[0:00] which items two and three around just
because we have our sheriff here
[0:03] and I know he's going to have some
comments on on the third item.
[0:07] So just let you know kind of where
we're going with this morning.
[0:11] Um So first up we have our highway
department communication plan with
Megan
[0:16] and Justin I assume as well.
[0:18] Sarah, we got Sarah here.
[0:20] And what's your name? Sarah. Sarah.
Okay.
[0:22] Morning.
[0:23] Good morning, yes.
[0:24] Good morning. Thanks for having us
back.
[0:26] We just have a a thought we'd come
back with a quick update.
[0:29] Um at our last meeting with you guys.
[0:32] We took a lot of notes as to kind of
what your expectations were and what
you wanted
[0:36] to be able to communicate out to
residents regarding this this project
still, so
[0:40] we as a team worked with your staff
and kind of came up with an overall
plan.
[0:44] So we'll go through that.
[0:45] um today just a quickly on a couple
things.
[0:48] Um if you do want to put that
PowerPoint up, that would be fine.
[0:52] Um so just as a quick reminder too,
[0:55] and we'll they'll send you these
documents after this meeting today.
[0:59] We will always have the frequently
asked questions.
[1:02] So we have based on your comments
last time, we did basically reformat
this
[1:07] and kind of retool it and made some
edits
[1:09] based on what your desires were to
communicate.
[1:12] And then we took that and we created
what we're calling core messaging.
[1:16] So an FAQ is really going to be a
could be a very long document.
[1:20] will be live and will always like
have different edits to it
[1:23] based on kind of where things are out
with the project.
[1:26] And even like during construction we
can add updates.
[1:29] But then also just taking like a core
messaging right now is to again like
[1:33] the the why are we doing this, what
is it, what is it actually going to
be
[1:38] and then kind of when and how?
[1:40] So those things are kind of like will
be paired down
[1:42] so we can really kind of get to what
is it that you guys need to help
[1:46] communicate out to your constituents
and residents.
[1:48] So with that, one of the things we
wanted to show you is
[1:51] um what we're calling kind of your
communication toolkit.
[1:55] This is several slides. It's mostly
ment for an internal document for
you.
[2:00] And this will continue to be updated
again as things continue to progress.
[2:04] As you decide exactly how you're
going to fund this
[2:07] and what the taxpayer impact is going
to be.
[2:09] This will be something that will
update for you
[2:11] and then you can continue to
reference this.
[2:13] So when you get questions, you can be
able to go back to this document and
say,
[2:18] okay, here's what the information,
the data is.
[2:20] And then that way, you're all saying
the same thing
[2:23] and you all have all the data in
front of you.
[2:25] So Sarah's going to walk through this
really quick and then we also have
some
[2:28] additional information on the few
other outreach plan that we have
coming up.
[2:32] Yeah, I'm just going to add really
quick to Megan's comment about the
[2:35] core messaging is the last time we
sat in front of you
[2:38] we just talked about how the FAQs
told a lot of the story,
[2:41] but the core message is really going
to tell that story from beginning to
end
[2:45] and the FAQs will complement that.
[2:47] So anything that isn't included in
like a brochure that might be out or
[2:51] readily available as part of that
story on the website,
[2:53] then the FAQs support that to make
sure we're telling the whole story.
[2:57] So, um as Megan mentioned, this
toolkit is created for you guys, so
you guys
[3:01] have one place to always go and
access information should you get
asked questions.
[3:06] Um so we have everything from an
elevator pitch that high level
overview
[3:11] of the um project and the kind of the
why of just a quick little
[3:15] quick little burb and we won't spend
a ton of time on each of these
slides.
[3:19] I Megan mentioned, it'll be sent out
to you later,
[3:22] but just want to kind of show you
what all was included in this.
[3:25] And then we'll break down the core
messaging into some slides.
[3:28] So whether someone's like, what are
the real challenges?
[3:31] You have a slide just to speak on
that.
[3:33] We have the project goals broken
down.
[3:36] And then as you continue some more
about the project details,
[3:39] is going into that plan that you guys
are deciding to move forward with?
[3:44] and then um or tells concept images
of what will this look like?
[3:47] You have one place to go and pull
that up quickly.
[3:50] And then um project cost. What does
that breakdown look like?
[3:54] And this is a great time to remind
you of this is a living document,
[3:58] as decisions are made, as things are
updated, we will always be updating
this
[4:03] so that you guys have the most
up-to-date information kind of at
your fingertips,
[4:07] so that will continue to live as we
continue to make changes.
[4:12] Um and then the outreach schedule.
[4:15] As we build into this, as we solidify
some dates,
[4:18] as we make those changes, we'll
update this here as well.
[4:22] Um but just drawing some attention to
we know we want to do a community
[4:25] open house this fall. We know we're
going to hit the ship meetings.
[4:29] All of those will be built into this.
[4:33] Um I'd just say that um this
represents also kind of where the
design is
[4:38] into is also
[4:39] so like the the purple is the design
schedule
[4:41] and the blue is the um the
communication schedule.
[4:47] So really again just trying to put
all this together for you,
[4:50] so you can kind of see again,
construction, design, communication,
how it kind of
[4:54] all goes together. And then the
mid-September
[4:57] and the October, those are the two
[4:59] really big outreach, um, meetings
that we're targeting.
[5:03] We've talked with your team about in
September,
[5:05] like having tours of the facility.
[5:07] Maybe doing something kind of around
like public safety,
[5:12] kind of having some, I don't know. I
threw out the fun idea of
[5:15] having some of your staff be part of
like a coloring book.
[5:19] Like with you know, the people could
bring their kids and whatever.
[5:20] I'm not sure that that's going to go
over. But you know,
[5:23] we could we could talk about those
ideas. So just again, having,
[5:27] being able to have people look at the
facility, but then also
[5:32] again, having you to be able to be
there to answer questions
[5:36] so that you're being transparent
about what is going on. And then
[5:39] the township meeting, we know it's
important for us to reach
[5:41] out to the township to have the same
messaging. So we'll want
[5:45] to work with you on that so that
again there, we're doing that
[5:48] in partnership with this with the
staff and with you guys
[5:51] to attend that. So again, um, we're
all kind of saying the same
[5:55] message. So, this is just all that
put together, construction,
[5:58] communication and design. So that's
what that all that looks
[6:01] like. to Sarah's find is always on
the website, we'll always have
[6:05] that available for you guys, um, the
FAQ will continue to live on
[6:09] there. And then this is just again a
quick thing that we want to make
[6:15] sure we're communicating on. We could
do postcards that we could
[6:20] work with your team to make sure
everyone knows that the open house
[6:23] is there. Social media, we'll work a
plan so that again, there's
[6:25] a cross-way that we're getting this
message out there about this open
[6:27] house and facility tour. like don't
go next yet. Um, because I think
[6:31] it's gonna automatically play. Um,
next we just wanted to kind
[6:37] of share, we had the opportunity to
spend the day, um, with Justin
[6:40] and Amanda at the facility to create
a video and I don't think
[6:47] you guys have seen that full video
yet. Um, again, there's still
[6:51] opportunity to make some edits to
this and things like that, but
[6:56] we wanted to share that with you
today because we feel like it's in
[6:57] a really great spot and will be a
great communication tool moving
[6:58] forward to live on the website, to be
shared, um, throughout
[7:03] the communities as well. Any
questions before like the video
[7:07] might just automatically play after I
hit it. I have one. Sure.
[7:11] The last, um, no, yeah, there. So, it
says approval to bid down
[7:16] by December 2027. What does that
mean? That's, that is more
[7:18] the construction process, so like
when they actually go out and do
[7:23] the bids, that that has to get final
approval. So it's the
[7:28] construction again. That's part of
what, um, is Ken Francis has
[7:31] been up here before kind of showing
that timeline. Once that
[7:35] gets refined more, again as you
continue to make decisions on
[7:41] design, those days will get changed.
But right now that's
[7:42] overall what Ken has shown you for
the bidding process. So then,
[7:43] then they'll award the bidding
contracts December, January. Yep.
[7:47] Okay. Just one minor correction that
should be December 2026.
[7:48] So we have, yeah, sorry. Okay. No,
it's just carry over because
[7:49] you have December, January 2027.
Yeah.
[7:52] First of the year 2027. Thank you. Oh
yeah.
[7:58] I had a couple quick comments on the
project cost sheet.
[8:01] Absolutely.
[8:02] And I know that's what we're going to
get the most questions on.
[8:05] So, um, on the left side, um, I'm not
sure we are for sure
[8:12] going to be using property tax levy
because I guarantee that's
[8:15] what most people are going to be
asking. For sure.
[8:16] Um, I think Commissioner Westerberg
has made that an
[8:19] option for us to consider. But I
don't know if I want to put that
[8:23] out to the public at this point in
time. As far as an option, all
[8:27] options are on the table in my mind.
It's just that we're really
[8:33] not looking at that as a priority at
all as far as funding, right?
[8:37] That I think the top three are really
where we're going with this.
[8:38] Okay. to maybe comment on that, then
maybe we say property tax levy
[8:44] question mark or possible. Yeah, you,
yeah, that would be fine.
[8:46] Um, yeah, I, I think I agree with uh,
the chair
[8:48] because what I would see if I, if I
didn't know what was going
[8:53] on, I would see that and go
automatically assume they're
[8:56] going to raise my property taxes.
They've already raised, going to
[9:00] raise tabs and now they're going to
do property taxes. So, like
[9:04] you say, right, option after it or,
you know, something. And, and
[9:09] on that note, if we're going to do,
separate that say alternates
[9:12] or different possible funding
options, whatever we call it. Um,
[9:15] I think we also may want to say the
sale of existing property. And
[9:20] that's certainly going to be a
question mark too. We don't even
[9:24] know if it's a positive value, but
I'm hoping we'll, you know,
[9:31] it's going to be worth three to five
million, time will tell.
[9:32] I suppose we couldn't add in the sale
of other properties in
[9:33] the county. You think? No. Well, I
mean,
[9:34] I mean, that just kind of gives
people a more of a vision of
[9:39] that we're not going after their
property taxes, we're trying to
[9:44] find every avenue we can. To pay for
it.
[9:48] I like that, yeah.
[9:49] Yeah.
[9:50] So I would put that sale of
properties, property, however you
[9:54] wanted to find it first. And then
property tax levy second and and make
it very clear that these
[9:59] potential options or however we want
to phrase it.
[10:01] [clears throat] Okay.
[10:03] Um and then the one other minor
comment I had was um
[10:06] I didn't have a time to read all the
particular pages,
[10:10] but I think somewhere in there it'd
be important to communicate
[10:13] to the public that one of the key
parts of this is that we're
[10:15] keeping our services full throttle
during this transition.
