County Commissioners meeting May 13
Tue, 05/20/2025 - 11:15am
admin
By Darin Steindl | Farmers Independent
The Clearwater County Board of Commissioners met on May 13 with all commissioners present. Chairman Stuart Dukek called the meeting to order at 9 am.
After approval of the agenda and minutes from the last meeting, Clearwater County Soil and Water Conservation District board members John Gunvalson and Doug Sloan were sworn into office.
Emergency Management Director Logan LeClair was next on the agenda. LeClair reported that the camper and generator that the county had in the Gregory auction had sold, but he didn’t know yet how much they sold for. LeClair also reported that he had applied for a grant which was approved. The grant was for $15,000 and will cover a portion of his salary.
County Sheriff Darin Halverson requested authorization to promote Aimy Hoiland and Maiingan Johnson to full-time Communications Corrections Officers effective May 13, 2025. Two separate motions were made to approve the promotions and were approved. Sheriff Halverson then distributed copies of the fee schedule for 2021 and 2025 (proposed) for items the Sheriff’s Department charges for. Commissioner Mark Larson made a motion to adopt the 2025 fee schedule as presented. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Bruce Emmel and passed.
County Engineer Dan Suavé presented bills for the month to be paid, which were approved. Next Sauvé presented a resolution to support a Tribal Transportation Facility Bridge Program grant application for replacing Bridge 15501 on County State Aid Highway 35. A motion was made by Commissioner Bryan Ramsrud to support the resolution, seconded by Commissioner Dukek. Motion passed. The final item presented by Sauvé was a request to authorize the use of fleet fuel cards to purchase fuel for County vehicles and to use WEX Bank Fleet Card Services off the State Contract to supply the service. The Highway Department would administer the fuel purchase system, with each department receiving a monthly usage statement. Commissioner Mark Titera made the motion to approve authorization to use the fuel cards and purchase system, seconded by Commissioner Ramsrud. Motion carried.
County Auditor-Treasurer Allen Paulson presented bills to be paid. A motion was made by Commissioner Emmel, seconded by Commissioner Titera to authorize the payment of submitted invoices of $197,455.44 from the County Revenue Fund and $22,475.60 from the Public Health Fund. Motion carried. Next, Paulson presented a resolution making the County Auditor the fiscal agent for grant-in-aid funds received from the State of Minnesota for the maintenance of snowmobile trails by the Clearwater Trail Blazers Snowmobile Club. Motion by Commissioner Larson, seconded by Commissioner Titera to approve the resolution. Motion carried. Paulson then presented a request on behalf of the IT department to change the employment status of Jonathan Quant from part-time to full-time Information Technology Specialist, effective May 13, 2025. The request was approved. Paulson's final item was a request authorization to hire Travis Peterson as a part-time Abstractor at Grade 10, Step 1 effective May 27, 2025. A motion and second were made and the motion passed.
Derek Loiland, Maintenance, presented a proposal for work to be done on the courthouse to address a leaking problem. An estimate from S&Y Bemidji, Inc. (dba Davis Drywall, Inc) totaling $210,120 for the work had been received. After some discussion, the project was split into 3 parts, with parts 1 & 2 totaling $145,500 (which directly addressed the leaking issue) and part 3 totaling $64,600. There was hesitation by the commissioners to approve the project due to uncertainty with funding coming from the state that may soon be eliminated by the legislature. Commissioner Emmel made a motion to approve parts 1&2 of the project, but the motion failed due to a lack of a second. Commissioner Ramsrud then made a motion to approve the entire project, with a second by Commissioner Emmel. The motion failed on a vote of 2-3, with Commissioners Emmel and Ramsrud voting yes and Commissioners Titera, Dukek and Larson voting no. The project will be tabled for further consideration after the State Legislature convenes their session.
There being no further items on the agenda, the meeting was adjourned at 10:30 am. The next meeting of the Board of Commissioners was scheduled for Tuesday, May 20 at 10 am.