County Considers Adding A Nurse

Valley County Commissioners meet for discussion and decision every Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. The public is always invited to attend. During the month of February they had several items on the agenda. Here are a few highlights.

They discussed the possibility of hiring another part time nurse for the Valley County Health Department. Commissioner Bruce Peterson wanted to wait before approving more hours and wanted to make sure they weren't adding costs to the budget. Commissioner Paul Tweten agreed that they could gather more information before making a final decision.

The commissioners accepted a bid for a small lot across from the dike. The bid for the piece of land came in at $200. The commissioners stated that the land originally was appraised for much more, but it had been appraised at a much lower value the second time and the county had no use for the land. Tweten asked if they needed to advertise the sale of the land, the commissioners decided because the value was under a limit there was no need for advertisement.

Peterson discussed the Magruder property and the details of the cleanup there. He told the other commissioners that a grant would fund the area and that after that mediation the state would kick in to cover the rest.

He explained that drilling would be going on in the area for four more wells to test for contamination and that they would wait until the clean up was finished to give the land to the city, with the stipulation that the area continued to be home of the local farmer's market.

The Valley County Transit grant application was approved. Peterson said that the grant was down $13,000 from last year and that there could be some impacts to the local transit because of the cuts. They would know more in the future.

Commissioners also approved the repair of fuel storage tanks at the refuse tax for $520, they approved to continue participation with the Great Northern Development Corporation District for $4,119 (same as last year's dues), and they approved to purchase a broom for a tractor that needed replaced at the cost of around $3,000.