[0:00] Thank you.
[clears throat]
[0:04] » It started here.
Call the meeting to order. Is there any
[0:09] additions to the
>> Mr. Chair? There was one addition for
[0:13] public works and engineering contract
for bridge safety inspections. Uh we are
[0:19] starting with resolution 2658. Today
>> I make a motion to approve the uh
[0:26] agenda.
move second
[0:30] car. Any other further discussion? The
name, please.
[0:33] » Brad,
>> yes.
[0:34] » We
>> Yes.
[0:36] » Meer,
>> yes.
[0:36] » Schmidt,
>> yes.
[0:38] » Helina,
>> yes.
[0:39] » Motion carries.
>> Okay. Looking for uh any additions or
[0:44] corrections to the minutes.
Chair make a motion to approve both sets
[0:51] of minutes. Draft minutes are by 217.
[0:58] Charlie, thanks. Jeff, any other
discussion? The name, please.
[1:03] » Wave,
>> yes.
[1:05] » Meer,
>> yes.
[1:06] » Schmidt,
>> yes.
[1:07] » Helina,
>> yes.
[1:08] » Rat,
>> yes.
[1:10] » Carrie,
>> thank you. Troy, you are up first today.
[1:20] » Morning. Morning. Feeling surrounded.
[laughter]
[1:26] you know it's like
[1:32] » I have a few items this morning. Uh I'll
start with the donations.
[1:41] First donation is from Grand Township.
It's in the amount of $1,000.
[1:49] uh [clears throat]
and to be designated to the dive team,
[1:54] the search and rescue dive team. So, I'd
ask the board to accept that donation.
[2:01] » I'll make a motion to approve resolution
2658,000
[2:05] from the Grand Township.
>> Second extender.
[2:10] Any further discussion?
My name, please.
[2:13] » Schmidt,
>> yes.
[2:14] » Kina,
>> yes.
[2:15] » Rap.
>> Yes.
[2:16] » Wade.
>> Yes. Meer.
[2:18] » Yes.
>> Motion carries.
[2:21] All
>> right. The second donation is in the
[2:24] amount of $1,400.
[2:28] It's from Roy and Conson Maiden Malt and
it in memory of Michelle Brent. Now
[2:35] Michelle was a county employee. She also
worked for my office for years there. So
[2:43] um from her parents um and they would
like it designated
[2:49] their word safety vest. I assume that
means a ballistic vest.
[2:56] Ask board to accept that donation.
Mr. Chair, I'd like to make a motion to
[3:03] approve resolution 26-59
donation.
[3:09] » I'll second that. Thanks, Charlie. The
member discussion.
[3:14] [clears throat]
>> Helina,
[3:16] » yes.
>> Ra,
[3:17] » yes.
>> Wade,
[3:18] » yes.
>> Meer,
[3:19] » yes.
>> Schmidt,
[3:20] » yes.
>> Motion carries.
[3:23] » Thank you. Uh, next item is budget
proposal.
[3:31] I'll have the budget proposal plus
I always have done the next
[3:41] attachment I guess of increases and
decreases.
[3:46] So I
this point I I've kind of open it up to
[3:51] questions. There are some
you've had a chance to look at it. There
[3:56] were Axon is one of the larger
increases
[4:02] for our squat and bodywn cameras.
But honestly, the
[4:10] squat and bodywn cameras pay for
themselves. just the fact that deputy's
[4:17] encounters with the public are all
recorded
[4:20] and
tells the truth of what happened at at a
[4:26] scene. So
they've certainly been beneficial,
[4:33] but it is
probably the baritudes increase. So Mr.
[4:39] Fair. So, Troy, um, does the county have
any what they call block cameras like
[4:44] the city does? We do not. We don't have
access to the clock cameras. We can
[4:49] request the city look at the clock
cameras for us if we're looking for a
[4:55] specific plate, but we actually don't
have,
[5:00] » you know, primary type
access. Do you know that when they take
[5:05] those pictures, are they taking pictures
of the drivers and the people in the car
[5:08] as well as still?
>> Well, it's it's uh
[5:16] you know, you're seeing an entire
intersection.
[5:20] Most are set up at high traffic areas
and so you're getting a view of an
[5:25] entire intersection.
Um but it they are able to read license
[5:31] plates. They've been very helpful
uh with missing people, especially when
[5:38] uh we recently had a the fe a female go
missing. She was found
[5:43] » up in Cass County. We were able to track
some of her movement.
[5:49] She had traveled quite a ways from home
through the use of clock cameras
[5:56] » in other jurisdictions. And so we knew
she was up in the, you know, north of
[6:02] here,
>> up in the Cass County uh area. So we
[6:07] were able to talk to sheriff's offices
up in that area and ask them to put some
[6:13] special effort into it. As it turns out,
she was found by say civilians. Um, not
[6:21] law enforcement, but law enforcement
knew immediately what they were dealing
[6:26] with because we had informed them that
she may be up in that area. The clock
[6:33] cameras are not being used for doing
surveillance on people
[6:39] » for citations.
>> No, they're they're not locally using
[6:43] them for citations.
Um, and that isn't it not surveillance.
[6:50] The purpose is be able to track traffic,
spot stolen vehicles, spot vehicles
[6:57] registered to people with warrants.
>> I I get it. It's just that people have
[7:02] contacted me are having a hard time
separating that surveillance versus
[7:08] [snorts]
>> Well, I mean, drive down Broadway. I
[7:11] know there's a camera on every business
in Broadway.
[7:15] » You're under constant surveillance.
We're under surveillance in this room.
[7:20] It's it. And I mean, yes. Am I do I feel
strongly about it?
