[{"_1":2,"_99":-5,"_100":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75,87],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6124687,"mediaKeyId","2680360-43ea757e28d3c5b22debb583d3a4f78c","parentId",2680360,"title","Votes at a glance: Clay County Board actions, March 18, 2025","audioSeconds",140,"startMs",81000,"endMs",221000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2680360-43ea757e28d3c5b22debb583d3a4f78c&start=81&end=221","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2680360-43ea757e28d3c5b22debb583d3a4f78c/thumbnail_81000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6124687/Clay-County/Minnesota/Votes-at-a-glance-Clay-County-Board-actions-March-18-2025","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6124687-5328114bfdebe8932a0b6f53bf9f19bf/orig.mp4?Expires=1771196959&Signature=DCMUgd3pN2eevCijJMUqeuVbqoT7vrgoIgPGAvXJ6TjPhK5EuQOb3xMIp3EGnUNgaYj2bPozv9yEA7PPaZztDx9hdAcRTaDDRw8Ok9v-qVoBLCv-KhhcW~1P4pavWYU2dh0XpFPygx4~1RuvpZ8Eaon4Zs4Ktmfpx9j4MldSb~QPGXCTLlfJZ8Sxdht1LpJWc5z4LZSds6ADtz6AoIX5J8lLRTGINGs4N75lKo5sF9PlrotY1VndjPKEYiBOLk2~y8yzed55B2HVX5cMx9UD5NvNfPaJhB6eC-u3c6Pc5EkI1Q23lVX58FnFnTDq7M712qo8MFAGv8~DiAgjMMTxhw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Clay County, MN","date","2025-03-18T18:43:12Z","article","The Clay County Board of Commissioners took a series of routine and procurement actions during its March 18 meeting. Below is a concise list of motions and outcomes recorded in the meeting.

- Approve agenda as amended: Motion carried by voice vote.

- Postpone public hearing for Red River Valley Co-op Power rezoning (item 2) because of noticing error: postponed and to be re-notified.

- Approve payments, bills and vouchers: Motion carried by voice vote.

- Approve minutes of March 4, 2025: Motion carried by voice vote.

- Authorize advertisement for SAP 14002 (Fifteenth Street in Holly, LRIP project), proposed letting date 04/22/2025: Approved.

- Accept low bid for SAP014634031 (mill-and-overlay project) from Central Specialties Inc., $728,374.61, contingent upon bid-compliance review: Approved.

- Accept low bid for the CSAH 11 concrete rehabilitation project (identified in the meeting as SB01461155) from Diamond Surface Inc., $1,063,772.98, contingent upon bid-compliance review and State Aid approval: Approved.

- Approve filling an authorized, budgeted assistant county attorney position following an unexpected staff resignation: Motion carried.

Notes: For multiple procurement votes, approvals were granted \"contingent upon no errors in the bids\" and, in the case of the federal project, subject to State Aid approval. Vote tallies were recorded by voice; individual roll-call votes were not provided in the transcript for these items. Where the meeting record lacked named roll-call tallies, outcomes are recorded as the board announced them on the record.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Clay County MN Board of Commissioners 3/18/25","oneSentenceSummary","Summary of the meeting's formal actions and votes, including agenda approval, vouchers, minutes, staff hiring authorization, project advertisement and bid approvals.","taxTitle","Clay County, Minnesota","taxId",56510,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6124692,"Clay County hears highway department's 2024 report; board approves project advertisement and low bids",1707,253000,1960000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2680360-43ea757e28d3c5b22debb583d3a4f78c&start=253&end=1960","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2680360-43ea757e28d3c5b22debb583d3a4f78c/thumbnail_253000.jpg","/articles/6124692/Clay-County/Minnesota/Clay-County-hears-highway-departments-2024-report-board-approves-project-advertisement-and-low-bids","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6124692-0d7b5a54d4535e27b350515428214a13/orig.mp4?Expires=1771196959&Signature=A6QmQjvaZ-op28VPqGutNMoYnIZclgwiKkSCjMaVJhldBalL2UmedFGVMhnB9becKhi1BcGeN9sE0AE~s6cy9wfTZzR-LK93nIl0SLsM9iMDsY8J2qTg5xkR96N5ivJ08jYvidZf3IbZcw~wahKN1LIEriRYr5Wsi8vJ-Raxfkfwebt2OvgBeKdNTk0DrIcEmNDMNvWH~s4ZA37tna3RQAx6nlaEt5IJ8rLYlrtWH~2NdXyM5GeIA8u-dbUDPBDdpPcBEVe3TZDSvaFgyasEUNhuRlIQEdOCg0hrYuSohW6JACWy8aRKQNKgYbfPt66bPEPd06KCD~9MK4O9SAoUXw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Clay County highway staff presented the department's 2024 annual update on March 18 and asked the board to approve several project actions, including advertisement of a local road improvement contract and acceptance of low bids for two county state-aid paving projects.

Justin, representing the Clay County Highway Department, summarized staffing, equipment and workload for 2024 and plans for 2025. He described the department's mission to build and maintain county and township roads to federal and state standards, outlined the organization chart, and listed 2024 highlights, including 11.5 miles of paving completed and 133 bridge inspections. Justin said the department purchased two new plow trucks in 2024 and acquired the former Holl y MnDOT shop on the east side of Holly for $276,000 and moved operations there.

On project work, Justin said the county secured a local road improvement grant for a Fifteenth Street grading and paving project in Holly and asked the board to allow advertisement for bids. \"The proposed letting date would be 04/22/2025,\" he told the board. Commissioners approved the advertisement for the project (SAP 14002 / Fifteenth Street in Holly) with the stated letting date.

