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This conference will now be recorded. You're you're

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just changing them as you go. Oh, that

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way. I can reach that one. Okay. Let's

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start before something else breaks. Okay. Got it.

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Sure. Good morning, everyone, and welcome. We will

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start the work session at 09:34AM. Please stand

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for the This is a public informational meeting

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of the Waseca County Judicial Center and jail

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planning. Make sure you silence your cell phone.

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Sign in at the back. We will have

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a public comment, question, and answer after the

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presentation where you will come up to the

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podium. Please respect everyone's time and try and

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limit it to three minutes. Thank you. Michael?

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Thanks, mister chair, and thank you individuals for

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taking some time out of your day. I'm

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just going to take a few moments to

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walk through kind of the historical narrative of

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why the board is even having this conversation.

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And a lot of that is predicated on

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the ongoing inspection schedule by the Department of

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Corrections going back to 2022. There were, I

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don't know, 40 or so copies of that

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2022 inspection report on that table over there

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by the sign in sheet. If you haven't

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had a chance to grab one of those,

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feel free to do so. But for a

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couple of minutes, I just wanna chat through

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some of the historical narrative. I'm not going

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to read all of this verbatim. And again,

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these first several slides are already present within

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the handouts as well too. So it's just

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a a high level summary of what you

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are already holding in your hands or have

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available to you. But the Waseca County Jail

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is on a biennial inspection report. Most recently,

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the informal report as you see was May

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'20 '20 '2. Jen Pfeifer was able to

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join the county board this May as well

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too as kind of a midterm update to

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give some better clarification, idea of where the

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DOC is in their perspective in general with

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how they are reviewing some of these facilities.

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And then specifically, of course, with Sika County's

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facility as well. We had a very high

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compliance rating within that document overall, within that

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process overall. There were two issues predominantly that

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drew concern. The first one, as mentioned, was

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much more procedural in nature. Staff were able

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to adjust and make that change relatively easy.

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The second, not so much as it pertained

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to the physical space, the infrastructure itself, which

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is not easily remedied and is a very

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much holistic solution and approach to a facility.

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Thus the, again, conversation of what a new

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jail would have to look like. This is

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just some of the regulation, Minnesota regulation. Again,

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not going to read it all verbatim, but

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this is what is specifically being referenced within

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that DOC inspection report as well too. The

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crux of the issue being the recreational and

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program space, or I should say the lack

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thereof in the current facility. How we, as

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seen recently, are forced to house specific individuals

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should they come into our midst. So looking

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at, again, some of the specifics of what

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was mentioned in that report pertaining to activities

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and programs. Can see per facility, class of

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facility, should say, there are requirements for what

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programs, for what actual activities you have to

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be able to offer. Currently, Waseca County is

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a class three facility. So you can see

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for yourself on the screen what some of

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those things should be that we are able

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to offer given our designation as a class

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three facility. Definitionally, this again just comes right

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out of Minnesota rule, Minnesota law of a

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class one versus a class three facility. Class

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three being known as a jail facility, which

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we are. The recommendation we saw on the,

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Department of Correction inspection report of May of

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twenty twenty two ultimately was that we are

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recommended, DOC is recommending that our facility be

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moved to a class two facility, would be

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a ninety day facility. Some of the comments,

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this would be the last page, of that

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inspection report that you have. This is just,

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Ms. Pfeiffer essentially encapsulating all of what she

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went through from a rules and regulation standpoints

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and then coming to a high level summary

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of and recommendation for the physical space itself

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as well. So though it's been updated as

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best it can, she's clear that it no

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longer is meeting the needs of the inmate

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population. The physical plant itself is substandard, of

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course, as we already went through to meet

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current detention standards, especially those of a class

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three facility. This is sports of pace as

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well as was called out specifically is lacking

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and in most cases non existent. There were

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some concerns with the route itself being taken

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to court as the only solution that our

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staff have currently is to take the inmates

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outside and up the sidewalk and through the

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courthouse hallways to try to get them up

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to the courtroom as best that they can

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and as safely as they can. She does

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mention that these have been ongoing issues and

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that's that's somewhat relevant in terms of this

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was first discussed, roughly in 2016. And, you

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know, in in reviewing even some of the

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prior biannual inspection reports yesterday, this isn't necessarily

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new information. It's just the approach from the

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Department of Corrections is is changing, and they

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are a little bit more adamant that solutions

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are put into place in immediacy moving forward.

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Ultimately, as you see in that last paragraph

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on the inspection report, that recommendation, as I

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already mentioned, for moving Waseca County Jail down

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to a ninety day facility. So where are

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we at in timing? Biennial biennial inspection schedule,

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as I mentioned. So May 2024, assumedly, would

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be the next time we will have that

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biennial inspection. So what is the last several

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months look like for the county board? We

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got this report in May of twenty twenty

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two. We became, you know, pretty creative quickly

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in terms of reaching out to individuals that

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may be able to give us a rendering,

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site design and concept for what a new

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jail could look like, a new justice center

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facility. The conversations began, it became abundantly clear

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from the stakeholders involved that a standalone judicial

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building would be the most sensible approach and

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not have two different buildings that public service

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deliveries and functions were being delivered between meaning

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that someone would have to go back and

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forth between the courthouse and a judicial building.

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As you recall seeing within the notes a

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couple of minutes ago, part of the crux

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of the issue was the inability to safely

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transport an inmate from jail cell to district

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courtroom. So sensibly, any solution that would be

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implemented would need to solve both of those

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issues as well, both the substandardization of the

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facility itself and the ability to safely transport

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inmate population from their cell securely to the

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actual courtroom as well. So that was the

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approach that the board set forth in trying

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to solve. By June, we were contacting companies.

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By July, the board had signed a preliminary

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agreement just to get a site design and

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concept moving forward. August, BKV Group was in

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the building, in the courthouse meeting with all

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the department heads, all the stakeholders, to get

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an idea of what the space and program

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needs would be. How much space do you

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currently have in your office? Does that meet

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industry standards? And effectively, how big should that

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space be? So what's the the current plan,

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the five, ten, fifteen, twenty year growth models

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that should be expected and getting, the staff

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and leadership input into that process. These are

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all of the instances or program deliveries, I

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should say, that was requested of BKB to

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factor into that new space, roughly encapsulating 75,000

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to 77,000 square feet. So that culminated in

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a presentation in November of twenty twenty two

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to the board. Just in a setting just

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like this, BKB held its work session, presented

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a preliminary site design and concept. Here's essentially

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what it could look like. Here's the blocking

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and stacking of how some of these departments

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and functions could fit on top of each

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other. And then ultimately, the biggest difference between

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this first model and future models, which we'll

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look at in a moment, is this used

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all existing infrastructure. So it was attaching new

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building to fifty and sixty year old building,

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which we knew already had issues and literally

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millions of dollars of implication, as you see

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the footnote on the bottom, to maintain and

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to keep. If you have ever seen a

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plumbing nightmare, you will be very familiar with

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what is happening in the jail currently. There

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are several unknowns within that space itself as

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well. So after the board had this presentation,

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they then backed up and said, does it

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really make sense to try to build a

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fifty year solution, which is what they're looking

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for into the future, a new model, attached

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to the existing infrastructure itself. So the next

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request to Bay KAV was to go back,

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take all of those same programs and service

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deliveries, but remove all of the existing infrastructure,

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give us something new that is sustainable and

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efficient, that can be that proverbial fifty year

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solution. So that is what they did. It

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was an excellent looking model, but relatively high

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price tag, obviously, as you can see, that's

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the point of the conversation. So the total

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estimate given there being $43,800,000. So after that

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presentation, the board further inquired in the cost

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of the existing jail operation, meaning what does

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it cost us right now to deliver the

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services that our corrections team does. So in

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May of twenty twenty three, they began to

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capture some data and determine what those average

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daily populations were going back to 2017. And

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2017 to 2022 averages at about 10.3 inmates

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per day per year, ranging anywhere from zero

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to 20 inmates at any point in time

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throughout that span. So obviously you can see

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there's a large fluctuation potential in there. And

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from 2019 to present, it's been a little

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bit more than nine per day per year

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as well. So again, data gathering, figuring out

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what is the cost of the current operation.

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High level summary, roughly $1,300,000 which looks at

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the major program service deliveries. It does not

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factor in many of the other things, which

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would be building and grounds, any kind of

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maintenance, the supplies themselves, the the the toiletries,

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the units themselves, cleaning supplies, uniforms. There are

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a lot more fringe costs that go into

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this, but the major program deliveries, major expenses

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in this model to look at totaling approximately

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$1,300,000 with the items you see on those

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screen, which come right out of our 2023

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budget. So doing some simple math. Okay. County

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board, here's what it costs us to run

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this county operation right now. As it stands,

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looking at the 2019 data going forward, again,

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average daily population of nine, roughly $144,000 per

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inmate per year to operate our existing jail

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facility. So in October of twenty twenty three,

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BKV brought back another site design concept. Key

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difference here being that they had removed the

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jail from that rendering because the board asked

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the question, okay, we know how much we're

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paying for the existing jail operation itself. We

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know in theory how much it would be

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to build this holistic facility. What are the

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implied savings in theory or what is the

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difference between removing the jail facility structure itself?

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So the difference in leaving all of the

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other program and service deliveries and removing simply

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the jail portion is $25,400,000 So we went

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from 43.8 to 25.4 in that model. The

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difference being that obviously removing the entirety of

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the jail structure does not alleviate the county

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from some level of corrections responsibility. There are

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still three holding cells in this model in

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this scenario. There's still intake. There's still booking.

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There's still processing. Again, it's a model, but

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it essentially was the catalyst for this conversation

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here this morning to try to garner some

258
00:14:10,475 --> 00:14:13,195
additional input into the process. So to first

259
00:14:13,195 --> 00:14:16,154
address the question itself as to whether this

260
00:14:16,154 --> 00:14:19,195
should be considered critical infrastructure, we had to

261
00:14:19,195 --> 00:14:21,275
first answer the question is, one, is there

262
00:14:21,275 --> 00:14:23,850
an alternative? Meaning, can it be done elsewhere?

263
00:14:23,850 --> 00:14:25,610
Can it be done for a lower cost?

264
00:14:25,850 --> 00:14:27,690
And thus far, the answer to that question

265
00:14:27,690 --> 00:14:30,649
to us has been yes. And that is

266
00:14:30,649 --> 00:14:32,889
simply predicated on the fact that there have

267
00:14:32,889 --> 00:14:35,735
been three counties, Steele, Blue Earth, and LeSour,

268
00:14:35,735 --> 00:14:37,015
as you see on the screen, that have

269
00:14:37,015 --> 00:14:39,655
expressed willingness to work with us to house

270
00:14:39,655 --> 00:14:43,495
inmates. Now, clearly, this does not at all

271
00:14:43,495 --> 00:14:46,615
speak to the effectiveness of those alternative solutions.

272
00:14:47,240 --> 00:14:51,000
This simply says, there is potentially an alternative

273
00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:53,880
solution. It doesn't say it will work well.

274
00:14:54,040 --> 00:14:55,800
It doesn't say it will be good at

275
00:14:55,800 --> 00:14:58,680
all. It simply says there is an alternative

276
00:14:58,680 --> 00:15:01,875
there. In late twenty twenty, Steele County had

277
00:15:01,875 --> 00:15:03,954
approached Waseca Dodge and Rice Counties to inquire

278
00:15:03,954 --> 00:15:05,475
if they'd be interested in buying into their

279
00:15:05,475 --> 00:15:08,675
current detention center facility. It had been expressed

280
00:15:08,675 --> 00:15:10,995
by their commissioners that it was a significant

281
00:15:10,995 --> 00:15:14,910
burden to the levy. It was, in their

282
00:15:14,910 --> 00:15:18,830
words, significantly overbuilt at the time, and they

283
00:15:18,830 --> 00:15:20,670
have been running at less than a fifth

284
00:15:20,670 --> 00:15:23,630
of capacity for quite a while. So they

285
00:15:23,630 --> 00:15:25,390
were looking for additional ways to make it

286
00:15:25,390 --> 00:15:28,110
solvent. This was, of course, before Rice County

287
00:15:28,245 --> 00:15:30,325
voted in May of twenty twenty one to

288
00:15:30,325 --> 00:15:32,485
move forward and build their own jail facility

289
00:15:32,485 --> 00:15:36,805
for about $50,000,000 So they were lobbying essentially

290
00:15:36,805 --> 00:15:40,404
the three adjacent counties to them to buy

291
00:15:40,404 --> 00:15:43,520
in and make it a little bit revenue

292
00:15:43,520 --> 00:15:47,440
solvent, financially solvent. As you are likely aware,

293
00:15:47,440 --> 00:15:50,240
Rice County did move forward on a three-two

294
00:15:50,240 --> 00:15:52,720
vote in May of twenty twenty one to

295
00:15:52,720 --> 00:15:58,375
entertain a jail facility at about $50,000,000 There

296
00:15:58,375 --> 00:16:01,654
was, you're welcome to look up that news

297
00:16:01,654 --> 00:16:04,214
article of course, as you have time to

298
00:16:04,214 --> 00:16:08,055
do. Some interesting dialogue and commentary in it.

299
00:16:08,135 --> 00:16:11,530
There was some discomfort that has been cited

300
00:16:11,530 --> 00:16:14,090
by these commissioners here as well too as

301
00:16:14,090 --> 00:16:16,410
far as it's a lot of money. Does

302
00:16:16,410 --> 00:16:18,490
this make sense for the community long term?

303
00:16:18,650 --> 00:16:20,810
Why or why not? And that's ultimately the

304
00:16:20,810 --> 00:16:23,130
same questions that are being posed here this

305
00:16:23,130 --> 00:16:25,655
morning. Dodge County didn't didn't bite at the

306
00:16:25,655 --> 00:16:28,135
offer. They were, in a relationship with Steele

307
00:16:28,135 --> 00:16:30,615
County for a number of years. They chose

308
00:16:30,615 --> 00:16:34,055
to take their inmates recently to Olmsted County.

309
00:16:35,255 --> 00:16:37,370
You know, we have some information as far

310
00:16:37,370 --> 00:16:39,690
as what that looks like. But at the

311
00:16:39,690 --> 00:16:42,010
time Waseke County said, thank you, but no,

312
00:16:42,010 --> 00:16:43,930
thank you. We're not interested into buying into

313
00:16:43,930 --> 00:16:47,290
that facility and trying to solve your problem

314
00:16:47,290 --> 00:16:49,370
for you effectively for a rather large price

315
00:16:49,370 --> 00:16:53,425
tick. So after that presentation, again, the board

316
00:16:53,825 --> 00:16:57,265
rekindled in the June presentation, I should say.

317
00:16:57,265 --> 00:17:00,945
So that was the $43,800,000 price tag. The

318
00:17:00,945 --> 00:17:02,945
board went back to Steele County and said,

319
00:17:02,945 --> 00:17:04,109
we really don't want to buy into your

320
00:17:04,109 --> 00:17:06,030
facility, but is there an alternative here that

321
00:17:06,030 --> 00:17:08,670
we haven't talked about yet? And that was

322
00:17:08,670 --> 00:17:12,269
something that they were interested in entertaining. What

323
00:17:12,510 --> 00:17:15,790
resulted in that conversation ultimately was a draft

324
00:17:15,790 --> 00:17:19,595
of a contract. And I've made this caveat

325
00:17:19,595 --> 00:17:21,835
many, many times in conversations, but I'll make

326
00:17:21,835 --> 00:17:24,555
it again one more time. There has been

327
00:17:24,555 --> 00:17:26,875
absolutely nothing that has been agreed upon, whether

328
00:17:26,875 --> 00:17:28,875
it be a site designer concept, whether it

329
00:17:28,875 --> 00:17:31,660
be a contract with another adjacent county. The

330
00:17:31,660 --> 00:17:33,180
only thing that the board has seen to

331
00:17:33,180 --> 00:17:35,980
date is educational and informational items to allow

332
00:17:35,980 --> 00:17:40,140
them to make an informed decision. Anything else

333
00:17:40,140 --> 00:17:42,779
other than that has not happened. There's nothing

334
00:17:43,020 --> 00:17:46,575
signed. So again, they are information gathering and

335
00:17:46,575 --> 00:17:48,575
what we have is good information to say

336
00:17:48,575 --> 00:17:52,815
here's again potentially the alternative solution. Whether it's

337
00:17:52,815 --> 00:17:56,735
effective, not the conversation I'm having or not

338
00:17:56,735 --> 00:17:59,820
what I'm exclaiming at all, just that here's

339
00:17:59,820 --> 00:18:01,580
a piece of paper that spells out exactly

340
00:18:01,580 --> 00:18:03,820
how this could work. You see some of

341
00:18:03,820 --> 00:18:07,660
the details for what that would mean. Effectively,

342
00:18:07,660 --> 00:18:09,420
we looked at the average daily population and

343
00:18:09,420 --> 00:18:11,260
said, we know we need at least this

344
00:18:11,260 --> 00:18:13,175
many beds, cause that's what the data tells

345
00:18:13,175 --> 00:18:15,654
us we need over the last several years.

