BODY CAMS COMING TO MURRAY COUNTY
By Joanne Bergman The regular meeting of the Murray County Board of Commissioners was held on November 21,2023 with all members of the board in attendance.
The ditch bills were presented by Auditor Treasurer Heidi Winter with the cost of Redetermination of benefits on a list of ditches at approximately $23,000. One Subordination request was approved allowing a mortgage loan to precede the County’s septic loan assessment.
Economic Development Coordinator Justine Wettschrek was present to accept a $500 award from Dakota Business Finance for participation in the Rural Initiatives Community Program, in particular, for participating in the Pizza Ranch loan. A request to transfer $100,000 from the Revolving Loan Fund to Special Projects for Rental/Commercial Redevelopment & Childcare loans was approved. The Revolving Loan fund benefits by $97,000 each year in repayment of loans providing capital for further loans.
Ditch Inspector Travis Radke presented a list of petitions with many of those for removal of beaver dams in drainage ditches. There is a bounty on the beavers paid by the County and in some cases also paid by a township.
Ag Administrator Jon Bloemendaal presented the Feedlot Work Plan to the years 2024-25. Of the 435 listed feedlots, an inspection is made of 31 of those each year. Feedlots within a watershed area are inspected every two years. The County is reimbursed by the State for administering the feed lot plan.
Sheriff Heath Landsman requested and received approval to purchase 50 body cams along with related equipment at a cost of $6000. The equipment is two years old and will be the first to be used in Murray County. It comes at a savings of nearly $100,000 over the cost of new. Landsman anticipates a State mandate for cameras in the near future. There will be some related costs of $21,000 for licensing and storage of videos over the next five years.
The contract with the City of Fulda previously discussed was approved to provide coverage by the Sheriff’s Department was finalized. Coverage will be provided to cover vacation and sick time for Fulda officers. Murray County will have a 90 day notice period to withdraw from the contract.
The Highway Department will purchase a new shop press to meet OSHA standards at a cost of $6972. The current “homemade” press does not meet those standards and will be destroyed due to liability concerns if it were to be sold. Final payments were approved for highway striping, the Lowville Township bridge replacement and for the bituminous overlay projects. The contracts were approved for the bids accepted on November 7th for replacement of three bridges. One of those bridges is east of Iona, one in Mason Township on 201st St, and the third is on CR 26 southwest of Chandler. Work should be substantially completed by July 6, 2024.
Highway Engineer Randy Groves explained a delay in the delivery of a plow truck ordered on February 14,2022. With no delivery date provided by the supplier, Groves requested cancellation of that order and was given approval for that. A plow truck is available for delivery from another vendor early in 2024 however that unit carries an additional $40,000 in cost. The board approved purchase of that vehicle as a needed item to replace an old unit in need of extensive repair.
Thomas Salentiny and Ryan Verlinde represented Murray County Cattlemen to discuss the possibility of a building on the Murray County Fairgrounds. The building will be used for storage of equipment and as a food vendor during the fair. The building being considered would use the footprint of the current storage building of the Sheriff’s department with that building to be demolished. Estimated cost of the project is $200 to $250 thousand at this time. The board gave its approval to move forward with planning and fund raising by the cattlemen with no commitment of funds at this time.
