Posted: 3/21/06
Board hires new park manager
By David Heiller
Argus News Editor
A familiar face will return to run Wildcat Park in Brownsville this year.
Houston County commissioners hired Barb Kirchoff of Hokah for the job. She did it from 2000-2003.
The agreement is for the 2006 season. The county has the option to renew it for one year.
Management of the park beyond that point is yet to be determined, personnel director Tim Comstock said. County officials have been talking with Army Corps of Engineers officials about how the park is structured. The Corps owns the park and leases it to the county.
Kirchoff will receive one half of the park proceeds for her work. That is a reduction from the previous split of two thirds because the county will be mowing and maintaining the public sites.
Kirchoff said people can call her for reservations at 507-894-4253.
Other personnel business
The county board made several other personnel decisions last week.
ï The board approved a wage for the position of lead jailer/dispatcher of $19.49 per hour. This is 12 percent above the top pay step for a jailer/dispatcher. No one has been hired for this position yet; it will be posted internally. The duties include most of the things that a jail administrator does. The change stems from the additional duties that jail administrator Mark Schiltz has taken on with the criminal justice center project. The new salary was negotiated with the Law Enforcement Labor Services union, Comstock said.
The board also approved a new pay rate for jail administrator of $23.39 per hour, or 20 percent above the lead jailer/dispatcher rate.
ï Bethany Wilder was hired as a new social worker.
ï Case aide Sandy Ask and court services administrative assistant Denise Schaffer were moved from probationary to regular status.
ï Daniel Opsahl was approved as a temporary employee for the treasurerís office.
ï The board voted to have Comstock advertise for a sign specialist for the highway department to be in charge of installing and maintaining signs.
Truck weight discussion.
Board members discussed a Minnesota Department of Transportation proposal to increase truck weight limits from the current amount of 80,000 pounds to 97,000 pounds for seven-axle trucks and 108,000 pounds for twin trailer trucks.
The subject came up at the March 7 meeting, when a lobbyist with the Coalition Against Bigger Trucks, Jennifer Jaroski Guinan, asked to board to oppose the plan.
Commissioner Kevin Kelleher called it a contentious issue. ìItís not as simple as it sounds,î he said. The increase makes sense in places like Duluth which has many logging trucks, but it wouldnít apply as much to local haulers, Kelleher said.
ìIf you move it [weight limits] up, they will build bigger,î commissioner Dave Corcoran said.
The legislative committee of the Association of Minnesota Counties feels there is no money for infrastructure, so pushing larger trucks on local roads is not a good idea, Kelleher said.
The new DOT request should be tied to increased funding to roads, he said.
County engineer Tracy VonBargen agreed with that. He said he would get a feel of where other county engineers stand, then would write a synopsis for the board so that they could send a letter to legislators.
Other business
ï Purchases: The board approve the purchase of EnCase Forensic V5 software to be used by the sheriffís office for $2,405. Lindsay Pierce of the technology department will operate it, but the time involved should not interfere with his information systems duties, Comstock said.
EnCase creates a digital duplicate of a suspectís computer hard drive, which an investigator can search by keyword, file type or access date. ìMany of our crimes have a digital component,î sheriff Darryl Peterson told the board.
The board also approved the purchase of two mowers from Kenís Small Engine for the price of $4,975 and $4,725.
ï Drug testing: The board approved a proposal from the sheriffís department to perform drug tests on prisoners who are admitted to the Houston County jail. Without the test, the county has a liability problem, Schiltz said. Inmates who test positive will not be able to go out on work release. The motion states that inmates will be charged for the cost of the test; it applies only to work release or sentence-to-serve inmates.
ï Boat grant: Commissioners approved an annual Boat and Water Safety Grant from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources for $5,320 for 2006. It was for $4,820 last year, and is based on the number of boats registered in the county.
ï Refund for background checks: Chief deputy Ken Frank said the sheriffís department has been incorrectly charging $10 for background checks on people requesting firearms permits. He said about 140 have been done since 2003. The board approved refunding the people their money.
ï Abatement hearing set: The board approved a request from Houston County Economic Development Authority (EDA) Community and Business Development Coordinator Joyce Iverson for a public abatement hearing on April 11. The abatement would be to Hutton Company of Chattanooga, Tennessee for half the cost of a driveway to a proposed Dollar General Store in Caledonia.
The cost to the county of the nine-year abatement would be about $20,922. The cityís abatement would be about $12,768, so the total estimated abatement is $33,690. The cityís abatement hearing is April 10.
ï New web site coming: Iverson said that a group of people who attended a Blandin leadership workshop last year has formed a subcommittee called Houston County EDA Visionary and Marketing Subcommittee. It is working on a website. It will receive $1,750 from the 2005 EDA balance that the county board approved for carryover to 2006. An additional $1,500 will be given from the 2006 EDA budget by the EDA board on March 1.
Commissioner Tom Bjerke said the group has a classy-looking logo, and the web site should help steer people to Houston County. ìItís great to have them on board,î he said.
Ann Thompson said she was concerned that the web site would be kept up. Bjerke said that would be part of the committeeís assignment.
ï Airport lease: Commissioners approved a new three year airport hangar lease to Red Baron Flyers at the same rate as before, $696 per year. The current lease expires on June 30.
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