Minutes of the Board of Ward

County Commissioners

May 5, 2020

The regular meeting of the Ward

County Commission was called to

order by Chairman Fjeldahl, at 9:00

AM with Commissioners, Walter,

Rostad, Pietsch and Weppler

present. Also present were depart-

ment head Devra Smestad, Dana

Larsen, Jason Blowers, Jennifer

Weichmann, Ryan Kamrowski and

Tammy Terras and present on the

teleconference was Roza Larson.

Moved by Comm. Rostad, seconded

by Comm. Walter to approve the

agenda. Roll call; all voted yes; mo-

tion carried. Moved by Comm.

Weppler, seconded by Comm.

Pietsch to approve the minutes from

the regular commission meeting on

April 21, 2020 and special meeting

April 24, 2020. Moved by Comm.

Weppler, seconded by Comm. Ros-

tad to amend the minutes and re-

move the line “No one from the pub-

lic spoke out against the proposed

project.” Roll call; all voted yes; mo-

tion carried. Roll call on original mo-

tion; all voted yes; motion carried.

Moved by Comm. Walter, seconded

by Comm. Pietsch to approve the

regular bills totaling $183,011.83

and Human Service Zone direct cost

bills totaling $3,175.88. Roll call; all

voted yes; motion carried. Director

of Tax Equalization appeared with

Tax Roll Adjustments for Commis-

sions approval. Moved by Comm.

Weppler, seconded by Comm. Ros-

tad to approve the Tax Roll Adjust-

ments as presented. Roll call; all

voted yes; motion carried. Mr. Kam-

rowski continued with a recommen-

dation for the upcoming County

Board of Equalization meeting

scheduled for June 1, 2020. He

recommends to hold the meeting as

scheduled and follow social distanc-

ing recommendations. Also, provide

Zoom conference call option for

those that do not feel comfortable at-

tending the meeting in person.

Those that don’t want to attend in

person need to file their appeal in

writing prior to the meeting. Moved

by Comm. Walter, seconded by

Comm. Pietsch to approve Mr.

Kamrowski’s recommendations re-

garding the County Board of Equali-

zation meeting. Roll call; all voted

yes; motion carried. County En-

gineer Dana Larsen appeared with

two agenda items. Mr. Larsen’s first

item was to provide information on

an opportunity to relocate the High-

way Department’s operations to a

new location with more land, better

access with newer and more effi-

cient facilities. Moved by Comm.

Pietsch, seconded by Comm. Walter

to approve the Highway Department

and the Chairman of the Commis-

sion to negotiate with the seller on

the possible new location. Roll call;

all voted yes; motion carried. Mr.

Larsen continued with a request to

award the Culvert replacement on

County Road 14 project to the

lowest bidder. Moved by Comm.

Walter, seconded by Comm.

Weppler to approve the bid from

Hanson’s Excavating, Inc in the

amount of $270,844.00 for replace-

ment of the Culvert on County Road

14. Roll call; all voted yes; motion

carried. Planning and Zoning Ad-

ministrator Doug Diedrichsen ap-

peared with a plat application for the

following described property: SENE

10-154-82. Moved by Comm.

Walter, seconded by Comm. Rostad

to approve the plat application from

Daniel and Amy Lenertz. Roll call;

all voted yes; motion carried. Human

Resource Director Tammy Terras

updated the Commission on Co-

vid-19 Staffing. She recommended a

plan of action that includes creating

a task force to develop policies and

procedures for prompt identification

and isolation of sick staff and custo-

mers. The Task Force will include

two Commissioners and several

department heads. The task force

will complete the Workplace Assess-

ment for Covid-19 as recommended

as part of the Smart Start. Moved

by Comm. Weppler, seconded by

Comm. Walter to adopt the recom-

mended plan of action as presented

by Ms. Terras. Roll call; all voted

yes; motion carried. Chairman Fjel-

dahl and Comm. Weppler volun-

teeredto serve on the task force. Ms.

Terras informed the Commission the

Administrative Assistant in the

Veterans’ Service Office has

resigned effective 5/8/2020 and the

only position currently occupied is

the Veteran’s Service Officer. She

continued with a recommended

timeline for posting and filling the

two open positions open in the

Veteran’s Service Office. Moved by

Comm. Walter, seconded by Comm.

Weppler to approve the recommen-

dations for advertising, interviewing

and hiring for the two positions in the

Veterans’ Service Office. Roll call;

all voted yes, except Commissioners

Pietsch and Fjeldahl who voted no;

motion carried. Moved by Comm.

Weppler, seconded by Comm.

Pietsch to approve the payroll

amendment for D. Perez-Correction

Officer (level 13, step 1). Roll call; all

voted yes; motion carried.

Auditor/Treasurer Devra Smestad

appeared. Moved by Comm. Walter,

seconded by Comm. Rostad to re-

ceive and file the following

correspondence: Department Head

Meeting Minute- April 15, 2020 &

April 24, 2020; Court Facilities Im-

provement Advisory Committee-

letter; Minot Area Chamber of

Commerce-Economy at a Glance.

Roll call; all voted yes; motion car-

ried. Moved by Comm. Weppler,

seconded by Comm. Pietsch to re-

ceive and file the State’s Attorney

annual report. Roll call; all voted

yes; motion carried. Moved by

Comm. Pietsch, seconded by

Comm. Walter to approve the Coun-

ty deed for foreclosed property sold

by Realtor. Roll call; all voted yes;

motion carried. Moved by Comm.

Weppler, seconded by Comm. Ros-

tad to approve the proposal from

A.R Audit Services for collecting out-

standing debts. Roll call; all voted

yes; motion carried. Emergency

Management Director Jennifer

Wiechmann appeared with an up-

date regarding the Covid-19 Joint

Committee. At 10:41 AM with no

further business, the meeting was

adjourned.

(May 28, 2020)

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Probate No. 51-2020-PR-00087

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF

WARD COUNTY, STATE OF

NORTH DAKOTA

In the Matter of the Estate of

George B. Officer, Deceased.

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that

the undersigned have been appoint-

ed co-personal representatives of

the above estate. All persons having

claims against the said deceased

are required to present their claims

within three months after the date of

the first publication or mailing of this

notice or said claims will be forever

barred. Claims must either be

presented to TRACI FRENCH and

TODD OFFICER, Co-Personal

Representatives of the estate, at

2525 Elk Drive, P.O. Box 1000,

Minot ND 58702-1000, or filed with

the Court.

Dated this 8th day of May, 2020.

/s/Traci French

Traci French

/s/Todd Officer

Todd Officer

Carol K. Larson – #04406

PRINGLE & HERIGSTAD, P.C.

2525 Elk Drive

P.O. Box 1000

(701)852-0381

clarson@pringlend.com

Attorneys for: Co-Personal

Representatives

(May 14-21-28, 2020)