County, Minnewaska Area Schools agree on reestablishing a school resource officer
News | Published on August 22, 2022 at 11:15am CDT
By Melanie Stegner
At two Committee of the Whole meetings in 2022, the Pope County Board heard from county and school officials regarding interest in reestablishing the School Resource Officer program at Minnewaska Area Schools and stationing an officer within the district. The board recently approved an agreement between the county and the school district for the position.
The agreement contains language that establishes a five-year commitment to partial coverage of school days in exchange for the school’s designated grant funding that will cover part of the cost to employ an officer for the position. The school grant funding ($47,500) along with specialized grant funding for boat and water patrol activities for the sheriff’s office is intended to provide revenue for the officer assigned to this position.
In the agreement, the school is obligated to absorb any increase in the cost to employ the officer. The contract asks that the officer be scheduled to be on the premises for no more than 130 days per school year.
As an employee of the sheriff’s department, the candidate will be required to meet the qualifications of a deputy as well as specialized training as a School Resource Officer.
According to Sheriff Tim Riley, the portion of the position that will work boat and water patrol is also eligible for grant funding. Last year’s grant was around $6,000; however, the sheriff’s department was not able to provide an officer on a full-time basis for the position. “If we have more time on the water, the grant funding increases. We’ve researched some internal scheduling and will be able to cover all aspects of the boat and water patrol,” said Riley. “We have current employees that have expressed interest in both positions, so we’ll hire a road patrol officer as a new employee and determine internally the officers for the SRO and boat and water positions.”
Commissioner Haggerty supplied the sheriff with information regarding SRO best practices including information from the National School Resource Officer Association. The board voted unanimously to approve the agreement.
Other business
The board also voted unanimously to approve the Highway Department Title VI Implementation Plan that was discussed at the committee of the whole meeting as well as the Purchasing Policy and Procedure Manual updates as discussed.
The Pope County IT department has provided service to West Central SWAT for several years and presented a memorandum for understanding at the meeting. “Pope County Information Technology occasionally provides support for their computers and SWAT bus. We are aiming to standardize our support agreement with WC SWAT to align with the other Joint Powers we provide service to,” said IT Director Bryan Gates.
The Department of Natural Resources gave a presentation to the board on their area activities. DNR Regional Director, Theresa Ebbenga, was on hand to speak about the contribution that the DNR makes to the area. The local DNR staff for Pope County currently employs 18 full-time and seven part-time/seasonal staff. They manage three aquatic management area, three fish management area, five native prairie bank easements, two scientific and natural areas, one state park, 12 water access sites and 25 wildlife management areas.
“Glacial Lakes State Park contributes an estimated $1.76 million to local economic impact with average annual attendance of 61,756. There are several other activities that we do that contribute greatly to the economy in the area and work to preserve the natural resources that keep Pope County beautiful,” said Ebbenga.
Following adjournment of the regular board meeting, a budget work session was held with presentations from the assessor, probation and highway departments. None of the departments had any big changes or requests.
The board reconvened in the afternoon to hear presentations from organizations seeking outside appropriations. The Pope County Soil and Water Conservation District was first on the docket. “Our 2023 workload projection is much higher than recent years. The May storm events added significant amounts of work. It was communicated in 2019 that a critical grant was no longer available for CRP implementation prior to the pandemic, the Wetland Conservation Act continues to go over budget with a high workload, and inflation is affecting costs. “Every dollar that the county has provided in the past has been used to leverage other sources and we are mindful to keep our budget reasonable,” said Holly Kovarik, Interim Coordinator for CRWA and Pope County SWCD Manager.
The SWCD is requesting a 10 percent increase over last year’s appropriation, bringing the total to $75,141. Other requested funds are for a state fund match of $22,750 and $15,581 is requested as a match for the Wetland Conservation Act grant. A $9,000 appropriation is requested as part of the Chippewa River Watershed Association.
The Viking Library System requested an increase of $3,161, a two and a half percent increase over the 2022 budget to keep the services they currently have in place. The library system offers 12 bookmobile stops in the county. In 2021, 7,379 items were circulated at the bookmobile stops in the county. Their online library catalog provides access to the MnLINK system for interlibrary loans. 13,476 items were accessed last year using the system.
