WJJQ LOCAL NEWS
Lincoln County Board meeting recap

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

The Lincoln county board began the meeting with several service recognitions. They were: 15 years, Sue Hinz at Pine Crest; 20 years for Sheila Graap, Eva Haugen and Sally Waldberger at Pine Crest; Timothy Sarazin at the Highway Department; and 30 years for Frances Jeske at the Sheriff's office and Laurie Wegner at Pine Crest.

The administrative coordinator presented and answered questions on the 2012 Preliminary Budget. He said that they started the process early. Expenses were lowered with employees paying more into their retirement and insurance. They also saved money with family care no longer being provided. He said that while nobody was laid off, tough decisions were made.  In the end the the mil rate was raised .5% or $2.70 per $100,000.

The Ad-Hoc Committee is continuing to meet with department heads for interviews. Their goal is to explore for inefficiencies. Some of the items being discussed are 7 member committees and/or combining committees. Some members were concerned about some topics, but any recommendations would come before the entire board, and non-committee members were welcome to go to the meetings and offer their opinions.

The board approved several resolutions. The first approved a 3 year support contract for SmartNet Services to Cisco. The three year contract rather than a one year renewal would lock in savings of $4,000. The next two approved filling the deputy clerk of courts and the administrative secretary position in the DA's office both which have been vacated to retirement. The goal is to turn that position and others into legal secretaries which would give the opportunity for cross training.

The next two resolutions were approved and both related to the vacated 911 supervisor role. It would create a new position of an Infrastructure Engineer and shifting a position on the sheriff's department and not back filling it. The new position would shift the technology aspect of the 911 supervisor to the IT department. In the end, the shifting would save the county ~$2,500 and allow the 911 supervisor to focus on other duties to become more efficient.

The final two supported the code to audit the Federal Reserve and amended a loan agreement to Morning View Dairy, by removing one of the owners from the loan as he is no longer an owner.

There were also two ordinances on the agenda. The first was to rezone a property on Highway S to potentially put in a motorcycle museum was once again laid over. The other ordinance was to rezone a property in the town of Bradley from forestry to rural lands. That rezoning was approved.

Return to:  Local News