[0:08] foreign [0:58] thank you [1:26] foreign [2:07] thank you [3:34] foreign [4:27] foreign [5:23] thank you [5:34] it is nah a couple minutes after nine on October 3rd we'll call The Wright County [5:40] Board of Commissioners to order we'll begin with the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the [5:47] United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and [5:55] justice for all good morning we have a good number of [6:02] people in attendance here uh we'll go right to it here we have the minutes from the committee the whole on 9 18. we [6:10] have the minutes from the county board meeting on 9 19. we have the minutes from the drainage Authority public [6:16] hearing on 9 20 and we have the minutes from the county board meeting on 9 26. we can approve them individually or [6:22] collectively I will entertain motions or Corrections Mr chair I'd like to make a motion to approve those all in one all [6:29] right we have a motion by commissioner Dietrich no second second by commissioner Holland any further [6:34] discussion hearing none all in favor say aye aye phone same sign [6:40] the minutes are approved unanimously today's agenda would anyone like to make any corrections additions to today's [6:46] agenda Mr chair home make a motion to approve [6:51] the agenda all right we have a motion by commissioner catchmark second second by commissioner Shane any [6:57] further discussion hearing none all in favor say aye aye aye what was same sign [7:03] agenda's approved unanimously today's consent agenda would anyone like to remove anything from today's consent [7:08] agenda for further discussion Mr chair just one thing to remove for just a [7:14] question uh letter a number two the SRO contract all right [7:23] anything else like to be removed all right I'll make a motion to prove the consent agenda with that with A2 [7:31] removed for discussion all right we have a motion my commissioner catch Mark second by commissioner Dietrich for the [7:36] approval of the consent agenda with the removal of A2 uh any discussion [7:42] hearing none all in favor say aye aye aye oh same sign consent agenda approved unanimously item [7:49] A2 the authorized signatures on school resource contracts with the Elk River Buffalo Maple Lake Monticello Rockford [7:57] and St Michael School Districts this is a contract that was uh reviewed by the [8:04] County Board I believe about close to this time last year and that rate was approved at that time and the [8:10] contracts were sent out to the school districts for the subsequent contract year as Chief would you like to discuss [8:16] any more on that [8:22] so the history on this one this rate uh is been kind of flat for a couple years [8:28] because of covid and then we had a discussion more about it trying to work its way to become a little bit more in [8:35] line with where we wanted that rate to be uh but we tried to make a move forward on it about three years ago but [8:42] Covey came in school district funding was kind of low correct Mr chair if I could get to my [8:48] point sure why I was asking and so the chief isn't guessing but so in looking [8:53] at the contract yesterday and we had a assistant administrator I was talking with and noted that the the rate per [9:00] hour was 39 an hour which is the now the starting wage for a deputy [9:07] and the cities of course we had a lot of conversation about that that went to 105 dollars an hour so we got the 68 [9:14] difference and then the two sergeants that aren't figured in there so I was just in case we get asked an explanation [9:21] because of the the difference I'm not arguing it but just because we didn't have as much conversation about this [9:26] rate and knowing now that the base rate is 39 and if we looked at the 10 or 11 [9:33] sros in the school I'd have to think that the majority are probably not base [9:38] rate Deputy wage so that's my question yeah [9:44] so all the that question was answered previously this year at a always committee meeting that I think you were [9:49] at commissioner we discussed the history and the contract rate uh the history of the contract rate where we're looking to [9:55] get it to and the reason that it's 9 12 of us starting Deputy wage but I can go through those again if you'd like well [10:02] just generally just an explanation because it's still in the minds of some City and and when [10:07] you see it in front of you on paper it's just a big difference now but uh I want to remind uh the chief that the rate was [10:14] actually set by the board um I sat in that actual meeting and looking at that meeting which is there [10:20] were subsequent meetings that took place regarding that one multiple years prior to that and we actually got to the point [10:26] where we had a number of uh superintendents that came in the room and said that if we raise that rate any [10:31] higher they would forego the contracts altogether and that's where we as a County Board uh stepped back and said [10:38] you know what uh we want to have the officers in the schools they are not mandated to have that and if we would [10:44] have pushed that rate any higher we would end up getting no funding from the schools and we'd be still doing the same [10:50] work in the schools except for just not getting any compensation for it so that's why that rate will never be a [10:56] true reflection of the cost of the deputies because the schools are not mandated to have that service in there [11:02] they are being good partners with us by helping fund that but they are not [11:07] required to do that so that is where the County Board pushed it at one point to a point where the superintendents kept [11:13] came in and said that wait we can't fund we can't afford this anymore so we have to be very delicate with what we charge [11:20] the schools for that and that's where that rate is now could we have further discussions with that since this last [11:26] contract uh labor market has changed substantially I'm sure the superintendents would be open to that conversation but uh item you can't [11:34] compare the city contracts to the school contracts because they're apples and oranges so [11:40] thank you Mr chair okay in addition if we just look at the [11:45] school rate then for a future meeting perhaps but the the 39 stands out to me because of the base [11:52] rate compared to what is the actual hourly rate of the 10 that are working in the school so for future [11:59] consideration at least it seems like if we would look at more of an average of the rate that the deputies are making [12:06] that are actually in the schools or across the sheriff's office I guess that's what Drew attention is that that [12:13] flat 39 is the lowest paid deputy and that that isn't actually the rate of [12:19] everybody working in the school well as this support chair pointed out [12:24] that was the rate that was voted on by the board that's why that rate is exists that's why the contract is what it is okay [12:30] all right so for future discussion of the next appropriate meeting then uh I'm [12:36] good with that but that's because I know that there's been a lot of attention and there is that discrepancy we can't get [12:42] away from so that's it I don't have anything else chairman [12:47] um I I think though we should maybe have a discussion with the schools uh for the [12:53] next calendar year you know because they have gotten funding from the state [12:59] um some are going out for a levy not sure if that'll pass or anything but um just something to have the discussion [13:07] with the superintendents to see you know if we could just bump that rate up a little bit being as we've not done it [13:13] since pre-covered time I just think it's it's just doing our due diligence and having that conversation with the [13:19] superintendents just kind of like we did with uh administrators and the Mayors we [13:24] should also you know let them know that we've given them a big raise and you [13:29] know figure out what their commitment is to uh having those sros I mean they're [13:35] also those sros are putting their necks out with the this new legislation so they [13:42] they also know the superintendents also know that it's more of a risk for them [13:47] and a risk for us to have them there so I think I think in the near future we [13:52] should have that discussion and commissioner on to your point uh it is [13:58] one of those ones that will be scheduled the first uh part of next year we regularly review those contracts have the conversation sometimes we bring [14:04] superintendents in sometimes we don't but to this point that a lot has changed in the landscape over the last three [14:10] years this might be a good time to bring some of them in and have a little bit more of a deeper discussion on it yeah [14:16] Mr chair I think that's a good point because we know how it went over with the cities when they were brought in [14:21] later rather than sooner so yes um I don't have anything further so I'd [14:27] make a motion to approve the contracts as written here I'll second that all right we have a [14:33] motion by commissioner catchmark second by commissioner Holland to approve the SRO contracts with the listed school [14:38] districts any further discussion hearing none all in favor say aye aye [14:44] oppose same sign thank you chief all right moving forward to the timed [14:50] agenda item we have the 905 declaring October 1st through the 7th of 2023 as [14:56] National 4-H week in Wright County [15:08] hi good morning my name is Renee Newman I've been a Wright County 4-H volunteer for 24 years my husband and I have [15:15] served in many different areas over the span of two decades after family involvement of over 20 [15:21] years in the Wright County 4-H program our youngest of three children graduated [15:27] out this fall all of them had opportunities and successes at local [15:32] state and National levels they've traveled across the country with fellow 4-H and met others that share their [15:39] passions my own children have been so very fortunate to have been influenced by [15:45] some of the best 4-H staff and mentors that the program has to offer they have [15:51] built them up and provided them with their own sharing section which all kids need [15:57] our children have taken advantage of the what seems like all of the 4-H