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May 15, 2012 Regular Meeting MinutesMinutes of the Board of Ward County Commissioners
May 15, 2012
The regular meeting of the Ward County Commission was called to order by Chairman Fjeldahl at 9:00 a.m. with Comms. Gruenberg, Christianson, Erickson, and Nybakken present. Also present were Highway Engineer Dana Larsen, States Attorney Roza Larson, and Auditor/Treasurer Devra Smestad.
Moved by Comm. Christianson, seconded by Comm. Erickson to approve the agenda with additions or corrections. Roll call: all voted yes; motion carried.
Moved by Comm. Erickson, seconded by Comm. Nybakken to approve the minutes from the May 1, 2012 regular meeting and the May 2, 2012 special meeting. Roll call: all voted yes; motion carried.
Smestad presented the bills. Moved by Comm. Erickson, seconded by Comm. Nybakken to approve Social Welfare bills of $364,053.27, Human Services bills of $60,571.03, and the regular bills totaling $689,850.73. Roll call: all voted yes; motion carried.
Comm. Gruenberg presented information from the May 15th Ward County Social Services meeting. Moved by Comm. Gruenberg, seconded by Comm. Nybakken to accept the resignation from Richard Bolonchuk and have the acting Social Services Director and the Human Resources Coordinator begin advertising for the position of Director. Roll call: all voted yes; motion carried.
Highway Engineer Dana Larsen appeared. Moved by Comm. Gruenberg, seconded by Comm. Erickson to approve the quote from Magic City Garage Door in the amount of $20,725 to replace five overhead doors. Roll call: all voted yes; motion carried.
Larsen stated that in February, the Highway Department mailed out applications for oil impact funds to all the townships. Four applications were returned and qualified for the program. Moved by Comm. Christianson, seconded by Comm. Erickson to approve the applications from Lund Township for $22,850.10, Greenbush Township for $22,842.00, Mandan Township for $40,995.00, and Passport Township for $9,702.00 in oil impact funds for unpaved roads totaling $96,389.10. Roll call: all voted yes; motion carried.
Larson presented the Commission with the GIS Cadastral Mapping contract and the payment schedule. Moved by Comm. Nybakken, seconded by Comm. Erickson to approve the contract with Sidwell for Professional Services for GIS Cadastral Mapping and approve the proposed payment plan below:
Roll call: all voted yes; motion carried.
Larsen handed out a spread sheet to the Commission on the ER and FEMA Projects throughout the County.
Larsen requested the Commission assist in travel costs to interview, in person, a qualified applicant for the Planning /Zoning Administrator position. Moved by Comm. Christianson, seconded by Comm. Nybakken to designate $1,000.00 from the Commissioner Contingency Fund, for recruitment purposes of the Planning/Zoning Administrator position, to be administrated by the Highway Engineer as he sees fit. Roll call: Comm. Christianson, Nybakken, Gruenberg, and Fjeldahl voted yes; Comm. Erickson voted no; motion carried.
Don Hellman from MDU appeared. Moved by Comm. Christianson, seconded by Comm. Erickson to allow the proposed easement pending satisfactory review of the documents from the States Attorney. Roll call: all voted yes; motion carried.
Tim Gelston from ESF-14 appeared to update the Commission on the Souris Basin Regional Recovery Plan and other projects/programs his team is working on. Also appearing to answer questions were Lindsey Ulrickson and Jason Zimmerman.
Emergency Manager Amanda Schooling appeared and presented information from the last Non-Grant Acquisition Committee meeting. Schooling also informed the Commission that Ackerman/Estvold’s contract with Ward County expired in February 2012. Schooling will be working on a new contract to be presented at a future Commission meeting. Attorney Howard Swanson from Swanson & Warcup appeared and informed the Commission that the application to the State Water Commission did not include any engineering fees and should be amended to reflect that.
Schooling requested the activation of the 2nd Appeals Committee for the volunteer property acquisition. The Committee consists of the Ward County Commission Chairman, Auditor/Treasurer, Tax Equalization Director, and a local realtor. Moved by Comm. Christianson, seconded by Comm. Erickson to appoint Gene Eggen of Signal Realtors to the 2nd Appeals Committee for home acquisition; with Carrie Montoya from Watne Real Estate as the alternate. Roll call: all voted yes; motion carried.
Attorney Howard Swanson discussed the revised Agreement with the North Dakota State Water Commission. Swanson stated that several revisions to this agreement have been made and all but one request has been granted. On page 3, section #7 entitled “Breach”, the Water Commission reserves the right if a breach occurs, to require Ward County to return all funding received from the beginning, day one and dollar one. The State Water Commission has stated that they have no intention of actually doing this. Swanson stated they should allow Ward County to revise the contract then; no additional revisions will be made. Comm. Fjeldahl, Gruenberg, and Christianson mentioned this section of the contract to the Governor and he stated that he believes this section should be waived. Moved by Comm. Christianson, seconded by Comm. Erickson to enter into the agreement with the ND State Water Commission with the understanding that Ward County is requesting a reconsideration of section 7 on page 3 entitled “Breach”. Roll call: all voted yes; motion carried.
Comm. Christianson asked the Auditor if she could identify funding options for the Counties 25% of the cost for acquisitions. Whether the funding is money advanced from the State or money from the Non Obligation Bond. He asked that this information be presented to the Commission at the next regular commission.
Larsen appeared to update the Commission on the CDBG committee meeting held last week. He explained the different types of environmental studies that will be taking place to fulfill the obligation to receive CDBG dollars. Jason Zimmerman and Attorney Howard Swanson also appeared to clarify any questions.
