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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBoard of Commissioners - Minutes - 10/04/2011MINUTES OF THE OTTER TAIL COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS Government Services Center, Commissioners' Room 515 W. Fir Avenue, Fergus Falls, MN October 4, 2011 9:30 a.m. Call to Order The Otter Tail County Board of Commissioners convened Tuesday, October 4, 2011, at 9:30 a.m. at the Otter Tail County Government Services Center in Fergus Falls, MN, with Commissioners John Lindquist, Chair; Lee Rogness, Vice-Chair; Doug Huebsch, Wayne Johnson, and Roger Froemming present. Approval of Agenda Motion by Johnson, second by Rogness, and unanimously carried to approve the Board of Commissioners agenda of October 4, 2011, with the following additions: Under General Discussion -Snowmobile Grant Agreement & DWI Court Grant Agreement 1 :00 p.m. -Budget Committee Meeting to be held as a Full Board Discussion Approval of Minutes ' Motion by Huebsch, second by Froemming, and unanimously carried to approve the Board of Commissioners meeting minutes of September 27, 2011, as presented. Public Health Contracts Motion by Rogness, second by Johnson, and unanimously carried to authorize the appropriate County Officials' signatures to execute the following contracts between the County of Otter Tail and the Minnesota Department of Health (DOH): State Health Improvement Plan Grant Project Agreement Amendment #2 providing an additional $23,619 with a new total two-year grant agreement amount of $472,597 Perinatal Hepatitis B Case Management and Immunization Practices Improvement (IPI) Reimb~rsement based on services provided Nurse Family Partnership Report Marion Kershner, Public Health Supervisor, and staff members briefed the Board on the Nurse Family Partnership Program which was started in Otter Tail County in 2006. Ms. Kershner noted that the program is for first time,: low-income mothers and designed around relationship building. She reported remarkable outcomes and provided several documents including the Nurse Family Partnership Newslink (Volume 7). Staff members' shared individual stories and stressed that the program is creating life-long changes. Funding is from Medical Assistance, the Maternal Child Health Grant, Local Public Health Grant. and local tax dollars estimated at about $75,000 per year. Wetland Easement Request Lynn Sebek, U~FWS Realty Specialist, requested approval of a wetland easement in Section 30 of Elmo Township. The property is owned by Michael Vaughan and consists of 13.05 wetland/waterfowl habitat acres. A brief discussion occurred regarding County Ditches and surrounding benefited areas. Motion by Rogness, second by Huebsch, and unanimously carried to table a decision on this wetland easement request until October 11, 2011. OTC Board of Commissioners' Minutes October 4, 2011 Page 2 Devils & Little Devils Lakes Improvement District At 10:03 a.m., Chairman Lindquist opened discussion regarding the request to form a LID for Devils and Little Devils Lakes. David Hauser, County Attorney, explained the provisions of a proposed order to create a LID and indicated that the authorities granted in the proposed Order follows the authorities granted to other lake improvement districts in the County. Commissioners acknowledged letters received in opposition of the LID after the Public Hearing was held and addressed several areas of concern. Motion by Huebsch, second by Johnson, to accept the "Order Establishing Devils and Little Devils Lakes Improvement District" as submitted by the County Attorney. Chairman Lindquist called for a roll call vote as follows: Board of County Commissioners Roger Froemming YEA X NAY ABSENT ABSTAIN Wayne D. Johnson X Doug Huebsch X Leland R. Rogness X John Lindquist X Recess & Reconvene At 10:21 a.m., Chairman Lindquist declared the meeting of the Otter Tail County Board of Commissioners recessed for a short break. The meeting was reconvened at 10:28 a.m. Business/Employee Coffee Usage Terry Hoff, Physical Plant Manager, discussed the County's monthly coffee usage as it relates to the vending contract. Motion by Rogness, second by Huebsch, and carried with Lindquist opposed, to affirm that the current vending agreement with Braun's Vending did not include coffee purchases per the Request for Proposal under Section C. Specification. Section C states "It is anticipated that there will be one vendor for all vending locations, and for both vending services and coffee service; however the contract may be split if the County determines it is in its own best interest to do so". Motion by Huebsch, second by Johnson, and carried with Lindquist opposed, that Otter Tail County will supply coffee for employees. (Upon further review, the County Attorney found that this previous motion would violate the Public Purpose Doctrine and needs to be reconsidered). Homestead Market Value Exclusion Wayne Stein, Auditor, submitted two documents from the Association of Minnesota Counties and the Minnesota Department of Revenue which explain a recent property tax law change. The 2011 law change repeals the Homestead Residential Market Value Credit and replaces it with a new program titled the "Homestead Market Value Exclusion". This change is impacting the property taxes on all homesteaded and non-homesteaded property for pay 2012. Motion by Rogness, second by Johnson, and unanimously carried to develop an Otter Tail County document explaining, in simplistic terms, the impact of the Homestead Market Value Exclusion and include the document with the proposed property tax statement mailings. The motion also directed that the mailings from the AMC and DOR be posted on the County's website along with any pertinent information that can be posted to assist taxpayers in calculating their taxes. The Chairman requested that the new document be reviewed by the County Board before mailing. Payment Approvals Motion by Froemming, second by Huebsch, and unanimously carried to approve the following payments to the Otter Tail County Highway Department: Judicial Ditch No. 2 $2,517.21 from the Ditch Fund (47.33% to be billed to