Commissioners discuss changes in personnel and equipment

The Eddy County Commissioners once again discussed personnel needs at their recent meeting. Applications for the Veteran’s Services Officer and the Emergency Manager position were reviewed. Eddy County Auditor Patty Williams will be contacting qualified applicants to set up interviews.

The commissioners commented that applicants need to be aware of the amount of training that will be required of the new employees. As an example, they spoke about the Veteran’s Services Officer. The person who accepts the position will initially be required to spend a week training in Bismarck with the staff from the office of North Dakota Department of Veterans Affairs. The new hire will also spend a week training in Sioux Falls. Other training may be required, along with annual recertification, which can be completed by attending weeklong conferences.

The commission also decided to seek a caretaker for Warsing Dam. Williams will advertise the open position. The duties will include general upkeep of the dam as well as mowing, weed removal, cutting of trees, garbage removal and minor structural repairs.

Eddy County Road Superintendent Irvin Loe said the road crews are identifying roads that need attention. Loe told the commissioners that Eddy County 3 needs more gravel now and as the frost starts to come out, they’ll identify more spots that will need fill. He also commented that the crack sealing on the paved roads has been completed, and they will be ordering bags of asphalt to use to fill small holes.

The road department is still in need of a truck that can be used for both blading and spreading sand on ice. They will be looking at a few sales in May and June to see if they have anything that might work for Eddy County. Commissioners asked Loe to compile a list of road crew equipment and no longer in use so they can be advertised for sale. The commissioners will also have the sheriff’s and other county departments’ staff compile lists of items they no longer need. The sale would most likely not take place until at least June.

Eddy County Extension Agent Tim Becker provided the commission with information about The North Dakota Agricultural Weather Network (NDAWN). NDAWN was established through a grant from, and in cooperation with, the High Plains Climate Center in 1989 by John Enz. Originally the network consisted of six automatic weather stations located at North Dakota State University (NDSU) Branch Research Centers. The objective is to provide current and historical weather data necessary for the development of, and operational use of various crop, insect and disease development models.

NDAWN monitors and records local weather conditions throughout North Dakota and the Red River Valley, and disseminates data through a comprehensive array of applications, summaries, and innovative displays, free to all, on the NDAWN.org web site.

Although designed specifically for agriculture, the scope of NDAWN goes far beyond agriculture. These data is regularly used for a wide variety of purposes by people across the region. For example, most state and local government agencies, and all federal agencies in North Dakota use the data to document weather conditions related to storm damage, accidents, crimes and regulatory violations. In addition, NDAWN data are used for weather forecasting/research, government policy decisions, natural resource management, landfill operation, utility planning and operation, claims adjusting, resolution of legal questions, environmental research, hydrologic forecasting and management, water quality management, structure site selection, wind or solar power potential, etc. The news media, various educators, students and weather hobbyists find NDAWN data indispensable.

Becker said there is one weather station in Eddy County, located in guard hill near Highway 15 and there has been interest in getting another one in the county. There is weather station at the NDSU Carrington Research Extension Center. The equipment cost for another station would be about $6,000 with about $1,000 in maintenance per year.  

He will be talking to the elevator, insurance companies and other ag-related businesses in the county to seek funding for the weather station with the possibility of placing a stand-alone tower near the county communication tower. If they agree that the information would be useful and are willing to help fund the tower, he will come back to the commissioners with that information. Becker also provided the commissioners with the Extension annual report.

Commissioner Glenda Collier presented an estimate from Taverna Electric for the replacement of the outdated lighting with LED lighting at the Eddy County Social Service building. Some of the existing lighting will be able to be simply swapped out but some will need to be completely replaced. The estimate also included hallway and exterior lighting.

Williams presented the commissioners with sign options for courthouse office identification to make it easier for visitors who aren’t sure which office they should be visiting. After hearing which of the signs was preferred by staff, the commissioners asked Williams to further investigate the sign to find out what it is made of and to get exact dimensions to make sure they will fit in the desired locations.

In other business, Commissioner Neal Rud was notified that the Pack-N-Roll they ordered shipped out of Canada on Monday, April 16. Once it is installed on the blade, Foster County has expressed an interest in seeing it in operation. The commissioners also approved the funding agreement with the North Dakota Supreme Court for the Clerk of District Court Services.

The next regular meeting of the Eddy County Commission will be Tuesday, May 1 at 9 a.m.