by Jeanne Larson

At its December 1 meeting at the courthouse in Pine City, the Pine County Board of Directors, in a split decision, agreed to the lease agreement of the old courthouse between the county and the City of Pine City. Under terms of the lease, the lease shall begin on January 1, 2010, and shall continue for a period of not less than five years or more than ten years unless it is extended or terminated sooner under terms provided in the lease.

The City will pay the county a fixed rent in the amount of $35,000 per year. The City will be occupying only the main floor of the old building, and the rest of the facility will still be used by the County for storage of documents.

Commissioner Curt Rossow expressed concerns about the public having access to the upper floor of the old courthouse from the elevator. Acting Coordinator, Mark LeBrun, told Rossow that there is no way to keep someone from wandering around the building, but assured the board that the doors to rooms where the county has its documents stored would remain closed and locked.

Commissioner Doug Carlson had expressed unhappiness with the lease agreement at earlier meetings, saying that the board had agreed to sell the building to the City, but their offer had been refused. Rossow took umbrage with some local newspaper headlines implying that the disagreement over the proposed lease was a north-south issue. Rossow said he did not feel the matter was a north-south issue, but an economic issue. Commissioner Stephen Hallan made a motion to accept the terms of the lease, which the city has already approved. The motion was passed by a vote of 3-2 with Rossow and Carlson voting nay.

The board held a lengthy discussion concerning a resolution to adopt a plan to move to the Allied Radio Matrix for Emergency Reponse (ARMER) system to replace the public safety communication infrastructure within the county. According to Deputy Steve Ovick of the Sheriff’s Department, the county has to agree to migrate to the ARMER system to get any more grant money to help with the costs. It is now possible that Pine County will go together with five other counties to the north to work together on emergency response under the new system.

Commissioner Hallan reminded the board that the county will not be moved to the ARMER system until 2012. The board approved a motion to move to the ARMER program. The board also approved a motion to accept a State Homeland Security and Emergency Management (HSEM) grant of $242,000 to provide such things as telephone alert systems to specific areas in the event of an emergency such as fire or tornado; purchasing 4 weather stations at a cost of about $13,000 per unit; and purchasing remote activated, battery operated outdoor warning sirens. No matching funds were needed for the grant.

The board heard a lengthy discussion on a road dispute on Schmedeke Lane in Wilma Township. County Attorney John Carlson told the board that this was the third time that this dispute has been discussed by the county board. He said that originally, Eldon Schmedeke asked permission for a cartway to get from the county road to his property. The cartway crosses land owned by Barbara Jensen. Also involved in the dispute is Bruce Greenly, whose property borders both Jensen’s and Schmedeke’s.

The Township at one time wanted to improve the county road to get into some bordering tax-forfeited land to harvest timber. This road extension goes beyond the Schmedeke cartway. The argument in question is about where the road currently is, as it was apparently not built on the section line.

Schmedeke has records from 1911- 1917, but Attorney Carlson says the lines don’t meet like they are supposed to. Carlson added that there is a reason the road is where it is, saying that there is a ridge along where the road was put in, and it would be very difficult to put a road in along the section line because of the low, swampy area.

The Jensen’s don’t agree with the Schmedeke’s on where the property lines are. Some sort of land swap could be agreed upon, but the parties involved cannot agree as to where the land lines should be.

The township has maintained the access road for at least six years, which would make it officially a township road, so Attorney Carlson questioned whether the county should even get involved in the dispute. He said there would be an axe to grind with any landowner involved depending on what decision was made. Carlson wondered if the county taxpayers should be involved in what is basically a dispute between the township and the property owners. Commissioner Doug Carlson said he thought the county would have to get involved.

Eldon Schmedeke told the board that he doesn’t feel that the county surveyor made a correct survey and he added that it was stupid the way things were done. LeBrun said that we have to accept the survey. He said that something the county cannot resolve is a boundary dispute. “As we continue to do surveys,” said LeBrun, “we’ll get into more of this. There is a difference between a section line and a property line.”

Commissioners Steven Chaffee and Hallan requested to table motion on the dispute until the board members could get a chance to get out to the area and see the area where the roads and boundaries are in dispute.

In other business: The board heard a report from extension program directors concerning nutrition programs, 4H programs and Master Gardening programs.