By Aberdeen Insider - July 18, 2024 in BROWN COUNTY COMMISSION
JULY 9, 2024 – GENERAL MEETING MINUTES
Meeting called to order by Chairman Sutton at 8:45 A.M. in the Commission Chambers, Courthouse Annex, Brown County, SD. Present were Commissioners Dennert, Fjeldheim, Gage, Sutton, and Wiese. Auditor Heupel led the Pledge of Allegiance.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA: Moved by Commissioner Wiese to approve the agenda, seconded by Dennert. All members present voting aye. Motion carried.
OPPORTUNITY FOR PUBLIC COMMENT: None
ESTABLISH APPLICATION & ADMINISTRATIVE FEES FOR FUTURE TAX INCREMENT FINANCING DISTRICTS (TIF) IN BROWN COUNTY: The Draft Resolution was read by Chairman Sutton then opened for floor for discussion. Gene Loeschke, Director of Equalization clarified these fees would only be on County TIF’s not City TIF’s. Aberdeen City Attorney, Ron Wager addressed the Commission stating the county’s administrative fee cannot be applied to a City TIF but he was authorized to inform the Commission that the City of Aberdeen understands there are costs incurred by the County is ready, willing, and able to meet with the Commission and form a partnership to share the administrative fees for the TIF’s. Mr. Wager stated that they need to be doing their compliance and enforcing of the TIF’s better going forward. State’s Attorney Deputy, Ross Aldentaler stated he attends to agree with Mr. Wager at this time to clarify the Resolution insert saying applications to the County for TIF and any Developer seeking TIF from the County, would clear it up that it applies to the County only. Gene Loeschke shared there are 27-28 active TIF’s in the City that do take a lot of time, so he agrees that the County and the City do need to get together to account for the time the county puts into TIF’s. Chairman Sutton responded to Mr. Wager that they appreciate the fact that the City is willing to meet and see what type of agreement we could come to offset some of the County’s costs. Attorney Rod Tobin asked the Commission how they came up with the proposed fee and Commissioner Sutton shared that they looked at the amount of work/man hours the County Employees put into a TIF between the Assessor’s Office, Auditor’s Office, and IT Department, to come up with what we thought were reasonable fees over the 20 years which is the life of a TIF. Mr. Tobin than asked if they would be willing to consider a sliding fee scale like the city does based on the size of the development. Attorney Jay Gellhaus wanted to caution the Commission on having such as significant fee because they are trying to promote affordable housing and draw businesses into the City or County, he shared that some of these TIF’s are razor thin for the developers and the change in interest rates, economy can have devastating effects and stifle development. Mr. Gellhaus agrees that the County and City should get together. Darin Beckius with Homes Are Possible also commented that they are trying to get new housing for smaller communities to help them keep schools and/or gas stations open and the repayment ability is extremely tight on affordable housing, so he feels that a percentage or sliding scale would be more appropriate. Commissioner Wiese thanked everyone for their input but shared about the Discretionary Formula for Commercial or Home Development, which defers property taxes; the County is not trying to stifle development, but we need to find a middle ground because the TIF’s defer the income for the County to receive in property taxes which is very significant in what we try to utilize for our resources for all the different responsibilities the County has so that is a bit frustrating; and he appreciates the city’s willingness to meet and discuss further. Gene Loeschke shared that there is a Development Discretionary that is available; if they have platted at least 8 lots for residential property; the land value is frozen for 5 years or until a property sells. After further discussion, Commissioner Fjeldheim moved to defer for further consideration and research, seconded by Dennert. All members present voting aye. Motion carried.
FIREWORKS PERMIT: Moved by Commissioner Wiese, seconded by Dennert to approve the Fireworks permit for Bellino Fireworks for Aerial Show at the Brown County Speedway (postponed due to weather) on July 12, 2024. All members present voting aye. Motion carried.
MINUTES: Moved by Commissioner Wiese, seconded by Fjeldheim to approve the July 2, 2024 General Meeting Minutes. All members present voting aye. Motion carried.