[7:27] » Simply because I know everywhere I go,
I'm under surveillance. Fleet Farm, they
[7:32] have one of the best camera systems in
town. Walmart, you name it.
[7:36] » I I hear you. I hear you. So most
cameras are good enough. They can see
[7:41] the people driving them if they can get
it zoomed in close.
[7:44] » The camera system is good enough to be
>> Yeah. on it. It's going to be
[7:50] » Yeah, they've been very useful. Um and
it's more than one missing person. I
[7:56] mean, we a different report, different
person.
[8:00] We had no idea where that person was,
but they appeared on the flash numerous
[8:04] several times within the city of
Alexandria. So, we knew that person was
[8:10] in all likelihood in this area. And
within a few hours of us contacting
[8:16] different people because of locations,
we that person actually contacted us and
[8:23] told us they were not a missing person.
So they had voluntarily gone missing.
[8:32] So as far as flock cameras, no, we don't
have any. I don't have any in the
[8:36] budget, by the way, but
I'm certainly not.
[8:43] I'm not opposed to the use of them
because I know that they're not used or
[8:48] just surveilling people. There are
people who believe they are, but it's
[8:53] just not factual. There's also people
who believe I have access to the flop
[8:58] cameras and they're mine and they're
they're not that they belong to the city
[9:03] and we don't have primary access to
them. But certainly we have requested
[9:10] access them to access.
Well, the press is here. They got it
[9:15] straight now.
[9:19] Do they care?
It's just getting it out to the public.
[9:26] » So, no, there's none in the budget. The
cameras we utilize are body warn and
[9:31] squad cameras. We've had squad cameras
since uh late 1980s.
[9:38] So, if somebody has an issue with them,
they're I'm already 46 years late or 40
[9:45] years too late. But and the body cameras
are uh like I say, they're a very
[9:52] helpful tool, especially when it comes
to complaints on deputies.
[9:59] » Yep. It might surprise you, but people
don't always tell us truth
[10:05] » and
so the cameras tell the truth.
[10:14] » All right. What else you got? uh
budget-wise. I mean,
[10:21] if you have any specific questions, I'm
not sure, but
[10:30] going to breeze through it. Medical
care, that's an increase, but that's an
[10:35] annual increase for the contracted
medical care for the jail.
[10:42] There's some that you've seen the list.
I think there's lists of increases and
[10:47] decreases and I can certainly answer
questions regarding any of them.
[10:55] So
[11:00] any questions? You know I only question
I got is like on the voting end of it uh
[11:05] voting safety. Has there been any uh
changes on that as far as uh any
[11:11] problems
>> as far as patrol on the lakes?
[11:15] » Yeah. Um we haven't seen any dramatic
changes. Lakes of course are busy in the
[11:21] summertime and uh so yeah, haven't been
anything notable.
[11:32] All
right.
[11:35] » That's too easy. I mean that
[11:40] you're supposed to stump the chunk here.
>> Yeah.
[11:45] » Um Yeah. Otherwise, I have nothing
budget or salary request. Obviously, I'm
[11:51] retiring at the beginning of next year.
So, if you want to increase my salary
[11:57] for a couple days, you're welcome.
But it would be a very short very short
[12:02] salary.
>> What is your last day?
[12:06] » January what? What's your last day?
>> You're talking about that. I think it's
[12:11] January 4th.
>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
[12:15] » We haven't figured it out.
>> Monday.
[12:17] » Okay.
>> Yeah.
[12:21] First Monday in 2027 January.
>> Okay.
[12:27] Coming soon. plan a retirement party on
January 8th.
[12:32] » Elvis Presley's birthday.
>> There you go.
[12:35] » Nobody sleeps.
>> Get your hair dyed day. [laughter]
[12:40] » Thanks.
>> Thank you.
[12:46] I'd like to call up Mary Ski to record.
[12:52] » Good morning.
>> Good morning.
[12:56] [clears throat]
>> Few items today. The first item um I'm
[12:59] required to present my yearly compliance
report as a part of my budget
[13:03] presentation and this states in 2025 the
recorders office processed 8533
[13:09] documents and we were 100% compliant
with statutory turnaround time
[13:18] submit that report.
>> We need to act on that.
[13:28] motion.
>> I'll make a motion to approve the
[13:30] compliance report for the recorder.
Pimp. Any further discussion? The name,
[13:38] please.
>> Meer,
[13:39] » yes.
>> Schmidt,
[13:40] » yes.
>> Scalina,
[13:42] » yes.
>> Brad,
[13:43] » yes.
>> Wade,
[13:44] » yes. Motion carries.
Okay.
[13:47] » And then next for my budget report, my
budget is largely stable, pretty much
[13:51] exactly the same as last year. um vast
majority of our increase is just from
[13:56] budgets. It is myself and I still have
four uh deputy recorders as well in my
[14:02] office.
[14:09] the recorder technology fund and the
land records modernization. Those are
[14:13] special accounts that are set aside for
special projects um as statute outlines
[14:19] and those are all
[14:22] stable as well. I did budget for one
indexing project I'm looking at for this
[14:28] coming year. It takes some of our
available real estate documents. um we
[14:32] have images out there from 1973
through 1992 where the images are there
[14:38] but it's not searchable by name and
legal description and so that would be a
[14:42] good use of those funds from the
recorder technology fund and so I'm uh
[14:47] working on gathering that together and
put that in the budget as a proposed
[14:52] cost for next year and land records
modernization is stable that's what we
[14:57] pay as re pictometry
um and some GIS initiatives out
[15:03] Mr. Chair, that's just what you got tied
in with the recorder equipment
[15:07] replacement stuff.
>> Yeah, recorder equipment replacement.