Wilkin County) Phelps Mill Park $20,154.12 -$18,738.78 from the Capital Improvement Fund and $1,415.34 from the General Fund Drainage System #39 OTC Board of Commissioners' Minutes October 4, 2011 Page 3 Rick West, Highway Engineer, reported that he viewed Ditch #39 and found the lower reaches of the ditch to be in good condition; however, moving south to the upper reaches of the ditch, it appears that there may be need for maintenance work. He viewed the ditch as requested by the County Board and in response to a Petition for use of a Drainage System as an Outlet (Ditch #39). Lengthy discussion took place regarding ditch law, engir:,eering services, maintenance work in a ditch, and possibility to outlet from property around 140th St. into Ditch #39. Discussion took place regarding the natural flowage of water to the south. A portion of a township road (140th St.) is flooding because a culvert was not replaced in 1990 when the road was rebuilt. Western Township officials requested a permit from the Bois De Sioux Watershed District to instail a culvert under 140th St. to allow the natural flow of water to the south. The application for a permit was denied by the Watershed District because the culvert would bring water into the district from outside the legal boundary. Motion by Rogness, second by Johnson, and unanimously carried to authorize the Highway Engineer to hire an engineer for the Ditch Authority to determine if cleaning Ditch #39 will cause flood issues downstream. The petitioner may choose to use the services of the engineer for their purposes. Iverson Lake Drawdown Highway Project-S.A.P. 056-997-003 After previously advertising, Otter Tai County received one bid for the CSAH 25/lverson Lake Drawdown Project on September 28, 2011. Motion by Froemming, second by Lindquist, and unanimously carried to award S.A.P. 056-997-003 to Barry Construction, Inc. of Fergus Falls, MN at the bid price of $237,375.37. Final Payment -S.A.P. 056-997-004 Motion by Johnson, second by Huebsch, and unanimously carried to approve Final Estimate No. 10, in the amount of $9,895.83, payable to Sellin Brothers, Inc. for completion of the Flood Control Project on CSAH No. 88. Highway Project Contract S.A.P. 056-609-003 Motion by Rogness, second by Johnson, and unanimously carried to authorize the Chairman's signature to execute a contract between the County of Otter Tail and RL Larson Excavating, Inc. of St. Cloud, MN, for the CSAH No. 9 Construction Project subject to the approval of the County Attorney. Snowmobile Trails Assistance Program Grant Agreement Motion by Froemming, second by Johnson, and unanimously carried to authorize the Chairman's signature to execute the Minnesota Snowmobile Maintenance and Grooming Grant Agreement (#33872) for FY 2012 between the County of Otter Tail and the following snowmobile clubs: 1 Henning Snow Cruisers $17,992.20 Prairie Snow Drifters $12,453.20 Otter County Trail Association $106,463.40 Otter Trail Riders $53,327.20 DWI Court Grant Agreement Motion by Lindquist, second by Froemming, and unanimously carried to authorize the appropriate County Officials' signatures to execute an Agreement for Professional Services between the State of Minnesota Seventh Judicial District and Otter Tail County Probation for the DWI Court Program. Chuck Kitzman, Probation Director, reported total grant dollars of $90,000 with his department's portion at $57,433.00 and an in-kind match of about $15,346.00. OTC Board of Commissioners' Minutes October 4, 2011 Page 4 Closed to the Public At 11 :52 a.m., Chairman Lindquist declared the meeting of the Otter Tail County Board of Commissioners closed to the public for purposes of discussing labor negotiation strategies relative to the re-opener provision of the Social Workers, Support Specialists, and Facilities Operations collective bargaining agreements. Present were all five seated Commissioners, County Coordinator, County Attorney, and Board Secretary. Employer Contribution At 12:25 p.m., upon the conclusion of the closed session, a motion was offered by Huebsch, seconded by Johnson, and unanimously carried to increase the non-union benefit employer contribution $25.00 to $1,000.00 per month beginning January 1, 2012. This equalizes the benefit contribution with other employee groups. Recess & Reconvene At 12:30 p.m., Chairman Lindquist declared the meeting of the Otter Tail County Board of Commissioners recessed for two committee meetings. Commissioners decided to hold the Budget Committee meeting scheduled at 1 :00 p.m. in full board session. At 1 :03 p.m., Vice-Chair Rogness declared the Board of Commissioners' meeting opened to the public with Chairman Lindquist absent. Courthouse Remodeling/Budget Discussion David Shultz, Architect; Terry Hoff, Physical Plant Manager; Wayne Stein, Auditor; and Bond Consultant Representatives; met with the Board to discuss financing of the proposed Courthouse Remodeling Project. Mr. Shultz provided a timeline of work to be completed each year from 2011 through 2014 along with a total project cost of $9,387,171.00. Lengthy discussion took place regarding the pros and cons of paying cash from the General Revenue, Human Services, and Capital Improvement Funds or bonding for the debt. Chairman Lindquist was present at 1 :25 p.m. Discussion continued regarding bond ratings, temporary bonding, and other bonding options. Motion by Johnson and seconded by Rogness to adopt the printed timeline dated August 22, 2011, submitted by Shultz & Associates, LTD. This motion also includes a request that the Budget Committee meet with staff to develop a payment recommendation for the Courthouse Remodeling project and return to the County Board next week. Chairman Lindquist called for a roll call vote as follows: Board of County Commissioners Roger Froemming Wayne D. Johnson Leland R. Rogness Doug Huebsch John Lindquist YEA X X X X X Adjournment NAY ABSENT ABSTAIN At 2:50 p.m., Chairman Lindquist declared the meeting of the Otter Tail County Board of Commissioners adjourned until 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, October 11, 2011. Dated: Oc+, //, ;).DJ/ CB/kd OTTERT OARD OF COMMISSIONERS I ' .,..