Shauney Moen, President of the Pope County Humane Society was on hand to present a report of last year’s activities and to discuss the future of the organization. “This year was expensive. We increased employee pay, veterinary bills increased, we had to purchase more pet food than normal, and we purchased feline intake kennels to better support the health of other animals at the shelter.”
According to the report from PCHS, last year’s total expenses were $216,108 and their income was $149,079. “Donations remained about the same as years prior,” said Mark Gorres, Treasurer of PCHS. “We have purchased most of the larger equipment items we need for now, but we would like to continue to increase wages for our employees for all of the time and work they do. We also would like to continue to offer to help with stray animals, license fees, offering education as well as spay/neuter clinics.”
“The Class Act Thrift Store is still running and taking donations with funds coming to PCHS which helps immensely, but we are concerned with the building we use possibly selling that we may need to move in the near future,” said Moen.
The number of animals that the humane society helps is staggering. In 2021, 115 cats came into the shelter, 94 of which were strays. 96 of them were adopted and of the 94 strays, none of them were claimed by an owner. There were 40 dogs at the shelter in 2021. The stray population was 21 with 11 being returned to their owners and there were 20 adoptions. So far this year the shelter has taken in 61 cats – 42 strays with no return to owner and 61 adoptions as well as 54 dogs – 28 strays with all 28 being returned to their owners along with 25 adoptions.
“We’re working on a barn cat program for the more feral cats that come in that includes a spay/neuter and a microchip so farmers can have a sterile cat on the property to help with rodent control. During the pandemic we were only open by appointment and with staff shortages, we continue that practice,” said Zoe Johnson, PCHS Board Member.
The shelter is continually full and has a waiting list for animals needing a new home. “We’ve had people even leave their animals in the parking lot or at the door. We are working toward a more sustainable future. We’ve added board members, fundraisers and events, recruited more memberships and we are revamping our foster care and volunteer program,” added Moen. “We are fundraising right now to purchase a generator for the shelter. Our next project will be building a dog run for aggressive dogs. We don’t currently have the capacity to offer them their own space.”
“Again, we thank the county for your support of the humane society, and we ask for your continued financial support. We are requesting our funding be raised to $20,000 to help support our needs as identified,” said Moen.
The meeting continued with Rachel Rust, Amanda Becker and Kerri Mattson representing the Pope County Ag Society Fair Board. “There is always a need for improvements at the fairgrounds. Some upgrades we made this year included air conditioning to the Legacy Building. We also repaired the heater. We would like to create a parking lot for the Legacy Building since it’s used frequently by the community,” said Rust.
Another concern for the Fair Board is the state of the cattle barn. “We need to address this in the very near future. When we priced a new roof last year it was $77,000 and the building isn’t in good enough shape to spend that much on just the roof,” stated Rust. Last year the county contributed $30,000 in aid and this year’s request is for $50,000.
Central Square requests funds
Central Square presented their appropriations request for 2023 with Program Director Marie Chan speaking on behalf of the staff. “If no one is in the building, it costs $500 per day just for the building, when there are people working, it is around $1,000 per day. It’s an old building and it comes with big expenses. Funding is always an issue,” she said.
“We currently offer several classes, art opportunities, events and our concert series. We’re in the process of planning our 2023 series. The gallery has been fully booked with Minnesota artists and supporting those artists is close to our heart. The pandemic really hurt us. We weren’t able to hold our events and are working hard to build things back up. Our request includes an additional $6,000 over last year’s funding, bringing our total request to $12,000,” said Chan.
The University of Minnesota Extension Office requested $3,000 in funds to continue their services in the county. The Glacial Ridge Trail Association requested $1,000 in appropriations to update their brochure, increase promotions and execute the Corridor Management Plan.
The Pope County Historical Society has had a group in town to help with cleaning up the cemetery. It should be completed this week. “We also were given the negatives from the Pope County Tribune of photos that were both in the paper and not. We’ve been scanning them and identifying the people in the photos. We share our collection online using mncollections.org,” said Anne Grandy. In 2022, the county appropriated funds totaling $55,000 and the historical society is requesting an additional $5,000 for 2023.
The board commented that they would consider all of the organizations’ requests and make a decision during budget planning.
