Minutes of the Board of Ward

County Commissioners

December 15, 2020

The regular meeting of the Ward

County Commission was called to

order by Chairman Fjeldahl at 9:00

AM with Commissioners, Anderson,

Pietsch, Rostad, and Weppler

present. Also present were depart-

ment heads Bradley Starnes, Dana

Larsen, Jason Blowers, Jennifer

Wiechmann, Kerrianne Boetcher,

Kristin Kowalczyk, Leona

Lochthowe, Marisa Haman, Melissa

Bliss, Noreen Barton, Robert Roed,

Roza Larson and Tammy Terras.

Moved by Comm. Pietsch, second-

ed by Comm. Anderson to approve

the agenda. Roll call; all voted yes;

motion carried.

Moved by Comm. Weppler, second-

ed by Comm. Rostad to approve the

regular Commission meeting

minutes on December 1, 2020. Roll

call; all voted yes; motion carried.

Moved by Comm. Rostad, seconded

by Comm. Weppler, to approve the

regular bills totaling $423,544.08

and Human Service Zone direct cost

bills totaling $6,848.86. Roll call; all

voted yes; motion carried.

South Prairie Elementary School

Principal Del Groninger, high school

student JyliAnn Striha and elemen-

tary student Brecken Lick appeared

to present a check for $5,471 to

Ward County K-9 Officer Baxi. Stu-

dents of South Prairie participated in

a pizza selling fundraiser to raise

funds for Baxi’s food and equipment

costs. Sheriff Roed accepted the

check on behalf of K-9 Officer Baxi

and the Sheriff’s Department and of-

fered his appreciation and thanks to

the students and staff of South

Prairie and the community.

K-9 Officer Baxi and Deputy Mike

Miller appeared to give the Com-

mission a report of their deploy-

ments together since June 24, 2020.

Baxi has had 40 deployments and

18 arrests. Baxi has helped to take

55.6 grams of methamphetamine,

38.5 grams of heroin and a small

amount of cocaine of the streets.

Baxi has also been active in or with

fentanyl seizures.

Sheriff Robert Roed appeared re-

questing authorization to request

bids for the purchasing of four new

police specific vehicles. Moved by

Comm. Weppler, seconded by

Comm. Pietsch to approve Sheriff

Roed’s request for bids to purchase

new vehicles. Roll call; all voted yes;

motion carried.

Sheriff Roed continued with a re-

quest to purchase S.W.A.T team

equipment and rifle maintenance

parts. Minot Police Department has

asked the Sheriff’s Department to

provide a second deputy to serve on

the Northwest Regional S.W.A.T

team. Ward County Currently has

one deputy assigned to the team,

adding a second will cost the re-

quired equipment. The deputy

currently assigned to the team has

moved to the sniper team and will

require addition equipment also. The

total cost for the equipment needed

is $26,056.39. Roed requested us-

ing funds from the asset forfeiture

fund to save on the budget and does

not require tax money to be spent.

Moved by Comm. Weppler, second-

ed by Comm. Anderson to approve

having a second deputy serve on

the Northwest Regional S.W.A.T

team and to purchase the required

equipment requested in the amount

of $26,056.39. Roll call; all vote yes;

motion carried.

State’s Attorney Roza Larson ap-

peared requesting authorization to

spend asset forfeiture funds on furni-

ture for her department. A desk and

wall mount is needed for the Legal

Administrative Assistant and the

shelving and drawer cabinets are re-

quests of her staff. The total cost re-

quested is $5,536.00.

Moved by Comm. Pietsch, second-

ed by Comm. Rostad to approve

purchasing the furniture for the

State’s Attorney’s Department in the

amount of $5,536.00. Roll call; all

vote yes; motion carried.

It Director Jason Blowers appeared

to request a fund carry over for pro-

jects budgeted but not completed in

2020. He is requesting $61,000.00

be carried over into his department’s

2021 budget in order to complete

these projects in the upcoming year.

