December 1, 2020 CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Bode called the regular meeting of the Davison County Board of Commissioners to order at 9:00 a.
December 1, 2020
CALL TO ORDER
Chairperson Bode called the regular meeting of the Davison County Board of Commissioners to order at 9:00 a.m. All members of the Board were present. Also present was Auditor Kiepke.
PLEDGE
The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Chairperson Bode.
APPROVE MINUTES
No action was taken as changes were requested.
OPEN BIDS FOR CATERPILLAR BLADE
No action was taken as there were no bids received.
APPROVE PURCHASES
At the request of Highway Superintendent Weinberg, motion by Claggett, second by Kiner to purchase two (2) CM300D Mobile Radios UHF and accessories for a total cost of $1,608.00. All members voted aye. Motion carried.
At the request of Highway Superintendent Weinberg, motion by Reider, second by Kiner to purchase a full load of crack seal at a cost of $25,200. All members voted aye. Motion carried.
HOLIDAY DISCUSSION
The commissioners, as well as several department head and employees, the holiday policy that was last changes on 11/26/2013. Several department heads and employees also sent emails to provide feedback as this concerns the union, so notice was given to all staff members and the union. So, everybody was able to give feedback if they were so inclined. There was a resolution passed on 11/26/2013 that, in part, changed the holidays to follow the state due to the fact that many county offices are electronically linked to the state computer systems and when the state is not working those county offices linked to the state cannot provide full local service.
States Attorney Miskimins reiterated the handshake agreement between the County and the union to extend the union contract one more year subject to cost of living raises. The union representative took this agreement to the steward and union representative from the County and have agreed to extend the contract one year based on the above-mentioned terms. If the Holiday Policy were to be changed, union negotiations would have to be re-opened for 2021.
Treasurer Beintema sent an email to commissioners and voiced some of his opinions, as follows, in person. He began by thanking the commission for allowing everybody to speak.
Beintema said that the office of the treasurerâs functionality is affected when the State is closed and we are not. He gave an example from the day prior. The state system crashed and they were down for about an hour. However, that whole time, they knew somebody was working on the system. If the system crashes and the state is closed, they are dead in the water. He further stated they are supposed to be getting a new system. The functionality of that system scares him. He also said that BIT does system updates during State holidays. Sometimes they arenât even able to utilize the system during this time.
In closing, Beintema strongly discouraged the commissioners from changing the current holiday policy.
Chairperson Bode asked Beintema if people could just leave money for a transaction and they could send a receipt. Beintema replied that doesnât work because, as an example, if somebody has a renewal card and they moved from another county, the wheel tax amount may be different.
Corrections Administrator Radel also wrote a letter and appeared in person. He said he didnât have much to say other than what was in the letter. Radel stated that in his 40 years of working for the County, he has seen a whole gamut of holiday issues. He said employees know that a state granted holiday is not a given, but they appreciate them when they are granted.
Chairperson Bode reminded everybody that holidays are a gift. She said counties donât have to pay for holidays.
Bode did recognize the jail and highway employees for being âon callâ during days off and said they are always there.
No action was taken.
COVID BENEFITS
Treasurer Beintema brought up the fact that several counties and the Mitchell School District have given their employees COVID relief benefits. As an example, Mitchell School District gave their employees $1,000.
No action was taken
HR DISCUSSION
Treasurer Beintema began by saying he didnât want to appear to disagree with everything. However, he said heâs not convinced Davison County needs a full-time HR department. He said he doesnât believe that would be fiscally responsible as several departments have been declined additional staff.
He asked the commissioners if they think a full-time HR person is needed, what are we lacking? He further asked, what isnât HR doing that you want to see done? He doesnât believe an experienced HR person can be hired for less than $80,000.
Beintema further stated the taxpayers interest needs to be kept in mind. He said he was taken aback by a statement that Chairperson Bode made last week in that âif it benefits the County, it doesnât matter what it costsâ. Beintema believes it does have an impact on the entire County.
Beintema said the only issue he has is he would like to see privacy when Tonya meets with employees.
Chairperson Bode said that she appreciates the good conversation. She also said they didnât state they were spending $175,000. They are doing a needs assessment. She said there needs to be open discussions. The commissionerâs job is to future plan.
Bode said she had been asked how an elected official could serve in the capacity of the HR director.
