By Melanie Stegner

Reporter

Tuesday’s meeting of the Pope County Board of Commissioners began with a moment of silence in honor of fallen deputy Josh Owen and appreciation for local law enforcement. “We’re proud to live in Pope County. The support for law enforcement is insurmountable,” stated Board Chair Paul Gerde.

It has been one year since the Pope County Sheriff’s Office lost Deputy Owen, who was killed in the line of duty while responding to a domestic dispute.  

The county boat and water safety grant was approved in the amount of $5,174. These funds come from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and aid in covering the patrol of the county’s waters. Funds are used for equipment and wages and is used before levy money is used.

The advertisement for bids was approved for the bituminous overlay project on CSAH 18 between TH 29 and TH104. The project was included in the 2024 budget pending Local Road Improvement Program funding. The funding came through in the amount of $965,000. This is less than the $1.5 million requested for the $2.7 million estimate needed to complete the project. The plan to cover the rest of the project includes use of the road and bridge fund balance.

Bangor and Lake Johanna townships will now be on the county assessor’s roster instead of the local assessor they were using. It’s a three-year contract term at the same rates other townships are paying. This brings the total of townships using their own assessors to four.

Sunrise Energy Ventures had approached the board in July of 2020 regarding the creation of a solar garden with the condition of a $125,000 cash deposit to be held in an escrow account for the purpose of costs of decommissioning the solar garden once it reaches its end of life. The company asked the board to consider allowing a letter of credit or a bond to be used in place of the cash as the cash is currently not earning any interest. The current ordinance allows for these activities, but the board’s preference is cash assurance. “Cash is king, but we’d be willing to look at proposed language to determine if any of the other options are a possibility,” stated County Attorney Neil Nelson.

A conditional use permit was approved for John Fragodt to construct a 64’ by 88’ storage structure on his non-riparian lot on Pelican Lake. The board approved the action of changing the case aide position within the probation department to a probation agent position in the hopes that it will attract more applicants. The case aide position has been vacant since September of 2022.

Pope County Administrator Kersten Kappmeyer reminded the board that the first floor community room would be unavailable for the foreseeable future as the Land and Resource Management Office makes their home there while renovations are completed on the offices of the Auditor/Treasurer.