County holds off on putting bid on parcel

By Anna Jauhola
The county’s purchase of a parcel with wells connected to the Kittson Marshall Rural Water aquifer is on hold. At the July 1 meeting, Kittson County commissioners discussed the possibility of putting a bid on a 1.38-acre parcel of land in Percy Township.
“While I was working to put that in, and confirming it was parcel 5 as we last noted, I noticed it was not on the website any longer,” said Administrator Aimee Sugden, referring to Pifer’s Auctions website. “They said the landowner didn’t realize there was a well on it, so he wanted to combine it with other parcels.”
She said the county could still bid on the parcel, but Pifer’s advised the bid would have to be pretty high for them to consider it. That 1.38 acres is now tied into several parcels totaling 320 acres, all owned by Kenny Johnson of Walhalla, N.D.
The commissioners referred the issue back to the purchasing committee for review and to meet with Kittson-Marshall Rural Water to discuss their interest in purchasing this land. The board agreed a per-acre amount offer between $8,000 and $12,000 would be enticing.
Courthouse Update
Phase 1 of the courthouse renovations is taking longer than expected, Sugden said.
“We’d hoped to have things narrowed down to two to three weeks for each phase,” she added.
While materials are arriving now, the windows for the jail have been removed from the project. Sugden said there were different specifications needed for those, and they will likely be put into the regular budgeting down the line.
They also received approval on Monday, July 14 to switch phases 4 and 6 to avoid moving equipment from the upstairs meeting room temporary office twice.
Once phases 1, 2 and 3 are done, crews will instead move to the east end of the upper level and work their way west.
“Now that Phase 1 is hopefully on the back half, they’re going to finish Soil and Water first, get that cleaned so they can move back in. Then the sheriff’s department will move into the license room and Two Rivers Watershed will move into their temporary space,” Sugden said. “Then FSA can move back into their office.”
There are brightly colored signs throughout the building indicating temporary office space and where every office is currently located.
In other business, the board:
• Approved the resignation of Deputy Sheriff Neiko Cleven, effective Friday, July 18.
• Approved the retirement of Diane Younggren from the social services office after 39.5 years of service to the county. Social Services Director Brittany Swenson said Younggren’s position will remain in the preliminary budget for now, but she’s working on restructuring the department and it may be eliminated through changes in case load.
• Approved closing out the 2021 FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant, which had been expanded through 2025.
• Approved a quote to repair a chiller at the courthouse for $8,875.47 through Johnson Controls. The purchasing committee approved the initial quote for the emergency work, and the full board gave official approval during the meeting.
• Approved paying city street assessments from the city of Hallock all at once to avoid 6% interest over the next 20 years. The total to be paid is $136,217.13. The county is being assessed along Fifth Street for the courthouse lot and the empty lot owned to the north, along Fourth Street for the same empty lot, and also for the triangular lot that abuts Fifth Street.
• Approved a one-year school nurse contract with Kittson Central School through Kittson Public Health. The contract calls for the school nurse to complete an annual immunization status report, complete screening programs, handle individual conferences with students for special needs and teach growth and development classes. She will also be available when the school needs her. Public health will bill the school $45 per hour when she is on duty.
• Approved sending a letter of support for the Klondike Clean Water Retention Project to Sens. Tina Smith and Amy Klobuchar. The Two Rivers Watershed District requested the letter of support.
The next regular meeting will be on Tuesday, Aug. 5 at 9 a.m. in the meeting room on the east end of the courthouse, near the Assessor’s Office.