County Commissioners Lerohl Sorensen retired and levy approved

 On December 24th, the Red Lake County Commissioners met at 10:00 a.m. for the final meeting of the year.

The meeting was called to order by Dave Sorensen and there were no additions or changes to the agenda. 

Treasurer Nick Knott was the first one on the agenda to discuss the Mutual Fund that the County purchased 22 years ago. Laws have changed over the years and the statues now state that government entities should not have funds in mutual funds. This has been mentioned in a number of audits to get this changed. It was decided to get into compliance on this issue  A motion was made to sell off 1/2 of the mutual fund this year and the other half next year, to reinvest and it should be all done in a couple of weeks. The motion was made by Commissioner Chuck Simpson and seconded by Commissioner Ron Weiss, carried.

The minutes were read and approved with no changes by a motion by Commissioner John Lerohl, seconded by Weiss, carried.

The County Attorney, Mike Lacoursiere came before the board with a request to add additional funds to his budget due to the shaken baby case coming before the courts soon. Funds will be need to cover the costs of hotel stays, mileage and expert testimony specials for this case. The money may or may not be depending if it goes to trial or if a plea agreement is reached. If the money is not needed it will be put back in the general fund. The commissioners agreed to add $15,000 to the Attorney’s budget if needed due to the case with a motion by Lerohol, seconded by Simpson, carried.

Before LaCoursiere left the table, Weiss had a question for him about how to change the amount of people on a board (going from a 7 to 5 member board), and how to legally change the number. LaCoursiere’s opinion was that a motion should be made and after it is approved, a quorum could be 3 to conduct business.

Angie Lundeen, the Human Resources person, had a couple of questions for the Commissioners on the advertising for the County Engineer’s position. Ads have been placed in the local papers and there hasn’t been any response. This position’s requirements are quite specific and needs a larger area for potential candidates. 

Lundeen had researched a number of different ways to get the job posting to a wider audience. She has searched out a number of no cost sites, such as JobsHQ and state job services offices. INDEED was also one of the free listings and they had called to see if the county was interested in using their headhunter services. The offer was that if their headhunter found a person and that person was hired, the fee would be 10% of the new hire’s salary.  The Commissioners said to keep doing the free listings and INDEED offer with a motion by Commissioner Al Remick with the second by Weiss, carried.

Judy Schmitz from Social Services was recognized for her 45th years of service. (see picture).

The bills were looked at and approved by a motion from Weiss, seconded by Simpson, carried.

Nursing Service appointments were approved with a motion by Lerohl, seconded by Remick, carried.

Committee reports were given by Weiss who had attended a public hearing on the Black River impoundment.

Simpson and Remick had no meetings to report on.

Lerohl had attended a NW Regional Development meeting where they talked about the many revolving loans they had out and only one had failed, siting the labor costs were too high and the company couldn’t make it.

Lerohl also mentioned that Gayle Flateland at Inter-County Community Council will be retiring in two weeks.

Auditor Bob Schmitz had a number of items to bring before the Commissioners. First was the annual bill for the Park Board which they receive yearly. A motion was made to pay with a motion by Weiss and seconded by Siimpson, carried.

A release of mortgage due to satisfaction of a loan needs to be  addressed with a motion by Lerohl, seconded by Weiss, carried.

The Year end Budget adjustments from the Attorney’s request (funds will come out of the reserve) was looked over. Motion was made to set salary grades by Lerohl, seconded by Simpson, carried.

Also the salaries of elected officials with a motion by Lerohl, seconded by Weiss, carried.

Motions were made for the following:

Approve the following county levies be adopted and ordered certified to the County Audtor for collection in 2019 as follows:

Revenues $2,383,344.00

Road and Bridge 625,000.00

Welfare 412,030.00

Total 3,420,364.00

Less State Tax Aids: 419,698.00

Net Certified Levy $3,000,666.00

Motion made by Lerohl, seconded by Simpson, carried.

Approve the 2019 county budget as follows:

Revenue $3,523,384.00

Road and Bridge 3,730,350.00

Social Services 1,638,107.00

Total $8,891,841.00

Motion made by Lerohl, seconded by Weiss, carried.

Approve the designated cash flow for 2019 in the following amounts:

Revenue $1,409,354.00

Road and Bridge 1,492,140.00

Social Services 655,242.00

Total $3,556,736.00

Motion made by Remick, seconded by Simpson, carried.

Next meeting will be scheduled for January 8, 2019 at 10:00 a.m. at the County Courthouse Commissioner’s room.

Schmitz mentioned that the system is not fair and it has caused his wages to not increase as it should and he would like the commissioners to look at this issue. He stated some comparisons and wanted it on record. The commissioners and HR said that maybe the Compensation Study will made a difference.

Schmitz also personally thanked John Lerohl and Dave Sorensen for their years of service. There has been some tough decisions to be made. Lerohl and Sorenesn both said that the 12 years have gone by very fast.

The meeting was adjourned at 11:05 a.m.