[15:10] Yep. Only increase.
>> Right. And those two accounts, we
[15:14] actually um kind of zero them out. They
don't affect Olivia at all since
[15:19] » So, yeah, that's really my only
increase.
[15:22] [clears throat]
[15:29] » All right. Any questions for Mary?
Thank you. Looks good. Great question.
[15:35] » Um and then my salary request, I am
requesting a salary of $90,000.
[15:41] Um my current salary is 86,000.
I did submit um some comparable salaries
[15:48] as well. The closest being like Pope
County, they again eight years in
[15:54] office. Um, the Pope County Recorder
salary is currently 99,28
[15:59] and Stevens County close by is 106,558.
This is my 19th year with Douglas County
[16:06] and I'm currently in my eighth year as
county recorder.
[16:11] I appreciate your consideration and
>> thank you. Thanks.
[16:21] » Yep.
Next up, Chad Larson, County Attorney.
[16:26] » Thank you, Mr. Chair. I uh I prepared
budget proposals for three departments.
[16:30] Uh the corer's office, the law library,
as well as as the county attorney's
[16:35] office. So, I'll start with the
coroner's office. Uh which really should
[16:39] be renamed the medical examiner's office
because we haven't had a coroner in a
[16:43] couple decades now.
>> Yeah. Yes. Uh we continue to contract
[16:48] with Midwest Medical Examiner's Office
out of Anoka County for our autopsies as
[16:54] well as Lind and Anderson Funeral Homes
for transportation to Anoka. Uh we pay a
[16:59] flat fee for transportation for those
services on an alternating basis between
[17:04] those providers. Uh budgeting for the
number of deaths
[17:10] requiring postmortems is difficult to
predict in any given year. In the first
[17:14] five months of 2026, we spent just over
36,000.
[17:19] So I budgeted 75,000
for the entirety of 2027 based upon
[17:24] those numbers. That's that's the best
guess I can provide. Um moving to the
[17:31] law library. All counties are statutoily
required to maintain a law library uh
[17:36] for the use of of residents who wish to
conduct their own legal research. Uh, as
[17:41] more and more people are using AI in an
attempt to conduct proay litigation, the
[17:47] use of the law library has really gone
down. We used to contract with
[17:54] folks over at the tech school to sit for
certain hours in the law library and
[17:59] kind of direct people to the materials
they needed, but it just wasn't getting
[18:03] the traffic that would sustain the cost
that that evolved. Um, and the law
[18:09] library is really self- sustainable.
It's funded by those who are convicted
[18:13] of crimes here in Douglas County. Their
sentence usually incur includes a fine,
[18:17] a search charge, and then a law library
fee. Occasionally, the judges will wave
[18:21] the law library fee depending on infancy
or things of that nature. Uh, the fund
[18:26] balance carried over from year to year.
I believe its current balance is
[18:30] approximately 140,000
right now. Um, I'm on the law library
[18:35] board with Commissioner Tina. uh the
judges and the city attorney and we may
[18:40] consider reducing the current li fee uh
given given the current balance. Uh and
[18:46] since we're losing commissioner Kina,
we're going to have to recruit one of
[18:50] you to enter the exciting world of law
library.
[18:54] Um can't wait.
>> Yes, I've been using less and less.
[19:00] Well, that mean we used to have
subscriptions to books and
[19:06] we we couldn't get rid of enough books.
Um, so, you know, and people aren't
[19:12] using the computer that we have in
there. The copier is sitting in a locked
[19:16] room right now. Nobody needed to use it.
>> Nobody has a key.
[19:20] » We do have [clears throat and laughter]
a key.
[19:22] Port administration does too. We have
access to paper bleeder for those who
[19:26] still use that.
Um, finally, as to my budget, uh, there
[19:30] really haven't been any dramatic
changes, uh, to my budget aside from the
[19:34] usual annual increases in subscription
fees for case management software and
[19:39] cloud storage. As Troy mentioned, um, we
also use Axon, which is the body camera
[19:46] recordings. So those get uploaded to the
cloud and then we have u software that
[19:52] integrates our case management system
with Axon and so we're talking hundreds
[19:59] of thousands of hours of recorded data
which takes up an enormous amount of of
[20:06] cloud space for that. Um, so we have
that to integrate those recordings and
[20:13] and Axon fees as Troy mentioned keep
increasing, but we don't really have an
[20:19] alternate vendor that provides the same
quality of product that we need and we
[20:24] have to use and we're required to
disclose to the defense as discovery all
[20:30] of our recordings.
U so so those fees continue to to
[20:36] increase. Probably the most notable
change in my budget is the absence of of
[20:40] Alamir's contribution, my salary in 2027
due to the conversion of the health
[20:46] system to a a 501c3.
So, I did not put that into my budget
[20:53] for 2027, but that should come as no
surprise to to this board. Um, we're
[20:58] currently fully staffed at this time
with seven attorneys, six legal
[21:01] assistants, and one investigator.
[21:06] So payroll continues to be my largest
expense. The associated
[21:10] non-discretionary
related increases, healthcare costs,
[21:14] things of that nature.
I've also included a 10 $10,000 for 2027
[21:19] to cover
tax appeals in the event that we're
[21:24] going to have to hire outside counsel.
Uh we did hire recently a new attorney
[21:31] um and she will be assigned to handle
tax appeals very shortly. Right now I'm
[21:37] continuing to uh to do that as I as I
can. And finally to my salary request,
[21:43] I'm not asking for anything above and
beyond any percentage increase that the
[21:48] docu employees may be granted. That's
all I have.
[21:55] » Mr. Sure.
