County Commision navigates changes as year ends

The Eddy County Commission meeting on Dec. 4 signaled change. Neal Rud took his oath of office, something that each of the elected officials do on an annual basis. Commissioners Neal Rud and Glenda Collier said that Dave Gehrtz, newly elected to the commission, will attend the next county commission meeting and take the oath of office at that time. Gehrtz will also begin representing Eddy County at the Lake Region Law Enforcement Center meetings.

Ashley Lies, Eddy County State’s Attorney-Elect, was also in attendance and told the commissioners that she would like to attend the county commission meetings until she gets an understanding of the commission expectations. She provided commissioners with her contact information, including her cell phone and email addresses, encouraging them to contact her at any time. Lies said she is hoping for open and transparent communication. Lies also provided the commissioners on updates on her transition into the State’s Attorney position including a decrease to her private practice and the hiring of an assistant. The assistant to the State’s Attorney will be a county employee and a private employee of Lies, as that person will have responsibilities with both the State’s Attorney office and with Lies in her private practice.

Eddy County State’s Attorney Travis Peterson told the commissioners that he would begin the transfer of work from his office to Ashley Lies. He updated them on the Water Board suit regarding the Rosefield Dam as the hearing date was changed.

Marking another big change for Eddy County is the retirement of two long term employees. Kathleen Thueson is retiring after 46 years with the Eddy County Extension Office and Eddy County Road Supervisor, Irvin Loe, is retiring after 42 years with the Eddy County road department.

Emergency Manager Jess Earle said that her probationary period was coming to an end and asked if they were satisfied with the work that she has been doing and if they wanted to continue with the Joint Powers agreement (JPA). The commissioners have been pleased and asked Eddy County Auditor, Patty Williams if the billing hiccups with Foster County had been resolved. Upon receiving her affirmative response, they wholeheartedly supported continuing the JPA for Earle’s services to Eddy County.

Earle informed the commissioners about emergency preparedness exercises scheduled in Foster County, saying that there are tabletop exercises planned along with function and full-scale exercises. Eddy County is invited to join with Foster County emergency response teams, nursing home and hospital staff.

She also shared her excitement about the Teen CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) program in the Glenfield school. The Teen CERT program is a national training program designed for teens who would like to volunteer to provide assistance during a local disaster. Just like adults, teens throughout communities in the United States can benefit from learning about potential disasters that could affect the area and how to respond to these disasters in the best way possible.

Earle said there is a long list of benefits associated with offering emergency management and disaster preparedness training to teens within a community, so she would like to see the Teen CERT program implemented in both New Rockford and Carrington.

The commission submitted a Court Facilities Improvement grant to upgrade the metal detector currently being used in the courtroom. In addition, the county has received two separate estimates for replacing the elevator in the back of the courthouse. Sanford Healthcare Associates bid $30,106.65 and Access Elevator and Lifts (AEL) bid $26,994. AEL also submitted a bid that would replace both the elevator coming from the back door to the first level and the lift that goes from the first level to the second level. Both are obsolete and can no longer be repaired. The current lift has made it difficult to get people to the courtroom on the upper level. There was no action taken on any of them at this time.

Ben Aaseth, of Interstate Engineering, brought gifts of calendars and bags of pistachios for the commissioners and county employees for the holidays. Aaseth informed the commissioners that the construction on the Lake Washington has been completed and shut down for the year, with the exception of the grass seeding along the roadway that will need to be completed in the spring. He said the project came in under budget, for both construction and engineering costs. He said he will be back in the spring to report on the completion of the project.

In other new business, the commission:

 • Moved the next meeting to Wed., Jan. 2 because of the New Year’s Day holiday.  

 • Appointed Commissioner Glenda Collier as the 2019 commission chairperson.

 • Approved North Dakota Department of Transportation traffic counts on Eddy County roads.

 • Appointed Larry Danduran to serve as a county designee on the New Rockford Planning and Zoning Committee.

 • Approved the liquor license for the Hamar Bar.

 • Discussed the lease agreement with the New Rockford Area Betterment Corporation for the Eddy County Health Nurse office. The building has been sold, but the current lease goes through 2020. The county will need to contract with the new owner after that.

 • Discussed the job description and ad for the Road Supervisor position.

 • Discussed wages for new  employees to be hired in the near future, including administrative assistants for the Extension Office, State’s Attorney office and the Road Supervisor.