CALL TO ORDER AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
- Roll Call: All present
- Approval of Agenda
- Approval of Minutes – Regular Meeting – July 14, 2026
- Annual Audit Presentation by Doug Host of CliftonLarsonAllen
- No disagreements with management on the financial statements provided and no difficulty in conducting the audit.
- No significant deficiencies to report
- Federal Programs Tested in 2025:
- Medical Assistance (93.778) – no findings
- Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers (14.871) – no findings
- Prior Year – Finding: TANF (93.558): Eligibility finding (Resolved)
- Minnesota statute required programs
- No findings
- Financials
- About 5 mo in reserves. Trending down slightly but not severe.
- Revenue:
- 2% increase from 2024
- $730K decrease in intergovernmental revenues
- $3.7M increase in property tax revenue
- $603K decrease in investment income
- Expenditures
- 8% increase from 2024
- $10.4M decrease in capital outlay
- $640K increase in general government
- $1.3M increase in public safety
- $1.0M decrease in economic development
- Enterprise Funds
- Only 1 month of cash in reserve at the end of 2025 → This is flagged. Likely due to landfill cell construction. $2.2M increase in landfill expenses.
- Overall
- We’re basically stable, with about the same cash on hand at the end of 2025 as the previous year, right about 5 months. No less than 5 months of funds on hand is recommended.
- $149K decrease in total revenues (3%)
- $311K decrease in charges for services
- $79K increase in licenses and permits
- $104K increase in miscellaneous
- Underdahl: What is the significance of the numbers listed after the federal programs?
- A: They are control numbers for tracking. It’s not a measure of anything.
- Hoisington: Trying to understand the increase in landfill spending.
- A: It’s sort of a paper expense measuring remaining capacity of the landfill, reflecting what the county will have to pay for closure and post-closure of the landfill. The enterprise fund is supposed to reflect those expenses expected in the future. The other is the construction of cell 4B in the landfill, so there are costs incurred with that.
- Purfeerst: So there’s no machinery in this? Because we know we made some significant equipment investments.
- A: Correct. Equipment just moves from cash to capital assets, so it doesn’t image the bottom line.
- Legislative update from State Representative Kristi Pursell
- Representatives: Northfield, Lonsdale and 4 townships in Rice County
- It was not a budget year at the state capitol, but certain budgets approved:
- Passed funding for human services modernization of IT equipment ($50 million) and created a human services advisory council. Pursell curious about how that is working for the Rice Co Human Services Staff.
- Passed $165 million housing package. Also manufactured home grants, along with other specific funds. The county should be able to access those funds related to mobile homes, and Pursell is interested in whether that is working in the county.
- Bonding Bill
- Just shy of $5 million for Lonsdale — second water tower and water main loop to support Lonsdale’s growth and building in redundancy to prevent water access being lost in an accident/emergency.
- $3 million for maintenance needed for the community resource center building in Northfield where The Community Action Center, FiftyNorth, and other nonprofits housed there.
- Wetland grants, flood, drinking water and waste water funds are also relevant to Rice County.
- Peters: Thanks for the bonding bill. Lonsdale really needed that water infrastructure.
- Malecha: Thank you for your work. Reiterated thanks for Lonsdale water infrastructure bonding bill funding. Thanks also for the housing funding, specifically the manufactured homes funding — that’s our last bit of affordable housing here in Rice County, so we have to protect it and upgrade some of those units and keep them affordable. Can you touch on mental health? Any dollars this year? Counties need help with that, specifically due to lack of beds across Minnesota, the county needs more resources locally. We just started a mental health court here, which we hope will be helpful.
- A: It’s been really impressive to see the wrap around support Rice County has been leading in providing. Money allocated by the legislature: Shy of $12 million for community mental health providers to co-locate in schools. One time allocation for mobile mental health crisis teams. HCMC was in financial crisis, which serves the whole state, and the state provided funding to help stabilize that hospital. Also mentioned legislation in the works regarding warning labels for social media. Pursell is also co-author on a bill to create manufactured homes bill of rights to give right of first refusal to residents before outside companies buy the parks and make them unaffordable.
- FACILITIES: Chris Kluge
- Unanimous approval: Award bid for Courthouse Chimney Demo & Venting Project to Mechanical Systems, Inc.
