Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Personnel topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Steele County hires outside attorney for road-department probe and approves 2025 hazard-mitigation participation
Summary
The Steele County Board of Commissioners approved the county's participation in the 2025 multi-hazard mitigation plan and retained an outside attorney to investigate internal complaints in the road department, agreeing to pay $7,500 for an expedited report.
The Steele County Board of Commissioners on December 2 approved the county's participation in the 2025 multi-hazard mitigation plan and voted to retain an outside attorney to investigate internal complaints in the road department.
Commissioners voted to approve a participation letter to accompany the county's hazard-mitigation plan before submission to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Speaker 7, who presented the plan, said, "I have the new participation letter here" and asked the board to sign so the county could move the plan forward. The motion to approve the 2025 Steele County multi-hazard mitigation plan passed by voice vote after a second.
Separately, the board addressed human-resources complaints within the road department. Speaker 4 told the board that HR had placed an employee on paid administrative leave pending an investigation and that the county had "retained an attorney" with prior municipal experience to conduct interviews and prepare a written report. Speaker 4 said the county agreed to pay the attorney $7,500 "absent something blowing up" that would require more work. The attorney is scheduled to interview road-department employees in half-hour increments and deliver a written summary by the end of the following week.
Commissioners directed staff to circulate the attorney's report to the board upon receipt and to schedule any necessary follow-up meeting (including an executive session if personnel matters require it). No formal disciplinary outcomes were announced at the meeting; the investigation and any personnel decisions will follow the attorney's report.
The board also discussed related operational items that arose during the executive session, including compiling an updated list of subleases to provide to Game and Fish when requested; that post-executive action was moved and approved by voice vote.
What happens next: the county expects to receive the attorney's written summary within about a week of interviews and the board will review the report and determine any further personnel or policy actions.
