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Lincoln board gets Shaokatan report

IVANHOE — Lincoln County Environmental Administrator Robert Olsen gave a report on the Lake Shaokatan Lake Improvement District (LSLID) at the Lincoln County Board meeting Feb. 7.

The LSLID board of directors have met and discussed the resolution setting the ag land assessments for a total of $5,000, according to the draft of the minutes.

The board has considered the concerns of the landowners and have requested that the resolution be approved as previously presented and they would not remove any of the ag parcels that are within the boundary set. The board approved the LSLID Resolution # 02-2016 of the Lake Shaokatan Lake Improvement District (LSLID) Adopting 2016 Final Budget and Approving 2016 Special Assessments Payable 2017. All commissioners voted in favor, according to the draft of the minutes.  

Olsen also informed the board that the LSLID is currently raising funds to treat the lake and has had some conversations with the DNR, according to the draft of the minutes. Currently the treatment is set by statute and only 15 percent of the littoral zone of the lake can be treated without additional permits from the DNR.

The LSLID and the Lincoln County Environmental office will begin the process of discussing their concerns with the DNR to be able to treat earlier and treat more than 15 percent of the lake. Olsen is also hoping to be able to use a drone to get more precise pictures and data on the weed growth, according to the draft of the minutes. 

Olsen received approval to advertise and post for a new Environmental Tech position. The Assessment resolution was what will be assessed on the ditches for 2017. This assessment is added to the tax statements, according to the draft of the minutes.

County Engineer Dustin Hauschild appeared before the board to ask for approval to purchase two budgeted vehicles to replace unit 43 (2001 Ford 150 Super Cab pickup) and unit 44 (Chevy 1500 2-wheel-drive regular cab pickup). The vehicles to purchase are a Ford Edge SE with a state bid of $2,5920.32 plus any corresponding fees and a 2017 Dodge Ram 4-wheel-drive crew cab with a state bid of $25,320.92 plus any corresponding fees. Both vehicles are coming from Nelson Auto Center in Fergus Falls. Commissioner Joe Drietz made the motion to purchase a 2017 Ford Edge SE with a state bid of $25,920.32 plus corresponding fees and a 2017 Dodge Ram 4-wheel-drive crew cab with a state bid of $25,320.92 plus corresponding fees for the Highway Department. The motion was approved with commissioners Corey Sik and Jack Vizecky voting no.

Hauschild also asked for approval to purchase Eagle Point software at $1,000 per year. This is a higher cost of $250 per year to add additional users and additional in house training. The board voted to purchase Eagle Point Pinnacle software for the Highway Department at a cost of $1,000 per year.

Hauschild also reported MnDOT has conducted a speed study as part of a legislative mandate. This study is to determine if there is a recommendation to increase the speed to 60 mph on many roadway segments.

The recommendation came back to consider increasing the speed on Highway 271 from TH 19 to the South Dakota border. MnDOT will consider all comments before making the change.  

The Lincoln County Commissioners were presented with a candidate’s application for the part-time dispatcher position at its Feb. 7 meeting.

No name was disclosed during an email interview with Sheriff Chad Meester as the board will hopefully return a decision at the March 21 meeting regarding employment of the candidate.

“Only the board members of the personnel committee and auditor have approved this candidate so far,” Meester said. “Not the full board.”

“(The fact that the position was brought up at this meeting) was only to bring the board up to speed on the backgrounding and what information was yet to be received,” Meester added.

The proposed salary for the position is determined by a union wage scale. The scale starts at $17.59 per hour, according to the county auditor.

Meester was asked if there was anything new on the Zuercher CAD the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department was looking at. Meester said a field trip was planned to observe one in action.

“On Jan. 30, several sheriff’s office employees, Commissioner Vizecky, along with former dispatcher Amber Scholten toured the Nobles County Law Enforcement Center,” he said. “There are also a few minor updates to the proposed contract. I sense some questions and confusion about Zuercher and our current system from the board, so I plan on one more presentation at the next meeting.”

Representatives from the city of Lake Benton also attended the meeting. City Administrator Eileen Christensen and Trustee Dave Enk appeared before the Lincoln County commissioners with options for the Lake Benton Police Department. In an email interview, the representatives had two questions: 

•  Would the County be interested in expanding the contract program with Lake Benton similar to what they are doing in Hendricks?

•  What do they see as the long term viability program?

“The county stated they are interested and willing to work with the city of Lake Benton should that be the decision rendered,” Christensen said. “We did not have anything to present.”

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