Moved by Comm. Rostad, seconded

by Comm. Pietsch to approve budg-

et carry over request in the amount

of $61,000.00. Roll call; all voted

yes; motion carried.

Mr. Blowers continued with inform-

ing the Commission of options re-

garding laptop computers or tablets.

He stated the County does have

some older laptop computers his

department could prepare for the

Commissioners but they are bulky

and heavy. Another option is to pur-

chase Surface Pro 7 from Best Buy

at their current sale price of $699.00.

Moved by Comm. Weppler, second-

ed by Comm. Rostad to approve

purchase Surface Pro 7 for each

Commissioner. Roll call; Commis-

sioners Weppler, Anderson and Fjel-

dahl voted yes, Commissioners

Rostad and Pietsch voted no; mo-

tion carried.

Director of Tax Equalization Noreen

Barton appeared with a Memoran-

dum of Tax Roll Adjustments for the

Commission approval.

Moved by Comm. Weppler, second-

ed by Comm. Anderson to approve

the Tax Roll Adjustments as

presented. Roll call; all voted yes;

motion carried.

Highway Engineer Dana Larsen ap-

peared with three agenda items. Mr.

Larsen’s first item was a resolution

of award for the Surrey Transporta-

tion Alternative project and the cost

participation, construction and

maintenance agreement. Ward

County will act as the sponsor for

the project, but the ND DOT will be

directly billing the City of Surrey for

the cost of this project.

Move by Comm. Weppler, second

by Comm. Anderson to approve the

Resolution to Award Strata Corpora-

tion the contract for the Project

TAC-0051 (031) and authorize

Chairman to sign the contract. Roll

call; all voted yes; motion carried.

Mr. Larsen continued with a request

to purchase gravel. In the upcoming

year the Highway Department with

be finishing graveling County Road

23 between Us 2 and the City of

Sawyer. They will be in need of ad-

ditional gravel in the area to com-

plete the work and would like to pur-

chase 15,967 cubic yards of gravel

form Sundre Sand and Gravel off of

their 2019 gravel bid. The cost for

the crushing is $3.02/CY and the

royalty is $1.00/CY for a total cost of

$4.20/CY x 15,967 totaling

$67,061.40. The funds would come

out of the 2020 material and sup-

plies budget.

Moved by Comm. Rostad, seconded

by Comm. Pietsch to approve pur-

chasing the addition gravel from

Sundre Sand and Gravel in the

amount of $67,061.40. Roll call; all

vote yes; motion carried.

Mr. Larsen’s final item was regard-

ing the selection of an engineer for

the preliminary engineering or bridge

replacement. Interviews were held

on December 9, 2020 to select an

engineering firm to complete the

bridge design on the Velva Town-

ship bridge over the Souris River.

Five engineering firms were inter-

viewed and the recommendation is

to select Houston Engineering to

complete the preliminary engineer-

ing with the objective of placing the

project on the November 2021 bid

opening.

Moved by Comm. Pietsch, second-

ed by Comm. Weppler to approve

the recommendation and select

Houston Engineering to complete

the preliminary engineering for the

replacement of bridge number

51-156-49.01 located over the

Souris River, north of US 52 on the

Ward County, McHenry County line

and authorize chairman to sign con-

tract. Roll call; all voted yes; motion

carried.

Planning and Zoning Administrator

Doug Diedrichsen appeared with a

plat application from Cordell

Poleschook in Rushville Township.

Rushville Township is an unorgan-

ized township and therefore doesn’t

have a board to request a recom-

mendation of. Mr. Diedrichsen is re-

questing the County Commission

make a recommendation to the

Planning and Zoning Commission

regarding the plat application and

guidance of how the Commission

would like all future Rushville Town-

ship applications to be handled.

Moved by Comm. Weppler second-

ed by Comm. Rostad to approve

having all Rushville Township appli-

cation be sent as correspondence to

the County Commission. Roll call; all

voted yes; motion carried.