346
00:18:15,975 --> 00:18:18,295
So let's structure an agreement based upon this

347
00:18:18,295 --> 00:18:22,695
data. And that's what occurred. So what does

348
00:18:22,695 --> 00:18:25,415
that mean? In future operations, say there is

349
00:18:25,415 --> 00:18:28,370
no jail, I have no idea. And I

350
00:18:28,370 --> 00:18:30,530
say that because we just started to get

351
00:18:30,530 --> 00:18:32,370
to the point to say, what is the

352
00:18:32,370 --> 00:18:34,450
staff implication of this? And I just told

353
00:18:34,450 --> 00:18:36,770
you a few moments ago that because there

354
00:18:36,770 --> 00:18:39,330
is not a formal jail structure or facility,

355
00:18:39,330 --> 00:18:42,445
that does not remove the responsibility of some

356
00:18:42,445 --> 00:18:46,445
administrative corrective function for the county. Things still

357
00:18:46,445 --> 00:18:50,605
have to happen here regardless. That question hasn't

358
00:18:50,605 --> 00:18:53,580
been answered. So there's some hypothetical narrative spelled

359
00:18:53,580 --> 00:18:55,820
in here that said, well, in theory, if

360
00:18:55,820 --> 00:18:59,260
we had to transport inmates from A to

361
00:18:59,260 --> 00:19:01,900
B, that may be a burden on current

362
00:19:01,900 --> 00:19:05,100
deputy staff. That may take away deputy staff

363
00:19:05,100 --> 00:19:08,544
from current scheduled shifts. We can't necessarily place

364
00:19:08,544 --> 00:19:11,985
that burden on the local PDs. So the

365
00:19:11,985 --> 00:19:13,664
board had the desire at the time and

366
00:19:13,664 --> 00:19:16,784
has expressed throughout that while we don't want

367
00:19:16,784 --> 00:19:18,784
the scope and function really to change for

368
00:19:18,784 --> 00:19:21,345
the municipal police departments in this model. So

369
00:19:21,559 --> 00:19:23,640
we're making this a county problem and keeping

370
00:19:23,640 --> 00:19:25,400
it as a county problem. Thus, there has

371
00:19:25,400 --> 00:19:28,200
to be a county solution. And that county

372
00:19:28,200 --> 00:19:31,240
solution in theory could be an additional two

373
00:19:31,240 --> 00:19:34,440
to three deputies. And I say anywhere from

374
00:19:34,440 --> 00:19:38,205
one to three because that's that's not my

375
00:19:38,205 --> 00:19:40,284
house and I don't know exactly how that's

376
00:19:40,284 --> 00:19:41,965
going to work and how that needs to

377
00:19:41,965 --> 00:19:44,125
work in terms of the schedules and the

378
00:19:44,125 --> 00:19:49,460
shift differentials and things of that nature. So

379
00:19:49,460 --> 00:19:51,539
additional staffing needs, as I said, are just

380
00:19:51,539 --> 00:19:53,620
being analyzed. And we've I've I've come to

381
00:19:53,620 --> 00:19:55,620
discover this was an educational piece for me

382
00:19:55,620 --> 00:19:56,980
that no, you do not have to be

383
00:19:56,980 --> 00:20:00,820
a licensed deputy to transport individuals from point

384
00:20:00,820 --> 00:20:03,195
a to point b. So again, continuing to

385
00:20:03,195 --> 00:20:06,235
learn things throughout this process. Still a multitude

386
00:20:06,235 --> 00:20:09,595
of administrative functions that need to continue on.

387
00:20:10,395 --> 00:20:12,794
So we've heard a lot about this this

388
00:20:12,794 --> 00:20:15,434
$20,000,000 threshold. So taking a moment to just

389
00:20:15,434 --> 00:20:18,600
explain the difference here. Since May of twenty

390
00:20:18,600 --> 00:20:21,960
twenty two, when this inspection report was devised

391
00:20:21,960 --> 00:20:24,120
or handed to the county board, it was

392
00:20:24,200 --> 00:20:26,679
it became evident that, okay, something is happening.

393
00:20:26,760 --> 00:20:28,200
One way or the other, something's going to

394
00:20:28,200 --> 00:20:30,840
be happening. Because the the DOC is telling

395
00:20:30,840 --> 00:20:32,840
us that in the not too distant future,

396
00:20:33,165 --> 00:20:36,205
we're going to change your operation, whether you

397
00:20:36,205 --> 00:20:38,605
want us to or not. And that is

398
00:20:38,605 --> 00:20:41,965
currently where the County Board is sitting. And

399
00:20:41,965 --> 00:20:43,885
since that point in time, have been trying

400
00:20:43,885 --> 00:20:49,630
to isolate current levy, current programs and service

401
00:20:49,630 --> 00:20:53,470
deliveries, isolating and capturing cost savings, knowing that

402
00:20:53,470 --> 00:20:57,309
the reality of a large scale project, a

403
00:20:57,309 --> 00:21:00,865
large scale capital infrastructure project building is going

404
00:21:00,865 --> 00:21:02,705
to be happening in the not too distant

405
00:21:02,705 --> 00:21:05,505
future. And that could have an implication of

406
00:21:05,505 --> 00:21:09,025
bonded debt, general obligation bonded debt. The county

407
00:21:09,025 --> 00:21:12,900
has an extremely favorable bond rating and an

408
00:21:12,900 --> 00:21:16,100
extremely low debt to levy ratio. That means

409
00:21:16,100 --> 00:21:18,740
that the county owes very, very little money

410
00:21:18,900 --> 00:21:22,820
to anyone compared to its normal operation. That's

411
00:21:22,820 --> 00:21:24,260
a good thing. We like both of those

412
00:21:24,260 --> 00:21:27,075
things in that middle point. So an additional

413
00:21:27,075 --> 00:21:31,715
$20,000,000 of bonded debt equates to approximately $1,500,000

414
00:21:31,715 --> 00:21:33,715
of levy burden per year. And what I

415
00:21:33,715 --> 00:21:35,395
mean when I say additional is if we

416
00:21:35,395 --> 00:21:39,955
looked at that $43,800,000 price tag, effectively we

417
00:21:39,955 --> 00:21:43,669
could say the first twenty million dollars is

418
00:21:43,669 --> 00:21:46,630
covered under the existing levy program. Anything over

419
00:21:46,630 --> 00:21:48,389
and above that is going to have a

420
00:21:48,389 --> 00:21:51,750
levy implication. So then the next question, again

421
00:21:51,750 --> 00:21:54,870
informing ourselves, what are those levy implications and

422
00:21:54,870 --> 00:21:58,205
how do we understand them? That $1,500,000, if

423
00:21:58,205 --> 00:22:00,365
you look at at bonded debt and you

424
00:22:00,365 --> 00:22:02,845
look at borrowing debt as a public entity,

425
00:22:03,404 --> 00:22:06,044
some simple math to reference is roughly every

426
00:22:06,044 --> 00:22:10,240
$10,000,000 that you bond, every $10,000,000 that you

427
00:22:10,240 --> 00:22:15,920
borrow, it has about a $750,000 annual implication

428
00:22:15,920 --> 00:22:18,400
to the levy. So if you think back

429
00:22:18,400 --> 00:22:20,880
to previous referendums and you look at that

430
00:22:20,880 --> 00:22:23,120
referendum and say, here's the cost of the

431
00:22:23,120 --> 00:22:26,055
project, Here's the potential impact to your property

432
00:22:26,055 --> 00:22:28,855
taxes. It follows the same methodology. So every

433
00:22:28,855 --> 00:22:33,175
$10,000,000 you try to borrow, about a $750,000

434
00:22:33,175 --> 00:22:35,575
impact to your levy. So the board says

435
00:22:35,575 --> 00:22:37,495
we can shuffle these things out over the

436
00:22:37,495 --> 00:22:40,370
next decade and figure out how to how

437
00:22:40,370 --> 00:22:45,809
to absorb two instances of that $750,000. So

438
00:22:45,809 --> 00:22:49,730
$20,000,000 of bonded debt. Once it exceeds that,

439
00:22:49,730 --> 00:22:52,865
the picture gets different. You can obviously only

440
00:22:53,025 --> 00:22:55,665
cut so much of existing program, absorb so

441
00:22:55,665 --> 00:22:59,825
much before it becomes an extended tax burden

442
00:22:59,825 --> 00:23:03,600
or an impact to the levy itself. Just

443
00:23:03,600 --> 00:23:05,200
talk through all of that. Looking at the

444
00:23:05,200 --> 00:23:07,520
specific property tax implications, that may be a

445
00:23:07,520 --> 00:23:08,880
little small for you, but hopefully, you have

446
00:23:08,880 --> 00:23:10,799
a variety of screens you can peek at.

447
00:23:12,320 --> 00:23:14,080
And actually, let me just do this. I

448
00:23:14,080 --> 00:23:15,200
can zoom in a little bit at a

449
00:23:15,200 --> 00:23:19,135
time. So if I'm a 2024 and and

450
00:23:19,135 --> 00:23:22,895
granted this is I only have 2024 information.

451
00:23:22,895 --> 00:23:24,735
I don't have that proverbial crystal ball to

452
00:23:24,735 --> 00:23:26,495
see how this actually plays out twenty years

453
00:23:26,495 --> 00:23:27,934
into the future, but what I can tell

454
00:23:27,934 --> 00:23:30,420
you is is sound as far as the

455
00:23:30,420 --> 00:23:33,300
2024 implication. So all this really is, is

456
00:23:33,300 --> 00:23:36,020
showing you what the estimated tax capacity tax

457
00:23:36,020 --> 00:23:39,940
impact to you and owner would be based

458
00:23:39,940 --> 00:23:45,540
upon a $1,500,000 increase to the existing levy.

459
00:23:45,845 --> 00:23:48,085
So if you look at your proposed notice

460
00:23:48,085 --> 00:23:51,045
that you got recently and said, okay, we're

461
00:23:51,045 --> 00:23:53,845
gonna, the county is gonna add $1,500,000 on

462
00:23:53,845 --> 00:23:56,325
top of that existing levy. This is in

463
00:23:56,325 --> 00:23:58,165
theory how it would impact you. So this

464
00:23:58,165 --> 00:24:00,750
first set of five up here is residential

465
00:24:00,750 --> 00:24:04,990
homesteads. That next set of five is residential

466
00:24:04,990 --> 00:24:08,990
non homestead. That next grouping is your commercial

467
00:24:08,990 --> 00:24:11,710
properties at those various market value price points.

468
00:24:12,855 --> 00:24:14,695
And then down at the bottom, I think

469
00:24:14,695 --> 00:24:17,175
you can see that, is a per acre

470
00:24:17,175 --> 00:24:20,934
calculation. So that 10,700 is the median per

471
00:24:20,934 --> 00:24:25,575
acre tillable price for 2024 for owner operator.

472
00:24:25,575 --> 00:24:27,735
If you are a farmer, this applies to

473
00:24:27,735 --> 00:24:31,520
you, of course. But the $2.04 versus the

474
00:24:31,520 --> 00:24:35,040
$4.11 why the difference? It's how the state

475
00:24:35,040 --> 00:24:37,040
law works. There are tier value limits, and

476
00:24:37,040 --> 00:24:38,640
you'll be familiar with that if you're a

477
00:24:38,640 --> 00:24:40,400
farmer as well too. But once you exceed

478
00:24:40,400 --> 00:24:43,680
a certain estimated market value for your ag

479
00:24:43,680 --> 00:24:47,185
land, you go to a 1% tier instead

480
00:24:47,185 --> 00:24:49,345
of the half a percent tier you're on.

481
00:24:49,985 --> 00:24:52,065
So let's get a little bit more specific.

482
00:24:52,065 --> 00:24:53,585
How does this spell out since that's a

483
00:24:53,585 --> 00:24:55,665
lot of information? Over the life of the

484
00:24:55,665 --> 00:24:58,145
loan, if you're a residential owner of $250,000

485
00:24:58,145 --> 00:25:01,520
home, you'd expect to pay approximately $17.90 dollars

486
00:25:01,520 --> 00:25:05,600
using 2024 data. Same thing if you're a

487
00:25:05,600 --> 00:25:09,760
$350,000 business. And mind you, this is simply

488
00:25:09,760 --> 00:25:12,160
the county portion. The county implication of the

489
00:25:12,160 --> 00:25:13,840
tax. This has nothing to do with city,

490
00:25:13,840 --> 00:25:16,685
school district, state. This is solely county data.

491
00:25:17,165 --> 00:25:19,165
If you're an ag owner that farms three

492
00:25:19,165 --> 00:25:22,845
fifty acres, you would approximately pay $14,280 using

493
00:25:22,845 --> 00:25:26,285
24 data. If you're an owner operator of

494
00:25:26,285 --> 00:25:29,885
1,500 acres, you'd pay approximately $108,000 using twenty

495
00:25:29,885 --> 00:25:32,260
twenty four data. And that specifically is where

496
00:25:32,260 --> 00:25:34,100
that tier limit kicks in. And I used

497
00:25:34,100 --> 00:25:38,660
three fifty as an example, because on average,

498
00:25:38,900 --> 00:25:41,460
at about three fifty acres is where you're

499
00:25:41,460 --> 00:25:43,060
gonna stop paying on tier one and you're

500
00:25:43,060 --> 00:25:45,164
gonna go to tier two. So that's that

501
00:25:45,164 --> 00:25:48,605
difference between the $2.04 or the $4.11 per

502
00:25:48,605 --> 00:25:50,924
acre. So I I did that with intent

503
00:25:50,924 --> 00:25:53,644
and purpose, of course. But every year we

504
00:25:53,644 --> 00:25:55,965
know values change, every years every year the

505
00:25:55,965 --> 00:25:58,310
law changes. So again, we're not looking at

506
00:25:58,310 --> 00:26:00,470
a crystal ball here, we're looking at the

507
00:26:00,470 --> 00:26:03,030
information we have today and projecting as best

508
00:26:03,030 --> 00:26:06,470
we can for what can happen. Just as

509
00:26:06,470 --> 00:26:09,190
before looking at the ADPs from '29 going

510
00:26:09,190 --> 00:26:12,285
forward, if we add that $1,500,000 of jail

511
00:26:12,285 --> 00:26:16,445
operation, specific to jail operation, as I said,

512
00:26:16,925 --> 00:26:20,925
that, average daily population calculation per inmate per

513
00:26:20,925 --> 00:26:23,325
year escalates as you can see on the

514
00:26:23,325 --> 00:26:25,485
screen. If you use the 2017 data, which

515
00:26:25,485 --> 00:26:28,470
again is about 10.3 inmates per year, drops

516
00:26:28,470 --> 00:26:30,870
a little bit, but still, the numbers as

517
00:26:30,870 --> 00:26:34,070
you can see. I've had several opportunities to

518
00:26:34,070 --> 00:26:38,550
meet with individuals, whether public, kind of the

519
00:26:38,550 --> 00:26:40,710
unbiased third parties, if you will, as well

520
00:26:40,710 --> 00:26:42,710
too, and staff that have given me some

521
00:26:42,710 --> 00:26:45,535
good feedback and comments. So what I what

522
00:26:45,535 --> 00:26:47,215
I try to do is encapsulate some of

523
00:26:47,215 --> 00:26:49,615
what I was hearing on on, let's say,

524
00:26:49,615 --> 00:26:51,535
the pro and con side of things for

525
00:26:51,535 --> 00:26:54,015
lack of a better term, but express concerns

526
00:26:54,015 --> 00:26:55,535
of not building a jail. If we don't

527
00:26:55,535 --> 00:26:57,855
build a jail, what about this? This may

528
00:26:57,855 --> 00:27:00,549
happen. So these are this is some of

529
00:27:00,549 --> 00:27:02,470
what I'm hearing. The inability to find consistent

530
00:27:02,470 --> 00:27:05,669
housing for inmates. Unsafe road conditions while transporting

531
00:27:05,669 --> 00:27:08,230
inmates to another facility. Taking deputies off patrol

532
00:27:08,230 --> 00:27:10,070
to transport an inmate. We've talked about some

533
00:27:10,070 --> 00:27:12,645
of these already. Not being in control of

534
00:27:12,645 --> 00:27:14,565
the situation or not taking care of our

535
00:27:14,565 --> 00:27:17,365
own, you know, being in a sense beholden

536
00:27:17,365 --> 00:27:20,725
to another organization for how they're housing our

537
00:27:20,725 --> 00:27:24,085
inmates and what that expressly looks like. Part

538
00:27:24,085 --> 00:27:26,650
of that has been tied to the work

539
00:27:26,650 --> 00:27:30,490
release conversation. What if another county that we're

540
00:27:30,650 --> 00:27:35,130
working with doesn't honor that, isn't willing to,

541
00:27:35,370 --> 00:27:38,090
you know, allow somebody to be transported for

542
00:27:38,090 --> 00:27:41,165
their job where otherwise we may have allowed

543
00:27:41,165 --> 00:27:44,365
them to do We'll be stuck with inmates

544
00:27:44,365 --> 00:27:45,885
with no place to go. You know, we've

545
00:27:45,885 --> 00:27:48,765
experienced this even today within the last month

546
00:27:48,765 --> 00:27:52,605
or so where staff were calling not just

547
00:27:52,605 --> 00:27:55,250
adjacent counties but adjacent states to see if

548
00:27:55,250 --> 00:27:57,169
there was a bed for an individual that

549
00:27:57,169 --> 00:27:59,970
we had in our facility. So also an

550
00:27:59,970 --> 00:28:03,169
existing issue we're running into. Will the community

551
00:28:03,169 --> 00:28:06,610
feel unsafe in some way? Is there in

552
00:28:06,610 --> 00:28:08,850
that institutional loss, if you will, of not

553
00:28:08,850 --> 00:28:11,445
having a jail that has been there forever.

554
00:28:11,605 --> 00:28:14,085
Is there a a change in our perspective

555
00:28:14,085 --> 00:28:16,405
that in some way makes us feel less

556
00:28:16,405 --> 00:28:18,805
safe than we currently are? A potential loss

557
00:28:18,805 --> 00:28:20,965
of jobs and I I hesitate with that

558
00:28:20,965 --> 00:28:23,200
one because as I said, this is a

559
00:28:23,200 --> 00:28:26,400
conversation that's just started. We know that there

560
00:28:26,720 --> 00:28:29,040
is still much work to be done regardless

561
00:28:29,040 --> 00:28:31,040
of any of the models we have seen

562
00:28:31,360 --> 00:28:34,400
from BKV to date. But again, something cited

563
00:28:34,400 --> 00:28:37,205
to me, I wanted to reflect it. Potential

564
00:28:37,205 --> 00:28:39,765
increased liability. Some of that goes back to

565
00:28:39,765 --> 00:28:44,164
the transportation side of things, the inability to

566
00:28:44,405 --> 00:28:48,645
house an inmate effectively, etcetera. That could fit

567
00:28:48,645 --> 00:28:52,379
under many things, I'm sure. One quote I

568
00:28:52,379 --> 00:28:53,980
heard a couple of time contracts are really

569
00:28:53,980 --> 00:28:55,659
good is the people that agree to them.