>> Yes. Tax attorney. Is that the one for
[21:58] the dark stores with Stacy's group or
No,
[22:00] » that was one we used a few years ago.
>> Yeah.
[22:03] » Extremely expensive. We tried to make a
point with that particular
[22:08] » We tried to make it and it didn't work.
>> It did not work.
[22:11] » We just ended up spending a lot a lot of
money and they just the next time.
[22:16] » Not the same attorney.
>> No. No. I know it's not the same person,
[22:19] but this is what they're doing. That's
is that what you're
[22:22] » We have one case that we're currently
doing that with.
[22:25] » Okay.
>> But it's not near to the dramatic level
[22:30] that we did with with Flem.
>> Yeah. Yeah. That was constant.
[22:36] Thank you.
[22:41] » Done. Chad. All done. Thank you. Anybody
got any questions for Chad?
[22:46] All right. Thank you. We'll move on to
uh Vicky Doling, Auditor Church.
[23:01] » Good morning.
>> Good morning,
[23:03] » Right Mr. Chair. I've got two items
here. One is uh this one being
[23:08] informational the pack uh with
a couple couple meetings ago we had
[23:15] divot prairie round which is a nonprofit
historical reenactment organization.
[23:20] They were going to they did host a 4day
event July 30th
[23:25] through August 2nd out on city township.
They had applied originally for a
[23:30] bonfire temporary liquor license but
then ended up pulling that app because
[23:34] they couldn't get like liability or it
wasn't feasible for them to do so. So
[23:38] they pulled the application. So just to
make sure that makes it into the minutes
[23:42] that that never got sent off to the
state. So that is void.
[23:48] » The application would never
yeah until they did the insurance.
[23:53] » Yeah. And going forward, you know, as
you've noticed, I've brought often
[23:58] brought for timely sake timeliness sake,
efficiency sake to try to get these
[24:03] applications into the state on time to
give them time to react. Often times I
[24:07] bring apps to you that that aren't like
we're waiting for a county attorney or
[24:11] sheriff or like liquor liability or all
those things. I'm not going to from this
[24:15] point on if the applicant doesn't have
their liqu liability proof that to me
[24:19] that's going to be an incomplete
application until they get that.
[24:21] » That makes sense.
>> Yeah. Then that's
[24:24] something that we do with Rise on on a
food application for a special event is
[24:31] if they don't get it 30 days ahead then
they increase it by 50% on fee.
[24:36] » Sure.
>> Even coming forward. So it's not like
[24:39] they're going to pull off a 4 day event
in 12 days any. So they they they had
[24:44] time.
>> Yep. Yep. This there was a couple of
[24:47] them in back in July that we really
struggled with getting public liability.
[24:52] then you know that it's not where it
needs to be because they could easily
[24:56] been in April because they knew they
were do it
[25:00] because still got to go to the state
from us.
[25:03] » Yep.
>> And they often want 30 days.
[25:06] » They do too.
>> Yeah.
[25:09] » Uh the next item is a resolution for a
gambling permit. Uh Alamir Health
[25:13] Foundation or Douglas County Healthcare
Foundation doing business as Al Health.
[25:18] Um they're performing a raffle out at
Carlos Creek. on December 5th. So
[25:23] getting that into us very timely.
>> I'll make a motion to approve resolution
[25:28] 2660 for the gaming permit for health.
>> I'll second.
[25:35] » Thanks Jerry. Thanks Tim. Further
discussion
[25:39] » Schmidt.
>> Yes.
[25:41] » Helina.
>> Yes.
[25:42] » Rat.
>> Yes.
[25:43] » Wade.
>> Yeah.
[25:44] » Meer
>> yes.
[25:45] » Motion carried.
Then the next resolution uh this is a
[25:50] kind of a annual I should say bianual
election resolution for which um if
[25:56] there were to be recounts we have a
joint powers agreement with the state
[26:00] that we will perform our county portion
of the recount here in Douglas County.
[26:05] This would be like for statewide
recounts. So they have us enter into a
[26:10] joint powers agreement for both the
primary and the general election. Um,
[26:15] and they'll pay us a whopping four cents
a ballot to do so.
[26:25] » Twice eight. I'll make a motion to
approve resolution 2661 Minnesota
[26:31] election recount joint powers.
I'll second Charlie. Further discussion.
[26:39] » Helina.
>> Yes.
[26:40] » Rat.
>> Yes.
[26:41] » Wade.
>> Yes.
[26:42] » Meer.
>> Yes.
[26:43] » Smith. Yes.
>> Motion carries.
[26:46] » All right. I'm moving into my budget
proposal. Uh not a whole lot of line
[26:52] item changes other than we do have a
couple election
[26:57] items I got to bring up. One being um
I'm going to be replacing our
[27:03] tabulators. They're reaching the end of
life the next couple years here. So
[27:08] before the next presidential election,
I'd like to get those replaced. We have
[27:11] been setting aside funds annually in our
budget for this. So, it's coming out of
[27:16] capital projects to pay for that to the
tune of about $260,000 or just under.
[27:23] Um, so that's a a big item, but nothing
that we weren't anticipating. So, we
[27:28] that set aside funds for that. The other
item that will affect elections is I've
[27:33] got it in the preliminary budget um to
plan for the potential of a special a US
[27:41] Senate election next year. There's we
have potential for that. Amy
[27:45] Clolobashar, her term isn't up until
2030 or 2031. She'd be on the ballot in
[27:50] 2030. However, she's a candidate for
governor this year for the DFL
[27:56] political party. So there's a likely,
you know, there's potential there that
[28:00] she could be elected governor. If so,
then there would have to be a special
[28:04] election in 2027 to fill her spot.
>> Election or she get appointed.
