At the April 23 Fillmore County Board meeting, Lynn Mensink and Jim Wolter reported on the impact Semcac continues to have on the county. Commissioner Mitch Lentz was absent.
Semcac has been providing services for 53 years, established as a private non-profit organization in 1966. It is the designated community action organization for seven counties: Dodge, Fillmore, Freeborn, Houston, Mower, Steele, and Winona. It also provides services in an additional five counties. Its main office is in Rushford.
Semcac is funded with private, federal, and public dollars which it invests back into communities. Programs include senior nutrition, energy assistance, weatherization, housing rehab loans, Head Start and Early Head Start, outreach and emergency support programs, family planning, senior and care giver advocacy, and transportation.
The only Head Start center/classroom in Fillmore County is in Preston. There is also Early Head Start in homes for children one to three years old. Mensink said 46 children are in the Head Start program. Commissioner Randy Dahl said the Head Start programs in schools have been reduced due to lack of funding.
Chairman Duane Bakke asked about public transit (Rolling Hills Transit). The bus service is available in Chatfield, Ostrander, Rushford, Spring Valley, and Wykoff. Anyone can ride the buses, but they are used primarily for medical appointments, groceries, and senior dining. Bakke questioned why there is not bus service in other cities in the county. Are the needs of these cities being met? Dahl commented that we do what we can until the money runs out.
Bakke noted 5% of households use the food shelf and 5-10% of households take advantage of energy assistance. He said this is concerning, adding there are probably twice as many that would be eligible. Mensink said some that would qualify decide not to use the programs as they believe there are others that need the assistance more.
Wolter explained volunteers are a huge part of what we do. In 2018, volunteers contributed 72,629 hours to Semcac programs.
Other business in brief
•Feedlot Officer Mike Frauenkron reviewed the 2018 feedlot officer annual report. The MPCA does an annual review. Frauenkron noted that the number of registered feedlots in the county is declining. Approval was given to sign the report.
At a recent annual convention of the Minnesota Association of County Feedlot Officers, Frauenkron was honored with the Tina Rosenstein Award for his dedicated service and commitment to Minnesota livestock producers and the public.
•An access permit for a new driveway for access to County Road 117 from a new building site was approved for Joseph Mitchell, section 32, Fountain Township.
•County Engineer Ron Gregg said there was only one bidder for the reconditioning project on County Road 115 between Highway 52 and CSAH 21. Rochester Sand and Gravel was awarded the project with a bid of $1,139,564.74. A full depth reclamation and blacktopping is planned. The engineer’s estimate for the project was $1,137,559.45. The Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) funding will be used for this project.
Gregg is working on a report that will detail the state of the county’s infrastructure.
•A resolution was approved to terminate the Southeast Minnesota Water Resources Board Joint Powers Agreement. Bakke who has served on the board explained local planning has moved to the state’s One Watershed One Plan model. Members on the Resources board voted 7-2 to disband. A two-thirds vote of 10 county members was necessary to disband. Each member county will consider the resolution to disband. Bakke said the Resources Board has been in place 35 to 40 years, but grants in the future will go to the One Watershed One Plan model.
•Currently, the county does not have an assessor with AMA certification. The Minnesota Department of Revenue requires there be a plan in place to have someone with AMA certification available by May 1. Land records director Brian Hoff is working on getting the certification. Hoff said some documents are pending that need to be signed by an AMA certified individual. A motion was approved allowing Hoff and County Coordinator Bobbie Vickerman to work together to find the lowest cost option to put a AMA certified individual in place until Hoff gets his certification. Options include paying an AMA certified individual from another county or pay the previous county assessor to serve in the interim.
•Colten Kvaling was hired to a temporary summer position in the highway department effective May 13.
•David Enright was hired as a replacement property appraiser effective May 1.
•A request to retire under the early retirement incentive program from Audrey Inglett, office support specialist senior, effective July 25 was approved with thanks for her 17 years of service.
•A request to retire under the early retirement incentive program from Kevin Beck, deputy, was approved effective April 4 with thanks for his 23 years of service.
•A request to hire a full-time deputy from the list of candidates, Jordan Heyer, effective May 3, was approved. He will fill the vacancy left by the retirement of Beck.
•Gretchen Schwichtenberg, merit office support specialist will be promoted to merit office support specialist senior effective May 3.
•A phased retirement option for Deb Jeffers, paralegal, was approved effective June 1. Kristina Kohn, Human Services, said this is the first phased retirement that has been brought forward. It will be a one year contract. Jeffers was currently working full-time and with the one year contract will work half-time. There was discussion about developing a policy for phased retirement. In nine months the one year contract will be reviewed.
•Minnesota is the only state that has not approved election funding. This should be a non-partisan issue. It was noted Governor Walz has requested a clean bill.
•Members of Law Enforcement Labor Services, Inc. (LELS) were present to negotiate law enforcement contracts.
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