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   WALKER— Board Chair Rick Haaland recognized County Agency Social Worker Brookelyn Villeneuve and Deputy Sheriff Benjamin Voller for one year of service with Cass County during the regular board meeting Tuesday, May 6. Shop Mechanic Shannon Omberg was also presented an Award of Excellence for outstanding service to the County and its citizens by going above and beyond his normal duties. Omberg was nominated by County Engineer Darrick Anderson and Sheriff Bryan Welk for demonstrating exceptional dedication, skill, and integrity in his work, qualities that make him an invaluable asset to both the department and the entire County.

   Mauri Solomon, Kraus Anderson Facility Assessment Manager, presented the findings from the Capital Needs Assessment recently conducted on six of the counties facilities. A total of $28 million of deferred maintenance needs over the next 20 years was identified. Solomon broke the maintenance out in three categories for the board, being high criticality, poor/critical condition and high criticality with poor/critical condition. 

Chairman Rick Haaland presented Deputy Sheriff Benjamin Voller for one year of service with Cass County. Photo by Josh Stevenson

   The needs identified as high criticality consisted of those that impact the building operations or are potentially safety issues such as air handlers, roofs, etc. Those identified as poor/critical condition were any needs witnessed at time of the walkthrough, while the high criticality with poor/critical condition needs are an overlap of the two categories with those needs being of the upmost importance.

   Out of the six facilities assessed, the Law Enforcement Center, Courthouse and Annex were identified as being in poor condition. Solomon informed the board and shared pictures of the conditions found in each of the facilities. Some of the findings were leaking roofs, windows needing replaced, parking lot issues, fire protection and hazard issues on data rooms, HVAC updates and siding cracks. 

   Solomon then shared a breakdown of costs over the next ten years and the next 20 years. If the county chooses to assess all capital needs it would cost $17,523,919 over the next ten years and $28,014,450 over the next 20 years. If the county chooses to address the high criticality it would cost $8,533,359 over the next ten years and $12,935,597 over the next 20 years. Cost for the needs identified as poor/critical condition would be $8,359,850 over the next ten years and $8,629,155 over the next 20 years. Finally, cost for the needs identified as high criticality with poor/critical condition would be $4,558,789 over the next ten years and $4,601,989 over the next 20 years.

Chairman Rick Haaland presented Shop Mechanic, Shannon Omberg with an Award of Excellence from the County Board for outstanding service to the County and citizens from the County Board. Photo by Josh Stevenson

   Chief Financial Officer Becky Toso then presented three budget scenarios using different variations of the capital needs pricing. The original budget included all $28M in capital assessment needs and doubled the levy dollar amount from $900,000 to $1.8M over the next five years. With this scenario over the next five years, Toso shared, the unreserved funds would decrease from $5.5M to $417,732. 

   The next scenario (Option A), included the costs of addressing the poor/critical condition needs with an increase to the levy dollar amount to $1.35M over the next five years. The unreserved fund balance, with this scenario, would decrease from $7.4M to $2.85M over the next five years.

   The final scenario (Option B) Toso presented, included the costs of the high criticality with poor/critical condition needs. This consisted leaving the levy dollar at the $900,000 over the next five years, which resulted in the unreserved funds decreasing from $9.2M to $4.2M.

   After considering and discussing all options, the board motioned to establish a public hearing for the adoption of the 2025 Cass County Capital Improvement Plan on June 3, during the regular Board Meeting using “Option B” as presented. The motion passed unanimously.

   Toso then shared information with the board regarding the possible impact to the Levy based on Governor Tim Walz and Minnesota House and Senate budget proposals along with implementation of existing legislation. The budget proposals from Governor Walz, the MN House and Senate would shift costs to Counties for essential and mandated services. These proposed cost shifts alone could potentially result in a double-digit levy increase without considering any other items such as labor contracts, cost of living adjustments, etc. Toso stated there are just too many unknowns to accurately calculate the overall impact to the levy, but wanted to make the board aware of the situation.

   The board then approved fourth quarter budget amendments for Health Human Veteran Services fund, Self-Insurance fund and Road and Bridge Special Revenue fund.

   In other business, the county board:

   • Re-appointed Darrick Anderson as Cass County Highway Engineer for another four-year term.

   • Awarded the Land Department roof removal and replacement to Bunyan Babe Roofing for $39,425.12, which will be paid from an insurance claim less the $1,000 deductible.

   • Established a public hearing during the regular May 20 meeting to adopt an ordinance repealing the interim ordinance establishing a study period and moratorium on digital and electronic signs in Cass County.

   • Approved extending spring load restrictions on County State Aid Highway 52 and County Roads 135, 158 and 161 through May 8 at 12:01 a.m.

   • Awarded the engineering design contract for replacing Bridge 92388 on County State Aid Highway 65 over an unnamed stream to Houston Engineering with an estimated cost for the project of $29,469.

   • Awarded the engineering design contract for replacing Bridges 11501, on County State Aid Highway 1 south of the Pine River over South Fork Pine River, and 5710, on County Road 103 over Mosquito Creek, to Erickson Engineering with an estimated cost for the projects of $62,400 and $27,200 respectively.

   • Awarded a contract in the amount of $1,989,496.74 to Northern Paving, Inc. for milling, reclaiming, culverts and bituminous resurfacing for projects to include: County State Aid Highway 10 from US 2 to the county line; County State Aid Highway 21 from the county line to Trunk Highway 371; County State Aid Highway 206 in Cass Lake from Trunk Highway 371 to Oak Street; County State Aid Highway 207 from County State Aid Highway 206 to US 2 and County Road 142 around Tower Hill connecting to Trunk Highway 371.

   The next meetings are as follows: commissioner’s board meeting and public hearing, 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 20 at Powers Township, 850 E Horseshoe Drive NW, Backus; commissioner’s board meeting, 9 a.m. Tuesday, June 3 at the boardroom in the courthouse annex in Walker; AMC District 2 Meeting, 8 a.m. Wednesday, June 4 at Beltrami County Board Room, 701 Minnesota Ave NW, Ste 102, Bemidji and Annual Planning Work Session, 9 a.m. Thursday, June 12 at the Land Department Meeting Room in Backus.

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