[0:46] all right 9:00 am on Tuesday December 19th [0:51] we'll call the Ray County Board of Commissioners to order we'll begin with the Pledge of [0:57] Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the fled of the United States of America and [1:02] to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with [1:07] liberty and justice for [1:12] all it's nice to see uh a good number of people in here as we conclude 2023 with [1:18] the last County board meeting of the year uh we'll begin with the approval of the minutes we have four sets of minutes [1:26] from 12:14 1212 127 and 12 seven uh legislative meeting we can approve them [1:33] individually or collectively I will entertain Corrections or a motion Mr [1:38] chair I have just a couple admissions for two of the meetings the first one is [1:44] the evening budget meeting on 127 truth or taxation under the speaker that [1:52] identified himself as Peter but I guess he signed in as somebody else from French Lake Township but in response to [1:58] his complaint about the response of Sheriff's Office and fire departments to a particular incident I'd like added [2:05] catchmark referred them to the Sheriff's Office and the local fire departments to discuss the use of resources at a [2:11] particular incident just so that got responded to and then the next one would [2:16] be the County Board minutes from 1212 to add a response on to [2:23] administrator Kelly's reply and I talked to him about this per the agreement with the CDC the County Board can raise the [2:30] rate by $4 a square foot and the CDC can challenge this rate increase if they [2:36] choose just to add that the minute taker has those Corrections if that's acceptable to the board and if there [2:42] aren't any others those statements were made and I will affirm that so I have no problem with it I can make a motion then [2:49] to approve the meeting minutes for the four listed a through D with those two [2:56] changes all right we have a motion by commissioner catchmark to approve the minutes for from 1214 1212 127 and 127 [3:03] secondary meeting uh with amendments included second second by commissioner [3:08] Shane any further discussion hearing none all in favor say I I post same [3:14] sign minutes are approved unanimously moving on to the agenda today do anyone have anything uh to add or remove or [3:23] corrections to the agenda Mr chair yes I have an addition I'd like to add an item [3:28] I believe would be for cons consideration call it A4 from constituent feedback and board members [3:34] I'd like to talk about the fairness of assessed benefits to County ditches and [3:41] we have our lobbyist here to speak about given this initiative to our legislators [3:47] and or the lobbyist so items for consideration A4 right and that's [3:53] regarding uh ditch assess benefits to the different [3:58] types of land so is this uh looking at adding it to the scope of our of our [4:03] lobbying efforts yes then it be just an item for the discussion with uh Ed to [4:10] item uh uh A1 we'll just add that to that [4:15] approval of that contract because it would be something before we approved that proposal we'd want to uh modify [4:21] that scope and add that to it and we'd approve it at that time okay good timing are you good with that I am okay so with [4:28] that uh I'll make a motion then to approve the agenda with that one addition Mr chair [4:34] okay we have a motion by commissioner catchmark uh do have a second second second by commissioner Holland any [4:40] further discussion hearing none all in favor say I I pose same [4:45] sign County board agenda is approved as presented today's consent agenda would anyone like to remove anything from [4:51] today's consent agenda for further discussion Mr chair yes I do have two items just um just for clarification one [4:58] is B s with the um uh General ditch accounts and then um also D1 just for [5:07] some clarification on both of those all right perfect commissioner Dietrich all right we with that do I [5:14] have a motion to approve the remaining items on the agenda I'll make that motion all right we have a motion by [5:20] commissioner catchmark second second by commissioner Dietrich any further comments hearing none all in favor say I [5:28] I post same sign consent agenda approved unanimously with the items B7 and D1 [5:33] removed uh first item for discussion would be item B7 Mr shair I just wanted some clarity [5:40] on that and um Lindy is up here to to just give me a couple sentences on that [5:47] good morning Mr chair board um the reason for this adjustment that is on [5:53] the agenda today is to do an accounting transaction at 12 31 which does get [6:00] reversed on January 1st it is for reporting to meet our reporting requirements that we cannot present [6:07] negative cash balances in our financial statements the effect of this is a [6:13] journal entry to eliminate the negative cash balance and what we do is we record a loan from the County's general fund to [6:21] these ditch funds all right all right thank you [6:27] thank you that's that's all the clearity I needed thank you much all right any other questions uh right with that I'll [6:34] entertain a motion to uh approve this uh transfer so moved all right second [6:41] motion by commissioner Shane second by commissioner Holland any further discussion hearing none all in favor say [6:47] I I I oppose same sign all right the transfers approved unanimously uh item [6:54] D1 uh Planning Commission and uh board appointments thank you Mr chair just a [6:59] clarification on that I would like to discuss um just the difference between the different appointment types between [7:06] advisory boards and the district appointments um per our last uh Workshop [7:11] discussion I just would like to add it to a future Workshop discussion just for Clarity on my part okay so uh we can [7:20] definitely uh make that a part of the workshop agenda items for January uh administrator Kelly you're taking I [7:26] think cious notes over there yes uh