At the Itasca County Board meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 6, the new Itasca County Veterans Service Officer John Prepodnik was sworn-in as the official VSO by taking the oath of office.
Ninth District Judge Heidi Chandler conducted the oath to swear in Prepodnik.
Following the oath, Chandler took the opportunity to address the county board, thanking them for their efforts with the new justice center, which she gave her strong approval.
“Thank you for all your hard work. It’s beautiful and it will serve the citizens of our county and state for years and years to come,” said Chandler, also passing thanks to previous commissioners who had a role in the project.
Itasca County Engineer Karin Grandia provided the commissioners the 2023 Itasca County Transportation Department Annual Report at Tuesday’s meeting.
The report provided an in-depth view of road projects undertaken last year by the department, which has 88 full-time positions.
The presentation covered expenditures as well as the scope of the work done by the transportation department, which included: survey and design work, bridge safety inspections, culvert inspections, use of calcium chloride, pavement markings, gravel surfacing, fuel supply control, county road costs, major equipment purchases, contract agreements, administrative planning and oversight, as well as developing safety plans, among other things reviewed by Grandia.
The commissioners held a discussion with Grandia about the levers and authorities responsible for changing the classification of roads to improve them as they become more heavily used, as well as the Wheelage Tax, how it’s collected, and how the money is used and distributed.
Also on Tuesday, the Itasca County Board voted to implement the new GovQA software the county has chosen to manage their future public records requests.
The new software will streamline the processes for public data requests and Itasca County Administrator Brett Skyles says the program will facilitate the requests and responses, while improving the accuracy and timeliness of the process.
Skyles says the software has been used by many other government agencies with success, and with the vote, the county intends to roll-out the program as quickly as possible.
The new software required an update to the county policy book, which was reviewed and approved by Itasca County Attorney Jake Fauchald, who says the new program “is how the government maintains transparency with the public.”
Itasca County Commissioner John Johnson (D3) presented an American Rescue Plan request to the commissioners on Tuesday.
The request comes in the form of a grant for a clinic in Duluth that has been providing speech and language therapy to at least five youth members in Johnson’s district.
He explained the clinic provides a two-year program at no cost to the families, as well as travel stipends and says the work they do for their clients makes the $10,000 grant a “worthy investment.”
The board approved the funds.
In addition to the request by Johnson, the board amended a previous ARP request in regards to the “Open on 65” campaign for the Goodland area, also in Johnson’s district, which is experiencing limited access this summer due to road construction.
The amendment reallocates an ARP grant from CEDA to North Star Marketing, which did the majority of work for the campaign.
More ARP requests are to be expected according to Itasca County Commissioner Burl Ives (D4), who says he is meeting with county road and bridge to potentially do some road improvements on the western side of his district with some of his remaining ARP funds.
Ives also requested to be pointed toward any 500 gallon LP tanks available for sale, as Township searches for one as a backup to run their community center in case of emergencies.
Itasca County Attorney Jake Fauchald updated the board on hiring for the office, informing them that contingent job offers for assistant county attorney’s that were extended have been accepted and are pending background and licensure verification.
“Things are very much looking in a positive trajectory from that regard,” said Fauchald, who says he hopes to start a hiring trend for his new office still looking to fill additional vacancies.
The county board adjusted the schedule for next week, pushing the board meeting to Wednesday at 2:30 to accommodate a public hearing, and have pushed the earlier budget meeting that day to 10:30 a.m.
In other business at Tuesday’s meeting:
The sheriff’s office has moved over to the new government center, and the public is directed to the new building for any needs.Appointed Lilah Crowe to the Extension Committee, fulfilling the unexpired vacancy effective August 14, through Dec. 31, 2026.Acknowledged the resignation of Leah Griffen as Resident Commissioner on the Itasca County Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA), effective last month.Accepted the resignation of Randy Mattfield, KOOTASCA Program Director, from the NE MN HOME Consortium Advisory Committee and appointed Sandy O’Fallon to fulfill the vacant and current term effective August 14, 2024.Appointed Interim County Attorney Jacob Fauchald to the Attorney position on the Risk Management Commission as well as Attorney/Ex-Officio position on the Planning Commission/Board of Adjustment for the current elected terms ending Dec. 31, 2026 following Matti Adam’s departure.Approved the donation of 40 monitors, four televisions, 30 desktop computers, 26 network switches, 12 rack mount servers, three rack-mount KVMs, 34 laptops, and seven printers to PC’s for People.Approved the transfer of funds in the amount of $1.5 million dollars from the Unorganized Township road and bridge accounts to the Itasca County Road and Bridge fund for road maintenance costs in Unorganized Townships.
To view the Itasca County Board meeting in its entirety, it can be found online at watchictv.org/
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