Yeah, we're we're a little after go, right? Are you enjoying them today? No, I haven't been on that for a long time. You could have lied to me. Please uh rise for the pledge of allegiance. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you for that. And I apologize for our late start. Are there is there anyone in the audience who wants to make some comments now before uh we get the meeting going and they don't have an item on the agenda? Seeing none, let's approve the agenda. So moved. Second. Okay. Motion by Anderson, second by Fehee to approve the agenda. Any discussion on that? Seeing none, all those in favor say I. I. Those opposed. Motion passes. The minutes June 24, 2025. I move approval, Mr. Chair. Second. A motion by Lynch and a second by Fehee to approve the June 24, 2025 minutes. Any discussion on that? Seeing none, all those in favor say I. I. Those opposed. Motion passes. Community announcements. If I could, Mr. chair. I just like to remind everyone to have a very uh safe and wonderful Independence Day. It's a lot of uh cookouts and a lot of fun. I have heard a couple accidents with young men having uh fireworks going off in their hands. Um so be very very safe and if nothing else just don't even uh shoot them off. It's always the men. Always. Boys, boys always. Mr. Mr. Chair, a couple of things. Last week I had the opportunity to go along on the WMO annual tour. And so we started at Lake Wakonia Regional Park. We went and looked at some zebra muscles in Lake Wakonia and they talked about uh the whole process with checking in boats and cleaning boats, etc. So that was very good. Um went to looked at some rain gardens in Wakonia. went and looked at the Crow River in Camden Township. Um, stopped at Baylor Park and Eagle Lake and some of the challenges that they're working through at Eagle Lake to uh make that a cleaner lake. And then stopped in NYA and looked at some storm stewers that they're doing to control uh the overflow and the movement of water. And then I also went to the Dakota Dakota Prairie Composting Site which is located right off of 41 right across the river. Uh that was truly amazing on what they've done with the size and the scope of that whole operation and and now they're up and running. and to see just dump trucks after dump trucks bringing in compost and storm tree damage and and just how they're going to start to process all of that and turn it into compost. So, that's very exciting. And I too just want to wish everyone a safe and happy 4th of July. Commissioner Fay, I wasn't able to make that tour at the composting facility due to having only one good leg currently. That might have been a problem for me to be at that. It would have been good. Okay. All right. Miss Commissioner Anderson. I like being called Miss. Makes me feel younger. Oh, good. Um, just one quick announcement. Um, Janice Milton, uh, a social worker, a legend here in Cover County, um, is retiring. And so I just wanted to um acknowledge her years of service and her retirement party tomorrow 300 p.m. Yes, Director Goodman. So um in my short time or my short tenure here in Cover County, I have learned that um social workers, at least in this county, are are really true heroes and and Janice is one of those. And then I ran across this quote that I thought would be um super appropriate and it's by someone unknown, but it says, "The one who can tolerate the most uncertainty is the one who will eventually win." And I thought given everything happening um with our budget and everything in the world, I I I thought this is apppropo for for our work. So um I know we're going to win though. Always. Always. That's all. All right. Me, too. Happy birthday, United States of America. 249 years old, I believe, this uh Friday. Uh Chanhassen Parade at 2:30. Uh new route. Uh uh I've complained for years, why do you wait till the heat of the day to have that parade at 2:30 in the afternoon? Because then hail and thunder and everything else like that. It'll probably happen again. That but that would be a negative attitude. So FYI, that's only happened once in 40 years. They don't get to see Commissioner Workman waving. Uh so but um uh kind of a weird week. I don't know. All the buses that were coming down Ottabon Road, uh summer school start today. Is that right? Um so be careful out there. The person who used to often sit in this chair usually gave us updates about when to be safe when planting season started and buses were going and everything else. So, okay. Consent agenda. Can I get a motion? So, moved. Second, Mr. Chair. A motion by Anderson and a second by Lynch to approve the consent agenda. Any discussion on that? Some interesting stuff on there. Seeing no discussion, all those in favor say I. I. Those opposed. Motion passes. Item 3.1, Charles Lavine, request to operate a cannabis business, micro business IUP. Good morning, Mr. Chair and commissioners. Jason Mely, land management department manager. We have an application here