Minnehaha County: Meeting minutes 3-31-20

THE MINNEHAHA COUNTY COMMISSION CONVENED AT 9:00 A.M. March 31, 2020, pursuant  to adjournment on March 27, 2020. Commissioners present were: Bend- er, Heiberger, and Karsky. Commis- sioner Barth and Beninga joined the meeting via teleconference. Also present were Olivia Larson, Commis- sion Recorder, and Margaret Gilles- pie, Senior Deputy State’s Attorney.

COVID-19 UPDATE

Jason Gearman, Emergency Man- agement Director, gave an update on efforts related to COVID-19. Work is being done at the Emergency Oper- ations Center to assist the healthcare systems find modeling. A process is being created to ensure proper noti- fication of law enforcement, fire, and emergency services regarding posi- tive cases. Cases are expected to con- tinue to rise. The public was advised to beware of scams taking place, es- pecially in regard to stimulus checks. Commissioner Bender announced that non-essential County Build- ings will remain closed to the public through April 30, 2020. Craig Dew- ey, Assistant Commission Adminis- trative Officer, reported on the 2020 Legislative Session Veto Day. Senate Bill 191, a bill that would have given counties the authority to declare an emergency and take steps to help mit- igate the spread of disease in regard to COVID-19, failed. A separate bill that would have granted the Secretary of Health the authority to declare an emergency and enact certain busi- ness closures also failed. Bob Litz, Auditor, reported on the legislature approving a bill that allowed for the postponement of the city and school elections. The preferred date to hold the City of Sioux Falls election is June 2, 2020, the Primary Election date. Absentee voting is taking place for the City Election. Precautions are being taken to allow for social dis- tancing and proper cleaning/sanitiza- tion. Voter registration will continue until May 18, 2020, for both the City Election and the Primary Election. Primary Election absentee voting will begin on April 17, 2020. Ab- sentee voting will continue for both elections until June 1, 2020. Absen- tee voting can be done through the mail and was encouraged. Auditor Litz thanked the Secretary of State’s Office and the South Dakota Asso- ciation of County Officials for their work on the election postponement bill. Commissioner Bender report- ed an internal committee has been meeting daily to handle administra- tion functions. Regular department head meetings are taking place. It was announced that there will be no Commission Meetings on April 7, 2020, and April 21, 2020, in an ef- fort to limit interaction. Carol Muller, Commission Administrative Officer, reported on utilizing conference calls to problem solve any emerging is- sues. The Minnehaha County Court- house remains open. The decision to keep the Courthouse open is made by the Unified Judicial System and is not determined by the County Com- mission. Auditor Litz reported an agreement may come forward with the City of Sioux Falls regarding the

conduct of the coinciding elections. AGENDA APPROVAL
MOTION by Karsky, seconded by

Heiberger, to amend agenda Item 6b, Abatements Recommended for Approval, to correct a typographical error where the Parcel Number was listed as #80859 and should be listed as Parcel #81859. By roll call vote: 5 ayes.

MOTION by Heiberger, seconded by Karsky, to approve the agenda as amended. By roll call vote: 5 ayes.

MINUTES APPROVAL

MOTION by Karsky, seconded by Heiberger, to approve the March 24, 2020, Commission Minutes. By roll call vote: 5 ayes.

VOUCHERS TO BE PAID

MOTION by Heiberger, seconded by Barth, to approve the following bills totaling $1,957,194.34. By roll call vote: 5 ayes.

