04-05-2004 - Laserfiche WebLink

Commission Minutes--April 5, 2004 2711 North Dakota Public Employees Retirement System--Employer Participation Agreement in the Pretax Service Credit Purchase Program; All-Terrain Grounds Maintenance--grounds maintenance at Springvail Cemetery, Courthouse and Annex; Central Specialties, Inc.--bituminous overlay on various county highways; Border States Paving--bituminous overlay on various county highways; Qwest Corporation--Iocal telephone service 15. WEED CONTROL BOARD RECOMMENDATION, Separate weed and vector operations: hire weed officer Larry Wilcox, Chairman of the Cass County Weed Control Board, was present and said a weed board meeting was held on March 25th and a decision was made to recommend the weed and vector control operations be separated. The board also is requesting they be authorized to hire a weed officer and oversee the duties of this position. Mr. Meyer asked how often the board meets. Mr. Wilcox said in previous years, meetings were held two to three times per year. Mr. Meyer said more meetings may be necessary to approve vouchers and deal with issues that need to be addressed. Mr. Wilcox would ask for guidance from the State's Attorney as to how often the board should meet. Mr. Vanyo questioned the objective of separating the two departments. Mr. Wilcox said the combined programs are too much for one director to oversee. Also, he feels the county is not receiving adequate weed control because staff is shared between weed and vector control and the focus has been more on the West Nile virus threat. Mr. Vanyo was concerned about the extra dollars that would be spent on administration and Mr. Wilcox said the county would receive more for their dollar by having a separate weed officer. Mr. Vanyo asked who would be in contact on a day-to-day basis with the weed officer and Mr. Wilcox said a competent officer would not need daily supervision. Mr. Vanyo said if board members had concerns in the past, they had the option to ask for additional meetings. State's Attorney Birch Burdick provided some background on this issue. He said in 1993, an Attorney General's opinion was requested to answer questions regarding weed board matters. According to the opinion, a question was raised whether the officer is an employee of the county, of the weed board or both. The Attorney General said part-time summer staff could not be employed by the weed board, but they could be contracted. The weed board is not allowed to hire temporary employees under the current law. Mr. Burdick said board members feel the program may be more effective if the program is separate from vector control and if the board was able to hire the weed officer. According to the State Agriculture Department, no other county has a combined weed and vector program that shares a director. Mr. Burdick said the county used the state statute and the Attorney General's opinion, when determining the current organizational structure. Mr. Meyer said he would prefer one supervisor to report directly to the County Commission; however, he does not feel the weed board's request is unreasonable and would support their recommendation. Mr. Wagner attended the weed meeting held in March and he said the State Agriculture Department seemed most concerned about weed control and not with the county's current organizational structure.