Sherburne County is looking at one of its biggest construction project ever, the new interchange at Hwy. 169 and Co. Rd. 4 in Zimmerman.
Funding for the project, which begins in 2025, is a collaboration of multiple jurisdictions, state and federal grants, as well as local funds.
“We’ve got a very complex funding scheme,” Public Works Director Andrew Witter told the county board last week.
While some of the grant money will pay for a good portion of the project, it’s not a simple task to navigate all the rules and regulations attached to the funds.
“A lot of these funds can only be used on the local network or they can only be used on the trunk highway network,” said Witter. “There are a few pots of money that can be used on both.”
“A lot of the federal funds require a non-federal match, which would be either the state or local funds,” said Witter. “Some of the state funds require a local match as well, so pulling that all together and understanding it is something we do as a team.”
Grant agreements with other parties will be required throughout the planning, design and construction process, said Witter. And the board was presented with three of those agreements during last week’s meeting.
“We’re going to see a lot of these grant agreements come through. There’s going to be a number of them. were looking at about 12 to 15, maybe 18 grant agreements,” said Witter.
“Most of them will be with MnDOT or through MnDOT.”
The board approved all three agreements, which focused on technical assistance, design and property acquisition.
Staff Restructuring
The board approved restructuring in Adminstration and Human Resources. The change will split the current full-time Administrative Specialist position (Extension) into two 20-hour per week positions to cover Extension activities and Human Resources duties.
The restructuring will allow the county to continue to support the University of MN with the planning and coordination of the Sherburne County Fair as well as provide additional support and resources to the county’s human resources function. The changes do not result in additional expense and are budget-neutral.
ARPA Funding
The board approved an expenditure of $14,845.72 in ARPA funds as reimbursement to cover 2024 personnel costs for time spent administering the ARPA program. The activities include program facilitation and reporting requirements.
Health & Human Services
The board approved and accepted the Children’s Mental Health Screening grant from the Dept. of Human Services in the amount of $23,809. The grant offsets mental health expenses such as diagnosis assessments or limited therapeutic needs for eligible children/youth in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems.
The board approved the Title V Grant Agreement between the MN Dept. of Health and the county for Maternal and Child Health activities.
The grant supports staff to provide family home visits to families that are pregnant and have children at risk or diagnosed with special health care needs.
The grant will be provided over a five-year period with required annual budgets and workplans, effective Oct. 1, 2024 through Sept. 30, 2028. Funding for the first year is $55,416.
The board approved a non-levy-funded position for the Parent Support Outreach Program to replace a contracted service provider in HHS. The contracted provider has served notice that they will no longer provide such services. HHS is proposing to use grant dollars to fund an in-house full time employee to take over those services.
The board approved and accepted a Medica County Innovation Grant awarded to the HHS Dept. in the amount of $8,000. The grant will assist in covering costs to provide services like health needs and access to other services in South East St. Cloud.
The board accepted third quarter donations from various organizations to HHS in the amount of $5,297.21.
