Posted: 11/29/05
Fate of current jail still undecided
By David Heiller
Argus News Editor
What will become of the present jail when a new law enforcement center is built?
The county board is seeking information that will help answer that question.
Jail administrator Mark Schiltz recommended to commissioners at their November 22 meeting that an engineer look at the building before any work is done. ìIs the framework holding up the walls even fit to work with?î Schiltz asked.
Board members agreed with him. Dave Corcoran said the building looks good from the outside, but wondered how much it would cost to remodel it. He asked what could be built for the cost of remodeling
Schiltz gave the board an estimate from a White Bear Lake engineering firm, Paulson & Clark Engineering, for $1,500-$2,500 to visit the site and perform structural calculations.
Commissioner Kevin Kelleher asked Schiltz to contact a local engineering firm for another estimate. Kelleher thought a local firm might be more independent than Paulson & Clark, which was recommended by the jail architectural firm that the county is working with. Schiltz said he would do that.
Medical costs for prisoner
Schiltz also told commissioners that a convicted felon under Houston County supervision in the Fillmore County jail had surgery at Olmsted Medical Center in Rochester recently. The county will be required to pay the medical bills, and the prisoner also needed 24-hour supervision by a deputy while in the hospital, Schiltz said.
ìOnce we arrest them, theyíre ours,î Corcoran said. ìThatís one of the costs that the public isnít aware of. [We] Take care of their dental too.î
Jailer-dispatcher changes
In other business, personnel director Tim Comstock announced that jailer-dispatcher Jessica Lewis had resigned. He asked the board to move Chris Tuveson from 3/4-time to full-time and Daphne Fischer from half-time to 3/4-time. The board approved the request. The county will also advertise for another 3/4-time jailer-dispatcher.
Bear Creek levy approved
Commissioners also approved a one percent levy of the net tax capacity of property in the Bear Creek Watershed, which is an area south of Spring Grove to the Iowa border.
Root River Soil and Water Conservation District director Ralph Tuck suggested the levy as a way to help pay for maintenance costs. Maintenance would involve things like replacing soil moved by erosion, putting vegetative cover on land, and stabilizing spillway outlets.
The levy, which will go into effect in 2007, will raise roughly $5,000 annually. Watershed planners said about $9,500 is needed annually. Tuck said he thought that figure was high, because not all 22 of the planned structures are likely to be built.
Commissioner Tom Bjerke said he liked the fact that the one percent levy is similar to the levy imposed on Crooked Creek Watershed properties.
ìThe point I like about it is ownership,î commissioner Dave Corcoran added. ìEach district has ownership with what they do.î
County auditor Pete Johnson said the levy would have a ìvery minorî impact. He estimated it would cost $10 for a home valued at $100,000.
Meeting reports
Kelleher said in the meeting reports portion of the meeting that he had taken part in the Houston County Family Services Collaborative meeting. A waiver that the federal government gave Minnesota for county collaboratives will not be renewed, meaning that there will be about a 90 percent reduction in funding, Kelleher said. It doesnít make sense to continue the collaborative without federal funds, he said.
Commissioner Ann Thompson said the collaborative had offered good programs in schools in areas like nursing, public health, and family support
Thompson reported that she and Corcoran had had a good meeting at Wildcat Park with Army Corps of Engineers workers. They will meet again next month, she said.
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