County Board appoints new attorney, hears constrution bids, 2016 NS/ES Highlights

 

By unanimous approval, the Clearwater County Board of Commissioners appointed David Hanson, who was Assistant County Attorney, to serve the remaining term of the County Attorney office at their March 14, 2017 meeting. 

Attorney Hanson said he is very excited about the appointment, and added, “This is a wonderful opportunity.” 

As his first official duty as Attorney, he was authorized to seek a replacement for the assistant attorney position. 

County Engineer, Dan Sauvé opened bids from a room full of eagerly awaiting contractors hoping to obtain the contract for upcoming grading and aggregate base work in Clearwater County. Twelve bids were received and read; the bid will be awarded at the next board meeting. Due to State statute, the Engineer did not immediately reveal the recipient. 

“Funding for the project comes from our County State Aid Construction fund account, which is funded through the Highway Trust fund (ie mostly gas tax and license tab fees),” Dan Sauvé said. 

Director of Nursing Marissa Hetlund received approval to administer the Clearwater County Nursing Service quality improvement programs for the hospice and home care programs. Tasha Bakke is a new hire for a part time Home Health Aide and Homemaking position. With some retiring in the Nursing Service, Ms. Hetlund said they have been short of help for a while. 

She also received approval to hire Jesse Engebretson, LPN, instead of an RN, which was previously discussed. 

“She is a good fit, and will work in a part time position, which will be more than 1040 hours per year,” she said.  

The Nursing Service 2016 Annual Evaluation was presented to the Board, listing home care visits by skilled nurse, health aide, homemaking, or hospice care staff; physical, occupational, and speech therapy visits; health promotions, immunizations, diabetes, vision, and hearing screenings. 

Some of the Highlights from 2016 include the start up of WIC in Bagley and Clearbrook/Gonvick; babysitting clinics held in Bagley; bicycle and farm safety programs in Clearbrook/Gonvick and Bagley; Matter of Balance class in Bagley, with another planned for Clearbrook/Gonvick area in spring; Child and Teen check up programs; Maternal and Infant Early Childhood programs, and others.

The North Country 2017-2020 Joint Powers Agreement was approved by the Board, with Beltrami County opting out at the end of 2016. 

Environmental Services Director Dan Hecht received approval for on-call engineering services proposal dated Feb. 24, 2017 from Terracon Consultants of St. Paul. Services include water quality reporting for 2017, and work related to the 10 year demolition landfill permit renewal. Total amount of the proposal is $17,525. 

The 2016 Year End Summary & Highlights for Environmental Services was presented to the Board. It included 17 land use permits, 35 septic permits, 177 individual wetlands conservation contacts, 37 subdivisions processed. Revenue generated from fees were $1,200. 

Demolition landfill activity included 4,422 individual users during regular hours; 2,048 compacted cubic yards demolition waste; 78 tons of tires, 124 tons scrap metal, and 445 appliances shipped for recycling. Approximately $22,000 was collected in gate fees and sale of scrap metal and demo debris. 

Solid waste collection/disposal of 4,494 tons of trash shipped to Fosston in 2016; improvements to sites; and 104 tons of recyclables collected at Bagley and Clearbrook drop-offs. Collection and disposal of trash (not including recycling or salaries) is 56% of total Environmental Services Department expenditures.

County roadsides sprayed (149 miles); and gravel pit approval programs, as well as other items were also detailed. 

Family Homeless Prevention and Assistance Program resolution was approved by the Board so the program director can apply for grant funds. The funds provide assistance for one to two months of rent or mortgage payments for homeless families or those facing homelessness. 

Stuart Lien Manager of Information Technology will move the County to a different spam and malware filtering service before June 30, 2017 due to discontinuation of the State of Minnesota providing such service. He received Board approval to purchase his suggestion of the Barracuda Email Security Gateway 200, at a three year cost of $4,514.

A motion was passed to adjust MIS Department general equipment budget by $13,048 and the purchase of Windows Server 2016 Data Center Edition Licenses for that amount to replace two virtual servers that are now seven years old. 

Virtual servers replaced physical servers in 2010 in the County, and the two virtual servers now house 20 servers.

Sheriff's Department was authorized to accept the 2017 State Boat and Water Safety Grant in the amount of $2,845.

County Auditor-Treasurer Allen Paulson received authorization to pay the submitted invoices of $153,951 for the County Revenue Fund, and $17,316  for Nursing Service.

Commissioners present at the meeting were Daniel Stenseng, Dean Newland, John Nelson, Neal Illies and Arlen Syverson.