Posted: 10/18/05
Mayor asking county board for better communication on location of new jail
By David Heiller
Argus News Editor
Caledonia Mayor Mike Morey would like to see a county committee work with the Caledonia Chamber of Commerce and city council to discuss the pros and cons of sites for the new jail.
Morey made his comments at the end of the October 11 county board meeting.
He said the city had not received packets showing where the potential jail sites are. ìThereís councilmen that want to know whatís going on,î Morey said. ìI donít know what to tell them.î
Morey said he doesnít want the jail committee to pick a site and come to a council meeting and say where they want to put it. ìI donít want it crammed down our throat,î he said.
That is not the intent, fourth district commissioner Dave Corcoran said. There is a lot of work to do first, such as soil borings, and determining the size and cost of the facility.
ìWe donít want to hold you up,î Morey said.
County board chair person Ann Thompson said there had been an attempt to keep the city informed on the site selection.
Other commissioners echoed the need to keep the city and chamber of commerce informed. Working together is important, Corcoran said.
But cities are also competing, fifth district commissioner Tom Bjerke said. For example, schools from neighboring districts are competing for students, he said.
Jail committee member Mark Schiltz attended the October 5 Caledonia Chamber of Commerce meeting. Minutes state that some Caledonia city council members do not want a new jail in the city. It also stated, ìSpring Grove has offered the county free land to build there, and La Crescent is also interested.î
Kevin Kelleher, second district commissioner, said the county hadnít done a project this size in a long time. He felt the county had tried to be open, but maybe should be more inclusive.
No potential sites for the criminal justice center have yet been publicly identified. Jail committee members and planners have looked at places both on and off of the courthouse property.
Jail planners are working on a space program now to see how much square footage is needed. This will provide the overall building costs without factoring in the costs for things like land and utility extensions. Then they will examine the sites that are identified, and develop drawings for each of four different sites later this year.
Cell phone policy
In other business at the hour-long meeting, veterans service officer Rob Gross asked if he could receive a per diem for use of his cell phone. He wants something similar to one the highway department has.
ìNormally Iím not a me-too person,î Gross said. He said he has been using his own cell phone for county business about three years. He had originally used a county cell phone, but it was too difficult to separate out personal calls, so he started using his own phone. Three quarters of his cell phone calls are work-related, he estimated.
Kelleher said he agreed with Grossís request, but that the county needed a consistent policy that spells how who would get a cell phone or how they would be reimbursed.
Fourth district commissioner jokingly suggested that Gross get a shirt with two pockets.
ìWeíre getting uniform budgets now?î Gross retorted.
Personnel director Tim Comstock said he would poll department heads and put a policy together for the board to review. People on the list would be those who need to be available at all times, he said.
Corcoran said people like the county attorney, highway and maintenance engineer, sheriff, and Gross would qualify.
ìIt would streamline the accounting process as well,î Comstock said, because there would be less time spent reviewing bills that are submitted.
Ag agent discussion
In the meeting reports section of the meeting, first district commissioner Larry Graf said that the quarter-time position of agriculture agent Jerrold Tesmer was not working very efficiently. Tesmer told Graf that he is ìspinning his wheels, and that his time would be better spent divided between two counties instead of three. Houston, Fillmore, and Winona counties use Tesmer now.
All of the board members said they would support going half-time with Fillmore County for Tesmerís position.
Corcoran, who is on the extension committee, said he would discuss this with regional extension director LuAnn Hiniker, and report back to the board.
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