chair vet I did have the opportunity to [7:31] speak with commissioner Dedrick this morning on this one and we had kind of talked about adding it to the workshop in January um challenge being that the [7:39] appointments do need to take place so yeah I I would encourage board members [7:44] uh to uh make these current appointments and I know I have spoke with my [7:50] appointment that I have on there and am comfortable with the reappointment of this individual under the Planning [7:55] Commission I I believe some of the other Commissioners have with you've spoken with yours as well okay yeah I'm not I'm [8:02] not delaying that I just want that clarification that we can discuss in the future uh Workshop Mr chair yes and I [8:09] appreciate the question from commissioner dedri because this has flip-flo back and forth and it's good to [8:16] clear it up if if we're not clear do you have any kind of inkling that we could consider like the scope of what you're [8:22] wanting to clarify briefly for the I think I think um truly I think the [8:27] discussion we had was really about um you know offering a little more transparency when board positions are [8:33] open open and then ALS and whether it's my assumption was that it was uh for all [8:38] appointed positions um not just advisory or um just the process itself maybe um [8:45] more clear um working with department heads when it comes up before it's on the agenda um that type of thing so just [8:52] just Clarity and maybe it just needs to be written down um to what we it wasn't real C clear in the minutes from the [8:57] past Workshop um um on what we actually agreed um when it came to which one the [9:04] district appointments or The Advisory Board appointments um or if it was the same I assumed it was the same process [9:11] where we would you know post it more uh push it out transparently on our Facebook and our press releases um we'd [9:18] get a copy as well and and send it out to our townships um and and I'm not saying that process hasn't doesn't [9:23] happen it's just um I think being more clear if it's for both um of those type [9:30] of appointed positions right so I think for administrator Kelly could lay out the options we have for marketing these [9:36] spots paid marketing versus free uh all count papers are just the [9:42] ones in those affected districts if we had that laid out then we'd have a better idea how wide do we want this [9:48] scope to be to post these spots which I've been in favor of U since I got in [9:54] here so I appreciate that thank you for your interest yep okay right well we'll [9:59] have a good discussion on that in January I think that's what the 9th it would be the nth y Workshop all right [10:05] thank you thank you commissioner dri all right with that I'll entertain a motion to make the appointments as presented [10:10] I'll make that motion all right motion by commissioner Holland second second by commissioner Dietrick any further [10:16] discussion hearing none all in favor say I I post same sign motion passes [10:23] unanimously all right timed agenda 1A administrator Kelly I believe Shane's [10:30] here in the room as well yes indeed uh board uh you may recognize Shane from [10:35] flarity and Hood as you recall um they have been uh working on our behalf with some legislative issues over the past uh [10:42] I believe it's five years now um given the contract is expiring at the end of the year wanted to make sure that a new [10:48] proposal for the upcoming year came before you uh and Shane was generous enough to uh come here for any questions [10:55] you may have so um have included him on our legislative meetings that we've had up to this point so thought it would be [11:00] good to uh present in front of the board so with that I'll turn it over to you Shane yes well thank you uh board glad [11:08] to be here today always happy to to uh uh come out here and uh enjoy even more [11:15] coming out to this building has been fun to watch the process of it uh um uh the [11:21] relocation and and a new setting that uh that you guys are in but um so I think [11:27] what I'll do is uh give you a very quick uh kind of legislative preview a little of what we [11:35] expect and then we can talk about the uh the agreement that's in front of you and then I I've gather uh from our in [11:41] introductory comments that we might have some questions or even some new issues to kind of flag and and make sure our uh [11:46] contemplated as we look at the the scope of the agreement so um I I think uh this [11:52] is going to start in a very obvious statement is this 2023 session was about [11:58] as busy about as active uh as the legislature has ever been uh as you all [12:04] know came into the legislative session with the state sitting on a a budget surplus general fund Surplus over $17 [12:12] billion and they spent every bit of that and then some uh and there is some money [12:17] left on the bottom line uh but uh really that's only because along the way they [12:23] raise some taxes raise some fees to pay for for projects to um fund some of the the things that they pass this this past [12:29] session as well so um what does that mean for for 2024 well there's a lot of [12:36] uh frankly we'll call them uh leftovers or even fix it items uh that we're going [12:41] to see bleed into 2024 and that's uh some of that I think is uh intended some of it's unintended uh when I say [12:48] intended there are some of these pieces of legislation that were set up more as you know a part one passed in 2023 or [12:56] even a study to evaluate something that we might address a little deeper in 2024 [13:01] some of them are frankly just mistakes uh you know some were um the uh uh for [13:07] example there was already one issue flagged in the tax bill that if it's not corrected uh it was more related to an [13:12] income tax issue if it's not corrected could cost the state some money in a couple years um there's going to be some [13:17] fixed item some true fixed items that they'll have to correct along