By Joanne Bergman The Murray County Board of Commissioners met in regular session on Tuesday, November 28, 2023 with all members present.
The first item of business was the approval of the contract to Town & County Excavating for replacement of three township bridges.
Sheriff Heath Landsman presented the need for additional IT storage for the body cam video at a cost of $3460. The system will also store videos from the current car cams.
IT Director Jason Lorenz requested the purchase of off site servers to be installed in the new highway department building. The servers will store copies of all County business and Sheriff Department business with the information to be available following a disaster that would destroy those buildings.
County Administrator Carolyn McDonald presented proposed changes to the Sunrise Terrace Rental Agreement and updates to the policy handbook. Any rental price changes will become effective on July 1st with a 60 day notice period to tenants with adoption of the new agreement. One other notable change will be a policy of no refunds for meals as they are included with the rental and not a separate charge. A meeting will be held with the current tenants to explain the changes.
McDonald explained the new Earned Safe and Sick Time legislation requiring one hour of time off for each 30 hours worked by part time/seasonal employees will not affect the current policies of the County. ESST hours will be tracked as outlined by legislation.
Stacy Jorgenson, on behalf of the SW MN Adult Mental Health Consortium, requested a deposit of $20,000 from Murray County to fund the annual gap between funding program costs and new grant funds being received. The request is being made of each of the eighteen counties that are a part of the consortium. Costs of mental health care for those unable to pay and are without insurance are provided through the consortium entirely through grant funding. The County Board was unaware of membership in the organization and questioned Jorgenson in that regard. The history of human services in Murray County dates back to Region 8 North and Lincoln Lyon Murray Human Services to the current SW Health and Human Services. The $20,000 will be wholly refundable to the consortium and any interest earned on the money will be made available to each county. Commissioner Jackie Meier was appointed as the Murray County representative to the meetings. Board members will be advised of future meetings of the consortium.
Preparations were made for upcoming union negotiations with representatives of the highway department. Under discussion were possible changes to allow more four day a week ten hour days along with an increase in uniform allowances due to cost increases. An improved purchasing method for individual uniform items was discussed. Better timing of salary step increases was also an item of discussion.
