Rock County Commissioners
meet Oct. 18
Herreid Board Room 9:00 A.M.
Rock County Courthouse Oct. 18, 2022
The meeting was called to order by the Chair with Commissioners Overgaard, Thompson, Burger and Williamson present. Also in attendance were Administrator Kyle Oldre, Deputy Administrator Susan Skattum, County Attorney Jeff Haubrich and Star-Herald Reporter Mavis Fodness.
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by those in attendance.
Motion by Burger, seconded by Overgaard, to approve the October 18, 2022,
County Board Agenda, declared carried on a voice vote.
Motion by Williamson, seconded by Overgaard, to approve the October 04, 2022,
County Board minutes, declared carried on a voice vote.
Motion by Williamson, seconded by Thompson, to call a Public Hearing
to order at 9:03 A.M., declared carried on a voice vote.
Terry Gray, Herb N’Legend Business Owner, made the following comments regarding the proposed ordinance: Minnesota law is more restrictive that the Federal law, thus why the need for an ordinance; amend the Tobacco Ordinance to incorporate language regulating the sale of hemp products, requested the language in Section 7 be modified to reflect “a licensed product”.
Tim Jungers, attendee also supported Gray’s comments.
Christina Perez, attendee also supported Gray’s comments.
Ann Orren, Community Public Health Supervisor, stated that legislation and
regulations regarding Hemp are likely to change frequently, thus would
be the reasoning for a separate ordinance.
Motion by Burger, seconded by Overgaard, to close the Public Hearing at
9:38 A.M., declared carried on a voice vote.
The County Board was in receipt of a resolution adopting an ordinance regulating the sale of Hemp Derived Products. After considerable discussion, motion by Overgaard to table action of the adoption of the ordinance; motion was seconded by Burger and declared carried on a 4-1 vote with Commissioner Reisch voting nay.
Ann Orren, Community Public Health Supervisor, presented information regarding the Minnesota Opioid Settlement. Rock County’s expected portion of the settlement is $453,668.98 paid directly to the county over the course of 18 years and Johnson & Johnson payments over 9 years. Public Health departments shall serve as the lead agency and Chief Strategist to identify, collaborate, and respond to local issues. Motion by Burger, seconded by Thompson, to designate SWHHS/Public Health to manage the compliance of the settlement funds, declared carried on a voice vote.
Eric Sage, Rock County Opportunities Director, introduced himself
to the County Board and stated he looks forward to his new role as the
Director as Rock County Opportunities.
Mark Sehr, Engineer, requested approval of the final payment of $168,657.39 to Central Specialties, Inc. for the 2021 Bituminous Overlay projects; motion by Burger, seconded by Overgaard, to approve, declared carried on a voice vote.
The Engineer also requested approval of the final payment of $19,204.52 to Henning Construction Company for the 2021 Box Culvert projects; motion by Overgaard, seconded by Thompson, to approve, declared carried on a voice vote.
Commissioner Overgaard extended a thank you to Sehr on behalf of Walleye Wind for his efforts with the project; the County Board thanked Sehr as well.
Ashley Kurtz, Auditor/Treasurer, presented claims which reflected a claim payable to Midway Ford Co. for a 2022 Ford 250 pickup that was purchased from the state bid; the Administrator requested that the pickup be purchased for Building & Maintenance and recommended payment from reserves. Motion by Williamson, seconded by Overgaard, to authorize the purchase of $39,700 for Building Maintenance and to pay the expenditure from Reserves, declared carried on a voice vote.
Motion by Overgaard, seconded by Thompson, to pay the claims, declared carried on a unanimous vote. A complete listing the claims is available at the Auditor/Treasurer’s office.
OCTOBER 18, 2022 CLAIMS OVER $2,000
A & B BUSINESS INC $5,251.74
CHS INC 52,124.74
COUNTIES PROVIDING TECHNOLOGY 6,755.00
ERICKSON ENGINEERING 13,603.50
FIDLAR TECHNOLOGIES INC 2,138.41
FLEET SERVICES DIVISION-ADMIN FMR 6,505.92
FRONTIER PRECISION INC 2,700.00
GRAHAM TIRE-WORTHINGTON 13,320.04
JARDINE LOGAN & O'BRIEN P.L.L.P. 3,050.09
KETTERLING SERVICES INC 15,038.60
LYON COUNTY LANDFILL 18,777.64
M-R SIGN CO INC 2,288.32
MIDWAY FORD 39,700.17
MORRIS ELECTRONICS 6,457.29
NEW SIOUX CITY IRON CO 5,758.91
REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA 22,371.25
SANDERS INC 5,050.50
TOLLEFSON PUBLISHING 2,143.50
ZIEGLER INC 2,249.27
77 PAYMENTS LESS THAN $2,000 35,411.74
TOTAL $260,696.63
The County Board was in receipt of the Fund Balance report which reflected receipt of October tax collection and PILT payment; motion by Burger, seconded by Overgaard, to approve the Fund Balance report, declared carried on a voice vote.