the way and uh as we're looking at some of the [13:25] major major initiatives then some of them that you know you care about deeply because they impact the county from uh [13:32] an enforcement standpoint and with that we might talk about cannabis might talk about some of the other labor and [13:37] employment uh requirements and and standards they put into law well there's also just going to be adding some meat [13:44] to the bone on on what do some of these things mean uh what are some of the things the questions that weren't answered in the the uh initial bill that [13:52] put some of these things in place that they're going to have to be clarifying and like I said there is some money on [13:58] the bottom line what the November forecast that just came out I'm sure you saw some headlines uh and those [14:04] headlines were very I guess we'll call them mixed or tepid uh because what they said was we still have a surplus was [14:12] nowhere near what we had in the past and even if we don't do anything it's going to go away [14:19] uh so what what the is kind of between the lines there under the hood a little bit is in the current bium the state is [14:26] sitting on a a little bit of a surplus money that's already sitting in the state's coffers uh but if you look at [14:32] the the the uh bium thereafter uh the state that that dwindles down to about [14:39] just about nothing I I think uh uh you know what um uh the revenue commissioner [14:45] Paul marquart kind of put it is if you look at those outb enums it does show a [14:50] positive balance doesn't show a deficit but the positive balance that they're forecasting it's in the tens of millions [14:57] it's uh you know somewhere in the uh 10 to 70 million is kind of what they're they're uh estimating which in in state [15:04] terms in the context of a billions and billions of dollars budget is kind of Pocket Change it's a little scary what [15:10] it could mean for the the uh State's budget and those those future vums but they do have some money to spend this [15:17] year uh now this is a little bit of a cynical comment but because it's an election year I think they're going to [15:22] spend it and they still have priorities that include spending uh one of those two [15:28] though is that there will be a lot of focus on a bonding Bill a capital investment package um you know one of [15:34] the things that I know the the county has been working on with some local Partners here uh commissioner Holland we [15:40] were on the house bonding tour when they came out to the right tech center uh right tech center has requested some [15:46] some funding for for their facility uh to upgrade that I know the County shares that as a as a priority supports their [15:52] their efforts in that um and so you know I think the positive uh maybe positive [15:59] takeaway from that is that there will be opportunities for projects like that uh but you know really any spending they do [16:06] this year if they're uh being responsible about it it'll be one time spending they'll they do have some room [16:12] to put some more money into oneoff infrastructure and spending projects but anything ongoing committing the state to [16:18] any more ongoing obligations boy that's going to be tough not just because of the budget but because we've also got an [16:24] election around the corner and uh they're already heing about a a lot of that um and I think you're going to hear [16:32] some already uh and uh critics of uh you [16:38] know what a lot of what was done last year I think already saying don't do any spending this year you already spent it [16:44] all we're showing forecasts you know those are forecasts there's a lot of uncertainty in those why are we going to [16:51] do any additional spending here and risk the state's budgetary future when we know some of these things are going to [16:57] start to kick in and they do do obligate the state in a in a lot of ways uh we talk about paid family leave uh some of [17:04] those other things which you know it's even setting aside for a second the politics of any of that or how you feel [17:09] about any of it one thing that everybody agrees on is that the state through deed is going to have to add hundreds of [17:15] employees just to administer that program uh so that's something that's going to obligate the state for quite a [17:20] while and have a big uh impact on their coffers um and I think you know a number [17:27] of opinions on how even those forecasts are or very pretty widely so um so [17:34] that's a lot of the uh broader Dynamics um now coming out of this session I I [17:41] think I I each of you might differ in how you feel about individual things that they they did at the legislature [17:48] this year and the fact is they did a lot uh some of it I I think because they had [17:53] so much money to sprinkle around it was easy to put a lot a little bit of money in a lot of buckets some of the those I [17:58] think we liked corridors of Commerce was one of them uh that corridors of Commerce [18:03] program uh was one that was uh you know frankly complicated for a number of [18:09] years uh you know I94 had benefited greatly from it in the past projects around the state had benefited from it [18:15] but a lot of uncertainty around where the project selection criteria would land a lot of discussion about that I [18:22] know that we kind of even last minute a little bit hopped into representative torqulon's office uh because he was one [18:28] of the Representatives who was carrying some of the legislation to change those scoring criteria um and I I think for [18:35] the most part at least the initial round was a positive outcome by they I what in [18:41] short I corridors of Commerce if you really want to get into it any of this stuff can take an hour to talk about the [18:46] history but the very short version of it was uh the current criteria were still kind of working for places like I94 had [18:55] really stopped working though for Rural Minnesota I think was the contention so I had