The Polk County Commissioners met on Tuesday morning at the Polk County Government Center in Crookston.
LAKE AGASSIZ REGIONAL LIBRARY
Liz Lynch, Executive Director of the Lake Agassiz Regional Library, presented information to the commissioners to accompany the system’s budget request. LARL has 13 branch libraries and nine link sites, which have been busier than ever. LARL is requesting $334,230 from the county in 2026, an increase of $28,590 over 2025. of $334,230 from the county in 2026, an increase of $28,590 over 2025. “We will be providing an increase for staff, for frontline staff. They deserve this increase,” said Lynch. “We are happy to increase the number of frontline staff. They deserve a living wage, and it’s time for us to step up and ensure they receive the pay they deserve.”
LARL has a partnership with the Polk County Resource Center, with one of its locations at the Crookston Public Library. This fall, they will add Family Resource Centers at the Fosston and Fertile Libraries. Lynch said usership is up at the 22 sites. “We know that people value their public libraries,” said Lynch. “They think that people feel that library services are a vital part of their communities, and we are so happy to meet the needs of the people we serve.”
ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES
Jon Steiner, Environmental Services Administrator, had three requests for the commissioners. The first item was paying R.J. Zavoral and Sons of East Grand Forks $13,207 as a retainage payment for Phase 15 of the Landfill project. The payment was made as the project was substantially completed in October of 2024, but minor work needed to be completed in the spring of 2025. “It is more of a housekeeping matter. We did a cell construction last year at the landfill, the garbage cell. When they finish up in the fall, part of it we do a lot of grading out there, so you have to do a lot of grading and seeding,” said Steiner. “We withhold that till the spring just to make sure that we don’t have anything that’s scoured or an area that froze, and the seed wouldn’t grow, so there’s an incentive for them to come back and finish it. It’s always intended we’re going to pay it, it’s just us making sure it gets done and we’ve never had a problem with the contractors, so that’s been fine.”
The second item was a payment for shipping and tariff costs as hauling, tariffs, and associated fees were not part of a quote for Fines Screens from Spaleck USA. The commissioners approved the purchase of the fines screen on February 18, 2025 for $128,680. The fines screen was delivered in August, and the final invoice was for $141,872.21, which was $13,192.21 more due to the shipping and tariff costs. “So it was bid that we bought the machine, but the delivery would be additional and usually that’s determined by whatever the rates are at the time,” said Steiner. “The tariffs were never really anticipated at that point. And so we had to go back and adjust that. So we adjusted a total dollar figure because we make progress payments off of the lower figure, which is no longer relevant. So we approved the total dollar amount that was relatively inconsequential.”
What is the equipment that was purchased? “It was purchased with a grant from the Pollution Control Agency. The fine screen would help us collect the small plastic and aluminum that currently slides out to the landfill when it’s processed and redirect that back into the plant,” said Steiner. “And then it will allow us to clean up the glass, and we have a glass market and a vendor we’re working with in the Twin Cities to get the glass on both the garbage and the recyclables that come through. So it should increase the amount of recyclables we get out.”
The third item was the commissioners approving the Market Price for solid waste disposal, and Steiner said it would remain the same as in 2025 at $29.06 per ton. “A lot of people don’t realize that they pay tax on the collection, transportation, and disposal of the garbage because most of the stuff in the garbage you already pay tax on. And so they charge 9.75% tax on the residential garbage. And then anything that’s self-haul or non-residential 17%,” said Steiner. And so, because we go to what they consider a preferred disposal at the waste energy facility rather than just going to a landfill, usually that comes with a higher tip fee, and of course ours does. And so the tax acts as a punitive measure if you’re going to a preferred area, and it’s more so they created a mechanism for certifying a lower price. Then you certify that those are what you have, you submit it to the state, they verify it, and then you remit your tax on that. So the haulers in Polk County or Beltrami, Clearwater, Norman, Mahnomen, Hubbard, everyone that goes to us, they’re all subsidizing the tip fee.”
COUNTY HIGHWAY ENGINEER
Polk County Highway Engineer Richard Sanders had two County Ditch maintenance requests for County Ditch 28 and 100 in Section 11 of Hammond Township. The ditches will be cleaned and surveyed as needed with the commissioner’s approval. “Every so often we get petitions from landowners to clean ditches, our legal county ditches. We had petitions for County Ditch 28 and County Ditch 100 come in for surveying and cleaning,” said Sanders. “The board approved moving forward with the process. We’ll have our survey crew go out and survey the ditches and then determine how much sediment needs to be removed from the bottom of the ditch and be cleaned.”
Sanders ran through his proposed 2026 budget, and there weren’t many changes except for the possibility of fewer road construction projects in 2026. “We advanced a lot of county state aid highway funding, about $5.5 million this year from our 26 and 27 allotment,” said Sanders. “So right now our construction for 2026 will be down quite a bit. But if we see that prices stay low, we may advance from future years again and get more work done in 2026 than we have planned now.”
POLK COUNTY PUBLIC HEALTH
Polk County Public Health Director Sarah Reese gave the Commissioners an Opioid Settlement update with the second round of funding schedule. Up to $500,000 is available in the second round, with the applications released on September 29. Applications will be due October 29, 2025, and the funding recommendations will be presented to the commissioners on December 2, 2025.