breathing while wearing the mask, and a sustained cough afterwards for up to two days. With the continuation of social distancing, it was thought this would be sufficient with the low number of cases in Clearwater County.
Those in favor thought wearing of a mask would be a small thing that could be done if it does protect from the spread of the virus.
Land Commissioner Bruce Cox brought a motion which if passed would have authorized the Northwood's Riders to construct and maintain an ATV Grant in Aid trail on the County owned railroad grade from Leonard to the Centerline Road.
"They called me and said they had some extra money and wished to construct the trail. They save us a ton of money by doing it," Bruce stated.
Much of the construction had already taken place before this motion was brought to the Board.
"We weren't informed, we had no input, and there were no plans before this," said Commissioner Nelson, who wondered why there was a need to pass this motion giving the authorization for something already done.
His main concerns are safety, dust and speed. "Just tell them to finish it," he said.
Commissioner Illies said his concern is regarding any group might think they can come in and work on something here. It was also stated that others in the past have been told no, and there would be an issue of fairness. Commissioner Newland said he knew of other groups that did not receive permission.
Bruce thought they were confusing the issue of work and consent. He said he could go finish the work, but pointed out the savings by them doing the work.
"This allows them an opportunity for us to see if they will maintain that trail," Commissioner Illies stated.
"I don't think we need to tell them no," said Commissioner Larson. "But it needs to be finished."
The commissioners concluded that the next step should be to tell the Northwood's Riders to come to a Board meeting. They will have to be put on the agenda to discuss the matter further.
County Veterans Service Officer, Lindsey Lamwers said that property tax exemptions have been completed prior to the due date of July 1, 2020.
Funds from an Operational Enhancement Grant from Minnesota Department of Veteran Affairs in the amount of $7,500, with $7,245 of that being spent. When the county closed its doors, the Transportation Program was suspended as of March 27; it reopened again on June 24th.
"The next grant cycle comes out in September," she said. "It will go back 60 days and will cover the cost of transportation." A proposal on how to expend funds will be available this fall. Donations continue to come in for the Veterans Transportation Program, with $1,010 in the recent weeks.
She reported that the total number of Veterans served at Outreach Events was 200 during the period from December 2019 to the present time. There were a total of 60 office and phone visits.
Overall, there were 30 transfers into Clearwater County, and 20 new Veterans transferring from neighboring counties, including Beltrami and Polk.
Current projects being done are to continue the review and automation of files along with switching systems.
County Auditor Allen Paulson was authorized to pay the submitted invoices of $206,241 for the County Revenue Fund and $12,809 for the Nursing Service Fund.
The Board passed a resolution for the submission of a grant application solicited from counties by the office of the Minnesota Secretary of State regarding additional efforts to make the election process safe, sanitary and effective due to Covid-19. Grant funds provided are for the purpose of protection of persons involved with the election process, including voters.
County Engineer, Dan Sauvé opened bids regarding supplying fuel for the county vehicles. A motion to award the bid will be done at the next Board meeting.
He received approval for payment of the Clearwater County Highway Department bills as presented in the amount of $38,540. Rental of machinery mostly for replacing culverts was also approved in the amount of $5,265.
Environmental Services Director, Dan Hecht received authorization for noxious weed spraying specifically targeting Leafy Spurge at a cost not to exceed $6,500 for 2020, and increase the budge by that amount.
All Commissioners were present at the meeting: Neal Illies, Mark Larson Dean Newland, John Nelson, and Mark Titera.