10-03-2005 - Laserfiche WebLink

Commission Minutes--October 3, 2005 2985 12. BUDGET FOR 2006, Final budaet adopted Michael Montplaisir, County Auditor, provided a budget and levy summary for 2006 and said the public hearing on the county budget was held two weeks ago, on September 19th. MOTION, passed Mr. Wagner moved and Mrs. Sorum seconded to approve the 2006 Cass County Budget at $49,524,429 with a tax levy of no more than 62.00 mills for the General and Special Revenue Funds of the county; no more than 2.35 mills for the Weed Control Fund, 1.00 mill each for the Vector Control Fund, County Park Fund and Red River Joint Water Resource District; and no more than 4.00 mills for each of the four water resource districts in Cass County. Discussion: Mr. Vanyo said everyone worked hard during this budget session to lower the county mill levy, and he said other local government entities appear to be approving lower mill levies also. On roll call vote, the motion carried unanimously. 13. ROAD DEPARTMENT, Access issues on County Hiahway 22 Keith Berndt, County Engineer, provided information on effective access management on county roads, and he gave a PowerPoint presentation relating to a request from Homeland Developers, Inc. dated September 23,2005, for access to Cass County Highway 22 west of Harwood. A recommendation of Mr. Berndt's would be to place access to Mr. Morken's development 200' further west than indicated in order to better meet county access and arterial road policies and to allow for better site distance from the Sheyenne River bridge and future turn lanes. Mr. Berndt said future development to the west would be better served by a shared access and would allow for better neighborhood connectivity. Also present were James Morken, of Homeland Developers, Inc., and Keith Monson, adjacent property owner to the proposed 18-lot development. Mr. Morken said he has already spent a lot of money on this project and would stand to lose one or two lots by moving the county highway access further west as recommended by the county engineer. He appealed to the county commission to approve the project as planned and said the preliminary plat has been approved by the City of Harwood. Delaying the project now would force it into another year, according to Mr. Morken, as he plans to begin work on the sanitary sewer system yet this year. Commission members discussed jurisdiction issues when a county road goes through a municipality. Mr. Morken said his development property has been annexed by the City of Harwood and his plat is on the city council agenda this evening for second reading. Birch Burdick, State's Attorney, said the decision on placement of a county highway access does not appear to be within the county's jurisdiction when a road is within the city limits. He has not researched liability issues but would be willing to do that. Mr. Berndt suggested considering a future county policy to enter into maintenance agreements with a city for the portion of a county road located within city limits. This topic may be addressed by the board in the future.