Becker County Board shelves new county employee pay scale plan for now; commissioners want more market comparable information for positions

Detroit Lakes, Minn. (KDLM) – The Becker County Board discussed the new pay scale system for county employees during their meeting on Tuesday and agreed to stick with their old band and grade pay scale system for now.

Three of the five commissioners still had concerns about the new pay scale and want more information from the consultant before deciding whether or not to move forward.

Pat Oman, county administrator for Becker County, said the county’s budget for 2024 uses the wages from the new pay scale and they’ll have to make some changes before the end of the year, if they stay in their current wage system.

Becker County Attorney Brian McDonald implored the board to make changes to the new pay scale since his assistant county attorneys would all have their wages frozen for the foreseeable future under the new system.

“It’s without debate that the biggest losers in that proposal are my county attorneys,” said McDonald. “Proposing, basically, an indefinite pay freeze or reduction compared to what my staff was told they were capable of making when they were hired. Without my assistant attorneys, I can’t do my job. We could debate all meeting long about how this was conducted and the results. The bottom line is I don’t agree with what they consider the market for a licensed attorney in this area. And I don’t agree with the proposal to reduce or freeze my staff’s pay.”

Under the new pay scale, assistant attorneys in Becker County would have their wages reduced between $1.90 to $6.36 per hour lower, depending on their time in service.

McDonald added one of his assistants had his last day on Tuesday because he was offered $50,000 more per year to work for the public defender’s office. He also said they have had a position for a new county attorney posted for multiple weeks and no one has applied for the position.

“It shows that we are not competitive,” he said. “I’ve sent you Cass County’s information that they’ve just posted in the last month or two. I’ve reached out to their county attorney and they’ve had, perhaps, one application. So, it’s a really dark time for county attorneys in Minnesota right now. It’s kind of a combination of the public defenders announcing their huge pay increases, but I also know that six weeks of discussing freezes and pay reductions has not helped.”

Barry Nelson, chair of the Becker County Board, said, since their wasn’t consensus from the board, he thinks the county should stay with the old pay scale system for now and make some changes to get through the upcoming year.

“We’re struggling with either way we go right now,” said Nelson. “And the struggle on the new system is something we need to analyze and say, ‘is it worth moving to at this time?’ We can always move to it at a later time, but for this contract year, I think we should stay where we’re at and adjust where we need to where we are low. And ask our staff to work to make sure our pay equities pass the test again.”

David Meyer, commissioner for District 2, said he wants to make sure the new pay scale is correct before he considers supporting it and he, and some of the other commissioners, want more market comparison information from different counties to see how their new scale lines up.

“I’m concerned with are we using tax money wisely to get this correct,” said Meyer. “And we can’t vote on this until I feel it’s right. To me, right now, it doesn’t seem like its equitable, fair, or correct.”

No official action was taken by the board on the new pay scale, but commissioners and county staff plan on moving forward using their current system with some changes. The commissioners all agreed their continued discussions are moving the process in the right direction.

The new class and compensation plan is expected to continue to be discussed at upcoming meetings.

Battle Lake Public Schools received approval from voters Tuesday for $30.5 million bonding improvement package; other lakes area school district ballot measures fail

Results are in from lakes area school boards balloted bond and budget initiatives from Tuesday night and, for the most part, they failed across lakes country.

Lake Park-Audubon Public Schools were denied by voters to increase its general education revenue by $610 per pupil on a 56% to 44% vote. 920 ballots were cast out of more than 3,500 registered voters.

In Wadena County, the Wadena-Deer Creek school district voted down a similar measure that would’ve raised revenue by $790 per pupil on an overwhelming 79% to 21%. 2,027 ballots were cast out of nearly 4,300 registered voters.

Additionally, a second ballot question for the Wadena-Deer Creek school district would’ve raised up to $17.7 million in general obligation bonds for school site improvements and maintenance, however, that measure also failed by an even wider margin, 82% to 18%.

The only successful school district ballot measure in the lakes area on Tuesday was in Otter Tail County.

Voters approved the Battle Lake school district to raise up to $30.5 million in general obligation bonds for school site improvements, upgrades and renovations on a 56% to 44% vote.

DL golfer Hanna Knoop, Park Rapids golfer Anna Eckmann sign letters of intent with Augustana University for 2024-25 season

Detroit Lakes golfer Hanna Knoop and Anna Eckmann or Park Rapids will be joining the Augustana Vikings next fall.

In a news release from the Sioux Falls-based university, Augustana Head Women’s Golf Coach, Coralee Jorgensen said the two seniors will be Joining their program for the 2024-25 school year.

Knoop is an All-State honoree that placed 10th at the State Tournament as a junior. She was named a team captain and earned Academic All-State honors the same season. In her sophomore campaign, Knoop qualified for state while also helping her team to a Mid-State Conference Championship.

