Sherburne County has a new veterans service officer.

Larry Fonder was sworn in as Sherburne County Veterans Service Officer as the first order of business during Tuesday’s county board meeting.

Fonder served nearly 23 years of active duty service in the United States Army.

He enlisted as a private at the onset of the first Gulf War and served as a paratrooper at Fort Liberty (Fort Bragg), North Carolina until 1995, when as a sergeant, he returned to Minnesota to earn a degree from the University of Minnesota Carlson’s School of Management and a commission through the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC). As a Lieutenant, Larry served as an Adjutant, Tank Platoon Leader, and Scout Platoon Leader in the 7th U.S. Cavalry at Ft Stewart, Georgia, where he deployed on operations to Bosnia and along the Iraq-Kuwait border.

He followed that with a career in Veterans Services, first at the State of Minnesota as a Claims Representative, then at Ramsey County as an Assistant Veterans Service Officer.

Tuesday, Fonder thanked the board and everyone involved during his interview process. He said he was impressed at how the county cared about its veterans.

“The professionalism I experienced going through the hiring process was absolutely fantastic. That set the tone and convinced me that I wanted to be a part of Sherburne County,” he said. “The fact that two standing board members were actually involved in the hiring process told me that Sherburne County absolutely values its veterans, because even the commissioners are putting the time in to make sure their county veterans get the best person for the job.”

Fonder takes over the position from Bruce Price, who retired in late May after serving the county for 10 years.

Beltway Alignment

The board approved a letter in support of Benton County’s request for federal funding to construct a new alignment segment of the Hwy. 10 to Hwy. 23 connection.

The Co. Rd. 29 “belt way” corridor will enhance economic development opportunities in the region, and will provide a safer and more efficient way to get to and from the greater eastern St. Cloud area and Regional Airport.

Extension Agreement

The board approved a three-year University of Minnesota Extension staffing agreement. It includes the Ag Extension Educator position that is split between Benton, Morrison, Sherburne and Stearns counties at a cost of $60,000, plus a 3.0% salary increase for each of the three years of the agreement.

Road Contracts

The board awarded the contract for the 2024 Street Lighting, Mumble Strips & Striping project on various roads within Sherburne and Wright Counties to Design Electric at $572,397. Other bidders were Granite Ledge Electrical Contractors Inc. ($885,292.30) and Egan Company ($1,048,928.15).

The board awarded the contract for construction of the Great Northern Trail through Zimmerman from Lions Park to 5th Avenue North to Douglas-Kerr Underground LLC at $311,539.95. Other bidders were Meyer Contracting, Inc. ($327,590.98), New Look Contracting, Inc. ($335,394.50), Park Construction Company ($349,807.45), Peterson Companies Inc. ($370,077.40), Landwehr Construction, Inc. ($374,805.27),  Veit & Company, Inc. ($399,081.30), JL Theis, Inc. ($399,442.72) and Urban Companies LLC ($465,714.50).

Project construction dates will be contracted Sept. 30, 2024, through Nov. 1, 2024.

Other Business

In other actions the board:

• Approved an amendment to the agreement with Alliant Inc. for Co. Rd. 65 Design Services;

• Approved a $250 donation to the Sheriff’s Office K-9 Unit from Gilleland Chevrolet of St. Cloud.