by April Scheinoha
Reporter
Two local counties – Kittson and Roseau – have struggled for quite some time to find a county engineer. The Pennington County Board continues to offer its support in those quests and made a formal declaration at its meeting Tuesday, Feb. 23.
The Kittson County Board thought it had found someone to succeed its longtime county engineer, who retired in February 2020. The candidate lives in North Dakota and is licensed in Minnesota. State law requires county engineers to live in Minnesota, and the candidate has no plans to move here. As a result, Kittson County continues to search for a county engineer.
Roseau County has also had a hard time securing a new county engineer and is instead relying on Pennington County Engineer Mike Flaagan to provide assistance when needed and at a cost. Roseau and Pennington counties have had that arrangement for nearly a year.
The plight of Kittson County, in particular, has garnered the attention of Rep. John Burkel (R-Badger). Two weeks ago, he called Pennington County commissioner Darryl Tveitbakk, asking for the county’s support. At the request of Kittson County, Burkel plans to introduce a bill that would strike the residency requirement. He asked Tveitbakk if commissioners would sign a resolution of support. Tveitbakk then brought Burkel’s request to the Pennington County Board on Tuesday.
“We don’t really have a dog in the hunt because we’re not a border county,” Tveitbakk said.
However, he and the other Pennington County commissioners unanimously voted for the resolution. Commissioner Bruce Lawrence, a Kittson County native, noted that the change could help other Minnesota counties bordering North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and Wisconsin.
The Kittson County Board has already passed a resolution in support of Burkel’s bill.
The Pennington County Board tabled a decision on whether to officially oppose the adoption of California vehicle emission standards in Minnesota. The Minnesota Rural Counties organization is considering formalizing its opposition to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s potential adoption of the standards. It has sought the support of MRC members.
Under the plan modeled after the California standards, automobile dealers would be required to stock a “gradually increasing number of vehicles with ultra-low or zero tailpipe emissions each year, including electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids and hydrogen-fueled vehicles,” according to Minnesota Public Radio. If approved, the standards would apply to model years 2025 and beyond.
Many Pennington County commissioners voiced their opposition to imposing California vehicle emissions standards here. Lawrence pointed out that Colorado is the only interior state that has adopted some or all of the California emissions standards. The other states are located on the West and East coasts. Those areas encounter more vehicle emissions than northwest Minnesota.
County Board Chairperson Neil Peterson and Tveitbakk both questioned the purpose of imposing the changes if more electric vehicles will be manufactured in the future anyway.
Commissioner Seth Nelson, who questioned the operability of electric vehicles in -30 degree weather, asked to table the matter. He said he wanted to talk to his constituents about it.