Month: November 2022

The Northwest Regional Corrections Center reported the following arrests. 

Matthew James Storbakken, 40, of Crookston, for Trespassing and Refusing to Depart

Diana Obregon, 62, of East Grand Forks, for 4th-Degree DUI

Dustin Edward Joshua Klooz, 36, no address provided, for 4th-Degree DUI

Jennifer Ann Evenson, 39, of Grand Forks, for DUI under any amount of a Schedule I/II Drug that was not marijuana

The post ARREST/FIRE REPORT-NOVEMBER 23, 2022 appeared first on KROX.

The Polk County Board of Commissioners met inside the Polk County Government Center on Tuesday morning.

COUNTY BOARD MEMBERS ISSUE FORUM

The board began the meeting by Designating the MCIT Voting Delegate and Alternate. Polk County Administrator Chuck Whiting explained that the 2022 Annual Meeting of the Minnesota Counties Intergovernmental Trust would be held on Monday, December 5, at 4:00 p.m. with an election for one seat on the MCIT Board of Directors. The current members were Commissioners Joan Lee and Gary Willhite. Commissioner Warren Strandell proposed they reelect both Lee and Willhite. However, Willhite recommended appointing Mark Holy and Warren Strandell. After much discussion, the board chose to reappoint Joan Lee as the Delegate for the Board of Directors and, due to him completing his application before the meeting, decided to appoint Gary Willhite as the Alternate Delegate for the board. They also made a motion to support him as a candidate for the open seat on the MCIT Board of Directors. Willhite was honored by the support of his fellow commissioners and told us about his interest in running for the MCIT’s Board of Directors. “They’re a board I’ve been interested in for a couple of years. In fact, I interviewed for a position last January, and now another position is open now at the end of the year,” Commissioner Gary Willhite explained. “I have submitted my application and am looking forward to an interview within the next three or four weeks.” Willhite explained that after the interviews, the counties will vote at their meeting on December 5. The board approved the appointments unanimously.

SHERIFF-JAMES TADMAN

The board was then approached by Polk County Sheriff James Tadman, who came forward with the Monthly Sheriff’s Report for October. Tadman reported that they had made 135 Paid Services for $8,755.05 and had $2,064.34 for No Charge Services. They had also traveled 5,307 miles for the month of October, which were mainly for in-state prisoner transportation, which gave them a total of 71,042 for the year. They had also received 2,690 calls for the month at their dispatch center, with 741 emergency calls and 1,949 non-emergency calls. They had also received 852 calls for service, with 243 for Traffic Stops, 246 for Civil Process, and 49 for School Patrol. Commissioner Willhite asked if he had heard anything about the East Grand Forks Department had begun enforcing hiring bonuses for their duties and what County Sheriff’s Office was doing in response to recruit new officers. “It’s competitive at this time with all of the agencies being short and having open positions. It’s a matter of who can come to the table first with the bigger pocketbook who are getting the law enforcement officers coming out of school at this time, which is at an all-time low,” Sheriff Jim Tadman explained. “We just have to keep that on the forefront and keep on trying to find ways to get law enforcement officers to come to Polk County. We keep it up, and so far, so good, and we’ll just continue with that.”

PROPERTY RECORDS-SAM MELBYE

The board was then approached by Property Records Director Sam Melbye, who came forward with a resolution for the county to continue sponsoring the Crookston Driftbusters and the Sandhill Snowcruisers Snowmobile Clubs as their Fiscal Agent from 2023-25, which will allow them to continue to get funding from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MnDNR). The board approved the motion unanimously.

Melbye also reported that they had done their post-election count and found no issues. The votes have now been counted and recorded to the Secretary of State.