[28:10] » She'd appoint until the election occurs.
>> Following year,
[28:15] » well, yeah, till January.
>> She would take over January 4th.
[28:20] you get a voice company for that year
>> until the election is held in November
[28:24] of 2027 and that person would take
position and
[28:28] » that's why you got the increase.
>> Yeah, that's why the increase in all
[28:31] those elections.
>> You get that every other year,
[28:33] » right?
>> Difference.
[28:34] » Yeah. Otherwise, this budget would look
really good this year except for that.
[28:38] So,
>> yeah, that's why you're you're not
[28:41] seeing the decrease in my budget that we
normally would see in a off year. So,
[28:47] but we'll find out. We'll know by
December the election will have been
[28:51] held by then. We'll know the results and
we'll be able to tell if we establish
[28:56] our final budget if we can reduce that
or not. We can always reduce it. We just
[29:00] can't increase it at that point.
>> Thank you.
[29:05] » And then for salary requests, I'm going
to stick with the standard 3% increase.
[29:14] » Question. How busy has the early voting
been going?
[29:16] » Pick it up. I think the fact that we put
a notice to voters, a full page
[29:21] requirement by statute that put a full
page notice in last
[29:25] » next Tuesday.
>> Yeah, next Tuesday is the primary. So,
[29:28] yeah, we had about 60ome people
yesterday
[29:31] » working.
>> Yeah. And they're they're loving the the
[29:34] flow of how it's working. They really
are appreciating it. So, thank you on
[29:38] behalf of the voters for allowing us to
use that space.
[29:41] » Well, we get to be nice and cozy in
here. So,
[29:43] » yeah.
>> Thank you. Yep. Anything else?
[29:50] [clears throat]
>> Next up, Dave Rush, Landon Resource.
[29:57] » Good morning again.
>> Uh, one item for you this morning. So,
[30:03] this is the Long Prairie Watershed
Collaborative
[30:07] Fiscal Agreement agent agent fiscal
agreement for year 2027. So, uh, Todd
[30:15] County has been the fiscal agent for
this grant, um, new grant year in in
[30:21] fiscal year 2027. So, we just need to
reaffirm that they continue to be the
[30:25] fiscal agent for that grant.
So, whatever the board's wishes are and
[30:31] then we'll,
>> Mr. Chair, is that just is that every
[30:35] year that
>> I think it is whatever the grant
[30:39] agreement is with the state. So this
looks like it's for fiscal year 2627
[30:47] running the state fiscal.
>> Yeah.
[30:50] » Okay.
>> So that's so this would be
[30:54] » or even late
>> essentially updating that with a new
[30:59] grant period.
>> Mr. Chair, does that Dave does that
[31:04] anything to do with the one plan?
>> It directly has to do with one wershed
[31:08] one plan. So this would be those grants
come to one entity in that watershed and
[31:15] they handle all the financial stuff in
the sock river.
[31:19] » I do
>> in the Sock River. They just switched
[31:23] that. I think it was uh
Sterns County and now it's Sterns soil
[31:28] and water is the fiscal agent for that
one.
[31:33] Yeah, that was cuz that's the third
that's when financial center solid waste
[31:38] is same day.
>> Yep. Yep. I'll make a motion.
[31:45] » Second,
Charlie. Thanks, Jeff. Any further
[31:50] discussion?
My name, please.
[31:53] » Me?
>> Yes.
[31:54] » Schmidt?
>> Yes.
[31:55] » Kina?
>> Yes.
[31:56] » Rat?
>> Yes.
[31:57] » Wade?
>> Yes.
[31:58] » Motion carries.
>> Good.
[32:01] Thank you.
Mary,
[32:07] let's jump. Jill, you want to come on
up?
[32:10] » Sure.
[32:25] » I just have one item this morning. Um,
just looking for a motion to approve
[32:31] bills totaling 2,33,973.98.
[32:40] » Motion to pay the bills.
>> Second,
[32:45] Mr. Charlie. Jerry discussion,
[32:51] please.
>> Wade, yes.
[32:52] » Meer,
>> yes.
[32:54] » Smith,
>> yes. Helina,
[32:55] » yes.
>> Yes. Mu carries.
[32:59] » Thank you.
[33:03] » Josh into that.
>> I think this is
[33:10] » Oh, come on up. Come on up here. You're
the next uh
[33:13] » Oh,
sounds like fun.
[33:18] » We're just moving past it.
>> That's what I heard.
[33:21] » Going good.
>> Mr. Rush, you guys are running a
[33:23] fantastic uh
>> Okay, so anyone wants to know who this
[33:26] is, Timson, [laughter]
>> public works director.
[33:31] » Go ahead.
>> Good morning. I just got three items for
[33:34] you today. The first one is to approve
some no parking on CASA 46. So, I was
[33:38] approached by both the city of
Alexandria and the school district as
[33:43] well looking to put up some no parking
signs front of Discovery Middle School.
[33:47] Um, so they have both passed um the same
resolution, so they're very identical
[33:55] what they're asking for. Um, and it is
no parking during school day from 7:30
[34:00] to 3:30
to approve.
[34:06] » That's fine. I got a question. Have they
talked about how they're going to deal
[34:10] with traffic problem they already have?
Because now I go there and pick up
[34:14] grandkids. Where do they sit out on that
road to get in there to pick up kids?
[34:19] So, where are they going to go now?
They're going to go park at Henry's and
[34:22] then they're going to wave them up or
because they have an issue with all
[34:25] » Yes, they do.
>> So, now that you took away the parking,
[34:28] where are they going to go? Those
people.