A&B Business Data Processing Sup 131.75, A&B Business Lease-Rental Agmt 250.62, A&B Business Maint Contracts 470.20, Advance Auto Parts Auto/Small Equip 9.37, Air- way Svc Auto/Small Equip 384.32, Airway Svc Gas Oil & Diesel 87.60, Anderson, Jennifer Bd Evals Min- nehaha 2,805.00, Anderson, Scott A Work Mileage 43.68, Angel, Edward P Attorney Fees 1,088.20, Argus Leader Subscriptions 459.03, Ar- gus Leader Media Publishing Fees 2,288.79, Armor Correctional Con- tract Svcs 233,381.04, Astrophysics Lease-Rental Agmt 4,190.00, AT&T Safety & Rescue Equip 43.23, Ave- ra Mckennan Hospitals 106,952.42, Avera Mckennan Professional Svcs 53.00, Axis Forensic Toxico Lab Costs 691.00, Banner Associates Architects & Engineers 2,281.42, Banner Associates Bridge Repair & Maint 382.00, Bauer Built Heavy Equip Repairs & Maint 2,700.00, Burns, Jason Investigators Exps 228.06, Burnside Properties Welfare Rent 275.00, Cartridge World Data Processing Sup 139.99, Century Business Maint Contracts 232.32, Centurylink Telephone 54.79, Choi, Kon Welfare Rent 1,025.00, Chris Cam Janitorial Chemical Sup 140.50, Constellation Natural Gas 616.94, Cortrust Bank Welfare Rent 435.00, Counseling Resources Attorney Fees 700.00, Dakota Law Firm Attorney Fees 1,499.00, Dakota Traffic Svc Contracted Construction 892.86, Decastro Law Attorney Fees 300.70, Dell Marketing Data Processing Equip 1,737.11, Donahue, Michael Welfare Rent 500.00, Double H Pav- ing Snow Removal 3,586.25, EH Hospitality Motels 525.00, Eich Law Attorney Fees 1,500.00, Eich Law Child Defense Attorney 4,166.67, Empire Plastics Program Activities 144.00, English Law Attorney Fees 1,500.00, Ergometrics & App Re- cruitment 919.81, Fourth Judicial Dist Copy Fees 56.00, Frieberg Nel- son & As Bd Exp Fees Minnehaha 105.50, George, Aaron Welfare Rent 1,095.00, Goebel Printing Printing/ Forms 77.10, Grant Square Welfare Rent 500.00, Haiar, Kevin G Welfare Rent 1,000.00, Heart Hosp Of SD

Hospitals 23,456.02, Heart Hosp Of SD Safety & Rescue Equip 4,949.00, Helpline Center Program Activities 55.00, High Point Networks Soft- ware 833.00, Horizon Agency In- surance Admin Fee 2,821.00, I State Truck Center Parts Inventory 183.74, I State Truck Center Truck Repairs & Maint 1,139.52, Innovative Office Furniture & Office Equip 2,220.00, Innovative Office Office Sup 398.14, Interstate Office Office Sup 471.71, Interstate Power Sys Maint Con- tracts 264.00, JCL Solutions Inmate Sup 274.32, JCL Solutions Kitchen/ Cleaning Sup 4,223.31, JE Dunn Construction Jail Expansion Con- struction 1,217,484.00, Jeff Larson Law Attorney Fees 4,596.85, Jeffer- son Partners Transportation 1,611.50, JLG Architects Jail Expansion Prof Svcs 26,485.18, Johnson, Richard L Attorney Fees 209.99, Knecht, Andrew J Attorney Fees 1,500.00, Kruse Law Child Defense Attorney 4,166.67, Kyra Enterprises Motels 530.00, Lacey Rentals Lease-Rental Agmt 112.00, Lam, Kevin H Welfare Rent 655.00, Landeen Law Attorney Fees 1,500.00, Laughlin Law Attor- ney Fees 2,657.20, Laughlin Law Child Defense Attorney 1,084.10, Lewno Law Bd Exp Fees Yankton 81.50, Lexisnexis Matthew Subscrip- tions 515.00, LG Everist Road Maint & Material 59.99, Loving, Philip Bd Evals Minnehaha 1,560.00, Luther, Jeff Medical Director 2,500.00, Lu- theran Social Svcs Diversion Pro- grams 2,435.83, Mac’s Hardware Road Maint & Material 181.90, McLeods Printing Printing/Forms 1,022.25, Medstar Paramedic Trans- portation 400.00, Menard Bridge Repair & Maint 178.99, Menard Small Tools & Shop Sup 34.94, Midamerican Energy Natural Gas 2,789.16, Midland Heat, Vent & AC Repairs 95.56, Montis, Lori K Busi- ness Travel 172.01, Napa Auto Parts Auto/Small Equip 15.47, Napa Auto Parts Truck Repairs & Maint 56.00, Nebraska Salt & Gr Road Material Inventory 8,380.45, Olivier Miles Holtz Attorney Fees 173.40, Olson Oil Auto/Small Equip 500.00, Oreilly Auto Parts Auto/Small Equip 16.76, Osborn, Roxane R Court Reporters 1,201.75, PCS Mobile Homeland Security 6,013.15, Pheasant View Apt Welfare Rent 800.00, Pioneer Enterprises Burials 4,000.00, Pi- oneer Enterprises Transportation 150.00, Pohlson, Chris Welfare Rent 800.00, Poppens, Janae Lynn Bd Exp Fees Minnehaha 14.03, Prahm Con- struction Contracted Construction 87,155.51, Ramkota Hotel Business Travel 208.00, Rebuilding Enter Welfare Rent 500.00, Resolution Treatment Psych Evals 1,750.00, Reynolds Law Child Defense Attor- ney 4,166.67, Rochester Armored Armored Car Svc 407.96, Running Supply JDC Maint 5.27, Sage Proj- ects Cons MacArthur SJC Grant 1,816.50, Sanford Clinic Contract Svcs 25,180.73, Signature Properties Welfare Rent 700.00, Sioux Empire Fair Misc Exp 12,500.00, Sioux Falls Area Hum Misc Exp 3,251.20, Sioux Falls City Electricity 12,207.00, Sioux Falls City Water Sewer 607.67, Sioux Falls Rubber Office Sup 10.20, Sisson Printing Printing/

