New Todd County board officers Tammy Chapin, Todd County Court Administrator, left, swore in the new chair and vice chair of the Todd County Board of Commissioners at the first meeting of the year Jan. 5. Mark Blessing, center, was elected as vice chair and Dave Kircher was elected as chair for 2010. (Photo courtesy of the Browerville Blade) Commissioner Bill Stearns was elected chair and Commissioner Rodney Bounds was elected vice chair of the Wadena County Board at the first meeting of 2010, held Jan. 5. The terms of the chair and vice chair last for one calendar year.

Stearns was elected unanimously. Both Bounds and Commissioner Lane Waldahl were nominated for vice chair. Bounds won by a 3 to 2 vote of the board.

The board also voted to approve the low bids for offi- cial newspaper publications of legal notices for Wadena County for 2010. The Sebeka-Menahga Review Messenger submitted the low bid for legal publication and publication of the first financial statement. The Wadena Pioneer Journal submitted the low bid for the publication of the second financial statement.

Commissioners also voted to set 2010 salaries of elected officials. All four elected officials requested that they receive no salary increase for 2010. This is the third year in a row that officials have foregone a raise, County Attorney Kyra Ladd commented. The elected positions and their salaries for 2010 are: County Auditor/Treasurer, $59,301.63; County Recorder, $44,090.59; County Sheriff, $77,507.50; County Attorney, $83,821.62.

In addition, commissioners discussed and decided about their committee and liaison assignments for the year, with several assignments being traded back and forth. Although the job of county commissioner is thought of as a part-time job, it requires attendance at numerous meetings throughout the county, region, and state. After the Jan. 5 committee assignments were decided, Commissioner Dave Schermerhorn emerged as the person with the most assignments, 21 plus the 11 committees that all five commissioners must attend. Commissioner Stearns will have the fewest assignments this year because his position as chair requires additional work. He retains 11 committee assignments plus the 11 that all five commissioners must attend.

With housekeeping matters attended to, the board addressed other issues. First, representatives of Rising Phoenix appeared before the board to request that a property tax bill be abated or reduced. Scott Pettit, a member of the board of directors of Rising Phoenix, and Barb Wellingson, chair and director, explained their situation to the commissioners, who told them to do more research on the situation and speak to County Assessor Lee Brekke about their concern. Chair Bill Stearns said that he would ask Brekke and County Attorney Ladd to decide on the tax issue.

Second, Sheriff Mike Carr Jr. appeared before the board to request approval to purchase a new squad car and a used car for the use of his investigator. The board denied the request, and asked Carr to come back in June, after the Minnesota Legislature has completed its work. Chair Stearns said that the county’s financial position is too precarious right now for the board to approve any purchase that is not absolutely necessary.

Carr said, “My job is public safety, no. 1. I’m gonna look for the best price for you, but I’ve also got to look at public safety. We use these cars every day. We have to be able to get to your house in an emergency.” He agreed to return in June.

Third, MIS Director Kevin Stensrude appeared before the board to request approval for several projects that he did not have in his 2010 budget but that he discovered needed to be done when he returned from Iraq at the end of November 2009. Stensrude said he had the money left over from his 2008 and 2009 budgets to pay for the projects.

The board approved three of the projects that involve vital county data processing systems. They postponed the fourth project, which was the purchase of three special computers for the sheriff’s department.

The next meeting of the Wadena County Board is set for Thursday, January 21, at 9 a.m. at the courthouse.