[34:30] » So, actually, I think they weren't
supposed to be parking through there
[34:33] anyway. So, Discovery was supposed to be
working at uh Roing,
[34:38] » but have you been there for that
>> during that time? No.
[34:41] » It's about the worst night.
>> It is. I know it's nasty. If you want to
[34:44] pick up your kid early, you better be a
half hour early before school's out in
[34:48] order to be up in front. And if you're
there at the time school's let out,
[34:52] they're backed up, parked on the road
trying to get in there cuz they got a
[34:55] one circle. So, by eliminating the
parking, where are those people supposed
[34:59] to go?
>> So, what I do think people are going to
[35:02] do now that we have this path that we're
in the process of finishing up, I think
[35:06] they're going to tell their kids, "Walk
up to Willoughby."
[35:09] » They don't want that either. school does
not want that because we sat on the they
[35:13] don't want the kids coming out to the
sidewalk and get picked up.
[35:16] » So,
>> so I'm concerned about this. But what
[35:19] would happen if we would take this take
this out of here, take that out of there
[35:23] so people could come off the road and
pick up their kids here?
[35:27] » Well, no. They they go here.
>> Yeah.
[35:29] » Drive all the way back here. This is
where you pick up the kids. You go
[35:32] around and go out over there.
>> Okay.
[35:34] » And so when you stop here to pick up
your kids, this is backed up all the way
[35:37] out to here. I'm there. You're here. So
these people are waiting to get in to go
[35:42] pick up kids. And if they can't park
there, where are they going to go?
[35:45] » If we made it so that they could come in
here to get here instead of blocking up
[35:48] the road here.
>> Well, they could park on there, but they
[35:50] can't get on.
>> They got to go somewhere.
[35:53] [clears throat]
>> They got to come in here. They can't.
[35:56] » They have to come in here, but then they
can't get to this road.
[35:58] » But basically,
>> it's a Well, you know where I live?
[36:02] » Yeah. I'm within six blocks of
Christmas.
[36:06] The gymnas the gymnastics parking lot is
supposed to be off limits for after
[36:10] school pickup.
School is you and Jake. More of your
[36:17] engineers should go over there in the
morning
[36:21] and then again from 2:45 to I'm not now,
not till school starts, but before we
[36:28] make any final decisions on this
roundabout and everything else. I but
[36:33] Shane
>> and they have been working on it but
[36:36] they need help. That's why I'm telling
>> Mr. Sandstead and his crew they need
[36:41] help with this idea. There was a time
when all the buses picked up the kids.
[36:47] Now they flipped that. I mean on the
back side of the school I mean the buses
[36:50] on the west side there. Now they move
buses to the front
[36:54] » to the east side and then all the people
are coming in on that south driveway
[36:59] like Shane said and you're supposed to
pick your kids up somewhere in the back.
[37:04] We live over there in the ranch at
Arabella and we got a grandson there. My
[37:08] wife will meet him somewhere over there
on Spanky's property down here or drive,
[37:14] you know,
[clears throat]
[37:17] situation our place anyway a lot of
times. It's just it's such a So I'm just
[37:23] saying before we make a whole lot of
final decisions on what we're going to
[37:26] do.
>> I think it needs you you like you said
[37:30] that that's probably got to work with
the damn railroad and get an overpass.
[37:35] » But now just what we're just talking
about don't even happen when there's a
[37:39] train.
>> That is a whole another.
[37:42] » So I I Mr. Sure. I just got to say what
would happen if we would take and put a
[37:47] road across to the backside of the
Eagles.
[37:50] » Well, that Charlie and I sat on that
committee with Rick and we talked and
[37:54] that was exactly what we said. Why don't
you build your road up and go back into
[37:58] that neighborhood and start and even use
a bus that could haul the kids back
[38:02] there and unload them just a short back
and forth and they they haven't done a
[38:06] thing. We sat there, we talked about
that whole thing
[38:09] » and when it got done school just said
they didn't do anything.
[38:12] » There was a lot of discussion. and they
didn't do a thing with it. And I don't
[38:15] know if this is going to solve the
problem they got. The only thing they're
[38:18] doing is telling the parents you can't
park your because that's what the
[38:21] they're doing. The kids are coming out
going out to the sidewalk jumping in the
[38:24] car and leaving. And they don't want
them doing that. Okay. What are you
[38:27] going to do with the problem you got?
That does solve some of it. So what I
[38:31] think a lot of their issue I don't think
they need the whole bit no parking like
[38:35] what they have in here. They need so far
away from either of their driveways so
[38:38] that as you're in and out if that's what
we end up doing. I think that makes a
[38:42] ton of sense. agree with I agree with T
I think you should go over and readress.
[38:47] » In all fairness to the school bus
drivers once this buses start leaving
[38:51] everybody shuts down just like they did
in Jefferson.
[38:55] People that are plenty of old enough in
this room that and the high school was
[38:59] over there on Jefferson. Once they
started going across Jefferson Street,
[39:04] nobody drove on Jefferson. The buses
went hed right on out to Broadway. One
[39:08] right after the other this far apart.
They do the same thing coming out of
[39:12] Discovery. That doesn't mean they're
necessarily watching traffic, but
[39:16] traffic has to see them and stop with
them. So, it's not it's not proper
[39:22] traffic control by a damsite. It's just
what needs to be done. I don't know.
[39:27] It's not easy to when I read this, I
wasn't excited because we sat in there
[39:31] and went over this all with them. They
asked us, we gave them ideas and nothing
[39:34] happened. Others create more of a
problem. I think
[39:37] » I don't we can't they don't want to
come. They haven't come up with a
[39:40] solution and it's not easy. I think I I
would really like you to do that before.
[39:44] Like I said, I do a lot of whining, but
I live there and I I get to witness this
[39:49] every day a couple three times.
