County hears of further Public Health building roof damage

The Foster County Commission learned at their meeting last week that there is new damage to the roof of the public health building on Main Street in Carrington.

During the meeting held on Monday, April 3, the board discussed concern about finding a contractor to fix the problem.

Commissioner David Utke said some people he contacted will not remove snow from roofs and another one said they require $100 per hour per man.

He also said that Bravera Insurance and the Carrington Chamber is “on board” to get the snow removed from the roofs.

The board discussed getting the wrestling club or some other group to help with the snow removal on the roofs and were wondering if the county insurance would cover them.

In other business:

• The board talked about getting copies of the Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan.

Apparently no one could find a hard copy of the plan anywhere.

• The board discussed how to word the question about the ambulance levy of two mills, which will appear on the 2024 ballot.

• The Foster County School Reorganization Board voted to pass the land annexation for the Wells County petition.

• It was stated at the meeting that there are still no applications for the RN position at the public health office.

• Utke reported that SIRN (State Interoperable Radio Network) training was held at the LEPC meeting.

Utke said he learned that counties should be budgeting to purchase radios in 2023 and 2024.

He said there are three tiers consisting of law enforcement, fire and ambulance.

“You cannot apply for reimbursement until tier two is completed,” said Utke.

He said the state radio will switch over to SIRN in 2025.

• Senate Bill 2372 about joint water districts was discussed. Utke said there have only been a couple committee hearings in the House, but nothing more has been done about it.

Utke explained at the meeting that the portion of Foster County that is within the Sheyenne River watershed would be taxed at two mills to go into the new multi-county watershed district.

“The rest of the county is in the James River Basin, so all that property would get taxed at two mills to go to the James River Basin, and the local water board would still have the ability to take up to two mills for the county water district,” said Utke.

Utke reported that about 30 percent of Foster County lies in the Sheyenne River watershed and the other 70 percent lies in the James River watershed.

• Commissioner Becky Hagel briefly touched on the discussion from the last meeting about indirect costs related to social services.

• Utke spoke about the ambulance building update. He said that when Jodi Hovdenes of CHI reviewed the lease agreement, she asked how the board would like the bidding to go forward. Utke said they would like the commission to open the bids.

• Hagel reported that she learned people are having a hard time getting someone from social services on the phone. She said people call but cannot reach anyone.

Following the meeting, Hagel gave the Independent alternate numbers to call, including Human Services Customer Support Center (1-866-614-6005), Aging and Disability Resource Link (1-855-462-5465), and Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting line (1-833-958-3500). If a child abuse situation is an emergency, call 911.

• Foster County Road Superintendent Nate Monson presented his report, which stated that the Carrington area has received 113 inches of snow so far.