The Sherburne County Board Tuesday approved  over $235,000 in bi-weekly ARPA requests.

The largest amount, $128,062, will help fund two new county attorney positions. Assistant Administrator Dan Weber said both positions were included in the 2023 budget at one-third funding. ARPA will cover the other two-thirds in 2023 and one-third in 2024, with the total cost being covered by the county in 2025.

The other ARPA expense in the county attorney’s office is $46,200 as reimbursement to cover the cost of a retainer agreement with outside counsel that was necessary because of a backlog caused partly by the resignation of an experienced county attorney. 

The board approved the purchase of two Frontier front-mount snowblowers and two Zuidberg 3-point tractor mounting brackets for public works at a cost of $101,138 using ARPA dollars. Public Works Director Andrew Witter said maintenance crew must drive in reverse to use the rear-mount snowblowers currently in use, which is difficult at intersections and roundabouts.

They also approved the purchase of a Loadrite 3180 scale at $10,270 to replace the current scale that is 20 years old and not operational. The scale is used to determine salt and sand usage in the winter and it is used to weigh gravel and other materials to make sure the trucks do not exceed allowable weight capacity.

Govt. Center Project

The board approved the replacement of the south portions of asphalt of the Government Center Campus by Metro Paving at a cost not to exceed $61,000.  During the summer of 2022, 17,700 square feet of pavement was milled off and overlayed. This summer’s project would consist of milling 27,500 square feet of asphalt and applying an overlay. In the summer of 2024, the remaining 22,000 s.f. would be scheduled for replacement.

Park Donation

The board accepted a donation of $7,800 from former Sherburne Soil & Water Conservation District conservationist Bill Bronder to assist with costs to develop the recently acquired Big Elk Lake land as a nature-based park that protects cultural resources

Mental Health Grant

The board approved a Children’s Mental Health Respite Grant amendment, extending the grant to Dec. 31, 2023 and increasing the grant amount by $20,602 to a new total of $82,625. The funding provides for planned and/or emergency children’s mental health respite care for eligible children and families.

Equipment Donation

The board approved the donation of two pieces of outdated lab equipment no longer needed by the Sheriff’s Offices to the Law Enforcement Program at Alexandria Community College. The equipment is a superglue fume station used to recover/enhance fingerprints, and a fingerprint station that includes a light and fan.

Other Business

In other actions the board:

•  Approved entering into a membership agreement in HGACBuy’s Cooperative Purchasing Program, a nationwide cooperative which acts as the designated agent for county purchasing contracts;

• Approved the Working Capital Cash Flow in the amount of 21,547,434.79, with the amount to be shown in the financial statements as Unassigned Fund Balance;

• Approved Joint Powers Agreements with the State of Minnesota, Department of Public Safety, and Bureau of Criminal Apprehension to use systems and tools available over the state’s criminal justice data communications network for which the county is eligible;

• Approved an agreement with Baldwin Twp. for Information Technology consulting services at a rate of $80 per hour;

• Approved a professional services agreement with MJS Dirtworks for property clean-up at the Big Elk Lake Park Land in the amount of $38,209.96. The scope of work includes selective tree removal to allow equipment access, erosion control, removal and sorting of solid waste materials, grading  and soil stabilization;

• Approved an agreement between the county and MnDOT for lighting at intersections of Hwy. 25 at Co. Rd. 3, Co. Rd. 16 and Co. Rd. 48;

• Appointed Commissioners Gregg Felber and Gary Gray to the Energy Transition Committee, and Commissioners Raeanne Danielowski and Andrew Hulse to the Elections Committee;

• Approved the re-appointment of Mitch Glines as County Agricultural Inspector and approved his proposed 2023 workplan;

• Approved an agreement with Houston Engineering to provide groundwater sampling at select wells at Vonco, Vonco II, Becker Ash Landfill and Elk River Landfill in an amount not to exceed $12,500;

• Proclaimed March 2023 as Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month in Sherburne County.