The Ramsey County Commission met in regular session on Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026 at 5:30 p.m. in the County Courthouse.
Present were Commissioners Jeff Frith, Blaine Volk, Ed Brown and Paul Wilhelmi. Commissioner Bill Hodous was not present at this meeting.
The meeting was called to order by Volk, chairman of the commission, with the Pledge of Allegiance, Approval of Minutes and Approval of the Agenda.
First up was Chris Jaeger, Emergency Manager regarding CPR Class Cards. He asked the commission to pay the cost of the cards. He had talked with Sean Roed from the Lake Region Ambulance Service who agreed to pay for the class itself, which will take place in mid March, now he was looking for help paying for the cards. A motion was made to cover the cost of the cards for all who attend and the vote was unanimous.
Then Jason Kraft, County Highway Superintendent, discussed a number of items including ordering culverts where they were needed in the county. Kraft also informed the commission about the final estimate for the 89th Ave. South Minnewaukan project, they voted to pay that amount, which will be totally reimbursed to the county by the NDDOT. Some extended discussion centered on how many times each year township roads get bladed. It used to be the policy that all township roads were bladed six times each year, but now some roads are bladed many more times than others. It was the consensus that they get back to some sort of policy in this area. The commissioners also discussed a rate increase for that service, but no action was taken on that at this time.
Sam Trebilcock from Houston Engineering appeared before the commission via Teams to discuss floodplain ordinances and resolution. It was determined that Ramsey County needs to be in compliance with its flood plain plan as they determine how the changes apply to Ramsey County. The concern is a deadline of 2030, therefore there is time to bring the local ordinances into compliance. Daniel Howell, States Attorney for the County, and Trebilcock will work this out and moving forward include Jaeger, in the process, as well. To facilitate that, the issue was tabled until the next meeting of the commission giving them time to discuss the issues among themselves.
Under New Business three abatements were approved.
Home Rule Charter was discussed. Commissioner Frith led off the discussion as he presented a number of individuals who have been working on this incarnation of a Home Rule Charter for Ramsey County that would specifically be targeting security and law enforcement expenditures. The Home Rule Charter would provide for a 1 % tax revenue to help maintain adequate law enforcement services. Frith explained it was a simple, easy to understand charter. The commission decides if this goes to a vote of the people. They have some time to review and digest the proposal before they need to have an official vote on the ballot for the coming election. The vote of the people will decide to establish this tax or not. This decision also was tabled until the next commission meeting.
The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Ramsey County Commission will take place at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, March 3, 2026, in the Courthouse.
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