One of the ways they’ve kept the budget static is by not adding new staff unless it is absolutely necessary or it helps the bottom line.

 

Tuesday, the board approved two new positions that will save the county money by reducing costs.

 

First, the board approved a new senior network engineer position in the Information Technology (IT) department.

 

IT Director Brian Kamman told the board the former junior network engineer vacated his position and has taken a position at a different county. The tasks and responsibilities the person had been completing fit the senior network engineer job description.

 

Kamman said the county currently has more than 80 hours of work for the position and the former employee was paid by the hour and worked overtime to cover the additional labor.

 

“The senior engineer is a salaried position. We would pay about the same rate hourly, but that person would no longer get overtime payment,” Kamman told the board. “I see this as being neutral to the budget.”

 

The board also approved a reorganization in the assessor’s department that will reduce the 2015 assessor’s budget by almost $25,000.

 

Assessor Dan Weber said one of the county’s property appraisers is retiring May 30. The position is being filled by a current Office Assistant II/Property Appraiser.

Since that internal promotion is creating a vacancy in the front office, Weber requested adding some job duties to another Administrative Assistant I/ Assessor staff member, plus adding a part-time 20-hour per week employee.

 

Weber said the changes will result in a savings of $24,850, and if a clerical position was to open in any other land offices, the part-time position could be expanded to full time without adding any new staff.

 

The board approved two waivers for Elk River Composting.

 

One waiver removes the responsibility of re-seeding the site after the facility closes.

 

“Their plan is to use the site for asphalt and concrete storage after the facility closes,” said David Katzner, solid waste environmental specialist. 

 

“It’s consistent with Elk River’s zoning and conditional use permit requirements for that site.”

 

The other waiver eliminates the requirement to furnish financial assurance for the facility to protect public health and safety. Katzner said the facility currently has a $25,000 bond with county.

“They have already seized their operations out there and we inspected the property on May 6,” he said. “The property is clean. All the solid waste and equipment has been removed.”

 

Last week, the board approved the joint powers agreement with the MN Dept. of Corrections for overflow offender housing. 

 

Under the agreement, the state will pay the county $55 per federal inmate per day housed at the Sherburne County Jail, plus medical/dental expenses. The agreement is effective through June 30, 2015.

 

The board approved the transfer of $10,575 from the unallocated recorder’s compliance fund to the auditor/treasurer’s department to be used to develop additional information to track parcels for the property tax system. The new tracking information would benefit property owners who request to combine parcels.

 

In other action the board:

 

• Set a public hearing for June 3 to consider conducting a solid waste abatement at 28013 145th Street in Blue Hill Twp.;

 

• Approved a request from Baldwin Twp. to distribute $4,917.94 of park dedication funds to the township for adding on to their pavilion in Young Park;

 

• Approved a three-year Microsoft Enterprise agreement giving the county licenses for employees to use Microsoft products;

 

• Approved a contract with Cindy Lovelette to present two separate sessions on managing stress and anxiety in the workplace on June 26. The cost for both sessions will not exceed $700;

• Approved a joint powers agreement with Central MN Job & Training effective April 1, 2014 for youth services and July 1, 2014 for adult services;

 

• Approved a modification to the solid waste facility license for Lake State Recycling in Elk River to include gas pumps as an acceptable waste item;

 

• Approved a gambling premises permit for Princeton Youth Hockey Assn. at Fairway Shores in Baldwin Twp.;

 

• Approved the platting of existing public right-of-way on Co. Rd. 5 between Co. Rd. 75 and 263rd Ave.;

 

• Proclaimed May as Mental Health Month and Foster Care Month in Sherburne County.