570
00:28:55,899 --> 00:28:59,019
Meaning if we entered into a contract with

571
00:28:59,659 --> 00:29:01,820
a Steele, a Blue Earth or a LeSour

572
00:29:01,820 --> 00:29:03,820
County, the counties that have talked to us

573
00:29:03,820 --> 00:29:06,495
thus far, you know, what happens when this

574
00:29:06,495 --> 00:29:08,335
board goes away? What happens when that board

575
00:29:08,335 --> 00:29:10,335
goes away? What happens when our sheriff or

576
00:29:10,335 --> 00:29:12,735
their sheriff goes away? You know, you're working

577
00:29:12,735 --> 00:29:15,375
in a two year to four year timeline

578
00:29:15,375 --> 00:29:18,014
essentially with elected officials is how that was

579
00:29:18,014 --> 00:29:21,450
being explained to me. So relevant. You'll have

580
00:29:21,450 --> 00:29:22,730
to pay for the cost of a contract

581
00:29:22,730 --> 00:29:25,370
forever, but the $20,000,000 months. I heard that

582
00:29:25,370 --> 00:29:28,250
a couple of times. You know, a contract

583
00:29:28,490 --> 00:29:30,890
a contractual solution you're committing to for a

584
00:29:30,890 --> 00:29:33,610
lifetime is how that was being expressed. Whereas

585
00:29:33,610 --> 00:29:35,945
you could build a jail right now for

586
00:29:35,945 --> 00:29:39,465
that $20,000,000 price tag and and eventually that

587
00:29:39,465 --> 00:29:42,505
ends. That bond matures. You stop paying for

588
00:29:42,505 --> 00:29:44,905
it. So on the other side of the

589
00:29:44,905 --> 00:29:47,785
coin, expressed concerns with building a jail from

590
00:29:47,785 --> 00:29:51,330
what I've heard. Inability to adequately address mental

591
00:29:51,330 --> 00:29:53,649
health needs of inmates and the associated liabilities.

592
00:29:53,649 --> 00:29:55,250
This ties into the second point as well

593
00:29:55,250 --> 00:29:56,929
too in terms of some of the unfunded

594
00:29:56,929 --> 00:29:59,330
mandates that the state continues to impose upon

595
00:29:59,330 --> 00:30:01,649
our correctional officers and our jailers which they

596
00:30:01,649 --> 00:30:05,385
are simply not trained to do. So there

597
00:30:05,385 --> 00:30:07,945
needs to be a much better holistic solution

598
00:30:08,185 --> 00:30:10,585
for mental health in the jail system. This

599
00:30:10,585 --> 00:30:13,225
isn't by any means unique to Waseke County.

600
00:30:13,225 --> 00:30:15,705
This is a state and or national issue,

601
00:30:15,865 --> 00:30:18,929
but it's been a problem that's been aggrandized,

602
00:30:18,929 --> 00:30:21,169
I would say, over the last several years

603
00:30:21,809 --> 00:30:23,809
at all facets of government, and there has

604
00:30:23,809 --> 00:30:25,490
not been a cogent solution that's been put

605
00:30:25,490 --> 00:30:28,530
into place as of yet. There still needs

606
00:30:28,530 --> 00:30:31,010
to be one. But it should not be

607
00:30:31,010 --> 00:30:34,115
up to the jailer to figure out what

608
00:30:34,115 --> 00:30:37,235
that solution is. DOC standard of a life

609
00:30:37,235 --> 00:30:38,595
for a new jail is twenty to twenty

610
00:30:38,595 --> 00:30:41,635
five years. Why is that relevant? Because the

611
00:30:41,635 --> 00:30:43,155
next point, the length of the payback period

612
00:30:43,155 --> 00:30:44,835
of the bond is twenty years. So the

613
00:30:44,835 --> 00:30:46,940
DOC comes in and tells us that, well,

614
00:30:46,940 --> 00:30:48,940
on average, we'd say a facility that has

615
00:30:48,940 --> 00:30:51,900
a useful life of twenty years. Steele County

616
00:30:51,900 --> 00:30:53,740
went through this recently as well. Their facility

617
00:30:53,740 --> 00:30:56,460
was built in 2023. They have spent millions

618
00:30:56,460 --> 00:30:59,580
of dollars maintaining it and updating it and

619
00:30:59,580 --> 00:31:02,635
are now committing to moving their sheriff administration

620
00:31:02,635 --> 00:31:04,715
and patrol out there as well to an

621
00:31:05,115 --> 00:31:08,955
additional multimillion dollar reinvestment. They cost a lot

622
00:31:08,955 --> 00:31:10,795
of money to build, they cost a lot

623
00:31:10,795 --> 00:31:13,515
of money to maintain was the impetus there.

624
00:31:13,755 --> 00:31:17,930
That's fair as well. Significant fiscal impact of

625
00:31:17,930 --> 00:31:20,090
the jail and the impact of property taxes,

626
00:31:20,170 --> 00:31:23,690
something that was a recurring theme, has been

627
00:31:23,690 --> 00:31:26,810
the recently built jails are nowhere near capacity.

628
00:31:26,810 --> 00:31:30,635
So, what's happening around us versus the capacity

629
00:31:30,635 --> 00:31:32,475
that they have to house? How many beds

630
00:31:32,475 --> 00:31:35,595
do they have versus how many, what is

631
00:31:35,595 --> 00:31:37,674
their population? So I updated this as of

632
00:31:37,674 --> 00:31:41,514
yesterday based upon the various county websites for

633
00:31:41,514 --> 00:31:43,355
who is currently being housed there compared to

634
00:31:43,355 --> 00:31:45,860
their capacity and when they were built. The

635
00:31:45,860 --> 00:31:47,860
only exception there is Freeborn County. I could

636
00:31:47,860 --> 00:31:49,780
not find anywhere and nobody could tell me

637
00:31:49,780 --> 00:31:52,980
specifically when that facility was built or remodeled.

638
00:31:53,380 --> 00:31:55,460
So just want to give that caveat there

639
00:31:55,460 --> 00:31:56,820
that I could not get a firm date

640
00:31:56,820 --> 00:31:58,100
on there, I didn't put one on there.

641
00:32:01,265 --> 00:32:02,865
There's a little nuance here as I was

642
00:32:02,865 --> 00:32:04,545
going through some of those reports. You see

643
00:32:04,545 --> 00:32:06,305
a lot of the same names twice, meaning

644
00:32:06,305 --> 00:32:10,785
that some counties are hosting, I guess I

645
00:32:10,785 --> 00:32:13,690
should say, could say inmates for another county.

646
00:32:15,130 --> 00:32:17,450
That was specifically happening in LeSour and Rice

647
00:32:17,450 --> 00:32:19,370
County. There were seven names that were repeated

648
00:32:19,370 --> 00:32:21,770
between both jail rosters that are actually Rice

649
00:32:21,770 --> 00:32:23,850
County inmates. So just to give the clarification,

650
00:32:24,274 --> 00:32:26,034
if you were to go out and look

651
00:32:26,034 --> 00:32:27,634
at it, you would say, hey, LeSour County

652
00:32:27,634 --> 00:32:30,595
says a population of 28 today. True. Seven

653
00:32:30,595 --> 00:32:32,195
of them are Rice County inmates. So I

654
00:32:32,195 --> 00:32:34,034
left them in the Rice County line and

655
00:32:34,034 --> 00:32:37,470
not the LeSour County line. So grand total,

656
00:32:37,470 --> 00:32:39,710
there's five fifty empty beds in adjacent counties

657
00:32:39,710 --> 00:32:42,270
as of yesterday. That does not mean that

658
00:32:42,270 --> 00:32:44,350
they have the staff to fulfill them and

659
00:32:44,350 --> 00:32:46,830
I assure you they do not. So there

660
00:32:46,830 --> 00:32:48,510
again, it has to be a caveat there

661
00:32:48,510 --> 00:32:50,495
that it's easy to say, well, they have

662
00:32:50,495 --> 00:32:53,615
515 empty beds. There's plenty of room. It

663
00:32:53,615 --> 00:32:57,134
doesn't mean they can take 515 inmates. So

664
00:32:57,294 --> 00:32:58,975
have to take that with a grain of

665
00:32:58,975 --> 00:33:01,695
salt as well too. So where the board

666
00:33:01,695 --> 00:33:04,790
is at today is what I would devise

667
00:33:04,790 --> 00:33:06,230
as a pre May and a post May

668
00:33:06,230 --> 00:33:10,150
solution. We know that there is some change

669
00:33:10,150 --> 00:33:12,070
coming in May. We know that the Department

670
00:33:12,070 --> 00:33:14,870
of Corrections will be on their biannual schedule

671
00:33:14,870 --> 00:33:17,315
and be in our facility in May and

672
00:33:17,315 --> 00:33:18,995
come up with a solution. And the best

673
00:33:18,995 --> 00:33:22,595
case solution for Waseca County Jail is a

674
00:33:22,595 --> 00:33:25,955
ninety day temporary holding facility because that is

675
00:33:25,955 --> 00:33:27,795
what they have told us. And that is

676
00:33:27,795 --> 00:33:30,275
what has recently happened in in Rice County

677
00:33:30,275 --> 00:33:32,560
that I'm sure you're familiar with too. And

678
00:33:32,560 --> 00:33:36,000
and Rice County, frankly, is a heck of

679
00:33:36,000 --> 00:33:37,440
a lot further down the road than we

680
00:33:37,440 --> 00:33:42,240
are with building a facility. And regardless, the

681
00:33:42,240 --> 00:33:44,320
DOC still came in and said, yeah, but

682
00:33:44,320 --> 00:33:45,520
we told you this and now you're in

683
00:33:45,520 --> 00:33:47,120
ninety day facility. So they're a ninety day

684
00:33:47,120 --> 00:33:49,975
facility. Planning on opening a fall of twenty

685
00:33:49,975 --> 00:33:53,335
twenty four. Again, that's that news article you

686
00:33:53,335 --> 00:33:55,015
can reference from earlier and and take a

687
00:33:55,015 --> 00:33:59,095
look at yourself, as as time allows. But

688
00:33:59,095 --> 00:34:01,415
the best case scenario for us in May

689
00:34:01,415 --> 00:34:03,095
of twenty twenty four is a ninety day

690
00:34:03,095 --> 00:34:09,219
holding facility. Will that change our operation? Naive

691
00:34:09,219 --> 00:34:10,980
of me to fully answer that question. Will

692
00:34:10,980 --> 00:34:12,980
it change the operation to an extent? Yes.

693
00:34:12,980 --> 00:34:15,380
What that is? I don't know. I don't

694
00:34:15,380 --> 00:34:17,634
know. So we have to have a May

695
00:34:17,634 --> 00:34:19,795
1, so to speak, or really a June

696
00:34:19,795 --> 00:34:23,875
1 solution, and a then post May, post

697
00:34:23,875 --> 00:34:26,835
June solution for what does the the fifty

698
00:34:26,835 --> 00:34:29,714
year ish solution look like for Waseca County.

699
00:34:31,739 --> 00:34:33,980
Mister chair, I think I can probably wrap

700
00:34:33,980 --> 00:34:35,580
up there and turn it back to you

701
00:34:35,580 --> 00:34:40,140
for anything else. Thank you, Michael, much. Mhmm.

702
00:34:40,380 --> 00:34:43,614
For what you've done for this. We are

703
00:34:43,614 --> 00:34:46,255
going there's a couple things I wanna say.

704
00:34:47,295 --> 00:34:49,614
There has this is a work session. There

705
00:34:49,614 --> 00:34:51,855
is no decision made, and there will not

706
00:34:51,855 --> 00:34:55,310
be a decision made today. We're going to

707
00:34:55,310 --> 00:34:58,110
open this up for public comment and questions

708
00:34:58,110 --> 00:35:02,430
and answers. If you're going to speak, come

709
00:35:02,430 --> 00:35:04,350
up to the podium, state your name and

710
00:35:04,350 --> 00:35:09,595
address, speak what you have to say. We

711
00:35:09,595 --> 00:35:12,315
we are here to listen to everyone today.

712
00:35:12,715 --> 00:35:15,115
I mean, that's that's what it's about. It's

713
00:35:15,115 --> 00:35:19,355
a public meeting. If someone prior to you

714
00:35:19,355 --> 00:35:23,195
takes your thunder, let's keep the redundancy to

715
00:35:23,195 --> 00:35:29,680
a minimum with the time constraint in mind.

716
00:35:30,240 --> 00:35:33,920
So with that being said, the podium is

717
00:35:33,920 --> 00:35:44,875
open. Good morning, commissioners, county administrator, community, and

718
00:35:44,875 --> 00:35:49,915
law enforcement. For those that don't know, I'm

719
00:35:49,994 --> 00:35:54,140
Jane Lewis, Waseke County sheriff. And I wanna

720
00:35:54,140 --> 00:35:56,780
stand before you to let you know that

721
00:35:56,780 --> 00:35:59,020
I'm in support of a new Waseke County

722
00:35:59,020 --> 00:36:02,540
Jail. I'm here to support our sheriff's office,

723
00:36:03,580 --> 00:36:06,540
staff, and the stakeholders that we work with

724
00:36:06,705 --> 00:36:09,105
that hold criminals accountable and work to keep

725
00:36:09,105 --> 00:36:11,665
our communities safe. The staff that we have

726
00:36:11,665 --> 00:36:15,425
are dependable and professional. Many of them that

727
00:36:15,425 --> 00:36:17,585
are here today, and I wanna thank you

728
00:36:17,585 --> 00:36:20,800
all for that. We do have the oldest

729
00:36:20,800 --> 00:36:24,400
jail operating in the state of Minnesota. As

730
00:36:24,400 --> 00:36:27,359
mentioned, the DOC has addressed several deficiencies in

731
00:36:27,359 --> 00:36:30,720
our current facility, and upcoming inspection is planned

732
00:36:30,720 --> 00:36:35,235
for 2024. We need a new Waseca County

733
00:36:35,235 --> 00:36:38,355
Jail and have needed a new jail for

734
00:36:38,355 --> 00:36:42,755
years. Our inmate population is becoming more dangerous,

735
00:36:43,715 --> 00:36:46,195
and mental illness of some degree is associated

736
00:36:46,195 --> 00:36:48,390
with most of those inmates that walk in

737
00:36:48,390 --> 00:36:51,670
our jail doors. We've had inmates in our

738
00:36:51,670 --> 00:36:54,390
jail facility that no one will take too

739
00:36:54,390 --> 00:36:58,390
dangerous or too mentally ill. No other jails

740
00:36:58,390 --> 00:37:03,435
or hospitals will take them. As mentioned, recently,

741
00:37:03,435 --> 00:37:04,954
staff has called all over the state of

742
00:37:04,954 --> 00:37:08,315
Minnesota and even surrounding states for for someone

743
00:37:08,315 --> 00:37:10,714
to take a female that was recently in

744
00:37:10,714 --> 00:37:12,474
our jail that was too dangerous and too

745
00:37:12,474 --> 00:37:15,355
mentally ill. Again, no one would take her.

746
00:37:18,190 --> 00:37:20,750
This has been common in recent months where

747
00:37:20,750 --> 00:37:23,390
we've had several inmates, male and female, no

748
00:37:23,390 --> 00:37:26,270
jail to take. It's becoming the new norm.

749
00:37:27,710 --> 00:37:29,870
When outside agencies have agreed to take an

750
00:37:29,870 --> 00:37:33,345
inmate, they call us back to have the

751
00:37:33,345 --> 00:37:36,305
inmate returned to them or returned to us.

752
00:37:37,345 --> 00:37:39,905
And if we refuse, they bring them back.

753
00:37:41,665 --> 00:37:43,585
If we don't have a jail, where will

754
00:37:43,585 --> 00:37:47,770
those inmates go? Remember, as previously stated, other

755
00:37:47,770 --> 00:37:50,410
jails and hospitals have refused to accept or

756
00:37:50,410 --> 00:37:53,930
return those inmates. There appears to be a

757
00:37:53,930 --> 00:37:57,050
cost savings for not running a jail. Is

758
00:37:57,050 --> 00:38:02,195
there truly a cost savings? Waseca County has

759
00:38:02,195 --> 00:38:04,275
never been without a jail. And what are

760
00:38:04,275 --> 00:38:09,315
the costs of not having a jail? There

761
00:38:09,315 --> 00:38:11,235
are many people here today that I am

762
00:38:11,235 --> 00:38:15,930
sure want to speak. So I will end

763
00:38:15,930 --> 00:38:19,530
with this. I encourage all of you to

764
00:38:19,530 --> 00:38:22,490
meet with our stakeholders, law enforcement, the county

765
00:38:22,490 --> 00:38:27,655
attorney, office, probation, courts, all of our other

766
00:38:27,655 --> 00:38:31,734
stakeholders to discuss what additional costs in a

767
00:38:31,734 --> 00:38:34,215
complex will rise from not having a jail.

768
00:38:36,214 --> 00:38:38,055
I thank you all for listening. I thank

769
00:38:38,055 --> 00:38:41,300
you all for being here. I want to

770
00:38:41,300 --> 00:38:44,340
end with that I believe we need a

771
00:38:44,340 --> 00:38:47,140
new jail and I support a new jail.

772
00:38:47,380 --> 00:39:06,970
Thank you for listening. Multiple people we have

773
00:39:06,970 --> 00:39:09,930
in custody and we have them at the

774
00:39:09,930 --> 00:39:12,809
same time. We have them on very serious

775
00:39:12,809 --> 00:39:16,010
matters and they need to be secured quickly.