[10:19] Yep.
[10:20] Because that justifies the need of
finding a different spot to
[10:23] get it and that during this time,
nothing's going to be hindered.
[10:27] Yep.
[10:28] we do have that in here.
[10:30] Okay. Yep, good.
[10:31] If you feel that after you've read
it, just let Justin and
[10:34] Amanda know that if it needs to get
beefed up like let us know.
[10:37] Can you show it real quick?
[10:38] rest is kind of one of the wise.
[10:40] Can you show it real quick? Is it one
of the slides you just
[10:42] went through? Um it is not on the
slides. Again, because that's
[10:45] part of the bigger messaging we're
trying to make sure.
[10:46] But if you want us to add that, we
certainly can.
[10:49] If Mr. Mr. Chair was in this area
here you were talking about adding
[10:54] sale of existing building?
[10:55] Yeah, I like that idea.
[10:57] just he added to it.
[11:00] in the general land properties. Yep,
there you go.
[11:01] Yeah.
[11:02] I think we should add that.
[11:03] Just so they I mean
[11:05] I think it could be all encompassing
and just say sale
[11:09] of existing properties without
specifying anything.
[11:12] That's true. I would I would I can
see that, but also clarity,
[11:15] clarity is we need clarification.
[11:19] Well, so probably I like the language
I'm seeing, so I guess
[11:21] I'll leave it up to their hands to.
[11:23] Okay.
[11:23] Exactly.
[11:24] Let us make those edits and get them
back over to Justin and Amanda
[11:29] to send out to you. For sure is the
sale of the existing building
[11:32] because people go, what are you going
to do with the old building?
[11:34] Yep, for sure.
[11:35] Megan, can you tell me what you mean
when you said this, the
[11:38] transition, keeping services going as
in a different form of communication?
[11:43] So it's in it's in these documents,
but
[11:45] what I just noted here is that
[11:47] um maybe on the core messaging
project goals, uh we'll add
[11:50] a bullet saying, you know, keep
existing services intact.
[11:55] We'll come up with better
[11:55] I'll lean on your judgment.
[11:56] I just think that's important.
[11:58] wherever we communicate that.
[11:59] We can do that.
[12:00] That's not a problem.
[12:02] [chair squeaking]
[12:04] Um
[12:06] I don't know if this is digging too
deep or maybe it's in that
[12:10] story you have there. Um
[12:11] something about the defrayed cost of
$5 million if we keep the
[12:14] existing building, would probably be
important for people to know
[12:17] because I'm seeing a lot of people
saying, um how come you're not just
[12:22] remodeling what you have? A lot of it
is the size, a lot of it is
[12:25] how old it is. It's just, it's more
financially feasible to start new.
[12:30] Yep.
[12:30] And that that is there are all pieces
in here that does say that
[12:33] you know, it is.
[12:35] Okay.
[12:36] Good.
[12:36] deferred maintenance and all that,
like it it doesn't that does not
[12:41] make sense. Okay.
[12:41] But again, if once you read it all,
if you feel like there's something
[12:45] else needs to be bolstered, let us
know. But
[12:47] I think what I'd like to just
encourage is to really take your
[12:50] time and read this. Um and again,
[12:52] remember that like there's pieces
that get pulled out because when
[12:55] you get so detailed too, you kind of
end up losing people. So we
[12:58] want to make sure that we're hitting
the things that are important.
[13:00] The key points, yes.
[13:01] Yep.
[13:02] Yep.
[13:03] So.
[13:04] Any other questions?
[13:05] you can explain, but yeah, let us
know we're happy to.
[13:07] None for me on this.
[13:08] I'm excited to see the video, any
other questions before we do?
[13:10] No, I'm ready to see you.
[13:11] Bring it on.
[13:13] All right, let's see if it works.
[13:16] Who's that guy?
[13:17] Is that an actor from Hollywood?
[13:18] Yeah.
[13:20] [music] Our highway department's
responsible for emergency response,
[13:24] and that looks different every day of
the year. We're responsible for
[13:29] the road maintenance in the summer
months throughout the year and also
[13:34] the snow clearing in the winter
months. Most of our county is
[13:37] rural and really counts on the County
Highway Department to get
[13:41] their roads cleared. Every day we
have to move equipment just to get
[13:44] to our equipment. If I wanted to go
get our sweeper out, I'd have to
[13:48] move four other pieces because we got
it packed in so tight.
[13:50] Some equipment is between two
buildings constantly going back
[13:52] and forth. Some days it actually adds
time to get what we need and
[13:56] get out the door. I worry about, you
know, the roof whenever it
[13:59] rains hard, we have water coming in,
we have it on our trucks,
[14:01] we have it on our floor. I worry that
someday this roof is going
[14:04] to be collapsed. New snow plow truck
is on the order of $400,000.
[14:08] And we need to make sure that we're
protecting those assets. The section
[14:12] that we're in currently was built in
1949 and
[14:16] Well, floor drains don't work.
[14:19] We have horrible ventilation like you
start welding and it gets smoky.
[14:27] We need to have a good facility to
operate efficiently out of
[14:30] and to make sure that as we have more
areas of pavement to maintain that
[14:34] we have a reliable, safe and
efficient facility to work out of.
[14:38] A building of this age, 75 years, the
different code compliance, just
[14:41] the space needs itself.
[14:44] It really didn't lend itself to a
remodel project or a band-aid
approach
[14:47] to to get us by. It's time to replace
the building. It's served
[14:50] us for some time for the last 10, 15
years. It really hasn't met
[14:54] our needs. It hasn't served us well.
[14:58] [music]
[15:01] Wow.
[15:01] Very well done.
[15:03] Wow.
[15:05] [music]
[15:07] Oh, that's pretty really good.
[15:08] One little thing I think I saw was
when Justin was talking,
[15:11] it said Cody's name. Cody Goodheart.
[15:13] Oh.
[15:14] [laughter]
[15:15] Just in one of the spots.
[15:17] At the very, at the very end of the
video, did you did you
[15:20] say that it hasn't served us well or
it has served us well?
[15:23] For some time it's served us well.
[15:25] Yes. Okay, there you go. All right,
sounds good. Yeah.
[15:28] Because it sounds like we've kind of
got our money's worth out of that
building.
[15:30] Yeah. Yeah, I would say.
[15:32] And even you know, speak on that. I
know we have uh some
[15:36] inquiries out just on looking at this
the value of the
[15:38] existing property.
[15:40] Um I have heard rumor that the
property just east of us
[15:42] was going to close.
[15:44] Um so that would be a very direct
comparable to
[15:47] A nice comp for the how much it would
be. Okay.
[15:52] Similar land size.
[15:55] Yeah, it's the potential um housing
just Oh yeah, okay.
[15:59] I think there's six or you know,
[16:01] obviously be a price for square foot
on a commercial property, but
[16:04] Okay, cool.
[16:05] Very well done. Appreciate that.
Everyone involved.
[16:08] Thank you guys. I'm getting, you
know, access to this video.
[16:11] And then again, putting it on your
website and utilizing how you feel
best.
[16:15] And how long was it? a minute and a
half, two minutes?
[16:18] Yes, we don't want it too long.
[16:20] A minute and a half. A minute and a
half? Okay.
[16:22] Can this video be uploaded to YouTube
where a lot of people
[16:24] can see it?
[16:26] Okay.
[16:27] Do we get revenue if we get uh
[16:30] revenue so we put on that
[16:32] Like your video.
[16:33] That the color looks nice.
[16:34] [laughter]
[16:36] I do got to say though, the video was
very tastefully done.
[16:39] I didn't I didn't really see anything
that struck me bad
[16:41] about it, so
[16:42] gets the point across without
problem.
[16:44] Yeah, it gets the point across
without being assessive about it.
[16:47] Yeah. Good.
[16:50] Well, thank you guys for having us.
We appreciate it.
[16:51] You have by Sandy County
[16:54] mn.gov. Is that
[16:57] for strictly
[17:01] for the building and stuff like that
just
[17:04] or is this does this go for
[17:05] It's just our county our county
website.
[17:08] Oh.
[17:09] And then there is a landing page.
[17:12] There is a landing page.
[17:13] Yeah, and that might be we can have a
direct link.
[17:17] Yeah, we should.
[17:18] It might be more difficult to find
it.
[17:21] Yeah.
[17:22] And I'm not sure if the if the video
was uploaded, if there
[17:24] would be a link in say like the
subject or something
[17:27] that a person could click or
[17:29] Okay.
[17:30] I know some some people find it a
challenge to find things
[17:33] on our website.
[17:34] So I from my perspective, this is our
one of our top
[17:37] priorities of this year.
[17:39] And so having it front and center,
whether it's a link on the front
[17:41] page or what have you, um to me, I
would be very supportive. Or YouTube.
[17:46] Cuz then we can share it.
[17:47] Well, the YouTube link would be on
the front page of our website.
[17:50] Oh, that way. Yes, there you go. Yes.
[17:52] Our QR code.
[17:54] Do you have QR codes that you're
going to be putting?
[17:56] Okay.
[17:57] We can absolutely do that.
[17:58] Well, it looks great. Good job on the
video.
[18:00] Thank you.
[18:01] Everything good as far as like update
for communication, anything
[18:03] else you'd like to comment on or
don't do we miss anything
[18:06] that is important to you?
[18:09] No, just a couple comments that were
made on the list of things
[18:12] but otherwise, yeah, no, it looks
great.
[18:15] Is it too late to ask for a different
um Hollywood actor at
[18:17] the beginning of it?
[18:19] We can come back and interview you to
film.
[18:21] No, no, no.
[18:22] [laughter]
[18:23] Yeah, you're going to say Justin.
[18:24] I'm Mr. Chair, if I may, uh,
[18:25] you know, looking at that open house,
is there any vision that
[18:29] commissioners would would like to
see,
[18:31] you know, our thought too is and
maybe it's partnering with the
[18:33] sheriff, there's the safety day in
September.
[18:35] Not that it would be the same day, we
wouldn't want to rain
[18:37] on that parade,
[18:38] but we'd also want to show that what
we do has a lot involvement
[18:41] with law enforcement and what they do
has a lot of involvement
[18:44] with what we do. So
[18:47] understanding that relationship and
the importance,
[18:50] um our expectation was, you know,
potentially having maybe
[18:52] there is some law enforcement or
safety and rescue
[18:54] or fire department to show that, you
know, the need that the plows
[18:56] get out, kind of clear the way for
emergency response.
[18:58] So that was
[19:01] kind of our vision, not making it
overdone.
[19:03] It's a chance to for folks to see the
facility, but to have that
[19:07] Have you two had a preliminary chat
on this?
