West Commissioner Dennis Gabbert reported that the commissioners had attended the regional commissioners' meeting in Rock Port and that while there, they observed a moment of silence in memory of Kevin Austin and passed out a collection. Commissioners turned over the collection to Charity Austin at the meeting Monday.
High winds over the weekend snapped the pole of the flag over the Courthouse. The county is still in the process of cleaning out the smoke damage from the courthouse; a machine was running nonstop in the lobby constantly in an effort to eliminate the smoke odor.
Emergency Management Director Pat Kobbe reported that the county would have to hire two assistant coordinators to Pat under changes that were made to the program. Pay would be part-time. The county will need to install two emergency phone lines to the sheriff's office that would be activated in the event of an emergency like the square fire.
In another change, the US Department of Justice ruled that special needs people can no longer be segregated from the rest of the population in an emergency. For instance, if people were evacuated to the school, people with special needs would have to go there as well. This was a change that Kobbe said was "bizarre," saying that in Worth County's case, it was easier to meet the needs of people with special needs at the WCCC or Orilla's. She reported that the Department of Justice has already been suing entities around the country for noncompliance. But one problem would be oxygen; for instance, she asked how would they be able to put people on oxygen at the school as opposed to the WCCC. The commission signed the annual agreement with Kobbe to serve as Emergency Management Director.
Amber Monticue, speaking on behalf of the Worth County Progress Organization, as head of the Grant City Chamber of Commerce, and for herself as a business person, asked the commissioners to continue funding their portion of the Economic Developer's salary. She noted that local businesses have funded around one third of Charity Austin's salary, meaning that the position has widespread community support. She said that continuing the position was vitally important to keeping young people in the community after they graduate from Worth County.
Treasurer Linda Brown reported that tax revenues had doubled over last November.
Commissioners directed Road and Bridge foreman Jim Fletchall to use Grant City Auto whenever possible for parts; Fletchall noted that it was not inconvenient for him to use them at all since they can overnight parts if they do not have them on hand. Grant City Auto plans to rebuild across the street from Worth County Lumber.
Fletchall reported that work on the FEMA tube by Allendale was completed. Road #171 by Paul Tracy's needed a tube and a road sign; the road has gotten significantly worse since summer. Discussion focused on the proposed addition to the city barn. The county is in the process of getting proposals and easements for the project. West Commissioner Dennis Gabbert said that the county wanted something to go on even if they couldn't do anything with it in 2011. Fletchall said that the snows that fell over the weekend were not enough to cause drifting on county roads. There was a 30% chance of snow on Wednesday as of Monday afternoon.
The commission approved continuing the funding for Great Northwest Days that will be held in February. Debbie Roach will run the county's booth. The county has historically paid half of it while the city of Grant City has paid the other half.
Regarding the Enhanced Enterprise Zone, Austin reported that the Village of Denver had not approved joining the EEZ, citing concerns about eminent domain. They were not for or against joining it; they wanted more information about the project before committing to joining.
Austin also reported that she was still in the process of coming up with a plan for the proposed bandstand for the Grant City Square. One possible idea was to move the horseshoe pitch and put it where the pitch is now. One possibility for the upcoming sesquicentennial celebration was to bring in a military band or the high school band and have them perform. Back in the 1920's and 1930's, before radios were widespread and there were no TV's, bands performed on many city squares all over the country for the entertainment of people on the square.
The county did work on the budget for 2011 in the afternoon. The county owes around $14,000 in anticipation loans for the Mack truck. Patrons signed up for $16,000 worth of gravel, of which the county will match 75% of it, or around $12,000. Grader payments and sheet pilings also come out of the CART fund. The county will have enough in the road and bridge fund to finish the end of the year. The county also still owes a lot of money on the track hoe loan. Next year, the county will be adding more roads to the Special Rock fund that was approved by voters, meaning that gravel might be stretched thinner than last time. In discussing the results of the program, commissioner Rob Ruckman said that while some roads got less gravel than before, there were some that got a lot more than last time. He said that he was pleased with the high level of participation in the CART program this year. He said that last summer was a difficult time to put rock on because of the spotty rains.
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