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   PINE RIVER TOWNSHIP— The Cass County Commissioners met for the last “Road Show” of the year Tuesday, Sept. 16 with a public hearing regarding the exchange and revocation of roads within Pine River Township.

   County Engineer Darrick Anderson requested the public hearing be opened for comments and/or concerns regarding the revocation of County State Aid Highway 27 between Trunk Highway 87 and County State Aid Highway 25, south of Backus. This roadway was identified in the Cass County Long Range Transportation Plan as being mainly used for local use and not a highly traveled roadway. The total length being revocated to the township is 1.95 miles. It was also noted another portion of this road is located in Bull Moose Township and the county will pursue revocation of that portion next year. 

   Anderson also shared there will be an upturn of portions of 4th Street SW and 44th Street SW due to those having high traffic with few houses. That portion being described as 44th Ave SW from 4th St SW to Trunk Highway 87 and 4th St SW from 44th Ave SW to Trunk Highway 371 and over to County State Aid Highway 42. One question arising from the public was concern regarding if new gravel would be put on the road before it was turned over to the township. Anderson stated he would look at the gravel rotation and see where it was on the schedule. With no other comments or concerns the public hearing was closed and a motion and second was made to adopt the resolution for the exchange and revocation of the roads. The motion passed unanimously.

   Other highway business included the approval of a joint powers agreement for the exchange and revocation of the above mentioned roads within Pine River Township; approval of a joint powers agreement with Loon Lake Township for the construction of Bridge 11J24 on Township Road 69th Street SW; approve the final payment of the roadway striping project in the amount of $179,726.40 and awarding the bridge replacement over Boy River on County State Aid Highway 53 to Gerit Hanson Construction in the amount of $810,594.60. Anderson did share with the board that this bid came in at 30% over the Engineer’s estimate, however, the estimates were created almost two years ago and prices have increased significantly. 

   During the meeting the board also heard reports back from two committees. First report back was from the Insurance committee with County Administrator Josh Stevenson stating it was a productive meeting. The committee discussed the various health insurance proposals received for dental benefits, Health Savings Account (HSA)/Flex Savings Account (FSA)/Dependant Care Benefits (DCB) and medical plan design. Stevenson stated after a brief discussion on each topic recommendations were made to bring before the board for approval. The plans brought to the board were MetLife as the dental carrier with an eight percent decrease in 2026 and a seven percent increase in 2027. Therefore, there would be no change in cost to the employees/retirees over the next two years. For the HSA/FSA/DCB funds administrator it was recommended to proceed with Pinnacle as they were the low bidder for associated fees and provided a three-year rate guarantee. Finally, the committee recommended proceeding with option #2 for health insurance instead of renewing with the current provider or taking option #1. It was noted this option was not the cheapest, however it was the best coverage for all those covered under the policy. The commissioner’s passed all three recommendations unanimously.

   Health, Human and Veterans Services Public Health Planner Jamie Richter shared the report from the Opioid Settlement committee stating the recommendations for approvals of application requests from various organizations. The board motioned and approved funding the following: Burlington Recovery Homes application for $25,000 in prevention and MobileDetect Drug Field Kits for $3,667.90 for Leech Lake Tribal Police. The board also approved the Round 3 Opioid fund application to include funding an estimated total of $250,000 in all category strategies, with an application release on October 1, 2025 and funding up to $50,000 with an application

deadline of November 14, 2025. It was stated Round 3 will remain open until the total estimated funds are allocated. Richter noted these funds are all part of the Opioid Settlement with pharmaceutical distributors and opioid manufacturers.

   The last thing on the boards agenda was a request from Facilities Capital Project Manager Tom Boege with a request to approve Widseth’s proposal for engineering, design, and oversight of the HHVS and Annex roofing projects not to exceed $28,375.00. The commissioner’s discussed concerns of spending money for something that may cost more to replace than just build new, however it was stated this would give the board a better view of how to wisely spend money on a deteriorating building. A motion was made to accept the proposal with a unanimous vote.

   The next meetings are as follows: Budget committee meeting 9 a.m. Friday, Oct. 3 at the Land Department Meeting room in Backus, commissioner’s board meeting 9 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 7 at the board room in the courthouse annex in Walker, jail steering committee meeting 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 7 at the board room in the courthouse annex in Walker, commissioners board meeting 9 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 21 at the Land Department Meeting room in Backus and AMC District 2 meeting 8 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 29 at the Beltrami County Board room, 701 Minnesota Ave NW, Ste. 102, Bemidji

 

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