[19:09] We have not, it's no, I just um I
know there's this, you know
[19:12] the date of the safety day for
September.
[19:14] Uh, I can maybe tell you real quick
here.
[19:18] Well, you're if you do it the same
day, I guess that's kind of a
[19:20] separate question, but from my
perspective, correlating it with
[19:23] our shares department is a is a great
idea.
[19:26] I think so. Because it looks like
you're working together, it
[19:28] brings like community
[19:30] together. Absolutely 100%.
[19:32] Because that is the fact, that is
what they're doing.
[19:33] So might as well show that.
[19:35] Yeah, and that was our take too is,
you know, to show the
[19:37] importance that what we do, you know,
is relied upon by a
[19:40] lot of services.
[19:44] Good.
[19:45] September 12th.
[19:45] September 12th. Yep, that's Saturday.
[19:48] Yeah, we'd be happy to partner with
you however we can
[19:50] and help support those. Yep,
appreciate it.
[19:52] So maybe we'll do we can talk offline
and figure out a
[19:54] different day but around that time
frame.
[19:57] Okay. Perfect.
[19:58] And have instead of the internal
working is is great, but also
[20:01] communicate the value to the public,
IE your kids will get
[20:03] to
[20:06] uh, um,
[20:07] the sheriffs will be out, uh,
deputies will be out giving tickets.
[20:10] We maybe not that one. [Laughter]
[20:13] But that we, you know, emergency
service can be people in
[20:15] dangerous health conditions can be
taken to the hospital.
[20:19] a lot quicker if we have safe roads.
[20:22] Anything else, commissioners?
[20:23] Um, I just want to ask one question
there for Justin.
[20:25] So, one of the comments that I've
been, well, been getting quite
frequently on the wheelage tax is, is
do, uh,
[20:32] they say that it can only be used for
road and bridges,
[20:36] not for a building.
[20:38] Can you clarify that?
[20:40] Definition and statute is highway
purposes.
[20:43] Highway purposes, yes. I like that.
[20:47] So, obviously for, for many
departments of public works, sheriff,
[20:50] we need a facility to operate out of.
Okay.
[20:53] We need equipment to to manage and
maintain roads.
[20:55] So they're all highway purposes by
definition.
[20:58] But I just thought I would ask that
well, so other people listening could
know that too, so.
[21:03] Oh, great. Good question.
[21:04] And to add to that, has that been
done in other counties?
[21:07] Wheeled tax to use for to use for
highway building?
[21:10] Uh, for equipment, for sure.
[21:12] I don't know uncertainty for for use
for facility,
[21:15] but I know the definition of highway
purposes.
[21:17] But we can definitely look into it
and confirm and next.
[21:20] Probably would be nice to know.
[21:22] Thank you.
[21:23] Yeah, I think either way, I mean if
if, you know, from budgetary
standpoint
[21:26] that whelage tax revenue could be
used to offset some burden of road
and bridge
[21:30] and that other burden could be, also
it's
[21:32] maybe restricted, but then, you know,
say it is
[21:35] Yeah, it's all, it's all coming from
the same pool of tax.
[21:38] It's just a question that has come up
many, many times.
[21:40] So I thought I would just get it on.
[21:42] Commissioner Christenson, I'll seek
the answer and we can get
verification back.
[21:46] Thank you very much.
[21:47] Megan, one more time, can you go back
to the project costs?
[21:51] Um, can we increase the next fiscal?
[22:05] Um, this is probably too much in the
weeds, but we have, uh, you know, a
debt that's going off
[22:11] that we're basically maintaining.
[22:15] to go on it.
[22:16] I guess my as I say this, I think
that's probably too detailed.
[22:19] because it's not really new funding.
[22:21] Yeah, I would just leave that out.
Okay.
[22:23] No, because when I've brought that
up, uh, people will say, well, then
our taxes will go down if that, you
know, goes, expires, so.
[22:33] Very true, but I I like the part of
saying we're not really, we're not
going to be,
[22:37] hopefully not adding any new taxes
other than the wheel tax.
[22:41] Right. It's my home.
[22:43] Okay.
[22:44] All right, I just wanted to bring up
just wanted to bring up just in case
anyone had a opinion on it,
[22:46] but I I think that'd be good to keep
it out of there.
[22:51] Okay. Perfect.
[22:52] Thank you, thank you, thank you.
[22:53] Thank you. Yes, appreciate it. Well
done.
[22:55] Good, good job, ladies.
[22:56] Thank you.
[22:57] I'm really glad we didn't bring in,
uh, some actors, huh?
[23:00] Haven't real people that are hands-on
doing the video, it's fantastic.
[23:03] I wasn't an actor.
[23:05] [Laughter]
Krissen,
[23:06] that's your call.
[23:07] Hey, maybe, Justin, maybe you have
another trade or another, uh, career
move. You never know.
[23:11] his acting career now.
[23:14] Thank you.
[23:14] Thank you, guys. Yeah, thank you,
guys. Appreciate it.
[23:17] Next up on the agenda, I don't know
if you heard it, but we switched
items two and three around
[23:21] since our sheriff is here to respect
his time.
[23:25] So, update on the regional jail
meeting, we had a meeting yesterday
with, uh, Pine County.
[23:29] There were about 40 people invited or
not invited that were there.
[23:33] Um, with the was it seven counties or
eight?
[23:36] Eight. Eight.
[23:37] Okay.
[23:38] For some reason I was thinking seven.
[23:39] So there were eight counties talking
about a subject that I thought was
very interesting of county jail
collaboration.
[23:46] And I give Pine County a lot of, uh,
credit for thinking outside of the
box.
[23:50] And I just wanted to bring this to
our attention,
[23:51] I don't think it's something we're
gonna solve today
[23:53] or tomorrow.
[23:54] It's kind of a long-term thought
process of how do we,
[23:59] um, administer and fund and our, uh,
jails and in a way that's, um,
[24:04] you know, most efficient.
[24:09] So some of the key takeaways I had
and then Amanda was there.
[24:12] Um, Wayne and John were there from
our Sheriff's Department.
[24:15] Jeff Edblad was there, um, as well as
Jackie from the jail.
[24:19] So some of the key takeaways.
[24:20] And and what I was curious about is
none of us, most of us didn't sit
together and so I was thinking
afterwards like,
[24:25] I bet we all saw different parts of
this that we gravitated towards.
[24:30] What hit me, some of my key
highlights were mental health jeeling
is an extre
[24:34] extremely important topic for
everybody there.
[24:38] Um, it's just a very big challenge.
[24:39] Wayne and I talked a little bit about
that on our way back home.
[24:43] Um, so maybe you can comment on that
a little bit more.
[24:45] Um, most of the counties are way
overbuilt.
[24:47] I didn't realize, um, you know, our
low numbers are, um,
[24:51] really not any different than
anywhere else.
[24:55] And there were some a lot of legal
reasons that they went through that
are on the slide,
[24:58] maybe we can zip through that real
quick.
[25:01] Um, not a lot of love for Department
of love for Department of Corrections
in terms of the inconsistent.
[25:05] agencies of how they're inspecting.
Um, that was a challenge.
[25:11] Um, from my perspective, the one
question I asked was, um,
[25:14] can I ask the Pine County? It was a
formal meeting for Pine County,
[25:17] and the rest of us were kind of
guests of that meeting.
[25:20] I asked them how they came up with
the eight counties.
[25:23] And their answer was solid. It was
because it's
[25:25] they're the center and that's kind of
the counties
[25:27] that are within an hour and a half
drive of them. Okay.
[25:30] So I walked away from that thinking,
well,
[25:32] we work a lot with our neighboring
counties
[25:34] and maybe we would want to think
about it from that perspective,
[25:37] because I know we have some things
going with Chisago County
[25:40] um, in this area.
[25:42] And also a good comment was the need
for
[25:44] a lot of our state legislator's
involvement
[25:47] on this in different ways,
[25:49] and perhaps one of you two can
comment more on that.
[25:51] Why don't we just go through a couple
of the highlights
[25:53] do you want to narrate from here and
go through this?
[25:56] Oh, my, I certainly can.
[25:57] So this was really a meeting
spearheaded by Canabec County,
[26:01] and Kelly Schroder did a lot of uh
work,
[26:05] I think in conjunction with their
sheriff
[26:07] to put together some of the
information provided to the
[26:10] rest of the attendees in the meeting.
[26:12] It stemmed out of this uh 2024 jail
study that was
[26:15] done statewide to determine um
functionality
[26:17] of jails across the state and
feasibility of
[26:20] any sort of regional initiatives.
[26:25] Um, and I I can send all of you this
PowerPoint
[26:27] after the meeting today,
[26:28] but uh Kelly touched on what the uh
State Department
[26:32] of Corrections should be doing based
on that jail study
[26:37] regarding regionalization or um
treatment
[26:40] and alternatives for jail needs
because those
[26:43] mental health components.
[26:49] we touched on the uh age of of jails
[26:53] and the life expectancy of those
[26:56] and then those highlighted on the
screens are the jails
[26:59] that were or the counties with the
jails that were
[27:02] involved in this meeting.
[27:05] So, um, I see Anny County being one
of the oldest
[27:08] in in that group.
[27:10] Um, but across the state there are
many, many aging jails,
[27:14] so lots of counties are having these
same conversations.
[27:19] Say, did they mention anything of
why, why does it say
[27:22] 30-year life expectancy?
[27:24] Did they anybody touch on that at
all, why that's that?
[27:27] Um,
[27:28] they did not. And we did talk about
the studies
[27:30] that are done to determine, um, you
know,
[27:32] what the best route is for counties
to do that receive
[27:35] like that that that letter from the
state saying
[27:37] that their jail is out of compliance.
[27:39] They'll have to close.
[27:40] And if it's, um, more fiscally
responsible to
[27:43] build or, um, transport, and for
those studies,
[27:47] they go off of a 30-year lifespan.
[27:52] I, I, I agree with where I think
you're going.
[27:55] 30 years doesn't seem like a very
long time.
[27:57] If I buy a house, I hope it
[27:59] lasts 100 years
[28:01] and my kids want to move into it
someday too.
[28:03] Um, I think specifically with jails
is
[28:06] uh because of the changes in
requirements for those jails,
[28:11] and we we see that with our own jail.
[28:13] Structurally, well, Dan might
disagree after this morning,
[28:17] but structurally, it's sound. It's a
concrete building.
[28:20] But we're having issues with wiring,
um,
[28:23] with the technology within the
building, with, um,
[28:28] the, the service of inmates. We have
a whole portion of the jail
[28:32] that isn't used anymore because
judges don't
[28:34] order that type of sentencing.