programs over the [16:04] years and believe it or not exhibiting at the county fair is a very small snippet of what 4-H offers [16:11] there are club meetings that teach leadership community service that teach giving back Community [16:18] semi summer and winter camps and spring and fall activities for fun while [16:24] learning project meetings and most of all learning how to work and grow together along with some good [16:29] old-fashioned competition is why they love 4-H so much it is so exciting to see what the next 4-H opportunities will [16:36] offer and I look forward to seeing our younger 4-H friends hit their stride and find [16:42] their success thank you for your time to highlight National 4-H week [16:48] thank you Renee all right [16:54] hi my name is Tyler luaji and I'm a member of the Hanover honeybees 4-H club in Hanover the Wright County 4-H Youth [17:01] Development program is an organization for young people kindergarten through one year past High School graduation [17:06] Minnesota 4-H offers age appropriate Hands-On learning through [17:11] projects and activities including 4-H clubs special interest groups and after school programs volunteering Civic [17:18] engagement community service and much more Wright County 4-H programs has 18 4-H clubs and over 700 members and 180 [17:26] plus adult volunteers the first week of October is annual celebration of Nash a [17:32] 4-H week Nationwide this week is a time to celebrate the many great things about [17:37] being a 4-H member this week is also a time to showcase our organization in our [17:43] communities and Recruit new members clubs and members will be working hard to get the word out about 4-H to assist [17:49] with our promotion efforts right County 4-H would like to ask the right County Board of Commissioners to declare [17:55] October 1st through 7th 2023 as National 4-H week in Wright County [18:02] whereas Across the Nation our leaders efforts to solve problems in their communities and to make a difference for [18:09] their Futures and whereas 4-H is in Minnesota's largest Youth Development organization growing leaders in every [18:15] part of the state recruiting forty thousand youth last year alone and [18:20] whereas in Wright County members more than 700 members and more than 180 100 volunteers [18:28] and whereas Minnesota 4-H is committed to empowering youth with the skills they [18:34] need to lead for a lifetime and whereas youth in 4-H collaborate with caries [18:40] adults to lead Hands-On projects in areas like science Health agriculture [18:45] citizenship and the Arts and whereas the 4-H experience helps youth to make [18:51] Positive Choices communicate efficiently build connections with peers and adults [18:56] and be meaningful contributors to their local and Global communities and now [19:02] therefore I ask Derek visesk chairman of the Wright County Board of Commissioners [19:07] do hereby Proclaim October 1st through 7th 2023 as National or H week in Wright [19:14] County I urge the people of this committee to take advantage of their opportunity to become more aware of this [19:21] special program that enhances our young people's interest in their future as part of Wright County 4-H Youth [19:28] Development and to join us in recognizing this unique partnership between our communities and the [19:34] University of Minnesota thank you Tyler at this time I will entertaining motion [19:40] by the board to declare October 1st through the 7th of 2023 National 4-H week in Ray County [19:46] I'll second all right we have a motion by commissioner Dietrich second by commissioner Holland uh any further [19:52] discussion Mr chair yes just uh comment on the jacket that alone should get you [19:57] this resolution that's impressive I agree Mr chairman it was it was so [20:05] much fun uh to be at the county fair and see all of our all of our 4-H staff and [20:13] kids and parents having so much fun uh that's probably one of the best days of [20:19] uh of the Year this summer for me is to come and watch and I have uh nieces and [20:25] nephews in Hennepin County that bring their kids now to Wright County because they don't have 4-H in Hennepin County [20:32] so very proud of all the things that you do it it goes without saying part of your [20:40] statement was the 18 uh diverse clubs across the county with over 700 members that's worth noting it's a it's a good [20:48] impact to the Youth of the county and hopefully that impact can continue to grow so happily be able to declare it [20:54] for each week in Wright County so with that resolution commissioner [20:59] catchmark hi hi hi all right uh motion passes unanimously [21:06] picture time [21:11] [Applause] [21:22] good job the more you do it easier it gets here [21:29] could be a radio person congratulations [21:48] one two three oh one more [21:56] beautiful thanks guys [22:05] next item on the agenda is the 920 uh would be Chad Houseman with the highway [22:12] department and the approve the resolution of sponsorship as a Fiscal Agent for the city of Clearwater or [22:18] Highway Freight program application good morning Commissioners and Derek you [22:24] nailed it that's why I'm here today um City's applying for some funds for upcoming MnDOT project in 2026 and if [22:32] they're successful we'll just need to be the Fiscal Agent like we have on previous projects across the county [22:38] all right and it's a resolution so we'll need to yeah any discussion [22:43] all right I'll entertain the motion I'll make the motion all right motion by commissioner Dietrich I'll second second [22:50] by commissioner Holland any further discussion hearing none resolution commissioner Shane [22:56] aye aye aye aye aye resolution passes unanimously [23:02] all right next would be the 925 Matt dutchin uh to schedule public hearing on [23:08] the redetermination of benefits for County ditch 16 and County ditch 19 near [23:13] the French Lake area so yeah scheduling a public hearing um the earliest available dates for the [23:19] viewers uh were the week of December 18th to have the public hearing so there [23:24] would be a public hearing schedule but then there would also be informational meetings with landowners one-on-one [23:30] meetings with the viewers before then um but you guys are required to attend the public hearing and schedule that [23:36] date so Mr chair yes though this is one that's [23:41] been discussed year year in and year out and you've probably been part of them I've been part of a couple meetings I [23:47] was at French Lake for an evening meeting where the room was packed I don't know if you were there so I'm going to follow along with the [23:54] same Trend that the citizens want an evening meeting I mean I'll I'll go to [23:59] uh the five five o'clock we did the last one I I think that's reasonable and what the [24:07] soonest date would be December 18th yep that week obviously that's the week of [24:13] Christmas so I would assume it'd probably be earlier in that week okay the best so that's for starters what I [24:18] would propose would be December 18th at 5 p.m in the big room [24:28] well I was just for discussion it's extra people's schedules but taking people's schedules right he's just [24:34] throwing some others that work for everybody that Monday December 18th at least we got three I'll make a motion for to set [24:42] that public hearing meeting for Monday December 18th at 5 pm [24:49] all right December 18th we have a motion by commissioner catchmark second by [24:55] commissioner Holland any further discussion no discussion all right uh all in favor [25:00] say aye aye opposed same sign public hearing scheduled for five o'clock on December 18th thank you [25:07] thanks Matt all right uh we're a couple minutes [25:12] ahead here for the public hearings about to wait a few minutes on that uh with that we'll kind of move down to the [25:19] items for consideration uh the first item would be to refer items to the October 10th County Board Workshop [25:26] and with that we'll open up any discussion um [25:32] just Mr chair I put together quite a few items uh we should discuss scheduling some meetings I've laid those out uh as [25:40] you know I have solicited from departments legislative items so we should look at a date for review by the [25:45] board of that as well as look at dates for meeting with our legislators also a [25:50] few items to discuss uh just before we have our commissioner meeting to discuss mileage options prior to that in [25:58] November also initiative fund was asked to come in during budget time uh this [26:03] was a date that worked for them so we targeted the October Workshop we also wanted to follow up on the fee schedule [26:09] as we will be approving that in November at one of the board to have another chance to review that before we brought it to this room [26:16] um discussing also the Great River Regional Library board and other commissioner appointments to boards [26:21] thought it'd be good to discuss that process and lastly I had listed the third floor the government center [26:28] I'll discuss different Arrangements up there as well as I think it would be good to Circle back on we've done some [26:34] analysis on the phone system uh just kind of give a follow-up on that so that's quite a myriad of topics are [26:40] there others the board would like to add to the list I think this is a pretty [26:46] robust agenda right there Mr chair yep I have two things the the baker Tilly [26:51] re-class study I'd like to get that to the next appropriate meeting but I'm not in a [26:58] hurry and just uh just to refresh people's memory in the spring I think when we voted to do it I remember I had [27:05] commented and clarified that we're going to okay doing the study but that doesn't [27:11] mean we're gonna we're approving the findings at that time and you said yes that's that's what we're approving is to [27:17] do the study and the cost is around forty eight hundred dollars or whatever so it's still open discussion on when or [27:24] if or how we deal with the fruits of the labor per se so that's uh I'd throw that out there [27:31] for Tuesday or a future meeting but it's still hanging out there for us to [27:37] address um I I think this would be a topic that I'd probably want to do outside of a [27:44] workshop as an individual and I guess I would