lost some of the Statewide [19:01] political support and the challenge was how do you correct that how do you kind of slice the pie in more ways without [19:08] taking too much of the pie away from any of these projects uh the solution that they came up with uh so far is working [19:16] okay uh they went through a project selection round right after session under the new criteria um I94 uh still [19:23] got $78 million of that but also some projects up near evth and elely on the Iron Range got project so if we're [19:30] getting money to the Iron Range if we're getting it up you know four hours away from the metro area I think we've [19:35] corrected and we're still getting money to I94 and some in the metro area I think we're doing okay on Geographic [19:41] balance at least for the moment so I I know that was even an outcome some of us were nervous about uh anytime you change [19:48] that stuff what's going to be the impact so far it's encouraging results but something to stay on top of too um as [19:56] and a program I think we all hope the legislature will continue to invest in and frankly the more trust they have in [20:02] the process and the selection criteria the more likely they are to invest in it so that's the real positive I think uh [20:08] that will come out of out of that is uh some of those things so um but I I've [20:14] probably talked too much or or I just Mr chair if I could just for one second I want to um just respond on your quick [20:21] response when I was down there to make sure that we got the verbiage correct with turlen and so I really appreciate [20:28] your timing and jumping right over there thank you well yes well and uh there was [20:35] beyond just the selection criteria I think uh you know working with you and your staff and this a little bit dated [20:41] back to the year prior um there were some elements of uh how it was being proposed and you know which kind of side [20:49] of the uh uh even proposal process right County fell on uh that we were eager to [20:55] correct and have right County even specifically called out in some of the legis one of those C so we were able to do [21:00] some of that working with representative tlon as well so that I think was all [21:06] positive uh in in kind of getting into the right rooms at the right times at least and uh impacting some of that [21:12] legislation as it was uh on the Move um so no I was just going to say I think I [21:18] can kind of leave it there you know that's the broad legislative Dynamics um in terms of the agreement that's in [21:23] front of you uh it should all look very familiar I I think nothing I don't I [21:29] think has changed since last year um except for the scope of the issues after [21:35] um the county went through process with some of your department heads with your staff with the board choosing the scope [21:40] of some of your legislative priorities that helped form the document that you put in front of your legislators here [21:45] last week that kind of helped us form the scope of uh at least what's referred to in uh uh that agreement and uh [21:53] commissioner I I think uh I know you'll have a question about uh drainage and um [21:59] uh the only thing I'll say to kind of preface that is uh in the agreement I think and I could pull it up I know it's [22:06] pretty small but I do have it up on my phone uh one of the things we've done since we've worked on drainage is drainage issues is at least in the scope [22:13] of that contract the drainage issues that have popped up have varied over time and been that you sometimes we've [22:19] been responding on short notice sometimes we're playing offense sometimes we're playing defense uh so [22:24] what's in the contract uh is the scope just says Advance the County's legislative and Regulatory interests [22:30] related to ditch drainage and then we of course have that separate catchall which is uh possible monitoring of other [22:36] legislative issues to be determined by the county at a later date so uh even you know whether it's we modify the [22:41] scope of this contract or um just kind of consider it uh this one of those [22:47] drainage issues that falls within the the scope of that and then follow the direction of the board and uh your staff [22:54] on uh how exactly we're tuning Our legislative efforts to some of the new issues popping up I thought I'd flag [23:00] that uh too since it's kind of uh drainage issues are broadly referred to in the contract um as it is and then [23:06] we've always kind of fine-tuned those um and frankly depending on the composition of the legislature has determined [23:12] whether we're playing more offense or defense on that we can get into the registry stuff if you want to I think we [23:18] intentionally drew it up that way that we didn't want to handcuff ourself exclusively just to 103e uh we we went [23:25] through it to make it a little bit more broad so that way there's things that are working with with soil and water or [23:31] other Bowser that you'd have the latitude to work with us outside of just uh 103e in the scope of the contract so [23:38] I would say myself but I'm not an attorney I'd look at my attorney I would think that the scope of it would be enough to meet pretty much if any [23:45] commissioner wanted to work with them on any drainage issue whether it's [23:50] redetermination of benefits or uh improvement process or yeah yes M Mr [23:58] chair members of the board with the two bullet points that Shane pointed out here I mean the one is as broad as it [24:04] could be deals with ditches and then the second one is always our catchall um Monitor and other issues as presented by [24:11] the board at a later date so it we're covered Mr chair yes uh just a quick [24:18] comment I want to thank you for your efforts and and working hard for R County and I I did have the opportunity [24:23] to talk um at a conference with representative Norris on uh tech center [24:28] oh yes and he submitted the paperwork to um sign on to that bill oh excellent well