The Official Newspaper for Foster County
The Official Newspaper for Foster County
Blading costs will increase for townships. That was one decision the Foster County Commission made at their meeting last week.
During the meeting held on Tuesday, November 15, commissioner Alan Scanson said it is his belief that they cannot continue to offer blading to townships for only $75 per hour.
Commissioner Becky Hagel said it has been set at $75 for many, many years.
Commission Chairman Pat Copenhaver suggested they increase the cost of blading to $100 per hour.
Commissioner David Utke said he thinks they should increase the cost of blading to meet the cost the county spends on blading township roads.
A motion was passed to increase the cost of blading for townships to $110.00 per hour.
In other business:
• The board heard from Danielle Koepplin, Foster County Clerk of Court, who attended the meeting to voice her opinion on the state making all court employees state employees and taking control away from counties.
She said there are a lot of underlying things that this will affect.
“At what point will this stop? My concern is that at what point will the state stop trying to take control?”
“If the state takes control, you’re not guaranteed someone will be in that office 24/7. If you want to talk to a clerk of court, your call might go to a call center somewhere in Bismarck and they’ll basically get back to you when time allows,” said Koepplin.
She asked for support from the commission to oppose the switch from the clerk being a county employee to a state employee.
• The board heard from a group of residents who live along the stretch of 66th Avenue in Foster County where they are asking the speed limit to be decreased.
Coming before the commission again at this meeting for answers, the 66th Avenue group waited to hear what state’s attorney Kara Brinster had to say.
Brinster read a memo she sent to the commission about the decrease in speed limit.
It stated, “Pursuant to NDCC 39-09-03, the county commission may alter the maximum speed limit based upon an engineering and traffic investigation.
There may not be more than six alterations per mile and the difference between adjacent limits may not be more than 10 miles per hour.”
The board agreed that planning and zoning should look at the speed reduction request.
• A discussion about an updated door security system ensued at the meeting.
The board discussed whether to have security on all the doors of the courthouse or just a few.
No action was taken.
• The board agreed on the culvert policy clarification updates.
Townships can read the policy and know what the county will help pay for and what the townships will have to pay on their own.
• The board agreed to ask the former emergency manager for a list of grants they should be watching for.
• The board heard from Foster County Sheriff Justin Johnson who attended the meeting to discuss purchasing a new vehicle for one of his deputies.
• Finally, the board discussed some needed repairs for the ambulance building.
