Todd County Board Chairman Randy Neumann and Transfer Station Driver Gary Schnell. The board thanked Schnell for his 11 plus years of service to the county.
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by Karin L. Nauber
karin@inhnews.com The location of where the elevator for the Annex building will go has been changed yet again. This time, however, it appears to be a move in the right direction as the new design by Studio E Architect Stephanie Howe has the elevator moving to the east side of the building. “This would get rid of the underpinning issue for the elevator shaft,” said Howe. The design does not have to allow for snow load and they will not have to “beef up” the roof of Annex 1 with this design, either. Howe said that there will be some impact on the budget because they will have additional roof structure and roof joists to hold it all up. Howe showed the proposed revision which still allows accessibility to the toilet rooms. She said they were not changing connections of the reception area. The main change would be on the second level into the resource library. Howe said she was ready to complete the drawings for rebidding by Friday, April 19, and would only have to rebid the earthwork and concrete. She noted that the issue with relocating the electrical feeder for the elevator may not have to take place with the move of the elevator itself. “This has been a challenge to put the elevator in. This is probably the last choice,” she said. Contegrity Engineer Earl Fuechtmann said that the goal remains to get this accomplished for the budgeted dollars. “I believe with this design we can get there,” said Fuechtmann. He said that he and his son Travis have been working on getting the numbers nailed down. Fuetchmann said there was a possible shortfall of $40,000, but that there was $90,000 in the contingency budget and they have so far only used $23,000 of that which should leave plenty to cover the shortage and get the project finished. T. Fuetchmann said they are almost completed with level 2 work and that the lower level should be easier because they know what to look for and can be better prepared for it. “We believe we can accomplish it for less than before (original budget). If the numbers come in where our estimate is at, we can use the contingency budget to fill in the difference and still have about $40,000 in there,” said E. Fuetchmann. They were instructed to move forward with the drawing and bid out the earthwork and concrete work. E. Fuetchmann questioned how the board would like to go about changing the bid date. Commissioner David Kircher said they should contact the county attorney and do it right. “We are too far into it, to mess it up now,” said Kircher. E. Fuetchmann said that this would delay some of the timelines. T. Fuetchmann said they were shooting for the end of April or a short time into May for completion of the second floor items and felt they would be able to move back into the second floor by the end of May. He said they were looking at a late summer/early fall finish date. Consent Agenda Approved a six month on and off sale malt liquor license for T Rose Inc. doing business as Linwood Resort. Approved a four month on sale 3.2 malt liquor license for the Staples Softball Association. Approved a designation of the week of May 19-25 as Emergency Medical Services week. Approved the resolution that the board had asked County Engineer Loren Fellbaum to prepare requesting the state of Minnesota to take responsibility and fund all local transportation infrastructure. Transfer Station In appreciation for his 11 years and 4 months of service to the county, Transfer Station Driver Gary Schnell was honored with a plaque by Solid Waste Director Michael Hanan. Approved waiving the 90 day waiting period before advertising to replace Schnell’s position. Approved a temporary/summer employee to assist at the transfer station. The board approved a contract with Crow Wing County for household hazardous waste disposal. Protection Team Heard from Emily Steinert and approved a Child Abuse Prevention Proclamation for the month of April. Steinert was also pleased to announce that the county had received the Blue Ribbon County Award for 2013 based on prevention awareness, family strengthening and community awareness and outreach programs. Steinert said that this year they are focusing on pregnant women and prenatal substance abuse and are distributing flyers about it. Hands of Hope Becky Bruder read into record a National Crime Victim’s Rights Week Proclamation naming the week of April 21-27 to be dedicated. Hands of Hope Resource Center served 144 victims of general crime in the year 2012. Sheriff’s Department Approved acceptance of the grant for boat and water safety in the amount of $8641. Ditch and Ag Inspector County Ditch Inspector Nancy Uhlenkamp presented information regarding County Ditch #7 and the findings regarding the 1915 extension petition. The resolution recognizes the location of the original ditch petition from the petition in July 1905 as the official and correct location of CD #7 and the extension petition from December 1915 will be considered “unapproved,” as Uhlenkamp could find no evidence or documentation to support that it had been approved. “There was no documentation showing any work or extension being done. There was no decision or paperwork. There was no charges for cleaning the extension and no viewers report for benefited acres. This will not add any benefited acres,” said Uhlenkamp. This appears to be a natural waterway because of the twists and turns in it, she added. CD #7 is located in Bartlett Township. Auditor/Treasurer Approved a resolution to revise the credit card policy so that public health, social services and the sheriff’s departments shall have cards, stored and made available for the employees to use and check out in the appropriate departments with a $500 per day purchase limit. It was decided that for accounting purposes and creating a better path to pay the credit card bill on time, that the cards be checked out from these departments for their staff use rather than from the auditor/treasurer. Other departments will still check their credit cards out from the auditor/treasurer. Approved the Trails Assistance Program funding for fiscal years 2013 through 2017. Approved a temporary hire for the auditor/treasurer’s office for a generalist position to help with tax time. There is also someone out of the office on medical leave now. The generalist would be hired at $13.506 per hour for up to 20 hours per week and up to 96 hours total. Kircher said he was concerned about the budget and how this would impact it. He said he needed to know where the money would be coming from. Auditor/Treasurer Karen Busch said she did not know. She said they could pull some funds from the election budget because it is a non-election year. Commissioner Mark Blessing said she needed to come back with a definite place the money will come from. Army National Guard Report First Sergeant Jake Kuhne, who is part of the Army Reserve out of Arden Hills, presented information from the training he and others began in Todd County last July in the area of civil affairs. Kuhne said they would have followed up sooner, but they had been remissioned to deploy to Africa last fall. He said they do want to keep up the relationship with the county, but will not be back from Africa for a year and a half to two years. Kircher said he had enjoyed the conversation when he had met with them and felt it was respectful and educational for both. The guard may be sending another company to work with Todd County, but Kuhne was not aware of it at this time. Kircher felt they should continue to work with them no matter which company they worked with. He felt it would give the county an advantage if there would be a disaster because the guard would already be familiar with the county. Kuhne said the work they do keeps a finger on the pulse of the local population. Chairman Randy Neumann said that the county needed that working relationship with the guard because it was a win-win. Blessing said he supports all that has been done so far. Kuhne said it is about building relationships with local officials. They would like to work with the county on a yearly basis. Commissioner Report Neumann will be holding a district meeting at the Todd Field Arrivals and Departures building on April 29 at 7 p.m. |
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