COMMISSIONER PROCEEDINGS

September 24, 2024

The Lake of The Woods County Board of Commissioners met in regular session on Tuesday, September 24, 2024 at Lake of the Woods County Government Center in the Commissioners’ Room.

CALL TO ORDER

Chair Cody Hasbargen called the meeting to order at 9:00a.m. and the Pledge of Allegiance was recited with the following members present: Commissioners: Cody Hasbargen, Jon Waibel, Ed Arnesen, Buck Nordlof and Joe Grund. Also present was County Auditor-Treasurer Lorene Hanson. 

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Joe Grund, seconded by Commissioner Ed Arnesen and carried unanimously to approve the agenda with the following changes: Add: Permission to Advertise/Interview/hire, Set Road Tour & Ditch Meeting Dates, FY21 Amended Stonegarden Grant, and Closed Session-Williams Creek.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Jon Waibel, seconded by Commissioner Buck Nordlof and carried unanimously to approve the official minutes of September 10, 2024.

SOCIAL SERVICES

Claims

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Buck Nordlof, seconded by Commissioner Ed Arnesen and carried unanimously to approve the following claims: Commissioners Warrants $7,691.55; Commissioners Warrants $2,123.38; Commissioners Warrants $11,956.08.

Auditor/Treasurer

Claims

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Ed Arnesen, seconded by Commissioner Jon Waibel and carried unanimously with Commissioner Joe Grund abstaining to approve the claims against the County as follows: Revenue $84,873.43; Road & Bridge $60,055.61; County Development $225.00; Solid Waste $35,054.27; EDA $1,387.72.

WARRANTS FOR PUBLICATION

Warrants Approved On 9/24/2024 For Payment 9/27/2024

Vendor Name         Amount

Accurate HD Ltd.       21,376.00

Clay County Sheriff         2,480.00

Co-Op Services, Inc.                                   17,955.18

Counties Providing Technology         4,327.00 

Election Systems & Software, Inc         3,858.75 

Howard’s Oil Company         4,979.38 

Lavalla Sand & Gravel Inc         9,177.30 

LOW Highway Dept                       4,520.00

LOW Soil & Water Cons. Dist.                       3,698.00 

North East Technical Service,Inc       14,450.70 

Pennington County Sheriff Office               17,183.75 

Pete’s Body Shop Dba         5,670.05 

Short Elliott Hendrickson, Inc                     2,102.50 

Terry’s Tree Service       8,000.00 

U.S. Bank Equipment Finance                     6,268.50 

Up North Electric LLC                   18,178.48 

Voice Products       2,771.06 

49 Payments less than 2000 34,599.38

Final Total: 181,596.03    

Further moved to authorize the payment of the following auditor warrants: September 11, 2024 for $396,167.84; September 18, 2024 for $232,592.70. 

Set Public Hearing Date-Lodging Tax Ordinance

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Jon Waibel, seconded by Commissioner Ed Arnesen and carried unanimously to set a Public Hearing for Lodging Tax Ordinance on October 22, 2024 at 10:00 a.m.

Extension Agreement

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Jon Waibel, seconded by Commissioner Joe Grund and carried unanimously to approve the Extension agreement between Lake of the Woods County and University of Minnesota effective January 1, 2025 through December 31, 2027.

Land & Water

Land & Water Director Josh Stromlund gave a brief update on timber sales from the logging of a county owned parcel in the Zippel Bay area.

Public Works

Road Upgrade Policy-10 Ton Road

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Joe Grund, seconded by Commissioner Jon Waibel to approve the road upgrade policy for 10 ton roads.

Permission to Advertise, Interview, & Hire- Heavy Equipment Operators

County Engineer Anthony Pirkl informed the board that he had received a notice for retirement from two employees and requested permission to advertise, interview, & hire for two heavy equipment operator positions.

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Jon Waibel, seconded by Commissioner Buck Nordlof and carried unanimously to approve the request to advertise, interview, & hire for two heavy equipment operator positions.

Updates

County Engineer Anthony Pirkl gave an update on various highway projects.

Set County Road Tour Date

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Ed Arnesen, seconded by Commissioner Joe Grund and carried unanimously to set the county road tour date for October 21,2024 at 8:00a.m. 

Set Ditch Meeting

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Jon Waibel, seconded by Commissioner Buck Nordlof and carried unanimously to set the ditch meeting for October 23, 2024 at 6:00 at Arnesen’s Rocky Point.

Opioid Settlement Advisory Council

Members of the Opioid Settlement Advisory Council discussed the need for prevention and treatment in the Baudette Area. The recommendation from the councils previous meeting is to spend $13,000.00 from the Opioid Settlement Funds to cover start-up costs for a local treatment service.

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Jon Waibel, seconded by Commissioner Joe Grund and carried unanimously to approve the recommendation to spend $13,000.00 out of the Opioid Settlement Fund to pay for start-up costs for treatment services in the Baudette area.

