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Board adopts 2025 calendar, names official newspapers and appointments; approves administrator employment agreement
Summary
The county board approved its 2025 meeting calendar, designated the McLeod County Chronicle as the official newspaper for 2025, appointed SWCD directors as county drainage and agriculture inspectors, updated personnel policies and approved Administrator Sheila Murphy's employment agreement at $159,653.42.
McLeod County's board took a bundle of administrative actions at its Jan. 7 meeting, including adopting a meeting calendar, selecting official publications, making appointments, updating personnel policy for sick leave, and approving the county administrator's employment agreement.
The board approved the proposed 2025 meeting dates, keeping regular meetings on the first and third Tuesdays and scheduling evening sessions for the Board of Appeal & Equalization and Truth in Taxation. The board then designated the McLeod County Chronicle as the official county newspaper for 2025 at a bid price of $5.35 per column inch; the Herald Journal's bid was $5.45. Commissioners noted statutory limits on which papers may bid and signaled interest in broader discussions at the Association of Minnesota Counties about statutory impacts.
The board adopted Resolution 25 CB-07 appointing Ryan Freitag (McLeod County Soil and Water Conservation District director) as the county drainage inspector and adopted Resolution 25 CB-08 appointing Freitag as agriculture inspector and Adam Leskie as assistant agricultural inspector (both SWCD positions). Commissioners characterized the SWCD partnership as a productive joint powers relationship.
On personnel matters, the board adopted a standing resolution authorizing human resources to fill replacement positions upon personnel-committee review (annual authorization). The board also adopted an updated sick-leave policy to align McLeod County policy with Minnesota's earned sick and safe time (ESST) changes effective Jan. 1, 2025 and discussed the separate state-paid family leave starting in 2026.
In closed session, the board completed the county administrator's annual review and then approved an employment agreement for McLeod County Administrator Sheila Murphy with a 2025 salary set at $159,653.42; the agreement ties the 2026 increase to the same percentage increases granted to nonunion employees. The motion to approve the employment agreement passed by voice vote.
