The Houston County Board of Commissioners unanimously declared a state of emergency for damages resulting from the July 2 storms during its meeting on July 7.
Houston County Emergency Management Director Mark Olson informed the board that the declaration is the first step toward qualifying for state disaster assistance.
According to Olson, the county must sustain at least $45,788.49 in damages to qualify for state funding. In addition, each individual project or state entity within the county must incur at least $4,100 in expenses. If the disaster qualifies at the state level, the state reimburses 75% of eligible costs, with the entity responsible for the remaining 25%.
To qualify for federal disaster assistance, Houston County would need to have $91,576.98 in damages. However, statewide damage would have to exceed $11 million before federal assistance through FEMA could be considered.
“I don’t have any numbers from across the state that are approaching that very closely,” Olson said.
Current damage estimates include Houston County Highway Department, $500,000; Houston County Community Services Building, $20,000; Caledonia Township, $260,000; Crooked Creek Township, $25,000; Wilmington Township, $100,000; Mayville Township, $45,000.
Olson said he received damage reports from only five of the 17 townships.
Houston County Engineer Brian Pogodzinski informed the board that “most of the damage is on the southern third of the county.”
Commissioner Eric Johnson gave a shoutout to Environmental Services Director Amelia Meiners and her office for opening an additional drop site in Caledonia on Monday to help residents dispose of water-damaged items from their flooded basements.
Houston resident John Haines addressed remarks made by Commissioner Johnson at a previous commission meeting. According to Haines, Johnson stated that quarry sand is lime sand. After reviewing his college and high school textbooks, he confirmed that quarry sand is classified by its size rather than the material it is composed of.
He again strongly encouraged the board to consider a moratorium on sand mines.
Commissioner Johnson addressed the comments made by Haines. Johnson recalls saying that crushed stone is lime screening which is used in fields and as based material in a lot of projects. He also said that the county previously had a two-year moratorium on sand mining, and he does not understand the need for another. He also believes that the current ordinance is well written, although he acknowledged that others may disagree.
Chairman Myhre called the meeting to order at 9 a.m., followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Commissioners approved the revised agenda and the minutes from the June 23 commission meeting.
Commissioners in attendance include Cindy Wright, Eric Johnson, Bob Schuldt, and Greg Myhre. Commissioner Kurt Zehnder was not in attendance.
Commissioners unanimously approved the consent agenda, which included:
•Transferring Michelle Burt to a full-time Environmental Services specialist position.
•Transferring Leigh Goetzinger to a full-time child support officer position.
•Hiring Sarah Brown as a full-time child support officer.
•Hiring Alyssa Boardman as a full-time eligibility worker.
•Authorizing recruitment for a full-time financial assistance, child support enforcement aide and a full-time Public Health, home and community based services social worker.
•Accepting the resignation of Sue Felten.
•Approving payment of the bills totaling $560,970.09
The board unanimously approved the request to submit a letter of commitment for the county’s Age-Friendly designation. The designation recognizes efforts to make communities more livable for older residents.
The board also approved a final payment of $1,568.71 to Phillips Outdoor Services for airport fencing. The total project cost was $31,374.30, with most of the expense covered through state funding.
Commissioners accepted Bob Burns’ resignation from the Semcac board. Johnson volunteered to fill the vacancy, and the board approved the appointment. Wright also noted that volunteers are needed at the local food shelf.
Commissioner Schuldt shared that he and Commissioner Myhre met in Brownsville with MnDOT and Pogodzinski to discuss the realignment of County Road 3 to Highway 26. They reviewed four different plans that had been developed with the city.
“They’re getting it narrowed down to one where it’s more of a realignment of the intersection, with an acceleration lane, and a little bit longer entrance lane,” Schuldt said. The city is pretty happy with the proposed changes.
There being no closing public comments; the meeting was adjourned at 9:59 a.m.
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