During last week’s Sherburne County Board of Commissioners meeting, Benjamin Stout of Troop 90 in Elk River presented a project to the board to make new mile markers for the county’s section of the Great Northern Trail. He would create the mile markers over the winter and install them when the ground thaws in the spring. The county commissioners approved Stout’s project and authorized staff to work with the scout to make the project a reality.
Open Forum
Bret Collier of Big Lake suggested shutting down the North Star funding the county provides in order to save the county taxpayers a significant amount of money. He noted Anoka County’s decision to do so, having withheld most of their portion of the funding for the last year.
Land Use Comprehensive Plan
The board approved a request for proposals to hire a consulting firm to help rewrite the comprehensive land use plan. As the county continues to grow and develop, county staff feels it is imperative to take a look at the intended land use of the county going forward.
HHS Update
Health and Human services director Amanda Larson gave an update on the department. The economic assistance division has seen a drop in applications for the first time since the service was offered. As open enrollment begins, HHS staff has a lot of work ahead of them, as they need to manually enter in relevant information for those patients who are switching health insurance who had otherwise been relying on the government for their healthcare needs during the pandemic. This has slowed down the work being done in the department, unfortunately. Larson noted that staff had tried to prepare for this issue, and they continued to work at max capacity.
Larson was excited to report that HHS was recently able to help a student in Becker. The student’s family was experiencing homelessness, and was not on healthcare. The student was found to have hearing loss that was impacting her ability to learn in school. HHS was able to use their programs to get the student the care she needed and hopes to continue to work with the family to get them placed in adequate housing.
U of M Extension
In regards to the proposed extension program, the county agreed to a modified agreement. Several local counties have created a partnership to fund and provide extension services to local residents. In Sherburne County, extension offers services in the form of 4-H, but other services are also available, including services valuable to individuals and families involved in agriculture. Several local counties teamed up to share their extension resources and provide a wider range of services to residents. Sherburne County was invited to be a part of this partnership, but the commissioners were concerned about the cost involved. In the end, the commissioners agreed to participate in a modified partnership for a year. This will allow the county to see if there is a need for these services before fully committing.
Hiring Full Time Attorney
County Attorney Kathleen Heaney requested that the board approve hiring another full time attorney. Although a new full time attorney was recently hired, the number of cases building up in the attorney’s office is becoming far too much for the current staff to handle, to the point where they may not meet the state’s requirements for cases cleared. Funding for this position will be taken from ARPA funding.
Ewald Petersen
The board acknowledged the passing of former commissioner Ewald Petersen, who served both on the Big Lake Town Board and on the board of commissioners. Commissioner Felix Schmiesing noted that Petersen has been missed since he left the board, and that he gave much to his community during his lifetime.
In Other Business, the Board:
• Approved an IUP for a home pet grooming business;
• Approved a final plat for a property on Cantlin Lake;
• Approved an IUP for a marine repair home business;
• Approved a change to the CUP for a horse stable, allowing for more horses on the property and other changes;
• Held the regional rail authority meeting;
• Approved various requests for use of ARPA funds.
