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Former Meyer Furniture building gets new name
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By Charlie Warner
Argus News Editor
The former Meyer Furniture Building, which the county purchased this past winter and is remodeling to serve as offices for several departments finally has a new name…County Community Services.
The building, located on Highways 76 and 44, will soon be home to three county departments, and house about 25 employees. The three departments are Public Health, Veterans Service and County Extension.
The Houston County Board selected the new name from a list of 13 suggestions made by county employees during the May 5 board meeting. Last month the five commissioners each put $5 into a kitty and held a “name the Meyer Building” contest. The author of the winning name would receive the $25 prize.
Veterans Service Officer Rob Gross came up with the winning name. When contacted that he had penned the winning name and was the winner of the $25 prize, Gross said he wanted the cash prize donated to the Semcac Food Shelf.
Some of the other suggestions included: Houston County Facilities Annex; Houston County Public Services Annex; Houston County Services Center; All Stages of Life Center; All Stages of Life Care Center; Houston County Care Center; Houston County McPhail Building; Houston County Vista Drive Complex; Houston County Vista Building; and Westside Public Services.
Phone system approved
The board approved the purchase of a new phone system for the County Community Services building. County IT Director Andy Milde explained that the system he recommended the county purchase would serve the new office building and have the capacity to handle additional phone systems in the future.
“The present system we have (in the courthouse) is seven years old,” Milde told the board. “It would be more costly to purchase a smaller system for the Meyer Building now and then have to purchase another system later. With this system, we will be able to use the existing phones.”
The Panasonic phone system Milde recommended is equipped with 1 PRI circuit, 23 voice channels, eight phone lines, 144 digital extensions and 16 analog extensions. It is expandable to a combination of 320 phone lines or extensions.
The cost of the system and installation is $20,614.07. Milde noted putting in the larger system now will save the county money down the road, since the existing system will have to be replaced in a few years. The money to pay for the new system will come from a $4,000 per year line item in the budget for communications upgrades, as well as funds from data processing.
In other board action:
Emerald ash borer hearing
A public hearing will be held June 3 at the Four Seasons Community Center from 6 to 8 p.m. to inform the general public about emerald ash borer issues.
Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) officials placed a state quarantine on firewood, ash trees, and ash tree products in Houston County in April. The precautionary measure was designed to prevent the spread of emerald ash borer, a highly destructive tree pest recently discovered in Victory, Wis., just across the Mississippi River from Houston County.
While officials have not confirmed the presence of emerald ash borer (EAB) in Minnesota, the extent and proximity of the Victory infestation increases the likelihood of an EAB infestation in Houston County.
The MDA has put up 30 different test sites in the county. So far, there have not been any confirmed sightings of the borer or damaged ash trees in Houston County; County Environmental Services Director Rick Frank said it’s just a matter of time.
“This is not something we’re going to be able to stop, but we can slow it down,” Commissioner Dave Corcoran said.
Double monitors approved
County Assessor Tom Dybing brought a request before the board to purchase additional computer screens for his department. He explained with all of the software programs required to conduct business in his department having a second screen at each work station would increase productivity.
The existing computer screens would be used. The cost of purchasing additional screens was $1,492, which was part of the Assessor’s Office budget for 2009.
A motion by Commissioner Jack Miller and seconded by Corcoran to approve the purchase was passed unanimously.
Zoning requests
County Zoning Administrator Bob Scanlan presented a list of 32 building permits that had been submitted since November for the board to approve. Most of the requests were for ag buildings, garages or additions to existing homes, although there was one zoning permit for a new home made by Greg and Lauri Bauer in Sheldon Township.
There were also two conditional use permits (CUP) for existing rock quarries. Scanlan explained that all rock quarries are conditional uses, and must be reviewed every five years. The two CUPs were reviewed by the County Planning and Zoning Commission and recommended to be approved.
The county board approved all of the permits and the two CUPs.
You can contact Charlie Warner at
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