yes thank you so we're rolling with [24:34] that yeah and thank you to Jolene for her efforts on that too and and the staff over there has been good to work with as well commissioner catchmark I [24:42] just wanted to open it up to you the with uh any other things that you may be had was it if your questions were [24:48] answered or if you have other things you want to add to it well I think thank you Mr chair specifically we all know what [24:53] this ditch issue is but you don't uh I brought it up in general en to say and [24:59] as I'm thinking about I think Minnesota rural counties we could talk about if we get a letter to them that we're [25:05] interested in this because this kind of thing will affect across the state but if you write down for your notes [25:12] cd19 County ditch 19 if you talk to any staff or commissioner about that that's [25:18] just kind of a trigger word to address what I'm talking about but we heard this [25:23] over and over yesterday and others have heard it in past years the fairness or lack of in the way benefits are assessed [25:30] to residential land versus agricultural land when it comes to repairing ditches [25:38] we have people at residential land around a lake uh which if the ditch isn't drain properly will flood their [25:44] home that's a home at risk versus a cornfield it seems like there's more risk there and they're paying pennies or [25:51] a few dollars for their lot versus thousands or more for the egg land so [25:57] cons constituents asked us yesterday can you lobby with your legislators and one guy actually pointed out well you have a [26:03] lobbyist don't you I said yes so and it's good timings that you're here so [26:09] the ship sailed kind of with the legislators because we had their meeting a couple weeks ago the meeting yesterday was for ditches so this came up again [26:16] and you're here today so uh can we get a consensus to a direct or narrow the [26:23] scope for drainage besides what you're already working on to address Justice fairness Peace So what I would say the [26:31] first thing we should do and I will happily join you commissioner cashar to uh have a conversation with uh Shane and [26:38] maybe some staff in talking about the drainage process and 103e and [26:44] really is the issue isn't maybe necessarily with 103e as the issue is are we using the right mechanism to [26:52] manage this water in this area uh cuz 103e was pretty exclusively designed to [26:58] manage agricultural Drainage Systems not a blended system and a lot of the urban [27:04] areas end up going into using different mechanisms whether it's water sheds or [27:09] they use into uh subordinate districts and create storm water systems and carve [27:15] out portions of the ditch so that they're being managed under a more Equitable source so there we have [27:22] to have a bigger conversation because lot as areas of our County urbanize there they shouldn't be and they can't [27:29] be managed equitably under 103e they they have to transfer into something different whether it's a storm water [27:35] system a watershed something different so that's where the bigger conversation needs to happen Okay so Mr chair we've [27:42] got that piece for flan Hood to work on and then because this is part of my topic he happens to be here but the [27:49] Minnesota rural Count's piece do you want to talk about that later do we can we get consensus to draft up that hey [27:56] this is a particular interest to right County but I would think all 87 Counties have an interest with a lake and a ditch [28:04] running through it how could we rope them into it also I think I would still [28:09] like to sit down first and have a conversations about the the options that are out there versus trying to [28:16] um push maybe prematurely some legislation changes when we would need [28:21] to have a conversation that a lot of these systems are maybe a little bit more isolated to us because we are a [28:28] collar County we're a transitioning County from uh rural to Urban and we [28:34] have to look at what uh other areas that have gone through this and what processes and things and tools that they've used to mitigate that those [28:41] issues versus trying to keep using the traditional 103e law to manage water we have to look at what does in NOA County [28:49] Washington County Carver County Scott County the ones that have already gone through these paths and and created [28:54] different mechanisms to manage these Water Systems okay does that give you some direction [29:00] Shane as to the concerns and this is complaint driven by constituents over and over to hey get this changed and it [29:08] really stands out if you understand it it's kind of deep into drainage law because we got a specific example that [29:13] you maybe don't run across but that registry thing that's been drawing all the attention but I don't want to forget [29:19] about this deal either but okay thank you commissioner catchmark but I I I'm not opposed necessarily at some point [29:26] but I want to sit down with maybe a group of us at least talk through and and have an understanding and then at that point we can decide collectively to [29:32] send out letters either whether it's to legislators or to the MC and and see [29:37] where that may go all right thank you Mr chair yep thank you uh so at this time [29:42] I'll entertain a motion to approve the 2024 legislative Services proposal for flan Hood so moved second motion by [29:49] commissioner Shane second by commissioner Holland any further discussion U Mr chair just a comment [29:54] thanks again for showing up here in person it's really easy easy to just send an agend an agenda item in a [30:00] contract and get a sounds good from an office someplace but it means something to me anyway that you're you're here to [30:07] speak to this directly in person so thank you and on a quick side note I will I don't think everybody will [30:14] universally agree that that legislator with uh meeting with our delegation here in Ray County was every