>> Um, so what I'm hearing from the board,
[39:54] you want me and Jake to study this a
little bit better? Should I be bringing
[39:56] this to you January? Is that too late or
are you No.
[40:00] » Well, when's their school year's coming?
I don't know when they want to try and
[40:03] do it, but how do you go look at it till
school starts?
[40:05] » They were want this. I know before
school starts. I know they split.
[40:08] » I want to answer it, but I mean you're
going to have the sidewalk. What is that
[40:12] going to create? I don't know if that's
going to create any It might
[40:16] » unless all the kids walk down and they
pick them up at Henry's. Like I said,
[40:19] » yeah, but then you got to move.
>> No, that's not
[40:22] » I mean that's why we have other issues
because with the with the sidewalk now,
[40:25] how are the residents going to take it?
>> Going to get a lot more going on in
[40:30] their area, right?
So what I am what I'm writing down study
[40:37] this see if we can come up with a better
option for them and present it to should
[40:40] we LGCC
>> you got to see what they got going to
[40:46] find out what their plan is because they
got to have one start in August
[40:52] » end of the month they got to have a
traffic plan. So, just one question.
[40:57] What if you took the no put the no
parking there but turned it into a right
[41:01] turn lane?
[41:05] » There isn't going to be a cop within the
mile.
[41:08] » But, I mean, with the no parking, if you
turn it into a right turn lane, they're
[41:12] going to go you can't work away.
>> The other thing you could do is put no
[41:17] parking by both driveways back up so
many feet at least to get them started.
[41:21] » I think that I think that's
>> I don't have an issue with that. That's
[41:23] a start. But I don't think you need to
do the whole thing because you're gonna
[41:26] have I don't the cars are going to sit
out on the road then you're going to
[41:29] block stop traffic
>> because I want to make a right-hand turn
[41:32] like you said into the school and I
can't get in because they're they are
[41:35] backed up out to the road and they don't
leave no space up the approaches.
[41:39] » Oh I I I live with that.
>> That's for sure.
[41:42] » Go ahead. And also I'd like to make a
comment. I think that the uh move of
[41:48] transportation is not being utilized
fully. That's why we're seeing the
[41:52] backup in the traffic that we're not
using the school bus and Uber paying for
[41:58] it. All of us are paying for that
transportation. And I guarantee you that
[42:03] uh the uh school buses are almost empty.
And uh they know that they talked about
[42:13] that 15 years ago when they were
planning a new high school if they
[42:17] should even if we should get rid of our
school buses.
[42:21] What do you need? Both a parking lot
that holds 2,000 cars and school bus
[42:26] expans. You know, you get the 90 and 72
passenger buses with 8 to 10 kids on the
[42:34] state says we'll provide.
[42:40] » So, the motion is out there. If it
doesn't get a second, it's going to die.
[42:45] Motion. He made a motion. I may go to
the
[42:50] » parking as I said seconded parking you
mean?
[42:53] » Yeah.
>> I hear who wants to do that. You said
[42:57] the school
>> the school and the city's already done.
[42:59] » They they both passed the resolutions
there.
[43:02] » But it's up to you to
>> it's up to the county board. It's the
[43:06] county's right.
>> What he's saying is Jeff made a motion.
[43:08] I said if we don't get a second it's
going to die anyway.
[43:10] » I'll second just so we can vote.
>> Oh. [laughter]
[43:17] I could always be
>> He's just got No. My name please.
[43:22] » Schmidt.
>> No.
[43:23] » Helina.
>> No.
[43:24] » Rat.
>> No.
[43:25] » Wade.
>> No.
[43:29] [laughter]
>> No.
[43:35] » So, sorry. You didn't you didn't know.
Are you coming? I know.
[43:38] » No. No. Um, so question.
>> We're not meeting you up. question to
[43:41] the board because we talked about maybe
doing something at each of these
[43:44] approaches. Is that what you want your
motion to be? Should we take care of
[43:48] like 25 feet paint the curb back and
make that no
[43:52] » your recommendation
>> on what do you think I think that
[43:56] » Can you say it again?
>> Um so what we would end up doing at each
[43:59] of those entrances coming into the main
parking lot, we would paint uh probably
[44:04] 20 to 25 ft of the curb. We'll look at
each of them exactly what that is. So,
[44:08] we'll make no parking as you're entering
and exiting the main parking lot so you
[44:12] can actually see what's coming.
>> We would paint that yellow. There would
[44:15] also have to be one sign up on either
post.
[44:19] » So, I I mean I think that's good, but I
do think that you should look into
[44:23] taking that a road west
that
[44:30] » 100% that came up when we talked about
it. Yeah, that's why I was surprised
[44:33] they didn't do anything. They actually
got a trail there. They build it up a
[44:36] little bit. Yep.
We'll we'll look at more options for the
[44:40] school. I don't think
[44:46] I made a motion. Charlie made a motion.
I'll second it.
[44:50] » Any further discussion on this? The
name, please.
[44:52] » Kina,
>> yes.
[44:54] » Grab,
>> yes.
[44:55] » Way,
>> yes.
[44:56] » Meer,
>> yes.
[44:57] » Schmidt,
>> yes.
[44:58] » Motion carries.
>> All right. I got direction.
[45:01] Uh, next item that we have is a
resolution to accept a park donation.
[45:07] So, the Big Oie Bike Club um donated a
mower for the trails for us. U Brad was
[45:12] going to be on his way to explain that
he's here.
[45:14] » He didn't make it.
>> Wonderful.
[45:15] » You were hiding back there on me.
