Commissioners get GIS presentation & Buffer Ordinance passed

The Red Lake County Commissioners held the Public Hearing for the Red Lake County Buffer Ordinance before their regular Commissioners meeting. There were a few persons in attendance in addition to Tanya Hanson from the RLC Soil & Water Conservation District and Kurt Casavan from  RLC Environmental Services.  The public hearing ended at 10:00 a.m.

The Commissioners meeting was called to order by Anthony Flage, Chairman. Eli Gindele, Red Lake County’s new Extension Agent was introduced to the Commissioners.

The Buffer Ordinance was discussed with points made that it is good that local control is given to the counties, alternative practices were accepted and that cost share monies have been given to Red Lake County to help offset the costs of implementing the new Buffer Law. Commissioner Chuck Simpson made a comment that because his constituents do not support this new law, he declines to support it also. A motion was made by Commissioner Dave Sorensen and seconded by Commissioner Ron Weiss, with a vote of 3 yeas, one no.

Minutes were approved by a motion by Weiss and seconded by Simpson as read, carried.

Committee reports were given by Weiss who attended the Tri County Corrections Center’s (TCCC) meeting. A proposal is being presented to Mahnomen County for renting out jail space at the next Mahnomen County Commissioners meeting and will be similar to Clay Counties agreement with TCCC. The meeting for Area on Aging discussed the financials and the sign up period for MNSure which has lost some of its funding. NW Regional Development meeting’s agenda included the loss of population showing demographics of the area, a Conflict of Interest form was signed by Commissioners serving on the board and discussions on trails and bike paths.

Sorensen also had attended the TCCC meeting and the Inter County Nursing Services meeting, whose agenda included budget, wages, increases and COLA, and discussion on Longevity Pay by the other counties. It was decided to adopt the Pennington County Longevity Pay.

Commissioner John Lerohl attended the AMC meeting in the Cities and toured the new Bell Museum and Planetarium. Lerohl also tried to visit with the 4-Her’s at the fair, but missed them both times he stopped by. Inter County Community Council Executive meeting was Lerohl’s next meeting he reported on. Bylaws were gone over and changes made to update the document. It goes before the full board for approval.

Chuck Simpson and Anthony Flage did not have reports to give.

Expenditures were looked at and the question from last month’s meeting on the cost of an eye wash station installed  for the Sheriff’s Department at their shop was discussed. Simpson had gone online and found a number of units for much less. Later in the meeting, an explanation was given why the Sheriff’s Department put in the eye wash unit they did. Motion was made by Sorensen, seconded by Simpson, roll call vote, all ayes. Carried.

Nominations are needed for Regional Development Corps and Katherine Johnson and Ron Weiss were nominated to stay on the board with a motion by Simpson and Lerohl making the second. Carried.

Corky Kleven, County Engineer came to the meeting expecting to have MN DOT Lou Tasa and other’s there to explain what the plan is for Hwy 222. Kleven called Tasa and there was a misunderstanding on dates. Tasa will be at the next meeting to discuss options for Hwy 222.

Jennifer Ward, from ProWest & Associates, who has been working on Red Lake County’s GIS system, gave a report to the Commissioners and a visual presentation. A geographic information system (GIS) is a system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present geographic data. They met with department heads a while back to find out what each department would like to see on the GIS. The presentation showed the public access links to the School Districts, Bridges, Parcels, an Atlas, and a interactive Map of the county. Also presented were the other layers developed for the county’s use only such as Ditch Benefits map.

Angie Lundeen, from Human Resources brought information on many different insurance plans and most do not have an increase. But there are a few that rates are going very high and Lundeen will get more information on other plans for the Commissioners to look at  before the date to renew. She will also include information from the Employees on what they want in their insurance plans. A committee will be formed to decide after all the information is gathered to decide on the best options.

Auditor Bob Schmitz had some information on the State Auditor’s situation regarding county audits. A letter was drafted to be sent. 

The next meeting is scheduled for September 26th at 10:00 a.m. in the Red Lake County Courthouse.