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Votes at a glance: Koochiching County Board actions on Feb. 25, 2025
Summary
A compact roundup of formal motions the board approved on Feb. 25, including contracts, personnel, appointments, land-project funding, roof and vehicle purchases, interim-use permits for short-term rentals and other administrative items.
At its Feb. 25 regular meeting, the Koochiching County Board of Commissioners approved a number of contracts, personnel actions and appointments. Below is a concise list of formal votes and outcomes recorded on the agenda.
Votes at a glance
- Mobile assessor cloud software: Approved entering into agreement with Wilpert, Inc. dba Data Cloud Solutions for $30,008.08; authorized use of recorder land project funds to pay the initial installment. (Motion passed; see separate article.)
- Public health educator position: Approved creation and recruitment of a grant-funded public health educator position (100% state grant-funded). Motion passed unanimously.
- Reopen recruitment for appraiser: Approved reopening the appraiser recruitment to expand candidate pool and re-contact previous applicants. Motion passed unanimously.
- Letter of support for local butcher/processing facility: Authorized staff to draft a letter of support for Robert Christiansen's butcher shop project; draft to return to board for approval. Motion approved unanimously.
- Portasan annex roof replacement contracts: Awarded contracts for roofing and electrical scopes to Nelson Roofing ($329,317) and Cantra Electric ($15,300); rejected site-work bids. Motion approved (majority vote; one nay recorded). Total approved for scopes 2 and 3: $344,006.17.
- Purchase of department vehicle (Unit 99 replacement): Approved purchase from local dealership (Falls CDJR) for $41,082 with $4,000 trade-in credit (net $37,082). Motion passed.
- Mobile assessor iPads and project funding: Board confirmed prior project authorization included iPads; the overall RPA totals were discussed and the contract signature approved.
- Trust fund reserves and distributions: Set park reserves at $40,000 and timber development reserves at $150,000; approved formula allocations and distributions to cities, school districts and townships per statute. Motion passed.
- Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG): Approved and signed the EMPG agreement to seek reimbursement for work performed in the 2023 performance period. Motion passed.
- Voided/unclaimed checks cleanup: Approved voiding and closing of several old uncashed checks; staff to continue quarterly cleanup. Motion passed.
- Reappointments and committee appointments: Reappointed Don Billig and Jeff Clough to the East Koochiching Sanitary District board (four-year terms). Appointed Bruce Durbin to the Solid Waste Advisory Committee and Steve Hendrickson to the Planning & Zoning Commission per planning commission recommendations. Motions passed.
- Interim use permits / short-term rental licenses: Approved interim use permits for two shoreland properties to allow short-term rental licensing (Roelken family property at 3089 County Road 125 and the Cochran Family Investment Partnership property at 2567 County Road 103). Both motions passed; notes on 750-foot proximity rule included by staff.
Procedure notes
Most motions passed unanimously; where a nay was recorded during the roof contract discussion, the board still approved awarding contracts for the roofing and electrical work while rejecting the site work bids. Several actions were grant- or fee-funded; in multiple cases staff clarified that no county levy dollars were requested.
The board instructed staff to return details or drafts where necessary (sample letter of support for the butcher shop; recruitment updates for the assessor position; and implementation steps for the mobile assessor project).
