Red Lake County Commissioners held Truth and Taxation meeting

On December 10, 2015, the Red Lake County Commissioners met at 4:30 p.m. instead of their regular day and time due to the Truth and Taxation meeting to be held at 6:00 p.m. on December 10th.

Commissioners attending were Dave Sorensen, John Lerohl, Ron Weiss, Chuck Simpson and Anthony Flage.

The pledge of allegiance was said by the members present and the meeting started with the agenda, which had to changes or additions. It was approved and carried.

Tanya Hanson from the Red Lake County SWCD was first on the agenda and was bringing a request from Enbridge Energy for a Shoreland Permit for some work needed to be completed. A motion was made and permit was approved.

Hanson also needed a motion for a Feed Lot Program for 2016/2017 which was also approved. She also spoke to the commissioners about three grants she has applied for and it looks like they will be approved by the state bringing in approx. $300,000 in grants. Before leaving  she introduced Matt Anderson to the board. He is a new employee at the Red Lake County Soil, Water and Conservation District.

Three people were put forward to the board to choose from for a position on the Red Lake Watershed District. Lerhohl made a motion for Al Page for the position, Sorensen seconded and Weiss abstained from voting. The motion was carried.

The agenda was moving fast, and next on the agenda was Social Services Director Kristi Nelson, who wasn’t at the meeting yet, so Environmental Officer Kurt Casavan, was brought to the table to report on the annual renewal of the license for garbage services. Only one applied, Sanitary Service, and a motion was made to renew the license for Sanitary Service.

Casavan also talked about the 2016 Ditch Assessments and reported that it would be the same as last year, as nothing has changed. A motion was made and was approved.

Les Sanitation is the company that takes care of the recycling, but wasn’t there yet, either, due to things moving fast at the meeting. Casavan mentioned that in the past Cal Eckstein said he would like the option of participating, but when contacted, they indicated they would pass at this time. Les Sanitation and Casavan have been negotiating and a price has been set for the contract, but need to wait for Les Sanitation to come, and at this time, Nelson from Social Services came, so Casavan was put on hold, so Nelson could present what the Social Services needed. 

Nelson needed a resolution for a contract and signatures. The County Attorney has looked over everything and a motion was made and the resolution was passed.

Minutes were looked at and one change was found and the change of an incorrect time will be fixed, and was approved.

Korky Kleven, County Engineer was on the agenda and withdrew his place on the agenda.

The bills were gone over and the board approved with a roll call vote, paying the bills.

Needing to get business done before the Truth and Taxation meeting, the board moved onto Committee Reports. 

Flage had attended the Extension meeting and a land rent seminary had been held. He reported there are 3 webinars in January, February and March also. Sharon Weiss and Curtis Nyegaard were evaluated.

Les Sanitation was next on the agenda at the set time and the discussion started by Casavan and the board along with Les Sanitation was continued. Sorensen asked about the bins and Les Sanitation said that people are pretty good with not leaving garbage mixed in, but on the few occasions it has happened, people don’t realize the evidence they leave in the garbage, be it an envelope with an address or a paid bill. Les Sanitation has only called Casavan twice and both feel they have a good working relationship. A five year contract is what they would like to set up at $39,500 a year, and discussion on possibly looking at additional items such as magazines or cardboard can be discussed at a later date. A motion to accept the bid of $39,500 was accepted and carried.

Committee Reports continued at this point and Sorensen had attended a Department Head meeting with the Union Reps. Insurance is one of the items being discussed and has not been resolved. Lundeen said that the employees could take it to a vote, but she hadn’t heard if they have decided yet.

AMC/MRCC was also one of the meetings Sorensen attended. Discussion was about broadband and a map of the state was displayed showing who had broadband coverage. The Garden Valley area is 99.9% completed, where much of the state is not. At Monday’s meeting discussed was the language changes needed to make the organization legal. A speaker from the Minnesota Pollution Control (MPC) discussed burning of wood. Sorensen gave his opinion and the speaker didn’t agree.

A Tri County Corrections meeting was also held and statistics were given, such as 1 in 6 children have a parent in prison. Children, when they go to visit their parent are visiting them either through glass or an ITV system. And if your child needs to go to the bathroom, your visit is over. 

Tuesday’s AMC meeting was about the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the Cadillac tax will slowly go away by 2018 and the Federal employee’s don’t have to use ACA.

Lerohl reported on the Regional Development Corporation meeting he attended. Not much was discussed, bills were paid. On November 18th, Lerohl attended the Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA) and reported that the Sale of the Foxtail Apartment in TRF is going good. Findings in the audit were about the section 8 area, and that East Grand Forks area is now part of the Red Lake County HRA offices.

Lerohl also attended a meeting on December 5th for the Board on Aging. There are 21 counties in the group. Other meetings attended were the Extension, Public Health and AMC.

Weiss had attended the Department Heads meeting and the other Commissioners attending had already  reported on it.

Angie Lundeen, HR Director, reported that a Full Time Deputy/Dispatcher had been hired and a Full Time Deputy/Dispatcher had quit. She also asked the Commissioners if it would be ok to get quotes on carpet cleaning for the Courthouse and the Highway Department buildings.

At 6:05 p.m. the Board meeting was adjourned and the Truth In Taxation meeting began. This meeting is required by law to talk public comments.

Assessor Nancy Ambertson reported the biggest increase was on agricultural land, at 15%. She has been working with historic values and is getting caught up, but is taking a conservative approach, so she doesn’t have to lower the values later. Enbridge and  construction in Plummer was discussed briefly.

The Truth in Taxation meeting was adjourned at 6:20 p.m.