The Auditor/Treasurer was informed that the County Board
took action to designate the Public Health to handle disbursement of
funds and compliance of the Opioid Settlement funds.
Pam Dooyema, Rock County Resident, voiced concerns over the mail ballot process. The Auditor/Treasurer addressed the following issues:
•voter rolls come from the State and a voter remains on the voter roll for
(4) years until a qualified credential is presented to remove them from the roll;
•if a voter votes more than once using a mail ballot, the
voter along with a witness is committing voter fraud, a felony;
•the mail ballot process is adopted by each precinct which
is required to abide by polling place regulations
The Auditor/Treasurer also stated that the Courthouse serves as a
polling place and mail ballot recipients have the option of bringing
their mail ballot to the Courthouse polling place to vote.
Shane Halbur, new Manager of Walleye Wind introduced himself to the County Board and stated that the project is expected to be completed by year end. The Walleye Wind facility will employ the Plant Manager and (3) Service Technicians; the facility will be located at 1064 40th Ave, Luverne, MN.
Ryan Holtz, Rural Water Plan Manager, discussed the results of the
October 6, 2022, bid letting conducted by Banner & Associates to dig a new well; (2)
bids were received:
Thein Well/Spicer, MN - $332,386.00
Sargent Drilling/Geneva, NE - $747,969.00
There was a brief discussion regarding the bid differentials; the Rural Water Board took action on 10/10/2022 to accept the bid from Thein Well/Spicer, MN for $332,386.00. Motion by Williamson, seconded by Overgaard, to approve the bid from Thein Well/Spicer, MN, declared carried on a voice vote.
Holtz stated that the project has received $25,000 in grants from Minnesota Department of Health along with $100,000 in county funds formerly known as ARPA; Holtz requested to utilize $2.09 million of Rural Water Assessment Funds to pay the remainder of the expenditure. Motion by Williamson, seconded by Reisch, to approve the utilization of the assessment funds, declared carried on a voice vote.
The County Board was in receipt of correspondence from the City of Luverne informing them that the estimated renovation cost for the proposed day care facility is $6.2 million and requesting the county for $1 million to assist
with the renovation expenditure. No action was taken at this time.
The County Board briefly discussed the AMC Fall District VIII meeting scheduled for October 27, 2022, in Wabasso, MN; the Administrator encouraged those attending to review the list of proposed legislative issues and vote on the top three priorities.
Motion by Burger, seconded by Overgaard, to accept the 2023 insurance renewals for MN Life Group & Voluntary Life, Delta Dental, Vision Care and the addition of new voluntary benefit Long Term Disability, declared carried on a voice vote.
Motion by Overgaard, seconded by Williamson, to approve the
Johnson Controls Building Maintenance renewal, declared carried on a
voice vote. The renewal has no rate increase.
The Administrator briefly discussed who was designated as the AMC
voting delegates and it was deemed to make no changes.
Motion by Overgaard, seconded by Reisch, to transfer $25,000 of ARPA
funds to the Rock County Economic Development Authority for to be used for
marketing strategies, declared carried on a voice vote.
The Administrator report that he and Deputy Administrator attended the MACA/MCHRMA Fall Conference where Recruitment and Retention strategies were discussed and was a presenter regarding the proposed Hemp Ordinance; also has had discussions with contractor regarding repair issues on the Tunnel and that Johnson Controls are currently reviewing the bids the HVAC projects at the Human Services and Library buildings.
Commissioner Williamson stated that he attended the following meetings:
Southwestern Mental Health and (2) Rural Water meetings.
Commissioner Thompson stated that she attended the following meetings: Meet/greet of the Luverne City Administrator candidates and requested accident data at the intersection of CSAH 4 and CSAH 6; also requested follow up from the Auditor/Treasurer regarding Dooyema’s concerns of why ballots are mailed to registered voters no longer residing at their address.
Commissioner Overgaard stated that he attended the following meetings: Next ERA via Zoom meeting where lack of transmission lines in Dodge County was discussed.
Commissioner Burger stated that he attended the following meetings: Meet/greet of the Luverne City Administrator candidates, Daycare meeting, Southwestern Mental Health, Southwestern Mental Health Adult Consortium Annual meeting and Sharing Hands-Nurse Family Partnership.
Commissioner Reisch stated that he attended the following meetings:
Union negotiation and Southwest Minnesota Opportunity Council.
With no further business to come before the County Board,
the meeting was declared adjourned by order of the chair.
(11-17)
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