Sheriff Pat Eliasen came before the county board on Tuesday, July 11 with an update on staffing and transportation issues.
Eliasen asked for authorization to hire a full-time public safety technology systems specialist and a part-time dispatcher. Eliasen said he had tried to have dispatchers do some of both jobs, but he added, “They were usually too busy with their dispatch duties to do anything else.” The board approved both requests. The part-time dispatcher will work 28 hours per week.
Some of the duties a public safety technology systems specialist will perform are data management, provide communication and training to users and ensure data standards are met, serve as the sheriff ’s office administrator or expert user for all public safety applications and Microsoft applications used by the Sheriff ’s Office.
“I have hired a new deputy, Jason Hughes,” said Eliasen. “He’s the new Grand Portage deputy and he’s doing a fantastic job. I have heard a lot of compliments about the way that he handles himself. He’s an asset to the Sheriff ’s office.”
When asked if the Sheriff ’s Office is back to being fully staffed, Eliasen said he had one more deputy he was in the process of hiring and then he would finally be back at a full complement of deputies. The new hire is Matt Grant. “He’s from the Red Cliff Band and when he gets up and running he wants to work in Grand Portage,” Eliasen said.
Commissioner Jan Sivertson said it would be nice for the board to meet the new staff members. Eliasen said he would bring them to a future board meeting.
Eliasen also told the board he planned to purchase a new squad car that would only be used for prisoner transport. “We are in need of an exclusive vehicle to transport prisoners to and from our facility as well as to and from court,” said Eliasen.
He said the vehicle currently being used has 117,000 miles on it and was unreliable, adding “The vehicle has malfunctioned several times leaving the transport deputy and prisoners stranded in other counties until assistance could be provided.”
Eliasen said the drive to the Two Harbors correctional facility is 85 miles one way and it is 190 miles one way to the Aitkin county jail, where Cook County prisoners are held while awaiting trial. He said that recently a deputy performing transport duties had three prisoners in the back seat and one in the front seat. “This isn’t safe for the deputy or good for the prisoners, but it’s what we have to do right now.”
The board questioned whether Eliasen needed a squad car or a van or a sport utility vehicle that could be turned into a transport vehicle for prisoners. Eliasen said there was a van that had been confiscated that was sitting in the sheriff ’s parking lot for the last two years, and he was interested in acquiring and setting it up for transport, but it was tied up in litigation and a bank had placed a lien on it.
County Attorney Molly Hicken said it could be another month or two, or maybe longer, before the title was clear to the van.
Commissioner Garry Gamble suggested Eliasen look at getting a larger sport utility with 4-wheel drive for transport, and the board agreed with him. Eliasen said he would return to the board at an upcoming meeting with a request for a larger, sturdier vehicle.
Four Corners lighting coming
Cook County Highway Engineer David Betts came before the county board on Tuesday, July 14, requesting authorization to seek bids on the intersection lighting that was previously approved by the board to be installed at County Road 8 and County Road 12 (The Four Corners).
Betts said two light poles would be 30 feet high and LED lights installed in them would be 1/7th as bright as what is found in most mall parking lots.
LHB Corporation completed the plans and specifications for the bids, said Betts, and because the projects are 90 percent funded by the federal government and 10 percent funded by the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT), the county will not have to pay for the equipment or their installation. The board wasted little time authorizing the bids.
The board also approved Betts’ request to call for bids to purchase “stop ahead” and “stop” signs and to mark intersections with white epoxy stop lines at various intersections throughout the county. Again, this project is 90 percent funded by the federal government and 10 percent by MnDOT.
The board okayed a transfer of $77,200 from the general fund to the Highway Department to maintain a minimal fund balance in the highway department budget.
Tip of Trail property to be appraised
Assessor/Land Commissioner Betty Schultz asked the board to authorize an appraisal for Tip Of The Trail property by John M. Vigen, SRA of Ramsland & Vigen, Inc. for $1,900. Vigen was the low bidder. He also appraised the property before the county sold it at auction three years ago. The property came back to the county after the purchaser was found to have allegedly used stolen funds to put down a down payment on the land. The board approved Schultz’s request and the land will once again be auctioned off to the highest bidder.
In other business
. A special event permit for the 86th annual Fisherman’s Picnic that allows the closure of Wisconsin Street from July 29 through August 2 was approved.
. Every four years computer workstations are budgeted to be replaced and this year 19 laptops will be swapped out at a cost of $19,381.25. Funds will come from the telephone capital budget, with the exception of one workstation, which will be used by the Recorder’s Office and charged to that department.
. The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) was given a 10-year lease on county forfeited land so it can put up a 180-foot-tall radio communication ARMER (Allied Radio Matrix Emergency Response) tower at the Devilfish site in Hovland. The tower is part of the radio communication system being deployed throughout the county and the state in an effort to give emergency responders radio coverage in areas where it was spotty or didn’t exist before.
Leave a Reply