Commissioners Dewey Severson, Eric Johnson, Robert Burns, Teresa Walter, and Greg Myhre were all present on June 8, 2021, for the regular meeting of the Houston County Commission at the Houston County Courthouse. Chairman Burns called the meeting to order at 9 a.m. The meeting adjourned at 10:45 a.m.
Commissioner Johnson led the commission and audience in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Commissioners approved the agenda and the board minutes from the June 1, 2021, regular meeting.
COVID-19 update
“The number of COVID cases remains pretty flat in Houston County,” shared John Pugleasa, Director, Houston County Public Health. “There are 200 cases a day within the state. The county and state have a high rate of vaccinations. Fifty seven percent of the total population in Houston County has had at least one vaccination. The percentage of residents 65+ with at least one vaccine is 99.10%; 50-64 is 68.10%; 16+ is 69.50%; and 12+ is 66.50%, all very encouraging signs.” Pugleasa stated summarizing the COVID-19 situation in Houston County. “Things are looking good,” he said.
Closed session
Tess Kruger, personnel director, asked that the closed session be removed from the agenda. Kruger did not receive the necessary information needed for the labor negotiations.
Consent agenda
The commissioners approved hiring Dylan Felten as probationary appraiser trainee effective June 9 and accepted the resignation of Olivia Denny, emergency management coordinator, effective May 28, 2021.
The commissioners approved the State of Minnesota and Houston County 2022 Sentence to Serve Agreement.
After confirming that the three applications are for a Peddler’s License as required by the county for door-to-door sales, applications from Ries Bohr, Joshua Loso, and Riley Smith, Platinum Supplemental Insurance, Dubuque, from June 1 through June 30 were unanimously approved.
Action items
Commissioners asked a few clarifying questions of Amelia Meiners, environmental services, before approving the the four requests for either an Interim Use Permit (IUP) or a Conditional Use Permit (CUP).
•IUP for Mathy Construction for Temp Bituminous Plant in Spring Grove Township;
•CUP for Joe Baxter for a non-farm dwelling in Jefferson Township;
•CUP for Matt Welch for a non-farm dwelling in Houston Township;
•CUP for Will Gerdes to operate a farm outlet to sell milk/farm products in Caledonia Township.
Brian Pogodzinski, county engineer, submitted a quote for $9,007.43 from Heating and Cleaning Solutions, LLC, Onalaska, Wis., for a pressure washer for the new highway shop building. Pogodzinski also presented a change order request No. 10 from Weiser Brothers for the highway department building. This change is to provide an electrical vault (basement) below the main service transformer as a requirement of the electric utility company. The total cost is $1,570.00 and a 10% contractor change fee of $157.00 for a total of $1,727.00. One commissioner emphatically stated, “The electric utility company has us over a barrel.” Both requests were approved.
Discussion items
Chairman Burns reminded commissioners and guests that discussion items cannot be voted on. Next, Chairman Burns shared Houston County resident Adam Augedahl’s situation with fellow commissioners regarding his building project on Hwy. 10. There is an existing garage on the property which was built in 2014 that is located 1 ½ feet below the flood plain. The structure cannot be moved out of the flood plain. Augedahl is building a home on his property and expects to move in in November. The house was moved closer to the bluff to get it out of the flood plain. Originally the house was going to be connected to the existing structure and now it is not, which increased the cost of the project. According to Augedahl the building is a liability, and he has been paying for flood insurance for the last five years.
Augedahl’s opinion is that the county is at fault. Augedahl estimates that it will cost $19,000 to do the ditch work and $33,000 to refigure the driveway to get the existing building out of the flood plain. Augedahl wants the county to take the lead and work with the state and the county to redo the driveway and get it done this year before they move into their new home.
After listening to the discussion Augedahl expressed his opinion, “Ideas coming out of the county sound good to me.”
The Houston County Commission’s next meeting is Tuesday, June 22, 2021, at 9 a.m. in the Historic Courthouse, downtown Caledonia. The public is invited to dial in or attend via Zoom. Contact Donna Trehus, (507) 725-5803 for log-in information.
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