The County Board met for the first time in 2025 on January 7. Auditor/Treasurer Heather Broadwater led the newly reelected commissioners in their oath of office. Mitch Lentz, district 1, Larry Hindt, district 3, and Marc Prestby, district 5 repeated the oath of office.
Prestby was elected board chair and commissioner Randy Dahl was elected vice-chair for 2025.
County Administrator Bobbie Hillery reported that the county has a Low Dose Cannabis Ordinance and a Public Use Ordinance in place. The draft presented is the Low Dose Ordinance with modifications included to cover both low dose and high dose together. It is a very in-depth draft. The draft ordinance includes reasons for denial of license or registration. The draft will be reviewed again at the January 14 county board meeting. The board may set a date for a public hearing on the proposed ordinance on that day.
Other Business in Brief
•Approval was granted to purchase a data processing system through Pro-West & Associates at a cost of $3,658.08 to set up the automated process to join tax data to parcels, as requested by assessor Kathryn Frette. This will allow an update of the parcels in the soils application with the current GIS data and the data from the county’s tax vendor.
•Sheriff’s office PSAP manager Jon Whitney explained the reason for a partial contract (nine months) with IES Vesta Phone Services for E911 services. The contract was due for renewal in July and is a partial contract now ending March 31, when Motorola will take over IES at that time. The partial contract including support was approved at a cost of $9,806.31.
•Jail Administrator Jamie Fenske explained the least costly option to fulfill the state requirement is to enclose TVs in cells with the use of PC Enclosures. The purchase of the enclosures was approved at a cost of $8,203.64.
•Approval was granted to pay $9,000 in dues to the Southeast Minnesota Emergency Communications Board for 2025.
•A revised fee schedule was approved as presented with the exception of Public Works/Highway. The commissioners had some questions about some of the fees that the department proposed removing. Each department had submitted recommended changes to fees charged by their department.
•The bid submitted by the Fillmore County Journal for the official newspaper was approved.
•The Electronic Communications Systems Use policy was approved with the change of $40 stipend to $25 stipend, saving the county $1,260. There had been no comments from department heads on the stipend reduction. The phone stipends for 2025 were approved.
•The advertisement for a replacement social worker was approved.
•Sheriff’s Office Captain Phillip Whitacre’s retirement was approved effective February 27 with thanks for his 28 years of service.
•Paybook #20 for the jail project was approved in the total amount of $383,070.73.
Administrative Items for 2025
•The per diem rate was approved at $45, no change from 2024. The mileage reimbursement rate for use of private vehicle for county business at IRS recommended rate, currently $.70 per mile was approved.
•The 2025 salary for commissioners was set at $28,900.49, which is a 3% increase over 2024.
•County Attorney Brett Corson’s salary was set at $152,600. Sheriff John DeGeorge’s salary was set at $139,482. Chief Deputy Lance Boyum’s salary was set at $120,969. These were increases of about 9%.
•An hourly rate for temporary entry-level staff in appointed offices was set at $15.20 per hour in accordance with 2025 non-union pay plan.
•Authorization was granted for overnight stays for department heads and division leaders to attend respective annual Professional Association of Minnesota conferences.
•Authorization was granted to use the county website as an alternative method to disseminate solicitations of bids.
•The 2025 delegates for the Association of Minnesota Counties and Policy Committee were approved.
•Approval was granted to set aside 20% of the balance of forfeited land sales to be distributed for acquisition or maintenance of county parks.
•The schedule for 2025 board meetings and Board of Appeal & Equalization and Truth in Taxation hearings was approved.
•F & M Community Bank and Magic Fund were designated as bank depositories for 2025.
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