Jorgensen said: “Her enthusiasm is contagious and she has a proven track record of being a leader. She has grit and will never give up on a round of golf. Hanna has been playing competitive golf for many years and this will carry forward into her collegiate career.”

Anna Eckmann of Park Rapids averaged 74 strokes per round as a junior where she was the medalist for the Mid State Conference. In addition, she was the 8AA Section and Subsection Champion while placing fourth at the state tournament. As a sophomore, she placed third at state while placing fifth as a freshman.

On Eckmann, Jorgensen said: “Anna comes to us with an array of high school accolades both academically and athletically. She has three Conference Player of the Year honors, was the Mid-State Conference Champion and has won the title twice in the Northern Pines Conference. She is a player with a strong long game and iron game. Her positive attitude on the course will keep her in the game.”

The signing of the two seniors was part of Augustana’s 2024 signing class day on National Signing Day.

United Way of Becker County encourages lakes area residents to participate in kindness week

The United Way of Becker County is holding their annual week of kindness next week from Nov. 13-17.

The week features daily goals set out by the United Way for people to connect and help their neighbors, or other community members and organizations.

Terry Haus, executive director of the United Way of Becker County, said the whole purpose is just brightening someone’s day and how that kindness can be infectious.

“I think the idea behind kindness week is just to put out that we make (kindness) a focus this week to do something,” said Haus. “And people do it all the time, but sometimes life gets busy. We get caught up and it makes it a little bit more difficult, but we want to make this a focal point of next week to just do something. Maybe talk to your kids about it and I think that’s a great starting point. And just brightening up someone’s day can have a ripple effect.”

He added that kindness could be holding the door for someone, picking up the leaves in their yard or as simple as writing a heartfelt note to a friend, family member, or essential worker.

“When you receive a personal card like that, it really brings value when you are reading it to say, ‘wow, I really did make a difference in that person’s life,” he said. “We’ve become so efficient in doing multiple projects that it’s really easy to send a tweet, a text, an email, and for some of those people maybe it’d just be really nice to write a note to your mom, dad, brother or sister.”

Daily kindness reminders will be posted on the United Way of Becker County’s Facebook page all next week and Haus said you never know how much a random act of kindness can brighten someone’s day. Adding, these good deeds tend to cause chain reactions that create more and more good deeds, which is the goal of the week.

“A half-hour, go do something,” said Haus. “And I’m a firm believer that starts a chain reaction. And it can be anything. You never know the difference that’s going to make in some little kid’s life, some adult’s life. Magical.”

The United Way of Becker County’s Kindness Week kicks off next Monday, Nov. 13 with the goal of connecting with someone, like an old friend or neighbor.

Woman injured on Highway 27 in Douglas County after attempting U-turn on roadway

A woman was injured in a two-vehicle crash on Highway 27 in Douglas County, near Alexandria, on Wednesday morning.

On Nov. 8 at 11:01 a.m., a 2021 Mazda CX-5, driven by 63-year-old Dawn Marie Pennie of Brandon, Minn., was reportedly stopped on the eastbound shoulder of Highway 27 while facing westbound traffic when she attempted to make a U-turn on the roadway at East Mary Lake Road. The Mazda struck a westbound 2022 Ford F-250, driven by Michael John Friedrichs of Sauk Centre.

Airbags deployed in both vehicles during the incident.

Pennie suffered non-life-threatening injuries during the crash and was transported to Alomere Health in Alexandria for treatment.

Friedrichs did not report any injuries at the scene.

Both drivers were wearing their seatbelts at the time of the crash and law enforcement believes alcohol did not factor into the incident.

Wahpeton father and son honored with life saver awards after pulling truck driver from burning truck

Travis Owens and his 19-year-old son, Hunter Owens, of Wahpeton, North Dakota, have been honored for the rescue of a truck driver involved in a fiery crash south of Sabin last month.

The driver, Jase Kelly, had fallen asleep at the wheel as a result of a long shift working the sugar beet harvest. He drove off a county road and the semi violently struck a tree. Kelly was still inside the truck and it caught fire.

Travis and Hunter were driving down the road, saw the fully engulfed truck, stopped, and without regard to his own safety, Travis pulled Kelly from the semi and moved him to safety. Hunter helped his father by getting a knife to cut the seatbelt and calling 911 to report the crash.

Clay County Sheriff Mark Empting presented the father and son the awards by the Sheriff’s office. He thanked them for their courage to stop and help that day.

He said: “There’s no doubt that your actions on October 8 definitely saved a life.”

Clay County Sgt. Kyle Diekmann nominated the Owens’ for the award.

Story by Don Haney / KFGO

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