Courthouse fixes are a top priority as the year begins

By Editor | February 2, 2025 |

KITTSON COUNTY COMMISSIONERS, back row, l-r, District 3, Loren Younggren, chair; District 5, Ryan Swenson, vice chair; District 2, Theresia Gillie. Front row, l-r, District 1, Brad Johnson; District 4, Derry Jones.
(Enterprise photo by Anna Jauhola)

By Anna Jauhola
The Kittson County Commissioners reorganized for the year during the first meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 7. Loren Younggren was re-elected as commission chair and Ryan Swenson was voted in as vice chair.
The commission will, over the next month, work on moving needed courthouse updates forward, starting with removal of the old boilers and other items from the former boiler room. That work began Monday, Jan. 13. The first weekend of January, the fire department was called to the courthouse as the fire alarm was tripped, said Administrator Aimee Sugden.
“It said it was a manual pull, but nobody was in the facility,” she added, noting that’s a clear sign for the need to replace the system.
This and other issues recently discussed when the county proposed selling bonds to fix the courthouse will be a top priority. She said there is a Monday, Feb. 3 deadline for concrete plans on Johnson Controls’ plan for renovations.
Assistant County Engineer Keith Klegstad asked the commission whether his department should move forward with plans for renovating the existing cold storage facility in Northcote. He said it’s in the 2025 budget, but wasn’t sure about the bonding situation and whether this project would be lumped in with the rest.
The commission asked him to get quotes from local contractors for renovations. Commissioner Derry Jones asked him to get at least three quotes.
Another focus this year will be public health, as the county has received an initial letter from Kittson Healthcare regarding its intent to terminate the current contract between the county and hospital. There were no other details at this time, other than Kittson Healthcare wanted to give early notice before the contract ends Sept. 30.
In other business, the commission:
• Approved a resolution naming Kittson County Enterprise as the county’s official newspaper for 2025 and the North Star News of Karlstad as the second paper. The commission received two bids for this designation. The Enterprise bid $3.90 per column inch across the board to publish public notices for the county as the first newspaper and $6 per column inch for the second newspaper. The North Star News of Karlstad bid $1.25 across the board for the first newspaper and $6.75 for second. “It’s just hard to go away from the Enterprise because they always come (to each meeting),” said Gillie, who motioned to approve the Enterprise as the official newspaper and the North Star News as the second newspaper. Commissioner Derry Jones seconded the motion, and all voted in favor.
• Approved hiring Emily Olson as a social worker at $32.80 per hour, which is grade 9, step 2 on the pay scale. There were nine applications submitted for the position. Olson’s start date is Monday, Feb. 3.
• Set the commission’s 2025 regular board meeting schedules as the first and third Tuesdays each month at 9 a.m.
• Approved committee appointments, including for the new commissioners. Jones took on household hazardous waste, Northwest Community Action, AMC environmental/natural resources, Economic Development Authority, Mar-Kit Landfill Joint Powers Board, Environmental, Personnel and Negotiating, and the Juneberry Project team.
Commissioner Brad Olson took on the Local Water Plan Joint Powers Board, AMC Public Safety, Feedlot, Local Road Improvement, alternate for Mar-Kit, Northwest Regional Radio Advisory, Northwest Regional Emergency communications and finance committees.
• Approved the annual contract with the Violence Intervention Project in Thief River Falls, an organization that does child visitations and exchanges in a controlled environment. This is a cost to the county – supervised visitation, $36 per hour; visitation exchanges, $12; use of visitation room, $25 per hour; service intake, $25 per parent; visit cancellation, $30; Exchange cancellation, $10.
• Approved a contract with the company Whitecap for crack sealing rubber at a cost of $29,376.75. The budget was $37,674 for 2025.
• Approved a resolution setting 2025 ditch levies.
• Approved a three-year contract with Marco for Barracuda email security services for $8,960.83.
• Rescinded the appointment of Mark Langehaug to the Kittson Marshall Water board, and appointed Eric Ristad instead.
The next regular meeting is on Tuesday, Jan. 21 at 9 a.m. in the upstairs meeting room at the courthouse in Hallock.