States Attorney responded by saying it happens all over the State. The auditorâs office typically handles HR in the county. He said the real issue is the policy manual needs to define HR rules and how things should work. He said there is no barrier in having the auditor or any other elected official serve. The policy manual just needs to be updated to make it clear who is serving. The commissioners have no authority over another elected official, so if the appointment doesnât work out, you can revoke the appointment. So, if you appoint the auditor as director of HR, you arenât modifying the duties of the auditor, you are simply adding additional work for them.
VSO Bennett believes employees should know who to go to with HR concerns.
Treasurer Beintema said we need to discuss the need basis, not only for Susan, but for everybody. This is an emotionally driven subject for many of us. Some of us have asked for additional employees and been told no, there is no funding.
Chairperson Bode would like to see department heads show up for more discussions during meetings. She would like to know how different subjects affect different departments.
APPROVE BILLS
Motion by Claggett, second by Weitala to approve the following bills for payment. All members voted aye. Motion carried.
GENERAL FUND:
COMM: Prof Fees/Tristar Benefit Admin-432.00, Utilities/Brenda Bode-50.00, John Claggett-50.00; ELECT: Postage/First Bankcard-6.00; AUD: Utilities/Susan Kiepke-50.00; TREAS: Supplies/First Bankcard-93.77, First Dakota Nat'l Bank3.00, Utilities/David Beintema-50.00, Tonya Ford-50.00, Rachel Soulek-50.00; STATES ATTY: Utilities/Catherine Buschbach-50.00; CRT APPTED ATTY: Crt Appted Atty/Douglas Papendick-485.00; PUB SFTY BLDG: Phone/Roger Collins-50.00; CRTHOUSE: Phone/Joel Rang-50.00; DOE: Supplies/Innovative Office-17.75, Utilities/Blake Biggerstaff-50.00, Jon Horton-50.00, Karla Love-50.00, Carla Wittstruck-50.00; ROD: Supplies/First Bankcard-3.80; VET: Utilities/Craig Bennett-50.00; COORD: Website Fees/Santel Communications-175.00, Supplies/First Bankcard-59.21, Copy Mach Maint/A & B Business Solutions-32.72; SHERIFF: Cellular Service-Dawn Grissom-50.00; JAIL: Medicine/Avera Medical Group-163.27, Stephen Gullings DDS-422.00, Lewis Drug Stores-1,873.96, Mitchell Clinic-58.89, Fed Inmate Med/Mitchell Clinic-55.40, Equip Repair/Arctic Refrigeration-42.86, L L Harder-399.77, Jail Supplies/Jones Supplies-329.70, McKesson Medical-61.96, Kitchen Supplies/Jones Supplies-280.00, Prisoner Food/Summit Food Service-12,632.12, Buildings/SGTS Inc-1,200.00, Contracts/Office Advantage-479.94, Medical Waste Transport-179.92, Inmate Services/Swanson Services Corp-3.70; WELFARE: Office Utilities/Debra Emme-50.00, Northwestern Energy-120.19; MENTAL ILL: Committals/Douglas Papendick-388.00, Hearings/Kennedy Pier Loftus-184.30; CO EXTENSION: Utilities/Northwestern Energy-120.20; WEED: TRVL & CONF/SDAWP-50.00, Utilities/City of Mitchell-163.67; HIWAY: Utilities/City of Mitchell-41.05, Northwestern Energy-119.53, Projects/SD Dept of Transportation-2,235.98; EM: Repairs & Maint/Mettler Implement-193.68, Supplies/First Bankcard-316.29; 247 JAIL: Supplies/McKesson Medical-227.37, UA Tests/Redwood Toxicology Lab-8,968.60; 911: Communications/City of Mitchell Police Dept-16,164.62.
APPROVE TIMESHEETS
Motion by Claggett, second by Kiner to authorize chairperson to sign timesheets as supervisor. All members voted aye. Motion carried.
RECOGNIZE VOLUTEERS
Motion by Kiner, second by Claggett to recognize volunteers for the month of December 2020 with the full list on file in the Davison County Auditorâs office. All members voted aye. Motion carried.
NOTICES
Motion by Claggett, second by Weitala to authorize Auditor Kiepke to post a Notice of hearing for December 22nd, 2020 at 9:15 a.m., to consider supplements to various County budgets for 2020. All members voted aye. Motion carried.
ADJOURN
At 11:55 a.m., Chairperson Bode adjourned the meeting and set the next regular Board of Commissioners meeting for December 8th at 9:00 a.m.
ATTEST
Susan Kiepke, Auditor
Brenda Bode, Chairperson
Published 1 time at the total approximate cost of $101.39.
(Dec. 9, 2020) 2869106