After a brief public hearing without public comment last week, the Sherburne County Board approved revisions to the county’s All Services and Fee Schedule.
The purpose of the hearing was to consider mid-year changes to the Community Corrections Fee Schedule to address certain financial, legislative and operational factors.
Community Corrections Director Corey Mabis-Rowe said the Dept. of Corrections’ subsidy has been lower than anticipated over the past two years.
“So we’re looking at correcting some of the fees in Community Corrections.” he said.
The revisions include a new $50 drug-testing fee, and a $50 increase in program fees in the Adult Driving With Care Level I, (to $150), Level II (to $250) and Decision Points Group (to $200).
The vote to approve was unanimous.
Charging Stations, Vehicles
After a 15-minute discussion, the board passed two resolutions and approved two agreements with MnDOT for electric vehicle charging stations and the purchase of electric vehicles.
Sherburne County was successful in securing $42,222.32 in grant dollars from the Carbon Reduction Program (CRP) Funding to install charging stations on the Government Center site. The county’s 20% match is ($10,527.83) and has been included in the 2025 Public Works Budget.
The county was also granted $200,000 to cover part of the cost for electric vehicles.
The grant will save the citizens’ money by taking advantage of the federal funds to replace four county fleet vehicle and one Public Works vehicle, versus entirely relying on county funds for vehicle replacement.
There will be a combination of private chargers for the fleet vehicles, public chargers for Government Center visitors and public fast chargers near the Government Center entrance for commuters on Hwy. 10. The public chargers will have the capability of being fee-based.
The discussion focused on the placement of the charging stations.
Commissioner Gregg Felber felt the county’s fleet charging station should be located closer the fleet of vehicles.
“My concern is the location,” he said. “Would it be worth the time and money to bring them closer? Do we make the financial commitment to bring them closer?”
Public Works Director Andrew Witter said they have looked other locations and can look at moving the stations closer, but since the project is using federal funds, there are limitations to what the county can do.
“We will need to revisit the environmental documents as they have been submitted to the state already,” he said.
Waste Clean-up
The board approved a Contract for Services with Wruck Excavating Inc, for the abatement of solid waste and cleanup of a Property located at 14307 286th Ave. NW in Zimmerman.
The property was referred for solid waste enforcement to the County Attorney’s Office in April 2019. The Solid Waste Office has been working with the property owner to try and get the property into compliance, which has not occurred. The county will front the required clean-up costs of $6,000, with the cost of abatement being assessed against the property.
Park Funds
The board approved a request from Clear Lake Twp. for reimbursement of $2,000 in Park Dedication Funding for new pollinator habitat landscaping.
The Sherburne County Park Land Dedication Ordinance provides townships with the opportunity to apply for park dedication fees collected within their jurisdiction for certain uses stipulated in Minnesota Statutes.
Interchange Contract
The board approved a MnDOT contract and resolution for Federal Fund Advanced Construction of the Zimmerman Interchange. The agreement allows MnDOT to be the federal fiscal agent for projects over $5 million. This type of agreement is written when a county or city is scheduled to receive more than $5 million in federal funds.
Other Business
In other actions the board:
• Approved a professional and technical services agreement with JB Marie LLC to provide programming and conceptual design for the proposed expansion of the Sherburne County Jail. JB Marie LLC will be compensated $20,000,plus mileage and printing reimbursement;
• Approved the donation of a printer to the Sherburne County Soil and Water Conservation District;
• Passed a resolution to acquire property for the Co. Rd. 29 and Co. Rd. 2 intersection reconstruction project;
• Approved of a resolution in support of the Initiative Foundation’s application to the U.S. Economic Development Administration. The Initiative Foundation has offered to serve as the coordinator and fiscal host for the re-establishment of a Region 7W Economic Development District to serve Benton, Sherburne, Stearns, and Wright counties.