that was submitted by Lake Town Farms LLC, Charlie Levine. It is for an intramuse permit for a cannabis micro business, which is cultivation, processing, some manufacturing. It does not include retail um taking place from the site. Under the state's guidelines, a micro business does ultimately allow um for a retail component, but Mr. Levine is not doing that from this property. He is planning on potentially doing it somewhere else. Um so this is strictly the the cultiv cultivation which ultimately is growing and the processing component. It is being done on a property that's located in section 29 of Lake Township and it is 178 acre parcel. Mr. Levine is currently operating using the property to um do hemp production which is a business activity that is a permitted use. It was uh started back in 2018 and it ultimately was uh hemp production was done through a Minnesota farm bill at the state level and we consider that a farming activity at the time. We we currently still do call u identify that as a farming component. Uh so no permit through planning commission county board was required. As part of that, Mr. Levine was converting an existing egg building into a commercial building so he could do his his production for the hemp. And that building is something he is wanting to utilize as part of this new endeavor, which is the cannabis business activity. So what is he looking to do? He is expanding his business to include cannabis. He does have an outdoor cultivation area. It would be a 1acre in size. Um it is a fenced area. Commercial grade fencing is required. Minimum 6 ft tall. And it does ultimately include the processing component to be done out of an existing 1600 ft² um building. This is in the egg zoning district. So cannabis is a use that is permitted with the approval of an intram use permit. And as part of our zoning code update in 2024, we've implemented cannabis um standards and guidelines, which some of the restrictions u ultimately require somebody to live on site to do cannabis. So it's kind of a homebased business type activity. um you are prohibited to do it in shoreland overlay district of a protected water and within the egg preserve a property that's in the egg preserve program which in this case the property is in both. So knowing that was probably going to be the case with Mr. Levine being one of our early um property owners that was kind of going down the path of submitting an application to the state. he wanted to know what he was getting himself um into and what what some of the requirements might be. We ultimately did put these guidelines into place as part of the zoning code. So he had to apply for a variance and back in May of this year he was granted a variance to be in shoreland area because he's kind of um it's an adaptive reuse I guess of an existing building um that was set up for some sort of commercial component the hemp production um as well as being in the egg preserve program which he had to have in the program before our guidelines were in place. So, um, board of adjustment felt that there were criteria in place that, um, would allow him to ultimately be granted the variance. One of the conditions is with the egg preserve when it expires, he's not going to be allowed to reenroll into the egg preserve program. So, that portion of the variance will ultimately um, just drop off after the 8-year commitment that the program requires. It's part of the state licensing. So the status he has received his preapproval through the office of cannabis management at the state level. And part of that preapproval was an application that needed to be submitted. They review making sure all the material is there to meet the state's guidelines which is more restrictive than the county. Uh the state ultimately will be doing inspections of the property as well. Uh some pretty pretty detailed application guidelines. It was 126 page document that we were able to get from Mr. Levine as part of our IUP process. Um, one of the requirements is that once he submitted his pre-application, he needs to get the local land use approval before the state can actually grant him a permit. So through the state's website, you can track to see what applications are in the system. Carver County has one. Mr. Levines and I've gotten multiple notifications saying that I've got 30 days to either decide is he meeting the guidelines or not meeting the guidelines. And today is actually day 15. Um so they will not proceed until after the 30 days. If there is no decision at the local level, the state just goes ahead and grants them their permit. So, it's pretty critical to go through this process at the local level government um and and uh get before planning commission and county board in these situations. Part of the Office of Cannabis Management's application, they outline everything from security and surveillance, uh odor and waste management. Uh they do not allow public access and it is basically an employeeonly site. Um