|
Committee established to examine county police protection for cities
|
|
|
By Charlie Warner
Argus News Editor
While not jumping headfirst into a potentially controversial issue, the Houston County Board approved the creation of a committee to review the pros and cons of offering police protection to municipalities within the county.
“I want everyone to know that I have not been going around soliciting or promoting this,” Houston County Sheriff Doug Ely stated during the March 17 county board meeting. “But the Spring Grove City Council has passed a resolution requesting that negotiations begin concerning the possibility of Houston County providing their police protection. How do we want to proceed with this?”
Ely stated that he has been in contact with other counties that currently provide police protection for some or all of the municipalities within their counties. He learned that there are many different ways of establishing contracts with cities, and recommended the county set up a committee to research the issue.
County Board Chairman Larry Connery said he has asked County Personnel Director Tim Comstock to check into a number of issues, including policies, personnel changes, and potential liabilities. “This would be putting a large burden on our sheriff’s department,” Connery pointed out.
Ely agreed with Connery and added, “We’d have to put on another full-time secretary just to keep up with the paperwork. Our present office staff is swamped.”
“I think this is something we should pursue,” Commissioner Dave Corcoran said. “The county did take a look at it a number of years ago, but that’s as far as it went. But with all the budget cuts, I think we are going to have more cities asking about this.
“If Spring Grove is interested in this, we need to set up some type of structured committee to look at all the issues and see where it goes,” Corcoran continued. “But I feel a city must have to make an official resolution stating they are interested in this before we get into a conversation with them.”
A motion was made by Corcoran and seconded by Commissioner Bob Augedahl to establish a county-wide policing committee made up of Ely, Comstock, County Finance Director Casey Bradley, County Attorney Sue Bublitz and commissioners Connery and Augedahl. The motion included that the county would only enter into conversations with municipalities that have approved official resolutions of interest. The motion was unanimously approved.
In other board action:
Electronic message boards
County Highway Superintendent Tom Molling made a request to purchase two used electronic message boards from Mn/DOT for $4,000. Molling explained that the electronic signs could be used to alert motorists of road construction projects and various emergency situations.
“The signs would have come in handy during the 2007 and 2008 floods, although in 2007, we could have used a lot more than two signs,” Molling said.
The funds to purchase the signs would come from the Emergency Management Performance Grant, which the county received in the amount of $19,000 for 2009.
Meth abatement
After reviewing an environmental report on methamphetamine and asbestos levels at a residence at 321 Iowa Ave. in Eitzen, the county will advertise for bids to clean the house up.
Landmark Environmental of Bloominton, Minn. did an assessment of the house and determined that there were levels of meth and asbestos that exceeded state regulations.
The house has been vacant and sealed by the county since 2005. If the abatement bids come in within 75 percent of the assessed value of the property, the county has the option to demolish the home.
All of the costs involved with this issue will be placed on the home’s property taxes.
Meyer building bids
The board approved the low bid submitted by Colsch Building Specialists of Caledonia to serve as the general contractor and conduct the remodeling work on the Meyer building project. The county is in the process of converting the former furniture store building, located along Highways 44 and 76 into an office building.
Colsch’s base bid was $133,250. The county received seven bids on the project, ranging from Colsch’s low bid to a high bid of $184,875.75.
According to Bradley, work on the building is progressing, with Sentence to Serve personnel conducting much of the demolition work. Plans are to have the project completed by summer.
Goetzinger to retire
The board reluctantly approved the resignation of Human Services Financial Assistance Supervisor Bonnie Goetzinger. Goetzinger has worked for the county since 1980.
Goetzinger received praise from several department heads during the meeting.
“Bonnie is such a resourceful person. She will really be missed. She’s always been the ‘go to’ person in the department,” Human Services Director Beth Wilms said.
“Bonnie was such a great help during the floods,” Sheriff Doug Ely noted. “She did a lot of ‘behind the scenes’ work for the county. She will really be missed.”
You can contact Charlie Warner at
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
|