year it's good [30:21] but this year was exceptionally well I I felt it was a very good robust discussion all the way around uh [30:27] appreciate your attendance yeah yeah when you had a good legis legislator turn out this year too which um [30:35] sometimes you know you kind of they're busy people you work with who you can get there but I was pleased to see how [30:40] many of them made it this year too that was great all right with that uh we have [30:46] a motion to Second all in favor say I I oppose same sign motion passes [30:52] unanimously thanks for all your hard work Shane all right our 910 which is now our [31:02] 9:30 the approval of the res uh adopt a resolution authorizing the submittal [31:08] adoption and implementation of the South Fork Crow River watershed management plan good morning Mr chair members of [31:14] the board uh this ended up under my name when should have been under the you know the Z of soil and water um however I [31:21] would like to mention uh we had a commissioner past commissioner pass away last week dick Matson served on our [31:26] board for years uh just wanted to mention I got to work with Dick for 16 years of my career and just sympathies [31:33] out to their family real quick um something I think we should should recognize as a as a as a county staff [31:39] and as as a board with that I'll will let uh alici Alicia take over and get [31:44] the resolution passed for the Southport thank you Mark thank you good morning Mr chair members of the board Alicia o' the [31:51] water resource specialist for right so and Water Conservation District um I am here on behalf of the South Fort Kover [31:58] uh comprehensive management plan uh and uh just first of all I want to recognize and thank commissioner Dietrich for all [32:04] of her work on this uh particular project she was the our representative for the policy committee which is the uh [32:12] overarching uh group of um elected officials that are overseeing the plan [32:19] uh just real quick I know we have a couple of new Commissioners on the board since this project started so I just want a very brief overview of the one [32:25] Watershed one plan program we used to do water planning on the [32:30] county scale um and then there's other entities such as Watershed uh districts that also had plans this led to over 200 [32:39] different water plans in the state for 87 counties um and that was a lot for [32:45] the state to uh to work with along with us it made for our funds to be very [32:50] competitive what we have shifted to starting in um about 2015 we started [32:56] planning process is on the Watershed scale so this is all of the water that drains to one point and the uh partners [33:04] that are within that Watershed uh now work together to create a comprehensive [33:09] Watershed plan and then along with that comes a great big carrot of [33:14] money so now that we have uh when you complete these uh Watershed plans a [33:21] implementation fund comes into play and uh the partners then continue to work [33:26] together in order to distribute those funds according to the plan as it is written we have three uh watersheds in [33:32] right County that we are participating in the north for Crow River which is complete and we are in implementation [33:38] phases the southw crow which is complete as of now which I'm asking you to accept [33:43] today and then the Mississippi St Cloud we are expecting to be completed um [33:49] we'll have a final draft early next year and hope to have this same issue before you in uh November December uh of next [33:57] year for the Mississippi St Cloud so um uh the south fort Crow is the smallest [34:04] uh area in right County it's only about 4.6% uh we are an optional partner there [34:09] but we don't want to uh leave any money on the table that we could utilize we have a ditch system uh in the southern [34:15] part of the county um as well as the majority of the city of Delano uh and [34:20] the main stem of the southw river comes into Wright County so we want to make sure that we have funding available uh [34:28] to right County for uh agricultural Improvement practice Water Resources projects in those um areas so uh [34:36] certainly if you have any questions happy to answer those otherwise just asking that you accept the plan um and [34:41] then we'll come forward with our implementation agreement uh as well when that comes Mr chair can I just add some [34:47] comments absolutely it's just been a process I'm on all three of those Watershed one one Watershed one um plan [34:54] um committees and it's really it's been a learning curve but really uh interesting how it intertwines with um [35:00] all our s swcds our commissioners in the policy in the te Tech committees and um [35:06] and then how they prioritize and rank the projects and the ability that they uh in the north for crow that they've [35:13] already demonstrated um to invest in right County with these projects um so it's been really it's been really [35:19] insightful and important um particularly You Know A District that has a lot of [35:24] water in it um so it's been enlightening um at the South cow seeing that at from [35:30] beginning um kind of to to this point where we're we're moving forward with the imple with the plan so um it would [35:36] took a lot of work by a lot of people thank you thank you both Alisha and uh [35:43] commissioner dietr and commissioner Dietrich how was the conversations going from determining a ranking and scoring [35:49] criteria because I I I know from different ones that I've sat on sometimes they can be contentious other [35:54] ones they not because they're always looking some times to get the scoring criteria to maybe meet [36:00] certain niches within different areas of the Watershed um so the South Fork Crow [36:06] I think was probably about the fastest plan I have seen happen it only took a [36:12] year and a half and like only only a year and a half um so uh it is there's a [36:19] lot of drainage emphasis in this particular uh Watershed um and then a a [36:25] good portion of the Watershed also has a watershed District as as well so the the priorities were fairly similar overall [36:32] and I think it it just kind of that one fell into line because in this one in this [36:38] planning district there's what uh six different subordinate ones that are [36:44] applying for this $1.3 million doish or 1. 