The first order of business was swearing in the elected officials and the commissioners who were voted in last November. Judge Thomas Hayes presided as Commissioners Ewald Petersen and Felix Schmiesing, County Attorney Kathleen Heaney, Auditor/Treasurer Diane Arnold, Recorder Michelle Ashe and Sheriff Joel Brott took the Oath of Office.

 

Once the officials were sworn in, members of the board elected Felix Schmiesing as board chair and Ewald Petersen as vice chair.  

 

Those two commissioners were also appointed chair and vice chair of the Sherburne County Regional Rail Authority and the Sherburne County Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA).

 

The board awarded the bid to publish commissioner’s proceedings, 2014 financial statement and delinquent tax list to Elk River Star News, and the alternate financial statement to the Sherburne County Citizen.

 

The board set the pay rate at $85,000 for Tamara Bigelow, who will be taking over as Human Resources Director when Roxanne Chmielewski retires in February. Bigelow spent 13 years in human resources in Benton County and the last two years as HR Director in Wright County. The salary range for HR Director in Sherburne County is $72,919 to $109,390.

 

The board approved a contract with Staci McGuire for the Release Advance Planning (RAP) Coordinator position. The RAP coordinator works with eligible adult offenders, preparing them for successful community reintegration.

 

The two-year contract at $69,451.20 per year will be funded with grant money awarded to the county through the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant last October 14.

 

In other action the board:

 

• Approved a memorandum of understanding with Teamsters Local 320 representing Corrections Supervisors and Minnesota Public Employees Association, setting the 2015 employee contribution to the cafeteria plan at $869.10 per month, which is the same as non-union employees, elected officials and other bargaining units;

 

•Approved a tobacco license application for Kinitski’s (formerly Palmer House) from Jan. 1 through June 15, 2015;

 

•Re-appointed Barbara Tucker, John Barr, Tom Hammer, Richard Dahlman and Terrence Vander Eyk to the Sherburne County Water Plan Advisory Committee; 

 

•Approved the Urban Area Security Initiative Grant for the Sheriff’s Dept. The $55,000 grant will cover planning, training and equipment;

 

• Approved an amendment to the Radiological Emergency Preparedness Grant agreement adding $6,000 to cover new program requirements. The amended grant will total $271,500;

 

•Accepted a donation of $100 from Granite Electronics from St. Cloud to the Sherburne County Sheriff’s Office Reserve Unit;

 

•Approved a Gambling Application for Exempt Permit for the Big Lake Firefighters Relief Association for an Aug. 1 raffle at the Big Lake Fire Hall;

 

•Approved a contract with Minnesota Monitoring Inc. to provide electronic monitoring services to defendants and offenders under the supervision of the Sherburne County Probation Dept. in 2015.