By Patrick Tepoorten

Adding new committees to county commissionersí plates is a bigger issue than one would think and one that drew considerable discussion at last weekís county board meeting.

On Wed., Oct. 26, Commissioner Lynn Schultz reminded the county board of the existence of the Metropolitan Counties Energy Task Force (MCETF), and noted that it might be a committee the county should be following. In bringing this up, Schultz sparked a debate over how many committees the county board should be a part of, and how much the board should spend on per diems that come with attendance.

Commissioner Ben Montzka cautioned against joining the committee saying, ìWe pay much more in per diems than other counties.î
Commissioner Bob Gustafson disagreed. ìI think we ought to make it a committee,î he said. ìItís important to have somebody there, to find out what it is all about.î Gustafson added that the committee could always be dropped if the board did not find it valuable.

Montzka responded that the county belongs to a ìrecord number of committees,î and suggested that if the board saw the MCETF as valuable, perhaps it should decide if other committee assignments could be eliminated.

ìMaybe we could put this off to allow enough time to consider one or two to sunset,î stated Montzka, and offered that suggestion as a ìfriendly amendmentî to any motion approving participation in the committee.

ìNo,î was the response of Commissioner Mike Robinson.

Montzka then asked, ìIs this in our budget? Arenít we already over budget with per diems this year?î

Although no one was able to provide the answer at that time, County Administrator John Moosey has since commented that the county budget set aside for paying the per diems associated with committee attendance had paid out $11,295 by the end of the third quarter, out of a total of $15,000 for the year. That is roughly 75 percent of the budget with 25 percent of the year remaining. ìWeíre right on target at this time,î concluded Moosey.

Ultimately, the board approved of the idea of becoming involved with the MCETF, with Montzka voting against. As yet no one has been named to the committee.

On Monday, Schultz noted that sky-rocketing energy costs make this committee more valuable than it may have been earlier in the year. She also added that the last few meetings the MCETF has scheduled in 2005 may be the last before participating counties are asked to provide the task force with an operating budget.

The MCETF is tasked with assisting local governments achieve more efficient use of energy. According to Tony Hainault, with Hennepin County Environmental Services, the task force allows county representatives to ìinteract with regulators and representatives of the energy industry so that they can become better informed,î as to how their county might better use available resources.

In other news, Sheriff Todd Rivard asked the board for replacement costs associated with two recently totaled squad cars.

All in all, he reported, four squads have been damaged in recent weeks; three due to collisions with deer and one to a roll-over. While two of the squads are repairable, a 2002 and 2004 squad are not.

The 2002 model, which was totaled by a deer, will be the most expensive to replace, as insurance only covers a small portion due to the circumstances. The replacement cost to the county will be $19,622 as a result. The 2004, which was involved in a roll-over crash, qualifies for ìinsured collisionî status and will only cost the county $4,693 to replace.

It was suggested that the funds to replace the squads be taken from the countyís contingency fund.

ìI hate to see it come out of contingency,î said Commissioner Rick Olseen. ìWe keep chipping away at the contingency fund every year.î

It was Olseenís suggestion that the county approach its insurance carrier, Minnesota County Insurance Trust (MCIT) about the possibility of paying a higher premium to include replacement costs of future vehicles.

ìEither way we are going to pay,î responded Robinson.

Gustafson suggested that the Sheriffís department include a line item in future budgets to cover these types of expenses. Rivard agreed that such an account would be advantageous.

Montzka preferred Olseenís suggestion that MCIT be contacted with increased coverage in mind, and added that including a line item in the Sheriffís Department budget would only be effective if the overall budget were passed. ìWeíre the master of that ship,î he concluded.

Robinson suggested that the department explore the cost of grill protection for squad cars, which would increase the possibility of squads surviving a crash with deer, suffering only minimal damage. ìI donít know what the cost would be, but it might be a way to save some of the cars,î he added.

Rivard agreed to look into that possibility.

The board did give Rivard the go-ahead to order the two new squad cars, but did not specify a funding source from within the budget at that time.

Moosey informed the board that the contingency fund was ìgetting a little skinny,î and suggested delaying the authorization of payment until a later date, at which time the funds could be moved to the appropriate account from the countyís fund balance.
Rivard called the situation unfortunate, but acknowledged that replacing squad cars is sometimes ìthe price of doing business.î

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