776
00:39:16,490 --> 00:39:17,930
So they need to be kept separate from

777
00:39:17,930 --> 00:39:21,585
each other because we need to investigate, we

778
00:39:21,585 --> 00:39:24,545
need to do interviews, we need that not

779
00:39:24,545 --> 00:39:27,105
only for legal reasons but to protect not

780
00:39:27,105 --> 00:39:30,145
only suspects but victims and to protect the

781
00:39:30,145 --> 00:39:33,185
integrity of the crime scene. In the last

782
00:39:33,185 --> 00:39:36,130
year, just the last year, and I'm talking

783
00:39:36,130 --> 00:39:38,370
about historical, in the last year we've had

784
00:39:38,370 --> 00:39:40,930
a drive by shooting, which was also an

785
00:39:40,930 --> 00:39:44,050
attempted murder. We've had another shooting here in

786
00:39:44,050 --> 00:39:47,325
Waseca, which was another attempted murder. We've had

787
00:39:47,325 --> 00:39:51,244
another attempted murder by stabbing and an armed

788
00:39:51,244 --> 00:39:56,925
robbery amongst many other serious drug crimes, burglaries,

789
00:39:57,244 --> 00:39:59,484
more cases than I can even begin to

790
00:39:59,484 --> 00:40:04,440
talk about, all have multiple officers involved. We

791
00:40:04,440 --> 00:40:06,680
need all hands on deck when things like

792
00:40:06,680 --> 00:40:11,000
this happen. It is very important that we

793
00:40:11,000 --> 00:40:15,345
have a jail local that we can place

794
00:40:15,345 --> 00:40:17,105
these people so we can continue to do

795
00:40:17,105 --> 00:40:21,425
our investigation. When you're collecting evidence, it's important

796
00:40:22,145 --> 00:40:25,185
to do a lot of work on scene

797
00:40:25,720 --> 00:40:28,680
and you can't do that if officers are

798
00:40:28,680 --> 00:40:30,680
being drawn away from the scene for forty

799
00:40:30,680 --> 00:40:33,000
five plus minutes to take someone to a

800
00:40:33,000 --> 00:40:35,640
jail in another county it's just not feasible.

801
00:40:38,515 --> 00:40:41,075
We do have an issue where we have

802
00:40:41,075 --> 00:40:43,075
had a lot of issues with women in

803
00:40:43,075 --> 00:40:47,075
the jail recently. As Sheriff Ula stated, we

804
00:40:47,075 --> 00:40:49,795
had one particular case where we had to

805
00:40:49,795 --> 00:40:51,555
hold her. We had no one else who

806
00:40:51,555 --> 00:40:55,180
would take her. Finally, thankfully another jail has

807
00:40:55,180 --> 00:40:58,460
taken her, but we had a jail who

808
00:40:58,460 --> 00:41:01,980
has historically had very good mental health facilities

809
00:41:01,980 --> 00:41:03,980
even reject her. They had her for a

810
00:41:03,980 --> 00:41:06,299
while and they said you cannot have her,

811
00:41:06,299 --> 00:41:09,565
we can't have her anymore. And she was

812
00:41:09,565 --> 00:41:15,245
someone who was very homicidal, very assaultive, she

813
00:41:15,245 --> 00:41:18,765
had assaulted multiple people and so we had

814
00:41:18,765 --> 00:41:20,859
to take her. We didn't have any other

815
00:41:20,859 --> 00:41:22,700
option but to bring her back and that

816
00:41:22,700 --> 00:41:24,700
was to protect public safety. We can't just

817
00:41:24,700 --> 00:41:27,099
release her to the streets, it was a

818
00:41:27,099 --> 00:41:30,940
really really important deal. Now I want to

819
00:41:30,940 --> 00:41:36,744
talk about mental health. Michael mentioned that, you

820
00:41:36,744 --> 00:41:38,265
know, it's not the role of the jailer

821
00:41:38,265 --> 00:41:41,785
to handle this. However, we don't have a

822
00:41:41,785 --> 00:41:44,744
choice in these, they're called gap cases. You

823
00:41:44,744 --> 00:41:48,520
can Google gap cases and you'll find out

824
00:41:48,520 --> 00:41:51,240
that Minnesota has a big problem with cases

825
00:41:51,240 --> 00:41:53,880
where people are found incompetent but they need

826
00:41:53,880 --> 00:41:57,319
to be held somewhere because they are in

827
00:41:57,319 --> 00:41:59,720
the case of many mentally ill and dangerous.

828
00:41:59,720 --> 00:42:01,725
We can't just simply release them to the

829
00:42:01,725 --> 00:42:03,725
street and say, well, know, try to make

830
00:42:03,725 --> 00:42:05,805
yourself competent, come back in six months and

831
00:42:05,805 --> 00:42:08,045
we'll see how it goes. So that's not

832
00:42:08,045 --> 00:42:09,965
protecting public safety. We need to have a

833
00:42:09,965 --> 00:42:12,685
place to hold them and unfortunately with many

834
00:42:12,685 --> 00:42:15,165
of our mentally ill male and female, both

835
00:42:15,165 --> 00:42:17,590
of them, we have had rejected from our

836
00:42:17,590 --> 00:42:19,990
jails that we have tried to place in

837
00:42:19,990 --> 00:42:27,190
neighboring jails. When we are short office servers

838
00:42:27,190 --> 00:42:30,875
to help while others are transporting Just remember

839
00:42:30,875 --> 00:42:33,595
that then you're not only are you short

840
00:42:33,595 --> 00:42:35,355
staffed for helping at the scene of a

841
00:42:35,355 --> 00:42:37,595
crime but also what happens when new calls

842
00:42:37,595 --> 00:42:39,115
come in? What are victims going to do

843
00:42:39,115 --> 00:42:41,355
when they need law enforcement, they need help

844
00:42:41,355 --> 00:42:43,515
and people have been pulled away and they

845
00:42:43,515 --> 00:42:48,079
aren't in town? Janesville, New Richland, they generally

846
00:42:48,079 --> 00:42:50,720
have one person working at a time. They

847
00:42:50,720 --> 00:42:53,280
don't have the manpower to help with transportation

848
00:42:53,519 --> 00:42:56,079
and you know, again to what I said

849
00:42:56,079 --> 00:42:58,185
before, who is left to cover that city

850
00:42:58,185 --> 00:43:00,025
when an officer is gone for over an

851
00:43:00,025 --> 00:43:03,705
hour. Law enforcement is in a shortage. We

852
00:43:03,705 --> 00:43:06,745
have a crisis right now for trying to

853
00:43:06,745 --> 00:43:10,665
find law enforcement and for that matter, I

854
00:43:10,665 --> 00:43:13,360
know that there was discussion about transportation officers

855
00:43:13,360 --> 00:43:15,600
to some extent we have a workforce shortage

856
00:43:15,600 --> 00:43:17,600
as well, so trying to find people to

857
00:43:17,600 --> 00:43:23,600
fill those positions would be very concerning and

858
00:43:23,760 --> 00:43:26,795
I hate to rely on hiring of that

859
00:43:26,795 --> 00:43:29,115
staff when we have staff who are willing

860
00:43:29,115 --> 00:43:31,115
to stay, want to stay in our jail

861
00:43:31,115 --> 00:43:32,634
and are doing a great job in our

862
00:43:32,634 --> 00:43:37,275
jail. Court matters: we need defendants to be

863
00:43:37,275 --> 00:43:39,755
accessible to our public defenders and their attorneys.

864
00:43:40,160 --> 00:43:42,080
Our jail has always been very good about

865
00:43:42,080 --> 00:43:44,400
allowing attorneys time and space to meet. How

866
00:43:44,400 --> 00:43:47,600
will that work for other counties? Where are

867
00:43:47,600 --> 00:43:49,280
inmates going to sit when they're waiting for

868
00:43:49,280 --> 00:43:52,800
our court hearings? Do you know how hard

869
00:43:52,800 --> 00:43:54,445
it is to work on a case and

870
00:43:54,445 --> 00:43:56,445
work on resolution when you simply don't have

871
00:43:56,445 --> 00:43:59,245
a defendant there? We often have forms, documents

872
00:43:59,484 --> 00:44:01,724
we need to go over with them, their

873
00:44:01,724 --> 00:44:04,125
attorneys need to talk to them in person.

874
00:44:04,445 --> 00:44:06,530
Yes, we do a lot by Zoom but

875
00:44:06,530 --> 00:44:08,210
we're also do a lot in person some

876
00:44:08,210 --> 00:44:10,290
things have to be done in person. Sometimes

877
00:44:10,290 --> 00:44:23,625
attorneys need that Many times attorneys need a

878
00:44:23,625 --> 00:44:25,865
one on one contact with their client in

879
00:44:25,865 --> 00:44:27,545
order for them to have face to face

880
00:44:27,545 --> 00:44:30,984
contact to have them understand like the severity

881
00:44:30,984 --> 00:44:33,789
of their charges and to discuss resolution. Some

882
00:44:33,789 --> 00:44:36,349
know they don't want to talk over serious

883
00:44:36,349 --> 00:44:38,269
matters on a telephone call or a zoom,

884
00:44:38,269 --> 00:44:39,630
they want to talk to their attorney. They

885
00:44:39,630 --> 00:44:42,190
want to have that relationship with their attorney.

886
00:44:46,455 --> 00:44:49,175
When multiple people are in custody for court

887
00:44:49,175 --> 00:44:51,335
at the same time, where are we going

888
00:44:51,335 --> 00:44:53,815
to house multiple people while waiting for court?

889
00:44:53,815 --> 00:44:55,735
Are the deputies expected to bring them back

890
00:44:55,735 --> 00:44:57,095
one at a time? It's going to be

891
00:44:57,095 --> 00:45:00,350
a scheduling nightmare and logistically is not feasible.

892
00:45:00,350 --> 00:45:02,590
There are also any safety concerns including concerns

893
00:45:02,590 --> 00:45:06,030
for victims. And where is that secure place

894
00:45:06,030 --> 00:45:08,430
going to be? Again, you know, the purpose

895
00:45:08,430 --> 00:45:12,190
of a jail would be a new jail

896
00:45:12,990 --> 00:45:15,135
would be to address some of the issues

897
00:45:15,135 --> 00:45:18,015
that we have with transferring inmates down the

898
00:45:18,015 --> 00:45:22,015
public sidewalk through the public buildings. Where are

899
00:45:22,895 --> 00:45:25,775
those people going to be out and about?

900
00:45:26,170 --> 00:45:28,090
So we will be transferring all of our

901
00:45:28,090 --> 00:45:30,570
inmates now and to me that just brings

902
00:45:30,570 --> 00:45:35,610
even more liability issues, more concerns. At minimum,

903
00:45:36,090 --> 00:45:38,730
we need a jail with a detention courtroom

904
00:45:38,730 --> 00:45:43,615
and even if you didn't do a judicial

905
00:45:43,615 --> 00:45:45,535
center at minimum we need a jail with

906
00:45:45,535 --> 00:45:48,575
a detention courtroom. Where are we going to

907
00:45:48,575 --> 00:45:50,255
house juveniles who are in need of custody

908
00:45:50,255 --> 00:45:52,015
if we don't have a jail? Sometimes we're

909
00:45:52,015 --> 00:45:54,370
looking for a place for them. We don't

910
00:45:54,370 --> 00:45:57,330
take everyone to ANOCA for placement and they

911
00:45:57,330 --> 00:45:59,810
might not be appropriate for ANOCA for placement.

912
00:46:00,290 --> 00:46:02,370
Legally, we can have a juvenile stay in

913
00:46:02,370 --> 00:46:03,810
our jail for up to twenty four hours

914
00:46:03,810 --> 00:46:05,955
if we have to. It's a waste of

915
00:46:05,955 --> 00:46:08,595
resources to bring them to ANOVA overnight when

916
00:46:08,595 --> 00:46:10,355
they might just be released the next morning

917
00:46:10,355 --> 00:46:11,635
by the court and we have to go

918
00:46:11,635 --> 00:46:14,515
back up and get them. We are required

919
00:46:14,515 --> 00:46:17,875
under our legal standards to use the least

920
00:46:17,875 --> 00:46:22,930
restrictive alternative. So having them housed in our

921
00:46:22,930 --> 00:46:25,490
local jail for a period of a few

922
00:46:25,490 --> 00:46:27,970
hours is often the least restrictive while we're

923
00:46:27,970 --> 00:46:30,370
trying to find another placement for them. Some

924
00:46:30,370 --> 00:46:32,530
other type of juvenile alternative facility, it might

925
00:46:32,530 --> 00:46:36,015
be a family, you know, placement, but we

926
00:46:36,015 --> 00:46:37,615
need a place that we can put them.

927
00:46:38,815 --> 00:46:41,295
Will our insurance premiums increase in travel and

928
00:46:41,295 --> 00:46:44,655
protection protection of the inmates going out of

929
00:46:44,655 --> 00:46:49,750
county? When you get insurance they ask you

930
00:46:49,750 --> 00:46:51,510
where do you work versus where is your

931
00:46:51,510 --> 00:46:53,670
home and you know they assign more costs

932
00:46:53,670 --> 00:46:55,829
and your premiums based on your risk going

933
00:46:55,829 --> 00:46:57,829
up and the more that you're out driving.

934
00:46:57,829 --> 00:46:59,670
So what's our liability going to be and

935
00:46:59,670 --> 00:47:03,625
what's our daily transport of inmates, especially during

936
00:47:03,625 --> 00:47:06,505
inclement weather. And then on the weather note,

937
00:47:06,505 --> 00:47:08,905
you know, timing for transportation is going to

938
00:47:08,905 --> 00:47:10,905
be an issue. Court doesn't just stop because

939
00:47:10,905 --> 00:47:13,545
we have bad weather. While we do have

940
00:47:13,545 --> 00:47:16,550
some hearings by Zoom, you know, we have

941
00:47:16,550 --> 00:47:17,910
jury trials where you're supposed to do when

942
00:47:17,910 --> 00:47:19,670
we're in jury trial and there's a snowstorm.

943
00:47:19,670 --> 00:47:21,990
We still have court, we still have jury

944
00:47:21,990 --> 00:47:26,950
trials. And then with regards to the contracts,

945
00:47:27,190 --> 00:47:30,515
I know that the language was that they

946
00:47:30,515 --> 00:47:32,435
would be guaranteed beds for up to 10

947
00:47:32,435 --> 00:47:37,555
inmates, but like we said before, we're constantly

948
00:47:37,555 --> 00:47:39,075
called to go pick up people that we

949
00:47:39,075 --> 00:47:41,555
thought we had secured in a facility that

950
00:47:41,555 --> 00:47:44,270
can meet their needs. Finally, I want to

951
00:47:44,270 --> 00:47:48,270
wrap up with I am constantly talked to

952
00:47:48,270 --> 00:47:52,270
by judges from other counties, by public defenders,

953
00:47:52,270 --> 00:47:56,110
private attorneys, other business partners, how well we

954
00:47:56,110 --> 00:47:59,475
work together in Waseeva County. While our jail

955
00:47:59,555 --> 00:48:01,714
is broke per se, it needs to be

956
00:48:01,714 --> 00:48:05,075
fixed. Our partnership and our relationships are working

957
00:48:05,075 --> 00:48:07,155
well and they are not broken and the

958
00:48:07,155 --> 00:48:10,035
criminal justice system will be directly impacted which

959
00:48:10,035 --> 00:48:12,275
affects public safety and I have a very

960
00:48:13,250 --> 00:48:16,210
steep concern that if we don't have a

961
00:48:16,210 --> 00:48:20,130
jail it is going to dramatically impact and

962
00:48:20,210 --> 00:48:23,010
potentially break our good system that we have

963
00:48:23,010 --> 00:48:31,905
in Waseca. Thank you. I'll take one minute

964
00:48:31,905 --> 00:48:33,345
if I may Commissioner Zede. I don't want

965
00:48:33,345 --> 00:48:38,065
to repeat what the other Justice Partners had

966
00:48:38,065 --> 00:48:41,690
said. I'm John Sherrill, probation director. County. Just

967
00:48:41,690 --> 00:48:44,170
real quickly, and it's a very difficult decision,

968
00:48:44,170 --> 00:48:47,049
I fully understand that. Just to point out,

969
00:48:47,049 --> 00:48:49,450
there are a lot of times that our

970
00:48:49,450 --> 00:48:52,089
agents in our office are over in jail.

971
00:48:52,089 --> 00:48:53,609
They go there daily to go meet with

972
00:48:53,609 --> 00:48:55,369
clients. We have bail studies we have to

973
00:48:55,369 --> 00:48:57,704
do in the morning that is very time

974
00:48:57,704 --> 00:48:59,145
sensitive that we may have to go over

975
00:48:59,145 --> 00:49:02,184
there. We have regular jail visits. If somebody

976
00:49:02,184 --> 00:49:05,145
is just in custody, there's an inappropriate violation,

977
00:49:05,145 --> 00:49:06,505
we have to go meet with them on

978
00:49:06,505 --> 00:49:09,464
a time sensitive matter. So with that, if

979
00:49:09,464 --> 00:49:11,920
we are housing inmates out of the county,

980
00:49:12,080 --> 00:49:15,200
there will be an increased cost with some

981
00:49:15,200 --> 00:49:17,360
transportation with our agents going to a different

982
00:49:17,360 --> 00:49:19,520
county as well. So we do support a

983
00:49:19,520 --> 00:49:21,280
local jail, but we understand that this is

984
00:49:21,280 --> 00:49:23,685
a very difficult decision for the commissioners. Thank

985
00:49:23,685 --> 00:49:29,685
you. Thanks. Thank you. Randy Peterson, Francisco. I

986
00:49:29,685 --> 00:49:32,565
got a couple of quick questions. Will this

987
00:49:32,565 --> 00:49:34,645
JV approved? The jail would have been male

988
00:49:34,645 --> 00:49:39,760
and female? I mean, it's kind of that

989
00:49:39,760 --> 00:49:42,560
old that old sexes. That that would be

990
00:49:43,200 --> 00:49:48,160
staffing, which we already are unable to staff

991
00:49:48,400 --> 00:49:53,365
for the male inmates. Try and staff it

992
00:49:53,365 --> 00:49:57,125
with females for female inmates. In the middle

993
00:49:57,125 --> 00:49:58,885
of Blue Earth, in the middle of Steele

994
00:49:58,885 --> 00:50:04,805
County, with a tax capacity that's significantly less

995
00:50:04,805 --> 00:50:09,230
than both neighboring counties, I don't even see

996
00:50:09,230 --> 00:50:12,830
how we could hire help. I'd say it

997
00:50:12,830 --> 00:50:17,390
for me. Fine. And you said 43 and

998
00:50:17,390 --> 00:50:19,790
a half million dollars or something like that.

