The Ramsey County Commission met for a regular meeting at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, June 6. Minutes from the previous meeting were amended to reflect that Commissioner Hodous voted nay to the closing of the courthouse on July 3, and then approved unanimously along with payment of the bills, financial reports, treasurer’s checks, and agenda. NDSU Extension was present to give updates on the many activities happening over the summer. The Human Service Zone sought a motion to change their existing salary schedule to coincide with the rest of the state; this was approved unanimously.
Kevin Fieldsend, Highway Superintendent, detailed bids to rent an excavator to replace some county bridges with culverts. Ironhide Equipment was the winning bid for the amount of $4,970. Similarly, the bid from True North Steel for new culverts was $19,259.08 and passed unanimously with a roll call vote. A motion to approve the current payment breakdown for specific road maintenance was also approved unanimously. Discussion was then had over the purchase of a new snow blower to be ready by the time snow falls. There was an unopened bid from High Plains Equipment that was unanimously rejected due to lack of a bid bond. The next bid was from Butler Machinery for $280,450 for a used machine. Discussion began, but was tabled until after the Board of Tax Equalization met at 8:30 a.m.
The Board of Tax Equalization passed the following motions: to approve the values of townships done by Ramsey County, to pass values of townships that provide their own assessors, and to approve county inundated land classification. The biggest discussion point was the amount of which to raise agricultural land values; it is recommended by the state that land valuations are between 92-100% of market value, currently Ramsey County land sits around 87%. Tax Director Elizabeth Black gave the commission a range of increasing by 4-7%, with a personal recommendation of a 7% increase. Motions to increase by 7% and 4% both died due to lack of a second, but the motion to increase the land value by 5% passed 3-2 with a roll call vote, with Commissioners Hodous and Volk voting nay. Assistant City Engineer Rob Johnson was present to give an update on the valuation of residential valuation. Ramsey County also received an appeal to reduce the valuation of Holiday Gas Station from $421,500 to $246,591; however, proper procedure was not followed by the requester and there were mistakes in various areas, so the commission voted unanimously to reject this appeal with a roll call vote. The commission then unanimously approved to accept the city equalization values before adjourning back to the regular county commission meeting.
The commission continued discussion over the purchase of a snow removal vehicle; in the end, the commission voted 4-1 in a roll call vote to purchase from Butler Machinery for $280,450 with Chairman Frith voting nay. Following this, Brian Senger of HR was present to discuss last year’s wage study and how to structure salaries moving forward. The county currently uses a semi-arbitrary step system, but the firm that conducted the salary study recommended moving to a 13- or 14-grade system for continuity. Much discussion was had and commissioners voted to table this until a future meeting. The Ramsey County Water District was present, but had nothing to report and no action needed. State’s Attorney Beau Cummings gave an update on various opioid litigation happenings; he recommended the county accept a yearly payment of $2,957.48 as a payout from a current lawsuit, the commission approved this unanimously. Cummings also recommended joining a new lawsuit that has come up against a subsidiary of Purdue Pharma, which the commission also approved unanimously. The commission approved the following motions: site authorizations, letter of transfer for funds to the Law Enforcement Center, and the amended homestead credit. Commissioners presented individual portfolios, which included Public Health losing their current Director, who has made a positive impact on the organization and is leaving due to their spouse’s military orders, and that a few county offices including auditor, treasurer, IT, tax director, and HR will be closed on Monday, June 12 due to regional trainings. The Ramsey County Commission then voted to adjourn to an executive session to discuss confidential and public-exempt records.
Previous meeting minutes and future meeting agendas can be found at ramseycountynd.gov.
