The Rice County Board met for a regular meeting on July 9 at 8:30 am, after a public comment opportunity at 8:00 am. All commissioners were present. They approved the agenda, the minutes of the June 25th meeting and stood for the Pledge of Allegiance.
II. FINANCE: Paula O’Connell and auditor Doug Host presented the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report for the Year that Ended December 31, 2023.
Host read a power point short form of the full report. He reassured Commissioners that the county has good reserves, good controls and accuracy in accounting. The caveats were that a few accounting functions are not fully separated, as minor flaw. Auditors had to make one adjustment out of all the county’s many transactions and they found no deficiencies.
He said that Rice County is one of only 16 counties out of the 87 in MN recognized for excellence in financial reporting by the Minnesota Government Officers Association for 2022.
The report was approved unanimously.
III. PROPERTY TAX & ELECTIONS: Denise Anderson asked for the following resolutions, which were made and passed unanimously.
A. MN Lawful Gambling application for Exempt Permit for Ducks Unlimited Northfield
Chapter 113 at Willingers Golf Club, 6797 Canby Trail, Northfield, MN, 55057 on July
25, 2024.
B. Application and Permit for a 1 Day Temporary On-Sale Liquor License for Church of
the Most Holy Trinity, 4939 Washington Street, Veseli, MN, 55046 on August 18,
2024.
IV. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: Allan Klug sought approval for the updated agreement with CIT for managed services, the County’s provider since 2016, which is reviewed and updated every 3 years. The new cost is $104,172 up from $73,000 previously. It now includes
3 new services, of which one has a cost of $12,000, and it increases the number of computers covered, at a value of over $10,000.
Services covered include device management, central language programming, anti-phishing, dark web monitoring, on-call support for contracted hours, plus some add-on agreements, mostly security services. The County did not seek competitive bids, recognizing that service has been excellent and it would be a huge deal to move to another provider. IT staff do not have the expertise in security to do without these services.
The new agreement passed unanimously.
V. COMMUNITY SERVICES: Rick Gieseke asked the board to declare July 21-27, 2024 as
Pretrial, Probation, and Parole Services Week to recognize correctional professionals who work with justice-involved individuals in the community. Passed unanimously.
VI. ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES: Julie Runkel
At 9 AM the Board suspended its meeting to hold a public hearing on Interim Ordinance #901 – Authorizing a Study and Imposing a Moratorium on the Operation of Cannabis Businesses in the county. The only commenter said that every government entity that has legalized cannabis has lost money.
The hearing was closed and the board passed Resolution #24-029 – Interim Ordinance #901 – Authorizing a Study and Imposing a Moratorium on the Operation of Cannabis Businesses. (We learned last week at the work session that city ordinances override this ordinance within their confines.)
VII. ADMINISTRATION: Sara Folsted presented the Consent Agenda, covering
the Extra Time/ Over Time Report for 06-28-2024, Payment of Bills, and various Personnel Appointments. It was unanimously approved.
The meeting was adjourned.
