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Houston County hires Brooke Privet as long-term temporary deputy sheriff
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By Charlie Warner
Argus News Editor
The Houston County Board of Commissioners approved the hiring of Brooke Privet of Caledonia to serve as a temporary Houston County Deputy up to 12 months. Action was taken during the Nov. 24 board meeting.
Privet will be filling the shoes of Deputy John Tvieten, who has been called up for active military duty and will be shipping out in December. He could be deployed for up to one year.
According to Chief Deputy Sheriff Scott Yeiter, there were 24 persons who applied for the position. The top four were interviewed and the interviewing committee recommended Privet. Privet has been serving as a part-time officer with the Caledonia Police Department.
In other board action:
Used plow truck sold
The county approved a bid of $32,550 from Steve Johnson of Spring Grove for the purchase of a 1998 plow truck. The county had put the truck out for bids with a minimum acceptable bid of $30,000. Johnson is an independent contractor who plows roads for Spring Grove Township.
Grant application
Houston County applied for a grant that would fund the implementation of subsurface sewage treatment systems. Eligible uses of the $30,000, three-year grant would include increasing staff to develop a GPS mapping system for all of the septic systems in the county, according to Zoning Administrator Bob Scanlan.
Scanlan explained the 2007 comprehensive water plan had included mapping the septic systems and feedlots within the county. This grant would help accomplish the septic system portion.
The deadline for the application was Dec. 1. A motion by Commissioner Jack Miller and seconded by Commissioner Tom Bjerke to apply for the grant was unanimously approved.
Highway 5 project
County Engineer Brian Pogodzinski updated the board on the CSAH 5 project. The county applied and received a $1.2 million grant to straighten a portion of the county road that heads southeast out of Caledonia. To make the project a reality, the county had to secure property from a number of residents. According to Pogodzinski, there is only one parcel of land yet to be acquired. He felt an agreement with that landowner could be reached by Dec. 1.
Vacation hours
Pogodzinski asked if 102 vacation hours for County Engineering Assistant Doug Wwite could be carried over to the new year. Pogodzinski explained that the county’s engineering department has been very busy this year with all the additional repair projects caused by the 2007 and 2008 floods. County policy is that vacation hours are not to be carried over into a new year, unless there are mitigating circumstances.
After reviewing this case, the board agreed with Pogodzinski that this was a special case and granted an extension to the vacation deadline.
Employee recognition
Human Resources Director Tess Arrick-Kruger recommended several language changes to the county’s employee recognition program. She felt a clarification needed to be made concerning a part-time person who worked half time versus someone who worked full-time.
There was some confusion in the past that a person who worked half-time would not receive the same amount of accumulated years in the employee recognition program as someone who worked full-time. She felt that for the recognition program, both employees should be recognized for the same number of years.
“If a part-time employee is recognized in this program for working the same number of years as a full-time employee, would we have benefit issues,” Bjerke asked?
Kruger said the language change would be very specific that this would only deal with the employee recognition program.
Employees are honored by the county for 10, 15, 20, 25 and greater years of service.
The employee recognition program will be held Dec. 22 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Insurance presentation
Bill Colopoulos, Southeast Service Cooperative benefits consultant gave a half-hour powerpoint presentation on the health benefits pool Houston County is currently part of.
By being part of this pool, the county is able to realize considerable savings in health insurance costs for its employees. 2009 was the first year Houston County was part of this pool.
You can contact Charlie Warner at
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