Two Todd County Commissioners have said they would support continued funding for the Central Minnesota Drug and Gang Task Force.

Sheriff Pete Mikkelson told commissioners that although there needs to be a reduction in the sheriff’s budget for next year, he has concerns about cutting the task force. “We’ve seen some good results,” he said at the board’s Dec. 15 meeting.

Commissioner David Kircher said he wants the funding to stay in the budget. “I hope the board will support this, it sends a message that we are enforcing the law,” he said.

Commissioner Gerry Ruda said he agreed with Kircher, but would like to consider cuts in other areas of Mikkelson’s budget.

To offset expenses, Mikkelson said he is doing what he can to entice other counties and the state to send inmates to Todd County.

Currently, the Todd County jail has five Pope County inmates and three state inmates, he said. Fees charged for these prisoners are $50 per day for room and board.

Mikkelson said the jail population is down in every county in the state.

The prison in Appleton will be closing, he said and there will be competition to house those inmates. He was asked to research fees in neighboring counties and to determine if Todd County needs to make any adjustments in their fees.

Solid waste

Both Commissioners Kircher and Randy Neumann stated they were opposed to any rate increases in tipping fees charged to garbage haulers. The fees, now at $60 per ton, are paid by the haulers to bring their trucks to the county’s transfer station. These fees are passed on to the consumer, Kircher said.

A modest change in the tipping fee, perhaps a $3 per ton increase, could help balance the Solid Waste budget and be fair to the haulers, Ruda said.

The county is required to bring a portion of its waste to the Perham garbage incinerator and the tipping fee there is increasing. Board Chairman Gary Kneisl said the county must pay the fee at the Perham incinerator.

To help correct a deficit in his budget next year, Solid Waste Administrator Tim Cadwallader said purchases of a truck and a compactor will be delayed. Changes in the way the county supports its recycling program could also bring in more revenue, he said.

A Joint Powers Agreement was approved for the newly organized Prairie Lakes Municipal Solid Waste Authority. The agreement is between the counties of Todd, Wadena, Becker and Otter Tail for the ownership and operation of the Perham garbage incinerator. Perham will have an operations agreement and will receive a fee for infrastructure improvements, Cadwallader said.

Conditional Use

Permits

Commissioners granted a Conditional Use Permit to the Society of St. Pius X in Round Prairie Township. The permit will enable them to build a 40 x 100 foot single story addition to the existing chapel for additional schoolrooms.

A Conditional Use Permit was also granted to Woodside Wind LLC to construct a 263 foot tall meteorological test tower in Wykeham Township.

The tower will help determine if a wind generator could be built on this site.

Commissioners made no changes to an ordinance defining the size of cul-de-sacs. “The majority of my townships want this ordinance left alone,” said Commissioner Neumann. Commissioner Kircher said he would like to see options available in the size of cul-de-sacs. This would help the county’s planning commission accommodate developers, he said.

Public works

Next year’s road construction will include two miles of County Highway 32. The resurfacing and shouldering work will be located from the west county line to County Road 11, said County Engineer Loren Fellbaum.

He will also be applying for state funding for road construction in 2014. Some of the possible projects could be for County Highway 1, 21 or 51. These projects were previously submitted for 2013, but were not approved for funding, Fellbaum said.

Block grant

A grant agreement was signed that would provide $121,246 in funding for natural resource programs next year. The block grant, administered by the Todd Soil and Water Conservation District, will help fund the county’s feedlot program, local water and shore land management and the wetland conservation act. The county will match $52,563 of the total grant.

In other business, the board:

o APPOINTED Mark Jahner as Assistant County Surveyor. Jahner has worked with part-time County Surveyor Curtis Stoeckel, who made the recommendation for the appointment;

o RENEWED a contract with Jena Peterson to provide accounting services to the Public Health Department. The department had full time employees who did this work, but Public Health Director Cheryl Schneider said the department became a training ground, after which the employees left. Schneider said Peterson is an independent contractor and does great work;

o DESIGNATE a Todd County Scenic Loop to be called Veterans Scenic Drive;

o WILL BE SEEKING anyone in the county who is interested in serving on a steering committee for economic development in the county. The board hopes to hire an economic development director next year.