The Polk County Board of Commissioners met inside the Polk County Government Center on Tuesday morning to hear from the Polk County Historical Society and the Highway Department.
HISTORICAL SOCIETY-ANNE MUIR
The board was first approached by Polk County Historical Society Director Anne Muir, who first came forward with a presentation about the Society’s Goals. She said the society was looking to develop a new exhibit and adjust existing exhibits to guests’ interests. They also planned to participate in some partnership grants and identify volunteers to assist during the open season. She explained that the Museum had added a small engine and tractor maintenance and created the Hafslo church bell tower floor and a file room. They had also developed plans for a log cabin foundation and acquired historic pieces from St. Petri in Climax. She explained that they went through some challenges they had to overcome, which were increases in their insurance from 2021 to 2022 by another 20%, some operating expenses being increased with inflation, and their budget being cut by 9%. Muir said that she hoped to increase the budget by about 3% for 2023 and deal with some Northwest Minnesota Arts Council grants. With all the changes they had done with Carpentry, Painting and Refurbishing, and repairing artifacts, their volunteers had put in 2,315 hours from 2021-22. She also reported that they were hoping to complete the foundation for the new Log cabin site. They also wanted to repair a leak over the Society’s Organ they had refurbished and add or continue some community events like Pioneer Day, a Ronagen Organ Concert, and a Veterans Art Exhibit.
Income Statement/July 2022
Muir then gave the Income Statement for the year, starting from July 2022. She reported that the society had a total amount of revenues for the year at $15,905.12, but they wanted to move the log cabin as its foundation was not properly installed, along with a few other items. This caused their total expenses for the year to be $18,102.82, giving them a net income of $-2,197.70, which was much less than their net income from last year, at $-456.85. However, the board noted that they still had ARP funds available, and the society was welcome to request them to help complete some planned projects.
HIGHWAY ENGINEER- RICHARD SANDERS
The board was then approached by County Highway Engineer Richard Sanders, who came forward with a three-year contract with Knife River materials for Calcium Chloride for Polk, Norman, Clearwater, Red Lake, Pennington, Marshall, and Kittson Counties. Sanders reported that the company had completed its work for the first year of the contract. “Year one is done, it’s a three-year contract that we contracted with them, and as part of State Statute, we have to retain 5% of the contract as we’re making payments. The board just approved reducing that retainage down to 0% since all the work is done for 2022,” Sanders explained. “When the work begins in 2023, we’ll begin retaining the 5% again and do that throughout the construction part of applying the calcium chloride and then reduce it again to zero at the end of 2023.”
4-Shulte Model FX1800 Flew Wing Rotary Mowers
Sanders then came forward to request the purchase of 4-Shulte Model FX1800 Flew Wing Rotary Mowers from Ironhide Equipment in Grand Forks for $30,160 per mower for a total of $120,640. The board approved the purchase unanimously.
3-Huhn GMD 240 multi-disc rotary mowers
Sanders then came forward to request the purchase of 3-Huhn GMD 240 multi-disc rotary mowers from Titan Machinery in Crookston for $16,215.10 per mower for a total of $48,645.30. The board approved the purchase unanimously.
County Ditch 33 Maintenance Request
Sanders then requested to replace an existing narrow culvert for County Ditch 33 in Lowell Township, where the landowner wanted to replace the old concrete culverts into his land approach, and they would do their own work, with the Highway Department providing 50 feet of 48-inch CSP culverts. The board approved the motion unanimously.
The Polk County Board of Commissioners will next meet on Tuesday, October 4, in the Polk County Government Center at 8:00 a.m.
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