Family Resource Center grants awarded in NYM Pelican Rapids

By Robert Williams

Editor

After 41 1/2 years of dedicated service to Otter Tail County, Wayne Stein will retire as Auditor-Treasurer on Monday, March 31. Stein has served the county, ensuring financial oversight, election integrity, and property tax administration with dedicated professionalism.

During Tuesday’s Board of Commissioners meeting, Chair Wayne Johnson read a Minnesota Senate legislative acknowledgment resolution honoring Stein for his career in public service and congratulating him on his retirement.

Later, commissioners appointed Kris Vipond to serve as Interim Deputy Administrator and perform the duties of Auditor-Treasurer, effective April 1, 2025. Stein administered the oath of office. 

Vipond, who has served as Otter Tail County’s Assistant Finance Director, brings an experienced understanding of county operations to the position.

“Kris brings valuable experience and dedication to this role and we are confident in her ability to lead the department effectively during this transition period,” Otter Tail County Administrator Nicole Hansen said.

Otter Tail County is in the process of hiring a Deputy Administrator in the coming months. 

Family Resource Centers

Deputy Administrator Lynne Penke Valdes updated the board on the two-year pursuit to bring Family Resource Centers to the county as part of a statewide effort.

The county was awarded two Department of Education infrastructure grants for building. One award grant was for $500,000, applied for with The Bridge Center in Pelican Rapids that will be used to update the facility. The other grant was for $382,860 to be used for building improvements to the city center lower level in New York Mills that will house a resource center.

“Construction will be occurring in both of those locations and probably very soon because there is a time period before the end of 2026 that those funds need to be expended,” Penke Valdes said.

Strategic planning on future services was done in March with Mahube-Otwa to transfer the remaining funds from the Sauer Family Foundation grant to a contract with Mahube-Otwa to start building out and preparing for that service delivery.

“We anticipate Mahube-Otwa really developing a model that is networking the various locations,” Penke Valdes said. “Whereas the needs in Parkers Prairie, Mills or Pelican Rapids might be different they’re still networked as that broader Otter Tail County model.”

Commissioner Sean Sullivan asked if there was a potential for the grants to be pulled given the current state of the Department of Education on a federal level.

“We do not,” she said. “This was the remaining funding form American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).

The department had to move quickly over the holidays to get the funding due to a very short deadline.

“We believe part of the reason was because these funds had to be allocated by a specific date in January,” said Penke Valdes.

Cannabis Ordinance

County Administrator Nicole Hansen discussed finalizing the county’s cannabis ordinance with the inclusion of language that all businesses and cannabis manufacturers would follow any state, federal and local ordinances with an effective date of April 1, 2025. The ordinance was adopted by a 4-1 vote. Commissioner Bucholz was the lone vote against.

Human Resources

The board approved the hiring of an Early Engagement Social Worker to support the Engagement Services Pilot Program. The goal of the program is to reduce civil commitments by enabling individuals with serious mental illness to voluntarily engage in treatment, according to Assistant HR Director Stephanie Retzlaff.

The position is funded by a legislative allocation for two years.

“If there is evidence that the program is working it could be funded beyond the first two years through additional legislative action,” Retzlaff said.

Otter Tail County received the prestigious Above & Beyond award from the U.S. Secretary of Defense and the Minnesota Committee for the Employer Support Guard and Reserve (ESGR) the U.S. Secretary of Defense and the Minnesota Committee for the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR). 

Only 30 businesses are recognized out of the hundreds of Patriot Award nominations received by the Minnesota Committee for honoring their employees’ service in the United States military, by providing assistance or benefits that go above and beyond the requirements of the Uniformed Services Employment and Re-employment Rights Act.

Long Range Strategic Plan

Community Development Director Amy Baldwin updated the board on the county’s long-range strategic planning that began five years ago and stretches out for the next two decades. Further information on the planning is available online at www.ottertailcounty.gov/our-long-range-strategic-plan/

“We are very intentionally trying to be continuously and consistently highlighting different goals, strategies and measures that we are actively focused on,” said Baldwin.

Otter Express

Deputy Administrator Nick Leonard announced that the county had been informed by Productive Alternatives that it will stop operating The Otter Express Public Transportation System at the end of 2025.

One option discussed is the formation of a joint powers board to create an agreement on overseeing public transportation. To do so, an entity needs to exist by June to be eligible to apply for any Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) grants. 

The commissioners passed a resolution for staff to continue working on forming both a joint powers board and joint powers agreement while sharing details with partner cities and MnDOT.

“Public transportation in the county is an issue,” said Commissioner Bucholz.

Commissioner Bob Lahman stated he had misgivings as he was not aware of how this will affect the entire county. 

“It’s a big expense, but I think there are areas that are going to be unaffected and unutilized because of the low volume that is out there,” he said.

“This would be the greatest opportunity for you as a board to have input into what that service looks like,” said Leonard.

Leonard expressed the importance of discussing details, like gaining more participating cities, at a later date and concentrating on creating the entity that could apply for the MnDOT grant because without the grant the point is moot.

Productive Alternatives is under contract until the end of 2025, according to Kayla Sullivan, Director of Transportation Services.

“This is the urgency of getting a joint powers board agreement, hopefully set in place by June so all the contracts can be signed and we can plan for 2026,” she said.

The 2026 start date was also confirmed by John Groothuis, Transit Project Manager, MnDOT Office of Transit.

Commissioner Sullivan abstained from the vote due to a conflict of interest.

Social Services

A proclamation naming April as Child Abuse Prevention Month was approved in Otter Tail County. The proclamation calls upon all people, community agencies, religious organizations, medical facilities, and businesses recognize this month by dedicating ourselves to the task of improving the quality of life for all children and families.