The Houston County Board of Commissioners was called to order on Tuesday morning, January 20, for a regular meeting marked by two public hearings and several important decisions affecting county operations and residents.
The first hearing at 9:05 a.m. was to gather input from the public regarding making the positions of auditor/treasurer and recorder appointed instead of elected positions. The second hearing at 9:10 a.m. was to hear from the public regarding implementing real property protection fees. There were no comments from the public during either hearing.
Chair Greg Myhre called the meeting to order at 9 a.m. and led his fellow commissioners and the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Action items one (making the position of auditor/treasurer appointed) and two (making the recorder position appointed) were removed from the agenda since Commissioner Kurt Zehnder was not in attendance. Action item five (search for a full-time appraiser) was also removed from the agenda because it needs to be discussed first by the personnel committee. The revised agenda was unanimously approved.
Minutes from the January 6 regular board meeting, and minutes from the January 13 workgroup session were both approved.
Consent Agenda
Commissioner Wright moved to approve the consent agenda, which included hiring Theresa Foellmi as a full-time eligibility worker (B24-Step 2) and approving the service agreement with ABC Woodland to provide supported employment services. Commissioner Schuldt seconded the motion, and it was unanimously approved.
Action Items
The board unanimously approved Werner request of a $75 fee for each property notice, consent, and request, as allowable per statute. Houston County Recorder Michelle Werner recommended that the board approve the real property protection fees of $75, which is the maximum amount allowed by state statute.
The Hiawatha Valley Mental Health Center (HVMHC) 2026 POS contract and rates for adult and children’s services were unanimously approved with a motion by Commissioner Wright and seconded by Commissioner Johnson. Supervisor Bethany Moen explained that there were no major changes to the contract, only changes to the fees. Commissioner Wright explained that HVMHC provides services that are critical to Houston County and to all the counties they serve.
Commissioner Wright said, “My opinion, we need to increase our efforts in public health, and keep that going, cause it’s, you know, it’s definitely something that is not getting any less of a relief in the area, and probably even more so, in the future, with different health care plans disappearing, and people’s healthcare costs going up.” and with that she made a motion to implement a search for a full-time Public Health family health nurse. Seconded by Commissioner Schuldt, the motion unanimously carried.
The board accepted a $200 donation from the Brownsville Auxiliary Post 6801 for the Veterans Service Office to be used for any veteran’s needs. Commissioner Johnson made a motion and Commissioner Schuldt seconded, it stating, “It’s nice to see those donations come in.” It seems like the donations are coming in on a regular basis.
The board reviewed the payments before a motion by Johnson, seconded by Wright, to approve them. The motion carried to pay the bills as recommended by Treasurer Carol Lapham. Lapham confirmed that the $1,212,625 payment to Ehlers was for the jail bond.
Announcements
Houston County Coordinator, Brent Parker, announced that there would be a public hearing on the changes to the Minnesota’s rifle law on February 3 at 6 p.m., and a public hearing on the auditor/treasurer and recorder positions on March 3 at 6 p.m.
Adjournment
With no closing public comments, the meeting was adjourned at 9:28 a.m.
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