June 10, 2021 at 1:12 p.m.
Cass Commissioners award contracts for road striping, septic inspection and resurfacing projects
St. Sauer has spent three of the last four years in Iraq and Kuwait and is the father of three sons who have deployed and a daughter not deployed. He has been in the military 31 years.
While many of the training programs troops will participate in at Ripley are on the ground and in air operations, St. Sauer said they are doing a lot more training with simulators than in the past.
He said neighbors living near the camp can expect to see a lot of helicopters in the area this summer. People in Little Falls and near Pillager will hear sonic booms when artillery rockets are launched and land in August.
The facility also is used for training area law enforcement officers and conservation officers, has a MnDOT snowplow driver training course and hosts the Boy Scout Jamboree, water quality training for Morrison County children and special hunting seasons for deer and wild turkeys, he said. There is a wildlife conservation program.[[In-content Ad]]The board took the first step toward building a joint county garage facility at Remer, connecting it to a Minnesota Department of Transportation building there.
Commissioner Jeff Peterson voted against the move, asking that the county first investigate whether it would be more cost effective for the county to contract with private road construction firms to maintain the county's roads.
The approved motion calls for the county to develop a joint facility operating agreement with MnDOT and to seek design-build proposals for the new county building. It also stipulates that Administrator Robert Yochum and County Engineer David Enblom research potential cost comparisons for routine maintenance between county and contract services.
The county board awarded a contract to Traffic Marking Services Inc. for $87,307.38 or about 4 cents a foot to paint lane striping on county highways this summer. Cass stripes annually those roads carrying over 1,000 vehicles per day and lower mileage paved roads about every five years. This bid, 2.62 percent under engineering estimates, was the lower of two bids received.
The board also awarded a contract to Tri-City Paving to resurface County State Aid Highway 44 south of Pine River and the west half of CSAH 6 (Lower Ten Mile Lake Road) north of Hackensack for $884,161.22. This bid, the lowest of four, ran 17.59 percent under engineering estimates.
In other business Tuesday, Cass Administrator Robert Yochum reported to the county board South Country Health Alliance Board has approved paying Cass $1,072,043 over five years as an exit refund from the program.
Cass was one of 14 counties to provide medical assistance through South Country for about three years. Cass returned to a state operated program this year. The refunds will be paid with interest Sept. 15 each year.
Crow Wing and Freeborn Counties also withdrew from South Country. Crow Wing can expect a $2,232,287 refund and Freeborn, $1,445,117.
Cass commissioners approved spending $18,435 to remodel portions of the old courthouse building in Walker to consolidate all county attorney offices on the fourth floor. The law library will move to the first floor. Guardian Ad Litem will move into two former attorney offices on the third floor.
The victim/witness program will now have an office on first floor. Court administration files will be stored in file cabinets in the sub-basement dungeon at a cost not to exceed $29,000.
The board authorized Probation Director Jim Schneider to advertise to fill a vacant probation officer position. Schneider introduced his newly appointed office manager, Sue Wickland, to the board.
Upon Jail Administrator Bert Woodford's retirement in May, Cass County will increase ranking for the position to lieutenant and required that a new administrator be a state licensed peace officer.
Woodford was trained as a jailer, but is not a licensed peace officer. The new jail administrator must first complete at least two years as a Cass County deputy.
Sheriff Tom Burch reported the county will receive a $25,440.77 state grant for a communication system backup that will enable the dispatching center to maintain communications with squad cars even if regular state-wide communications go down.
Tuesday, the county board approved a joint powers agreement with the state to enable the county to connect with the state's criminal justice data communications. Sheriff Burch said once this connection is made, it will enable his office to notify the public by texts and email when there are public safety concerns.
Notices will be published in the future on how area residents can sign up for the notification system relay from the sheriff's office, Burch said.
Cass will receive $9,750 from the U.S. Forest Service to patrol the Chippewa National Forest this summer.
Land Commissioner Joshua Stevenson obtained county board approval Tuesday to appoint Scott Noland assistant land commissioner. The position has been vacant two years. Noland most recently has been central region supervisor for DNR ecological and water resources at St. Paul and a DNR employee since 2005. Before that, he was a natural resource specialist with Anoka County Parks and Recreation.
Infrared Baron Inc. presented the lower of two bids the county received at $21,700 to complete aerial photography of northwest Cass County this summer. Grinning Bear Roll-off Service was the lowest of three bidders to complete asbestos and regulated materials inspection in a building on tax forfeited property the county has at Backus.
Cass created a new technical support professional position in the Environmental Services Department. The county board authorized advertising to fill that post. The successful applicant will apply for and administer environmental grants the county receives.
Cheryl Brown's Sep-Tech Services was the lowest of seven bidders at $70 per site to win the contract to inspect new septic systems permitted in the county this year. Ringle said last year 300 new or improved systems required inspection.
Cass expects to receive a $26,500 Minnesota Pollution Control Agency grant to supplement the county's electronics waste collection program, which is conducted in conjunction with hazardous waste collections at various sites each year. Notices of collection days are posted in area newspapers.
Ringle obtained board approval to place a moratorium on the zoning ordinance section covering resorts and private retreats and campgrounds. He said the planning commission wants about six months to review whether new language should be added to address potential variations from traditional resort concepts when new resorts are proposed.
Second publication rights after Brainerd Dispatch.
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