999
00:50:19,790 --> 00:50:22,625
And I don't know if Mr. Johnson, you

1000
00:50:22,625 --> 00:50:24,944
were talking about Rice County, Blue Earth County.

1001
00:50:24,944 --> 00:50:27,505
I read the Mankato paper. When Blue Earth

1002
00:50:27,505 --> 00:50:29,665
County was building their new jail, it was

1003
00:50:29,665 --> 00:50:33,665
just million after million after million overruns. You're

1004
00:50:33,665 --> 00:50:35,505
not gonna do this for 43 and a

1005
00:50:35,505 --> 00:50:38,849
half million dollars. I would figure 25% on

1006
00:50:38,849 --> 00:50:41,010
top of that. And I'll bet you're gonna

1007
00:50:41,010 --> 00:50:43,810
be in the ballpark. So you're gonna figure

1008
00:50:43,810 --> 00:50:47,970
$5,055,000,000. That would be my guess. I know

1009
00:50:47,970 --> 00:50:52,535
nothing, but, and you know, how deep is

1010
00:50:52,535 --> 00:50:54,855
our tax? Well, you know, everybody what you

1011
00:50:54,855 --> 00:50:57,095
did to us this year. How deep can

1012
00:50:57,095 --> 00:50:58,695
you dig that well if the dirt not

1013
00:50:58,695 --> 00:51:01,735
falling back in on you? That's all I

1014
00:51:01,735 --> 00:51:03,415
got to say. I'm not for it or

1015
00:51:03,415 --> 00:51:06,455
against it, but that's good. Thank you. Thanks,

1016
00:51:06,455 --> 00:51:16,240
Randy. Good morning, commissioners. My name is Alex

1017
00:51:16,240 --> 00:51:19,119
Blank. I'm with the Minnesota Public Employees Association.

1018
00:51:19,119 --> 00:51:21,599
I'm one of their attorneys. We represent a

1019
00:51:21,599 --> 00:51:23,385
lot of public employees across the state of

1020
00:51:23,385 --> 00:51:26,665
Minnesota. Here in Raseko, we represent your highway

1021
00:51:26,665 --> 00:51:29,865
department, your courthouse or your general unit, and

1022
00:51:29,865 --> 00:51:31,865
then in particular today, I'm here on behalf

1023
00:51:31,865 --> 00:51:35,385
of our representation for the jail, their staff

1024
00:51:35,385 --> 00:51:37,785
including dispatch along with the deputy guardian unit.

1025
00:51:38,750 --> 00:51:40,190
I want to start by saying I don't

1026
00:51:40,190 --> 00:51:41,950
envy the position that you're in. Know it's

1027
00:51:41,950 --> 00:51:43,230
a difficult one. You got a lot of

1028
00:51:43,230 --> 00:51:45,630
hard decisions to make. And I also want

1029
00:51:45,630 --> 00:51:46,990
to respect the fact that I do not

1030
00:51:46,990 --> 00:51:49,230
want to be redundant, so appreciate the points

1031
00:51:49,230 --> 00:51:50,510
that have been made by the county attorney

1032
00:51:50,510 --> 00:51:53,215
and the sheriff as well. What I will

1033
00:51:53,215 --> 00:51:56,335
leave you with is hopefully a objective perspective

1034
00:51:56,335 --> 00:51:58,655
of what's going on in other jurisdictions that

1035
00:51:58,655 --> 00:52:00,815
are not just neutral to this area but

1036
00:52:00,815 --> 00:52:03,135
across the state and the fact that I

1037
00:52:03,135 --> 00:52:05,695
respect the idea that it might be a

1038
00:52:05,695 --> 00:52:08,390
viable option to hire more deputies to assist

1039
00:52:08,390 --> 00:52:10,790
with transports and things of that nature. What

1040
00:52:10,790 --> 00:52:13,990
I don't foresee being a plausible solution, however,

1041
00:52:13,990 --> 00:52:16,550
is how you're gonna hire them. It's been

1042
00:52:16,550 --> 00:52:19,110
brought up that the hiring issue is massive.

1043
00:52:19,350 --> 00:52:21,110
Right now, I believe on the Minnesota Post

1044
00:52:21,110 --> 00:52:23,755
Board, there are over 200 postings, many of

1045
00:52:23,755 --> 00:52:26,875
which are offering for multiple positions. The city

1046
00:52:26,875 --> 00:52:29,355
of Minneapolis alone is well over a couple

1047
00:52:29,355 --> 00:52:31,755
hundred. So that right there tells us that

1048
00:52:31,755 --> 00:52:33,515
there could be anywhere from three to 500

1049
00:52:33,515 --> 00:52:35,960
vacancies of Peace Officers in the state Minnesota.

1050
00:52:36,200 --> 00:52:38,760
Now if you have the well of applicants

1051
00:52:38,760 --> 00:52:41,000
available, I'm sure you'll have 86 other counties

1052
00:52:41,000 --> 00:52:43,079
and hundreds of municipalities calling to get that

1053
00:52:43,079 --> 00:52:45,559
answer from you, but I don't foresee a

1054
00:52:45,559 --> 00:52:46,440
way in which you're going be able to

1055
00:52:46,440 --> 00:52:48,615
hire the staffing in order to do it.

1056
00:52:49,095 --> 00:52:50,695
Like I said, I didn't want to be

1057
00:52:50,695 --> 00:52:53,095
redundant. I'll leave you all with this. I

1058
00:52:53,095 --> 00:52:55,175
think with a new jail, you have a

1059
00:52:55,175 --> 00:52:58,055
known quantity and a known solution that you

1060
00:52:58,055 --> 00:53:00,820
can address these concerns. Moving forward without one,

1061
00:53:00,820 --> 00:53:02,900
you do not have that guarantee and I

1062
00:53:02,900 --> 00:53:04,660
think that would be a great disservice not

1063
00:53:04,660 --> 00:53:07,460
only the employees that have dedicated their careers

1064
00:53:07,460 --> 00:53:09,540
to that jail and to the law enforcement

1065
00:53:09,540 --> 00:53:12,099
here in Waseke County but also the public

1066
00:53:12,099 --> 00:53:13,695
in which they serve. Thank thank you for

1067
00:53:13,695 --> 00:53:28,860
your time. Good morning. My name is Rick

1068
00:53:28,860 --> 00:53:33,420
Schultz. I live in rural New Richland. Again,

1069
00:53:33,420 --> 00:53:36,140
applaud people for having this meeting and giving

1070
00:53:36,140 --> 00:53:38,460
the opportunity to weigh out pros and cons

1071
00:53:38,460 --> 00:53:41,085
of the what's before you in the decision

1072
00:53:41,085 --> 00:53:43,405
making. I want to start off with, we've

1073
00:53:43,405 --> 00:53:46,445
always been proud of our law enforcement in

1074
00:53:46,445 --> 00:53:50,045
the county, whether it's the city police department

1075
00:53:50,045 --> 00:53:53,805
or the county. We've always been secured by

1076
00:53:53,805 --> 00:53:56,850
them and we applaud the job they're doing.

1077
00:53:57,570 --> 00:54:04,210
However, brick and mortar doesn't make our forces

1078
00:54:04,210 --> 00:54:06,609
better or worse, it's the people that you

1079
00:54:06,609 --> 00:54:10,065
employ. So think we have to be cautious

1080
00:54:10,065 --> 00:54:12,065
on this. This isn't an easy decision like

1081
00:54:12,065 --> 00:54:15,025
everyone said. Some things that jump out at

1082
00:54:15,025 --> 00:54:18,385
me is examples of inmates that we can't

1083
00:54:18,385 --> 00:54:20,945
handle. Again, I go back to does brick

1084
00:54:20,945 --> 00:54:23,185
and mortar solve that? It sounds to me

1085
00:54:23,185 --> 00:54:28,869
like we have a staffing concern in whether

1086
00:54:28,869 --> 00:54:33,589
that building is 1970 or 2025. I don't

1087
00:54:33,589 --> 00:54:36,390
know that that changes the ability to handle

1088
00:54:36,390 --> 00:54:40,615
some of the people you're dealing with. Something

1089
00:54:40,615 --> 00:54:42,454
that jumped out at me is these neighboring

1090
00:54:42,454 --> 00:54:47,095
facilities at 20% capacity, I do think that's

1091
00:54:47,095 --> 00:54:51,494
a viable option. Again, we wouldn't accept that

1092
00:54:51,494 --> 00:54:54,055
in our own business to be at 20%

1093
00:54:54,430 --> 00:54:58,110
capacity. So I don't think we can step

1094
00:54:58,110 --> 00:55:00,590
aside and say that that isn't a viable

1095
00:55:00,590 --> 00:55:03,950
option. I look at it, there are inconveniences.

1096
00:55:05,790 --> 00:55:10,655
Does it matter if this potential inmate gets

1097
00:55:10,895 --> 00:55:13,455
in a squad car for ten minutes or

1098
00:55:13,455 --> 00:55:16,895
thirty minutes? I questioned some of that, so

1099
00:55:16,895 --> 00:55:18,655
I think we do need to look at

1100
00:55:18,655 --> 00:55:22,430
that. But those are all things that we've

1101
00:55:22,430 --> 00:55:25,070
elected you to decide and to weigh out,

1102
00:55:25,070 --> 00:55:27,150
so I think we need to respect where

1103
00:55:27,150 --> 00:55:30,270
you go in the research and again, all

1104
00:55:30,510 --> 00:55:34,030
viable options. Some of the questions that I

1105
00:55:34,030 --> 00:55:37,115
come up with through this, and I just

1106
00:55:37,115 --> 00:55:40,795
like some clarity, we said that we levied

1107
00:55:40,795 --> 00:55:44,395
10,000,000 here two years ago with anticipation of

1108
00:55:44,395 --> 00:55:47,675
needing. Is that a correct figure or 20,000,000?

1109
00:55:47,675 --> 00:55:52,560
No, we've budgeted the ability to bomb Tim.

1110
00:55:53,359 --> 00:55:55,359
So could you explain that just a little

1111
00:55:55,359 --> 00:55:57,359
bit of how that did that affect our

1112
00:55:57,359 --> 00:56:00,799
taxes when you did that? We're paying for

1113
00:56:00,799 --> 00:56:03,760
that currency then. Right. So the best way

1114
00:56:03,760 --> 00:56:08,265
to explain that is right now, the levy

1115
00:56:08,265 --> 00:56:13,145
is what it is for 2023 roughly $17,700,000

1116
00:56:13,705 --> 00:56:16,105
So what the board had started to do

1117
00:56:16,105 --> 00:56:18,985
over the last year and a half essentially

1118
00:56:18,985 --> 00:56:22,820
is figure out within that existing levy framework

1119
00:56:22,980 --> 00:56:25,220
where can we pull money back, where can

1120
00:56:25,220 --> 00:56:28,260
we isolate dollars to pay for that first

1121
00:56:28,260 --> 00:56:31,540
twenty million dollars bill. So that's why I

1122
00:56:31,540 --> 00:56:33,540
was how I was trying to explain that

1123
00:56:34,255 --> 00:56:38,735
If we had a $20,000,000 building, that effectively

1124
00:56:38,735 --> 00:56:42,655
would not touch or impact your taxes at

1125
00:56:42,655 --> 00:56:47,470
all. But it would it would services. Something's

1126
00:56:47,470 --> 00:56:49,870
giving up to get that done. To an

1127
00:56:49,870 --> 00:56:52,670
extent. Okay. Yes. That is correct. Because I

1128
00:56:52,670 --> 00:56:56,350
think I would agree or these commissioners would

1129
00:56:56,350 --> 00:56:59,675
agree that there are no I hope you're

1130
00:56:59,675 --> 00:57:01,595
more efficient than that. Guess is what I'm

1131
00:57:01,595 --> 00:57:03,355
trying to say is that there isn't anything

1132
00:57:03,355 --> 00:57:07,115
sitting out there that we're wasting. No. So

1133
00:57:07,115 --> 00:57:10,635
that model that the commissioners looked at was

1134
00:57:10,635 --> 00:57:13,510
over a decade of time. So it was

1135
00:57:13,510 --> 00:57:16,309
how do we create levy sustainability over a

1136
00:57:16,309 --> 00:57:19,349
ten year period? So there aren't you're not

1137
00:57:19,349 --> 00:57:22,789
experiencing that roller coaster ride of, well great

1138
00:57:22,789 --> 00:57:25,190
we're at a 1% potential increase, but next

1139
00:57:25,190 --> 00:57:27,510
year it's going to be 10. That was

1140
00:57:27,575 --> 00:57:29,975
wanting to be avoided. So you know you

1141
00:57:29,975 --> 00:57:32,535
look at the last four years the levy

1142
00:57:32,535 --> 00:57:35,095
increases have been 1.92%, one point nine five

1143
00:57:35,095 --> 00:57:37,735
%, two %. The preliminary for next year

1144
00:57:37,735 --> 00:57:41,015
is 1.5%, could be lower than that. So

1145
00:57:41,335 --> 00:57:44,810
that's ideal to be stable and predictable and

1146
00:57:44,810 --> 00:57:47,850
at best even at that we're under inflation

1147
00:57:47,850 --> 00:57:49,450
in all of those years by a wide

1148
00:57:49,450 --> 00:57:52,010
margin. So each year they're finding ways to

1149
00:57:52,010 --> 00:57:54,730
save dollars and cut dollars out. This is

1150
00:57:54,730 --> 00:57:56,975
just a much larger expanded effort of that

1151
00:57:56,975 --> 00:57:59,375
same ideology over a ten year period to

1152
00:57:59,375 --> 00:58:02,335
say, we know what the bill will be.

1153
00:58:02,415 --> 00:58:03,855
How do we pay for it in a

1154
00:58:03,855 --> 00:58:08,255
way that creates sustainability and predictability from the

1155
00:58:08,255 --> 00:58:11,369
constituency standpoint? So you don't see those 10%

1156
00:58:11,369 --> 00:58:13,849
numbers from a levy. I'd just like to

1157
00:58:13,849 --> 00:58:15,930
jump in here too. Part of that ten

1158
00:58:15,930 --> 00:58:18,089
year model has to do with some bonds

1159
00:58:18,089 --> 00:58:19,930
that we currently are paying on that are

1160
00:58:19,930 --> 00:58:22,490
coming off. Correct. And so you know how

1161
00:58:22,490 --> 00:58:24,970
that works. Absolutely. And Ian, that's how you

1162
00:58:24,970 --> 00:58:30,445
show how you avoid a big increase in

1163
00:58:30,445 --> 00:58:34,205
a project like this. It's still tax dollars

1164
00:58:34,205 --> 00:58:38,365
we would experience a tax reduction if this

1165
00:58:38,365 --> 00:58:39,965
project were not to go through and those

1166
00:58:39,965 --> 00:58:44,530
bonds came off. So that's a little bit

1167
00:58:44,930 --> 00:58:47,250
skewed in presenting this as not a tax

1168
00:58:47,250 --> 00:58:50,210
increase because we could have a tax savings

1169
00:58:50,290 --> 00:58:53,970
if those bonds fell off. I understand you're

1170
00:58:53,970 --> 00:58:58,385
approaching it, that's most palatable for the consumer

1171
00:58:58,385 --> 00:59:01,185
and the taxpayer. So I applaud you for

1172
00:59:01,185 --> 00:59:06,065
looking at those options. Again, the respect I

1173
00:59:06,065 --> 00:59:09,665
am here. My question, know, hearing bits and

1174
00:59:09,665 --> 00:59:12,390
pieces coming into this, it's a large project

1175
00:59:12,390 --> 00:59:18,070
and quite possibly a needed project. It's a

1176
00:59:18,070 --> 00:59:20,150
big figure, so it gets our attention as

1177
00:59:20,150 --> 00:59:22,150
taxpayers, and then I would just leave you

1178
00:59:22,150 --> 00:59:27,075
with, if we commit to this project, it

1179
00:59:27,635 --> 00:59:30,435
obviously will jeopardize some other projects in the

1180
00:59:30,435 --> 00:59:33,235
county, and I'm sure you people have a

1181
00:59:33,235 --> 00:59:36,435
long list of places money could be spent

1182
00:59:36,435 --> 00:59:39,110
in. And I just ask myself, is this

1183
00:59:39,110 --> 00:59:41,270
our biggest priority in the county at the

1184
00:59:41,270 --> 00:59:43,910
current time? And that's what your elected piece

1185
00:59:43,910 --> 00:59:45,990
says. So thank you for your time. We

1186
00:59:45,990 --> 00:59:54,464
appreciate it. Hello my name is Dawn Johnson

1187
00:59:54,464 --> 00:59:58,145
I'm an assistant public defender my case was

1188
00:59:58,145 --> 01:00:01,425
predominantly in Waseca County I also handle some

1189
01:00:01,425 --> 01:00:06,180
cases in Rice the third district public defender

1190
01:00:06,180 --> 01:00:08,900
system is not located in each county we

1191
01:00:08,900 --> 01:00:13,300
have main offices in Owatonna, Rochester and Winona

1192
01:00:13,300 --> 01:00:17,460
so our attorneys travel all over Southern Minnesota

1193
01:00:17,460 --> 01:00:19,859
to go to court. Bluebird County is a

1194
01:00:19,859 --> 01:00:23,195
different judicial district the public defender office over

1195
01:00:23,195 --> 01:00:26,075
there does not handle receipt of cases. It

1196
01:00:26,075 --> 01:00:28,235
would be very time consuming to have to

1197
01:00:28,235 --> 01:00:31,355
travel to LISOOR or Blue Earth County to

1198
01:00:31,355 --> 01:00:35,195
talk to and review audio and video discovery

1199
01:00:35,275 --> 01:00:39,569
with clients because that takes time away from

1200
01:00:39,569 --> 01:00:42,690
public defenders being available in court and that

1201
01:00:42,690 --> 01:00:45,250
cases would move more slowly through the judicial

1202
01:00:45,250 --> 01:00:48,930
system as stated by Ms. Cornelius it gets

1203
01:00:48,930 --> 01:00:51,970
cases resolved faster when I can quickly meet

1204
01:00:51,970 --> 01:00:55,234
with clients in custody face to face and

1205
01:00:55,234 --> 01:00:58,595
usually the quicker cases resolve the sooner the

