Solid Waste Administrator Andrew Hatzenbihler reported to the county board at their June 5 meeting that some residents continue to dump materials illegally at county recycling sites. Commissioner Gary Peterson was absent.
Hatzenbihler said the dumping is getting to be a large problem. Current policy allows for a $500 fine with a misdemeanor charge. Hatzenbihler suggested a harsher penalty. Commissioner Duane Bakke stated current policy needs to be enforced. He wanted to know if the fine is noted on signs at the sites, suggesting it needs to be.
The county has contracted with Stericycle to collect and dispose of medical sharps at the Fillmore County Resource Recovery Center. Hatzenbihler suggested the county accept medical sharps for free so people do the right thing when disposing their medical sharps. Stericycle will pick up the sharps when called for $130. They will be placed in 15-gallon totes, which will be stored in a lockable cabinet.
Continuing the contract with Stericycle was approved. Hatzenbihler was directed to draft a policy on medical sharps.
Hatzenbihler explained that the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency permit is out of date and inaccurate. Once the county receives a letter requiring the re-permitting be done, the county will have 90 days to submit permitting documents and to get into compliance. The 10-year permit expired in 2011. Hatzenbihler expects hiring an engineer to produce proper documents could cost $8,000 to $10,000. This would be a one time cost for the 10-year updated permit.
Bakke suggested he check first with Harter’s Quick Clean Up to find out if they have someone that could do it and what the cost would be.
Leasing agreement approved
Wong Nystrom, Senior Account Executive, Enterprise Fleet Management, and Chief Deputy Kevin Beck answered questions about the lease documents. Wong provided information on the replacement of four Impalas currently in use by the sheriff’s department. They are to be replaced by three police AWD Interceptor Utilities and one AWD Equinox. The annual lease cost on the four vehicles will be $32,160.
Bakke commented that the total outlay cost for the county will be higher. If you look at the history, quite a bit more. He admitted that this does not take into account any maintenance savings. Leasing does allow us to get the four vehicles this year. Beck noted it will allow getting four versus only two. County Coordinator Bobbie Vickerman added that it costs $5,000 to $6,000 for basic equipment for each of the three police vehicles. Beck made it clear that only new brackets will be needed to mount the computer technology equipment purchased more than a year ago.
There was discussion about the vehicle maintenance program. Nystrom said for $5 per month per vehicle the maintenance of each vehicle is tracked. Bakke admitted they have been trying to come up with a data management system to track maintenance on county vehicles. He asked if they could track the maintenance on county owned vehicles. Nystrom said they could.
The board approved authorization for the board chairman to sign the lease agreement and the maintenance agreement.
Other business in brief
• The purchase of a used Piranha mulcher unit for $5,000 to help maintain the county gravel road system was approved. The county has rented the unit in the past three years at a cost of $800 each year. A new unit would cost about $13,000.
• Approval was given for an agreement with KNOWINK for pilot electronic poll books to be used in the primary election. Vickerman explained the company is offering the contract at zero cost to let us see how the poll books work. She said they are easy to use and could eliminate a lot of errors.
• Approval was given for a resolution in support of the Southeast Minnesota Wastewater Initiative Program. Donna Rasmussen, SWCD, said the request for support is being brought to county boards; no cash match is requested. Bakke explained there is a tougher standard now to get grants; we are reluctantly expanding into a bigger area. Hopefully, all 10 counties sign this resolution.
A resolution with proposed amendments to the county’s agreement with the Southeast Minnesota Water Resources Board was approved. Each county gets only one vote. This amendment changes from two commissioners on the board to one commissioner and one alternate for each county. Another amendment is the addition of watershed plans as counties transition to adopt watershed plans to replace local water management plans.
• The Board of Equalization meeting will be held on June 12 at 6:30 p.m. in the county board room. The regular board meeting will be held at 3 p.m. on June 12.
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