The board then opened and read competitive bids for two county state-aid paving projects and voted to approve low bidders contingent on bid-compliance reviews. For SAP014634031 (a mill-and-overlay from the east city limits of Ulen to the county line), Central Specialties Inc. submitted the apparent low bid at $728,374.61; the board approved the low bid \"contingent upon no errors in the bids.\" For the concrete pavement-rehab project identified in the meeting as SB01461155 (concrete rehab of CSAH 11, including joint sealing, diamond grinding and panel replacements), Diamond Surface Inc. was approved as low bidder at $1,063,772.98 contingent on State Aid approval.

Justin also described pavement and maintenance work: 36 miles of crack-filling in 2024, three township bridge designs completed, fuel expenditures of about $293,480 and the department's plan to certify more bridge-inspection technicians to avoid reliance on outside contractors. He detailed funding awards: a local road improvement grant of $535,000, an HSIP award of $750,000 for a roundabout, federal/district grants totaling more than $1 million for future overlay projects, and Metro COG (TMA) funding for a 2027 mill-and-overlay project.

Commissioners asked about operational details including road class definitions, bridge-count methodology and a CenturyLink utility conflict that delayed a prior project; highway staff said the delay resulted in an additional expense to taxpayers and that staff and county attorneys continue to pursue resolution with MnDOT and the contractor.

The board approved the advertisement and accepted the two low bids by voice vote. Approvals of low bids were subject to standard bid-compliance checks and, for the federal project, to State Aid acceptance.

Proposed and approved actions will move forward to contract processing and the county will return to the board if irregularities are found during bid review.","The county's highway staff presented its 2024 annual report, detailed staffing and equipment changes, and reviewed construction highlights. The board voted to advertise a local road improvement project in Holly and approved two low bids for county state-aid projects.",{"_33":88,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":89,"_41":90,"_43":91,"_45":92,"_47":93,"_49":94,"_51":95,"_53":96,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":97,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":98,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6124697,"Dozens urge Clay County to keep flavored-tobacco ban at public hearing",4144,3264000,7408000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2680360-43ea757e28d3c5b22debb583d3a4f78c&start=3264&end=7408","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2680360-43ea757e28d3c5b22debb583d3a4f78c/thumbnail_3264000.jpg","/articles/6124697/Clay-County/Minnesota/Dozens-urge-Clay-County-to-keep-flavored-tobacco-ban-at-public-hearing","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6124697-7bf42a5271f3de2510a5723b729e65dc/orig.mp4?Expires=1771196959&Signature=cMNr5lfUcNflLZTlfFmoisflBp8sJN51XVPVjNo9TAqlyciVpRmLuDsNYFGHxmT9wWkT2wlRug5EZXW7kiQYKj5dTEWNV2o1y-MdKHcq57ZkGbGWbGfxsal31QfeuJ8A9C-o8CoSgEeomERnSSECIPFtf2IfD6KNOKaHcZUknLCObRHlVLDr8kzXI~nWWRr5c7xNpvsHsSaY-HPCYBxvZUfLW0AtTB3J9GHGHUO05WDzMrI5hs08Mfvdz4LX58X9ndAWHjXpytAvwHO-Wt3LtJK3aRlZBs-l~GkQGD5DB1Vzmtc0C-LeA7dP0rl3rOypRjDTyHsYz2q65EIMrahRpQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Dozens of students, school staff, public-health workers and community leaders urged the Clay County Board of Commissioners on March 18 to keep in place the county's ordinance restricting flavored tobacco products, telling commissioners that flavored products are driving youth nicotine use and addiction.

Speakers including school principals, counselors and students described frequent on-campus vaping, easy access to flavored products and a rise in use among middle-school students. Shannon Hunstead, superintendent of Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton Public Schools, told the board the district has documented dozens of vaping incidents this year and that administrators are spending instructional time addressing the issue.

\"The shocking thing for them is the number of middle school kids that have started this habit,\" Hunstead said.

In public testimony students and college representatives described how flavors make nicotine products appealing to young people and said flavored products are easy to hide and to buy. Michaela Balens, a senior at DGF High School, told commissioners: \"What starts as a curiosity or peer pressure can quickly turn into an addiction and by the time students realize they have a problem, it is way too late.\" Grace Halverson, student-body president at Concordia College, said Concordia's student government voted unanimously to support the ban.

Public-health and clinical witnesses cited the neuroscience of adolescent nicotine exposure and warned of long-term harms to developing brains. Becky Anderson, a retired respiratory therapist who worked on tobacco-prevention policy, told commissioners that nearly 90% of tobacco users begin using by age 18 and that flavors are engineered to attract young people.

Board chair Campbell opened and later closed the hearing at the commissioners' meeting; commissioners said they will review written materials already submitted and will take the issue up again at a future meeting. Commissioners said the next formal discussion on the ordinance is expected at the board's April meeting cycle; the chair indicated April 15 is the likeliest date for more board discussion.

The board received dozens of letters and on-the-record comments during the hearing; the record will remain part of the public file. No vote to change the ordinance was taken at the March 18 meeting.

Proponents of maintaining the restriction urged the board to treat the measure as a public-health protection rather than a retail or tax issue; several requested the county use the ordinance to encourage neighboring jurisdictions to adopt similar limits. Opponents of the current ordinance did not testify during the hearing.

The hearing record will remain open to written comments, and the commission expects to discuss the ordinance in a subsequent public session, with staff and stakeholders given time to provide additional information ahead of any vote.","Students, educators, public-health officials and community leaders urged the Clay County Board of Commissioners to keep the county's ordinance that restricts flavored tobacco and vaping products. Commissioners closed the hearing and said they will revisit the ordinance in April.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Votes at a glance: Clay County Board actions, March 18, 2025

Clay County hears highway department's 2024 report; board approves project advertisement and low bids

Dozens urge Clay County to keep flavored-tobacco ban at public hearing