By Sara StrongRock County and the city of Luverne are trying to build bridges, mend fences, or as one council member said, "see the light at the end of the tunnel."They met Monday to set up a plan to address joint government ventures.County commissioners named Ron Boyenga and Jane Wildung to represent them in a smaller committee to work with the city.The City Council said it wasn’t prepared to name committee representatives or future agenda items, mostly because of Administrator LaFond’s absence.LaFond became seriously ill with E. coli last week, and is hospitalized in Sioux Falls. He is still in communication with city staff, however.In a different meeting Tuesday night, the City Council appointed Mayor Glen Gust and Councilman David Hauge to the committee, since they served there in the past.Both boards agreed to tentative agenda items at the Monday meeting. Administrator Kyle Oldre said, "We have six joint contracts together. … It seems that the assessing would be a high priority. We’re both hanging in limbo and we’re not too far from having to start next year’s assessing."Other priority agenda items are law enforcement, dispatching and the pool contracts.County Attorney Don Klosterbuer said, "Assessing is the most time sensitive, because it’s a practical matter of getting work done."Mayor Glen Gust suggested the county notify the city of specific agenda items and the city can come prepared to the next joint meeting, which will be called City County Liaison.County Commissioner Jane Wildung said she hoped the future conversations would be about the contracts and services, not about managing each other’s budgets.City Councilman Bob Kaczrowski said, "What’s in the contract affects the budget, but the budget isn’t a part of the contracts."Councilman David Hauge said, "Just know that when we’re talking about contracts, that we’re thinking about budgets, and we empathize with the county in the back of our minds."Monday’s meeting served to set a tentative date for a liaison meeting June 7. Commissioner Ken Hoime said, "It looks like the same layout as before to me," meaning the elected bodies used to meet regularly in the smaller committee sessions.Klosterbuer said, "Historically, the concept of the liaison has worked."
