Walworth County Commission meeting August 16, 2022

The Walworth County Commission held a regular meeting on Tuesday, August 16th.

A motion was passed to reinstate the CAFO extension for one year, which will be the first of April.

Highway

Highway Superintendent Gary Byre gave the board some information on the progress of the Master Transportation Plan.  Byre directed the public to visit the KLJ Engineering website for more details and updates on the Walworth County plan.  Commissioner Scott Schilling would like to see more people attend the public meetings.

The contract with Jensen Rock & Sand for Asphalt Surface Treatment was presented as advertised & awarded.  The commission then authorized Commission Chairman Jim Houck to sign it.

911

911 Coordinator Curt Rawstern asked the commission to approve allowing Campbell, Harding, Sioux, McPherson, and Dewey counties to be able to vote on the 911 board.  The commission could not act on the request at Tuesday’s meeting because it was not on the agenda, so they will approve it at the next meeting.

Emergency Management

The commission approved signing the Local Emergency Management Performance Grant agreement with the State that provides 50 percent reimbursement for salaries and benefits while EMs are at trainings.

Emergency Manager Jeff Jensen said he has scheduled a command post emergency operation center Full Scale Exercise for 9am on September 24th at the Mobridge Fire Hall.

Jensen has received approval for a Walworth County Fire radio channel and Mutual Aid Fire Channel, and he wants to get the mobile radios re-programmed.

Jensen is preparing for the challenges during the re-programming process.

Jensen told the commission that he would like to provide the Walworth County mutual aid talk group to surrounding counties, including departments in Bowdle and Hoven so that all agencies can communicate.

The War Hawk Civil Defense antenna is currently on a 55 foot utility pole south of Dupree.  Jensen has entered into a $2,000.00 a year lease agreement with the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Telephone Authority to put that antenna up on their 200 foot tower, and the antenna will be replaced.

The commission held some discussion about putting together another jail committee, the possibility of housing inmates in Brown County, and the costs of transporting.  Commission Chairman Houck said if it wasn’t for the Cares Act money, Walworth County would be broke within the next year.

Also during the meeting, the commission approved a motion to authorize the auditor to publish the 2023 provisional budget.  They will hold a special meeting on September  6^th for a hearing on it, and then act to adopt the budget at the September 8th regular meeting.