Moved by Comm. Weppler, second-

ed by Comm. Rostad to recommend

approval of the Rushville plat appli-

cation to the Planning and Zoning

Commission. Roll call; all voted yes;

motion carried.

Director of Human Resources ap-

peared. Her first item was regarding

the County Sick Leave Policy. The

dependent sick leave portion of the

policy was not clear on using depen-

dent sick leave for birth of a child.

This is in regards to a spouse who

did not have the baby to use depen-

dent sick leave for their time off dur-

ing the birth of a child. In the update

to policy language, it makes it more

clear.

Moved by Comm. Weppler, second-

ed by Comm. Anderson to approve

the recommended changes to the

County Sick Leave Policy as

presented. Roll call; all voted yes,

except Commissioners Anderson

and Fjeldahl who voted no; motion

carried.

Ms. Terras continued regarding the

Overtime/Comp-time Policy. At the

April 7, 2020 Commission meeting

the Commission voted to suspend

the requirement of the automatic six

month pay out of comp time leave if

not used within the six months form

the accrued date due to COVID-19.

This was keeping more comp time

on the books for the employees to

use in a COVID-10 situation. Ms.

Terras is recommending to discon-

tinue this suspension of the policy.

This will allow any leave accumulat-

ed prior to July 1st and not used to

be paid out at this year’s hourly

rates.

Moved by Comm. Weppler, second-

ed by Comm. Rostad to approve

discontinuing the suspension and

reinstate the Overtime/Comp-time

policy. Roll call; all voted yes; mo-

tion carried.

Ms. Terras requested the Commis-

sion consider closing the County of-

fices all day on Christmas Eve off

this year.

Moved by Comm. Weppler, second-

ed by Comm. Rostad to approve the

request and close County office for

the entire day on Christmas Eve.

There was a brief discussion.

Roll call; all vote no; except Com-

missioners Rostad and Weppler who

voted yes; motion failed.

Moved by Comm. Pietsch, second-

ed by Comm. Weppler to approve

the following payroll amendments:

K. Crowder-Sheriff/Jail and R.

Ostrum-Sheriff/Jail. Roll call all vot-

ed yes; motion carried.

Chairman Fjeldahl began a discus-

sion regarding Department Commis-

sioner Appointments and Commis-

sioner Board Appointments. He also

requested the Commission vote for

who will be appointed to the Human

Service Zone Board. Secret ballots

were cast, 3 votes for Comm.

Weppler and 2 voted for Comm.

Anderson.

Moved by Comm. Pietsch, second-

ed by Comm. Rostad to accept the

Department Commissioner Appoint-

ments and Commissioner Board Ap-

pointments including Comm.

Weppler to the Human Service Zone

Board. Roll call; all voted yes; mo-

tion carried.

Auditor/Treasurer Marisa Haman ap-

peared.

Moved by Comm. Weppler, second-

ed by Comm. Rostad to receive and

file the following correspondence:

City of Minot Chamber of

Commerce-Economy at a Glance

and SRF Consulting-Intersection Im-

provement project. Roll call; all vot-

ed yes; motion carried.

Moved by Comm. Pietsch, second-

ed Rostad to receive and file month-

ly reports including financials. Roll

call; all voted yes; motion carried.

Ms. Haman presented the Com-

mission with three offers to purchase

foreclosed property. She also in-

formed the Commission according to

ND Century Code the County cannot

sell any foreclosed property for less

than the minimum sale price. The

Commissioners discussed changing

the process so that in the future be-

fore a minimum sale price is set the

property should be inspected and

assessed by the Department of Tax

Equalization.

Moved by Comm. Weppler, second-

ed by Comm. Pietsch to deny the

three offers to purchase foreclosed

properties based on the ND Century

Code. Roll call; all voted yes; motion

carried.

