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Sunday
August 01, 2010
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| 6/17/2009 10:00:00 AM |  |  | | KITTSON COUNTY hosted the District 3 Association of Minnesota Counties meeting June 4 at the Caribou Grill in Hallock. The group meets twice a year, in the fall and spring, to discuss issues pertinent to the eight counties it encompasses. - Enterprise Photo. |
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District AMC meeting held in Hallock
By Louise Money, Staff Writer
District three of the Association of Minnesota Counties (AMC) encompasses the counties of Kittson, Marshall, Roseau, Pennington, Polk, Red Lake, Norman and Mahnomen. The group of county commissioners meet each fall and spring, usually in an annual, common location. However, district director Warren Strandell, East Grand Forks, Polk County, thought they should start to travel around the district a little, so they chose Kittson County June 4.
They met at the Caribou Grill in Hallock with a turn-out of about 38 members and guests. Strandell did not run for re-election as director. Charles Pazdernik, Mahnomen County, who had been serving as district alternate director, was elected to the director position during the business meeting.
Each county took turns sharing what had been happening in their county. A shared topic among the counties were budget concerns and law suits.
Marshall County reported that they are working on an ATV trail for northwest Minnesota. They are dealing with costs associated to the 2009 flood as the water that came through the western part of their county, they said, was unbelievable.
Mahnomen said that their county is trying to maintain their services as they missed the cut off of state aid cuts to small counties by only having 200 people too many on their census earlier this spring. They continue to work on balancing their budget, which they haven't, and are taking a look at law enforcement cuts as it is 50 percent of their budget. They are in the midst of a lawsuit.
Roseau County reported that they have begun cooperative discussions with Lake of the Woods County and hope to expand that to other counties for collaborating on services. They are working on a study of costs related to their justice system including courts, jails and law enforcement.
Polk commissioners said that are anxiously awaiting putting their lawsuit with American Crystal Sugar to rest. The fight has spanned five years and cost the county over $1 million in legal fees. They are letting bids the end of July on the Thompson bridge project that would keep that bridge open during a flood. Commissioners added that they hope to maintain their current staffing through the budget problems that Minnesota faces.
Pennington reported they had laid off seven corrections personnel in an effort to ease their budget woes, while remaining unsure of what else they'll have to cut. They are in the midst of negotiating the start of a regional airport authority with the city for improvements, maintenance and salary purposes, while getting pressure from the big corporations in the City of Thief River Falls to put more money into the airport. They also said they have issues with Pennington County Ditch 1 that discharges into the river that runs through Thief River Falls.
Norman said they were in the midst of a lawsuit while sustaining one half million in flood damages to their county roads. They are spending the summer working on the second phase of repair to their courthouse. They added that they do have budget problems and issues that they will need to resolve this year.
Red Lake reported that things had been very calm in their county. A new bridge is going in in Plummer as well as a new 14 bed assisted living going up in time to open next spring. They reported that the flood damage was not so bad in their county and are awaiting the pipeline to come through to give an economic boost to the area. They added that they're confident they won't have to make many budget cuts.
A presentation followed by AMC on the state-county results, accountability and service delivery redesign implementation proposal for social services. Basically, the governor's original idea to group counties and make one service center, has been taken to another level by AMC. Instead, the new proposal will transform the the current human service delivery system to a administratively simplified, client-focuses, outcomes-based department that will promote accountability of all service delivery providers.
Kittson County Social Services director Kathy Johnson spoke in support of the proposal after the presentation by AMC. She said that it will hold counties more individually liable for service delivery as well as uniting them as a support system.
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