County sets solid waste fee for 2003

In the early days of a countywide fee to pay off the ill-fated county compost facility, a public hearing would have been tantamount to a circus coming to town.
Those who had always opposed the facility would have the chance to extract their pound of flesh.
But as the years have gone by the public opposition has waned – the result of a reluctant acceptance of the inevitable.
In fact, when the Wright County Board convened its annual public hearing Tuesday, Dec. 24, to discuss setting a figure for 2003’s taxpayer assessment for a solid waste management fee, nobody from the public showed up.
No opposition
“I don’t expect we’ll see much opposition,” commissioner Pat Sawatzke said before the hearing. “Everyone knows we have to pay off the bonds on the facility and there isn’t much we can do about that now.”
Auditor-treasurer Doug Gruber presented the board with several figures concerning the bonds and the charge needed to be assessed each property in the county.
The board approved a figure of $34 – the same as in 2002, but $7 less than what was paid when the surcharge was first put on the taxpayers’ backs. Gruber said as the county continues to grow, the number of land parcels expands and allows the hit to be spread over more people.
He added that the bonds will run through the year 2012 and the current balance with interest on the facility is $14.59 million.
“That’s really a shame,” commissioner Ken Jude commented. “The sad thing is that the $14.5 million we still owe is more than the project cost in the first place.”
The board unanimously approved a $34 solid waste management surcharge fee for 2003.
In other items on the Dec. 24 agenda, the board:
– By a 3-2 vote approved increasing the architectural fee contract with Beutow and Associates for work on the courthouse remodeling from $49,500 to $60,000. The item had been discussed at committee, where Sawatzke was adamant that the fee agreed on initially ($49,500) should stand.
Commissioner Elmer Eichelberg, also on the committee, disagreed, saying he felt strongly that changes to the plans for the law library and license bureau warranted a change in the fee.
Sawatzke maintained that the county shouldn’t bow to pressure from Beutow, since the fee for service was done as a flat rate to avoid a 10 percent cost, which could lead to overruns. “The message that we’ll send is that you can sign a contract with Wright County, come in later, and get a new contract,” Sawatzke said. “That’s not a good message.”
Commissioner Dick Mattson had suggested a compromise price of $55,000, but a majority of the commissioners voted in favor of increasing Beutow’s fee to $60,000. Mattson and Sawatzke voted against it.
– Reappointed surveyor Jay Wittstock to a four-year term to run through Dec. 31, 2006.
– Named the Howard Lake-Waverly Herald as the official newspaper for 2003, with the Dassel-Cokato Enterprise-Dispatch as the alternate. The role of the official newspaper is to publish public notices and county board minutes. The Herald came in with the low bid of 59 cents per column inch.
– Retained a per diem for committee members of $40 a day for 2003 to attend any of a list of 44 committees and advisory boards presented at the Dec. 24 meeting. The per diem rate is the same as it was in 2002.
– Set county commissioner salaries for 2003 at $31,652. In addition, the board set the salaries for elected department heads for 2003. They included county attorney ($98,517), sheriff ($93,086), auditor-treasurer ($93,086) and court administrator ($77,148).
– Adopted a reimbursement resolution to pay back the county from reserve funds for work completed on capital improvement projects before the official letting date for bonding for courthouse improvement and other smaller projects. The purpose is to allow the county to make expenditures that will be reimbursed after the bond money is received.
– Approved signatures on an additional Department of Natural Resources state grant for snowmobile enforcement. The additional grant will allow the sheriff’s department to add shifts for patrol officers to work the 250-mile trail system in the county as well as on frozen county lakes.
– Laid over for one week a contract with Superior Billing Inc. to handle the county’s pay-to-stay jail program. At Sawatzke’s request, the item was laid over since the commissioners had not seen the official contract and weren’t ready to approve a deal without reading the contract involved.
– Presented a retirement plaque to Michael Froslie, the recreation coordinator at the county jail. Froslie has worked with the county since January 1991.
– Authorized a law enforcement contract with the sheriff’s department and the city of Otsego for 2003
– Approved a 3 percent wage increase for non-union employees of the county, effective Jan. 1.
– Appointed Leander Wetter to a three-year term on the county’s extension committee. Wetter’s spouse had served in the position but was subject to term limits following two three-year terms. Wetter is an appointment for board chairman Jack Russek.
– Set a labor-management health insurance committee meeting for 10 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 8.
– Referred to the next technology committee meeting a discussion of moving the department to Microsoft Word and adding centerline line coverage to the fee schedule.