Moved by Comm. Pietsch, second-

ed by Comm. Anderson to approve

the following liquor license applica-

tions: HOPR, LLC; Hunters Den;

Wildwood Country Club; Pinks Bar &

Grill LLC; and Super Pumper Dawn

to Dusk. Roll call; all voted yes; mo-

tion carried.

Moved by Comm. Rostad, seconded

by Comm. Weppler to approve the

following liquor license applications

contingent on passing of a health in-

spection: 23 Club, LLC; M& S Con-

cessions and Minot VFW Post 753.

Roll call; all voted yes; motion car-

ried.

Moved by Comm. Weppler, second-

ed by Comm. Pietsch to approve the

gaming site authorization for Dakota

Cowboy Hall of Fame, Inc. Roll call;

all voted yes; motion carried.

Moved by Comm. Weppler, second-

ed by Comm. Anderson to appoint

Cale Wyatt Neshem to the Weed

Control Board; Hiedi Folstad Miller

and Richard Berg to the Human Ser-

vice Zone Board and Deb Aamot to

the Library Board. Roll call; all voted

yes; motion carried.

Ms. Haman requested input on how

the Commission would like to handle

year end bills. Commissioner will

hold a special meeting December

31, 2020 at 9:30 Am to approve year

end bills and to interview two appli-

cants for the vacant position on the

Ward County Water Board.

Recess at 12:08 PM.

Meeting reconvened at 12:21 PM.

Comm. Rostad left the meeting at

recess and did not return.

Director of Tax Equalization Noreen

Barton presented the Commission

with 122 tax abatements of refund of

taxes for Silver Springs Develop-

ment Inc. The City of Surrey recom-

mendation is to approve the pro-

posed 2018 values with obsoles-

cence that were presented to the

City Council on November 16, 2020.

The Ward County Tax Equalization

office recommends lowering the

values to the proposed 2018 values.

Moved by Comm. Pietsch, second-

ed by Comm. Weppler to open the

public hearing at 12:29 PM regard-

ing the Silver Springs Development

Inc. abatement applications for the

following parcels:

Moved by Comm. Weppler, second-

ed by Comm. Anderson to close the

public hearing at 12:46 PM. Roll call;

all voted yes; motion carried.

Moved by Comm. Weppler, second-

ed by Comm. Anderson to approve

the recommendation of the Tax

Equalization Office and lower the

values to the proposed 2018 values

with obsolescence as presented.

Roll call; all voted yes; motion car-

ried.

At 10:49 AM with no further busi-

ness, the meeting was adjourned.

(January 9, 2021)

NOTICE

Harrison Township will conduct the

next monthly meeting on Jan 19,

2021. All other monthly meetings will

be conducted on the 2nd Tuesday of

each month. All meetings will be

held at 6:30 PM at the Minot Rural

Fire Dept, 400 31st Ave NW, Minot,

ND.

Cindy Whitesell, Township Clerk

(January 9-11-12, 2021)

NOTICE OF REAL ESTATE SALE

CIVIL NUMBER: 51-2018-CV-0127

IN THE STATE OF NORTH

DAKOTA, COUNTY OF WARD

IN THE DISTRICT COURT, NORTH

CENTRAL JUDICIAL DISTRICT

Reverse Mortgage Funding, LLC,

Plaintiff,

v.

Cheryl D. Lane; Heirs & Devisees of

the Estate of Cheryl D. Lane; United

States of America, acting by and

through the Secretary of Housing

and Urban Development; Unknown

Spouse of Cheryl D. Lane; Unknown

Spouse of Ruth Lane; any person in

possession, and all persons unk-

nown, claiming any estate or interest

in, or lien or encumbrance upon, the

real estate described in the com-

plaint,

Defendants.

1. Judgment in the amount of

$197,606.49, having been entered in

favor of Plaintiff and against Defen-

dants, which Judgment was filed

with the Clerk of Courts of Ward

County, North Dakota, on December

7, 2020, for the foreclosure of a real

estate mortgage.