that does require some significant inventory tracking and access control not only for the building where the production is taking place. But ultimately the outdoor growing area that's fenced in has lighting, has surveillance cameras and security measures for employees coming and going from that area. As part of some of the operational details, he's proposing two to eight employees which would be seasonal for the most part. Uh there would be infrequent deliveries obviously supplies coming and going from the from the location. uh based on the location and there was a map in the packet that identifies kind of a a zoomed out aerial photograph where this property is located. It is quite secluded. Um there is no neighbor within a/4 mile. Um some of our requirements are 500 ft from an adjacent home. Uh but based on his seclusion, this is a pretty ideal um spot for our first application and to get this um in place for Mr. Levine. He's not proposing signage. It's just basically strictly a a growing and production facility, no public. So therefore, he did not feel signage is needed. And the IUP is non-transferable, meaning it does not transfer from one property owner to the next like a conditional use permit does. Um, we decided to do this as an interim use permit. We have more control of it that way. And the state ultimately issues a license to an individual as well. So, if there's any modifications that take place in the future, not only will he have to go through a new interim use permit application at the county level, but he will have to submit a new application, I believe, to the state. As part of our public and local support for this, the planning commission unanimously recommended approval on June 17th and the Lake Town Board fully supported and recommended approval of the request. Just for some background information, as part of the board of adjustment meeting, um there were three individuals from the public that attended, one was not in support um of the request. It was based on not being uh being supportive of um recreational marijuana and concerns about um trespassing on adjacent properties to get access back to this site. The other two that were in attendance were in full support. They know Mr. Levine. They've been to his property with family and ultimately said they had no issues with what he was proposing. As part of our planning commission meeting, there were two individuals that attended the meeting from the public and neither of them spoke during the public comment period. Again, in your packet, there was some attached documents. One was a location map, some site maps which give a little more background as to what is being proposed as well as the planning commission resolution. And today, Mr. Chair, I'm uh here requesting the county board to make a motion to adopt the findings of fact and issue order PZ 2025 0027 for the issuance of an intramuse permit. And with that, Mr. Chair, I'll take any questions. Okay. Does anybody have any questions andor are we going to hear from the applicant or not? Mr. Chair, the applicant is in attendance. If there are questions that he might be able to address, uh, if it's the land use side of things, I'm certainly available. I may have mispronounced his name. He's a Levine, not a Lavine. You said it right. I said it right. Blind squirrel, huh? Mr. Chair, before you start taking input, I would note Commissioner Rudman joined us remotely. Uh, he can participate. Uh, and Matt, could you acknowledge that you hear us? Can you hear us? Commissioner Udman, choppy, but we heard. Yes. Sounded like he's online. Good. Uh, but he can participate but cannot vote. Correct. County attorney. Correct. Okay. Because we didn't provide notice. So that's it. Well, I know that we are to the person, one person who maybe uh didn't want this uh project to go forward. We're a long way from the the old joke. You know, I grew up in a town that was so small. How small is it? Oh, thank you. Lynch is slipping. Uh you had to lock your doors at night cuz somebody might slip a bag of zucchini in in the back seat. Uh so what can go wrong here? Um people creeping around uh trying to I mean we have that going on at the arborum for for grape vines. Um occasional fence jumper. Um, and and one of the questions I had up front was I don't know if the word was non-transferable or um, so this this wouldn't be an equity building business. I mean, I he couldn't sell it. He couldn't sell it to somebody. Is is that what going on here, Mr. Lavine? Um, no. I wouldn't be able to sell it without the license also being sold with it and I would have to go through the the whole process. But so you could uh I could but it would require um going through the process the buyer to new applicant because it's an IUP, right? Okay. Okay. Okay. Any other questions board members? Mr. Chair, we uh did talk about it at length at the planning commission and Mr. Lavine answered all our questions and was very forthcoming and we were um had multiple