Mitchell County Commissioners
Monday, February 8, 2016
By Terry Bailey
The Mitchell County Commissioners conducted their regularly scheduled weekly business meeting on Monday, February 8. Commission Chairperson Mike Cooper was absent for the meeting. In his absence Commissioner Jim Marshall conducted the meeting. Commissioner Tom Claussen and County Clerk Chris Treaster were also present.
The first order of business for the Commissioners was a Neighborhood Revitalization Grant application. They voted to approve an application from Enos Grauerholz for the construction of a 110’ x 50’ x 20’ metal ag building with a 30’ x 50’ lean-to on each side. The amount of the grant was $70,000.
The next action was to approve a food service contract with Consolidated Food Services to provide meals for prisoners in the Mitchell County Jail. In January the inmate population varied from a high of 36 to a low of 26 prisoners. When the number reached 36 inmates, the cost of the meals was $2.78 per meal. When it reached the low end of 26, the meals were $3.47. The bill for the month of January was $8,100.
Eric Hamel, assistant EMS Director, presented the monthly ambulance report to the Commissioners. Hamel was accompanied by EMS employee Missy McGinnis. EMS made a total of 43 runs in the month of January. Most of the calls were logged from 12 noon until 3:00 p.m... Friday was the busiest day of the week. The average age of the patients was 58 years of age.
Hamel said they are considering using a collection agency to attempt to get payment from some hard to collect customers. He also reported that the replacement doors and windows have been successfully installed.
Larry Emerson, Public Works Superintendent, gave the Commissioners an update on snow removal from last week’s snowfall. Everyone noted that the amount of snow that had been forecast failed to materialize. Emerson said that on the east side of the County snowfall was very light but a nice rainfall was experienced. On the west side of the County 4”-5” of snow was noted. He said the snow was very wet and hard to move and that the winds were blowing back snow as soon as they cleared a road.
Crews are sealing cracks on K Road. Emerson believes they will be able to start blading a lot of the gravel roads if the weather cooperates. They are hauling material on the Hyde Road and then will start on the Hunter Road.
According to Emerson the new pickup for the road crew should be in this week. Work on the Jordan Bridge has not progressed due to the weather.
County Attorney Mark Noah was present and asked for a 15 minute executive session to discuss pending litigation. The session was extended five minutes. No action was taken as a result of the closed session.
The next meeting for the Commissioners will take place on Tuesday February 16th due to Monday the 15th being Presidents Day.