want to have outside counsel available as well to discuss [27:51] ramifications of of that because I feel like there could be [27:56] possible legal consequences to it because it's part of a policy that was adopted by the board to to review [28:03] positions and now you have you have positions that have been appointed and now the board is trying to unilaterally [28:10] say no then I guess at that point you'd have to we'd have to articulate what [28:15] changes in those job descriptions should not be as part of it that they're not doing and then remove that from their [28:21] actual work otherwise I feel that we may put ourselves into a some sort of a [28:26] legal quandary potentially Mr chair I wouldn't mind going through it not to [28:34] go against anything in there but I think just as a new commissioner to understand a little bit more in each of it so I [28:42] guess I would be open to the fact of discussion with this as well however way you want to look at it legally is fine [28:48] just to make sure that we're doing everything we're supposed to do legally is fine but as far as taking the time to [28:53] to look at things and to make sure we're doing appropriately and understanding it I would look forward to doing that and I [29:00] I can understand that point because if we want to change the policy going forward and saying that we don't want to [29:05] review these positions on this schedule going forward we can change that policy but the ones that have already been [29:11] scheduled we kind of it we're we're kind of married to that policy at least in the short term going forward you could [29:18] change that policy and have them reviewed every two years every three years or all of them at once you can [29:24] change the policy going forward but the ones that are already in the queue have already been reviewed and trying to stop [29:30] that process uh I believe could put us into to a little bit of a legal quandary [29:38] Mr chair yes in addition I looked at some of [29:43] these couple of these in depth and I'll I'll point out and I pointed out to staff that there's some errors and [29:48] omissions that are in this if we are going to go with if people are going to want to say [29:53] sounds good as is where is there's there's some problems there that I've found and that that would need to be [30:00] addressed also there's also been comments about uh like a pay Equity [30:06] police or the boogeyman that would potentially come in and find in or penalize us and I'm still trying to [30:12] contact with which I've now narrowed down the state office but I haven't heard back from them so I think I want [30:19] to hear a little more on source of data for the whole thing also well I think your biggest side of it is [30:25] more of the fact is that you with pay Equity is that if you're found out of compliance with Equity you could get an internal litigation from an internal [30:31] employee against you because they'd use that data against you that's what they would do or they would be basically saying that you're not being compensated [30:38] for the jobs in your job description because of the board unilaterally decided not to take Baker Tilly's [30:44] pointing system and they made individualized changes to it in which case then if your audit can plan with [30:50] pay Equity they could use that as part of their litigation cases against the County Board [30:55] and I'm trying to figure out what pay Equity you're exactly talking about because I've heard that one description is it's underneath our roof only and [31:03] then I've heard another interpretation that it's across the state or other municipalities people doing the same or [31:09] similar job and I'm trying to figure out what what that Equity actually is that's [31:15] being evaluated the equity is within our own institution so our own institution is taking somebody with x amount of [31:21] Education if a job requires x amount of Education x amount of years of experience for this type of work and [31:27] there's another position in a totally different department that requires x amount of work in x amount of of experience to have that role that they [31:34] are paid somewhat similarly there could be some nuances based on the job descriptions but they relatively have to [31:41] be in a similar fashion now I'm with you I do not agree and pay Equity loss [31:46] because it allows the ability it removes the ability for the market to [31:51] determine wages It ultimately allows wages to be entirely determined largely on education and experience in a job [31:59] description that taking the market Factor entirely out of it but we're married to it by State Statute and [32:07] that's where we have to be careful with it because varying too much from it puts [32:12] us at a high risk for litigation all it takes is one case and and it's going to cost us far more than these [32:18] reclassifications potentially and I'm not saying against it Mr chair but it's more of a lack of understanding I think [32:24] I know more than I did in the spring and I'm not going to speak for the three in the spring that just came on but I [32:31] remember how I was the first couple months and the fire holes was turned wide open at that time and if we ask the [32:36] three I don't know if they'd recall what we exactly talked about and decided on this deal but I know what you and I had [32:43] on the exchange part that it was okay to do the study and now we got the fruits [32:48] of the labor is there a risk to to not take it in its entirety well I think in [32:54] my research I found some things that really need to be looked at that are actually contrary to meeting minutes and [33:00] uh and actually the the setup with other jobs that we have in the county and the [33:06] way it was portrayed to Baker Tilly in in going back to that now that you have two [33:13] things there if the if it's not conveyed the way to it and if the job descriptions weren't detailed to the way [33:18] that you far it was articulated to you that's an issue with you and administration and and Human Resources [33:24] that's not necessarily a issue with the Integrity of the the pointing system [33:29] itself holistically so that that's the part where I say I want the board to be very careful when looking at the [33:36] pointing system and wanting to vary from that because if you're going to vary from it then you're going to have to do [33:42] an entire uh common class study with a different agency if you don't like Baker Tilly you can there's handfuls of other [33:48] different ones we can choose to use but ultimately at the end of the day if you don't do that and just try to [33:54] develop your one inter internally you'd have a hard time defending it in court [34:00] so that so making individual one-off modifications very quickly dilutes the [34:06] value of that common class study and that third party uh viewer to it so [34:12] that's the part I want the board to be very careful and I think there's some misconfusion here in the job descriptions themselves and then the [34:19] policy that we passed as a board to regularly regularly review all the [34:25] different classifications all the different job descriptions in the county on a regular schedule so that regular [34:31] that policy that we adopted as a board I believe it was back in May that we would review all the different job [34:37] descriptions over a four year period of time and then we just keep rolling over that was to prevent us from having to [34:42] have a huge sticker price tag that we had in the past because usually about every 10 years we'd do a whole seven to [34:48] ten years we do a holistic comp and class study and we would be slammed with a three to four million dollar price tag [34:54] to get all of the employees back into the market rate and get their job descriptions updated where if we did it [35:00] in small bites it with sections of the staff it would keep us more uh in line [35:07] with the markets and being able to retain and recruit employees on regular basis as well as the fact that it would [35:13] uh prevent us from having huge spikes in our budget which meeting our uh philosophical goal of trying to keep tax [35:21] rates as flat and steady and consistent as possible so those are the facts we're [35:26] we're at right now I'm just commissioner Rich um I asked this question of a few [35:33] Commissioners about what they do some use Baker Tilly some use other ones and [35:38] they do their common class uh you know um review [35:43] um but all three of these uh Commissioners counties sit on them until [35:49] they have their labor negotiations so there's not any fear of racing to do it [35:57] right away because if other counties are sitting on them I I think as long as you're not you know [36:03] huge disparity between men and women that's what a common class from what I [36:10] gather when I was on the school board that's what you want to make sure that you're you're not there's not a huge [36:15] disparity between a job that a woman does and a job that amenda that men do [36:21] so or ethnic or that's what that is and and we're up to par on that [36:29] we're just going through now to see if we're you know [36:34] if we're staying on top of things and I can agree with the statement of saying sitting on them but altering them is the [36:42] part where I get more concerned with it um so that's the part where I would have to if you were altering it you'd have to [36:48] have a definitive articulable fact that says that this job description it has [36:53] this staff doing X task and I can say definitively that they are not doing X task and that should be removed and then [37:00] if they repointed it and it went down in points then it could be a justifiable modification but uh [37:07] otherwise sitting on it yes you can sit on it that we would I would [37:12] ask that the board would change the policy because right now the policy is that we approved and we postured to the [37:18] staff of the county and to the citizens of the county that we will be reviewing these on the current schedule that we [37:24] have a pass as a board back in May uh so if we want to do that differently we certainly can change the policy as to [37:29] when they're reviewed and when they're implemented and I'm open to that discussion I'm just more uh leery as to [37:35] making modifications