Crow Wing County to change hours, close earlier starting June 3 (2024)

BRAINERD — Those heading to Crow Wing County offices to do business before the end of the day will have to get there a little earlier starting June 3.

Crow Wing County offices will close at 4:30 p.m. instead of 5 p.m. Office hours will continue to begin at 8 a.m.

Tim Houle, who is continuing to work at the county and with the county’s new administrator Deborah Erickson until his retirement in July, presented the change to the board from the public podium. Houle said he started on this issue about two months ago so might as well finish it. Houle said the office hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. were established about 50 years ago. Currently, there are a mix of office hours in the county with some closing at 4:30 p.m., creating an inconsistency.

“I think it makes it difficult for the public to understand when we are open,” Houle said.

Researching the issue, Houle said they found all of the tenants with office space in the county buildings, including court administration, close at 4:30 p.m.

“Of the 87 counties in Minnesota, we believe that there are only four counties who are open until 5 p.m., and you'd have to travel about 150 miles in any direction in order to find one of those,” Houle said, noting that may be some of the most compelling information for the change.

Then they looked at how many people come to the county buildings between 4:30-5 p.m.

Renee Richardson / Brainerd Dispatch

For eight days, from April 1 to May 14 in Land Services, no one came to the counter between 4:30-5 p.m. On 18 of the 34 days, or 56% of the time, less than two people came to the counter during that time frame.

Houle said he was not particularly supportive when the issue came up before, but a lot changed since then including the pandemic when services were offered even when doors were closed. Many of the services the county offers are online and available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. As an example, Houle noted building permits can be applied for online and taxes can be paid online, although with an extra fee.

“What's really compelling, I think, to me is the competitive environment in which we try to recruit employees from and so right now we're starting to hear from people that they can have two and a half hours more with their families, for roughly comparable wages by going to work for one of our surrounding counties,” Houle said. “That kind of a competitive disadvantage in this labor force is not a great idea.”

Houle recommended the change and starting it June 3.

“The challenge I face is if somebody's coming down from Gale Lake Township, it's almost an hour drive,” said Board Chair Jon Lubke. “If they don't know that it's changing to 4:30 p.m., they've taken a two-hour trip for nothing.”

Lubke said he wanted to get the information out to the public as much as possible before.

Commissioner Rosemary Franzen said in that vein perhaps June 3 is too soon and perhaps the date should be July 1.

Erickson said the traffic counts from that early spring observance indicate not a lot of people are coming in during that last half-hour.

“I don't think it would have a big impact on the general public if we started in June versus July,” Erickson said. “I do think it would have an impact on the employees, if we're looking as Mr. Houle said that we are hoping to maybe get some employee incentive out of this that's giving them that extra two-and-a-half hours a week. If we take one month of our three-month summer out of play that loses a little bit of that aspect of it.”

The board voted unanimously to start the change as of June 3.

Renee Richardson / Brainerd Dispatch

In other business, the board:

Noted personnel changes with new hires of Tiara Wientjes, social worker in Community Services, and Jennifer Franzen, patrol officer with the Sheriff’s Office. Three public health nurses from Community Services are departing the county’s employment — Stacy Patnode, Brianna Letourneau, and Rachel Sprague.

Accepted donations to the Mounted Patrol with $500 from the Brainerd Area Sertoma Club, and $500 from Mid Minnesota Federal Credit Union. The Brainerd Jaycees also donated $500 to the Crow Wing County Water and Boat Division. Chief Deputy Andy Bradley said the Mounted Patrol, made up of volunteers, is close to his heart for their service to the community, as ambassadors in parades and events and search and rescue efforts.

Bradley said the horses, just from a height perspective and senses, are able to find people in a unique way. Bradley said it was amazing to see a horse sense a human presence in an 8-acre field and find a small boy laying down in the grass from a distance of about a half-mile.

Bradley said the Mounted Patrol members are all volunteers and dedicate their time monthly and people are always asking for the Mounted Patrol.