1206
01:00:58,595 --> 01:01:01,395
client is released from custody which saves the

1207
01:01:01,395 --> 01:01:14,350
cost of housing. Good morning, folks. Thank you

1208
01:01:14,350 --> 01:01:16,910
for allowing us to do make our public

1209
01:01:16,910 --> 01:01:20,085
statements here this morning. Thank you for doing

1210
01:01:20,085 --> 01:01:21,685
the job that you do. You've got a

1211
01:01:21,685 --> 01:01:24,244
big big load and and I think all

1212
01:01:24,244 --> 01:01:28,165
of us understand our implication here. I'd like

1213
01:01:28,165 --> 01:01:32,244
to take a stance for law enforcement this

1214
01:01:32,244 --> 01:01:37,930
morning specifically and what impact will be against

1215
01:01:37,930 --> 01:01:39,770
the law enforcement, what they'll have to put

1216
01:01:39,770 --> 01:01:42,410
up with if we do not have a

1217
01:01:42,410 --> 01:01:46,970
jail. First of all, our county becomes completely

1218
01:01:46,970 --> 01:01:49,930
dependent on surrounding jurisdictions to house violators. We

1219
01:01:49,930 --> 01:01:52,125
all, that's kind of redundant. We already talked

1220
01:01:52,125 --> 01:01:54,845
about that, which means the following could happen

1221
01:01:54,845 --> 01:01:57,565
for an officer. The arresting officer will have

1222
01:01:57,565 --> 01:02:00,445
to coordinate with supervisors as to where that

1223
01:02:00,445 --> 01:02:04,205
violator should be taken. In the meantime, the

1224
01:02:04,205 --> 01:02:06,900
person is sitting in the squad. This means

1225
01:02:06,900 --> 01:02:08,980
everything is on hold. The officer is no

1226
01:02:08,980 --> 01:02:11,859
longer available to respond to other calls. They're

1227
01:02:11,859 --> 01:02:13,780
his or her supervisor to find a bit

1228
01:02:13,780 --> 01:02:15,700
with the violator and arrangements are made to

1229
01:02:15,700 --> 01:02:18,625
transfer that violator to wherever it goes. The

1230
01:02:18,625 --> 01:02:21,905
officer is now spending time taking care of

1231
01:02:21,905 --> 01:02:26,145
the violator rather than investigating this crime. The

1232
01:02:26,145 --> 01:02:29,585
arresting officer then must transport the violator to

1233
01:02:29,585 --> 01:02:32,480
that location, check the violator in. How far

1234
01:02:32,480 --> 01:02:34,559
is that gonna be? We don't know that

1235
01:02:34,559 --> 01:02:39,200
yet. Return to his or or her duty

1236
01:02:39,200 --> 01:02:42,400
status, of course, will double that time. Each

1237
01:02:42,400 --> 01:02:44,960
incident will entail a different length of time

1238
01:02:44,960 --> 01:02:46,785
to complete all of this, meaning that officer

1239
01:02:46,785 --> 01:02:48,944
could be out of service for a length

1240
01:02:48,944 --> 01:02:50,944
of time, which cannot be estimated at this

1241
01:02:50,944 --> 01:02:56,145
point. During which our city or county could

1242
01:02:56,145 --> 01:02:58,464
be short an available officer to respond to

1243
01:02:58,464 --> 01:03:03,610
any another emergencies that might crop up while

1244
01:03:03,610 --> 01:03:05,290
he or she is taking care of that

1245
01:03:05,290 --> 01:03:08,410
call. In addition to this, consideration must be

1246
01:03:08,410 --> 01:03:11,450
taken for the possible exposure to endangerment to

1247
01:03:11,450 --> 01:03:15,095
the arresting officer. If the violator is in

1248
01:03:15,095 --> 01:03:18,215
any way violent, threatening, or under influence of

1249
01:03:18,215 --> 01:03:21,095
either drugs or alcohol, if any of these

1250
01:03:21,095 --> 01:03:24,215
are suspected, there must be additional trained personnel,

1251
01:03:25,175 --> 01:03:27,800
come across that this morning too, but to

1252
01:03:27,800 --> 01:03:31,080
accompany that transfer beginning to end to ensure

1253
01:03:31,080 --> 01:03:35,000
the safety of the officer. Let me remind

1254
01:03:35,000 --> 01:03:36,920
you here that Minnesota has seen fit to

1255
01:03:36,920 --> 01:03:41,315
legalize marijuana in our state for recreational use

1256
01:03:41,315 --> 01:03:44,915
as well as medicinal purposes. And as of

1257
01:03:44,915 --> 01:03:46,755
now, there is no way to legally field

1258
01:03:46,755 --> 01:03:50,035
test for it. I can't imagine what my

1259
01:03:50,035 --> 01:03:51,714
son or daughter would be doing in the

1260
01:03:51,714 --> 01:03:57,530
field trying to figure out that alone. Try

1261
01:03:57,530 --> 01:04:01,370
to imagine that. I must also point out

1262
01:04:01,370 --> 01:04:03,770
here that there are no contracts as what

1263
01:04:03,770 --> 01:04:06,090
was pointed out. Am I correct, mister Johnson?

1264
01:04:06,090 --> 01:04:08,730
Correct. There are no contracts or arrangements to

1265
01:04:08,730 --> 01:04:12,665
accept any of our violators anywhere at this

1266
01:04:12,665 --> 01:04:17,865
point. It also must be pointed out that

1267
01:04:17,865 --> 01:04:20,345
the contract, you know, with another jurisdiction in

1268
01:04:20,345 --> 01:04:22,265
the future, there could be no guarantee that

1269
01:04:22,265 --> 01:04:26,620
that contract will stand. After any election cycle,

1270
01:04:26,620 --> 01:04:34,380
that contract could go away. Considering the scenario

1271
01:04:34,380 --> 01:04:38,825
outlined here, Waseca County could have violators housed

1272
01:04:38,825 --> 01:04:41,225
in several surrounding counties at the same time,

1273
01:04:42,185 --> 01:04:45,785
creating a nightmare. Each of these outside agencies

1274
01:04:45,785 --> 01:04:48,825
could, at any time, for any reason, require

1275
01:04:48,825 --> 01:04:52,800
Waseca County to find a different bet. We're

1276
01:04:52,800 --> 01:04:56,560
setting Waseca County up for failure. On several

1277
01:04:56,560 --> 01:05:00,880
levels. If Waseca County has no jail. We

1278
01:05:00,880 --> 01:05:04,000
are the Waseca County seat. That isn't going

1279
01:05:04,000 --> 01:05:06,855
to change. There is where this is where

1280
01:05:06,855 --> 01:05:09,095
the Waseca County Courthouse is. This is where

1281
01:05:09,095 --> 01:05:12,935
the Waseca County Attorney has offices. And is

1282
01:05:12,935 --> 01:05:17,015
required to manage the the lawbreakers from all

1283
01:05:17,015 --> 01:05:19,415
of the agencies in Waseca County. How about

1284
01:05:19,415 --> 01:05:22,240
an officer in Janesville? What does he or

1285
01:05:22,240 --> 01:05:26,480
she do? When he finds a violator or

1286
01:05:26,480 --> 01:05:30,000
has a violator or there are multiple violations

1287
01:05:30,000 --> 01:05:31,840
and has to deal with two people at

1288
01:05:31,840 --> 01:05:34,720
the same time. They're working alone. How do

1289
01:05:34,720 --> 01:05:37,275
they do that? The same goes with the

1290
01:05:37,275 --> 01:05:39,835
New Richland or any other jurisdiction on Waseca

1291
01:05:39,835 --> 01:05:43,675
County. Without a county jail, we'll be creating

1292
01:05:43,675 --> 01:05:45,675
a list of problems for our law enforcement

1293
01:05:45,675 --> 01:05:47,915
community that will affect every citizen in our

1294
01:05:47,915 --> 01:05:52,780
county. One way or another, sooner or later.

1295
01:05:53,580 --> 01:05:55,420
What do we do with multiple people being

1296
01:05:55,420 --> 01:06:00,700
taken into custody? If there are serious matters,

1297
01:06:01,020 --> 01:06:03,500
we need involved officers sitting on the scene

1298
01:06:03,795 --> 01:06:08,994
for evidence collection, investigation. We don't need officers

1299
01:06:08,994 --> 01:06:13,315
being Uber drivers for our courts. Our county

1300
01:06:13,315 --> 01:06:15,315
agencies are short staffed the way they are

1301
01:06:15,315 --> 01:06:18,960
now. You heard the possibilities of hiring right

1302
01:06:18,960 --> 01:06:23,920
now. They're not good. What if what happens

1303
01:06:23,920 --> 01:06:26,000
if one officer is transporting and he or

1304
01:06:26,000 --> 01:06:30,215
she is the only officer on duty? Consider

1305
01:06:30,215 --> 01:06:34,775
trying to hire officers for those retiring or

1306
01:06:34,775 --> 01:06:37,655
taking other positions in other jurisdictions. Hiring law

1307
01:06:37,655 --> 01:06:40,935
enforcement folks in Minnesota is difficult enough right

1308
01:06:40,935 --> 01:06:43,730
now with the culture that's being that we're

1309
01:06:43,730 --> 01:06:49,410
seeing. Without creating environment, that does not support

1310
01:06:49,410 --> 01:06:51,970
them. And that's what we would be doing

1311
01:06:51,970 --> 01:06:53,809
if we do not have a county jail.

1312
01:06:57,295 --> 01:06:59,215
I just like taking that info at all

1313
01:06:59,215 --> 01:07:03,615
with present law enforcement officers. Please stand up

1314
01:07:03,615 --> 01:07:08,975
in the audience. Please stand up. Take a

1315
01:07:08,975 --> 01:07:12,810
look, and gentlemen. These people protect us day

1316
01:07:12,810 --> 01:07:16,090
and night, twenty four hours a day, seven

1317
01:07:16,090 --> 01:07:18,570
days a week. Let's give them a hand.

1318
01:07:24,970 --> 01:07:29,465
We need the county jail. What do we

1319
01:07:29,465 --> 01:07:33,545
need, however, you may legitimately ask. I understand

1320
01:07:33,545 --> 01:07:36,905
that too. A recent discussion I had with

1321
01:07:36,905 --> 01:07:38,825
sheriff Dula showed me that we do not

1322
01:07:38,825 --> 01:07:44,560
need a tall. Others refer to it as

1323
01:07:44,560 --> 01:07:47,600
a justice center. Where there would be not

1324
01:07:47,600 --> 01:07:50,240
only a jail but also meeting rooms, courtrooms,

1325
01:07:50,240 --> 01:07:53,600
judges and attorneys offices, holding cells, as well

1326
01:07:53,600 --> 01:07:56,080
as the requirements for general public that are

1327
01:07:56,080 --> 01:07:59,815
going to be demanded. What we need in

1328
01:07:59,815 --> 01:08:02,295
my opinion is a whole different facility than

1329
01:08:02,295 --> 01:08:06,695
what some seem to want. Again, it's my

1330
01:08:06,695 --> 01:08:13,109
opinion. Common sense needs to prevail here. Waseca

1331
01:08:13,109 --> 01:08:15,510
has lost several large employers over the last

1332
01:08:15,510 --> 01:08:18,069
eight to ten years, and is scheduled to

1333
01:08:18,069 --> 01:08:20,790
lose more, and along with them, the families

1334
01:08:20,790 --> 01:08:24,469
that were employed. They are now forced to

1335
01:08:24,469 --> 01:08:30,295
go to work elsewhere, or they're commuting. There's

1336
01:08:30,295 --> 01:08:35,175
talk of needing a new school. Is our

1337
01:08:35,175 --> 01:08:39,699
population exploding? Not that I heard last. I

1338
01:08:39,699 --> 01:08:41,460
don't think so. I certainly do not claim

1339
01:08:41,460 --> 01:08:43,619
to have knowledge, of course, of what we

1340
01:08:43,619 --> 01:08:46,260
can afford for the next twenty or thirty

1341
01:08:46,260 --> 01:08:48,579
years, but I have a strong common sense

1342
01:08:48,579 --> 01:08:52,564
approach as to what I see happening. And

1343
01:08:52,564 --> 01:08:54,965
when it comes to expenditures versus income in

1344
01:08:54,965 --> 01:08:57,845
our future, we do not need a justice

1345
01:08:57,845 --> 01:09:02,645
center. We need a county court. A county

1346
01:09:02,645 --> 01:09:06,260
jail. Excuse me. If we lose our ability

1347
01:09:06,260 --> 01:09:09,059
in Waseca County to control our inmate population

1348
01:09:09,059 --> 01:09:10,899
housing, it will create a vacuum for the

1349
01:09:10,899 --> 01:09:14,099
beginning of just another step, with no going

1350
01:09:14,099 --> 01:09:16,979
back to the creation of a culture where

1351
01:09:16,979 --> 01:09:20,964
some point in Waseca will become totally dependent

1352
01:09:21,125 --> 01:09:24,965
on another jurisdiction for our law enforcement, just

1353
01:09:24,965 --> 01:09:27,204
as we do now for many of our

1354
01:09:27,204 --> 01:09:31,925
shopping needs. We will have become a hollow

1355
01:09:31,925 --> 01:09:35,340
shell with no control, no hiring advantages to

1356
01:09:35,340 --> 01:09:38,220
maintain the level of enforcement we now enjoy,

1357
01:09:38,780 --> 01:09:43,100
which is keeping our communities, our businesses, and

1358
01:09:43,100 --> 01:09:47,755
our families safe. Thank you for your time,

1359
01:09:47,755 --> 01:09:49,915
ladies and gentlemen. I, of course, given you

1360
01:09:49,915 --> 01:09:53,354
this map. I've called each of these counties

1361
01:09:53,354 --> 01:09:56,155
the information that follows on the next page

1362
01:09:56,155 --> 01:09:59,920
following that. You can certainly refer to. I

1363
01:09:59,920 --> 01:10:03,840
agree with mister Johnson. There has been indications

1364
01:10:03,840 --> 01:10:06,639
made that we have very lot of lot

1365
01:10:06,639 --> 01:10:08,719
of beds around our area that are not

1366
01:10:08,719 --> 01:10:13,440
occupied. That as mister Johnson has pointed out

1367
01:10:13,440 --> 01:10:15,614
and try not to be redundant here but

1368
01:10:15,614 --> 01:10:19,614
I guess I am. That staffing is a

1369
01:10:19,614 --> 01:10:24,494
problem. I talked to I talked to LeSour

1370
01:10:24,494 --> 01:10:27,215
County very very regularly. I visit the inmates

1371
01:10:27,215 --> 01:10:30,600
up there on regular basis. I visit the

1372
01:10:30,600 --> 01:10:33,480
jails. They all know me. So what would

1373
01:10:33,480 --> 01:10:35,080
you do with a contract? And so we

1374
01:10:35,080 --> 01:10:38,760
don't we don't do contracts. I said, never?

1375
01:10:38,760 --> 01:10:41,400
Well, never is a bad word. No. We'd

1376
01:10:41,400 --> 01:10:44,594
probably would entertain it. But we don't have

1377
01:10:44,594 --> 01:10:48,594
staffing. How about females? Oh, yeah. We have

1378
01:10:48,594 --> 01:10:54,034
staffing for females. Okay. So my question to

1379
01:10:54,034 --> 01:10:56,514
you folks is, what would we do with

1380
01:10:56,514 --> 01:11:01,039
females? Are we going to build for females?

1381
01:11:03,040 --> 01:11:06,639
You heard the county attorney and a lot

1382
01:11:06,639 --> 01:11:08,880
of problems I've seen in the most recent

1383
01:11:08,880 --> 01:11:10,400
past and it's not going to get any

1384
01:11:10,400 --> 01:11:13,805
better. Are we gonna shut it off just

1385
01:11:13,805 --> 01:11:17,565
because we think we can't hire somebody? I

1386
01:11:17,565 --> 01:11:19,245
think we better leave that on the table.

1387
01:11:19,885 --> 01:11:21,565
I'll leave it there. Thank you so much

1388
01:11:21,565 --> 01:11:24,125
for your attention and I appreciate your your

1389
01:11:24,125 --> 01:11:27,479
your thought and your diligence with this. Good

1390
01:11:33,719 --> 01:11:37,079
morning. Steve Johnson, James O'Bleet Chief. Just a

1391
01:11:37,079 --> 01:11:39,079
couple of things that I wanted to point

1392
01:11:39,079 --> 01:11:43,795
out. One of the whole reasons for this

1393
01:11:43,795 --> 01:11:47,475
conversation was for the jail. It seems like

1394
01:11:47,475 --> 01:11:51,635
that cost has created a discussion of what

1395
01:11:51,635 --> 01:11:55,635
about not a jail, echoing the sentiments of

1396
01:11:55,635 --> 01:12:00,250
the former party that was up here. We

1397
01:12:00,250 --> 01:12:03,609
need the jail and the courthouse court admin.

1398
01:12:03,849 --> 01:12:06,090
The rest of that is not required at

1399
01:12:06,090 --> 01:12:07,769
this point. That is not why we entered

1400
01:12:07,769 --> 01:12:10,969
into this discussion. One of the things that

1401
01:12:10,969 --> 01:12:15,795
you had pointed out was that the cost

1402
01:12:15,795 --> 01:12:19,475
for a $200,000 house would be a $68

1403
01:12:19,475 --> 01:12:22,515
a year increase in the tax levy for

1404
01:12:22,515 --> 01:12:24,915
that party. I understand that it goes out

1405
01:12:24,915 --> 01:12:27,635
for the farm land and stuff like that,

1406
01:12:28,350 --> 01:12:34,750
but that's $68 a year. That number is

1407
01:12:34,750 --> 01:12:38,750
on the 20,000,000 plus whatever's required above and

1408
01:12:38,750 --> 01:12:41,470
beyond that. So you're talking about a $43,000,000

1409
01:12:41,470 --> 01:12:44,905
building that's for a justice center. Okay? Has

1410
01:12:44,905 --> 01:12:46,905
the discussion come up about having just the

1411
01:12:46,905 --> 01:12:52,425
jail and the court, the court admin? That

1412
01:12:52,505 --> 01:12:57,305
is not gonna be another $45,000,000 or $45,000,000

1413
01:12:57,305 --> 01:13:02,400
project. So that's one option and that is

1414
01:13:02,400 --> 01:13:07,120
a that is a $20,000,000 bond and today's

1415
01:13:07,120 --> 01:13:16,554
$20,000,000. You had said that 439 to 639

1416
01:13:16,554 --> 01:13:21,275
k a year for hiring transport debtors. That

1417
01:13:21,275 --> 01:13:24,650
number doesn't stay the same. Okay, 20,000,000 does.

