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Boreal Community Media

July 17 Committee of the Whole Meeting Highlights

Jul 18, 2018 09:34AM ● By Editor

Media Release from Cook County - July 18, 2018


July 17, 2018 – Following are highlights and key priorities covered at the 5 pm, Tuesday, July 17 Committee of the Whole Meeting:

Public Comment Period

Arvis Thompson and Donna Lunke attended the meeting and inquired about a variety of topics. Questions surrounding format of Committee of the Whole Meetings and the 2019 Budget were raised and discussed.

Agenda

Mailbox Policy
Last year, the former County Highway Engineer introduced a draft Mailbox Policy that had three primary components:

  • Adopt consistent standards for mailbox posts in Cook county, and limit County responsibility for damaged posts to those that meet the standards.
  • Replace mailbox posts with conforming posts as a part of state and federal aid road improvement projects.
  • Set a deadline for public compliance with mailbox post standards.

 Prior to the departure of the former Engineer, there was a lot of conversation about the third component, however; following his departure, the conversation was dropped. The Highway Advisory Committee has reviewed the draft policy and has recommended that the compliance element be dropped, and the policy be moved forward for consideration. The item will be brought to an upcoming Board of Commissioners Meeting for decision.

County Highway Engineer Krysten Foster addressed two other items with the group:

While the County will soon be starting a transportation planning process with the Arrowhead Regional Development Commission (ARDC), we still need to confirm our short-term priorities including our planned construction projects for 2019. She reviewed some of the elements being considered in establishing those recommendations.

Courthouse Use Policy – Deferred to a Later Date
The finalized draft policy was not available for review and as such as related to a later date. However, the County Administrator Jeff Cadwell, gave the following context around the topic.

The Courthouse Security Committee, comprised of members from the Sheriff’s Office, Attorney’s Office, Emergency Management and representatives from the Court Administration, and other County Departments, have been working on a Courthouse Use Policy that would continue to improve on Courthouse security based upon a 2013 assessment and recommendations. The Use Policy would restrict the use of the Courthouse facility after public hours (Monday – Friday 8 am-4 pm) to official Courthouse business as scheduled by the County board, or a designated County Board or Commission or Department. Public use of County space is still available at the Community Center spaces, based upon availability, on evenings and weekends.

There was also a brief discussion about the possibility of designating some of Cook County’s roads as Unorganized Territory Routes (UT). The advantage of this could include the possibility of having access to additional State road construction dollars set aside for township roads and bridges.

All County Board and Committee of the Whole Meetings are open to the public. Full details of Committee of the Whole Meetings are available the Agendas and Minutes section at www.co.cook.mn.us.

Contact: Jeff Cadwell, County Administrator, 218-387-3687 or [email protected]

 

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