Forms 1,218.10, SJ Terveen Welfare Rent 427.16, Snoozy, Scott Welfare Rent 700.00, Spring Hill Welfare Rent 319.00, State of SD Amts Held Daily Scram 2,550.00, State of SD Amts Held Remote Breath 774.00, State of SD Misc Exp 48.00, State of SD Notary Exp 30.00, State of SD Printing/Forms 145.66, State of SD Professional Svcs 562.25, Summit Fire Protect Safety & Rescue Equip 82.00, Summit Food Svc Inmate Sup 103.06, Sunset Law Enforce Ammu- nition 796.25, Tegra Group Jail Ex- pansion Prof Svcs 18,802.38, Tran- source Truck Heavy Equip Repairs & Maint 911.08, Transource Truck Parts Inventory 441.55, Transource Truck Truck Repairs & Maint -941.53, Two Way Solutions Communication Equip Repair 3,887.65, Tzadik Sioux Falls Welfare Rent 495.00, Tzadik Sioux Falls P Welfare Rent 500.00, Tzadik Taylors Place Welfare Rent 390.00, UJS MacArthur SJC Grant 3,355.00, UPS Data Processing Sup 34.58, US Bank Lease-Rental Agmt 136.72, Valley West Apt Welfare Rent 1,000.00, Washington County Return Of Svc 140.00, Wernke, Lau- rie Bd Exp Fees Minnehaha 20.05, Xcel Energy Electricity 48,543.64, Yankton County Attorney Fees 120.00, Yankton County Return Of Svc 200.00, Zep Sales & Svc Janito- rial Chemical Sup 261.37.

REPORTS

The February 2020 Minnehaha County Coroner Report was received and placed on file in the Auditor’s Office.

PERSONNEL

MOTION by Karsky, seconded by Heiberger, to approve the following personnel changes. By roll call vote: 5 ayes.

New Hires

1. Jennifer Hynek, Senior Deputy State’s Attorney for the State’s Attor- ney’s Office, at $3,032.80/biweekly (22/6) effective 4/6/20.

Step Increases

1. Brett Dannen, Senior Tax & Li- cense Technician for the Treasurer’s Office, at $23.71/hour (12/11) effec- tive 4/3/20.