to those findings Mr chair so let me be a little more [37:40] specific for the whole board on this the accuracy for me it's two things it's the accuracy of the report and it's the [37:46] timing as commissioner Holland talked about but if we have a position that was [37:52] determined to not be a supervisory position and it's in meeting minutes that it's clarified that way and it [37:59] comes back from Baker Tilly that this position now supervises a person or [38:04] multiple people to me that's a discrepancy it's it's not accurate to [38:09] the understanding of the board and that's not just my personal opinion so that's more than just the mic and the [38:16] administration having a discussion and I can agree with that in that statement if that is the case and you want to [38:22] articulate that then you want to have that discussion about about concerns you have about transparency [38:28] with Administration that that's a different discussion than having a discussion about the actual compensation [38:35] in the policy and the implementation of it you're more of your concern should be more about that in the transparency in [38:41] what you are being informed of by Administration and what is actually taking place yeah you call it transparency I call it accuracy or [38:48] Arizona missions because that's that's it and there's there's other examples that I would like to know hey did Baker [38:55] Tilly have this information on this position or didn't they because from what I'm reading in another case that [39:02] affects several people it's it's not portrayed to what it actually is so I to [39:10] me that's more of a board broad discussion in how the report came back as far as what information did Baker [39:17] Tilly have in the first place to base their decision on and so and I can agree with I want to [39:25] basically remove the pieces how we got to the information that went to bigger utility is more than concern what we have is an output to it now is I I get [39:33] your concern as to can it be implemented can it not be implemented I'm very concerned about not [39:38] doing it but I'm more about having the discussion as to what is what is our role as a board [39:45] going forward in that information that's submitted in and then also about [39:52] what what was put into how those were modified and how that is is articulated [39:58] to you because I mean if it's making grossly changes if you reclassified a position to a have ADD supervisory [40:06] experience to it if the then it's a discussion about whether it should have went to a Personnel committee or came to [40:13] the County Board in saying that you know what this role we've looked at this position in this position has been doing [40:19] supervisory work it hasn't been in its previous job descriptions now we have to [40:24] have a discussion should that job description be modified to make it accurate to the work that they're [40:29] actually doing or do we actually have to remove that supervisory rule from that work and making sure that that person is working [40:35] within classification because Mr chair our role will be ultimately to approve or not or or do [40:42] later 225 000 worth of pay raises based on this Baker Tilly report that's what I see our [40:49] role to be and uh you know that's that's our deal and I [40:54] think that the whole board would be interested in the information that I've seen in Reading just a couple of these I [41:01] haven't had a chance to read all I think 11 out of 18 have been granted raises [41:07] and I just wanted to bring it up here before I went through the other nine but [41:12] if the rest looked at it and saw what I saw and compared to past information I [41:17] think there would probably be a consensus there uh Mr chair if I can just make a few [41:22] comments so first this is the first time we've gone through this process when we did our common class study five years [41:28] ago we laid this out but I think naturally there are going to be some Growing Pains as we're all learning how to move this forward so I think what I'm [41:36] hearing is that there's a cut there's a there's a desire to have a discussion about what has been the process thus far [41:41] and then how can Commissioners give input or ask questions if they have those I agree with you Mr chair that I [41:47] don't think we want to be having open conversations in detail about these positions and about how these things are [41:54] valued I think that could be problematic in a number of ways but I think as staff we could bring back to a future work [41:59] session a conversation about what the process is what we've done thus far and then given Avenue if Commissioners have [42:06] questions how we can ask those and get those resolved because in in speaking with commissioner ketchmark I think that there are some things that we should [42:12] take a deeper look at so I think it's it's valid to look at and we'd be happy to put that information together for a future meeting [42:18] I think it's definitely worth the conversation obviously there's there's concerns I I do want to say though [42:26] if being one of the few that's been here that went through the last comp and class study I want people to the my [42:33] fellow board members to understand how challenging that was uh from a variety of different factors at the [42:39] point where we went into the common class we were so far out of Market that we had dozens of open positions we [42:45] couldn't hire I.T people for the life of us uh as well as a variety of other positions within the county and then on [42:52] top of it going into it it becomes a very when you're doing it with the amount of different job descriptions [42:58] that we have in the county becomes an extraordinarily huge heavy lift from uh HR in the department heads to be able to [43:05] review all those job descriptions in one shot so then do you necessarily get the [43:10] best accuracy to it probably not when you're putting that much work load on them in that short period of time and [43:16] then it comes the blast factor is the cost Factor because I tell you at that time when we went into it trying to [43:22] implement something that was going to cost over 3.5 million dollars to make a [43:27] market adjustment uh yeah I I about lost my mind a handful of times in a number of meetings because [43:33] I was like this is this this is unreal like how do you get to this uh what we adopted right now here does it is it [43:40] better absolutely taking small bites at a cost of 200 000 a year versus uh every [43:46] seven to ten uh 3.5 I'd rather do the 200 000 small bites now is there is [43:52] there potential issues in our new in our new policy probably can we make tweaks [43:58] tweak to make it better absolutely uh to administrator uh wilford's point it's [44:03] our first crack at it we have to have more conversations about it I don't want to throw the baby out with a bath water [44:09] and and just go right back to doing nothing because we're going to find ourselves here especially in the labor [44:14] market now than what it was six years ago is way more fluid than that is so we [44:20] will find ourselves way out of Market way faster and we will end up finding ourselves uh with a very very [44:26] compromised labor market but that's the last I'll say with that yeah [44:32] I I think we all agree that we want to stay competitive I just think we just [44:37] needed to understand the process and I think uh what clay said makes a lot of sense and I think it'll be some good [44:45] discussions and so that we're brought you know forward and yeah I feel bad that the Commissioners ahead of you gave [44:51] you that task of three million dollars that would be horrible [44:56] so Mr chair it sounds like the consensus of the board here is to schedule a Labor uh negotiation strategy session pursuant [45:04] to Minnesota statute 13d .03 sounds good making uh set the closed session labor [45:11] negotiations like that's a great meeting um urgency on it I I think we have some [45:18] time between in October I don't think we this isn't something that has to happen within the next couple weeks but I think [45:23] it's something between now and by the uh second week in November so somewhere in that six week window [45:30] um and Mr chair are we able to get the accuracy or whichever Clarity whatever [45:37] way you want to call it are we able to look at that during that time as well [45:42] and I'm wondering can we look at the party the clarity or accuracy or however you know whatever [45:49] way you want to describe it is that something we can look at during that time as well Mr chair at this point I [45:56] think staff can take Direction and we'll have the appropriate representatives in the room I think that'd be good I think [46:01] maybe John Edison might be uh worthwhile being in there for the conversation on this one thank you [46:08] all right all right um we'll just circle back with the date we'll get instead of next week at the uh [46:14] yeah Mr chair uh we'll speak with Council and get some dates where they're available and line that up and then uh I [46:20] assume that we're good with the other topics for Workshop all right sure I had a couple more sorry that was the only [46:25] the first one but I had talked with staff a little bit about the auction process [46:30] I know from past years as a deputy it seemed like Wiley publicized you knew it was happening it was on scene and there [46:36] was staff from multiple departments that were working on fixing up cars and all that now it sounds like it's uh it's [46:43] kind of been parted out different ones across the county at the very least I'm I'd want a discussion since we got [46:50] multiple auction companies in Wright County how is the auction company picked I did talk with one yesterday we do have [46:58] at least three auction companies based in Wright County to do online and live ones one does online only I asked the [47:06] one hey are you interested you ever been talked to he said yes I'd be interested no I don't think I've been talked to I [47:12] think you know we talk about Economic Development there's economic support too as a board that we if we've got [47:18] in-county services that would apply that we should give people a fair chance I [47:24] see other counties that actually list in a newspaper