The Sherburne County Board of Commissioners Tuesday approved the 2016 SCORE budget in the amount of $509,720.71.
SCORE (Select Committee on Recycling and the Environment) promotes projects focusing on waste reduction and recycling activities.
The largest single line item in the 2016 SCORE budget is household hazardous waste collection. The county is proposing to hold 11 mobile collection events in 2016 at a total cost of $100,000.
Municipal recycling board yard waste sites throughout the county will receive a total of $106,927, with allocations to Becker ($25,546), Big Lake ($25,397), Elk River ($31,298) and Zimmerman ($24,686.)
Clean up day events will receive a total of $85,000, with grant amounts for each city or township based on a three-year average.
The Big Lake yard waste facility will receive a $50,000 grant to pave the facility.
Other grants include: $20,000 for printing and distribution of two editions of the Environmental Educator; $4,830 for the Becker Boy Scouts paper and cardboard recycling program; $6,600 for the Zimmerman Girl Scouts paper and cardboard recycling program; $3,914.02 for the county jail recycling program; $4,700 for the pharmaceutical collection program; $5,055 for the battery collection program; $3,000 for the leaf drop program and $2,959.43 for the Fix-It Clinic in Elk River.
Another $88,235.26 is set aside for special project requests to be presented to the solid waste advisory committee.
Landfill Agreement
The board approved a waste allocation agreement for delivery of solid waste from Sherburne County to the Pope/Douglas Materials Recovery Facility and Solid Waste Combuster in Alexandria. The agreement covers waste delivered by Sherburne, Stearns and Benton counties. Under the agreement, Sherburne County’s allocation increases from 10% to 11.6% as a result of changes in population.
Broadband Grants
The board approved the receipt of three Blandin Foundation Community Broadband grants; $12,000 for the Becker Athletic Complex internet access project; $10,000 for Elk River Downtown River Edge Public Park WiFi project and $10,000 for the City of Elk River to Zimmerman fiber connection project.
Other Business
In other action the board:
• Approved a gambling application for exempt permit for Big Lake Firefighters Relief Association for an Aug. 6 raffle at the Big Lake Fire Dept.;
• Ratified transfers totalling $3,022.35 from the general fund to cover deficit balances in the county ditch funds;
• Approved entering into a contract with Minnesota Safety Concepts to provide safety training for Community Corrections staff on March 11;
• Appointed Diana Weissenfluh as Member At-Large to the Sherburne County Solid Waste Advisory Committee and Laurel Kimpton as alternate;
• Approved the modification of a solid waste facility license for B & E Recycling Station, Inc. in Elk River for a change in ownership to Adam Eastman;
• Appointed Dispatch Supervisor Lori Morgan as a representative to the Central MN EMS Advisory Committee;
• Approved an encroachment agreement with Amcon Block & Recast allowing the company to keep an existing fence within the county right-of-way on Co. Rd. 7 just east of Hwy. 10 in Haven Twp;
• Approved the final contract payment of $80,990.14 to Knife River Corp. for roadway enhancement projects on various county roads;
• Approved the final contract payment of $184,690.87 of Knife River Corp. for bituminous overlays, culvert replacement and turn lane construction on County roads 10, 14, 16, 33, 61 and 51;
• Appointed Clint Jordahl and Melanie Waite-Altringer to the Sherburne County Water Plan Advisory Committee for a three-year term;
• Passed a resolution releasing a two-acre landlocked parcel in the Sand Dunes State Forest from a land trust so it can be purchased by the DNR.