2. Karin Brashler, Senior Proper- ty Technician for Equalization, at $18.99/hour (12/2) effective 4/3/20.

3. Steven Millage, Programmer Analyst II for Information Technol- ogy, at $38.86/hour (21/11) effective 3/16/20.

4. Jairo Fajardo, Air Guard Secu- rity Officer II for the Air Guard, at $19.95/hour (13/2) effective 3/9/20.

Personnel Briefing

Carey Deaver, Human Resources Director, gave a briefing of the Fam- ilies First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), effective April 1, 2020, through December 31, 2020. The FFCRA requires employers provide eligible employees with expanded family and medical leave for reasons specifically related to COVID-19. The two main provisions included 1) emergency paid sick leave for up to 80 hours for all employees and 2) expanded family and medical leave for an additional 10 weeks for indi- viduals employed for at least 30 days who are unable to work due to their child’s school or child care provider being closed or unavailable due to COVID-19. These provisions do not apply to emergency responders. Ms. Deaver proposed that the County offer to the following to emergency responder employees: 1) the same emergency paid sick leave provi- sion as provided in FFCRA and 2) 40 hours of paid time off to be used

in 2021 for emergency responders employed as of April 1, 2020, or 30 hours for employees hired on June 1st, 2020.

ABATEMENTS

Upon the recommendation of Chris Lilla, Director of Equalization, the following motions were made:

MOTION by Karsky, seconded by Heiberger, to approve an abatement for Parcel ID 90554, 2019 Proper- ty Taxes, in the amount of $397.55, representing a mobile home that was moved out of Minnehaha County. By roll call vote: 5 ayes.

MOTION by Heiberger, seconded by Karsky, to approve abatements for 2019 Property Taxes representing the Elderly Assessment Freeze: Parcel ID 81859, in the amount of $550.31, 5415 W Oakcrest Pl. By roll call vote: 5 ayes.

LIEN COMPROMISE

Melinda Storley, Commission Assistant, gave a briefing on an ap- plication for a compromise of lien for DPNO 46967 in the amount of $4,571.24. The lien represents Poor Relief, Public Defender, and Public Advocate services provided to the applicant’s ex-spouse between Janu- ary 2002 and April 2019. The appli- cant is in the process of refinancing her home. The lien is attached to the property and must be settled or removed from the property to move forward. The applicant’s ex-spouse transferred the property to the appli- cant via a quit claim deed recorded in the Register of Deeds Office in February 2010. They divorced in December 2019. The compromise requested was to release the lien in full only as it applies to the property and leave the lien in full against the applicant’s ex-spouse. Commission- ers expressed concern with approv- ing a compromise of lien due to the following reasons: the lienee and the applicant were married from 2005 to 2019, the timing of the quit claim deed versus the time period of their marriage, no financial information was provided by the applicant, and there were no attempts by the appli- cant to make a payment on the lien or offer a settlement amount. MOTION by Barth, seconded by Heiberger, to deny the request for a compromise of lien DPNO 46967 and to recommend that the applicant submit a new appli- cation with an offer of payment and provide further financial information. By roll call vote: 5 ayes.

PRESENTATION

Scott Anderson, Planning Director, presented on the Minnehaha County Planning & Zoning Department high- lighting the following: code enforce- ment, building and septic permits, the sign ordinance, building codes, the building permit fee schedule, staff reports and site visits, the Facebook page, the 2020 Census, aerial photog- raphy, mutual building inspections, planning efforts with municipalities, and the precautions being considered in relation to COVID-19 to conduct Planning Commission Meetings.

AGREEMENTS

DJ Buthe, Highway Superinten- dent, presented a Professional Ser- vices Agreement between Minne- haha County and Ulteig Engineers, Inc. to conduct engineering design for Highway Project MC20-08, Bridge Guardrail Rehab 2020. Four locations were identified as needing immediate remediation as a result of the annual structure inspection. Guardrails will be upgraded for safe- ty and existing railing will be painted for longevity. The total cost is not to exceed $31,653.50. The final submis- sion of plans will take place in May with bidding to take place in June. MOTION by Heiberger, seconded by Karsky, to authorize the Chair to sign the Professional Services Agree- ment between Minnehaha County and Ulteig Engineers, Inc. to con- duct engineering design for Highway Project MC20-08, Bridge Guardrail Rehab 2020 at a cost not to exceed $31,653.50. By roll call vote: 5 ayes.