>> He came in quiet. He stayed away from me
[45:19] cuz I I don't sound like
[45:24] » Yep. Yeah. So, uh, we told tell the view
this week about this at the coffee
[45:29] meeting, but, uh, yeah, the Big Old Bike
Club, they were looking for a mower to
[45:33] help with the spin trimming on the
mountain bike trails and, uh, I told
[45:37] them, "We'd be all for it, but that's
not something the county is going to
[45:40] purchase, and they ended up writing a
grant, getting one. They donated to us
[45:45] to maintain, and then we mow and we've
been using it. I been using it this
[45:49] summer. It's been fantastic." Works
well.
[45:51] » Yep. And we can run we can it's a all
terrain zero for the tracks. It can go
[45:57] on 30 degree slope and we run it right
down the center although we center the
[46:01] mountain bike trail and run the tracks
on each side of it. And so we can mow
[46:04] about a foot and a half on each side.
It's just one pass around instead of
[46:08] walking up and then coming back down the
trail to spin from each side. So it's
[46:14] been a game saver. We're actually
because of that, we've got the entire
[46:19] race course for the high school mountain
bike race in September's already been
[46:22] repacked with clay this summer because
we've had time cuz our mowing's been
[46:27] cutting. We mow about once every two
weeks where we having somebody spin trim
[46:32] almost daily to try to keep those, you
know, open for a high school race that's
[46:36] coming this fall. So, it's helped a lot
with the maintenance.
[46:42] » We've been trying it out. It's obviously
working. So, we're looking for the
[46:46] approval of potentially accepted.
>> Sounds great. Make a motion to approve
[46:50] resolution 2662.
>> Yep.
[46:55] » Park donation.
>> I'll second.
[46:58] » Thanks, Tim. Thanks, Charlie. Any
further discussions? Name, please.
[47:03] » Helina,
>> yes.
[47:04] » Rat,
>> yes.
[47:05] » Wade,
>> yes.
[47:06] » Meer,
>> yes.
[47:07] » Schmidt,
>> yes. Motion carried.
[47:11] » Thank you. [clears throat] Last item
that I have is to approve our
[47:14] engineering contract to do our bridge
safety inspections. So, we've had MSA,
[47:17] they've been doing our bridge safety
inspections for the last couple of
[47:20] years. Um, they've done a actually
really good job with that for us. Um, 22
[47:26] bridges I believe are on here for uh
this year. That includes the initial
[47:30] inspection of our Chipo Park bridge that
we made last fall. Um this is this is
[47:35] kind of our standards um meets the uh
the federal
[47:42] requirements. The one thing that I am
looking for one thing that we have to
[47:47] include
um so as of 2024
[47:52] uh the feds are actually requiring extra
um covert data and bridge data. So
[47:58] different uh items that we typically
didn't have in our uh bridge
[48:03] inspections. So that includes this uh
21,000 includes time for putting those
[48:08] in. So when you look into the uh uh
attachment A and page three of that
[48:13] items three item four that mentions
those snivey culver data collections uh
[48:19] standards for national bridge inventory.
It's all snippy stands for
[48:24] [clears throat] um what they're they're
going to get that extra data. So that
[48:27] includes the time for doing all of that
for us that we can make those federal
[48:30] requirements as well. Um, one other
thing I was going to point out um, under
[48:35] a state uh, timber haulers
permit. So the state's been collecting
[48:41] all this money for years. They didn't
know what to do with it. They've been
[48:43] giving it back to the counties. Um, so
we'll have another $6,000 to apply
[48:47] towards that 21,000. So our cost will be
less.
[48:51] » And how often do they have to inspect
the bridges?
[48:53] » So it's going to depend on the structure
itself. Some of them are at 12-month
[48:57] frequency. So, I think we have four of
Nope, I think we have two of them that
[49:01] are every year. That should be on your
list back there.
[49:05] » The ones that are in poor condition,
they got to come in.
[49:07] » Yep. They got to come in every year. Um,
most of your structures that are actual
[49:10] bridges um are going to be on a 24-month
frequency if they're still pretty
[49:14] decent. We have in Douglas County uh 61
structures.
[49:20] Um and then your culverts when they're
in actually pretty good condition, we
[49:23] can get those on a 4-year frequency.
That's what we do.
[49:28] » So the state of Minnesota, any structure
or group of structures that spans 10 ft
[49:33] or more is a bridge.
>> And that's what ends up on our bridge
[49:37] inspection list.
>> Tell me how many thousand calls we have.
[49:42] » No. No. So you're thinking culvert's
like the the smaller
[49:45] » that that's anything that's bigger that
spans 10 ft or more.
[49:50] » Oh, it spans 10.
>> Why? Why?
[49:54] » Why? wide.
>> Okay.
[49:55] » Not length. Yeah.
>> Yeah. That would have been quite a bit
[49:59] more than 60
>> name.
[50:01] » He's about the only guy that [laughter]
[50:05] » correct.
>> So, we got to check all the ones on the
[50:08] Central Lakes Trail.
>> So, the state
[50:11] » So, we would check the ones it it
depends on what road goes over it. Those
[50:16] are the ones that we check.
>> And so, we are also the bridge
[50:20] inspectors for the townships. So, a lot
of those don't roads are going to cross
[50:23] the except
>> Y.
[50:27] Thank you.
[50:30] » We need action on that.
>> Right.
[50:35] » I'll make a motion to approve. I'll
second it. Any further discussion?
[50:41] Lay, please. R.
>> Yes.
[50:43] » Wade. Yes. Meer.
>> Yes. Smitt.
[50:46] » Yes.
>> Yes. Motion carries.
[50:49] » Thank you very much.
It will take uh get better.
[50:55] » Five minutes.