County Coordinator Bobbie Vickerman lead the discussion about the need to purchase new servers at the county board’s August 23 meeting. Commissioner Mitch Lentz was absent.
During the review of the Information Systems (IS) budget Vickerman recommended a $205,000 increase for 2017 in the equipment purchase budget. The additional funding would be used to purchase switches and four servers. She said the Technology Committee has been discussing how they can move forward and not go backward.
Chairman Marc Prestby said they have been putting a Band-Aid on the system for years; it is catching up with us. He said there is no support for servers when they get so old (2003).
Vickerman requested approval this day for the purchase of Datapac ($27,554), two batteries ($1,138) and labor for server transition ($8,640). Information Systems will forego computer replacements this year, so there will be enough money in the 2016 budget. There are also funds available that have not been spent that had been budgeted for an IS intern.
County Engineer Ron Gregg encouraged approval, describing a situation where data has been lost which they haven’t been able to recover. The three above purchases from Marco were approved.
Vickerman also discussed two options to increase tech support in the coming year. One possibility is managed IT services, which would also help the county look at future plans for the county’s computer system, costing about $100,000. These services would include tech support mostly via telephone. The second option is to hire two additional tech employees.
Numerous other proposed budgets were reviewed with very few changes from last year. Vickerman said there will be a $70,000 increase in County Program Aid (CPA).
Donna Rasmussen presented her department’s budget with the same appropriation request of $215,000 from the county. An increase of $2,000 is proposed for county match for buffer law administration. Commissioner Duane Bakke said SWCD is doing the work for the buffer law and the county’s shoreland ordinance.
Jennifer Ronnenberg reported that the Water Quality budget is unchanged from 2016. Funds for water quality support drinking water testing for bacteria and nitrates.
Community Services and the Sheriff Department will present their proposed budgets at the first two meetings in September.
Request for proposals
Solid waste administrator Jon Martin asked the board to consider approving a Request for Proposals for transportation and disposal of solid waste from the Fillmore County Resource Recovery Center.
Also discussed were the six rural sites that have bins for recyclables, including Spring Valley, Cherry Grove, Canton, Peterson, Chatfield, and Amherst. All of these collection sites are at county shops except Amherst, where there have been some complaints of dumping non-recyclable junk.
A temporary agreement with Waste Management was approved on May 24 that extended the WM contract to October 31.
Approval was given to send out the RFP pending county attorney review and approval. Proposals are to be opened and considered on September 19 and the start date of a new contract is to be November 1.
Other business in brief
• Vickerman reported that the county had received a $101,677 dividend from Minnesota Counties Insurance Trust. In the past, the MCIT dividend has been put into the Infrastructure Fund. Bakke noted this is profit sent back by the MCIT board. Vickerman explained that the fewer workman compensation and liability claims that are made, the more profit MCIT has to send back. Approval was given to put the dividend into the Infrastructure Fund.
• Chief Deputy Tony Weber asked that they be allowed to begin the process to establish a full time jailer eligibility list. The department is down one jailer at this time. There are three part-time jailers. Interviews for part-time jailers will be conducted next week. If none are interested in a full-time position, the process requested will begin.
A resolution was adopted for the Toward Zero Death grant agreement with the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. The grant allows for additional traffic safety enforcement from October to September 30, 2017. Officers enforce laws pertaining to impaired driving, speed, distracted driving, and seat belt use.
• Zoning administrator Cristal Adkins explained that the county has the option of opting out of the newly enacted legislation (MN statute, section 394.307) which allows for Temporary Health care Dwellings or “granny pods.” The board voted unanimously to opt out, which means the county ordinances in place will apply.
• Gregg recommended approval and received approval for a bid of $503,023 from Rochester Sand and Gravel for the CSAH 15 resurfacing project. The bid is 5% over the engineer’s estimate.
Gregg recommended approval and received approval of the low bid of $206,044 from Midwest Contracting LLC for the Pilot Mound Township bridge replacement on Hook Lane. This bid was 20% under the engineer’s estimate.
Bakke reported that two bridges have been completed on the CSAH 1 project. He credited Gregg with his resourcefulness in going after the grants totaling $500,000 that were leftover 2015 funds in the Minnesota State Transportation Fund. The 2016 legislative session failed to produce a transportation and bonding bill which would have provided expected funds for bridges.
Commissioner Randy Dahl said when the legislature fails on these bills it pushes everything back. It makes huge differences in our ability to get more road work done that we know needs to be done.
• A request to hire Samantha Drogemuller as a Home Health Aide effective August 26 was approved.
• Approval was given to advertise for a Public Health Nurse or Social Worker for Public Health to work with an expanded caseload related to MnChoices and Community Alternatives for Disabled Individuals (CADI) waivers. Jessica Erickson, Public Health, said the waiver clients have increased by 29 over the past two years. Current staff have a full caseload of 40-60 clients. The additional employee cost will mostly be paid for with revenue from insurance payments for client services.
• Bakke reported that commissioner Lentz (who was absent) has argued that the county should put in broadband infrastructure on every reconstruction road project the county does in the future. The county is working on the reconstruction of CSAH 1. Bakke said the Highway Committee, which he serves on, did not recommend using county dollars for conduits or fiber installation. Bakke recommended contacting private companies and letting them know they have the right to lay infrastructure when the county is working on reconstruction of a roadway.
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