[28:37] So, um, I think they use 30 years
because it seems like
[28:40] a reasonable time frame for life
expectancy given
[28:44] frequent changes.
[28:48] I'm not saying I agree with it.
[28:49] I just wanted to bring that up.
[28:51] I mean, it it's a ridiculous number.
[28:53] It and and I'm not, that's not
pointed at you or anybody.
[28:56] Yeah, I mean, we're building a
highway building
[28:58] hoping it will last a heck of a lot
longer than 30 years.
[29:01] I mean, we're hoping for 75 years
from the building
[29:04] that's going to go up.
[29:06] So to say 30 years
[29:08] and then what's what's the average
cost?
[29:11] Did they bring that up?
[29:12] We didn't talk, but isn't it like 50
million or
[29:13] something like that?
[29:15] Yeah. So 50 million every 30 years.
[29:17] Jeez.
[29:18] Well, and and you got to that's 50
million today.
[29:20] Next year it's going to be at 5%.
[29:23] The year after that is add another
5%. Something.
[29:26] Yep.
[29:27] Yeah.
[29:28] Anyway.
[29:29] Um, so, yes, Kelly touched on some of
the points
[29:33] that this uh jail study uh came
across like um
[29:38] bed space and uh benefits for
regionalizing, um,
[29:42] being able to pool and share staff
and resources.
[29:49] And and just raise the question of
does it make sense
[29:51] for all 87 counties to have a jail?
[29:54] Currently not all 87 do.
[29:56] Um, 77 do. There is some
regionalization
[30:00] throughout the state, specifically in
in much
[30:03] smaller counties.
[30:06] and then there are a few slides here
and then there are a few slides here
and again I'll I'll share this with
all of you.
[30:10] One thing that I want to touch on
when I click through these slides
that have specific information to the
counties.
[30:16] It was noted during the meeting that
perhaps the data within these slides
is not exactly accurate.
[30:23] Um, it's the data's pulled from a a
statewide
[30:26] uh Department of Corrections report,
[30:29] but um perhaps the way counties do
their reporting is not consistent.
[30:33] So there will be some um variable
data in this that shouldn't be
considered.
[30:40] There was a lot of discussion on that
about the inconsistencies of it and I
can't remember if it was Cannabic or
Pine mentioned.
[30:45] I think it was Cannabic that that's
their whole budget for a particular
area, not just the jails.
[30:51] So, I mean, whatever it's it's flawed
data.
[30:53] But ours was on track, it seemed
like, right?
[30:56] Correct. Ours was pretty accurate.
[30:58] Yep. Um, and and so this is
Commissioner Dove touched on it,
[31:02] the capacity of the jails throughout
the region
[31:05] that was here
[31:06] far exceeds what the average daily
population is within those jails.
[31:12] Um, Carlton County is a a brand new
jail built to house about 100 people,
[31:17] but their average population is
around 25.
[31:21] Um, and so that is is part of what
spurred the
[31:25] you know, idea to have a conversation
about regionalizing
[31:28] because some of these counties on
this list have newer facilities.
[31:33] Um, some of us do not.
[31:36] Um, but all of us don't use our jails
to their full capacity.
[31:42] Not that we'd want to necessarily use
it to our full capacity, that would
increase our costs significantly.
[31:47] Um, and we'd have to ramp up staffing
and resources,
[31:52] but um space-wise it's not being
utilized.
[31:56] Um, just some more comparisons
amongst the counties.
[32:01] Um, one piece that was talked a lot
about was inmate classification.
[32:06] Uh, so determining which inmates can
be housed
[32:09] near one another.
[32:13] Um, and what what jails are set up
[32:15] currently
[32:17] or um being constructed on how to set
them up
[32:20] so you don't have certain
classifications with others.
[32:24] You know, many of us can see like
males and females
[32:26] being separated,
[32:27] but there's a lot more that goes into
it when we talk
[32:29] about violent offenders,
[32:30] sexual offenders, things like that.
[32:32] Um, so that was a a big part of the
conversation yesterday.
[32:36] Um, again, more about that
classification and and separation.
[32:44] I'm I'm just going to flip through
some of these that would be a lengthy
[32:47] conversation that I don't feel
equipped to answer
[32:49] and Wayne ever wants to chime in, you
please jump on in.
[32:54] Um, so one one other piece that was
talked about yesterday, um, and we've
had conversations about that here
too.
[33:02] is the the factors that lead into
jails and their
[33:05] um daily populations.
[33:10] There's significant changes in um how
the courts
[33:13] handle um sentencing,
[33:16] jail is not being ordered nearly as
frequently or for as long as it has
in the past.
[33:22] Um, marijuana laws changed, which
means there's a
[33:25] a big pool of
[33:27] the population that used to be
arrested and put in jail for
[33:31] drug use that now
[33:34] are not.
[33:35] Um, that's now legal,
[33:37] so those people aren't serving time
in jail,
[33:39] even for a weekend, even for getting
caught on a Friday
[33:42] and spending a few days in our jail,
[33:44] that's not happening anymore.
[33:45] That's a a legal thing now.
[33:48] So, um, we talked a lot about that,
we talked a lot about that, we talked
about, you know, sentence to serve
our our Huber.
[33:54] other jails have areas like that as
well that are just not being used,
they're vacant.
[34:02] Um, this touches on on court
hearings.
[34:05] So, I I think part of the reason why
this conversation
[34:07] took place
[34:09] and the timing that it took place of
of now versus
[34:13] you know, 10 years ago when many
counties started having
[34:15] conversations about jails
[34:17] is the fact that so many court
hearings take place remotely now.
[34:23] Um, 10 years ago, regionalization
probably couldn't even be considered
[34:28] because it'd be an enormous amount of
transport back and forth for court
hearings.
[34:34] Um, but now the majority of court
hearings are held remotely.
[34:38] And so that offers some potential for
um housing
[34:42] at at different jails.
[34:47] But there's still a lot of
complications
[34:49] and you know, I think it was Wayne
brought up a good point
[34:51] during the meeting yesterday of
[34:52] no county theoretically is going to
get away from having
[34:55] any type of jail at all.
[34:59] and so if you have even an area for
for booking, um
[35:04] You have to have meal services, you
need a
[35:07] kitchen, you need staff. Um, so
[35:11] you can't fully get away from the
costs of operating
[35:15] any type of facility, even if you do
some um,
[35:19] regionalization for some.
[35:20] We talked about, you know,
[35:22] regionalizing certain classification
of offenders
[35:25] at different jails, that sort of
thing.
[35:27] Um, and then it was just a lot of
discussion.
[35:31] So, that's a quick high-level
overview of what
[35:36] I saw the conversation being like
yesterday.
[35:38] I will say, um,
[35:40] I had thought when we got the invite
for the meeting,
[35:44] um, and then all went,
[35:45] maybe we'd leave with some
significant next steps of
[35:51] like, let's we're we're moving
forward with this
[35:54] conversation of regionalization or
we're
[35:56] not because it just absolutely would
not work.
[35:59] More so, and and both of you, please,
you know,
[36:02] chime in if your opinion differs.
[36:04] I left more with the sense of
frustration with
[36:09] the DOC and with the
[36:12] the process of of jails becoming
outdated or
[36:17] or needing improvements, um, the lack
of offenders
[36:20] being sentenced to serve jail time.
[36:23] Um, it more so seemed like the next
steps were creating
[36:28] some sort of task force or work group
to push the state,
[36:32] um, and law makers to have some
changes surrounding
[36:35] jails and funding and requirements
versus
[36:38] next steps of coming back together to
continue the
[36:41] conversation of regionalization.
[36:43] I uh, I'd like to ask our sheriff to
come up, please.
[36:46] if you would like. Um, and while
you're coming up,
[36:49] a couple comments to piggyback off of
Amanda is,
[36:52] I talked to our attorney after the
meeting a little
[36:54] bit about what he sees as the future,
um, number of
[36:57] inmates going up or down, and he was
very clear with
[37:00] me that it's all depending on who's
the governor and
[37:03] who's the state legislature and how
they uh, create laws.
[37:06] Obviously, the marijuana law changes
quite a bit.
[37:10] Um, the one I agree with Amanda's
frustration that
[37:13] there was really no clear next steps
direction.
[37:15] They're going to send a summary of it
to us and
[37:18] the one thing I I wanted to mention
what I saw possibly
[37:20] coming out of this is a feasibility
study.
[37:24] And so I just wanted to bring this
especially to
[37:26] alert to our commissioners that
[37:29] I would expect they're going to ask
us to pony up if
[37:31] they go that direction. Um,
[37:34] and I would have a lot of questions
before I would
[37:36] feel comfortable throwing dollars at
it because I
[37:38] think we need to think of Isanti
County and what
[37:41] is our geographical area we work
with, you know,
[37:44] depending on the sheriff's input and
all that, but I
[37:46] don't know if it's should be based
out of Pine County.
[37:48] And Wayne, appreciate you coming here
and you being
[37:51] there yesterday. You asked a lot of
good questions and
[37:53] comments. Um,
[37:55] two things I would like to make sure
you cover with us
[37:57] or I'm going to ask them afterwards
otherwise. Um,
[37:59] your idea with the state legislators,
I thought that
[38:01] was fascinating. I want I'd like the
full board to hear
[38:04] that. And anything else you think us
as a commissioner,
[38:07] commissioning board should think
about big picture
[38:09] about how we go forward. Like I said,
I think this
[38:11] is just something on the tip of our
radar just the
[38:13] beginning. If there's something more
urgent, we
[38:16] should be aware of, bring that to our
attention. The floor's yours.
[38:19] So there's a lot to talk about. Um,
[38:21] So one of the biggest issues that we
have with uh, our
[38:25] jail when we talk about
classification is um,
[38:29] there was the list. I don't know if
you want to bring
[38:31] that back up or not, but like how you
classify somebody
[38:33] based on their history or what the
potential crime
[38:36] was they committed. But there's more
than that, too.
[38:38] So think about the homicide that we
had a few years ago
[38:41] where we had four people in custody
for that.
[38:43] They may all classify the same, but
now they're
[38:46] co-conspirators and even though
they're same
[38:48] classification, we can't put them
together.
[38:50] So sometimes your classifications are
are
[38:52] even more complicated than just what
was the crime
[38:54] committed. The easy way to look at it
is, you don't
[38:57] put a man with a woman in the same
cell, right?
[38:59] Obviously, that's two different
classifications.
[39:01] But it expands and that was one of
the things is
[39:04] where do you put certain people and
that's where the
[39:07] the mental health part of it came up.
[39:09] Um, for the last few years and I've
been to the capital
[39:13] a few times with the sheriff's
fighting uh,
[39:15] with the 48-hour rule.
