New Management Company at Wildcat Park

The Houston County Commissioners held their regularly scheduled meeting at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, March 26, and unanimously approved an agreement with Wildcat Creek Management LLC to operate Wildcat Park for 2024.

Justin Rohrer and Jenna Knight are both principals of Wildcat Creek Management LLC. Rohrer, whose background is in construction, will manage the day-to-day operations, and Knight, who works full time as the City of Brownsville treasurer will be working part time at the park. Rohrer added that his father managed Wildcat Park many years ago and that there have been plenty of changes at the park since then. For example, technology has changed, making things more efficient like making reservations.

All five commissioners: Dewey Severson, Chairman Eric Johnson, Robert (Bob) Burns, Bob Schuldt and Greg Myhre were present.

The agenda and the minutes from the regularly scheduled board meeting on March 12 and the March 19 workgroup session were approved as presented. 

Chairman Johnson asked to “pull” item number 4 and number 5 from the consent agenda. Commissioners choose not to pull number 4 but did pull number 5, “Assign Rachel Meyer, currently lead jailer/dispatcher as the interim jail administrator not to exceed one year” from the agenda.  The consent agenda included the 2024 contract with Driftless Region Vector Control LLC, 2024 MN State Boat Patrol Grant, 2024 Federal Boat Patrol Grant, and 2025 Federal Supplemental Boating Equipment Grant, and the resignation of Randall Hongerholt, highway maintenance specialist, and begin a search for Hongerholt’s replacement. Chairman Johnson thanked Hongerholt for 23 years of service. The consent agenda was approved as amended.

Personnel Director Tess Kruger and County Engineer Brian Pogodzinski elaborated on the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the county and the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 49, before its approval. According to the MOA, both the county and the union agree that Maintenance Specialist James Sweet be paid a rate that accounts for his experience on the date that he was hired. Pogodzinski noted that during the interview phase, they encountered challenges in fully assessing Sweet’s qualifications due to his reserved nature, which hindered their ability to accurately classify his skills.

Pogodzinski asked the commissioners to accept the Statement of Qualifications from Bolten and Menk and to authorize him to negotiate an agreement with the firm. He agreed that this might seem backwards, but these are the required steps to apply for federal funds, which will be used for airport projects.

As he does annually, Pogodzinski appeared before the board to ask the commissioners to approve a quote from Icon Constructors, LLC for bridge maintenance on six bridges (28555 (CSAH 3), 28516 (CSAH 5), 28524 (CSAH 5), 28508 (CSAH 15), 28506 (CSAH 18), and 28535 (CSAH24) in the amount of $111,920.00, accept the low bid from Bruening Rock Products in the amount of $303,190.22 for shouldering, accept all the bids for CP 2024-02 aggregate stock piles, accept all the bids for equipment rentals, accept the low bid from Fahrner Asphalt Sealers, LLC in the amount of $57,280 for crack filling, and accept the low bid for seal coat. In addition, he asked the board to approve his request to order salt through the Cooperative Purchasing Venture (CPV). All were approved.

Houston County EDA Director, Allison Wagner thanked the commissioners for approving a letter of support for a RFSI grant application for Sno Pac Foods. If the grant is approved by RFSI, the funds will be used to build a 30,000-square-foot cold storage facility in Caledonia. What is unique about this facility is that there will be space that can be used by Houston County businesses for cold storage. This will be a huge benefit for small businesses as it will save them travel time.

In other business, the board:

• Approved the request from the Houston County Fair Board to build a lean-to addition on the fairgrounds at no cost to the county.
• Accepted a $150 donation from the Brownsville VFW. The funds can be used by the Veteran Service Office for the needs of any Houston County veteran.
• Approved a contract with Collaborative DesignGroup (CDG) for professional design services for upgrades to the Public Health area of the Community Services Building.

Discussion Items

• Discuss the possibility of Houston County having a county coordinator or administrator. (Burns)
• Board Updates (Board Chairman)
• Commissioner Reports and Comments

The next meeting of the commissioners is Tuesday, April 2 at 9 a.m. in the County Commission Board Room 222 of the county courthouse or via the county conference call line at (551) 285-1373 and enter meeting ID: 160 320 1413 and password 471739. Public attendees are requested to mute their line until addressed.