2. Notice is hereby given pursuant to

said Judgment that the real property

described as:

The following described parcel of

land, and improvements and ap-

purtenances thereto in the County of

Ward, State of ND, to wit:

Countryside Villas, 3rd Addition Lot

2, Nedrose-S4 A 2

Together with: Used 2000 Bonna-

villa 52 x 28 Manufactured Home

Serial No. NEB00A28052S.

MORE CORRECTLY DESCRIBED

AS FOLLOWS:

The following described parcel of

land, and improvements and ap-

purtenances thereto in the County of

Ward, State of ND, to wit:

Countryside Villas, 3rd Addition Lot

2, Nedrose-S4 A 2

Together with: Used 2000 Bonne-

ville 52 x 28 Manufactured Home

Serial No. NEB00A28052S.

With an address of 2105 55th Street

SE, Minot, ND 58701, and being the

subject of the Mortgage dated

February 13, 2015, which Mortga-

gor, Cheryl D. Lane, executed and

delivered to Mortgage Electronic

Registration Systems, Inc., as Mort-

gagee, as nominee for Reverse

Mortgage Funding LLC, its succes-

sors and assigns, and recorded in

the office of the Clerk and Recorder

of Ward County, North Dakota, on

March 2, 2015, Instrument Number

2983529, is subject to the entered

Judgment. Said Mortgage was as-

signed to Plaintiff, its successors or

assigns, by Assignment of Mortgage

recorded September 13, 2017, In-

strument Number 3012033.

3. In order to realize the amount of

$197,606.49, as of December 7,

2020, plus interest accruing

thereafter on said amount at the rate

of $9.97 per day together with the

costs and expenses of sale, the pro-

perty will be sold subject to redemp-

tion as provided by law as one par-

cel of land at public auction, subject

to any lien for unpaid real estate

taxes and assessments of Ward

County, North Dakota, and ease-

ments and restrictions of record, to

the highest bidder for cash under the

direction of the Sheriff of Ward

County, North Dakota, at the main

entrance of the Ward County Court-

house located at 315 SE 3rd Street,

Minot, North Dakota 58701, on

February 10, 2021 (“Sale Date”), at

10:00 AM.

4. If the sale is set aside for reason,

the Purchaser at the sale shall be

entitled only to a return of the depo-

sit paid. The purchaser shall have

no further recourse against the Mort-

gagor, the Mortgagee or the

Mortgagee’s attorney.

DATED this 28th day of December,

2020.

For: Robert Roed

/s/Jamie Williams

Deputy Sheriff of Ward County

Halliday, Watkins & Mann, P.C.

/s/ Scott S. Skeen

Attorneys for Plaintiff

376 East 400 South, Suite 300

Salt Lake City, UT 84111

801-355-2886

Email: scott@hwmlawfirm.com

ND Bar No.: 09334

(January 2-9-16, 2021)

Notice of Sale

Melgaard Ventures LLC. d/b/a Ad-

vantage Storage and Parking will

sell the following unit(s) to satisfy

Storage Lien by Private sale. The

sale will be held at Advantage

Storage and Parking 308 40th Ave

NE Suite G Minot, ND 58703 on

January 25, 2021 at 5:30p.m.

O12 Tucker St. Croix

All goods must be removed within

24 hours unless other arrangements

are made. Advantage Storage and

Parking reserves the right to reject

any or all offers. Terms of sale:

Cashier check or pre-approved per-

sonal check. Questions should be

directed to Ken Melgaard

701-838-1393.

(January 9-16, 2021)

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Probate No. 51-2020-PR-00248

IN DISTRICT COURT, WARD

COUNTY, STATE OF NORTH

DAKOTA

In the Matter of the Estate of

Brad Lee Prentice, Deceased.