[39:16] And what that is if you're not
familiar with it is
[39:18] essentially when you're arrested
without a warrant,
[39:21] you have 48 hours to be seen or heard
by a judge.
[39:24] Uh, it's a it's a constitutional
right.
[39:27] Well, the issue that we're having is
sometimes people
[39:32] are um, heard by the judge and they
go through the
[39:35] court proceedings and then they go
through what's
[39:37] called a rule 20 which assesses their
mental
[39:40] capacity and if they have any mental
illness.
[39:42] And when they're found not to hold or
have that
[39:45] capacity be held accountable for the
crimes,
[39:48] we no longer have mental health
facilities like
[39:50] we once did, and that is because the
legislature
[39:52] took that away.
[39:54] So now you have an individual who was
arrested
[39:57] on a crime, who's gone through the
court proceedings,
[39:59] found to not be competent to stand
trial,
[40:01] but we can't release that.
[40:03] person because they're a danger to um
the people, society.
[40:08] So where do they stay? They stay in
our jail.
[40:11] And why are they in our jail?
[40:12] Because they're not being they're not
being charged with a crime anymore.
[40:16] So we have one of those individuals
in our jail now.
[40:19] We have another one that's going
through a rule 20 right now.
[40:22] It's very likely we're going to have
two.
[40:23] And that's not unusual for any of the
jails.
[40:27] So the problem with that is, you
know, our correctional
[40:30] officers are wonderful and they're
very, very good at their job
[40:33] and trained well on how to do their
job.
[40:35] But they are not mental health
professionals.
[40:37] Um, we can care short time for
individuals and their immediate
needs,
[40:41] but their long-term needs, we're not
we're not trained for that.
[40:44] That's that should be something that
um, that's why we have facilities
[40:49] for that and doctors and staff that
are trained specifically for that.
[40:53] So, one of the individuals that we
have in custody now
[40:55] has been here six months
[40:56] and is number 16 on the bed for a
waiting list.
[41:01] So, think about that. Six months
already and and number 16.
[41:05] How much longer are we going to have
that individual here
[41:07] who shouldn't be in the jail to begin
with?
[41:09] So, so so he has to be somewhere is
the thing.
[41:13] Has to be somewhere. That so?
[41:15] Right. We can't release him because
this person is dangerous to the
public.
[41:20] But the legislature took away our
mental health facilities,
[41:23] our hospitals, um, things, places
like Mead.
[41:27] So, the jails are stuck with him.
[41:28] You know, and that's a liability for
the jail, for for us,
[41:32] um, anything that happens to those
individuals.
[41:35] So we've been fighting with the
legislatures trying to find a remedy
[41:39] to this and there are some very proud
legislatures that are are
[41:43] like I said, proud that they got rid
of these treatment facilities.
[41:46] Um, sometimes I think what looks good
on paper doesn't make sense in
reality.
[41:50] And if you're not in reality, if you
don't see it first-hand,
[41:53] you don't know. So, what is their
answer then?
[41:56] They don't have an answer. So, what
we got was about $50 million
[41:59] in the last uh legislative session to
try to help.
[42:03] But $50 million in the grand scheme
of things, 77 jails in the state
[42:07] with all with mental health people,
it did nothing. It did nothing.
[42:11] Um, the other individual that we have
is going through a rule 20
[42:14] and if that person is also found to
be, you know, unable to be held
[42:19] accountable or stand trial or has a
mental illness,
[42:22] we're stuck with the second person in
our facility.
[42:25] And that is a separate
classification.
[42:26] You don't put someone like that with,
you know, a DUI arrest.
[42:30] They they need special treatment.
[42:33] So that really breaks up your jail
and how much space you have,
[42:36] how much room you have, where do you
put certain people?
[42:38] Um, we don't have this often, but
like I said, men and women.
[42:42] What if you have somebody who's
transgender?
[42:44] Where do you put that person?
[42:45] You know, and and still respect their
privacy and their rights,
[42:50] and how do you sell them up with
somebody, you know, and so sometimes
[42:54] it's it's really, really difficult to
move on with the classification.
[42:58] So one of the conversations were,
[43:00] and and I asked this because I wanted
clarity.
[43:02] Are we saying just for the sake of
argument that, okay,
[43:05] Pine County is going to hold all of
our our male in custodies
[43:08] and our county would hold, hold all
females
[43:11] or what are we talking about?
[43:13] Um, and they said, you know, that's
one of the things that we could
discuss.
[43:16] The problem I think with that and all
the ideas are great
[43:20] and they need to be talked about. But
the problem with that is
[43:23] um, number one, if you had a regional
facility,
[43:26] Let's just say, let's just say Isanti
County no longer had a jail.
[43:31] And we house all of our inmates in
Pine County or or wherever.
[43:36] Now we're looking at taking a deputy
off of the road to transport someone
[43:41] all the way to Pine County to book
them in, process them, and then
[43:45] return to duty here.
[43:46] So you short the staff, you short
public safety. It doesn't make sense.
[43:50] And that's why Amanda was saying and
I had said,
[43:52] it would make sense that every county
have at least what they call
[43:56] a class one jail, which means that
you could hold somebody for up to
[43:59] 72 hours here.
[44:01] to at least process them, book them
in,
[44:04] and then you would have to transport
them later to your regional facility.
[44:08] But that would still require a
medical, food service, inmate
[44:12] or corrections officers for the
inmates, the care, transport
vehicles,
[44:17] And if you, if you board inmates in
another facility,
[44:21] it would only make sense that you
have to pay for that, right?
[44:24] So, essentially we'd be paying for
our jail that we have existing
[44:29] and adding more to move them.
[44:32] Whereas right now we have what's
called a class three jail,
[44:35] which is full service. So we can
house everybody.
[44:38] And we've got plenty of room to do
it.
[44:40] The problem is, and I'm not saying
any judge in particular,
[44:43] but judges overall are not sentencing
people to jail.
[44:47] We have a 111 bed facility.
[44:49] A big part of it is meant for a
sentence to serve, which is a program
[44:53] that we don't even run anymore.
[44:54] It's too expensive and even if we did
or could afford it,
[44:58] we don't have the inmate population
to put in there.
[45:01] And it's frustrating because
[45:02] pre-COVID our population was 50 to 60
inmates.
[45:06] Now we're averaging, I would say 25.
Today we had 28, you know,
[45:09] in in custody last Tuesday when I
checked it was 28.
[45:12] That's half of what we're used to.
[45:14] We can we can facilitate many more.
[45:18] But we can't if the judges aren't
putting them in jail.
[45:21] And again, I'm not cutting on the
judges. It's just the way the
[45:24] court systems are working right now.
They're more about rehabilitation
[45:27] and treatment versus incarceration.
[45:29] That's just the the movement right
now in the legislature.
[45:32] So, when we continue to go to the
capital every year, we continue
[45:35] to fight for the 48-hour rule and the
violations that are in place
[45:41] with it. Um, needs of the jail,
[45:44] we need legislators who are going to
listen.
[45:46] And right now it's pretty, pretty
50/50 in the legislature, right?
[45:50] So, some do and some don't.
[45:52] And we made some progress last year
like I said, which is great.
[45:55] But overall, it really didn't make
that much of a difference.
[45:57] We still have the same issues.
[46:01] So that that's the classification
issue, that's also the regional
[46:04] jail issue. I think that is going to
cost us a lot of money to
[46:08] house people.
[46:10] And right now our jail is equipped
and and set up to house everybody.
[46:14] And we've got plenty of space. It's
just we're not using a lot of the
[46:16] space because we can't.
[46:18] It's designated for certain things.
It serves is it's secured because
[46:23] it's a jail but it's non-secured,
right?
[46:24] So, same with your your work release,
those people can come
[46:27] and go to work. So it's a different
part of the jail and how it's run.
[46:31] It's not like a a pod where you're
stuck within a a certain area.
[46:35] Um, there's more freedom to move.
[46:38] Um, we can't put the general
population in there.
[46:41] Because obviously, we don't want them
walking out the door.
[46:43] So, our jail when the remodel was
done years ago to make it a
[46:48] 111 bed facility,
[46:50] I don't want to say it was a waste of
money, but I'm going to be honest,
[46:52] it ended up being a waste of money
because we can't use it for what it
is.
[46:57] So, and even if we were to remodel it
to make it a secured facility,
[47:01] we don't have the population coming
from our judges to fill it.
[47:04] So, we're in a really, really tough
spot.
[47:07] Jails never ever make money. They
never will.
[47:09] I also think that if we got rid of
our jail, that our citizens would
[47:13] lose a sense of security that we
don't have a jail here.
[47:17] And that that's a big thing.
[47:19] Someone referenced was it a state
statute that jails cannot claim
[47:22] revenue in their financing, how they
deal with things.
[47:26] That was interesting, I thought. Did
you?
[47:29] I don't yeah, I don't.
[47:31] I don't know if that's more of a an
accounting finance type of
[47:34] question, but I thought that was an
interesting comment.
[47:37] So you're and you're right, it's not
a revenue generator.
[47:39] No, it's always going to cost us
money to to have have a jail.
[47:43] Public safety is expensive and it
always will be.
[47:46] A revenue generator I suppose would
be applicable if somebody's taking
[47:49] someone from our county and they're
charging us 500 and it's really
[47:52] costing them 300 a day.
[47:53] I heard it yesterday that Pine County
is housing a couple dozen
[47:58] of St. Louis Counties?
[48:00] And it's because of funding?
[48:03] Yeah, they had a yeah, a structure
issue.
[48:08] That brings up the inconsistency with
the Department of Corrections
[48:11] and I brought that up too and.
[48:15] I I don't want to be disparaging when
I say this, but and and maybe
[48:19] you're not aware of it, but the
sheriff's association the majority,
[48:22] we had submitted a vote of no
confidence against the commissioner
[48:26] of corrections.
[48:27] Because of the inconsistency of how
the DOC is is run.
[48:31] And I can give you examples, so the
last three years we had a great
[48:35] inspector. We worked very, very well
with.
[48:37] But in the last three years, we've
been told that our jail is so old
[48:40] that we can't house inmates from
other facilities.
[48:42] Uh, we have a new inspector now who I
think we're going to have a
[48:47] Who is saying, well, why can't you
house for other other agencies?
[48:51] And my question was, well, you tell
me because we haven't done anything
[48:55] And what it comes down to is it's
it's based on the interpretation
[48:59] of the DLC inspector and how they
look at things and how they rule
[49:03] So, we may not change anything, or we
may change to meet one inspector's
[49:07] needs, another one comes in and says
something different.
[49:10] And how how do you keep up with that?
