by April Scheinoha
Reporter

The Pennington County Board has heard the concerns. Now, it’s a matter of time and money. At their meeting Tuesday, Aug. 13, commissioners heard Sheriff Ray Kuznia’s plans related to security at the Justice Center.

In July, commissioners heard concerns from Thief River Falls City Council member Rachel Prudhomme, an attorney concerned about safety at the Justice Center.

Kuznia would like to have the metal detectors staffed Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, when court is in session. “We’re trying to do the best we can, but there is a cost to that,” he said.

However, this can be problematic. Kuznia said he was unable to have the metal detector staffed Monday, Aug. 5 since two inmates had to be transported to different locations. “There’s no way I could have someone sitting there,” he said.

County Attorney Seamus Duffy said he highly recommended that the sheriff’s office staff the metal detector anytime court is scheduled. He specifically referred to the need to staff the metal detector during court hearings for protection orders, harassment/restraining orders, and divorces with children.

“We have a lot of things in place in the building already,” said Kuznia, who noted he plans to have the metal detectors staffed as much as possible. He added that he plans to work diligently to find a spot in his budget for such staffing.

County Board Chairperson Bruce Lawrence updated his fellow commissioners on a possible lease agreement for the parking lot south of the Justice Center. Dean Foods, through realtor Kermit Genereux, has approached the county about leasing the parking lot.

“We’ll see what the lease agreement is,” said Lawrence, who noted that the County Board is still interested in purchasing the parking lot.

In the past, Dean Foods had asked the county to ensure people didn’t park in its parking lot. Duffy noted that the business was told county employees weren’t parking there and the county wouldn’t be policing the parking lot if the public chose to park there.

Human Services Department Fiscal Supervisor Scott Sommers provided an update on the department’s budget.

“It’s good news this year,” said Sommers. “What we’re proposing here is a levy decrease of $121,573 or a decrease of 5.2% in our levy.”

Sommers projected a surplus for 2020, which the department is planning to use to replace older computers.

County Board approved purchasing a fuel management system from O’Day Equipment for $52,522.81. As part of the system, Highway Department employees will type their employee number and the equipment number for the piece of equipment that is receiving fuel at any of the five shops operated by the Highway Department. This information will then be automatically updated at the Highway Department office.

“We’d have a better handle where our fuel is going,” said County Engineer Mike Flaagan, who noted the department has a $200,000 annual fuel budget.

Flaagan had recommended O’Day’s quote even though Valley Petroleum had a lower quote of about $47,000. The latter firm’s equipment would have led staff to collect the fuel data monthly from each shop.

In separate motions, County Board approved promoting two corrections officers to sergeant positions in the jail. They were Jenna Hagl and Alaina Juve. Hagl’s promotion is effective Oct. 1, and Juve’s promotion is effective Sept. 1.

County Board approved promoting Jon Erickson to a full-time corrections officer position, effective Aug. 14. Erickson was previously employed as a part-time corrections officer.

Commissioners accepted the resignation of corrections officer Craig Ellithorpe. After briefly meeting with Kuznia and fellow Personnel Committee member Darryl Tveitbakk, Commissioner Don Jensen said the committee planned to speak with its legal counsel before determining whether to move forward with posting for the position. Recently, the committee was able to select someone from a prior applicant list, but the committee wasn’t sure if it could select from the list again.

County Board approved the wetland boundaries for the Black River Impoundment project. The Red Lake Watershed District is planning to construct this impoundment and diversion ditches about nine miles west of St. Hilaire.

Commissioners approved scheduling a public hearing for Doug Barth’s request to drain 122.5 acres into County Ditch 46. Barth would like to install drain tiles for some of his property. The hearing will be held Tuesday, Sept. 10 at 9 a.m. at the Government Center (formerly known as the courthouse).

Tammy Frohlich, director of the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program, appeared before commissioners. She requested a $1,000 appropriation, which was taken under advisement.

In Pennington County last year, the program supported 35 volunteers reporting 3,356 hours of volunteer service. They volunteered by delivering meals to seniors at home, teaching Stay Active and Independent for Life exercise classes, delivering groceries or driving seniors to the grocery store through the Groceries to Go program, and/or fixing issues with the Handyman Program.

Frohlich was joined by Ann Marie Zizzo, an RSVP volunteer who volunteers at the Thief River Falls Area Food Shelf. “We really appreciate this program,” said Zizzo. “We want to keep it going. It’s a blessing to have it.”

Representatives of the Northwest Minnesota Multi-County Housing and Redevelopment Authority appeared before County Board. The HRA provides housing and community development opportunities in six counties in the region.

The HRA has adopted a levy of 25% of 0.0185% of taxable market value to leverage additional funds for housing and development activities in Pennington County. That translates into a possible assessment of $5 for a property owner with a house with an estimated market value of $100,000 for taxes payable in 2020.

In Pennington County, the program has provided downpayment assistance and worked with the City of Thief River Falls to obtain a state grant for the rehabilitation of 22 owner-occupied homes. Most of those homes have undergone remodeling projects while the remaining seven projects are expected to be finished sometime before fall 2020.

The next County Board meeting is scheduled Tuesday, Aug. 27 at 5 p.m. at the Justice Center.