they were selling Vehicles boats all these things now I know [47:30] there's specialized equipment in talking with administrator mattice that Wright County doesn't have a good place a good [47:37] outlet for some of the big equipment but I that's my uh maybe but uh I think that's definitely a [47:47] topic that we can discuss but I would ask if you'd be interested in letting us move into November giving us time for [47:53] staff to collect all the different processes throughout the county so we can have a better robust conversation I [47:59] feel like between now and next week we won't be able to collect enough data to be able to have a good conversation [48:04] about it as well as the fact that we have a pretty robust uh agenda already for the workshop next week and I don't [48:10] believe that this is an issue that if it waited till the November Workshop that we would have any concerns with it yeah [48:16] I agree I don't know the timing I think we might have just got done with an auction I'm not sure so it's not an [48:22] emergency but just in the best interest of fairness of nothing else for the companies sure but are you okay with uh [48:28] yes ask you to move to November thanks Mr chair [48:33] awesome all right so we'll do that again staff you have any questions about what information you can connect with [48:38] commissioner catchmark and fellow board members Mr chair and members of the board I'd like to actually put this on [48:43] the commissioner project list I was talking Elizabeth Carl's yesterday her projects administrator and we'd like to look at some best practices and see what [48:50] other counties do and try to develop up develop something rather than throwing out some assumptions and what's [48:55] happening now I would rather come and make that work through a commissioner project list and have that come forward [49:01] as a best practices guide for your review rather than a conversation we I've had conversations with what happens [49:07] at Sheriff's Office kind of understand at the highway department and then Public Surplus with Alan so them are the [49:12] three main departments that are going to be auctioning stuff off I mean there are others of course but if we can develop [49:19] through the projects team and a project list that we can develop for Best Practices so that we can present that to you rather than have it just vague [49:26] conversation at a workshop would be I think that's why it's a much better idea and I think what we'll do is uh we'll [49:31] put it on the project system we'll just have like kind of more of a kickoff discussion about it in November yeah so you get the some of your guidance from [49:38] the board in terms of their perspective on it yeah some of your expectations what's up with what you'd like to see sounds great that's fine Mr chair I had [49:45] to start someplace so I think that's great I don't have all the answers but thank you you have any other ones no no [49:51] that covers it sorry to disappoint you no I think you said you had a few more topics so I I thought was plural no he [49:57] already covered them so thank you all right all right now we're gonna Circle back to the uh public hearing we're [50:03] pretty far overdue and but with that we have the public hearing for the local [50:09] option sales tax for the transportation project update in Wright County [50:15] at this time the information was posted and reviewed [50:21] with the updated items that were added per the transportation Committee of the whole which was maybe a month ago I time [50:29] flies is that about right a month ago was that I'm getting the nod yes so with that we will and open up the public [50:36] hearing at this time to head comments regarding the project list for the local [50:41] option sales tax is there anyone here that would like to speak regarding the [50:46] project list for the local options sales tax is there anyone here that would like to [50:52] comment on the project list for the local option sales tax last call would [50:58] anyone here want to comment on the project list for the local option sales tax [51:05] hearing none I will close the public hearing at this time [51:15] Chad yes you want any comments nope just a reminder that out of the committee of the whole meeting we [51:21] um the recommendation from the Transportation committee the whole was to update the list to just clarify that [51:28] addresses all outlying maintenance facilities as opposed to specific locations if we have we can be flexible [51:34] in where land becomes available in locations so so as we've seen before [51:40] usually about every couple years we go through this process of updating the list because uh new some projects fall [51:47] off some new ones come on as as the road system and transportation needs [51:53] of the county are ever fluid so with that at this time I would entertain a motion to improve the updated local [52:02] option uh sales tax Transportation project list so moved motion by [52:08] commissioner Shane second by commissioner Holland any further discussion just Mr chair for [52:13] clarification we do have the resolution supporting that in the packet Perfect all right so uh is there no other [52:20] discussion resolution uh I'll vote i i i resolution passes unanimously thank you [52:28] thank you all right now moving on to the Health and Human Services we actually caught [52:34] ourselves up here relatively quick here the first item is the uh [52:40] consent agenda is there any discussion on the Health and Human Services consent agenda [52:46] otherwise I'll entertain a motion I'll make that motion a second all right motion by commissioner Dietrich second [52:52] by commissioner Holland any further discussion hearing none all in favor say aye aye o [52:58] same sign you can set the agenda approved unanimously uh first time agenda item is [53:04] recognizing HHS employee of the month for October thank you board I'd like to invite Paige [53:10] to join me at the podium [53:19] um I'd like to introduce our employee our October employee of the month is Paige sangren Paige is a public health nurse in a collaborative Health Services [53:26] team Paige joined Ray County in October 20 2021 working primarily with [53:31] traditional family home visiting and recently taking over lead of the 60 plus and healthy Clinic Paige continues this [53:37] strive for excellence every day by demonstrating an extraordinary positive work ethic her nominator States Paige's [53:43] nature is by nature kind considerate and soft-spoken she meets the needs of her clients and co-workers as best she can [53:48] Paige always strives to find the answer to questions the clients needs our top priority and she does not pass the task [53:54] on to someone else if she's able to meet the customer's needs she sees the request from clients perspective and is [54:00] flexible and extremely caring when it comes to meeting those needs in one of these situations a elderly customer who [54:05] is declining in health missed his appointment and was in danger of it being canceled page knew how difficult [54:11] it was for the client to come in that day she was a lead nurse at this clinic and decided to allow the client to keep his appointment Paige's shift was over [54:17] but she stayed and provided the service she sent the other staff home asked the staff she rode with if they were okay to [54:23] wait Pages actions prevented this client from waiting two months until the next available appointment thank you Paige [54:28] and congratulations on being our October 2023 HHS employee of the month nice [54:37] would you like to say anything okay [Laughter] [54:46] thank you Paige for all your hard work and the great work that you do for the citizens of Ray County [54:51] and to keep in the public health mode we will move on to Sarah's presentation if that's okay with the board sounds great [54:58] information update on public plans regarding release of the new covid vaccine [55:06] good morning chair and Commissioners I just have some talking points today no [55:11] slides or anything um so uh you've probably heard in the news that the FDA authorized and updated [55:18] monovalent covid-19 vaccine it's both Pfizer and moderna [55:23] and it's going to be released for the 2023-2024 respiratory season so sort of [55:29] with flu and and when we talk about also RSV the CDC recommendations are anyone six [55:36] months and older received a vaccine um it gets a little bit more technical [55:42] than that but most people should just connect with their provider and they'll help them figure out whether they need one dose or two and all of that [55:50] um obviously we still know that older adults and persons with weakened immune systems are at the greatest risk for [55:57] hospitalization and death even now with covet 19. um and uh and healthy folks can still [56:04] experience severe disease as far as safety the benefits of the [56:09] vaccine continue to outweigh any potential risks and serious reactions to the vaccine continue to be very rare [56:17] um for instance a study has found that the risk of cardiac complications are actually higher with covet than with the [56:23] vaccine uh see um [56:29] you know we know that there are different variants circulating right now um and the the newly newly released [56:36] monovalent vaccine seems to be very effective in preventing disease or at [56:42] least and or and or reducing the severity of the illness of someone who were to contract [56:48] covert 19. and then as far as where to get vaccine [56:53] I think this is the biggest portion for you because I know you might have constituents asking [56:59] um as I mentioned um I think I mentioned this in a previous meeting or at least I did at a [57:04] safe schools meeting we're not in a public health emergency anymore so we do not become the primary vaccinator for [57:09] the community we are really here to fill gaps and provide access to vulnerable populations so that means those that are [57:16] underinsured or uninsured I mean we have specific programs that are funded by the federal government to help us provide [57:22] vaccine to those populations um and and the other population that we tend to work with are those that have [57:28] physical limitations so like homebound folks for instance or folks in long-term care a lot of our long-term care [57:33] facilities have already found Partnerships with pharmacies but we have a few that we work with and then of course we also support the jail in [57:40] partnership with CentraCare um so if you have folks asking for [57:45] instance can they come to the highway department one we have considerable road construction that would make that very difficult [57:51] um but we're those are not the plans that we have anymore people should be seeing their primary providers [57:56] um they can access vaccine at pharmacies all we've already contacted all of our providers we know that they are [58:02] providing vaccine only appointments so they won't have to pay an office visit if they ask for a vaccine only [58:08] appointment um and all that can be handled very easily for them their insurance company should be covering it because it's part [58:15] of the Affordable Care Act and then we're working through a process we anticipate [58:21] um that will be able at least for our um our vaccine for children's program that [58:28] we will get our full reimbursement we're not exactly sure about Medicare but I would imagine we'll also get our full reimbursement because a single dose is [58:34] about 130 dollars which is pricey for comparison we usually pay about forty dollars for a [58:41] flu vaccine and then we also get administrative costs so again I would there are websites [58:48] there's um www.vaccines.gov that folks can go to to [58:53] and we are making sure we send information so that all of those sites are up to [58:59] date so people can find vaccine locations can I answer any questions Mr chair yes just a quick question [59:06] um are you required to give a informed consent fact sheet that weighs the side effects with the benefits and that's [59:12] always with all vaccines yeah I just assume that but I just wanted to make sure yeah thank you [59:20] thank you thank you Sarah all right director's comments yes I don't have an exhaustive list but I have [59:26] a decent list today um first of all I'd like to um bring forward a proclamation I don't [59:34] believe it's in your packet because we're still waiting from the state to tell us what the actual day of the Proclamation will take effect however [59:41] October has historically been County and tribal Financial worker and k-said day so I would ask and I'll just read one [59:48] paragraph from that and that's that it is important to recognize a valuable services county and tribal Financial [59:54] workers and case aides provide for minnesotans by delivering culturally responsive case management and [1:00:00] accessible Community Services with a person's centered focus our financial workers are actually [1:00:06] speaking about um um you know job descriptions and things like that we their eligibility Specialists here in Wright County so our [1:00:12] eligibility specialist in case AIDS are being recognized in October and I would ask that the board moved that we [1:00:18] recognize October as Financial worker in case Aid month [1:00:23] and we'll follow up with the date when we have it very good at this time I would entertain emotion [1:00:30] I'll make that motion all right motion by commissioner Dietrich second by commissioner Holland to declare October [1:00:36] as Financial worker uh month in Wright County thank you we do have some special [1:00:41] things planned for them up on second floor so it's always a fun time [1:00:47] um also I'd like to take a vote on oh I'm sorry we want to formalize it and please do [1:00:53] inform us as to anything that you have up there on the second floor because I definitely would like to stop in and [1:00:58] congratulate the hard work especially in the last year plus it's been a challenge like no other for them it has all right [1:01:06] with that resolution commissioner Holland aye aye aye aye resolution passes unanimously thank you [1:01:13] board um I'd also since Sarah was just up here would like to recognize [1:01:18] um that Sarah has been reappointed to the opioid this is one of the acronyms I'm only going to say the whole name [1:01:25] once opioid epidemic response advisory Council orac um Sarah was chosen again I believe it [1:01:32] still holds true that she's the only County representative on this um fairly prestigious board that the governor set [1:01:37] up a few years ago in response to the opioid um [1:01:43] um button set that was coming to the county and how to distribute those funds among other things so Jody harpstead has [1:01:48] sent me a letter reappointing Sarah to that orac board and I believe it's through 2026. [1:01:57] we had a conversation really it's a heavy lip so it does a great job and she does a great job representing the rest [1:02:03] of the counties in Minnesota in her role chairman veterans I just uh I just went [1:02:08] to the shack retreat in Wilmer and I have to say every time I'm with other public health people and Commissioners [1:02:16] Sarah's just really like our Ace in the hall everybody really admires her and [1:02:21] and looks to her and always tells me how lucky Wright County is to have her so I [1:02:27] just want to recognize her for all the hard work she does thank you [1:02:33] thank you Sarah I was just looking behind me to see if we have Tamara tigolo here oh she is [1:02:38] here Tamara if you'd like to come forward I just want to let the board know that um she is being recognized by [1:02:44] the child as a child welfare worker um this says this week and she's been a [1:02:49] long time long-standing child social worker in our area and it's great that she was being she's being recognized on [1:02:54] a Statewide level as a child welfare worker would you like to say anything Cameron sure I'd love to [1:03:01] good morning I've been here it will be 30 years next April so I'm one of the [1:03:07] old-timers and the thing that has changed the most is technology when I started we used to write out case notes [1:03:14] which was fascinating and then I had to learn how to use a mouse and the computer yeah [1:03:20] yeah it was pretty good and then we had these big maps of Wright County when we go on home visits and we would be like [1:03:28] pulling over and looking and yeah so now it's just amazing the technology so [1:03:35] yeah it's been a great place to work I live in Delano so you are my commissioner so [1:03:42] you're welcome anytime in the situation room if you have anything oh but really seriously I love it thank you Tamara I [1:03:50] would like to just mention um Tamara's been our I think for a long time you were our [1:03:56] what was the teammate yep teen parent social worker one time at a meeting I introduced myself as a teen parent and [1:04:02] everybody's like I don't think so just to that end it's kind of amazing you talk about the changes in social [1:04:08] work like um we have far fewer teen parents now than we did you know many years ago so when you look at some of [1:04:14] the things that the and I would say part of it is our County involvement and you know just societally and things like that but I mean we used to have a [1:04:21] full-time case so at a teen parents we don't have that anymore so we've moved hammer on to other great things to work [1:04:27] with in their County Citizens yeah we had 40 at Mike Eastland at one point in the public health we would go out on [1:04:34] visits they're they're amazing so yeah so things do get better sometimes so [1:04:40] this is one of those I would say a gold star area thank you Tamara congratulations thanks congratulations [1:04:46] [Applause] foreign [1:04:52] I also wanted to bring to the board's attention um that Trailblazer approached HHS [1:04:59] management a few weeks ago and asked whether they and I know two of our commissioners sits on the Trailblazer [1:05:04] board um and stay talked with us and said what we'd like to do is provide a promotion to [1:05:10] um to Wright County for the Health and Human Services clients that you see for free [1:05:16] Trailblazer rights when there's not another financial means for them to obtain that for the board's um you know [1:05:23] for one of the things that we do in HHS is that we do have Trailblazer tokens that we purchase at the going rate for [1:05:28] Trailblazer tokens and we will give those to clients when they come in and they don't have another way to make [1:05:33] appointments and things like that so in this case they came forward they're asking that we we provide this [1:05:41] opportunity to clients when they present and there's no other financial means it will save the county some dollars and [1:05:46] not providing those Trailblazer tokens it doesn't replace things like you know medical appointments because of their [1:05:52] medical assistance they would have other means of getting to those appointments so this is an opportunity Community for [1:05:57] our clients to take advantage of the Trailblazer system to to be [1:06:03] transported for no cost to the county it's not a no cost it's a no charge and [1:06:09] that's Gary Ludwig the CEO is very clear that there is still a cost to providing these rights but there's no charge to [1:06:15] our clients right now so this is something I'm not sure how far off we just started it in the last week or so [1:06:21] it took a little bit to figure out how this was all going to work at this point what we're doing is when we talk with [1:06:26] somebody one of our workers talk with somebody that they feel doesn't have a good option for other Transportation [1:06:33] we'll provide that name to Trailblazer then when that person calls them they will look at their list so our goal is [1:06:39] not to have it be a heavy administrative burden on our HHS staff so I think we've avoided that so we'll see where it all [1:06:46] goes I believe they'll be taking keeping some statistics on this promotion [1:06:51] all right so any other comments Jamie how long will that program is it a [1:06:57] pilot kind of looking at a time well I would say right now the proposal is to go through the end of the year then I [1:07:03] think we'll both probably maybe November December will maybe um review it to see how it's going for both us and for [1:07:09] Trailblazer um you know sometimes like it is difficult sometimes a Trailblazer but [1:07:15] they're able to provide for clients like if a customer is getting out of jail [1:07:20] let's say that day and