November 25, 2019
The meeting was called to order at 8:30 by Commissioner Borner. Commissioner Berry and Commissioner Carlson were present.
Pledge of Allegiance.
Commissioner Carlson made the motion to approve the agenda after the conference call with the Department of Administration was taken off the agenda because the DOA wants to go back and calculate the Mill Levy’s and Tax Revenue from 2010. Commissioner Borner seconded the motion. Motion carried. Commissioner Berry had stepped out of the meeting for a phone call.
Commissioner Berry made the motion to approve the minutes from the November 18, 2019 meeting. Commissioner Carlson seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Commissioner Berry was supposed to have a Hospital Board meeting but was asked to not attend due to some private issues with the Hospital, but was assured he would be updated on any other information.
Commissioner Borner attended the Mental Health Center meeting. They are going to be getting the building appraised and are having difficulty finding another place to house the HUB.
Commissioner Carlson didn’t have any board meetings.
The Commissioners are going to be getting a device for audio recordings of the 3:00 business meetings to be available for review.
The work is being done at the Extension Office and they are hoping to have the roof on today or tomorrow, hopefully before it snows. There is nothing new on the Floodplain Violation, the new policy for claims, the accounting audit and there have been no changes with any grants being worked on.
Maintenance Supervisor Jett gave her weekly report to the Commissioners. Ms. Jett is going to look at the FEMA buyout properties to see if she can find any material to help fix up the shed used by the food bank. ServePro will be in to look at tiles in the courtroom.
Linda Yount brought in 3 ringed binders that contain old minutes from the Planning Board and Fair Board meetings for preservation.
Road and bridge Secretary Kenner gave her weekly report to the Commissioners. There are no changes in the #4 Road alteration or #60 Road. The Commissioners have a meeting with the County Attorney today to discuss if he will help with the #4 issue. They are discussing saving the BARSSA allocations the Road Department receives for a couple of years for fresh gravel. Blading last week was done on Fattig Creek, Eagle Rock, #4, East parrot, Horsethief, Four Mile, they fixed Stillwater and are continuing work on Johnson. Today they are blading Adams, Fattig Creek, Dean Creek and Chandler and repairing a slough and 2 cattle guards on Colony. The new snow plow they received from the Coal Board is being delivered on Tuesday November 26, 2019. The Road Crew thanked the Commissioners for the Christmas gift cards.
Daniel Main joined the meeting to observe.
Sheriff Lesnik gave his weekly report to the Commissioners. The stair repair at the Sheriff’s Office will not be able to be done until spring. Deputy Malenowski was promoted to Sargent last week. They are still working on a budget amendment for the Sheriff Department. They would like to get a sign that says “Sheriff’s Department” or something similar, for the building next year.
DES Coordinators Fisher and Harper gave their weekly report to the Commissioners. Per the County Fire Chiefs, they are shutting down burning until there is more moisture. The budget amendment/scope of work change is at the State for review and is expected to be approved and should take a few weeks. There were a few contractors that visited the buyout properties to put in bids for demo. Mr. Harper submitted a “purchase order form” to be distributed to departments if needed.
Monty Sealey met with the Commissioners to discuss 2 things. The first is the article Commissioner Carlson did that was published in the Roundup Record talking about the water project and water treatment facility. Mr. Sealey thought Commissioner Carlson should have talked to someone on the board before he did the interview. Commissioner Carlson told Mr. Sealey that he had gotten his information from Mayor Jones. The second issue is Mr. Sealey feels there were big errors in the mills levied for this year compared to 2018. Mr. Sealey wants it fixed or there will be a law suit and the Commissioners will pay the lawyer fees. Commissioner Borner thanked Mr. Sealey for the information he gave and that they are aware of the concerns and that they went off of the recommendations from the Department of Administration. There was supposed to be a conference call with the DOA this morning but it was cancelled because they requested information all the way until 2010. Documents between the Department of Administration, the Department of Revenue and the County are not the same and it needs to be cleared up.
Public comment:
Present were: Kathy Hollenback, Arlene Goffena, Sue Olson, Joe H. Stahl, Vince Goffena, Bob Price, Larry Lekse, Kelly Gebhardt, Ed Raastad, Robert Goffena, John Weatherly, Rich Durgan, Millie Phillips, John Phillips, Frank M. Goffena, Gary Eliasson, Clay Bedford, Kay Bedford, Robert Wayman, David M. Goffena, Paul Siewert, Ralph Goffena, Bruce Hoiland, Bryan Adolph and numerous residents that did not sign in because there was not room.
The topic was the increased taxes and mill levies. Commissioner Borner thanked everyone for coming and told them that they are working with the Department of Administration and MACo and they are going to go back to 2010 to get the numbers right. They will do whatever they need to do to get the correct numbers and figure something out. They do not know how long it will take but everyone is welcome to come to the Monday public comment time to see if there is a change.
End of public comment.
Commissioner Berry made the motion to review the Preliminary Access Plan from Fish Wildlife and Parks. Commissioner Carlson seconded the motion. Commissioner Berry said that before he will vote to any plan, he wants to know who is going to maintain and pay for the development of it.
Open the Demolition Bids for the FEMA buyout properties.
DT Inc. $205,645.00
Winkler Excavating $824,500.00
Donnes Inc. $595,000.00
WHC $505,855.00
Commissioner Carlson made the motion to take the bids under advisement. Commissioner Berry seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Commissioner Carlson made the motion to vote on adopting the updated Refuse District By-laws, submitted by the Refuse District. Commissioner Berry seconded the motion with comment that he had talked to the Mayor and several people have looked at it and they are ok with it. Motion carried.
Open bids for the Soap Stone Wood Stove.
Rose Snider $1,262.00
Jon Goffena $200.00
Andrew Harper $650.00
Commissioner Berry made the motion to accept the highest bid. Commissioner Carlson seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Weed Coordinator Beck met with the Commissioners regarding the spray truck. The Road Department is getting a new plow struck and she will need to move the spray truck until her building is done. Is it ok if she puts it in her personal garage until then? Commissioner Berry will ask the County Attorney and let her know what his answer was.
County Attorney Peterson met with the Commissioners regarding the #4 Road alteration.
Commissioner Borner and Commissioner Carlson did claims on Thursday, November 21, 2019.
November 7, 2019 Claims $199,617.33 Check # 66013 – 66126
November 21, 2019 Claims $343,066.93 Check # 66127 – 66257
November Payroll $125,417.44 Check # 23854 – 23880
Last modified: March 10, 2020