May 5, 2026, Commissioner Part 1 of 3
Bills: State Radio fees Road Department: Brent Report
- Festival hall floor in basement is under 2 inches of water; 2 of 3 pumps not working; possible water leak at the Festival Hall. Water has been turned off at fairgrounds because of the water leak. Leak MAY HAVE BEEN GOING ALL WINTER. Three pumps need to be going.
- Asphalt in front of festival hall has broken up. They need to find the leak. Ground is soft all along festive hall. A garbage truck went in deep at the festival hall last week.
- Tar carting is done x 17 miles; new county 5 redone again; (is the jobs constructors worth the cheap work? What is going on?) and county 4 was tar carted also.
- Oil Last year was $3/gallon and $18,000/mile; This year will be much higher.
- Hwy 71, slew is washing by winds.
- detour road x 1 mile discussion
- IBI bid approved for bridge project.
- Johnson pit for hwy 52 project:
- construction wants to use pit; Road restrictions at 65,000 for now
- west of hwy 3. reached out to Brent on the matter.
- Golf Course road chip sealed again
Balance Sheet
- Reports show 3 negative balances
CD’s & Money Markets
- moved money into the money market account; Funds Controlled by the Commissioners; general fund Share graph; approved money movement
Haylee Vigor: Telecom
- Regional livestock development & Planning Grants; 2 signed up from this region; grant creates map of best areas for development of projects; public & private sites for projects; updates to laws for animals in zoning, it is using a zoning from South Dakota. This would require changes in planning & zoning rules & regulation for Wells County. Still requires permits for these projects. Who conducts the evaluation? First District out of SD. (local is lost); They will evaluate water, electric and roads. $12,000 for each county & $500 for each township cost. Grants should cover costs. In June or July 2026 and six months to report findings and changes. This Council will be doing the zoning & planning. (State is taking local control away!) county would be changing permit fee which lowers to $500 max. Discussion: commissioners approved this grant and they will take action.
- Permit fee changes need to be done before July 31, 2026 to $500.00.
- NDDW: North Dakota Dept of Water discussion
Soil Board: Commission Appointments
- The soil evaluation; 10 districts in the county; they need 3 more district leads; 6 yr term, Commissioner will be do the appointing.
Correspondence
- Tax commissioners: PRC wind is moving forward (PRC sent money to Commissioners); Aquatic Nuisance.
Portfolios -Brian Miller: Sheriff Dept.; Stan Buxa: tax equalization; Danny Maxwell: nothing to report; Dennis Dockter: Road Dept; Brian Lautt: Fair board, Tax equalization. WC Sheriff Report by Janell Pepple
- Advertising for position has become harder due to state rules changes
- Ad at Job Service for Deputy Sheriff on Social media.
- Short of help due to injury and military leave
- Contacting other counties for coverage help; extra hours will be reported
- County will pay for Certification training if needed.
- Lexie Pole: specializes in public safety and manuals with custom tailoring. Cost $5,750.00.
- Janelle, office deputy, overtime right now and Commissioners need to approve so she does not loose vacation. No time off. Commissioners approved plus expressed Cross training in all positions.
Courthouse time off on July 2nd 2026 for all employee due to Juneteenth. Election 2026
- Absentee ballots are in; Testing of machines on the 26th of May 2026; Poles 8am to 7pm; Audit is required by hand randomly on June 15, 2026; June 22, 2026 will be canvassing; Commissioners race is reported wrong in the Herald Press.
Gaming Permits: Golf course was approved. RRVWS (Red River Valley Water Supply)
- Permits not completed; roads must be good; road agreement discussed; township supervisors need to be on top of the roads; May 5th they are starting.
Telecommuting agreement with Dan Stutlein
- Dan will be out of the office in July for 2 weeks.
Township meetings 9am – 6pm; six meetings with 6 townships; topic roads & blading, going from $100 to $200/mile charge; meetings start after the election; Township concerns need to be brought to the meeting and any questions; Budget and Levies; zoning issues. Hurdsfield & Bowdon Assessments
- Who benefits when valuations changes are made?; silver lake township is highest evaluation; evaluation need to fit the county system; Commissioners want Bev Hart to use the Canva system. Oliver was called to FORCING BEV to use the Canva system like the Wells county does; What is your share on what you own? A statement made by the Commissioners with no transparency of the reason for asking. They want all township assessors to use the Canva system.
Commissioners serve meal at Fair, free meal. They need to make sure they aren’t shop on meat & buns. Why are we doing this when we don’t have money to fix roads, even the fairgrounds too.