1286 uh fund State funding allocation I [36:52] mean there might be subsequent funds but at this current time this is what they put out in this in this planning [36:57] district yes um yeah we are uh looking at that uh amount uh of funding it is [37:03] this amount of money is Con thought to be expected to continue uh going forward [37:08] it's a little bit higher uh this year that uh for this round of uh funding [37:14] there was some turnback money from previous Watershed based implementation funds but this comes out of the Clean [37:21] Water land and Legacy uh Amendment and the current trajectory is for 60% of the [37:28] Clean Water funds to be going to one Watershed one plan and allocated in this way so we expect this something similar [37:36] to this amount of money to be going forward until the Clean Water amendment is put back to the voters these on bium [37:43] or are they yeah I figured they were tied to legislative banum okay correct [37:49] yes all right with that is there any I will move to make that motion to approve the [37:55] resolution all right all right we have a motion by commissioner Dietrich second that second by commissioner Holland uh [38:03] once again I appreciate all the work we're moving forward on it because the sooner everybody gets these management plans adopted the sooner you can start [38:09] allocating the funds because I don't really believe you can allocate the funds until everybody within the planning district has a [38:15] plan so one last Quick moment on this so in theory if you don't get everybody [38:20] through does that money go back then or can you carry forward if everybody doesn't get their plan in place we could [38:26] carry forward without that particular partner okay so maybe there's otherwise I don't [38:33] know if they're holding people's feet to the fire to eventually get something adopted in the South Fork I don't [38:38] anticipate a uh any particular problem with that all right well great uh if [38:45] there's any no other discussion this is a resolution uh commissioner catchmark i [38:51] i i i i great thank you thank you [38:57] Virgil is [39:03] here request to approve the mot Grant agreement uh [39:08] 10556 yeah good morning Mr chair and Board of Commissioners this is a request to approve the grant agreement for [39:15] mindat and a resolution with it also and this this will allow mindat to pay us [39:21] $30,000 um in funds so that we can pay our consultant to help us put together [39:27] some federal grants for projects in right [39:32] County heck I'll make that motion right now pretty simple I'll second that all [39:37] right motion by commissioner Dietrich second by commissioner Holland uh any money that we can get outside of the [39:43] county to help fund some of these absolutely all right any other discussion I just thank you for I [39:49] appreciate you going after those funds um kind of sorting through all the different uh available funds out there [39:55] is a is is a task so getting this done um so we can plan and and Target where [40:00] we're going to yeah you're welcome yeah there's a lot of them out there and I want to thank you for [40:05] putting that no passing sign on Parish Avenue that we've been working on all [40:11] summer yeah you're welcome it made it made the residents on Parish Avenue very [40:16] happy good excellent uh any other discussion hearing none resolution commissioner [40:23] Shane I I I I hi resolution passes unanimously thank you [40:29] Virgil Barry is waiting so patiently back there we're trying to pick up ground we're you know we're still [40:37] running 20 minutes behind don't blame me I'm just been [40:42] sitting there patiently waiting yes Mr chairman uh what you have before you is uh the recommendation for [40:52] approval of ordinance Amendment 23-4 and a resolution for the [40:58] publication of summary uh publication there we go uh the [41:04] ordinance Amendment itself has a number of different parts and touches a number of different portions of our ordinance [41:10] primarily it's a clarification on a bad reference in the official zoning map or [41:16] the official map ordinance uh and then for the zoning ordinance itself uh it adds and be up language in the uh [41:23] penalty phase or penalty area of the ordinance uh makes a slight adjustment in the zoning [41:29] administrators uh portion as well as the board of adjustment and the Planning Commission then then also touches into [41:37] the essential Services portions to deal with uh energy storage systems storage or solar energy or or [41:45] just energy storage systems battery storage basically so that's what you have before [41:53] you I'll make that motion all right motion back commissioner Holland second [41:58] second by commissioner Shane any further discussion Mr chair yes thanks Barry for [42:04] you and the staff whoever worked on especially the penalty phase and we hate to talk about penalties much but this is [42:10] kind of response from constituents and members of Planning Commission and board of adjustments [42:17] about the followup and follow through uh to decisions that they make and this as [42:24] you said beefs that up in speaking for them I I appreciate the effort so I hope it it works well in the [42:31] future with uh complaint driven items that get brought to you or to us so very [42:39] good all right we have a motion in a second is there any other discussion uh [42:44] hearing none all in favor say I I oose same sign thank you this portion is the [42:50] resolution so we also have to have the approval of the resolution for summary publication next time we'd have the the [42:57] resolution be approved okay