Trelipe Lake tower lease approved
CASS LAKE -- Two years after a communications tower was erected without a lease, the Cass County Board on Tuesday approved an agreement to lease county administered land to ACC of Minnesota for the tower.
The tower adjacent to Trelipe Lake in Upper Trelipe Township was erected without a signed agreement and has been operating to provide cellular phone services.
Corporation officials still must sign the agreement before it takes effect.
There is a question whether they will, because the county set a five-year limit ending Dec. 31, 2003, after neighbors strongly objected to the tower.
Corporation officials had sought a 25-year lease.
Administrator Robert Yochum reported the Pine River Area Sanitary District has completed a financial audit for 1999. All funds are being managed legally, the report states.
While the district is meeting all financial obligations, Yochum reported there essentially are no fund balances remaining after 1999 in the sanitary district accounts.
Lions Club of Emily, Outing and Fifty Lakes has donated $1,200 to the Cass County Sheriff's emergency response unit.
The board accepted County Engineer David Enblom's recommendation to award a gravel making and stockpiling contract to the second lowest of eight bidders, William Scepaniak, for $77,453.
Yochum told the board irregularities were found in the lowest bid and the bidder had been informed of those irregularities.
The board received a copy of a letter County Attorney Earl Maus wrote to Inguadona Township re-affirming the county board's position that Payment in Lieu of Tax funds would not be distributed to townships for the year 1997.
He cited the fact "the township does not provide primary access to entitlement lands and does not provide fire protection for them, police protection, search and rescue services or land use planning official controls."
Maus cited state statues indicating these qualifications must be met before the county would be required to share PILT funds.
Yochum told the board, while Inguadona seeks $870, the county would be obligated to pay more than $20,000 for all qualifying townships if PILT payments were made for 1997.
The county has shared PILT funds with townships after 1997 at the board's option, despite the fact the townships are not primary services providers as Maus stated.
The commissioners accepted a $111,115 bid from Herzog Construction to re-roof the existing Deep Portage Conservation Reserve building. The project will be paid from a portion of the Deep Portage new construction funds, Yochum said.
They denied a grievance Teamsters Local 346 filed against the county in behalf of sheriff's department dispatch and records personnel over health insurance.
The Teamsters sought to provide health insurance for those personnel instead of county health insurance. The county prorated the share the county would pay each employee if they chose that option, based on unfunded claims already filed under the county policy and other issues.
Teamsters grieved the prorating.
Yochum reported settlement of a grievance filed by Law Enforcement Labor Services in behalf of Rick Runquist. The settlement returns Runquist to shift supervisor.