Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Observer, Marcia Walters
Commissioner Peterson was absent as she was recuperating from minor surgery.
Sheriff Richard Cook presided over the swearing-in ceremony of four new deputies. He described the rigorous six month process that the employees must undergo, including physiological and physical testing, plus 16 weeks for actual training. Two of the new deputies were replacement personnel and one was a part-time employee for the summer months to assist in water patrol and other duties.
Social Services Department Head Mark Shaw requested and received a raise in the fee schedule to be charged parents for placement of children outside of the home . The fee schedule is revised annually to conform to federal poverty guidelines. The county collected $55,000 in fees last year.
More money was received to support planning related to a pandemic influenza outbreak. The total grant amount is $103,857. Planning involves an assessment of current health facilities, outreach to local businesses and institutions and drills. This disaster preparedness is unique from "ordinary" disasters as it is projected to last over a longer period of time.
CUPs requested and approved included a 199 foot tower for T-Mobile in Northfield Township, a 2400 finishing hog operation in Richland Township, an expansion in Bridgewater Township to 605 cows for an existing dairy operation, and four gravel crushing operations.
One CUP request was denied: Tri County Aggregate requested a modification to their existing CUP to add Saturdays of 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. This property is located in Webster Township. Based on the high population density and that Joe White from Tri County had stated he would not request Saturday hours in his initial CUP request, Commissioners Brown and Gillen voted to deny. The request failed.
Future meetings: There will be no board meeting on August 1, 2006; one was scheduled on August 29 to facilitate hearing budget requests from outside agencies.