DJ Buthe, Highway Superinten- dent, presented a Force Account Agreement between Minnehaha County and Minnehaha Community Water Cooperation for utility reloca- tion. Due to Highway Project MC17- 01, County Highway 146 Recon- struction, utilities must be relocated. Minnehaha County will be respon- sible for the costs associated with utilities located within private ease- ments. Minnehaha Community Wa- ter will be responsible for the costs associated with the utilities located within the right-of-way. MOTION by Heiberger, seconded by Karsky, to authorize the Chair to sign the Force Account Agreement between Minnehaha County and Minnehaha Community Water Corporation for utility relocation for Highway Proj- ect MC17-01, County Highway 146 Reconstruction, at an estimated cost of $162,681.00. By roll call vote: 5 ayes.

Judy Wehrkamp, Senior Deputy State’s Attorney, attended the meet- ing via teleconference and present- ed a Settlement Agreement and re- quested authorization for the State’s Attorney or Deputy State’s Attorney to sign a Stipulation for Judgement. Due to the County Highway 146 reconstruction, the County need- ed to purchase rights-of-way and easements from certain landowners for safety purposes. The Settlement Agreement and Stipulation for Judge- ment resulted from the need to re- solve the dispute over the value of the rights-of-way and easements. Per the Settlement Agreement, the County will pay a total of $51,900.00 for the rights-of-way, temporary, permanent and drainage easements on eight par- cels of land. MOTION by Barth, sec- onded by Heiberger, to authorize the Chair to sign the Settlement Agree- ment between Minnehaha County and David M. Funke, Nancy R. Fun- ke, Raymond L. Funke, and Carol L. Funke at a total cost of $51,900.00 and to authorize the State’s Attorney or Deputy State’s Attorney to sign the Stipulation for Judgement. By roll call vote: 5 ayes.

Carol Muller, Commission Ad- ministrative Officer, presented an extension and change to the Listing Agreement between Minnehaha County and NAI Sioux Falls for the sale of the 908 N West Ave building. The current listing agreement with NAI Sioux Falls expires on March 31, 2020. The new agreement would extend the contract for one year. Ad- ditionally, the list price of the build- ing will change from $1,850,000 to $1,550,000. MOTION by Beninga, seconded by Heiberger, to authorize the Chair to sign the Listing Agree- ment Extension between Minnehaha County and NAI Sioux Falls ending on March 31, 2021. By roll call vote: 5 ayes.

CONTRACT

Carol Muller, Commission Admin- istrative Officer, presented a contract for Legal Professional Services be- tween Minnehaha County and Jen- nifer English, English Law, for drug and alcohol involuntary commitment (IVC) petitioners. The County would pay the Attorney $72,000 per annum. The contract would be effective for two years beginning on April 1, 2020. MOTION by Heiberger, seconded by Karsky, to authorize the Chair to sign the contract for Legal Professional Services between Minnehaha County and Jennifer English, English Law, for drug and alcohol involuntary commitment petitioners for a term of two years beginning on April 1, 2020. By roll call vote: 5 ayes.

NEW BUSINESS

Commissioner Barth reported on being contacted by citizens regarding concerns about what people should or should not be doing during this time of social distancing such as kids playing at the playground, people at the courthouse, and a family of four going out to eat.

OLD BUSINESS

Commissioner Bender reported that there will be no Building Com- mittee Meeting on April 7, 2020. The April 7, 2020, and April 21, 2020, Commission Meetings will also be taken off the calendar.

MOTION by Heiberger, seconded by Karsky, to adjourn. By roll call vote: 5 ayes.

The Commission adjourned until 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday April 14, 2020. APPROVED BY THE COMMIS-

SION:
Jean Bender
Chair
ATTEST:
Olivia Larson
Deputy Auditor
Published at the approximate cost of $175.30 

April 8, 2020

 

 

 

Category:

The Brandon Valley Journal

 

The Brandon Valley Journal
1404 E. Cedar St.
Brandon, SD 57005
(605) 582-9999

Email Us

Facebook Twitter

Please Login for Premium Content