we give them tokens well oftentimes Trailblazer needs 24-hour notice so you know those kinds [1:07:26] of things so there are still gaps in service I wouldn't say this is going to mean that there's no Transportation gaps there's still things out there that are [1:07:32] going to be difficult to find Transportation but I think it is an opportunity for Trailblazer to get a [1:07:38] better handle on what HHS and the people that we turn away because we don't have opportunities one of our goals for them [1:07:44] would be to maybe determine you know of the rights that we're sending over that way how many can they [1:07:50] actually provide and how many can't they provide you know is this an opportunity for them to look at their the work that [1:07:55] they do to see if there's opportunities to provide more trans different Transportation based on the needs so this is largely a push by MnDOT to [1:08:03] leverage Health and Human Services rides and try right now they're trying to look [1:08:08] at the data that they have and then the actual data that that we have by actually [1:08:14] facilitating the rides and seeing if that data actually correlates and then how feasible it [1:08:21] would be to your point of actually getting the people where they need to go at the times they need to be there and [1:08:26] whether we how much of those we actually could facilitate so this is kind of one of those steps in the and we'll probably [1:08:32] be doing it uh incrementally over time to and depending on how large or [1:08:39] unlarged it is it could continue shorter or longer so and I would say I think [1:08:44] that that's maybe been a mischaracterization I think that this was you know government and like the Department of Transportation is pointing [1:08:51] at OHS has all these funds like almost like this unlimited pad of funding for transportation that's not the case and a [1:08:57] lot of the transportation needs we have are currently being met by you know waiver you know waiver right you know [1:09:03] medical assistance those kinds of things so I think while there's a lot of funding for HHS or Transportation the funding available [1:09:09] for something like this is probably much smaller than what um some of the transportation providers [1:09:14] have been led to believe and that's where they're trying to do an education that there's a certain amount [1:09:19] of people that are on like pmaps that would be excluded from from using these rides because that is done through their [1:09:25] pmap provider who determines where those medical rides would be and a lot of the [1:09:31] rights don't occur in in Wright County or if somebody needs to go to the veterans administration or somebody we have our new urgent you know Mental [1:09:37] Health Center in Saint Cloud well you know that they wouldn't be able to be transported to across counties necessarily and that's where we also had [1:09:44] a lot of discussion at the Trailblazer board because uh a large amount of our population is either going to Hennepin [1:09:50] our Stearns County which are the two major medical campuses near us and we don't we're not able within our public [1:09:57] transportation system to get them to either one of those facilities without having to partner with another uh public [1:10:05] transportation system and then being able to get them to the appointment and back within a business day is almost [1:10:14] unfeasible so that's why they'll right now they'll probably continue to use non-emergency [1:10:21] transportation through the private Market because of the where the public transportation lines [1:10:28] are drawn in our area if there was a major medical campus in Wright County similar to CentraCare or North Memorial [1:10:34] that probably would be a different case but we don't have a major medical campus in the county so therefore uh we'll not [1:10:42] be able to actualize a lot of those Health and Human Services rights at least in the short term however I may introduce some individuals [1:10:48] that hadn't used Trailblazer before to the you know two Trailblazers so um so yes we're kind of just in the [1:10:54] exploratory phase right now um I also wanted to make bring your attention to [1:11:00] um so adult mental health initiative we're part of a Consortium with um the [1:11:05] other 7w partners which is um Stearns Wright Benton and Sherburne and it was [1:11:11] just really unfortunate this year and the only reason I'm going to bring this forward is because there might be some communication that might have Wright [1:11:16] County listed on it as to the to DHS or to commissioner Jody harp said about our [1:11:22] dissatisfaction with how this has worked out so earlier this year DHS provided [1:11:27] the opportunity for the adult mental health initiative to apply for Mental Health Federal block dollar Grant [1:11:33] dollars Federal block grant dollars and we receive them so we Minnesota received [1:11:39] them we were planning to use this funding toward our Outreach position and efforts since the Community Support Program bending is almost as used up for [1:11:45] the year so those fund that funding was split between all the 19 amhi groups over the over Minnesota and over the [1:11:52] course of three phases counties provided DHS with the information that we needed [1:11:58] to get the contracts in place that these dollars could then go and support those contracts DHS is has yet to execute the [1:12:05] contracts necessary for us to utilize our first phase of funding and have acknowledged that it's unlikely that [1:12:10] they will be completed so basically we're foregoing the first 157 000 that would have been coming to our four [1:12:16] County area to support our mentally ill people that we share across [1:12:21] the four counties so it's just a kind of an unfortunate situation we feel like we did what we needed to do the state was [1:12:28] allocated these dollars we just can't take advantage of them because the contracts aren't executed Timely [1:12:34] so I believe there might be some communication going to Jody about where the counties are at with this and that if that's the case that U.S [1:12:40] Commissioners should be aware of it so and that I'm assuming that you're all in support of a letter or some other [1:12:45] communication about this thank you thanks also um on a happier [1:12:53] note um we were we were awarded seventy thousand dollars to our it's through [1:13:00] Public Health but actually our social service supervisor Diane Diane [1:13:05] um wrote the grant um so we received seventy thousand dollars I'm sorry we receive seventy thousand dollars from [1:13:12] and I'm just trying to look here is it you care Medica sorry Medica so this is in [1:13:20] addition to the other Grant dollars that we were awarded previously and at this point and my understanding is correct we [1:13:25] have about 220 000 that can now support that corresponder program that the county approved the board approved as in [1:13:31] our budget session and actually moved it up to September and I really do want to tell Diane how much I appreciate the [1:13:37] work she's put on this because she really has been very forthcoming in having grants coming our way for this [1:13:42] important program so um this was the one that we were waiting on and we did get the approval for those funding that funding in case you're [1:13:48] going to ask I do believe that um we can use it this year once we get things kind of worked out so we don't need to save [1:13:55] it for next year so because I know there's some question about how the funding would work in the in so far that the county [1:14:01] approved starting the program in September this year versus January well that's great that'll get us uh at [1:14:08] least close to about 18 months possibly a little bit more of a head start on [1:14:13] this program of funding so and I was remiss because UCare also provided us fifty thousand dollars on top of the [1:14:20] Medica so thank you you care as well yeah thanks Diane and that's all I have for today [1:14:27] thank you Jamie all right uh moving on here we'll move to the items for consideration back [1:14:35] there uh we are now on to the committee recommendations we had one Committee of recommendations to approve the [1:14:41] recommendations from the September 18th Committee of the whole regarding the ARP uh there was a list of different [1:14:47] recommendations on there uh you can read them if the board members would like otherwise I will entertain a motion to [1:14:53] approve those recommendations so moved all right motion by commissioner Dietrich second by commissioner Holland [1:14:59] to approve the recommendations from the September 18th ARP committee or the committee of the whole regarding arp [1:15:07] and no discussion all in favor say aye aye oh same sign and is great I know that the one big [1:15:14] thing that uh Township allocation will be huge in helping them with a number of [1:15:19] their surface Transportation projects uh I'm excited to be able to [1:15:24] communicate with my townships as well as I'm sure a number of you will as well all right [1:15:30] uh next is the advisory committee updates I would ask that we keep it relatively short here because we have [1:15:37] another meeting here that starts in about less than 50 or about 15 minutes and I want to make sure everybody has a [1:15:42] five minutes so we can to get their things together so we can start on time in there [1:15:48] so uh administrator Kelly I will be brief uh we did have a great meeting with the city administrators and [1:15:56] County Administration staff on the 21st discussing uh County Business and having a good discussion about area issues I [1:16:04] wanted to uh welcome Kelly Kozlowski to Administration I hope you've all had the chance to meet started with us on the [1:16:10] 26th um safe schools on the 27th went out uh good to meet with that group I was there [1:16:16] to talk about our upcoming career day that we have on the November 9th date or [1:16:22] 8th date a lot of interest thus far in that being the first of the three of those career days [1:16:27] and uh 28th was a busy day we had uh supervisor training and updates on the [1:16:33] legislative session then of course it was great serving at the pork chop lunch that day so always enjoy that day nice [1:16:39] to meet with