so I'll need a motion to approve the resolution I'll make that motion all right motion by [43:03] commissioner second second by commissioner catchmark any discussion hearing none it's a [43:10] resolution yes yeah resolution uh I I I I I resolution passed unanimously thank [43:16] you thank you all right moving on to the items for [43:22] consideration uh A1 adopting the resolution setting the 20 24 budget and [43:27] Levy included in the packet is the budget resolution as per the budget [43:34] discussions and where we landed at with our original uh preliminary [43:40] Levy uh of 95 [43:46] m3567 uh at this time I will Mr chair if I could uh just to note [43:52] there are two resolutions in front of you today one for the budget and the levy as a separate one in the amount [43:59] that you had mentioned so just for clarity would uh administrator Kelly [44:05] would you prefer that we do these as two separate uh motions or do you want um one motion including both or you have [44:12] are you're open either way if the board is comfortable doing them as one motion unanimous I would be okay with that [44:18] because they're T Gally tied to each other absolutely we'll have a bigger discussion if we uh approve one and not [44:24] the other so with that uh I'll make a motion all [44:30] right motion by commissioner Holland second second by commissioner Shane any discussion is that to approve both Mr [44:37] chair I clarification is that for including both the budget and Levy okay yes okay and Mr chair are they both [44:44] resolutions or just they're both resolutions [44:50] yes so so discussion any discussion if not hearing none uh resolution vote [44:55] commissioner Holland I I nay I I all [45:01] right budget and Levy uh are approved with a 4-1 vote all [45:08] right great at this time uh we can move on to item number A2 approv resolution [45:15] setting pums and appointees to the County Board of Health and Human Services uh and boards and commissions [45:22] for and other subsequent boards and commissions for 2024 uh so this Parks commissions Etc so Mr [45:29] chair could we bring that up on the screen so I don't have to find it I think it was spelled [45:35] out would be page 165 in your packet is the uh resolution language [45:42] with the listing of the County Board appointed committees and the Health and Human Services advisory appointed [45:49] committees Mr shair are there any changes to these I think the only one was the site [45:55] inspect C was one of the changes that was made in there what was the change uh [46:01] do you it went from 120 to 70 okay we came to the conclusion that a number of [46:07] the site visits were not nearly as timec consuming as originally uh anticipated [46:13] the average site visit is less than 30 minutes sometimes or around 30 minutes to an hour uh and there's no prep [46:20] involved it just so thank you all right is there any other [46:27] discussion on the uh setting the pums for 2024 if not I'll entertain a motion [46:33] I'll make that motion all right motion by commissioner Holland second second by commissioner Shane any [46:38] discussion hearing none all in favor say I I resolution oh sorry sir you're right [46:43] no my bad see I'm always bound to get one resolution I'll miss it per agenda [46:49] all right resolution commissioner dedri i i i i i all right uh resolution pass [46:55] passes unanimously all right now moving on to the third item under items consideration authorized signatures on [47:02] lease agreement between right County and the right County Economic Development partnership this was an item on last [47:08] week's agenda that was taken out just for some clarifications uh just to articulate the changes were minor it was [47:15] largely just allowing there to be a notified uh out on the contract by [47:21] either party uh with the subsequent what was the days on it was it uh60 days I 45 [47:27] days notice that either party can leave the contract with letting either party know it 45 days in advance all right so [47:35] other than that it's a no no other substantial changes all right with that I'll entertain a motion I'll make that [47:42] motion all right motion by commissioner Shane second by commissioner Holland any further [47:47] discussion hearing none I'll favor say I I post same [47:53] sign lease agreement approved unanimous ly uh with that we are coming to the [47:59] conclusion of the agenda is there any last statements before we close just a question uh there was an [48:05] update from clay about the Great River Library opening and that another [48:10] interview and then appointment at the at an upcoming meeting is that going to be on because that term expires at the end [48:17] of this month so would we expect to see that the first meeting in January so it's a new seat it's not new seat it's a [48:24] new seat the new first meeting is until the end of January for the library board yep so we have the intention would be to [48:31] have this uh hopefully on the January 2nd meeting for an appointment if all things work out correctly okay all right [48:38] thank you uh with that uh I also uh with I'm [48:44] sure the board shares my thoughts as well as our condolences to the Matson family uh dick was a uh a great [48:52] representative for the citizens of the County uh we sended our condolences and we uh honor his legacy and Mr chair yes [49:00] I attended the Wake yesterday and I go back from Days of a deputy working with dick through things but even further [49:07] that he was a school bus driver for me and for my mom two generations he covered a lot of [49:13] ground but uh just a a good American and citizen for Ray County and business and [49:20] I didn't serve with them of course as a commissioner but uh it was good to be able to attend that and still make the [49:26] ditch meeting yesterday thank you and thank you for our representation there [49:31] yeah all right with that uh we'll close today's County Board uh meeting at 9:50 [49:38] thank [49:51] you this meeting is no longer being recorded