[49:13] And what I think the answer is, and
what and what the sheriff's
[49:17] I personally believe that the DOC
should be running our prisons and
[49:22] that the jail should be run by the
sheriffs, should be run through the
[49:25] sheriff's association because the the
jail falls under the
[49:28] responsibility of every sheriff
anyways.
[49:29] That would take away the
inconsistency, the change of an
[49:33] inspector from the DOC.
[49:35] Um, that was brought before the
legislature and we didn't get any
[49:38] traction with that.
[49:40] No.
[49:42] So nobody is even willing to discuss
it?
[49:44] We'll continue to fight for it.
[49:46] But you got to have legislatures who
are willing to look at the
[49:49] big picture overall and we're just
not having luck with that right
[49:53] Have you had this same conversation
with Jimmy Gordon or Mark Curran?
[49:57] Not directly, but I know that they're
aware of it.
[50:02] And I think that our state reps and
our senators are probably on board.
[50:06] But you got to look at the entire
state
[50:08] and not everybody has the same views
as our representatives or senators.
[50:13] No, but it's impossible to operate if
you're not getting consistency
[50:17] from one inspector to another. I
mean,
[50:19] It's just insanity.
[50:21] Yep, it's difficult.
[50:22] And when you, when you ask
commissioner about the 30-year rule,
[50:25] that's a DOC thing.
[50:26] So, if the sheriff's office or the
sheriff's office or the sheriff's
association was in charge of it
[50:30] and you had a building that was
structurally sound
[50:32] for the next 75 years, I don't think
that would be an issue.
[50:35] It's basically how you run it and how
you maintain it.
[50:38] Yep. You know. Wayne,
[50:39] Question for you that maybe is more
applicable for Amanda,
[50:42] is AMC very helpful in helping you
with this?
[50:45] I really have no affiliation with the
MC at all.
[50:48] I I don't know. Okay, Amanda?
[50:50] It's something that I've talked about
in various meetings, um, with AMC
[50:54] but I don't think, you know, they AMC
functions on those legislative
priorities that are voted on
[51:01] each year by commissioner by by their
um members.
[51:05] So I don't know that this has gotten
enough traction to be a
[51:07] legislative priority by the voting
members.
[51:10] Could they be a helpful voice for
Wayne's desire
[51:12] to have the DOC be involved like you
said?
[51:16] I wonder how AMC could help with
that.
[51:18] I think every voice would matter.
[51:20] And one of the questions that you had
asked Mr. Chair was, you know, what
[51:23] what about the commissioners, what
can we do?
[51:26] So, you have 87 sheriffs in this
state
[51:28] and the majority of us go to the
capital at least twice a year
[51:31] and we can discuss these issues.
[51:34] That's one sheriff for 87 counties.
[51:36] What if you had five commissioners
also for 87 counties?
[51:39] That's a lot of people.
[51:41] And people will pay attention to
numbers.
[51:43] It's true. It's good point.
[51:44] as commissioners, you fill that
capital building
[51:46] and you talk to those legislatures
also and say, hey, listen,
[51:50] We've just you you've taken the
sheriffs and multiply it by five.
[51:54] Plus we would be there with you as
well.
[51:56] I think that's how you voice it.
[51:59] set it up. Good deal.
[52:01] Yeah. I I'm not the one to set it up,
but we could we could figure it out.
[52:04] I mean, there is a day that the
sheriffs go to the capital.
[52:07] We call it the day on the hill.
[52:08] We could probably do the same thing.
[52:10] Our commissioners could do the same
thing.
[52:12] for commissioners to have their day
on the hill.
[52:14] Somebody has to start it.
[52:16] Yeah. I'll be meeting with our
senator next week.
[52:18] Can you give kind of a summary of
your proposed plan.
[52:22] Now, Amanda's here on that.
[52:24] The proposed plan that you had that
you're not getting any traction on,
[52:27] like Commissioner Westerberg said
it'd be good to have kind of a
cheerleader,
[52:31] a legislative cheerleader helping
you, helping this get more traction
at the capital.
[52:35] And like you said, they're probably
both gonna be on board
[52:37] with this idea anyway.
[52:39] Let's just plug them in with the
particulars
[52:40] unless you've had those conversations
with those two.
[52:42] Yeah, I I haven't directly had those
conversations. I certainly can.
[52:45] I'm happy to get started and steer
them your way
[52:47] if they want more DLs, of course.
[52:49] Yep. That's a good idea.
[52:52] When it comes to this regional thing
here,
[52:54] would there be any room for like cost
sharing, you know, um,
[52:59] when it comes to it, like if we have
somebody in their jail or,
[53:02] you know, some kind of cost sharing
[53:03] or I suppose we have to pay if we
have somebody in their jail,
[53:07] but in turn, they would pay if we had
were housing some of their
[53:10] inmates as well.
[53:12] So it would be a cost sharing
essentially.
[53:14] You you could potentially offset it
as far as the boarding, but like
[53:18] if we had an Anoka County in custody
in Pine County,
[53:22] we're responsible for picking them up
to bring them to court.
[53:25] We're responsible for their medical,
their needs.
[53:28] And the other thing too, even though
if they're in Pine County
[53:30] and something happens that inmate and
that person passes away,
[53:34] that in-custody death reflects us,
not Pine County.
[53:38] Really? Yes.
[53:39] Well, that's a good point. And I
suppose with the Anoka County,
[53:42] they're already pretty set with what
they got going on, huh?
[53:44] I honestly I think that other than
the battles we have with the
[53:48] legislature and classification,
[53:49] the 48-hour rules, I think all the
jails are sad.
[53:52] It's just jails are stressful.
They're very hard to manage.
[53:55] They're high they're high stress.
[53:56] And they're not money makers.
[53:58] But if we could just figure out what
the classification specifically
[54:02] mental health and then as far as the
inconsistencies with the DOC,
[54:05] it'd be a lot easier for sheriffs to
run them.
[54:09] I have a few questions.
[54:10] Um, where do they go to treatment
then if they get
[54:13] for medical assessed for
[54:16] that they would need treatment
instead of going to jail.
[54:18] Where do they go then?
[54:20] So part of that rule 20 is all within
the court system,
[54:22] so we have employees here in the
county that will help with that or
they'll
[54:26] they'll outsource that to other
people who could come in and give
these
[54:30] assessments to try to determine their
their capacity.
[54:33] Um, anything that's medical,
[54:35] Um, like if we have somebody who's in
our custody now,
[54:38] we would bring them to Cambridge.
[54:40] But if we had to bring them somewhere
else, we could.
[54:43] What that opioid funding does that
cover?
[54:48] So in terms of receiving mental
health treatment, um,
[54:50] the facilities I think that Wayne is
referencing are probably St. Peter,
[54:55] um, Mental Health Hospitals and also
Anoka Metro Regional Treatment
Center.
[55:00] um, last year, I believe the
legislature
[55:02] appropriated 50 million for uh Miller
building expansion.
[55:06] So that is in the works. If you drive
past Anoka,
[55:09] um, Metro Regional Treatment Center,
[55:12] and the intent is to expand capacity
to alleviate
[55:15] issues like the 48-hour rule where
people have been
[55:18] found incompetent and do have mental
health and require treatment.
[55:22] Um, it's it's taking time.
[55:26] Yeah. Any other build out.
[55:29] Then, um, is that 55 million, is that
what?
[55:33] The legislature granted 50 million.
[55:35] 50 million. Where is that then? Where
did that go?
[55:38] I don't I don't know.
[55:39] Miller building expansion. Is my
understanding.
[55:41] Okay. Oh, okay. Anoka, Anoka Metro.
[55:44] Yeah. Okay, that's interesting.
[55:47] Okay. What I would like to do today
is uh not
[55:50] repeat yesterday where we kind of
walk away from this
[55:52] conversation, frustrated or not
really knowing what our next steps.
[55:55] [clears throat]
[55:56] Um, I really like your idea of a next
step that seems
[55:59] pretty reasonable is have a more of a
force of the commissioners
[56:03] joining you at the capital on
[56:05] I'm making it so I I think that would
be a nice
[56:08] priority to take away from this. It'd
be a lot more effective
[56:10] than what we came up with yesterday.
[56:12] Yesterday I really give Pine County a
lot of credit for setting this up,
[56:16] but we we talked a lot and
[56:17] it was brainstorming and it was good,
but it
[56:19] we never really walked away with,
what's do this or that.
[56:22] Yeah, I would like to know more
options and possibilities.
[56:27] It'd be nice to know.
[56:30] That sound like a good takeaway for
us that
[56:32] Yeah, if you guys would like, I I can
look into
[56:35] what it would take to set up like a
day on the hill for
[56:38] commissioners.
[56:39] I mean, obviously I I can't tell
everybody in the state what to do,
[56:43] but we could figure out what the
process is to do that.
[56:45] Um, I think that after our meeting
yesterday,
[56:47] that continue conversations are
important.
[56:50] And I don't mean to be negative,
[56:53] but I I had said too during that
meeting, we could start a task
[56:55] force or some sort of a correlation
[56:57] but if the legislature is going to
oppose anything we do or the
[57:01] DOC doesn't support it, then what's
the point of having it?
[57:03] We need to start with the legislature
and start making changes,
[57:06] you know, and and that's going to
require some sort of a group
[57:10] and and putting our voices together,
[57:12] but the eight counties that were
there, that's not going to be
[57:15] enough to change the legislature.
[57:16] It's going to take a lot more of us.
[57:19] Well, Sheriff, I appreciate your
comments.
[57:21] I think the um next steps, I guess we
got two in your court.
[57:24] If you could just give me a summary
email of talking points
[57:28] with our Senator, I'd be very happy
to get that conversation
[57:30] started with hopes of probably
getting them in direct contact with
you.
[57:33] And then just keep us apprised of
when to get to the capital
[57:35] when we can help with that.
[57:37] I think that would be some great
steps. Be great.
[57:39] Sure. Anything else for the sheriff?
[57:41] Um, no. Thank you. Good job. Thank
you for all your hard work.
[57:44] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[57:46] All right. I kind of figured that
might be more than a 10-minute
[57:49] conversation.
[57:50] A lot of good stuff. A very
interesting day.
[57:53] Um, next up is discussion on data
centers as requested by
[57:56] Commissioner Christensen.
[57:58] Yeah, um, so this has been something
that's really come up,
[58:02] come up a lot as far as these these
large data centers and uh
[58:06] my my concern is is that right now, I
mean,
[58:09] I'd like to see personally a
moratorium,
[58:12] kind of like the city of Vandy has
done. I believe there's was
[58:15] 30 months. Um,
[58:17] just just to get a better
understanding of what is in involved.
[58:23] Cuz I mean, I'm not against I'm not
against modern technology,
[58:27] as long as it doesn't negatively
impact our residents.