Auditor/Treasurer Devra Smestad appeared to discuss the expiration to pool water for the Rice Lake Recreational Service District. Since no permit allowing them to pump has been received by this Commission, no action was taken. Therefore, no pooling of water will be allowed after May 17th, 2012.
Director of Tax Equalization Mike Vendsel appeared. Moved by Comm. Erickson, seconded by Comm. Gruenberg to approve the following application for abatement and/or correction of errors of assessments:
Roll call: all voted yes; motion carried.
Moved by Comm. Christianson, seconded by Comm. Gruenberg to remove from the table the discussion on the zone change for Sundhagen and Vendsel property. Roll call: all voted yes; motion carried. Tax Equalization Director Mike Vendsel handed out additional information from Judy Struksness and from Mr. Sundhagen. Appearing in opposition to the change were Max Weppler, Shelly Weppler, Freeman Pascal, Claudia Roberts, and Nichole Bernsdorf. Moved by Comm. Christianson, seconded Comm. Gruenberg to allow the zone change from R-1 to C2 submitted by Richard and Nancy Sundhagen and Jerry and Lisa Vendsel for the property: Outlot 7 SENE, Outlot 10 SENW, Outlot 11 SENW, Outlot 3 W2SW less Sublot B, NWSW less E 630’ and Outlots 1 & 2, S18-155-83, Harrison Township. Moved by Comm. Fjeldahl, seconded by Comm. Christianson to amend to motion to require Mr. Sundhagen to dedicate and record a Public Right-of- Way to gain access to the property. Roll call: Comm. Fjeldahl, Christianson, and Gruenberg voted yes; Comm. Nybakken and Erickson voted no; motion carried. Roll call on motion as amended: Comm. Christianson, Gruenberg, and Fjeldahl voted yes; Comm. Nybakken and Erickson voted no; motion carried.
Vendsel handed out a summary from the Temporary Housing/Man Camp seminar.
Auditor/Treasurer Devra Smestad appeared. Moved by Comm. Christianson, seconded by Comm. Nybakken to receive and file the following correspondence: Zane Grover: road repairs; Karr Tuckpointing - Free Inspection; US Army Corp of Engineers – Proposed Program; SBPC – Basil O’Connell Community Leadership Award; Swanson & Warcup – Letters to home owners; SWCA – Environmental Assessments; ND Public Finance – Bond Interest Statement & Response from Bond Counsel Wegner; Judge McLees – Courthouse Security Article; Swanson & Warcup – Status Report on Voluntary Acquisition Program; Ward County Historical Society - May 8th Meeting minutes. Roll call: all voted yes; motion carried.
Moved by Comm. Gruenberg, seconded by Comm. Christianson to receive and file the monthly reports, including the Financial and Sheriff Report. Roll call: all voted yes; motion carried.
Moved by Comm. Gruenberg, seconded by Comm. Christianson to receive and file the 2011 Annual Audit Report. Roll call: all voted yes; motion carried.
Moved by Comm. Gruenberg, seconded by Comm. Erickson to approve and accept the State reimbursement for mileage rate of $.555/mile. Smestad stated that there is an existing motion adopting any changes made by the State and that this was informational only in nature. Motion withdrawn.
Moved by Comm. Erickson, seconded by Comm. Gruenberg to approve the following Site Authorization permits for July 2012- July 2013: Minot Hockey Boosters, Inc.; Minot Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 753 Inc.; ND Association for the Disabled Inc. (The Grain Hopper and Bingorama); Fraternal Order of Eagles Minot Aerie #2376; MSU Beaver Boosters Inc (NDSF “The Pub” and “Flickertail Gardens”). Roll call: all voted yes; motion carried.
Moved by Comm. Gruenberg, seconded by Comm. Erickson to approve the Special Event Permits for M&S Concessions for the following events and days in 2012: Monster Truck (May 18 & 19); Cigar Fest (May 19); Wedding Receptions (June 9-16); NDSF Rodeo/Arena Events (July 20-28); NDSF Concerts (July 20-28); NDSF (July 20-28); Beer and Wine Only (July 22); Wedding Reception (August 11). Roll call: all voted yes; motion carried.
Moved by Comm. Nybakken, seconded by Comm. Christianson to approve the following payroll amendments: Matthew Babcock – Seasonal Surveyor – Highway Dept. (Level 15); Catherine Donald – Office Assistant III – WC Social Services (Level 11); Renee Ebert – Admin. Assistant/UCC Processor – Recorder (Level 14); Kristina Epperson – Social Worker III – WC Social Services (Level 19); Karen Hannegrefs – Library Assistant – WC Library (Level 10); Lacey B. Hein – Social Worker III – WC Social Services (Level 19); Michael Larson – Building Inspector – Tax Equalization (Level 22); DiNell Polsfut – Social Worker III – WC Social Services (Level 21 – effective 5-1-12); DiNell Polsfut – Social Worker III – WC Social Services (Level 23 – effective 6-1-12); Jennifer Reichenberger – Social Worker III – WC Social Services (Level 23); Nicole Shaw – Property Tax Clerk – Auditor/Treasurer (Level 15). Roll call: all voted yes; motion carried.
At 11:32 a.m., with no further business, the meeting was adjourned.
ACCEPTED AND APPROVED THIS 5th DAY OF June, 2012.
s/ John Fjeldahl –Chairman, Ward County Board of Commissioners
ATTEST: s/ Devra Smestad - Auditor/Treasurer, Ward County
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