County hires a planner

By MaryHelen Swanson
The long-awaited county planner has been hired, but the vote to bring her on board was 3-2 at the Jan. 22 county board meeting.
Three candidates were interview, Julie Runkel has been approved for the position.
She comes from Wabasha County in southern Minnesota.
Environmental Services Director Marion Heemsbergen was excited about Runkelís qualifications when he presented her name for the vote.
Runkel has a degree in environmental health, Heemsbergen said, and did the comprehensive plan and zoning ordinance work for Wabasha County.
Runkel does not have a land use degree, but Heemsbergen told the commissioners Runkel was willing to take training.
The lack of education in land use was the main reason Commissioners Lora Walker and Ben Montzka opposed hiring Runkel
Montzka said he thought there would be qualified graduates from the University of Minnesota in the land use field and asked for a three-week extension on hiring.
Heemsbergen stressed that experience counts in his opinion as much, if not more, than education.
He called experience ìbattle scarsî and said Runkel has plenty.
Heemsbergen said one of the candidates interviewed did have a masterís degree in planning but did not appear as qualified as Runkel.
Again, he made note of the ìbattle scars,î alluding to the fact that many times people donít know what something is about until theyíve been there.
Continuing his protest, Montzka asked if it was fair to the county residents.
Heemsbergen noted that a ìfairî amount of recruitment has been conducted and the position had been advertised many places including Minneapolis and St. Paul papers.
Runkel will come in at a salary around $59,000. An exact figure was not mentioned.
Hiring an administrator
The committee set to the task of studying the process of hiring a new administrator, after James Thoreen had announced his resignation, brought suggestions to the board.
Their concept was to split responsibilities to have a board clerk take minutes and prepare materials for meetings, while the administrator position simply administrates.
There was discussion on reassignment of an employee already in the department. No action was taken.
The board authorized advertising to start for the administratorís position.
In other business last week, the commissioners:
ï Approved Bob Shoemaker as chief deputy in the sheriffís department.
ï Learned that their request to place a temporary office building next to the jail was denied by Center City. Administrator Thoreen said there was no plan B, but that he would be working with the sheriff on other options. The jail administration building has been closed due to mold problems.
ï Appointed Lucy Buisman, Dist. 1 and Myrna Hanson, Dist. 5 to the Extension committee. An appointment for Dist. 2 was tabled.
ï Tabled payment to KKE, the engineering firm connected to the North Branch government center project, until chairman Montzka receives information he requested from the firm.
ï Discussed a process to present information on the Green Acres nursing home project to the public. Thoreen suggested a series of meetings with a half-hour presentation on whether the county should be in the nursing home business and other issues, followed by public comment. He suggested they take the meetings to at least four locations in the county.

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