IVANHOE — Sheriff Chad Meester announced to the Lincoln County Board on Tuesday that he was stepping down as of Aug. 16. Meester has been with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office for 16 years, the last nine years as sheriff.

“As sheriff for the past nine years, I have received steady immutable pushback from within and outside the agency. Wisdom through my experience has enlightened me to understand the difference between the things I can change and the things I cannot,” Meester said. “I have pondered the professional and personal reasons of this journey as a servant of the people. Today, I am closing this chapter of my professional career.”

Meester had a meeting to attend immediately afterward and was unavailable for comment. By law, the board has 30 days to find and appoint a qualified successor.

Tuesday’s meeting was also marked by contentious discussion of gender and environmental issues. A public hearing was held on a requested tax abatement for Safe Place Inc., a proposed treatment facility for young people suffering from mental health and chemical dependency issues.

Owner Jerry Bottelberghe had previously requested an abatement from three taxing entities on property acquired from Divine Providence Hospital. The Lincoln County portion requested was $5,490. The Ivanhoe School Board and City Council have already refused requests to abate their portions.

Several county residents have raised the issue of whether the proposed facility would provide “gender affirming care” such as puberty blocking hormones. When directly asked Bottelberghe said no.

Jason Wisniewski, representing a group of concerned citizens, claimed a recent bill passed by the state Legislature makes Minnesota a “sanctuary state” for parents and minors seeking gender transition counseling, hormones, and surgery, and that the law provides for removing minor children seeking transitions from their parents’ custody.

Wisniewski said a facility that accepts state funds could be forced to provide such services by state law and that Bottelberghe owed citizens transparency.

A local farmer Paul Fehrman said he agreed with Wisniewski and further opposed the abatement on financial grounds.

“Didn’t you know what the taxes would be?” Fehrman said. “There are so many open ended questions. Who’s going to hold you accountable?”

After much discussion, the commissioners approved a $4,000 abatement proposed by Commissioner Joe Drietz, with Chairman Cory Sik casting the sole dissenting vote.

“It’s six thousand dollars, if you can’t swing that six how can you swing the rest? I oppose,” Sik said.

When the regular meeting reconvened, Lincoln County resident David Johnson presented concerns about an ongoing experiment in Hole in the Mountain Park.

Since 2018 experiments in patch-burning plots of land in the park, seeding with mixtures of native grasses, and grazing cattle.

Johnson said this has been detrimental to habitat for pheasant and other game animals and has promoted the growth of thistle, a noxious weed.

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Regional Wildlife Manager David Trauba and Assistant Area Wildlife Manager Amber Knutson said the experiment is still in the beginning stages but native species richness was increasing and non-native species had no significant increase.

Sik invited them to walk the area together and said he’d received numerous phone calls from neighboring property owners complaining about thistle infestation.

After much discussion, a consensus was reached to explore the issue further.

In other business, Vince Robinson of the Lincoln County Economic Development Corp. submitted a $57,000 budget request for 2024.