[58:30] And one of the things with these uh
these things, they
[58:33] they consume, you know, millions of
gallons of water per day for
[58:36] cooling,
[58:38] competing with local drinking
supplies.
[58:40] They demand immense power, driving up
utility costs for
[58:43] residents and causing severe
[58:45] air and noise pollution.
[58:47] Now I'm referring to the very large
facilities.
[58:49] There are some that are are smaller.
[58:52] Um, I've also been told that we don't
have the um
[58:55] infrastructure for one. However,
[58:58] um my understanding is that they can
supply their own uh
[59:01] power with large generators.
[59:04] These can be very noisy facilities.
[59:07] And I think it would be very smart to
uh
[59:10] cuz if they come in, if they come in
and buy some property
[59:12] and they meet all the zoning
[59:13] as you know, you know, there's not a
whole lot we can do about it.
[59:17] But it'd be nice to have something in
place to give us time, um,
[59:20] to
[59:22] look at all the facts and what's
actually going on with them.
[59:26] Just to give us some time to look at
it.
[59:28] Maybe something for a sub committee
or something.
[59:31] But but I mean, for right now, I
mean, if you look into these um,
[59:34] these massive data centers.
[59:37] It's uh again, I'm not against modern
technology. That's fine.
[59:41] As long as we have a good
understanding of it and
[59:44] maybe we can do some adjustments in
our zoning,
[59:48] you know, they have to provide more
information, whatever the
[59:50] case may be. But I really think a
[59:53] temporary moratorium and I've thought
like the city of Vania,
[59:56] they had talked about one year, but
30 months really gives
[59:59] guy a lot more time to look into it.
[1:00:02] The problem with a moratorium and
I've had this discussion with our
county attorney many times
[1:00:06] over the last several years is
[1:00:09] you have to be able to articulate
what the emergency is to have a
moratorium.
[1:00:14] Well, I mean, we could we could pass
something that says we don't have to
have them,
[1:00:19] which is a totally different thing,
but a moratorium.
[1:00:24] Okay. If if we do that, somebody can
challenge that and they'll be saying,
well, what's the emergency?
[1:00:28] why are you doing this on that basis?
[1:00:32] Well, I think the emergency could be,
I think the emergency could be, I
mean, in theory, the emergency could
be a
[1:00:37] the fact that the the lack of
knowing, you know, the impact in the
area.
[1:00:42] I mean, maybe, um, until we could
determine what an impact study would
be
[1:00:47] for it, be based on water
consumption, the noise.
[1:00:50] I mean, I've I've watched quite a few
videos where, uh, holy macro, they
are noisy.
[1:00:55] And and when, um, when they're told
how it's going to be initially,
[1:01:00] it's never what it ends up being.
[1:01:03] It's louder, more noisy, water
consumption, and the electric, the
cost of electric goes up.
[1:01:09] I'm not saying it does in all cases,
but the large mega these mega data
centers.
[1:01:16] So, I don't know, this is something
we should take seriously.
[1:01:18] how you need to do it.
[1:01:20] I don't know if a moratorium would be
the answer then.
[1:01:23] Yeah. And and the other part about
that is
[1:01:26] [gasp]
[1:01:28] shockingly, I actually talked to
somebody that's in the process of
[1:01:31] he's working on a project right now
in another state.
[1:01:34] And he the company he works for has
been putting these up.
[1:01:38] And he's been on these for several
years.
[1:01:41] And and we talk specifically about
Isanti County.
[1:01:45] And he said, what you just brought up
was, we don't have the infrastructure
here.
[1:01:48] We don't have the the things that are
needed to to do that right now in
Isanti County.
[1:01:54] I'm not saying it's not possible for
it to happen, but that was his take
on that.
[1:01:59] I mean, the sheer size of some of
these places.
[1:02:05] The the locations, um, that that's
all he's been doing.
[1:02:10] Well, the city of Isanti still. I and
[1:02:13] I understand that, but the city of
Isanti, they don't necessarily have
the infrastructure either.
[1:02:18] However, to prevent, you know,
something from happening, they needed
to have more time to take a look at,
[1:02:24] take a look at the impact and
everything of it and get a better
understanding of the data centers.
[1:02:30] Oh, can do we have to, can we just
not allow it?
[1:02:33] Yes, and that then that's actually
the probably the better approach.
[1:02:38] Okay. We we have a lot of leeway on
what we can do that in that direction
with things.
[1:02:44] We we have more liability if we go
the moratorium route.
[1:02:48] Okay. Then I would I would make a
suggestion that we are not going
allow,
[1:02:52] um, the large mega data centers.
[1:02:55] Or at least, at least for now, at
least for now, at least until, you
know, they can be more proven.
[1:03:00] Well, and I, I wish I had my zoning
book in front of me right now because
there's one ordinance I I'd pull up,
[1:03:06] but I don't want to misquote, so.
[1:03:08] Um,
[1:03:09] this is something that we definitely
can look at though.
[1:03:12] Because they because in theory they
can come in, um, maybe they're, you
know, time is on their side, they
[1:03:17] could buy a piece of property with
the intent, you know, to do it.
[1:03:21] I'm sorry, you don't want to do a
moratorium.
[1:03:23] You know, so. We literally can pass
an ordinance that there might be
something in place like this already,
[1:03:28] but I don't want to say for sure, my
memory's not perfect on this.
[1:03:31] But we literally can say anything
that we don't list as something
allowed is not allowed.
[1:03:37] Yeah, well, I think I think, uh, for
the sake of this, um, I would like to
see it actually say
[1:03:41] mega data center.
[1:03:45] I don't know if we
[1:03:47] Go ahead. I think I think there'd
have to be, um, some
[1:03:49] specifications in that what the
definition of mega data center is
[1:03:54] compared to just a data center.
[1:03:58] Um, the other piece of of why it
might be good for the subcommittee to
work on an actual ordinance.
[1:04:05] Uh, Commissioner Westerberg's correct
in that a moratorium is is for those
emergency situations.
[1:04:10] But I've I've heard you mention 30
months a few times and I'd have to
confirm with the county attorney, but
[1:04:15] typically the max time frame for a
moratorium is one year with the
potential
[1:04:20] of extending it out six months.
[1:04:22] But only for an additional year. I
think Minnesota statute caps it at
two years.
[1:04:26] I, you know what? And I and I I
you're right, I stand corrected,
[1:04:29] I believe there is it is something
like that.
[1:04:31] But if if nothing else, because I
mean, we do want to stay, um, you
know, obviously the United States
wants to stay up on their
[1:04:38] technology and all that stuff too,
but again, this cannot be at the
sacrifice of our our residents
either.
[1:04:46] So, and and again, I
[1:04:48] you know, we have so much leeway as
far as what we want to pass for an
ordinance.
[1:04:53] I mean, we can't I don't even want to
say the things we can't do, I guess,
but.
[1:04:58] Uh, we have things that, like I said,
[1:05:01] we can literally say anything
[1:05:03] not listed is not allowed.
[1:05:04] And that's that would cover that.
Right.
[1:05:07] And so you don't have to define large
or small or medium.
[1:05:10] No.
[1:05:11] You can just say a word data center.
[1:05:12] So, okay, and let's let's just say
this, okay.
[1:05:15] so let's just for the sake of
argument, um,
[1:05:17] if we say don't say large, that's
fine.
[1:05:20] So you got data center.
[1:05:21] But they still have the right to come
in and if they can show that
[1:05:24] it is truly not going to have a
negative impact,
[1:05:27] it's something we could allow.
[1:05:28] something we could allow.
[1:05:29] Well, if it's not allowed, it's not
allowed. Okay. Right.
[1:05:33] if we don't have it on a list of
things that are allowed. Right.
[1:05:37] then it's not allowed. Right.
[1:05:39] Yeah, it's just it's something that I
don't think we should um,
[1:05:42] sweep under the rug.
[1:05:43] I've I've got a lot of um, a lot of
people that are
[1:05:46] concerned about this.
[1:05:49] Yep.
[1:05:50] the noise factor alone
[1:05:51] The noise factor and the massive
water. I mean, imagine that,
[1:05:54] potentially millions of gallons per
day of water for cooling.
[1:05:58] The other thing though is, now this
is a different topic,
[1:06:01] but solar fields, for example,
[1:06:03] we only have say over up to a certain
size and anything over
[1:06:06] I'm I don't know if it's 48 acres,
somebody could correct me on that.
[1:06:10] Anything over that, we have no say in
it. state controls that
[1:06:13] completely or the federal government.
I think it's the state.
[1:06:18] And we may run into that problem with
data centers too. That's true.
[1:06:21] But at the same time if we have
something in place ahead of time
[1:06:24] and hopefully other counties might
follow suit,
[1:06:25] it's going to make it harder for them
to, you know,
[1:06:29] Solar was a little bit different
thing, so.
[1:06:32] But again, I don't I don't want to I
don't want to sweep it under
[1:06:35] the rug, I think it's something that
we need to address.
[1:06:37] Yep.
[1:06:38] Yeah, no, we can look at that for
sure. It's not a problem.
[1:06:41] I want to say I concur with Todd's
comments.
[1:06:44] How fast can we push this through
Planning Commission?
[1:06:46] is it kind of a simple just, well,
the wording of something?
[1:06:50] The problem you run into on all that
stuff is
[1:06:53] when you when you go if you're in a
hurry, you're going to have
[1:06:56] somebody asking the question after
you're done, what about this?
[1:07:01] Oh, we we didn't see that. Somebody
didn't ask the right question.
[1:07:04] I'm not saying that it can't be done.
[1:07:07] But I'm I really want to take a look
and see what we have for an
[1:07:10] ordinance on the books right now that
may cover that already.
[1:07:14] Yeah, because you could have a, you
could have a, you know, this
[1:07:16] is where the thing I see you could
get complicated.
[1:07:18] because you could have a small, a
small data center that would be
[1:07:21] totally fine and not, uh, you know,
not affect anything, but
[1:07:25] Okay.
[1:07:26] So, but, but
[1:07:28] per Amanda's statement, where where's
the definition? Right. Right.
[1:07:32] So and maybe that's something the sub
committee can look in at, you know.
[1:07:36] Because I there was one that, one
that caught my eye, I
[1:07:38] because I've done a lot of studying
on this is they were in a rural
[1:07:41] area. In fact, they went in on a, um,
if I remember right,
[1:07:44] it was an opportunity zone like we
had an opportunity zone potential.
[1:07:48] And they went in and they set up the,
uh, they set up a data center there.
[1:07:52] um, without really much
infrastructure, but they had massive,
[1:07:55] I mean, massive generators,
[1:07:58] you know, that were able to be heard
for a long ways and
[1:08:01] Well,
[1:08:02] So,
[1:08:03] Yeah, and I again, I think it's
something to look at.
