Date: September 5, 2023 9:00 a.m.
Place: Commissioners Room, Courthouse, Caledonia, MN
Members Present: Dewey Severson, Eric Johnson, Robert Burns, Bob Schuldt, and Greg Myhre
Presiding: Chairperson Severson
Call to order.
Pledge of Allegiance.
Prior to any motions being made Chairperson Severson said there was one change to the consent agenda: Approve the hire of Megan Engevold as a 1.0 FTE probationary Social Worker, C41, Step 2, effective 9/21/23, conditioned upon successful completion of a background check. He said the change was to hire the applicant at Step 2 instead of Step 1 because of experience. Commissioner Johnson said he wanted to make sure the County was being fair and consistent when hiring new staff and considering steps. Human Resources Director Theresa Arrick-Kruger said the applicant would be in charge of childcare licensing and foster care and had previous years of experience. Motion was made by Commissioner Burns, seconded by Commissioner Schuldt, motion unanimously carried to approve the agenda with the change.
Motion was made by Commissioner Myhre, seconded by Commissioner Schuldt, motion unanimously carried to approve the meeting minutes from August 22, 2023.
Public Comment: None.
Johona Harris, Tamara Wylie, and Craig Milkert from Collaborative Design Group (CDG) gave the final Space Utilization Report to the Commissioners. Two options for condensing space and better utilizing current space had been presented to the Commissioners previously. In one option the County would keep the current community services building and in the other option the County would sell the current community services building along the highway and condense County departments to fit on one centralized campus. Milkert said CDG had reviewed the numbers and come up with more accurate cost estimates. Option A was estimated to cost 8.3 million dollars while Option B was estimated to cost 7.3 million dollars. Harris said another option that could be looked at would be phasing the project and breaking it into smaller projects. Chairperson Severson thanked CDG for their work on the report. No further action was taken.
Bill Colopoulos Sr. Benefit Consultant from Holmes & Murphy along with Steve Sallee and Dale Walston from Southeast Service Cooperative (SSC) gave a Health Insurance Report to the Commissioners. The County currently received health insurance through SSC. Colopoulos reviewed trends saying high claim activity would continue at increasingly high cost levels due to general inflation, higher morbidity among patients, and high-risk care provider increases. He said some things could be done to try to lower overall costs including having specific provider networks and requiring patients go to their primary care provider before seeing a specialist. The County would see a 7.5% increase in health insurance for 2024. In 2024 a bid process could be used by the County to consider health insurance options for future years.
CONSENT AGENDA
Motion by Commissioner Burns, seconded by Commissioner Myhre, motion unanimously carried to approve the consent agenda.
1)Change the employment status of Public Health Supervisor, Jordan Knoke, from probationary to regular, effective 9/12/2023.
2)Approve the hire of Megan Engevold as a 1.0 FTE probationary Social Worker, C41, Step 2, effective 9/21/23, conditioned upon successful completion of a background check.
3)Amend the hire date of Matthew Kuehl, 1.0 FTE probationary Lead Jailer/Dispatcher, B32, Step 6, from 08/27/2023 to 09/11/2023, conditioned upon successful completion of Sheriff’s Office background check.
4)Amend the hire date of Derek St. Mary, 1.0 FTE probationary Jailer/Dispatcher, B23, Step 1, from 08/27/2023 to 09/11/2023, conditioned upon successful completion of Sheriff’s Office background check.
ACTION ITEMS
File No. 1 – Commissioner Myhre moved, Commissioner Johnson seconded, motion unanimously carried to approve a CUP for Paul & Joan Wiste to have a dwelling in the ag district in Black Hammer Township.
File No. 2 – Commissioner Myhre moved, Commissioner Johnson seconded, motion unanimously carried to approve a CUP for Aaron & Amanda Middendorf to have a dwelling in the ag district in Wilmington Township.
File No. 3 – Commissioner Myhre moved, Commissioner Burns seconded, motion unanimously carried to approve amendments to CUPs #417 and #418 for mineral extraction for J&C Farms in the ag district in Spring Grove Township.
File No. 4 – Action Item No. 4 was to consider approving the No Wake Zone Ordinance for the West Channel of the Mississippi River. Prior to any motions being made Commissioner Johnson asked Environmental Services Director Martin Herrick why a public hearing regarding the ordinance had not been scheduled for the meeting that day. Herrick said he was not sure. Commissioner Johnson said “we have been through this before”. He said a public hearing was required at the County board meeting before an ordinance could be adopted. Public hearings needed to be properly noticed prior to the meeting. Commissioner Severson said the No Wake Zone Ordinance had been worked on for a long time. Public hearings had been held in La Crescent and by the Planning Commission. Commissioner Johnson moved, Commissioner Myhre seconded, motion unanimously carried to table the matter until a public hearing could be held at a County board meeting.
DISCUSSION ITEMS
Commissioners discussed the 2024 budget. Commissioner Burns said the Finance Committee had met with most of the departments the week prior. He said each department had made some cuts to their budget.
Commissioners discussed recent and upcoming meetings including a Root River Watershed One, Southeastern MN EMS, and Jail Committee meeting.
There being no further business at 11:15 a.m. motion was made by Commissioner Johnson, seconded by Commissioner Burns motion unanimously carried to adjourn the meeting.
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS HOUSTON COUNTY, MINNESOTA
By: Dewey Severson, Chairperson Attest: Polly Heberlein, Interim Auditor/Treasurer
THE ABOVE PROCEEDINGS OF THE HOUSTON COUNTY BOARD OF COMISSIONERS IS ONLY A SUMMARY. THE FULL TEXT IS AVAILABLE FOR PUBLIC INSPECTON AT THE HISTORIC HOUSTON COUNTY BUILDING AS WELL AS AT THE FOLLOWING WEB ADDRESS: https://www.co.houston.mn.us/.
Publish 18