CLAIMS/PAYROLL: Moved by Commissioner Wiese, seconded by Gage to approve the following claims:
CLAIMS: Insurance: SD Assoc of County Commissioners $2,949.00. Professional Fees: Aberdeen ED $2,098.31; Amazon Capital Services, Inc $1,299.00; Avera Medical Group Radiology $1,020.67; Avera St. Luke’s Hospital $9,786.98; CGI, LLC $1,479.38; Dean Schaefer Court Reporting $216.00; Fischbach Law Office $2,271.25; Houston Engineering, Inc $1,135.00; Satellite Tracking of People, LLC $1,508.00. Publishing: Groton Daily Independent $501.19; Hub City Radio $4,000.00; McQuillen Creative Group, Inc $429.00; Midstates Group $210.00. Rentals: Linde Gas & Equipment Inc $51.19. Repairs & Maintenance: Aberdeen Clean-All, LLC $1,238.37; Consolidated Electrical Distributors Inc $390.00; Dakota Fluid Power, Inc $232.74; Dakota Pump & Control $774.49; Napa Central $190.39; Olson’s Pest Technicians $250.00; Pomp’s Tire Service, Inc $623.08; Precision Kiosk Technologies $2,700.00; RDO Equipment Co $2,930.73. Supplies: Agtegra Cooperative $11,541.08; Amazon Capital Services, Inc $946.43; Avera LTC Pharmacy Aberdeen $799.79; Bimbo Foods USA, Inc $656.49; Century Business Products $316.52; Cole Paper Inc $1,884.86; East Side Jersey Dairy Inc $880.74; Menards $114.05; Midstates Group $26.25; PharmChem, Inc $766.80; Runnings $513.16; Thomson Reuters-West Payment Center $306.89; Tri-State Water $35.00; US Foods $9,374.22. Utilities: AT&T Mobility $43.23; CenturyLink $270.53; Midcontinent Communications $148.81; Northwestern Energy $1,158.83; WEB Water Development Association, Inc $139.68. Others: SD Assoc of County Officials $764.00; SD Dept of Agriculture & Natural Resources $4,295.17. All members present voting aye. Motion carried.
HR REPORT: Moved by Commissioner Dennert, seconded by Wiese to approve the following Human Resource Report submitted by Human Resources Director, Allison Tunheim:
• Retraction of Resignation of Penny Hart, Brown County State’s Attorney Administrative Coordinator; FT – effective June 30, 2024.
• Transfer of Penny Hart from FT Brown County State’s Attorney Administrative Coordinator to PT Brown County State’s Attorney Legal Assistant; starting wage $20.00/hr. – effective July 7, 2024.
• Hiring of Daniel Dow as Brown County Jail Detention Officer, FT; starting wage $21.29/hr. – effective July 17, 2024.
• Approve personal miles driven for April 2024 at .62 per mile as follows: Joshua Matthews 272.80 miles at $169.14; Matt Heupel 85 miles at $52.70; John Florey 120 miles at $74.40; Mike Scott 190 miles at $117.80.
• Approve personal miles driven for May 2024 at .62 per mile as follows: Joshua Matthews 235.60 miles at $146.07; Matt Heupel 105 miles at $65.10; John Florey 108 miles at $66.96; Mike Scott 160 miles at $99.20.
• Approve personal miles driven for June 2024 at .62 per mile as follows: Joshua Matthews 235.6 miles at $146.07; Matt Heupel 85 miles at $52.70; John Florey 96 miles at $59.52; Mike Scott 130 miles at $80.60.
All members present voting aye. Motion carried.
LANDFILL TONNAGE REPORT: Moved by Commissioner Fjeldheim, seconded by Wiese to acknowledge the Landfill Tonnage Report for June 2024. All members present voting aye. Motion carried.
CLAIM ASSIGNMENTS: Moved by Commissioner Gage, seconded by Wiese to authorize and approve the Auditor sign the Claim Assignments against individuals to Credit Collections Bureau for the purpose of collecting liens. All members present voting aye. Motion carried.
TRAVEL REQUESTS: Move by Commissioner Wiese, seconded by Dennert to approve the following Travel Request: Scott Bader, Planning & Zoning Director to attend Western Planner 2024 Conference on August 6-9, 2024 in Cheyenne, WY. All members present voting aye. Motion carried.
EXECUTIVE SESSION: Moved by Commissioner Wiese, seconded by Fjeldheim to go into Executive Session for Personnel, Contracts and Legal per SDCL 1-25-2. All members present voting aye. Motion carried. The chair declared the executive session closed with no action taken.
Moved by Commissioner Fjeldheim, seconded by Wiese to approve retaining Attorney Melanie Carpenter for a personnel matter. All members present voting aye. Motion carried.
ADJOURNMENT: Moved by Commissioner Dennert, seconded by Wiese to adjourn the Brown County Commission at 10:02 a.m. All members present voting aye. Motion carried.
Lynn Heupel, Brown County Auditor
Published July 18, 2024, at the total approximate cost of $86.44 and may be viewed free of charge at www.sdpublicnotices.com and www.aberdeeninsider.com