The County Commissioners met on Tuesday, Sept. 22 in the Nobles County Board Room and using Zoom.
They started the meeting by recognizing Lori Winters, Account Technician, who is retiring, for over 29 years of service to the County and its citizens. They also recognized Tom Johnson, County Administrator; Bruce Heitkamp, Deputy County Administrator; and Stacie Golombiecki, Community Services Director with the August Excellence in Performance Award for their commitment in seeing the County through the Coronavirus pandemic to date.
First to speak to the Commissioners was Stephen Schneider of the highway department. Schneider was seeking approval to hire a new Ditch System Coordinator. Board approved. He also spoke of a 2021 tandem truck purchase. He wanted approval to begin the search for a new vehicle now so they would have an order placed as soon as possible. It would be payable in 2021 or possibly 2022. Approval was given to order a truck.
Sheriff Kent Wilkening put in a request for two full time female corrections officers. Three are needed, and they are down to one. Approval was given for him to begin advertising for the positions.
The County Attorney Joe Sanow’s office put in a requisition for one full time legal secretary. Approval was given.
It was approved to fill the lead position on the Facilities Maintenance Department as the present head is retiring.
The Lincoln Pipestone Rural Water Board was seeking support from the Board to move forward on a bond for loan refunding. This will not effect any Nobles County bond as the Board will only be supporting them, not selling any bond. The LPRW will be asked to attend the next Commissioner’s work meeting. The board gave their support.
Two change orders for the almost completed Data Center were approved. CO #1- move the location of the data distribution switch. CO #2 – the addition of two VAV controls so that the temperature of the room can be controlled from within. The change orders were approved.
BTU asked to vacate the alley southwest of the Panda House to install new HVAC equipment. The City of Worthington had no problem, as the alley was seldom used. The motion passed.
Jason Kellen was appointed to the KLR Board and Casey Ingenthron was appointed to the Okabena, Ocheda Watershed Board.
There was a discussion on transferring a 2009 Ford F250 truck plus a snowplow from the Public Works Department to the Facilities Maintenance Department for $5000. The snowplow plus installation would cost $6,383. This is expected to reduce the number of call-ins under the current snow removal contract for the Prairie Justice Center. Motion was approved.
The floor of the PJC garage was not sealed as part of the original project and is beginning to show wear. It was approved to hire Epoxy Co. LLC to do a 2 coat seal at a cost of $14,415.30 to be completed by mid-October.
A discussion was held on the snow removal for the PJC. It was suggested to cancel the sidewalk portion of the snow removal contract. Instead the County would purchase a L28 Bobcat with snowblower, bucket, snowplow and forks for year round use at a cost of $55,749. A typical bill for snow removal is $20,000 to $26,000 for one year. The funding would come from the building fund reserves. The Bobcat would be purchased locally. There was a big discussion as to who would make the call when the snow needed to be removed. The purchase of the Bobcat and accessories was approved with a vote of four to one.
The CARES Act program was brought up. Bruce Heitkamp reported that all local units in Nobles County were certified . 188 businesses had applied. Approximately $1,000,000 of the $2,707,733 that Nobles County received is spoken for. There was a discussion on how to use the remaining funds. Suggestions by Administration were to increase the funding amounts for small business assistance, start a program for non-profits meeting qualifications, Nobles Count COVID-related building improvements and communication improvements, assistance for long-term care facilities, food banks, emergency response, and consultation services for those impacted. After much discussion, Heitkamp was directed to reopen the application process for small businesses first. They agreed that the County’s communication abilities needed updating, but did not want to see this money used for that purpose. The Commissioners stressed to spend as much as possible out to those who have desperate needs. The priorities should be to take care of the 188 that have applied, reopen the application process for a tight period of time, then take a look at long term care facilities and the not-for-profit businesses that have been affected. The money needs to be used up by December 1 or it will be sent back to the State. The Board approved the reimbursement of $117,000 to the County for expenses of PPEs, cleaning and extra staff directly related to COVID.
The Board approved Joint Power Agreements between the County and the City of Worthington for management of CARES Act Funds disbursements. They also approved a Joint Power Agreement between the City of Rushmore, the County and the City of Worthington and a Joint Power Agreement between the city of Round Lake, the County and the City of Worthington. There would be a 2% fee to administer the funds, not to include the County match amount.
The Commissioners directed technology head Angelo Torres to gather information on updating the technology throughout the county buildings.
The 2021 budget was discussed. It was noted that the state is running on a big deficit and all state aid could be reduced. Insurance is expected to increase, no COLAs have been budgeted, and dividends were down. The Commissioners approved to set the not-to-exceed Levy percentage to 4%, equivalent to $15,290,091 with a vote of 4 to 1 (Ahlers disapproving). The Budget/Tax Levy Public Meeting is set for December 8, 20 at 6:00 p.m.
