Votes at a glance: Todd County board approves 2026 fee schedule, warrants, permits and facility repairs
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Summary
The Todd County Board of Commissioners on Oct. 21 approved the county’s 2026 fee schedule with alterations, authorized multiple warrant payments and contracts for facility work, granted several conditional-use permits and amendments, approved a homestead tax abatement and adopted the MFIP biennial service agreement for 2026–27.
The Todd County Board of Commissioners voted on a set of routine and substantive items on Oct. 21 during its regular meeting.
Among the approvals, the board adopted the 2026 county fee schedule with alterations (removing an erroneously included parks fee and leaving a separate cannabis-specific fee to be studied and possibly opened for public hearing later), approved commissioner warrants and Health & Human Services warrants, authorized facility repairs at the Justice Center bridge and installation of a hand pump at Battle Pointe Park, granted multiple planning-and-zoning conditional-use permits (CUPs) and CUP amendments, approved a homestead abatement request for taxable years 2024–25, and voted to approve the Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP) biennial service agreement for 2026–27.
Warrants: The county auditor/treasurer presented commissioner warrants totaling $135,634.39 (ACH and manual payments) and the board approved them by roll call. Health and Human Services warrants were presented in the amount of $61,832.33 and the HHS SSIS warrants packet listed approximately $303,109.08; the board moved, seconded and approved those warrants by roll call as well.
Fee schedule: Staff presented the proposed 2026 fee schedule and noted a public hearing was held Oct. 7; no public comments were received. The board approved the schedule as amended to remove the parks fee entry (the staff said it had been left on the draft in error) and directed staff to continue research and public outreach on any cannabis-specific fees before further action.
Facilities and public works: Facilities staff reported an unexpectedly extensive repair at the Justice Center bridge after metal support members were found rusted through; staff recommended contracting with Arnsten Construction to complete the repair, which the board approved. Parks staff recommended adding a hand pump/well at Battle Pointe Park; a low bid from Wheels Water Service (presented as approximately $7,002.32) was approved and funded from Parks & Trails.
Planning and zoning: Planning staff presented several CUP applications and amendments reviewed at the October planning commission meeting. The board adopted the planning commission’s findings and approved the CUPs with the conditions listed in the staff report (examples: requirement for adequate off-street parking and widened driveway access for greenhouse operations; limits on outdoor storage and compliance with planning-and-zoning ordinance section 901b for a machining and repair business). The board’s approvals were taken by motion and voice vote.
Abatement: The assessor’s office presented a homestead abatement request on behalf of Daniel Schroeder for parcel 30333800. Staff reported the tax difference totaled $672 for 2024 and 2025 combined; the board moved and approved the abatement.
MFIP biennial service agreement: HHS staff said counties must approve a DHS biennial service agreement to receive consolidated funds for MFIP. The board approved the 2026–27 MFIP biennial service agreement for Todd County’s program administration.
Personnel policy: The board approved a revision to Personnel Policy section 7.25 (safety committee representation) to adjust representation and include emergency management and historic courthouse representation, per staff recommendation.
Deferred-compensation vendors: Administration presented a resolution to reduce the county’s authorized 457 vendor list from three to two (Minnesota State Retirement System and Nationwide). A vendor representative attended and commissioners requested additional information (including how many county employees use the vendor proposed for removal). The board voted to table the item for further review.
Procedural notes: Where roll-call votes were required staff recorded the vote on the public record. Where only voice votes were used the board affirmed motions by saying “aye” and the clerk announced the result.
Actions (selected): - Commissioner warrants approval (motion/second; roll-call; outcome: approved) - HHS warrants approval (motion/second; roll-call; outcome: approved) - HHS SSIS warrants approval (motion/second; roll-call; outcome: approved) - Adopt 2026 county fee schedule with alterations (motion/amended motion; voice vote; outcome: approved) - Approve Arnsten Construction for Justice Center bridge repair (motion/voice vote; outcome: approved) - Approve Wheels Water Service for Battle Pointe Park well installation (motion/voice vote; outcome: approved) - Approve homestead abatement for Daniel Schroeder (motion/voice vote; outcome: approved) - Adopt planning commission findings and grant multiple CUPs and CUP amendments with listed conditions (motions/voice votes; outcome: approved) - Approve MFIP biennial service agreement for 2026–27 (motion/voice vote; outcome: approved) - Approve personnel-policy revision (motion/voice vote; outcome: approved) - Table deferred-compensation vendor resolution pending additional information (motion/second; outcome: tabled)
Notes on documentation: The meeting packets and staff reports list specific amounts and conditions for each item; where staff and spoken remarks contained slightly differing printed amounts (e.g., small inconsistencies in line-item formatting for a bridge cost and park bid), the board recorded the motions and outcomes in the public minutes and directed staff to finalize paperwork consistent with the approved motions.
