Wayne Stenberg, Semcac executive director, and Cindy Vitse, housing coordinator, updated the county board on Semcac programs at the January 9 meeting. Commissioner Gary Peterson was absent.
Semcac has been in existence for 51 years and serves a 12 county area. Stenberg said their mission statement has changed to “Empower and advocate for people to enhance their self-sufficiency by maximizing community resources.” Many of the programs are aimed toward helping people stay in their homes longer, for example, Senior Nutrition and Caregiver Advocacy.
Over 550 households in Fillmore County received assistance with utility payments during the winter season and a number of households had their homes weatherized or received energy related repairs.
Forty-three Fillmore County children were educated at the Head Start Center in Preston. Early Head Start services where provided to 30 children and/or pregnant women.
HyVee and Kwik Trip partner with Semcac to provide additional food for 478 households at food shelves, located in Rushford and Preston. Programs are also provided to help people through a crisis and to help them more effectively use a limited income.
The Volunteer Driver Program and Rolling Hills Transit buses allow people without other means of transportation to get to medical appointments and other locations to meet their essential needs.
Semcac receives federal and state funding totaling over $8.5 million. It also receives local, private and other funding in the amount of $3.8 million. Stenberg thanked the board for their support. Semcac invests these funds back into communities to “strengthen our greatest resource — the people.”
Vitse reported that the Fix-up Fund program has helped improve five homes over the last five years. Improvements range from general home repairs, energy efficiency improvements, to accessibility improvements. Rehab loans for eligible very low income people have helped six homeowners in the past five years. There is no repayment if the home is kept as their principal place of residence and it is kept insured for the term of the loan. Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) has provided funds for housing rehabs through the Small Cities Development Program.
Bluff Country Housing and Redevelopment Authority serves Fillmore and Houston Counties and partners with Minnesota Housing. For people looking to buy a home, Minnesota Housing works with local lenders to get mortgages with affordable fixed interest rates, lower down payments, and lower monthly payments.
Rein Sand Pit haul routes
During the Citizen Input portion of the meeting, Bonita Underbakke, Holt Township, and Dale Forster, Lanesboro, spoke against the December 7 Planning Commission recommendation to allow additional haul routes for the Rein Sand Pit (Highland Sand) operated by Larry Thompson.
Underbakke insisted it will set a bad precedent to approve Thompson’s request for additional routes for the purpose of gaining additional profits for the business. The original route to Winona is still available.
Forster said the route approved in 2013 to Winona has not been used in the last five years. The Planning Commission should have denied the request for additional routes. He also believes the 22 cent per ton per mile fee is no longer sufficient to pay for highway damage. He maintained highway construction costs are up 30% so the fee should be set at 28 cents per ton per mile and updated annually. He insisted the board should be responsible to all taxpayers instead of just business people. He suggested fee payments be made monthly instead of quarterly.
Commissioner Duane Bakke, later in the meeting, noted the ordinance (736 “Excavating and Mining of Industrial Minerals and Metals”) allows for haul routes to be changed through a public hearing at the Planning Commission with the final approval of the county board. As to the 22 cent fee, County Engineer Ron Gregg did the math and stayed with the 22 cent fee. Gregg said there still is some life in these roads and the cost of a reconditioning project was considered.
Bakke added that the fee adds up in a hurry. Nothing has been collected or hauled to this point since the hauling agreement was made. Gregg explained he felt the fee should be the same for each individual road, even if the width of roads vary. He said he believes the per ton per mile number (22 cents) is a good number.
Other business in brief
• Gregg received approval for the purchase of two used message boards. He said they are valuable, as they can give the traveling public a heads up on the start of a project. If the county owns them, as opposed to renting them, they will be up for a longer duration. Funding for the message boards is in the budget. Two vendors submitted quotes. Gregg recommended going with Quality Traffic Control’s quote in the amount of $17,550. This was the higher quote, but the Ver-Mac units are only four years old compared to the second quote where the units were about 13 years old. The Quality Traffic Control quote was approved.
Brent Kohn, maintenance specialist, offered a revised snowplowing policy. Commissioner Randy Dahl objected to language included in the policy, “will not be dispatched at night.” Kohn explained the determination of an emergency will be a judgment call. Dahl insisted he didn’t want language in the policy that is open to interpretation which he doesn’t like.
Kohn said the new policy wouldn’t change the current decision making process, but could better clarify guidelines. He said he can’t have his people out 24 hours a day. He explained deputies have different interpretations of which road conditions are safe. This was the first reading of the policy. It will be compared with the current policy and come back at a later date.
• Kristina Kohn, human resources officer, discussed changes to the Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action policy. This was the first reading.
• Approval was given to pay the annual maintenance invoice for firewall appliances with the Barrier Group in the amount of $6,875. This was a budgeted item.
• The Fillmore County Journal will be the legal paper for 2018. It had the low bid.
The Bluff Country Reader will print the 2018 delinquent tax list and the second publication of the 2017 county financial statement.