November 19, 2024
The Miner County Board of Commissioners met in regular session on November 19, 2024, in the Miner County Courthouse Commission room. Members present: Alex Protsch, Tom Reisch, Kathy Faber and Mike Clary. Members absent: Joe Bechen.
Chairman Protsch called the meeting to order. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. It was moved by Faber, seconded by Clary and carried to approve the agenda. The minutes from the November 8th meeting were approved. No report of meetings attended.
Motion by Reisch, seconded by Faber and carried to authorize the Auditor’s Office to pay the following claims: SD DOR $1,764.26 ANIMAL CONTROL; Basin Construction $1,042.14, Ulteig Engineers $17,913.35 CONTRACTED MAINTENANCE; Post Election Board $212.50 ELECTION SALARIES; Canova Service Center $3.74, HFCA $18,073.27, Sturdevant’s $43.15 FUEL; Wellmark $53,733.79 INSURANCE; County Employee $577.36 INSURANCE REIMBURSEMENT; Post Election Board $6.70 MILEAGE; Miner County Treasurer $78.18 POSTAGE; Office Ally $39.95 PROCESSING FEE; A&B Pest $32.50, Canova Service Center $1,085.84, Cummins $864.34, Elan Financial $11.00, Graham Tire $494.96, John Deere $2,263.22, Two Way Solutions $10.80 REPAIRS; Amazon $176.42, Dawson Construction $50.66, Diamond Mowers $296.98, Elan Financial $368.36, Home Service Water $35.00, John Deere $2,659.27, Miner County Treasurer $4.85, Puthoff Repair $41.16, Sturdevant’s $386.77 SUPPLIES; Kathy Faber $56.28 TRAVEL; Central Electric Coop $131.94 UTILITIES.
During public comment, SD Dept. of Legislative Audit auditor, Maria Schwader, reported to the board that she is onsite working on the 2022-2023 biennial audit, and gave Chairman Protsch the associated paperwork.
Correspondence received: October VSO Report, Pen Modifications & 2017 General Permit Application As-Built Plans and Specifications Review for Donahue Farms from DANR.
Emergency Manager Kent Terwilliger, Highway Superintendent Ron Krempges and Director of Equalization/Planning & Zoning Director Tami Severson met with the board to discuss Crisis Track and the request by the Department of Public Safety discussed at the last meeting. Terwilliger explained that providing the requested information would help the Highway, Townships and Cities with FEMA disaster reporting. The map would be preloaded, so if there’s a disaster, pictures can be taken, which will measure and submit information for the entity. If this mapping isn’t uploaded in Crisis Track, everything will have to be done by hand. Krempges spoke in favor of submitting the information to the Department of Public Safety to speed up disaster reporting for the highway department. Severson explained she had no issue with providing the information, but access to the information free-of-charge had been denied in the past for state agencies, so she was just doing her due diligence in bringing the request to the board. Commissioners asked Severson to reach out to the Department of Public Safety for confirmation that the information is not going to be sold to any third parties, if the information is provided. If the information will only be for this specific use, Commissioners would be in favor of sharing the mapping. Terwilliger stated it would be helpful to have the mapping submitted prior to the Crisis Track training on December 5th.
Highway Superintendent Krempges reported on highway matters. The City of Carthage bridge is complete, and the bridge north of Howard is almost complete. He still has not heard anything on the 404 permit for the other bridge in Carthage. The snow removal and sanding policy will be in the paper this week and next week. Money was received from FEMA for the June flooding. Mowing was completed yesterday, so they have begun cleaning and maintenance of the mowers and tractors. Kingsbury County is still going over their expenses for the year. Employee evaluations will hopefully be done before the next meeting. Krempges will attend the Safety Benefits conference in Pierre tomorrow and Thursday. Other highway matters discussed were back-sloping, preparing for winter weather, and graveling, if the weather allows.
Motion by Faber, second by Clary and carried to authorize Chairman Protsch to sign the contract for 2025 with the Sioux Falls Area Humane Society.
Treasurer Jessica Charles requested the board declare surplus the tax deed property labeled as Parcel 3978 and described as the East Sixty feet (E 60’) of Lot Ten (10) of the Southwest Quarter (SW1/4) of Section Two (2), Township One Hundred Six (106) North, Range Fifty-six (56) West of the 5th P.M., Miner County, South Dakota, and to schedule it for auction. Taxes will be abated after the auction. Motion to declare parcel 3978 surplus by Clary, seconded by Reisch and carried. Auction date is set for December 17th at 10:00am.
Auditor Mommaerts presented the results of the post-election audit completed on Monday, November 18th which manually counted the voted ballots of 5% of all precincts from the general election held on November 5, 2024. The post-election audit, performed by a five-person board of registered Miner County voters, tallied the votes for the Supreme Court Justice Retention (Justice Scott P. Myren) and Constitutional Amendment F races (226 ballots total). The audit findings showed an accuracy rate of 100% compared to the tabulator results on election night and the official canvass results.
Auditor Mommaerts presented a quote for the iLo renewal received from Connecting Point/Twotrees. Commissioners approved the quote for $108.00.
Dan Johnson of Risty Benefits did not appear, but Mommaerts presented the results of the dental provider survey sent to employees eligible for the dental plan through the county: 15 for Delta, 10 for Reliance, and 11 did not respond.
Motion by Faber, second by Reisch and carried to go into executive session at 10:25am pursuant to SDCL 1-25-2 (1). The board came out of executive session at 10:44am. Commissioners approved the lateral transfer of Amanda Austerman from DOE to Register of Deeds at 28 hours per week at her current level of pay, starting January 1st. Commissioners approved the internal hire of Cheryl Moore as Welfare Director at five hours per week at her current level of pay. Training for Cheryl Moore as Welfare Director and for Justin Brandsma as Ambulance Billing Manager may begin as soon as time permits. Commissioners authorized DOE Severson to advertise for a DOE Clerk at the same number of hours per year as was budgeted for 2025.
Clary made a motion to offer both Reliance Standard and Delta Dental for dental insurance, provided there are at least 10 employees enrolled in each plan, with the county paying the single rate of the Reliance Standard plan for each employee, seconded by Reisch and carried.
The meeting adjourned to December 3. Dated this 19th day of November, 2024.
Alex Protsch, Chairman
Miner County Commissioners
Attest: Rebecca Mommaerts, Miner County Auditor