Wadena County Commissioners: Ag society struggles to get directors and compliance

by Trinity Gruenberg

trinity@inhnews.com

The Wadena County Commissioners held their regular meeting on February 11.

Wadena County Agricultural Society Update

Commissioners Jon Kangas and Sheldon Monson attended the recent Agricultural Society meeting. Kangas read the minutes from previous meetings and bylaws. They were having some meetings without a quorum. They had some interested people that were willing to accept nominations to be on the board. The Ag Society will have a special meeting on February 20 to nominate the members. His concern was to get them on the right track to follow the proper procedures.

Monson shared that January’s meeting only had four directors. They need six for a quorum. They had three resignations from the board since the annual meeting leaving three directors.

They chose to appoint four new members. They are without a treasurer right now and they plan to hire an accountant.

The Ag Society’s registration on the Secretary of State’s office is expired. Monson brought it up to them twice. They also haven’t paid sales tax from October through December.

“They need to be in good standing with the Secretary of State and the Department of Revenue. Otherwise, can we be releasing funds to an organization that isn’t in compliance,” said Monson.

“One more thing to go along with that is we have to consider that if the board is a little dysfunctional—if they can’t get things straightened out—we’re allowing them to basically manage millions of dollars worth of county property. They have no oversight for what they’re doing. We really got to try to get them on the right track now and hopefully move it forward. They could develop into a more professional organization,” added Kangas. . . .

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