[1:08:06] I mean, I'm going to be in zoning
office all afternoon, so I'll
[1:08:09] bring that up, but
[1:08:15] Right now it's the kind of thing that
I it's not something like it's
[1:08:17] going to happen next week.
[1:08:19] Yeah.
[1:08:20] Well, just uh I'll just um
[1:08:22] Let me change that.
[1:08:24] The County Board can pass anything
they want. We Jeff encourages me
[1:08:27] all the time to go through the normal
process. Right.
[1:08:32] And and I agree with him on this.
[1:08:34] But we do have the we we actually
could just do that.
[1:08:38] I would advise against it heavily.
[1:08:40] No.
[1:08:41] So.
[1:08:42] Well, I mean, I
[1:08:43] I'd like to see it get through as as
soon as reasonably possible,
[1:08:46] I guess would be my wording.
[1:08:50] But I guess I go back to your comment
about we're probably not
[1:08:52] set up with the infrastructure for us
to do it.
[1:08:54] So maybe in some ways we don't have
to have this done yesterday.
[1:08:57] The
[1:09:01] Well, you're going to be challenged
maybe at some point and that's the
[1:09:04] that's the point of this, yeah, is
getting ahead of the game before.
[1:09:06] This is a great time to do it.
[1:09:08] challenged Definitely.
[1:09:11] Say that I'm I'm
[1:09:12] You could be challenged in what way?
[1:09:14] If we don't have something in place
wording-wise.
[1:09:16] Yeah.
[1:09:17] Yep.
[1:09:18] Yeah.
[1:09:19] So.
[1:09:20] If someone wants to put one in and
they have lawyers and this and that.
[1:09:23] Because I'm, and I'm fairly sure, I
don't know, uh, Commissioner Laro
[1:09:25] would agree with me, but if you know,
we
[1:09:28] not that we have to do this, but if
we had a public hearing on it,
[1:09:31] I'm sure we would pack the room with
people that don't want the
[1:09:32] noisy things next to them.
[1:09:35] I don't doubt that.
[1:09:36] So.
[1:09:37] Yeah. We know that part.
[1:09:39] So.
[1:09:40] But.
[1:09:41] So we so we have a consensus that we
want to deal with this proactively.
[1:09:44] I would like to I'd like to see that.
[1:09:47] Based on based on all the
constituents that
[1:09:48] have been, you know, looking at it.
[1:09:50] You know, I
[1:09:52] Um.
[1:09:53] I would expect that we should take
the time to do it so that we do it
[1:09:56] correctly though.
[1:09:58] So, do we
[1:10:00] do we have a, uh, talk to our
attorney then or how do we
[1:10:04] Well, no, it's the the the proper way
to do this is
[1:10:10] Now we've talked about it here.
[1:10:11] I'm going to bring this up to the
planning commission,
[1:10:14] whether it's the sub committee or the
full planning commission.
[1:10:17] They come up with something.
[1:10:19] I mean, we literally we we reach out
to other
[1:10:21] counties all the time that have an
ordinance in place.
[1:10:25] and look at that and say how does
that fit Isanti County?
[1:10:29] I think, um, Elk River just did
something too.
[1:10:32] So they might be able to reach out to
Elk River
[1:10:34] and see what what they did.
[1:10:36] Or City of Isanti.
[1:10:37] I see we have our IT guy here. Yeah.
[1:10:41] I I I do have a question if you
[1:10:43] Have you seen any of the stuff as far
as uh, um, these data
[1:10:47] centers that are producing their own
electricity?
[1:10:51] I have.
[1:10:52] Um, a lot of it's steam based.
[1:10:55] Uh, there are some turbine based as
well.
[1:10:58] Okay.
[1:10:59] One comment I do have about the
infrastructure,
[1:11:02] Isanti County really doesn't have the
infrastructure as
[1:11:05] as far as transport. The fiber in the
area is very
[1:11:08] limited, mostly owned by the state at
this point.
[1:11:12] Okay.
[1:11:13] And some Mitco and things like that
for a data center
[1:11:15] to come through they would need huge
bundles of fiber,
[1:11:18] um, just to transport all the data
back and forth.
[1:11:22] So, but it's not impossible to make
it happen.
[1:11:25] but there's there's places that are
way better set up
[1:11:27] right now to make it happen and
that's
[1:11:30] And that's why we're seeing a lot of
cities pass
[1:11:32] moratoriums because they are set up.
[1:11:35] As of now in Minnesota, the only
counties I could
[1:11:37] find that have passed moratoriums are
[1:11:40] Wright and Pine, Carlton's
considering one.
[1:11:43] Um, but the cities have the
infrastructure in place,
[1:11:45] which is why they're
[1:11:48] more rapidly passing these
moratoriums, um,
[1:11:51] because of that fiber piece.
[1:11:54] Across the county to rural land
sites, there's not
[1:11:57] fiber.
[1:12:00] So, I guess my concern is that a
conglomerate comes in,
[1:12:03] buys a piece of property, and then
just, you know,
[1:12:07] all of a sudden now, you know, they
meet all the ordinance,
[1:12:10] the thing pops up and there's we
don't have no say in it.
[1:12:13] So, maybe it's not this year, but
maybe it's a couple years
[1:12:16] from now, but meantime they have the
money, the deep
[1:12:18] pockets to wait.
[1:12:21] So.
[1:12:22] But anyway, it's good to know. I
thank you for backing that up
[1:12:24] for me that there are some that are
are run with
[1:12:26] alternative power source.
[1:12:28] So.
[1:12:29] Anyway, I'll just get back to the
point of we do reach out
[1:12:32] to other counties and see what
they're doing.
[1:12:35] See how that fits
[1:12:38] with our county and sometimes it's
almost, yep,
[1:12:41] that's a good idea, we're good to go
on that.
[1:12:43] Although most of the time it's not
quite that simple.
[1:12:45] Or tweaking it a little bit, whatever
they got.
[1:12:47] But but then you still go through the
planning commission,
[1:12:50] get that and then it comes back here.
[1:12:53] So if we go through it's it
[1:12:55] you can maybe correct me on this,
Amanda, but
[1:12:57] you know, if we have a moratorium in
place,
[1:13:01] somebody still can challenge that.
[1:13:04] I mean, that that's my what I think
I'm hearing out of
[1:13:06] the county attorney on this.
[1:13:08] I mean, we have to have a reason.
[1:13:10] So in other words, no data centers
at, you know,
[1:13:13] at the we can say no data centers.
[1:13:15] Could we say no data centers allowed
and then give it a time frame?
[1:13:18] Or is that still a moratorium?
[1:13:20] No, no, it's not a moratorium.
[1:13:22] Okay, good. But we'd have to this is
where
[1:13:25] you know, we just a while back we had
a, uh,
[1:13:27] cleaned up some language in the
ordinances we had
[1:13:31] where we defined words.
[1:13:34] Right. We have to say, okay, what is
a data center?
[1:13:38] You know, what is that? Okay.
[1:13:40] Well, maybe, um, I don't know. Have
you done any
[1:13:42] research into it at all what they
are?
[1:13:45] Well, a little bit. I mean, I had
about an hour-long
[1:13:48] conversation with somebody the other
day about this.
[1:13:50] No, that's that's that's tip of the
iceberg.
[1:13:52] Yeah, so I mean, maybe um, watch
watch some videos and
[1:13:55] things and get some, um, all of us
gets more education
[1:13:57] on this data center so we know, but,
uh,
[1:14:00] Anyway, yeah, well, thank you,
[1:14:02] thank you for, uh, putting that on
the agenda, Amanda,
[1:14:05] and I think, um, it was good a good
conversation.
[1:14:07] Yep. No, it's it's well worth
bringing up.
[1:14:10] Just for my clarification and, um,
next steps,
[1:14:13] is there any direction the board
wants to give me
[1:14:16] regarding follow-up on this item or
is it is the
[1:14:18] plan that it will go to potentially a
sub committee,
[1:14:20] the planning commission? I just don't
want to drop the
[1:14:22] ball if there's an expectation that I
have something to
[1:14:25] follow up with.
[1:14:27] My my answer, my answer for me
personally would be
[1:14:30] let's get something done as soon as
possible on it.
[1:14:34] Well, you know, Amanda, if there's
some county that,
[1:14:37] you know, I mean
[1:14:41] put it to this way, if if I wouldn't
mind if you reached
[1:14:44] out to somebody and said, what do you
what did you
[1:14:46] guys do here like
[1:14:47] If Isanti did that.
[1:14:48] And then and then Elk River, Elk
River that'd be
[1:14:50] Sherburne, Sherburne County, I
believe is Elk River.
[1:14:53] So if you could reach out and give us
some ideas that
[1:14:56] we could that we could, um,
[1:14:58] potentially take a look at and
[1:14:59] Yeah.
[1:15:02] And along with that, um, our expected
time frame would be
[1:15:05] by the end of the year, something
like that.
[1:15:07] Uh, yes, by no no later than the end
of the year.
[1:15:10] I'm not going to gear and beat that
out.
[1:15:12] Well, that's our expectation, doesn't
mean it's gonna happen.
[1:15:14] Yeah. I hope it's that.
[1:15:15] Right.
[1:15:16] I mean.
[1:15:17] Because it sounds to me like we could
do something
[1:15:19] relatively quickly, but we need
[1:15:21] I would like to see what the other
counties and cities have done
[1:15:24] their actual language.
[1:15:26] Yeah.
[1:15:27] Yeah.
[1:15:28] Yep.
[1:15:29] If there's anything complicated or
things we don't know that we've
[1:15:31] been talking about here, you know,
please bring that to our attention.
[1:15:34] Yeah.
[1:15:36] And again, thank you for putting it
on the agenda and thank you,
[1:15:39] Commissioners, for uh hearing me out
on it.
[1:15:42] Yeah, it's good.
[1:15:43] Anything else on this issue?
[1:15:44] No.
[1:15:45] All right, we're up to miscellaneous
staff.
[1:15:49] Nope, I don't have anything.
[1:15:52] Heather doesn't have anything either?
[1:15:55] Commissioners?
[1:15:56] Nothing, that was it.
[1:15:57] No.
[1:15:58] We are adjourned.
[1:15:59] Yep.
[1:16:01] Do you want to cover something?
[1:16:03] No, Commissioner Burke's not here. We
I we just I was had the
[1:16:06] employee appreciation.
[1:16:07] Oh.
[1:16:08] meal and, but we need to discuss with
him to ensure we have a
[1:16:12] place for that.
[1:16:14] Don't forget the fair this week.
[1:16:16] Yes.
[1:16:16] Yeah.
[1:16:17] Yep.