Manderschied resigns as Wadena County EM Director
After 10 years of service to the Wadena County Sheriff’s Department, the last three as Emergency Management Director, Luke Manderschied is leaving full-time county service for work outside the law enforcement area. He will continue to serve as a part-time deputy as needed.
The announcement of Manderschied’s resignation, effective Oct. 5, was made at the Sept. 20 county board meeting by Sheriff Mike Carr. Commissioners accepted Manderschied’s resignation with regret and thanked him for his service to the county.
Commissioners and representatives of the sheriff’s department will discuss hiring a replacement for Manderschied, with a job posting likely in November, with hiring in January 2017. Meanwhile, his duties will be covered by Sgt Bryan Savaloja and two other deputies.
Sheriff Carr told the board that Wadena County was one of the first counties to have a licensed police officer in the position of emergency management director.
Sheriff Carr and Missy Peterson discussed the Sheriff’s Department 2017 budget request with the board. Carr and Peterson pointed out several reductions that would be made to the budget due to various duplicate entries and one error.
Earlier in the meeting, Savaloja announced the resignation of Jailer-Dispatcher Becky Wilhelm, effective Sept. 16. Commissioners accepted her resignation with regret and thanked her for her service. Dustin Anderson, who was working as a part-time jailer-dispatcher, will be hired full-time effective Oct. 1 to help cover Wilhelm’s shifts.
Further discussion of the county’s 2017 budget took place with Carr, Social Services Director Tanya Leskey, and Auditor/Treasurer Judy Taves. Commissioners deferred a final decision on the preliminary levy – due Sept. 30 – until the Sept. 27 meeting. With the cooperation of all county departments, reductions in estimated expenditures have been made, decreasing the initially calculated preliminary levy amount.
After the preliminary levy is submitted to the State of Minnesota Department of Revenue, the county can make reductions in the levy, but cannot increase it. The final levy is due by Dec. 31, 2016, for 2016 property taxes payable in 2017.
A major sticking point in the budget discussions remains the determination of how much money from the social services fund can be withdrawn to fund the Wadena County Social Services Department in 2017, when revenues will not cover projected expenses. The State of Minnesota and the federal government have reduced the amounts that they will allocate to social services, leaving the department with an expected deficit.
Some commissioners want to withdraw a larger amount from the social services fund than other commissioners. The decision must be made by Sept. 30 so that the preliminary levy amounts can be set.
Also discussed with Leskey and Vercon representative Justin Maaninga was the proposed renovation of part of the social services building. Vercon estimated the total cost at $269,107.80. Bids came in at $264,728.80 – a savings of about $5,000. Successful bidders for the nine bid packages were Jaataja Contracting, Central Concrete, Aaron Carlson, Gull Lake Glass, Central Door and Hardware, Cullen Home Center, Construction Supply Inc., Samuelson Laney, Davis Electric. Commissioners voted to approve the awarding of contracts to the successful bidders. Work will begin soon.
Near the end of the meeting, commissioners considered whether to reappoint County Assessor Lee Brekke to his position for another four-year term. Commissioners discussed their thoughts about the reappointment, and several expressed their requirements that Brekke submit a plan for getting the county into compliance with state rules for assessing properties, submit an action plan for drafting supervisory duties for the Deputy Assessor, and explain how Brekke will implement more aggressive staff leadership.
The county is behind on the state’s requirement that all properties be evaluated every five years. Carrying out this mandate involves considerable staff time. The county assessor’s department has been short-staffed due to family and medical leave act (FMLA) requirements.
The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) is a federal law requiring covered employers to provide employees job-protected and unpaid leave for qualified medical and family reasons.
With several staff members out of the office on leave for extended periods since 2010 and a staff resignation, Brekke asked the board repeatedly during the last six years for permission to hire temporary workers to evaluate properties. The board sometimes refused him permission, sometimes granted his requests and sometimes cut his requests in half, leaving Brekke unable to fulfill state requirements. Now commissioners will decide whether to vote for Brekke’s reappointment as county assessor.
A decision about reappointment will be made at the Sept. 27 board meeting.
In other business, the board
o Learned of the plan of the City of Wadena to create a TIF district and authorize the building of 49 housing units for seniors, half of which must be low-income housing units.
