The Walworth County Commission held a regular meeting on Tuesday, December 3rd.
The commissioners approved the 2020 joint agreement with NECOG for just over nine thousand dollars.
The board discussed the leases on county owned land. Options on leasing normally come up at the first meeting in February. The commission decided to keep the leases the same – for 3 years, and will advertise for 2 weeks.
The alcoholic beverage renewal application for the Campground Lounge was approved, with Commissioner Kevin Holgard abstaining.
The commission passed a motion to allow the auditor’s office to pre-pay at the beginning of each month the monthly bills to Wellmark for insurance benefits and then make any adjustments throughout the month, due to employee turnover, etc. This will help the county avoid late fees due to Wellmark’s billing cycle of a month in advance. The commission will also look into changing to a 90-day probationary period for employees to become eligible for insurance, instead of being covered immediately upon hire.
Under old business, Commissioner Holgard told the board that the jail committee is going to try to meet the second Tuesday of each month at 10am.
Under new business, Commissioner Holgard volunteered to be the point of contact for dialogue with the South Dakota Association of County Commissioners for the upcoming South Dakota legislative session.
The commission discussed the property in Java that needs to be demolished. Highway superintendent Gary Byre hopes to get some kind of agreement with the adjacent landowners of what’s going to be happening in the next couple weeks and that they will provide some access for the work to get done. Commissioner Scott Schilling will be hired to run the excavator, either as a part-time temporary employee of the county, or as a private contractor at a specialized rate, depending on what the county’s insurance company says about liability. It will be negotiated and reported back to the commission at the next meeting.
The final commission meeting of the year will be Friday, December 27th, at 9am.