The Ramsey County Commission had a full agenda for their Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026 8 a.m. meeting. Present at the meeting were Commission chair Blaine Volk, and Commissioners Ed Brown, Jeff Frith, and Bill Hodous. Commissioner Paul Wilhelmi was not present for the meeting.
Following the call to order and Pledge of Allegiance, they approved of the minutes of the previous meeting with a requested change. Payment of Bills, Treasurers Checks, Financials and the agenda were also approved. Note that the “Financials” will now be called “Liability Report.”
First up to the podium was Sara Laite from the NDSU Extension Service with two items to report on; the 4-H Week coming up Oct. 4 – 10 and moving the Pancake and Sausage Breakfast and bake sale fundraiser to the Ramsey County Fairgrounds starting at 8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. on Oct. 4. She provided complimentary tickets for the commissioners and asked that if they cannot use them, to share them with someone who would. Laite also reported on the Lake Region Extension Ag Roundup coming Jan. 6 and 7, 2027. She asked for permission to have the internal doors between the Memorial Building and the Courthouse unlocked for that event as it would better for attendees movement within the complex. The commissioners voted to approve that request.
Bev Bachmeier, County Recorder’s Office, reported to the commission that the remote indexing in their records are now completed, 1882 to the present.
John from the Ramsey County Water Resource District reported that they were just finishing up the monthly board meeting and brought up the water issues on County #9 and Highway 17. He also reported that they had a clean audit.
Kari Hunt from Blue Cross Blue Shield with Nicole attending remotely went through the options for the county as they are discontinuing the grandfathered-in benefits and providing better benefits for employees with an option they are calling “Your Blue” plan. Their presentation gave several details for the county’s self-funded coverage and options mainly for full-time employees, however, the possibility exists that they could offer some benefits for part-time employees, should the need arise.
Jason Kraft, County Highway Superintendent gave his report which included paying for the Mag Water Dust Control payment. This is the last time they will offer this service for residents. Letters are going out to inform those affected.
He asked the commissioners to approve a consignment sale of surplus equipment, which they did. That auction will take place on Sept. 24.
Kraft also presented other items to pay for or order – sand purchase to mix with salt, chip seal rock, and rental of a second tractor for mowing. All were approved by the commission by roll call vote where required.
Kraft also brought up a request for a resident to build their own approach on Ramsey County #1 at their own cost but to the state’s standards. A great deal of discussion centered around this issue as commissioners expressed concern for safety along that stretch of road and a frontage road that already exists. After all the comments were discussed Commissioner Frith made the motion to deny the request, seconded by Brown, one of the reasons for this denial is that the County had received a grant to redo the bike path, slated to be done next year, and that would be impacted by this resident’s request. Citing the situation that has happened along U.S. Hwy 2 East of the city as concern for too many approaches and danger to the public, among their concerns, the commissioners voted to deny the request.
Kraft continued reporting on projects that the department was working on, soft spot graveling, five culverts recently installed, gravel for Ramsey County #7 and #4. He asked for and received permission to put an ad in the Devils Lake Journal regarding all mowing that needs to be done by Oct. 1. He also reported on ordering five doors from Lindstrom’s and that he had driven throughout the county checking areas of concern and said that the Fox Lake area looks good, they are working on permanent fixes where they can, soft spots on #4 remain but the center looks good, so far they have spent more than $120K that was set aside for extra blading and gravel but in all the price tag has been more than 1/4 of a million dollars in the Southam area – all coming from the County. Brown pointed out to all the commission, “if we didn’t have water against these roads, we wouldn’t be having to do it” pointing out that saturation has used all the money they could have used elsewhere.
Ramsey County State’s Attorney Daniel Howell presented a request for a variance in the policy that exists within the County’s handbook regarding hiring qualified individuals for two open positions in his office that have been vacant for more than three or four months. He stated that as his workload increases, he will have to prioritize how he serves the county if this isn’t resolved. The policy states that he cannot hire individuals beyond the fifth pay step without the approval of the commission. Following considerable discussion, the motion was made for Howell to work with the county’s HR to obtain the qualified personnel he needs to meet the needs of the county and to allow Howell to run his own department. So far his caseload is 100 cases over last year’s caseload at this time. Commissioner Frith made the motion, seconded by Brown, Hodous stated he was not in favor of this as they had recently “fixed” problems like this from the past and he stated, “here we go again” but the vote was three to one in favor, so it passed with Hodous being the only “nay” vote and Frith, Brown and Volk voting “aye.”
Unfinished Business was listed as Fenster Slough and 2027 Budget. The Fenster Slough issue is waiting for results from the appeal process and may be resolved Nov. 12 and 13 at Bismarck, Frith stated they need to know who is going to attend that meeting so request that attendees please RSVP. And the 2027 Budget is moving forward with an opportunity for a possible special meeting later in September should they need it before the final budget needs to be done and approved Oct. 6.
The commission discussed the Subdivision Ordinance that was brought up at the last August meeting and voted unanimously to approve it.
Under the agenda item, Visitors and Delegations, longtime resident Garland Hoistad stepped up to the podium to address the flooding throughout the County and had questions for the commission to clarify for him. He asked about the Fox Lake drain, and the snag and clears the county had been voting on, and what’s the difference between the two? Hoistad is very knowledgeable about the situation because of his 30-year battle with flooding in and near his own property and that of his neighbors’ all of which has been inundated for more than three decades in and around Ramsey County. The commissioners explained to him that ultimately until the appeal they’ve been waiting on is legally approved or denied they have nothing more they can do about any of the flooding throughout the area, it is in the North Dakota State Water Commission’s hands, “it’s time for the State to step up” was Hoistad’s final comment to the commissioners and he thanked them for listening to his concerns.