“So we do not have a lot of funding for the Mounted Patrol so these donations that we get from the different groups throughout the county are a benefit to that team immensely,” Bradley said, adding funds help pay for training. “ … This offsets those costs to that team member that basically gives their personal time to us at the county.”

Commissioner Paul Koering said when his family lived in the Pine River area and he was 3 or 4 years old he wanted to follow his dad, who was working on a bulldozer, and got lost in the woods. Noting the importance of volunteers, Koering said a search party, including a bunch of volunteers, found him asleep under a tree.

Approved a temporary on-sale liquor license application of the Brainerd Jaycees for an event at the Brainerd International Raceway Aug. 15-18.

Approved out of state travel for the Information Technology Department to a ESRI User Conference July 15-19 in San Diego. The conference will provide more than 450 hours of training, presentations and opportunity for the county to get more from its geographic information systems use, and advances in geospatial technology. The conference is expected to assist three county projects specifically — an Experience Builder App for Community Services recreation initiative, imager serving for housing imagery and hosting in Dronesense and an upgrade hub site for new software for internal use in the county and for public use.

Erickson said a post conference summary will be shared with users in the county and information to direct staff on utilizing the day to day aspects of the GIS system

Approved spending $65,000 for a 2024 Ford Transit 250 van from the Capital Projects Fund to help carry parts, supplies, tools and equipment to the Joint Public Works Facility in Crosslake. A service agreement with Crosslake for the facility is expected to help fund $50,000 for the vehicle and pay $6,500 per year of ongoing revenue.

Appointed election judges for the 2024 state primary and general elections for the four precincts in Unorganized Territory at $25 per hour for head judges and $20 per hour for other judges. That’s an increase from what they were paid in 2022 when head judges were paid $20 and other election judges were paid $18. Erickson said the increase reflects the responsibilities and expectations for the judges and noted a change in IRS guidelines where election judges are now considered employees.

“We also wanted to make sure that since these are going to be reflected as employees that is in line with what we're also paying for other seasonal type positions that we have in the county,” Erickson said, noting this is in line with what the county is paying aquatic invasive species inspectors. Erickson said every state and township is responsible for setting their own rates.

Established a Crow Wing County Absentee Ballot Board. The board members are trained to process and count absentee ballots. They will be paid $20 per hour. The county is required to establish the absentee ballot board, which includes election judges representing different major political parties and deputized county auditors.

The absentee ballot board reviews the exterior envelope to check if the name and address matches the application, that the signature is there along with a witness and the identification number matches. The ballot board will look at every ballot envelope that is done through the mail or those who vote in-person at the counter between 45 and 18 days before the election.

If there is an error where the voter missed the ID number or a witness and the ballot is rejected, the county then has time to send a new ballot so that voter has the opportunity to cast their vote and be counted. The ballot board does not touch any absentee ballots in the 18 days of early voting before Election Day when the valid information is taken at the counter and the ballot goes into a tabulating machine at that time.

“That's really all they're looking at when they're doing the accepting or rejecting,” Erickson said. “The envelopes are not open the ballots in that process at that point in time.”

Eighteen days before Election Day, which Erickson said will probably still be seven days before Election day in Crow Wing County, ballots can be opened, separated from identifying information, and scanned. The ballots will not be counted until after the polls close on Election Day.

The county’s Canvass Board is a different group that meets after the election to certify the results and includes two commissioners, the county auditor, the district court administrator and the mayor of the largest city in the county.

County Attorney Don Ryan attended the meeting in person for Erickson’s first county board meeting as administrator, but made no promises about future footwear as in the case of administrator emeritus Houle, who thought he’d get Ryan to exchange his signature cowboy boots for penny loafers before Houle retired.

Renee Richardson, managing editor, may be reached at 218-855-5852 or renee.richardson@brainerddispatch.com. Follow on Twitter @DispatchBizBuzz.