It was a busy and productive time for the Sherburne County Board in 2024. The board approved hundreds of agenda items throughout the year, and below are a few of those decisions the board made in 2024.
The board started the year by electing Commissioner Gregg Felber as Board Chair and Commissioner Gary Gray as Vice-Chair. They also served in the same positions for the Regional Rail Authority and the Housing and Redevelopment Authority.
One of the first orders of business in 2024 was the formation of the Eagle Lake Improvement District (ELID).
Big Eagle Lake is included on the Pollution Control Agency’s list of impaired waters due to high levels of phosphorous. The lake has experienced chronic problems with aquatic invasive species, including curly leaf pondweed and Eurasian watermilfoil. The lake is also infested with common carp.
Over 70% of lakeshore owners signed a petition to form the LID, which can assess properties on the lake to raise funds to address the Eagle Lake current and future water quality issues.
Ballot Board
In February the board passed a resolution establishing an absentee ballot board and an UOCAVA (Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Voting Act) absentee ballot board for elections in 2024 as required by state statute.
The ballot board is tasked with bringing uniformity in processing, accepting or rejecting returned absentee ballots in Sherburne County.
Park Funds
In May, the board voted against releasing $66,000 in park dedication fees to Baldwin Twp. The township was requesting the fees in order to fund improvements in Young Park in the township.
The Parks & Trails Advisory Committee determined the money was already encumbered as a local match as part of a $1.92 million extension of the Great Northern Trail, a portion of which runs through Baldwin Twp.
The issue came back before the board a few months later and they made a compromise and awarded the township $20,000.
Retirements
After 34 years with the county, Diane Arnold retired as auditor-treasurer in July. The board appointed Loraine Rupp to take over that position.
Veterans Service Officer Bruce Price retired in late May after serving the county for 10 years. In August, the board appointed Larry Fonder to fill the position.
Cannabis Ordinance
After a public hearing in June, the board adopted a temporary moratorium ordinance on cannabis businesses within the county to allow time for county staff to study and adopt reasonable restrictions.
Since the moratorium was set to expire at the end of 2024, the board adopted an new ordinance in mid-November.
The ordinance sets guidelines for those businesses within the boundaries of the county. Those businesses are not allowed within 1,000 feet of a school; 500 feet of a daycare; 500 feet of a residential treatment facility; 500 feet of a place of worship and within 500 feet of an attraction within a public park that is regularly used by minors, including but not limited to a playground or athletic field.
Haunted Trail
In October, the board tabled a request by a property owner in Orrock Twp. for an interim use permit (IUP) for a haunted trail on a 5.97-acre lot.
The board decided there were unresolved issues like safety and security, parking on township roads, defining excessive noise, dust, fumes and lights, engineering inspections of some of the buildings and liability to the county if someone was injured on the site.
A month later the board voted 4-1 to issue the permit. The conditions were modified to include no on-street parking, an attendance management plan and limiting the IUP to one year.
AI Policy
In late October the board instituted an Artificial Intelligence (AI) policy to guide how county employees, volunteers and contractors use it safely and responsibly.
IT Director Brian Kamman said although publicly available AI services can be helpful and enhance an employee’s tasks, it is not always 100% accurate and sometimes its use poses security risks.
Road Project Grants
The county has been awarded multi-millions in grants for upcoming road construction project, the biggest of which is the interchange at Hwy. 169 and Co. Rd. 4 in Zimmerman. That project begins in 2025.
In July, Administrator Bruce Messelt announced the county the county has applied for and been awarded three separate Carbon Reduction Program (CRP) grants totalling over $2 million from the Minnesota Dept. of Transportation (MnDOT).
The first is an $880,000 grant for the construction of a bicycle-pedestrian trail on the southeast side of Hwy. 25 from Big Lake to Monticello
Next is a $632,000 grant to construct a roundabout at the intersection of Co. Rd. 4 and Co. Rd. 11.
The third is another $632,000 for the construction of a roundabout at the intersection of Co. Rd. 4 and Co. Rd. 46.
Tax Levy, Salaries
In its final meeting of 2024 the board adopted the 2025 tax levy in the amount of $62,765,982, and a budget of $184,288,714, a 3.99% increase over 2024. The impact of the increase would be roughly $2.50 per month on the average residential homesteaded property in Sherburne County.
The board voted to give the four county elected officials a six percent salary increase for 2025, which Administrator Messelt said is an amount generally consistent with the cost of living and average annual performance adjustments county department heads received in 2023 and 2024.
For the 2025, the salaries are: Sheriff $202,386.74; County Attorney $202,091.14; Auditor-Treasurer $143,907.30; Recorder $133,031.23.
The commissioners also set their own salaries for 2025 at $59,112, a 2.5% increase over their current salary of $57,670. That increase matches the 2025 Sherburne County employee cost of living increase.