- The Courthouse chimney stack used to exhaust various mechanical equipment from the boiler room in the basement is in need of repair. Therefore, a structural engineer provided recommendations on how we could better vent the boiler by eliminating part of the chimney stack. The scope of work for the request was structured around the recommendations received from Arrowhead Engineering, LLC. Rice County Facilities obtained proposals for the Courthouse Chimney and Venting project and recommend that the project be awarded to bidder, Mechanical Systems, Inc., for the amount of $95,524.00. Rice County has worked with Mechanical Systems, Inc. and considers them to be well-qualified for this project. The bid tab and bids received are referenced in the attached bid packet.
- Hoisington: Where does this money come from?
- A: It comes out of the general fund.
- Unanimous approval: Award bid for Courthouse Chimney Demo & Venting Project to Mechanical Systems, Inc.
- INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: Jacob Enke(sp?)
- Unanimous approval for contract with ArmorPoint Core SIEM
- SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) is a tool for collecting logs and security information. This is an essential service required by our cyber insurance and CJIS requirements. Rice County receives SIEM services from CIT at a cost of $2,514 a month. CIT is moving to a new SIEM product and has offered a three year agreement at a monthly cost of $2,499 on the new platform. This reduction of $15/mo comes with more granular reporting and tools. CIT SOC services provide monitoring and evaluation of data for Rice County across security tools.
- Malecha: We’re already using CIT but we’re upgrading to an enhanced product?
- A: Yes.
- Unanimous approval for contract with ArmorPoint Core SIEM
- COMMUNITY CORRECTIONS: Angela Brewer
- Acceptance of Department of Public Safety Crisis Response Grant
- Community Corrections applied for, and was awarded, a 2027 Crisis Response grant through the Minnesota Department of Public Safety for $261, 804.15. The scope and objectives of this grant award support a mobile support Coordinator to assist area residents struggling with substance-use disorders in the community. The program model expands on previous efforts and interventions through the Mobile Opioid Support Team (MOST) program. This program was supported through grant funding and housed within a community partner organization. Funding for the MOST program ended in 2025. This grant presented an opportunity to expand outreach and services to residents experiencing challenges with substance use of any substance. Bringing the program under the Behavioral Health Unit umbrella broadens the scope of the work and provides continuity of service for residents who may come in contact with the Community Based Coordinators or local law enforcement through the PARD program. By embedding a mobile outreach coordinator in Behavioral Health Services and integrating the program with local emergency response, Rice County will more effectively protect community health and safety, divert residents from justice system involvement, and connect them to the support they need to recover and remain independent.
- Hoisington: The majority of this money will be used for a new coordinator, right? ANd this is one time funding for 2 years?
- A: Yes
- Malecha: Yes, it’s one-time funding and then it will be incumbent on us to fund this. We know we’re going to have to pick up the slack. But anything we can do to enhance our programs related to people in crisis is worth investing in. Malecha is very happy to see these funds are available and that we’re taking advantage of them
- A: And there are continuing opportunities that could help us fund these. At the end of this two year program, we’d have more data that would help us determine where to go from there and help us make a case for whatever we decide to do.
- Malecha: Please bring that data back to us in a few years.
- Acceptance of Department of Public Safety Crisis Response Grant
- PARKS: Dennis Luebbe
- Unanimously approved Park Fee distribution request from Webster Township.
- The Park Fund was established to generate funding for park amenities as part of rural residential development. Webster Township has $14,179.06 accrued in their account, and seeks to utilize it for funding for their $83,000 project to update the Webster Township Park, just west of Webster. Environmental Services staff and the Parks Committee have reviewed the request. I recommend approval. The Finance Dept. will process reimbursement to the township once the project is completed.
- Peters: That park gets used a lot and it needs the equipment to be replaced.
- Malecha: Glad to see they are able to take advantage of these dollars. That’s why the program was set up for this purpose. We know there are townships that don’t have parks and won’t have parks, so the program does need some tweaking and changing regarding how it’s distributed, but Malecha is happy to see Webster Township use these funds.
- ADMINISTRATION: Sara Folsted
- Consent Agenda
- Extra Time/ Over Time Report 06-26-2026
- Payment of Bills
- Personnel Appointments
- Consent Agenda
- ADJOURNMENT at 9:17 am.