ADMINISTRATION-CHUCK WHITING

The board finished the meeting hearing from County Commissioner Chuck Whiting on an update for their 2023 Budget. He first went into the AARP funds used to help cover some items within the budget. Whiting reported that he had met with County Engineer Richard Sanders and other department heads to discuss using some AARP funds for some of the requests from county departments. Whiting explained that he awarded $1.8 million to the Highway Department for some of its projects that would have been leveed to lower its levee request to just under $3 million for the year. He had also met with the Public Health Department, which had requested $40,000 for a Public Health Nurse to work at the Tri-County Regional Corrections Center. This gave them about $1 million they still had to disperse to the departments, which still had a few requests to be fulfilled. However, these brought up some issues that would have to be considered in the future, mainly to figure out the longer-term funding for the year and how it would impact the half-cent sales tax decision in the summer.

This had an impact on their budgets, especially after the market study by David Drown Associates had been completed. The study had changed several departments’ requests because of the wage adjustments. Some of these included the Building Department looking to fix some sidewalks by the Polk County Justice Center for $10,000 and other building improvements to the Justice Center and Government Center, such as the breaker repair for $15,000. Another was the Public Safety Department had ordered vehicles to lease along with other equipment, such as body cams, for $61,855. “That was one of the bigger changes. We’ve got a lot of the department budgets now very close to being finalized. We had to adjust the wages based on our market study, and that was one of the key things I’ve been waiting for,” Administrator Whiting explained. “Right now, we’ve got about a 5% levy increase, and the board would certainly like to see something under 4% or in the 3% range. We’re using a lot of fund balance numbers to try to make this work right now, but we are physically healthy, and it seems to be a year where that may be the answer in the interest of our property taxpayers to go.” With these requests, Whiting explained he had lowered the levee to just over a 5% increase at $27,185,505, which was $404,880 away from the goal of a 3.5% increase at $26,780,625. Unfortunately, he believes they will have to cut some requests in order to make the levy goal of 3.5% in time for the Budget Public Hearing on December 13 at 6:00 p.m. and will meet with several other department heads to discuss additional items this week.

The Board of Commissioners will next meet on Tuesday, November 29, at 8:00 a.m. in the Polk County Government Center.

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The post POLK COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS REAPPOINT COMMISSIONERS JOAN LEE AND GARY WILLHITE AS POLK COUNTY’S MCIT VOTING DELGATE AND ALTERNATE appeared first on KROX.

The square footage and the workforce aren’t the only things growing at Central Boiler Companies. So is the size of the bonus distribution. The company celebrated the 30th consecutive year of bonus distribution on October 28 at their Greenbush facility. The bonus, along with the company’s contributions to the employee 401K accounts, totaled $1,586,562.58. The company matched up to 15% of employees’’ contributions to their 401K accounts from their bonuses. This celebration marks the company’s 38th year of existence and continued growth for all three subsidiaries: Central Boiler, Inc., Altoz, Inc., and WoodMaster, Inc.

Despite a year that didn’t go without supply chain challenges, this bonus tops the distributions given in the last 13 years. “We saw continued growth in demand for our products across all brands this year. Everyone throughout the company has worked hard to meet these demands, and it has not gone unnoticed,” said Dennis Brazier, Owner and CEO. “We couldn’t be more proud of the extra effort that was given and everyone’s willingness to step up and overcome the challenges this year presented,” said Terri Brazier, Owner.

A review of the companies’ accomplishments was highlighted during the event. The percentage of overall total sales growth for all three companies is up mid-double digits over last year. Altoz celebrates its 10th Anniversary this year with mower sales up 57% and revenue up 86% over last year, even with supply chain challenges. The Altoz brand expanded its product offerings in the outdoor power equipment industry this year with the launch of the multi-seasonal, multi-purpose Switch compact tool carrier that powers multiple attachments, including a snow blower, blade, mower decks, and more. Since its release, the Switch has received multiple awards for innovation. With the 75,000-square-foot expansion at the Red Lake Falls facility nearing completion and new product offerings, this lays the groundwork for significant growth next year for Altoz. “We have broken many records this year and have exceeded last year’s furnace sales with our two biggest months yet to go. Thank you to all of the employees for the extra efforts this year to make this happen,” said Dennis Brazier.