1418
01:13:25,290 --> 01:13:27,370
$4.39 to 6 30 9 is gonna go

1419
01:13:27,370 --> 01:13:31,210
up every year. The contract with another county

1420
01:13:31,370 --> 01:13:34,330
is good today. What happens the next time

1421
01:13:34,330 --> 01:13:36,330
that contract comes due because I guarantee the

1422
01:13:36,330 --> 01:13:39,525
county is not gonna guarantee a contract for

1423
01:13:39,525 --> 01:13:42,325
the next twenty, thirty years. That's gonna go

1424
01:13:42,325 --> 01:13:44,885
up. There's no promises. There's no crystal ball.

1425
01:13:44,965 --> 01:13:49,045
Okay? Except that the bond today is for

1426
01:13:49,045 --> 01:13:53,570
20,000,000. A building today granted there's overruns and

1427
01:13:53,570 --> 01:13:55,969
stuff like that that stuff's gonna go up

1428
01:13:56,130 --> 01:13:59,330
but that's today's that's not ten fifteen twenty

1429
01:13:59,330 --> 01:14:01,730
years down the line that's a promise that

1430
01:14:01,730 --> 01:14:04,594
we don't have Okay? And it does impact

1431
01:14:04,594 --> 01:14:07,554
my budget and impacts every budget in this

1432
01:14:07,715 --> 01:14:10,675
this column. So just those things I wanted

1433
01:14:10,675 --> 01:14:34,025
to point out. Thanks for your time. I'm

1434
01:14:34,025 --> 01:14:37,945
Jennifer Johnson, rural New Richland and I just

1435
01:14:37,945 --> 01:14:40,745
want to make two quick comments or statements.

1436
01:14:41,385 --> 01:14:43,625
In my EMS career one thing I learned

1437
01:14:43,625 --> 01:14:45,705
is you don't need you don't think about

1438
01:14:45,705 --> 01:14:48,700
EMS until you need them and if we

1439
01:14:48,700 --> 01:14:51,740
don't have them that's when you really think

1440
01:14:51,740 --> 01:14:56,140
about it and to that a really serious

1441
01:14:56,140 --> 01:14:58,220
comment to think about if we lose our

1442
01:14:58,220 --> 01:15:03,405
jail I guess I can't say a %

1443
01:15:03,405 --> 01:15:05,885
but I can probably say 99% we will

1444
01:15:05,885 --> 01:15:09,325
never get it back that's one thing that's

1445
01:15:09,325 --> 01:15:11,485
something that really needs to be thinking about

1446
01:15:11,485 --> 01:15:13,645
is if we lose it we're not going

1447
01:15:13,645 --> 01:15:16,880
to get it back So if something doesn't

1448
01:15:16,880 --> 01:15:19,680
go right in the other plans, we're going

1449
01:15:19,680 --> 01:16:10,635
have nothing. I think the big scope of

1450
01:16:10,635 --> 01:16:13,275
things here is what's the realization of what's

1451
01:16:13,275 --> 01:16:17,810
happening. The state of Minnesota just indumbly increased

1452
01:16:17,810 --> 01:16:22,530
their budget 40%. One year. That has a

1453
01:16:22,530 --> 01:16:25,170
tremendous impact, not only on individuals, but it

1454
01:16:25,170 --> 01:16:28,825
has a tremendous impact on municipalities and government

1455
01:16:28,825 --> 01:16:32,745
entities that wanna pass bond fees to facilitate

1456
01:16:32,745 --> 01:16:34,905
the things that are needed. But that money

1457
01:16:34,905 --> 01:16:38,905
is gobbled up by this continuation of government

1458
01:16:39,065 --> 01:16:41,160
to spend money that we don't have. I

1459
01:16:41,160 --> 01:16:43,720
mean, we're spending about almost 3 quarters of

1460
01:16:43,720 --> 01:16:47,080
a billion dollars so the politicians in Saint

1461
01:16:47,080 --> 01:16:49,240
Paul can have what they did as an

1462
01:16:49,240 --> 01:16:52,295
adequate facility in which to want to. And

1463
01:16:52,295 --> 01:16:54,855
yet we deal with these tragedies or not

1464
01:16:54,855 --> 01:16:58,614
crackings but situations throughout the state of Minnesota

1465
01:16:59,574 --> 01:17:01,975
that need funding but that's all taken away

1466
01:17:01,975 --> 01:17:05,490
because of those things. So would it be

1467
01:17:05,490 --> 01:17:06,930
nice to be able to build a new

1468
01:17:06,930 --> 01:17:10,370
jail? Sure. Would it be nice to build

1469
01:17:10,370 --> 01:17:13,650
a new school? Sure. But we just don't

1470
01:17:13,650 --> 01:17:15,250
have the money and revenue in which to

1471
01:17:15,250 --> 01:17:16,610
do that. I mean we don't know what

1472
01:17:16,610 --> 01:17:19,915
the true impact of it is that last

1473
01:17:19,915 --> 01:17:23,435
year's budgetary process in Saint Paul caused, they're

1474
01:17:23,435 --> 01:17:26,075
biting at the bit now to spend it

1475
01:17:26,075 --> 01:17:31,035
$2,500,000,000 that currently they have the extra spend.

1476
01:17:31,610 --> 01:17:33,929
And it's never a discussion about giving any

1477
01:17:33,929 --> 01:17:36,250
of this money back. Granted, I'm going off

1478
01:17:36,250 --> 01:17:39,130
point here, but really I'm not because all

1479
01:17:39,130 --> 01:17:40,809
of this has an impact on each and

1480
01:17:40,809 --> 01:17:43,369
every one of us. And so we have

1481
01:17:43,369 --> 01:17:44,889
to not only look at what we can

1482
01:17:44,889 --> 01:17:47,735
do here in Pasadena County, we need to

1483
01:17:47,735 --> 01:17:50,534
look at what the ramifications of these of

1484
01:17:50,695 --> 01:17:53,735
these other government entities are having upon us

1485
01:17:53,895 --> 01:17:57,255
and the realization to what causes. Because they're

1486
01:17:57,255 --> 01:17:59,014
the ones that drove us to have this

1487
01:17:59,014 --> 01:18:01,255
problem in the first place, and they're continuing

1488
01:18:01,255 --> 01:18:03,570
to drive. If you don't think I speak

1489
01:18:03,570 --> 01:18:05,170
to two, go speak to the cops in

1490
01:18:05,170 --> 01:18:07,090
Minneapolis for a tickle the nose of the

1491
01:18:07,090 --> 01:18:12,770
flag. So it's unfortunate, but I guess one

1492
01:18:12,770 --> 01:18:15,170
avenue that I would see as a solution

1493
01:18:16,175 --> 01:18:18,255
is as a school district they used to

1494
01:18:18,255 --> 01:18:21,775
have to pass resolutions for spending through the

1495
01:18:21,775 --> 01:18:24,575
boards. This is a thing that the county

1496
01:18:24,575 --> 01:18:26,735
needs to look at. What does the county

1497
01:18:26,735 --> 01:18:29,775
people or residents really think? And give them

1498
01:18:29,775 --> 01:19:00,070
the opportunity to speak I am a sergeant

1499
01:19:00,070 --> 01:19:03,590
for the Chief County Sheriff's Office. Standing up

1500
01:19:03,590 --> 01:19:04,870
here in front of you today speaking on

1501
01:19:04,870 --> 01:19:07,350
my own behalf, no one else. Foremost, I

1502
01:19:07,350 --> 01:19:09,510
want to thank everyone that has come and

1503
01:19:09,510 --> 01:19:11,350
recognize the value of this important and take

1504
01:19:11,350 --> 01:19:13,915
the time to express your feelings. This truly

1505
01:19:13,915 --> 01:19:16,315
is a pivotal piece of our county's judicial

1506
01:19:16,315 --> 01:19:19,355
infrastructure. I understand that their party is concerned

1507
01:19:19,355 --> 01:19:21,594
about the remodel or replacement of this facility.

1508
01:19:21,995 --> 01:19:23,594
There may be people that think we don't

1509
01:19:23,594 --> 01:19:25,995
need this right now. Speaking to those people,

1510
01:19:25,995 --> 01:19:28,715
I would say you're right. You're absolutely right.

1511
01:19:28,960 --> 01:19:31,599
We don't need it right now. We needed

1512
01:19:31,599 --> 01:19:36,000
it twenty years ago. This is not the

1513
01:19:36,000 --> 01:19:38,800
board's fault. It's not the county administrator's fault.

1514
01:19:38,800 --> 01:19:43,685
It's not Sheriff Duos' fault. Given hindsight, I

1515
01:19:43,685 --> 01:19:46,085
believe previous administration would have completed this project

1516
01:19:46,085 --> 01:19:49,445
many years ago. It's up to this administration

1517
01:19:49,445 --> 01:19:52,725
and this community to rectify our predecessor's shortcomings.

1518
01:19:53,845 --> 01:19:55,525
This facility is going to come at a

1519
01:19:55,525 --> 01:19:58,949
cost, no questions. As a local taxpayer, I

1520
01:19:58,949 --> 01:20:00,550
thank you for taking a hard look at

1521
01:20:00,550 --> 01:20:02,949
this. I understand that Val was concerned with

1522
01:20:02,949 --> 01:20:07,030
spending millions of taxpayer dollars. Having said that,

1523
01:20:07,030 --> 01:20:08,949
I also recognize that this is a critical

1524
01:20:08,949 --> 01:20:12,114
piece of our public safety infrastructure. We need

1525
01:20:12,114 --> 01:20:15,635
a local facility capable of holding our inmates.

1526
01:20:16,355 --> 01:20:18,915
The inherent building costs associated with building a

1527
01:20:18,915 --> 01:20:21,874
security facility such as the dealer undoubtedly higher

1528
01:20:21,955 --> 01:20:24,195
than than that of a single family home,

1529
01:20:24,195 --> 01:20:26,275
a school, a library, or a typical commercial

1530
01:20:26,275 --> 01:20:31,210
building. Nothing in our business is difficult, but

1531
01:20:31,210 --> 01:20:34,969
this community's safety is difficult and is not

1532
01:20:34,969 --> 01:20:38,650
negotiable. I firmly believe that this group can

1533
01:20:38,650 --> 01:20:42,744
put together a safe, appropriately scaled, and functional

1534
01:20:42,744 --> 01:20:48,185
facility without being fiscally irresponsible. It's my opinion

1535
01:20:48,185 --> 01:20:51,065
that the misbelief that housing and traveling out

1536
01:20:51,065 --> 01:20:53,065
of our community to house these individuals is

1537
01:20:53,065 --> 01:20:56,229
not a daunting task. It's no big deal.

1538
01:20:56,230 --> 01:21:00,230
Fired another cop. Buy another swag yard. Hiring

1539
01:21:00,230 --> 01:21:02,310
these staff members is not easy. They've been

1540
01:21:02,310 --> 01:21:04,870
talking about it all morning. Retaining them is

1541
01:21:04,870 --> 01:21:08,244
even harder. The fact is we will be

1542
01:21:08,244 --> 01:21:10,804
forced to do more with less, and the

1543
01:21:10,804 --> 01:21:12,485
cost will come at the expense of public

1544
01:21:12,485 --> 01:21:16,085
safety. Adding additional pressure to an already depleted

1545
01:21:16,085 --> 01:21:18,485
and struggling career field is not a viable

1546
01:21:18,485 --> 01:21:22,170
solution. That is a problem that is not

1547
01:21:22,170 --> 01:21:23,850
to be solved in this room, but it's

1548
01:21:23,850 --> 01:21:25,450
the fact that we cannot afford to overlook

1549
01:21:25,450 --> 01:21:30,010
nonetheless. Fiscally, at face value, there appears to

1550
01:21:30,010 --> 01:21:32,784
be a significant discrepancy here, and on paper

1551
01:21:32,784 --> 01:21:36,065
it may be. However, this is not a

1552
01:21:36,065 --> 01:21:39,585
business. The criminal justice system is not a

1553
01:21:39,585 --> 01:21:43,425
business. I am not willing to put a

1554
01:21:43,425 --> 01:21:45,264
price tag on our staff and our community's

1555
01:21:45,264 --> 01:21:48,180
safety, and I would challenge this administration to

1556
01:21:48,180 --> 01:21:52,340
do the same. The thought of abstaining from

1557
01:21:52,340 --> 01:21:55,460
moving forward with with the new jail while

1558
01:21:55,460 --> 01:21:57,700
pushing forward with a new stand alone justice

1559
01:21:57,700 --> 01:22:00,980
center is inappropriate. This is a local network.

1560
01:22:01,575 --> 01:22:05,495
These teams are individuals with roles with the

1561
01:22:05,495 --> 01:22:08,695
overall goal of countywide public safety. The entire

1562
01:22:08,695 --> 01:22:10,535
scope of this project was to upgrade the

1563
01:22:10,535 --> 01:22:13,975
jail and brigade services altogether, not to transplant

1564
01:22:13,975 --> 01:22:16,135
the primary participants to an out of county

1565
01:22:16,135 --> 01:22:19,550
location. Personally, I would forego my new office

1566
01:22:19,550 --> 01:22:21,470
in a new stand alone justice center in

1567
01:22:21,470 --> 01:22:23,470
lieu of the primary need for that being

1568
01:22:23,470 --> 01:22:26,910
the jail. In a fiscal effort, it appears

1569
01:22:26,910 --> 01:22:28,510
we would be willing to put an already

1570
01:22:28,510 --> 01:22:30,590
depleted group of law enforcement officers out on

1571
01:22:30,590 --> 01:22:33,865
the road, day and night, three sixty five

1572
01:22:33,865 --> 01:22:36,585
days a year, twenty four hours a day,

1573
01:22:36,665 --> 01:22:39,865
on Minnesota roads, with an inmate or two

1574
01:22:40,185 --> 01:22:43,865
alone. Speaking from experience, I can tell you

1575
01:22:43,865 --> 01:22:46,105
it is an eerie feeling being alone in

1576
01:22:46,105 --> 01:22:48,210
the middle of nowhere and having an out

1577
01:22:48,210 --> 01:22:51,410
of control inmate in your back seat, trying

1578
01:22:51,410 --> 01:22:53,890
anything they can do to get out. They

1579
01:22:53,890 --> 01:22:56,290
don't want to go to jail. No one

1580
01:22:56,290 --> 01:22:58,770
wants to go to jail. And someone can't

1581
01:22:58,770 --> 01:23:02,735
do anything to stop that from happening. Sending

1582
01:23:02,735 --> 01:23:06,335
officers on constant, around the clock transports to

1583
01:23:06,335 --> 01:23:08,975
and from outside agencies is not our solution.

1584
01:23:09,695 --> 01:23:11,775
These officers would be traveling to and from

1585
01:23:11,775 --> 01:23:13,935
wherever the latest low bid contract is on

1586
01:23:13,935 --> 01:23:16,510
inmate housing, as we can rest assured any

1587
01:23:16,510 --> 01:23:20,670
quoted pricing will not remain stagnant indefinitely. Once

1588
01:23:20,670 --> 01:23:23,070
our facility is gone, we will have no

1589
01:23:23,070 --> 01:23:24,990
choice but to pay a premium asking price

1590
01:23:24,990 --> 01:23:29,095
moving forward. Some of these inmates are nice

1591
01:23:29,095 --> 01:23:31,335
and corporate individuals. Some of made an unfortunate

1592
01:23:31,335 --> 01:23:35,015
mistake, however many of them are not. Many

1593
01:23:35,015 --> 01:23:37,095
of these inmates pose a significant threat to

1594
01:23:37,095 --> 01:23:39,335
law enforcement and public safety throughout the community.

1595
01:23:40,130 --> 01:23:42,210
To put it modestly, we have and are

1596
01:23:42,210 --> 01:23:45,409
housing extremely difficult people. These are people that

1597
01:23:45,409 --> 01:23:47,730
nobody else wants to hold. As recently as

1598
01:23:47,730 --> 01:23:50,290
last week, we transferred an inmate to an

1599
01:23:50,290 --> 01:23:53,855
out of county jail last week. Mind you,

1600
01:23:54,015 --> 01:23:56,094
this is one of the facilities that were

1601
01:23:56,094 --> 01:24:00,415
revaluing a very possible contract. After a short

1602
01:24:00,415 --> 01:24:04,015
stay, that particular jail refused to continue holding

1603
01:24:04,015 --> 01:24:07,560
the inmate based on the inmate's behavior. Waseke

1604
01:24:07,560 --> 01:24:09,239
County was told to come pick the inmate

1605
01:24:09,239 --> 01:24:11,800
up. That inmate is now back in our

1606
01:24:11,800 --> 01:24:14,280
facility. We are dealing with the inmate because

1607
01:24:14,280 --> 01:24:18,119
they are our responsibility. They are this county's

1608
01:24:18,119 --> 01:24:21,565
responsibility. The out of county jail made the

1609
01:24:21,565 --> 01:24:24,764
untimely business decision to not hold that individual

1610
01:24:24,764 --> 01:24:28,445
anymore. We, as a responsible agency, did not

1611
01:24:28,445 --> 01:24:32,045
have that luxury. We do not get to

1612
01:24:32,045 --> 01:24:34,844
choose how cooperative or violent our inmates are,

1613
01:24:35,850 --> 01:24:38,010
and who we are or are not willing

1614
01:24:38,010 --> 01:24:41,690
to hold. Prior to incarceration, this inmate continued

1615
01:24:41,690 --> 01:24:46,409
to repeatedly, repeatedly terrorize members of this community,

1616
01:24:47,370 --> 01:24:51,365
taxpayers of the Liseka help. I bet if

1617
01:24:51,365 --> 01:24:53,285
the board were to call the victim, they

1618
01:24:53,285 --> 01:24:54,725
would be willing to pay a little extra

1619
01:24:54,725 --> 01:24:56,645
towards the levy to assure the inmate remains

1620
01:24:56,645 --> 01:25:01,285
incarcerated. I would. This is just one example.

