Representatives from the Great River Regional Library (GRRL) presented the 2024 budget at the Sherburne County Board meeting last week.
GRRL Executive Director Karen Pundsack and Associate Director of Accounting Amy Anderson spoke about the overall operating budget and Sherburne County’s share.
Anderson said the 2024 budget was adopted at $10,198,376, which is a change of 1.6% over the 2023 budget. However, none of the six contributing counties will see any increase in 2024.
Sherburne County’s share is the same as 2023 at $1,464,162. All of the other five counties will see a small decrease.
Pundsack said each county’s contribution is based on a three-way formula using tax capacity, population and borrower numbers.
“So dollar numbers might fluctuate from year to year,” she said.
She said county contributions, along with partnerships with cities that provide the buildings that house the libraries, help keep costs down. GRRL doesn’t have to budget for individual library building utilities and maintenance costs. Throughout the state, the average cost per capita to provide library services is $41. GRRL’s cost is $20.
“Part of the reason that we’re so lean is the efficiency from that city/county partnership,” she said.
The board did not make a motion to approve the budget. The county includes the amount of library support when it sets its final budget in December.
Contracts
The board amended the agreement with HDR Engineering to add construction phase services on the Co. Rd. 43 reconstruction project. The amendment is an expansion of work not previously included in the original Oct. 5, 2020 agreement. The amount of the amendment request is $79,785.00 for construction phase services.
The board approved a contract amendment with Bolton & Menk for the Hwy. 169 and Co. Rd. 4 interchange design. Because of the scope of the project and MnDOT’s requirements to close access points within a half mile of the proposed interchange, it is necessary to design and construct local city street connections to accommodate the movements in and around the City of Zimmerman.
The changes will add $846,904 to the orignal contract amount. The county has been allocated an additional $2 million by the state legislature in design and property acquisition for the required changes.
Other Business
In other actions the board:
• Approved a donation of an automated external defibrillator (AED) from the sheriff’s department to Travelers Country Club. After updating all of its AED units, the sheriff’s office is in possession of several of the older AEDs that are still effective but cannot be serviced, and new batteries are not available for them;
• Approved three days paid leave for a sheriff’s office employee (Sgt. Nabil Gubash) to attend the 2023 Special Olympics Law Enforcement Torch Run International Conference in Chicago, from Oct. 28-30, 2023;
• Approved ditch assessments to various properties totalling $107,088, to be assessed in 2024.