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that

the undersigned has been appointed

Personal Representative of the

above estate. All persons having

claims against the deceased are re-

quired to present their claims within

three months, 90 days, after the date

of the first publication or mailing of

this notice or the claims will be for-

ever barred. Claims must either be

presented to James R. Prentice,

Personal Representative of the

Estate of Brad Lee Prentice, in care

of Morgan Glines of Boppre Law

Firm, PLLC, 2151 36th Ave SW,

Suite B, Minot, North Dakota 58701,

or filed with the Court.

Dated this 18th day of December,

2020.

/s/James R. Prentice

James R. Prentice,

Personal Representative

/s/Morgan Glines

Morgan Glines (ID #08853)

Boppre Law Firm, PLLC

2151 36th Ave SW, Suite B

Minot, ND 58701

701-852-5224

mglines@bopprelawfirm.com

Attorney for Personal

Representative

(December 26, 2020; January 2-9,

2021)

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Probate No. 51-2020-PR-263

IN THE DISTRICT COURT,

STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA,

COUNTY OF WARD, NORTH

CENTRAL JUDICIAL DISTRICT

In the Matter of the Estate of

Patricia Slater, Deceased.

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that

the undersigned has been appointed

personal representative of the above

estate. All persons having claims

against Patricia Slater are required

to present their claims within three

(3) months after the date of the first

publication of this notice or said

claims will be forever barred.

Claims must either be presented, in

writing, to Bridee Winkels, personal

representative of the estate, at P.O.

Box 998, Minot, ND 58702-0998, or

filed with the Court.

Dated this 6th day of January 2021.

/s/Bridee Winkels

Bridee Winkels,

Personal Representative

(January 9-16-23, 2021)

PETITION FOR NAME CHANGE

IN DISTRICT COURT, WARD

COUNTY, NORTH DAKOTA

In the Matter of the Petition for

Name Change of Elijah Ehriq

Bienek.

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that a Peti-

tion in the above-entitled matter will

be filed with the Clerk of District

Court for Ward County, North Dako-

ta, requesting an Order changing the

name of Elijah Ehriq Bienek (child’s

current full, legal name) to Elijah

Ehriq Deck (child’s requested full, le-

gal name).

Pursuant to N.D.C.C. 32-28-02, thir-

ty days previous notice of the in-

tended application must be given in

the official newspaper printed in this

county. You are hereby notified that

thirty days after publication, peti-

tioner intends to file a petition re-

questing entry of the Court’s Order

changing the name of Elijah Ehriq

Bienek (child’s current full, legal

name) to Elijah Ehriq Deck (child’s

requested full, legal name). Any ob-

jection to granting this name change

must be given in writing to the ad-

dress listed below within 30 days of

the date of this publication. The writ-

ten objection must also be filed with

the Court. If no objections are given,

the Court may respond to the Peti-

tion without further hearing.

Dated this 5th day of January, 2020.

/s/Rachel Deck Bienek

Rachel Deck Bienek

541 Spruce St.

Kindred, ND 58051

(January 9, 2021)

SUMMONS

Civil No. 51-2020-CV-01825

STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA,

COUNTY OF WARD, IN DISTRICT

COURT, NORTH CENTRAL

JUDICIAL DISTRICT

ProCollect Services, LLC,

Plaintiff,

vs.

Shanon M. Halbert,

Defendant.

THE STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA

TO THE ABOVE-NAMED DEFEN-

DANT:

YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED

and required to appear and defend

against the Complaint in this action,

which is herewith served upon you,

by serving on the undersigned an

Answer or other proper response

within twenty-one days after service

of this Summons upon you, ex-

clusive of the day of service. If you

fail to do so, judgment by default will

be taken against you for the relief

demanded in the complaint.

Dated December 28, 2020.

/s/Christopher A. Carlson

Chistopher A. Carlson (ID #03378)

PO Box 1097

Bismarck, North Dakota 58502-1097

701-258-4800

carlsonlaw@qwestoffice.net

Attorney for the Plaintiff

(January 2-9-16, 2021)