1621
01:25:01,285 --> 01:25:02,805
There are many more. They've been talking about

1622
01:25:02,805 --> 01:25:04,965
them. This is not a new or isolated

1623
01:25:04,965 --> 01:25:08,400
incident. These other facilities have their own issues

1624
01:25:08,400 --> 01:25:10,559
and their own adjective bad apples. I can

1625
01:25:10,559 --> 01:25:13,199
assure you they do not want ours. They

1626
01:25:13,199 --> 01:25:16,960
want our money. And in forgoing our jail,

1627
01:25:16,960 --> 01:25:18,480
we are writing a blank check for the

1628
01:25:18,480 --> 01:25:21,685
future. Violent crime in our area is certainly

1629
01:25:21,685 --> 01:25:23,525
on the rise and not tending in the

1630
01:25:23,525 --> 01:25:26,965
right direction. Personally, I've been involved in four

1631
01:25:27,045 --> 01:25:31,605
shootings in three years. The justice system is

1632
01:25:31,605 --> 01:25:34,005
not a business. We are not here to

1633
01:25:34,005 --> 01:25:36,429
make money. We are here to keep the

1634
01:25:36,429 --> 01:25:40,270
peace. The jail belongs to the community. This

1635
01:25:40,270 --> 01:25:43,630
is about our community's stance on crime and

1636
01:25:43,630 --> 01:25:46,989
our long term safety. Waseca County needs to

1637
01:25:46,989 --> 01:26:15,905
maintain control of its violent offenders. Hello everybody.

1638
01:26:15,905 --> 01:26:17,825
My name is Chris Diaper. I'm with Seeker

1639
01:26:17,825 --> 01:26:21,265
County IT. I work with you guys. I

1640
01:26:21,265 --> 01:26:23,585
work with everybody else here in the county.

1641
01:26:23,665 --> 01:26:27,665
I've seen the personal process. Our robbery in

1642
01:26:27,665 --> 01:26:30,390
my house, followed the process of how that

1643
01:26:30,390 --> 01:26:33,110
person was dealt with with their court system

1644
01:26:33,110 --> 01:26:36,390
and everything else. And working with the jailer,

1645
01:26:36,390 --> 01:26:39,430
I think the rest of our staff, I

1646
01:26:39,430 --> 01:26:41,030
I don't see how we deal with other

1647
01:26:41,030 --> 01:26:44,304
jail here. Cost of everything later if we

1648
01:26:44,304 --> 01:26:46,385
have to do this, it's just gonna go

1649
01:26:46,385 --> 01:26:47,744
up. It's gonna be even more snowy for

1650
01:26:47,744 --> 01:26:50,465
me, I believe. I haven't touched on the

1651
01:26:50,465 --> 01:26:54,224
aspect of how current other beds that are

1652
01:26:54,224 --> 01:26:57,430
open. Are those facilities properly staffed, are they

1653
01:26:57,430 --> 01:27:00,950
struggling like we are? I didn't see any

1654
01:27:00,950 --> 01:27:04,230
of that closely. I'd rather pay for this

1655
01:27:04,230 --> 01:27:06,310
now while I can pay for my tax

1656
01:27:06,310 --> 01:27:07,750
and have my children have to pay for

1657
01:27:07,750 --> 01:27:09,715
it later than I have to pay two,

1658
01:27:09,715 --> 01:27:11,555
three, or four times as much as as

1659
01:27:11,555 --> 01:27:14,435
well. We go without a jail. I can

1660
01:27:14,435 --> 01:27:17,074
only see this community being less safe just

1661
01:27:17,074 --> 01:27:20,515
because our staff is already being strengthened as

1662
01:27:20,515 --> 01:27:23,155
it is. With everything that they currently have

1663
01:27:23,155 --> 01:28:25,920
approved, that we need a new jail. However,

1664
01:28:25,920 --> 01:28:29,120
I also believe that we don't need to

1665
01:28:29,120 --> 01:28:32,640
spend a fantastic amount of money to have

1666
01:28:32,640 --> 01:28:38,715
a real flashy facility. It's obvious from the

1667
01:28:38,715 --> 01:28:41,915
previous speakers that there are many good reasons

1668
01:28:41,915 --> 01:28:47,195
for maintaining a good decent jail that was.

1669
01:28:49,760 --> 01:28:51,920
There's a I'm gonna try to be brief

1670
01:28:51,920 --> 01:28:55,440
here. It was a number of decades ago

1671
01:28:55,920 --> 01:29:01,200
that the idea was proposed of having a

1672
01:29:01,200 --> 01:29:09,285
unified law enforcement idea in Wasikah County instead

1673
01:29:09,285 --> 01:29:15,860
of having four different law enforcement agencies. And

1674
01:29:15,860 --> 01:29:19,380
I was thinking about that, that maybe there's

1675
01:29:19,380 --> 01:29:24,500
some financial advantages to that. And so maybe

1676
01:29:24,740 --> 01:29:28,355
that is one way to take a look

1677
01:29:28,355 --> 01:29:31,475
at the financial part of this and see

1678
01:29:31,475 --> 01:29:35,155
if there's an advantage to that idea. Now

1679
01:29:35,155 --> 01:29:37,235
I know that involves a lot of thinking

1680
01:29:37,235 --> 01:29:40,914
outside the box, but I think it's time.

1681
01:29:41,155 --> 01:30:14,770
Thank you. Thank you. I'm Brad Nobreath, I

1682
01:30:16,210 --> 01:30:19,090
wanna commend this board moving forward with this

1683
01:30:19,090 --> 01:30:25,405
step. Since February, VLC has. With a hundred

1684
01:30:25,405 --> 01:30:28,285
six different spend. This is the first one

1685
01:30:28,285 --> 01:30:33,405
that's gotten me. So I appreciate looking at

1686
01:30:33,405 --> 01:31:13,380
this. I believe that the Michael, do you

1687
01:31:13,380 --> 01:31:16,579
have anything to add at this time? No,

1688
01:31:16,579 --> 01:31:18,099
sir. I was just checking online to make

1689
01:31:18,099 --> 01:31:20,980
sure there weren't any individuals trying to chime

1690
01:31:20,980 --> 01:31:25,300
in, but nothing else. Yeah. I guess I'd

1691
01:31:25,300 --> 01:31:28,505
like to make a comment on where the

1692
01:31:28,825 --> 01:31:30,025
rest of the board. I don't want to

1693
01:31:30,025 --> 01:31:31,145
speak to the rest of the board, but

1694
01:31:31,145 --> 01:31:38,025
you can make final comments also. We obviously

1695
01:31:38,025 --> 01:31:40,025
are looking for the best way out of

1696
01:31:40,025 --> 01:31:42,550
a tough situation with situation with the least

1697
01:31:42,550 --> 01:31:49,270
amount of burden to our constituents. We have

1698
01:31:49,270 --> 01:31:51,990
a smaller tax base. We're trying to improve

1699
01:31:51,990 --> 01:31:57,755
our tax rate to attract businesses back into

1700
01:31:57,755 --> 01:32:02,315
the county. Everybody knows that we've commercial business

1701
01:32:02,315 --> 01:32:05,195
in the county. And we've worked really hard

1702
01:32:05,195 --> 01:32:09,660
as a board to try to bring our

1703
01:32:09,660 --> 01:32:12,540
tax burden down and right size our taxes

1704
01:32:12,540 --> 01:32:18,060
for this comp in order to attract commercial

1705
01:32:18,060 --> 01:32:22,175
business back in to spur growth within the

1706
01:32:22,175 --> 01:32:32,735
county. So it's difficult for me to look

1707
01:32:32,735 --> 01:32:35,969
at spending this kind of money when there

1708
01:32:35,969 --> 01:32:45,650
is another option. Simply contracting out the inmates

1709
01:32:45,730 --> 01:32:48,375
versus what it's costing us today is a

1710
01:32:48,375 --> 01:32:51,655
huge benefit to our budgets. That's where my

1711
01:32:51,655 --> 01:32:54,615
mind goes. We've heard from a lot of

1712
01:32:54,615 --> 01:32:57,655
staff here today on why we should have

1713
01:32:57,655 --> 01:33:03,160
a jail. And I understand that. And we

1714
01:33:03,160 --> 01:33:05,320
wouldn't have even brought this forward if there

1715
01:33:05,320 --> 01:33:07,640
wasn't for a county two doors down from

1716
01:33:07,640 --> 01:33:09,320
us that are doing this and doing it

1717
01:33:09,320 --> 01:33:13,400
successfully. Granted, they've never had a jail or

1718
01:33:13,400 --> 01:33:18,145
not in recent history. Have had a jail,

1719
01:33:18,145 --> 01:33:19,585
but they do it and they do it

1720
01:33:19,585 --> 01:33:23,505
successfully. We wouldn't have never brought this in

1721
01:33:23,505 --> 01:33:25,745
front of us if it wasn't for Dodge

1722
01:33:25,745 --> 01:33:30,210
County doing it and doing it successfully. I've

1723
01:33:30,210 --> 01:33:33,810
talked to their commissioners on multiple occasions and

1724
01:33:33,810 --> 01:33:37,330
they and they enjoyed not having a jail.

1725
01:33:37,330 --> 01:33:42,210
I understand that it's difficult for staff to

1726
01:33:42,210 --> 01:33:44,290
make a change. It's difficult for a community

1727
01:33:44,290 --> 01:33:48,745
to make a change. And I'm not saying

1728
01:33:48,745 --> 01:33:50,665
that that's the change that's going to happen,

1729
01:33:50,665 --> 01:33:54,345
but we knew that we would have some

1730
01:33:54,345 --> 01:33:58,265
resistance because change is difficult. But we do

1731
01:33:58,265 --> 01:34:03,159
think it's a viable option that can benefit

1732
01:34:03,880 --> 01:34:09,639
the county along with reducing the tax burden.

1733
01:34:10,920 --> 01:34:13,080
But that's why we brought this forward. We

1734
01:34:13,080 --> 01:34:16,215
wanted to hear from the tax payers. We

1735
01:34:16,215 --> 01:34:18,135
want to hear from the constituents on how

1736
01:34:18,135 --> 01:34:21,735
they feel. Again, we would have never brought

1737
01:34:21,735 --> 01:34:23,895
this forward, but we know that there's a

1738
01:34:23,895 --> 01:34:26,455
county that does it and enjoys the fact

1739
01:34:26,455 --> 01:34:30,470
that they don't have a panel. But it's

1740
01:34:30,470 --> 01:34:42,925
change, it's huge change. Thank you. I would

1741
01:34:42,925 --> 01:34:45,245
just say I want to thank everybody who's

1742
01:34:45,245 --> 01:34:47,965
come today to listen and to learn and

1743
01:34:47,965 --> 01:34:51,805
also to comment. We set these meetings up

1744
01:34:51,805 --> 01:34:55,645
because we want to hear from you. And

1745
01:34:57,610 --> 01:35:00,490
we're going to hear again tonight, and I

1746
01:35:00,490 --> 01:35:03,210
look forward to that time with more citizens

1747
01:35:03,210 --> 01:35:09,690
to hear even greater perspective. I do want

1748
01:35:09,690 --> 01:35:14,805
to steer us back to the bigger picture

1749
01:35:14,805 --> 01:35:19,764
just a little bit here. This isn't just

1750
01:35:19,765 --> 01:35:23,205
an issue of whether we build a jail

1751
01:35:23,205 --> 01:35:25,445
or don't build a jail, or build a

1752
01:35:25,445 --> 01:35:27,685
justice center or don't build a justice center.

1753
01:35:29,420 --> 01:35:32,620
Right now, we have a jail that is

1754
01:35:32,620 --> 01:35:36,940
demonstratively inadequate, and the Department of Corrections is

1755
01:35:36,940 --> 01:35:38,460
going to make sure we know that in

1756
01:35:38,460 --> 01:35:42,994
a real substantive way come May. And we

1757
01:35:42,994 --> 01:35:45,315
also have and I know we hate to

1758
01:35:45,315 --> 01:35:47,715
hear this about our historic courthouse, but we

1759
01:35:47,715 --> 01:35:51,795
also have a huge liability in our courthouse

1760
01:35:51,795 --> 01:35:53,955
the way we give prisoners to and from

1761
01:35:55,070 --> 01:35:59,390
our courthouse in an old, old building. And

1762
01:35:59,390 --> 01:36:05,950
that is another problem. And I appreciate the

1763
01:36:05,950 --> 01:36:07,790
idea that just build a jail and don't

1764
01:36:07,790 --> 01:36:10,830
worry about a justice center. That doesn't fix

1765
01:36:11,255 --> 01:36:15,415
our security issue with our courts. And we

1766
01:36:15,495 --> 01:36:21,175
lots of juggling things. We care first and

1767
01:36:21,175 --> 01:36:24,455
foremost about the safety and the working conditions

1768
01:36:24,455 --> 01:36:29,680
of our employees. We are statutorily obligated to

1769
01:36:29,680 --> 01:36:31,520
take care of our prisoners and to do

1770
01:36:31,520 --> 01:36:35,840
that in a humane and thoughtful way. We

1771
01:36:35,840 --> 01:36:39,435
have not talked at all, really, today about

1772
01:36:39,435 --> 01:36:43,514
security in our courthouse and the potential dangers

1773
01:36:43,514 --> 01:36:47,755
we have there. I've been in the building,

1774
01:36:47,755 --> 01:36:49,355
and I'm not in the courthouse all that

1775
01:36:49,355 --> 01:36:51,829
often because I usually work from home, but

1776
01:36:51,829 --> 01:36:53,989
I've been in the courthouse when something has

1777
01:36:53,989 --> 01:36:55,829
gone sideways upstairs, and all of a sudden

1778
01:36:55,829 --> 01:36:57,829
there's a lot of yelling, and I wonder

1779
01:36:57,829 --> 01:37:00,229
whether somebody's going to come over that railing.

1780
01:37:03,030 --> 01:37:04,630
And so we got a lot of things

1781
01:37:04,630 --> 01:37:09,474
that we're juggling here. And I have appreciated

1782
01:37:10,114 --> 01:37:13,155
hearing a lot of different contexts, but I

1783
01:37:13,715 --> 01:37:16,675
hope that everybody is patient as we continue

1784
01:37:16,675 --> 01:37:18,355
to look at the facts that come forward

1785
01:37:18,355 --> 01:37:20,915
with this. You all have provided some context

1786
01:37:20,915 --> 01:37:24,210
today. But I know for my part, I'm

1787
01:37:24,210 --> 01:37:26,530
looking at that big picture thing and saying,

1788
01:37:26,530 --> 01:37:33,730
I want to solve these problems for a

1789
01:37:33,730 --> 01:37:37,705
longer term rather than a shorter term. But

1790
01:37:37,705 --> 01:37:38,985
I know that there's also going to be

1791
01:37:38,985 --> 01:37:40,585
bumps in the shorter term just with the

1792
01:37:40,585 --> 01:37:45,145
DOC inspection. So thank you again for coming.

1793
01:37:47,625 --> 01:37:51,390
We continue to be open to feedback, and

1794
01:37:51,390 --> 01:37:54,270
we will be. We've got a lot of

1795
01:37:54,270 --> 01:37:56,430
work to do, and I appreciate all our

1796
01:37:56,430 --> 01:38:02,670
partners that help us do that. Thanks. One

1797
01:38:02,750 --> 01:38:06,394
point, maybe two. We know how much the

1798
01:38:06,394 --> 01:38:08,474
brick and mortar is. We know that that's

1799
01:38:08,474 --> 01:38:12,234
a number. That's a figure that it's imprint.

1800
01:38:12,315 --> 01:38:16,715
We don't know what it looks like to

1801
01:38:16,715 --> 01:38:21,000
contract out inmates, if you will. We know

1802
01:38:21,000 --> 01:38:23,560
how much inmates cost here. We know how

1803
01:38:23,560 --> 01:38:25,719
much they would cost with a new jail.

1804
01:38:26,360 --> 01:38:30,760
As everyone stated earlier, we have staffing issues.

1805
01:38:31,160 --> 01:38:34,785
The city has staffing issues. Everyone has staffing

1806
01:38:34,785 --> 01:38:38,385
issues. We are in the county seat of

1807
01:38:38,385 --> 01:38:43,105
Waseca. That has a federal bureau of prisons.

1808
01:38:44,145 --> 01:38:48,110
Female institution in it. You tell me how

1809
01:38:48,110 --> 01:38:50,510
we're going to fill the staffing issue in

1810
01:38:50,510 --> 01:38:53,390
this county when they're going to offer way

1811
01:38:53,390 --> 01:38:58,590
more money at the federal level. And I'd

1812
01:38:58,590 --> 01:39:02,005
already stated earlier, we have Blue Earth on

1813
01:39:02,005 --> 01:39:06,005
the West and Steele on the East that

1814
01:39:06,005 --> 01:39:08,724
can offer more money than we can for

1815
01:39:08,724 --> 01:39:13,204
staff. So if you put up a building,

1816
01:39:13,284 --> 01:39:16,940
you know what that monetary amount is. Now

1817
01:39:16,940 --> 01:39:19,260
you try and staff it, and I'm not

1818
01:39:19,260 --> 01:39:22,620
even talking about housing females there, that's a

1819
01:39:22,620 --> 01:39:28,060
whole other outlook. You tell me how this

1820
01:39:28,060 --> 01:39:39,665
would happen in this company. Okay. I wanna

1821
01:39:39,665 --> 01:39:43,105
thank everybody for coming. The other meeting will

1822
01:39:43,105 --> 01:39:48,680
be at 06:30 tonight. Yep. Yep. Alright. Thanks

1823
01:39:48,680 --> 01:39:51,720
again. And we are going to adjourn at

1824
01:39:51,720 --> 01:39:52,760
11:13.