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County OKs contracts for people in need

NEW ULM — Brown County Commissioners approved the 2019 guardianship/conservatorship contract with Lutheran Social Services (LSS), Prairie Support Services and Wings Guardianship Services.

Guardians are persons appointed by courts to make health care and non-monetary decisions for a person unable to make decisions due to injury, illness or disability. Conservators are appointed by the court to handle financial decisions for those unable to make decisions because of an illness, injury or disability.

Brown County has contracted with LSS for these services for several years, and until 2017 LSS was the only agency the county contracted with for guardianship and conservatorship. The county set a maximum contract with LSS for 38 clients at a cost of $77,372.71. Currently Brown County has 43 county paid clients — 28 with LSS, 13 with Wings Guardianship Services and two with Prairie Support Services.

In 2017, LSS exceeded the contract amount by $6,600. This amount was not paid to LSS.

In 2018, the LSS rate was reduced to $57,012.48 and the number of clients to 28. LSS was able to maintain 28 clients, but billings exceeded the maximum allowed by around $25,000.

The reason for exceeding the authorized amount two years in a row is the intensity of services that have been required.

LSS has now requested the contract be set at 28 clients not to exceed $76,016.94. Dan Blakely, Senior Director at Guardianship Options of LSS indicates this is more typical of what they average across the state and lower than some counties. Case managers are also seeing a higher level of need in clients who are being served.

LSS has the capacity to serve more clients and their contract does require they serve any clients referred to them from the county. The other two smaller providers have the option to choose if they take a client.

Commissioner Scott Windschitl felt LSS could cut back on some of the client hours. He understood some clients needed extra attention, but questioned if every client required a monthly meeting. He also suggested moving certain clients with LSS to Wings.

Family Services Representative Barb Dietz said that Wings and Prairie Support Services are smaller agencies. Wings works with other counties in addition to Brown. Those agencies can also refuse a client because of their size.

“I don’t know if we have a lot of choices,” Commissioner Dennis Potter said. “We need to provide these services for our county. The question could be what is causing the cost and need to go up?”

Potter was uncertain if the increased need was due to changes in the law, regulations or natural change in overall public health.

Dietz said much of the change was related to the clients served. Brown County is seeing an increase in the senior population that need this service.

Potter made the motion to approve the new contract with LSS, which passed 4-1 with Windschitl voting against.

The contracts with Prairie Support Services and Wings were unanimously approved by the commissioners.

Bus Storage

The commissioners approved a contract with Wildseth Smith Nolting to put plans and specifications together for building a shop for the Sleepy Eye Highway garage at a cost of $7,500.

The plan is to add a lean-to addition to the Sleepy Eye Highway Department truck garage for one of the west-end buses. This bus serves Sleepy Eye, Springfield and rural areas.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MNDOT) made funding available to apply for construction and improvements one time for rural transit services.

All expenditures in the grant if approved would be on an 80/20 basis with county Heartland reserves paying the 20 percent.

Windschitl said he supported the project, but was taken aback by the $7,500 for designing a one-stall garage. However, since the grant funding for the actual construction was dependent of the project being “shovel ready” the commissioners needed to move quickly on the design process.

The commissioners unanimously agreed to approve the contract with Wildseth Smith Nolting. If the grant is obtained, the $7,500 could be paid through the grant. If rejected, the cost would come from the reserves of the Heartland Express program.

In related news, the commissioners approved a lease agreement for the use of garage space with Miller Sellner in 2019 for $135 a month. This location is the current storage for the west-end bus. The county can end the contract with a 30-day notice in the event the MNDOT grant is approved and construction of the Highway Department addition is completed.

Auditor-Treasurer

Report

Auditor-Treasurer Jean Prochniak gave the annual report of department activity. Prochniak reported that 2018 was an “extremely challenging year” with conducting an election with all new equipment, working on 10 redeterminations of benefits (ROB) of county drainage systems and assisting with the implementation of new programming for payroll, fixed assets and the tax system project.

Prochniak said voter turnout for this last election was “tremendous.” Voter outreach was high in 2018, and Prochniak felt this made a difference. The mail-ballot precinct saw 77 percent turnout, which is higher than the state average of 63.2 percent.

Absentee voting is high and Prochniak expects this to increase because voters like the flexibility.

Brown County was one of the 33 counties selected to do the state wide audit of the election, which will begin in February.

Potter encouraged Auditor Department to educate the public on the mail-in-ballot option and the cost savings of combining precincts.

Benevolence Fund tabled

Commissioners tabled the establishment of the benevolence fund. This fund would be maintained through donations from area churches.

Pastor Jo Anne Taylor from United Methodist Church in New Ulm approached Human Services about creating this fund to help those in need of financial assistance, but requested the county administer the program. This fund would be used to supplement Salvation Army funds already ready administered by the county.

Area churches are frequently requested to provide financial assistance to individuals who show up at their door and feel an obligation to serve those in need. They would like an option of one location for individuals to go to so there is a screening process and a way to provide more permanent solutions to those making frequent requests.

The commissioners were in favor of creating the fund as they all saw a need. Commissioner David Borchert said he saw the need for this in working with the New Ulm Police Department. Seeking funds from the Salvation Army is typically the police department’s only option to help those in financial need. Borchert said the need for emergency services has significantly increased in the last 10 years.

Windschitl supported the idea, but wanted language written in the agreement to dissolve the fund if necessary.

Dietz agreed it would be good to have extra language in the agreement to prevent a build up if the funds go unused.

The commissioners agreed to table establishing the fund until this language was added.

The Commissioners also approved

• Jill Jensen as full-time assistant county attorney at Grade XIX, Step 2, $64,357 annual rate, with an anticipated start date of Jan. 14, 2019, pending successful completion of pre-employment screening and background checks. She was one of three candidates interviewed for the position.

• Brown County commissioner 2019 salaries and per diem rates. An ad hoc salary committee reviewed a 2018 15-county survey based on responses. Their 2018 salary is $24,860 plus $1,000 for the board chair. The daily per diem rate is $75. For 2019, a motion was made by Commissioner Borchert to set salaries at $25,668 with $1,000 for the board chair and maintain the daily per diem rate of $75. This motion was unanimously approved.

• Highway Engineer Wayne Stevens and Human Services Director Henderson’s salaries. Stevens’ 2019 salary was set at $118,768, Henderson’s $114,350.

• County Sheriff-elect Jason Seidl’s salary was set at $98,100 for 2019. County Recorder Betti Kamolz’ salary was set at $79,082; County Auditor-Treasurer Jean Prochniak’s at $94,500; County Attorney Charles Hanson at $115,000; County Administrator Charles Enter’s at $126,227.

This was Potter’s final meeting as the Fifth District commissioner. At the end of the meeting, Potter said it was his pleasure to serve. He said he was fortunate to work with a great group of commissioners, department heads, staff and administration.

“Thank you all for the opportunity for working for a well-oiled organization,” Potter said. “You made my job a lot easier.”

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