The Ramsey County Commission met for a regular meeting on Thursday, January 4 at 8 a.m. – a delay from the regularly scheduled Tuesday meeting due to the New Year’s holiday. The commission first approved previous meeting minutes, list of bills, financial reports, treasurer’s checks, and the agenda with the addition of a discussion over the purchase of a K9 unit for the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Department. Following these motions, the commission then approved several beginning-of-year motions, including authorizing the chair and county auditor to sign letters of authorization and payments, to allow county staff to purchase supplies and equipment up to $2,500 without prior approval, to keep the existing depositories at multiple banks across Devils Lake, to allow the county treasurer to invest funds and cash out expiring investments as they become available, and to set fixed assets at $5,000.
Highway Superintendent Kevin Fieldsend brought a motion forward from Ottertail Power Company to bore under county road 17 to bury a line – this was approved unanimously by the commission. The county’s five-year road plan was also approved, and Mr. Fieldsend informed the commission that two townships were awarded just over $1 million for road improvements from the state of North Dakota. A truck was approved for just under $9,000 in maintenance.
Sheriff Bryan Lang was present with multiple Ramsey County Sheriff Deputies, including a recent transfer from Benson County who has trained and worked with a K9 unit, a dog named Raptor. Since the deputy transferred to Ramsey County and the bond between a K9 unit and handler is extremely important, Sheriff Lang and others met to determine how the purchase of this dog and all the necessary equipment and training could occur. When all is said and done, the cost of purchasing the dog from Benson County, along with food, a ballistic vest, and retrofitting a vehicle with special air flow and doors, would be approximately half of what it would cost to begin the process with a brand-new dog. Many individuals were in favor of this, stating it was long overdue. In the end, Commissioner Paul Wilhelmi motioned to approve payment of $16,720 to Benson County for Raptor and the necessary food and equipment. This was seconded by Commissioner Lee Gessner, and passed unanimously via roll call vote.
Emergency responders throughout the county presented a letter to the county commission stating they were concerned about the road conditions during bad weather. The rural fire department stated that sometimes it could take 2.5 hours to get to a fire, Lake Region Ambulance has had vehicles flip off the road, and sometimes ice and compacted snow aren’t addressed on asphalt roads for several days or a week at a time. Discussion became heated between individuals angry at the reporting chain of command before Commissioner Gessner took control of the conversation, striving to understand what the expectation of the presented letter is and what is asked of the commission specifically. Ultimately, Commissioner Gessner and Chairman Jeff Frith engaged in an argument over the efficiency of the county highway department before solutions were proposed to acquire salt for asphalt county roads. A motion was eventually made and passed to acquire more salt for county roads, hopefully from the City of Devils Lake, but then reaching out to other entities if necessary at a limit of $5,000. Ultimately, the conversation will continue between all entities to get a plan in place, secure the proper equipment, and generally maintain county roads.
A meeting with all townships will be scheduled in January to clarify floodplain administration. The commission then approved two homestead credits, a joint powers agreement with Lake Region District Health, and mileage rates before adjourning.
Past meeting minutes and future meeting agendas can be found at ramseycountynd.gov.
