The Sherburne County Board met Tuesday and partially approved an Interim Use Permit for applicant Paul Braun to operate his business, Down Range Training Concepts.
The board gave the green light to classroom instruction activities, as well as the manufacture and repair of firearms. However, Braun was denied the ability to test fire firearms and conduct live fire training exercises.
During the open forum portion at the beginning of the meeting, Braun appeared before the board to address some concerns in the paperwork he received back from the county just the day prior. Braun stated that he had less than 24 hours to review the information and his legal counsel had yet to weigh in, but he noted what he believed were several inaccuracies in the county’s findings.
Braun said he is a long time resident of the county and moved to his current property in 2014. He uses his land for recreational shooting purposes, even installing berms to enhance safety and was petitioning to occasionally use the range for business purposes. Braun explained that he manufactures and repairs firearms and the live testing he would like to accomplish would be for active duty law enforcement personnel who on occasion need emergency repair of duty weapons. He added that the testing of these repaired firearms would consist of three live fire rounds and would occur approximately three or four times a year.
He also noted he would stay at the meeting to provide clarification on any other items the commissioners had questions about regarding his application.
Next, the board took up the agenda item of the IUP application for Braun. The Planning Advisory Board had earlier recommended denial of the entire proposal, but last month the commissioners had directed staff to codify findings of fact, as well as conditions that could be imposed to allow certain parts of the IUP to be granted.
Marc Schneider, county planner, presented the board with a resolution detailing 48 findings of facts, as well as approving classroom instruction and repair and manufacture of firearms at the residence. The resolution did not provide for approval of any live fire testing or shooting of firearms as related to the proposed business activities.
In its findings, the board stated several concerns which appear to be the basis of the denial of parts of the IUP.
The resolution stated in part “the proposed shooting range has been and would continue to be injurious to the use and enjoyment of surrounding properties,” as well as “the shooting range mitigation area that would be imposed on surrounding properties under Minn. Stat. § 87A.04 will negatively impact the use and enjoyment of those properties.”
However, in approving the other uses, the board stated that they don’t believe these same conditions would apply to the classroom training and firearms manufacturing portion of the application.
After a brief discussion, the commissioners unanimously voted to approve the resolution.
Job Reclassifications
The board reviewed several job reclassifications, including moving a maintenance helper to a maintenance technician (mechanic). Because of some custodial services being contracted out, a previous restructuring had already reduced personnel costs. In moving this position, there will be less than a $3,000 impact fo the budget for the upcoming year.
The other position involved moving an HHS Office Aide (grade five on the pay scale) to a Case Aide (grade eight). In 2021, HHS will be moving towards a model of a centralized social service intake, whereas currently six divisions are all doing their own intakes. The result will be a much more efficient and consumer friendly interface with programming and staff in HHS. With this change and a restructuring and more effective utilization of existing staff, the county will actually see a nearly $40,000 savings to the budget when all positions are finalized.
The board unanimously approved the reconfiguring of staff in these areas.
Construction Updates
Steve Becker updated the board on recent construction projects, including the remodel of the veterans services area which is now much more spacious and provides for a higher level of confidentiality. In addition, the driver’s license service area is nearing completion and will be able to serve more residents in a socially distanced manner.
The security fencing in the back area of the government center is installed and the software is being optimized to provide a more safe and secure zone near the Sheriff’s Office and jail location.
COVID-19 Update
HHS Director Amanda Larson provided the board with an update on the current covid pandemic, as well as the early information coming out on the efforts to deploy any vaccines that receive approval from the federal government.
Larson reported that the county has now recorded over 6,000 infections and has a current positivity rate of 8.2%, a touch below the state average. So far, 232 residents of the county have been hospitalized with the disease.
In a startling fact, Larson pointed out that it took 174 days for the first 5,000 county infections and the last 1,000 positive cases took just five days.
She stated that she continues to work with local school districts and the current school tracking number is 238, which represents the average number of infections per 10,000 residents during a two week period. The MDE recommends schools utilize this number as one data source when considering which model of instruction to use with students, with any number over 50 leading to a recommendation of distance learning.
In terms of vaccine distribution, Larson doesn’t expect the county to be asked to provide the service in the first wave of immunizations, but public health staff is prepared to help when called upon. Her department recently took delivery of the new public health bus that will be used in vaccination efforts, as well as community outreach for a number of health related endeavors.
Next, Larson gave a brief overview of the COVID-19 aware app that is available for download from the State of MN. This allows users to track if they have been exposed to others who are suffering from an infection by utilizing bluetooth technology. No data is collected, stored or shared regarding the individual person, as no personal information is entered into the app.
In Other Business, The Board:
• Heard from Administrator Bruce Messelt about the “appointment-only” status of county business being conducted at the government center;
• Agreed to place legislative priorities and representation at the state and federal level on the Dec. 15 agenda;
• Reviewed the Dec. 3 truth in taxation agenda, as Messelt reported fielding a number of calls since the proposed tax statements were mailed last week;
• Approved Assessor Michelle Moen’s recommendation to hold the 2021 County Board of Appeal and Equalization meeting on June 15, 2021 at 3 p.m.;
• Listened to Dan Weber update the status of the CARES Act funding, which included a distribution of $1.39 million to local school districts, using a per pupil unit formula.