Sheriff

FY21 Amended Stonegarden Grant

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Jon Waibel, seconded by Commissioner Ed Arnesen and carried unanimously to approve the amendment to the FY21 Stonegarden Grant from $119,700.00 to $141,498.00.

Lake of the Woods School Referendum Presentation

Jeff Nelson and Tim Lyons gave a presentation regarding the upcoming referendum questions on the November general election ballot. Further information can be found on the Lake of the Woods School website.

Arrowhead Library

Executive Director Mollie Stanford, Finance Director Mickey Erickson, Baudette Library Director Kelly Pelland, and Committee Member Colleen Stanton introduced themselves to the board and discussed the projects and budget for Arrowhead Library Systems and how the funds are used locally.

Hoffman, Philipp, & Martell, PLLC

Audit Exit Review

Colleen Hoffman from Hoffman, Philipp, & Martell, PLLC  provided an audit exit review to the County Board of Commissioners.

Closed Session

Resolution

The following Resolution was offered by Commissioner Joe Grund, seconded by Commissioner Jon Waibel and carried unanimously to approve the following:

Closed Session-Union Negotiation

RESOLUTION NO. 24-09-03

WHEREAS, the Minnesota Open Meeting Law, Minn. Stat. § 13D.03, subd. 1 states that:

 “The governing body of a public employer may by a majority vote in a public meeting decide to hold a closed meeting to consider strategy for labor negotiations, including negotiation strategies or developments or discussions and review of labor negotiation proposals, conducted pursuant to sections 179A.01 to 179A.25.”

WHEREAS, the Lake of the Woods County Board of Commissioners shall hold a closed meeting on September 24^th, 2024 at 11:30 AM to consider strategy for labor negotiations.  The closed session shall be held at the Lake of the Woods County Courthouse, Commissioners’ Room, 206 8th Ave. SE, Suite 234, Baudette Minnesota 56623; and

BE IT RESOLVED by the Lake of the Woods County Board of Commissioners as follows:

1. The Board of Commissioners hereby closes this meeting pursuant to Minn. Stat. § 13D.03, subd. 1 to consider strategy for labor negotiations including negotiation strategies or developments or discussion and review of Labor negotiation proposals, conducted pursuant to sections 179A.01 to 179A.25.

This closed session shall be tape recorded at the expense of the Lake of the Woods County Board of Commissioners and said recording shall be preserved for two years after the contract is signed and shall be made available to the public after all labor contracts are signed by the governing body for the current budget period.

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Jon Waibel, seconded by Commissioner Joe Grund and carried unanimously to close the closed session and open the regular meeting.

Closed Session

Resolution

The following Resolution was offered by Commissioner Jon Waibel, seconded by Commissioner Buck Nordlof and carried unanimously to approve the following:

Resolution Closing Board Meeting

Resolution No. 2024-09-04

WHEREAS, the Minnesota Open Meeting Law, Minn. Stat. § 13D.05, subd. 3(b) states that “meetings may be closed if the closure is expressly authorized by statute or permitted by the attorney-client privilege”; and

WHEREAS, Lake of the Woods County entered into a Settlement Agreement (“Agreement”) in the Matter of Hibbing Taconite Mine and Stockpile Progression and Williams Creek Project Specific Wetland Mitigation, which Agreement was dated October 6, 2015 (OAH Docket No. 11-2004-31655); and

WHEREAS, the Agreement resolved issues prior to litigation; and 

WHEREAS, parties to the Agreement, are seeking to modify certain terms and conditions of the Agreement; and

WHEREAS, the Lake of the Woods County Board seeks to meet with its attorney, to discuss the modification of the agreement; and

WHEREAS, it would be detrimental to the interests of the Lake of the Woods County Board to hold a public discussion with its attorney regarding the strengths and weaknesses of its legal position(s), strategy, and potential settlement position regarding the requested modifications, where an opposing party or opposing attorney could listen to or be made aware of Lake of the Woods County’s positions; and

WHEREAS, there is an absolute need for the Lake of the Woods County Board to obtain confidential legal advice regarding the potential settlement modifications in order to maintain the attorney-client privilege.

BE IT RESOLVED by the Lake of the Woods County Board as follows:

1. The Lake of the Woods County Board hereby closes this meeting based upon the attorney-client privilege pursuant to Minn. Stat. § 13D.05, subd. 3(b); and

2. The specific subjects to be discussed, pursuant to Minn. Stat. § 13D.01, subd. 3, are the legal strategy in the Office of Administrative Hearings matter as set forth in the recital above and any settlement proposals regarding the modifications to the Agreement requested by Cliffs, which may be made by or responded to by the Lake of the Woods County Board.

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Buck Nordlof, seconded by Commissioner Ed Arnesen and carried unanimously to close the closed session and open the regular meeting.

Adjourn

Motion

Motion was made by Commissioner Joe Grund, seconded by Commissioner Ed Arnesen and carried unanimously to adjourn the meeting at 12:40 a.m. 

Attest: October 8, 2024

______________________________ _________________________________Auditor/Treasurer Lorene Hanson Chair Cody Hasbargen