06-07-1993 - Laserfiche WebLink

Comm. Minutes--June 7, 1993 1043 On or before January 1, 1994, the Weed Control Officer shall begin reporting to the County Engineer, who in turn will be responsible for reporting to the "weed board." It is expected that the Weed Control Officer will continue to confer with the "weed board" as may be necessary. Prior to assuming any further program responsibilities of the "weed board," the PAQ and work load of the engineer shall be reviewed by Ernst & Young. In accordance with existing policy and procedure, the review is in response to material changes in responsibility and is not only necessary to establish proper salary rating but, as well, to provide sufficient organizational structure and staffing to assure the engineer successful span of control over his responsibilities. Mr. Risher seconded the motion, and the Chairman called for public comment. wayne Colberg, Cass County Weed Control Officer, spoke in opposition to the above resolution and also presented a written testimony of his comments today. He said it is his opinion that the action being proposed is to give the Cass County Commission complete control of budgetary, personnel and program operation of the weed office. He said the weed board increased the salary line item in last year's budget because they were concerned that the budget item was not adequate to find a replacement when he retires. Mr. Colberg did not understand Mr. Ness's comment that the county commission has no representation on the weed board because Commissioner Don Eckert serves on their board. In response, Mr. Ness referred to Commission minutes of January 4th, 1993, wherein Commissioner Eckert said he does not represent the Commission on the weed control board. Jeannette Stanton, Fargo, said she read the commission agenda in Saturday's edition of The Forum, and she thinks a notice of public hearing should be published twice and that it should have been published in The Cass County Reporter. Mr. Risher said boards are created to give the public an opportunity to serve in government without running for an elected office, and he was not in favor of the commissioners being appointed to serve on this board. He said Commissioner Eckert needs to exercise his fiduciary responsibilities and may need to make some budgetary cuts that will be unpopular with the people in his area. Mr. Eckert said that the 80% salary request was a figure to use for budget purposes, but did not mean that Mr. Colberg was getting that much of a raise in salary. Mr. Eckert questioned removing weed board members if they haven't done anything wrong. Also, he said the weed board has the greatest potential for liability of any in the county.