staff and get their input on things so that's all I have Mr chair all right [1:16:45] thank you administer Kelly commissioner ketchmark thank you Mr chair I had attended an emergency [1:16:50] services board meeting uh attended Fair appreciation get together at weekos [1:16:56] there was about 200 people there which is the most they've ever had that was a good event a fair board meeting last [1:17:02] night and mayor's meeting some of us attended a week or two ago that's all at the fair [1:17:10] board we just talked about the Erp money that we're going to vote on today for them and that got approved so that is [1:17:17] appreciated thank you Mr chair I wanted to have a little bit [1:17:22] better um just being able to share my DC experience and all the legislators I got [1:17:29] to meet with so I guess I'd like to kind of push that down the way being that I had some health issues last week when I [1:17:35] returned so that I can share exactly what was what took place [1:17:41] but it was a really really really good time to be there this might be something [1:17:48] we can discuss too maybe moving some of these advisory updates to the workshops and just kind of being able to carve out [1:17:53] maybe 15-20 minutes at the beginning and being able to do that versus doing them at the [1:17:58] end of the maybe just shorten this up here just things that are more time sensitive and then doing more of a [1:18:04] detailed discussion at the workshops especially things like this thank you [1:18:10] uh I'll keep it short here Trailblazer meeting the other last week uh ridership [1:18:15] is up again so that is good we are continuing to increase our ridership we could probably grow it exponentially we [1:18:22] have a lot of demand but the shortage of being able to get buses and drivers makes uh growth challenging [1:18:30] so we also uh Wright County Economic Development partnership met Friday last week we had a good discussion about the [1:18:37] eda's uh strategic goals and how the Wright County Economic Development [1:18:43] partnership can help facilitate them so they are ready to go with it and Jolene [1:18:50] is very excited to be able to partner with us on that so I think we're going to be able to accomplish some good things and thank you for the newsletter [1:18:59] it's um uh attended the Excel Energy breakfast as you guys did and got a lot [1:19:06] of good information from that and then uh spend two days in Wilmer last week at [1:19:12] the shack Retreat um like I said before the the most disappointing part is that's when the [1:19:18] state rolls out the funding of what all the counties are going to get and they are [1:19:25] way behind so you could tell the very uh frustrated at Public Health people that [1:19:32] went there for that reason and they said they blamed it a new staff so they [1:19:37] couldn't get that information on so but it was a really very good uh good [1:19:42] conference all right I was told I had to share more information at the end you're fine some [1:19:50] constituents so I I actually put some stuff together and I like I get the most a lot of time since you guys were quick [1:19:57] um one comment on the XL Energy breakfast um just to learn about the advanced [1:20:03] technology for nuclear going on also um that the circle plant just for clarification I thought that was [1:20:10] important it's not going to be mothballed it's going to they're still be using it um for the capacitator to even out the [1:20:17] energy flow so there's no spikes I didn't know that I you know the the concept of shutting down the coal plant [1:20:24] it won't be running coal at some point but um so that that was really there's really a lot of good information that [1:20:30] was shared at that meeting so I'm glad um that most of us could attend that I [1:20:36] also um attended our Central Minnesota emergency medical services meeting there are eight [1:20:42] regions created that were created by the state that provide the medical the [1:20:48] training for emergency medical services to our police that fire are um even [1:20:53] through schools ambulance services um Sheriff's departments so it's it's it's [1:20:59] 11 counties for the central region and just for history's sake it was first [1:21:04] funded um 20 plus years ago with state seat belt dollars which has thank [1:21:10] goodness gone way down um but the state has failed to kind of put increased or adequate funding on an [1:21:18] annual basis in a budget line um and so they're always struggling for funds they employ currently just one [1:21:24] coordinator per region so we have one coordinator serving 11 counties in all [1:21:31] of those you know Emergency Medical Services in there and they provide [1:21:36] equipment they provide training and they also make sure I get all this right [1:21:41] um they also do the critical incident debriefing when there's been a big [1:21:48] incident they are the ones that come in volunteer professionals to come in and [1:21:54] assist in those situations which has been found to be very very very helpful [1:21:59] so um and in that piece at the end with the funding I just want to say we had state legislators there so that we could [1:22:05] Lobby them and enter so that they can understand we need we just need a consistent source of funding in essence [1:22:11] if a grant you know you can't use grant money for the coordinator position she might not have a job at the end of [1:22:18] the year if the funding isn't there from the state so um it's it's just really important that was a big big item that [1:22:24] we discussed with our with the legislators that were present um also moving to I did attend [1:22:31] um the strip till field day down in Waverly at a farm last week that was put [1:22:37] on by Wright County Soil and Water U of M extension the EPA and Centra soda it was a well-attended event I wasn't able [1:22:44] to stay for dinner but they had a an equipment demonstration lots of education on soil Health water quality [1:22:51] and crop yield and you know how those things can work together that we can do things you know keep improving in that [1:22:58] area and so I was really glad to be able to attend that our Great River Regional [1:23:04] Board of Trustees met last week as well I'm sure you guys are probably aware of [1:23:10] the cultural debate going on with the content of books in in school libraries or public libraries [1:23:15] um we're on the board we get the feedback we get the comments that are submitted to the library for our review [1:23:22] and then we have public comment time period so um so in response to that uh the the [1:23:28] board decided to have a subcommittee of um content review subcommittee and they're [1:23:36] they're reviewing kind of our policy on what the criteria is to to curate the collection of books and materials in the [1:23:43] library um just kind of the policy and then what happens if there's um an appeal if [1:23:48] something books might not be allowed to be in the library someone requests it or someone challenges a book that is [1:23:55] currently there so there's two kind of avenues there so then we're just looking at those policies and how to address [1:24:00] some of those concerns um and that we will be having a workshop [1:24:05] October 10th at that meeting it will it will replace a regular trustee meeting [1:24:10] it'll be a workshop so the public is welcome to attend um they won't be able to have public [1:24:15] comment during a workshop or input during the workshop but they can be there to to listen so [1:24:22] um let me see Wright County Community Action is going through a um [1:24:28] updates to their strategic plan and so I got to participate in a pre-planning [1:24:33] phone Zoom kind of uh discussion moving [1:24:38] forward and I'm looking forward to that they do some really great things when you look at all of all of what Wright [1:24:43] County Community Action does I recommend everyone go on their website and just look at all of the things that they [1:24:49] provide um as a non-profit to Wright County and they are our community action designated [1:24:56] organization so we do work well hand in hand with them and I also was appointed [1:25:01] to the finance committee um for that board and then I also wanted to say the [1:25:08] um our Midwest Regional foreign crime lab received a award I'm just going to [1:25:15] read this so I get it right um the American society crime laboratory [1:25:21] directors recognize the Midwest Regional forensic laboratory our crime are collaborated crime lab for the fourth [1:25:29] consecutive year as a project foresight Maximus Award winner the Maximus award [1:25:36] is given to the top 15 performance performing forensics science Laboratories in the world [1:25:42] the 2023 top performers are Laboratories operating at 90 or better of peak [1:25:48] efficiency this year the Midwest Regional forensic lab was the only laboratory in the state of Minnesota to [1:25:54] receive this award so I just want to thank all the previous [1:26:00] Commissioners and sheriffs that that initially started this this crime lab and working together [1:26:07] um to have a very it's a it's a big huge impact on our Public Safety [1:26:12] um it's an investment but they do a great job and I just wanted to give you that feedback that this is you know [1:26:18] something I have positive moves forward into the future and continues to be supported well [1:26:24] thank you commissioner Dietrich for those uh updates and I think uh just I'm [1:26:29] going to carve out going forward on the beginning of every Workshop uh 15 to 20 [1:26:34] minutes so we can get a much more robust advisory updates and we'll start that off uh right after uh scheduled [1:26:42] meetings at the start of the meeting so we'll do it on the front end because I feel more often than not our advisory committee updates uh get shortened or [1:26:49] get missed or don't get the attention that they should so I think if we have are able to have a much more robust [1:26:55] conversation at the front end of our workshops it would bring it much better justification so if there's if [1:27:01] everybody's good with that I think that's a practice we're gonna try out for a while sure all right if no other [1:27:07] business is to come forward we'll adjourn the County board meeting at 10 24. thank you okay