As the country continues to face labor shortages, the company was able to expand its workforce. This is partly due to the expansion of its Red Lake Falls facility and the company’s family culture. “We have been fortunate to be able to increase our workforce this year,” said Jarod Reierson, Human Resources Manager. The company currently has 295 employees and numerous job openings in its Greenbush and Red Lake Falls, MN offices and manufacturing facilities. Another big announcement at the event was employee health insurance costs. “I am proud to be able to announce that the weekly employee contributions for health insurance are going to stay the same for 2023. This will be the sixth year in a row that the employee premium cost is staying the same,” said Reierson. This is the ninth consecutive year that Central Boiler Companies has been MNSHARP certified, one of only 34 other companies in Minnesota to achieve this status. MNSHARP recognizes companies whose managers and employees work together to develop safety and health programs that go beyond basic compliance with all applicable OSHA standards and that result in immediate and long-term prevention of job-related injuries and illnesses. Over the last three years, the company’s recordable injury rate has been 68.5% below the national average.

About Central Boiler/Altoz/WoodMaster

Central Boiler has been the leading manufacturer of high-quality outdoor wood furnaces since 1984. Among its many industry-leading accomplishments was the production of the first EPA-qualified outdoor furnace in 2007 and being one of the first to meet the 2020 EPA emission limits. Central Boiler has a sales and dealer network established throughout the United States and Canada and exports its patented technology to foreign countries. Altoz is an outdoor power equipment company built by an experienced team of engineering specialists, turf-industry professionals, and Powersports industry leaders. Inspired by a passion for excellence, Altoz was the first in the industry to produce a zero-turn mower with tracks, followed shortly thereafter by the first tracked stand-on mower. WoodMaster has been producing industry-leading outdoor furnaces since 1989, continually finding innovative uses of natural energy and alternative fuel sources. The company was the first to manufacture bioenergy flex fuel furnaces and one of the first to manufacture an outdoor wood furnace that meets the 2020 EPA emission limits. The company has a dealer network that spans the United States and Canada.

For additional information on these companies and their products, please visit CentralBoiler.com, Altoz.com, or WoodMaster.com.

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A pre-Thanksgiving cold snap means some lakes and ponds across Minnesota are beginning to freeze. However, this ice isn’t safe to walk on, and the water underneath is dangerously cold.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources reminds everyone to be extremely cautious around the water and, with children home for Thanksgiving break, to talk with them about the risks of cold water and ice.

While ice is never 100% safe, ice in the early stages of formation is particularly dangerous. Falls through the ice or into open water at this time of year can turn tragic quickly, resulting in serious injuries or deaths each year.

Parents and guardians need to be especially vigilant about watching kids and ensuring children’s innate curiosity about the water and ice doesn’t put them at risk.

“Kids, and people who haven’t experienced winter in Minnesota, may not have enough knowledge to mitigate the risks associated with cold water and early ice,” said Col. Rodmen Smith, DNR Enforcement Division director. “Talk to your kids, talk to your neighbors—we all have a role to play in keeping people safe as the winter season gets underway.”

Anyone who recreates on the ice should wait until there are at least 4 inches of new, clear ice before walking out onto it. Other tips for staying safe around cold water and on the ice include:

• Wearing a foam life jacket or flotation suit.
• Not going out alone—and letting someone know about trip plans and expected return time.
• Carrying ice picks, rope, an ice chisel, and tape measure.
• Checking ice thickness at regular intervals; conditions can change quickly.
• Bringing a cell phone or personal locator beacon.
• Inquiring about conditions and known hazards with local experts before heading out.

For more information about staying safe on the ice, including thickness recommendations for various types of activities, see the DNR’s ice safety page (mndnr.gov/icesafety). For more information about surviving a fall into cold water, see the cold water dangers page (mndnr.gov/coldwater).

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