questions and went through it very thoroughly and came back with that recommendation. Good. Okay, Commissioner Anderson. Um just want to um acknowledge you and for thanks for starting business in Carver County. appreciate that. Nothing from Commissioner Lynch. Thanks for going through the arduous uh process. I'm glad that it's not transferable. And uh with that, I would u make a motion to approve. I'll second. Okay. Okay, I got a motion by Lynch and a second by Anderson to adopt the findings of fact and issue order PZ20 500027 for the issuance of an interim use permit. Any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor say I. I. Those opposed motion passes. Thank you, sir. Welcome. Welcome to Carver County. Welcome to Carver County. Thank you for your time. All right. Funding request for temporary jail medical providers contract. Good morning, Mr. Chair and members of the board. My name is Ben Byer. I'm the current jail commander. Thanks for the opportunity to speak with you this morning. I'm going to present to you an overview of our current jail medical program um which we established with um county employees in 2022 and explain a current request for funding to contract medical professionals who provide essential medical and mental health care in our jail. In 2022, we faced a significant challenge of transitioning away from a contracted medical and mental health provider that had uh delivered services in the jail for for many years. In response, we swiftly pivoted to a county supported position. We created two full-time nursing positions, secured a contracted medical provider, and began working closely with Health and Human Services to ensure the mental health needs of those in our custody were addressed. Um, I'm not aware of a validated explanation for why medical and mental health needs among incarcerated individuals has increased, but the reality is that facilities across the state, including ours, have experienced a drastic rise in medical acute medical cases, medical emergencies, chronic health conditions, and significant complications related to poly substance abuse. The most common withdrawal cases we encounter stem from combined use of multiple substances, excessive alcohol consumption, and the widespread presence of fentanyl, whether used alone or mixed into other street drugs. As a result, the individuals who remain in our custody during the justice process are significantly sicker than in years past. They require more medical interventions, frequent medication management, and increased care by certified medical professionals to ensure proper medical and mental health treatment is delivered safely and effectively. I believe that we have developed a really strong program over the last couple years. However, we have also learned that there are opportunities for greater efficiencies and improvements to ensure we continue delivering effective care in a cost-effective manner. This is critical to reducing the risks associated with providing me medical and mental health services to a population with complex and often severe mental health needs. Currently, we are actively recruiting for two to fill two vacant registered nurse positions in the jail. Um, we actually have interviews coming up on on Wednesday for those and we have nine applicants. In the meantime, we have a statutory obligation to provide appropriate medical and mental health care to individuals in our custody. That's why I'm requesting funding to support the continued use of contracted medical professionals. Um this funding will ensure continuous medical coverage and maintain the standard of care required until those vacant positions are success successfully filled then at which time we will no longer need contracted medical services to backfill open RN positions. So thank you for the time and consideration and any questions. Thank you. Any questions board members? Uh Mr. buyer with interviews starting on the 3 and it's good to see that you have nine applicants. What do you think the time frame is to ultimately hire some individuals? Yeah, so right now we have a staff RN position and then as in the in the consent agenda you saw that there was a supervisory RN position. What we're looking to do is yeah interview um normal process with background you would say out probably a month before the staff RN. In the meantime we'd also hope to get a supervisory RN in the process. Um we believe we'll probably have some you know good interest in that because we had some in the staff RN position. Um you know I think if all goes well I I would hope by October would be you know I think realistic. um could even be sooner depending on on backgrounds and notices for people. So, thank you. Anybody else? Seeing Mr. Ramsey, sorry for the interruption. Uh I would just note one of the highlights or maybe call a low light of the 26 budget will be jail costs uh as they're rising and those are challenges that we not only face but every every jail across Minnesota. You read that in the headlines, right? Uh but I would also say we do one heck of a job running this jail and uh we should be appreciative for that if nothing else from a risk and financial standpoint. Uh you might have rec you might recall the Scott County story about a lawsuit. I think it was it number 12 million that that they had to pay literally out of their pocket and it was wasn't covered by insurance as we looked along with Sony Walter and the jail staff. We couldn't we couldn't get coverage is my recollection for for certain things like hap like happened at the county jail so at Sky Jail. So anyway, uh that's my perspective and stay tuned as we as we uh unfold this ongoing story. Would would be nice to have some options. I don't believe mend went out of business, right? Yeah, they went bankrupt in 2022. So I don't I don't know if we could even attract a private contractor or find one. You know, there isn't many out there. There's a couple other county counties that have a different provider. Yeah. So stay tuned. More to come. Well, and my comment was going to be this uh item uh the $63,360, which is always a lot of money, but uh this uh this is a very very very important issue uh that we take proper care of the people in our charge. uh might be prisoners. Uh but the health and well-being of those people matters too. And um so it seems like a little unsexy uh item on our agenda, but it's a it's a really really big one. I think administrator Hemsy pointed it out very well. So Commissioner or um Chair Workman, I did end up having a question actually. Thank you. Uh, so and and and I see Director Goodwin is is in in the room. I know that um you provided some services to the jail. Would this relieve some of that pressure or is this different? Miss Goodwin. Good morning, board chair, Commissioner Anderson. Thank you for the question. Um this will not relieve um we run a separate mental health contract uh with the vendor that uh that uh Mr. Byer is speaking about. Um this would relieve the medical piece and the it would also allow for some medication administration but is a separate contract and would not relieve anything or any of the work that's being done by Health and Human Services in the jail. Got it. Thank you. I'd like to add that they do work closely together and they really integrate. So having that connection because a lot of times, you know, mental health needs are identified in a in a medical assessment. So it's vital to have that that connection with a with the medical team. All right. Great. Thank you. We have the jail commander and the sheriff in the room that we should do that more often, right? You said you felt nervous. I feel safe. Yeah. I'm always nervous around better looking, smarter people than my myself. All right. I'm looking for a motion to approve funding for contracted medical providers to cover vacant shifts in the Carver County Jail. Move approval, Mr. Chairman. Second. A motion by Lynch and a second by Fehee. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor say I. I. Those opposed. Motion passes. Thank you very much, Ben. Thank you for your time. Appreciate it. Sheriff, you have anything you want to add at this point? Yes, sir. Countyy's doing good. Okay. Fourth of July, that's always a busy one for your office. I I bet. Okay. We are going to go into a closed session. Wait, shouldn't we have a Oh, let's do the county administrator report first. I know. So, I felt like he already just forgot about it. As calendar note, we had a duplicative meeting. I was confused this morning as I was looking at this. So the July 8th Minnesota River Bluffs Regional Trail meeting that got cancelled, but well changed to uh July 22nd. So I don't have to sit at Floyd's size size. Uh yes, you have to sit at size unfortunately as your punishment. Uh July 22nd. Well, it depends on the length of our meeting. We might add some things to that this meeting. Did I get that correct? Okay, thank you. and the calendar invite went out. Okay. Is that all you have? Yes. Okay. So, we're going to go into close session. Uh close session for security and emergency response procedures. And I'm going to read this line to enter close session pursuant to Minnesota statute 13D.05 subdivision 3D to discuss boardroom security and emergency response procedures. Can I get a motion for that? So move, Mr. Chair. Second. That is to adjourn the regular session. Right. Okay. That's the motion. Any discussion? Seeing none. Hold a second. If I could interrupt again. Uh adjourn after the Youjourn technically after the close session. Yeah. Motion to go into close session. Y right. I was reading the adjourned part. Too too far ahead there. All right. We're closing the session. You get confused because the attorney made you read that, right? Blame this one. Thank you. Lynch is back. Okay. Any discussion on on this convolution? Seeing none, all those in favor say I. I. Those opposed? Motion passes. All right. We're in close session.