Most to see increase; board, auditor-treasurer see freeze

Most elected county officials will get a raise for 2012.

The county board voted to increase the salaries for County Attorney Kristen Nelsen, Sheriff Terese Amazi, Recorder Jill Cordes and non-union employees, while the board froze the salaries for Auditor-Treasurer Doug Groh and the county commissioners.

Nelsen’s salary will increase from about $95,700 to $98,102.

Amazi’s salary will increase from $91,141 to $92,508.

Cordes’ salary will increase from $51,384 to $53,954.

Non-union employees’ salary pay ranges increased by 1.5 percent.

Groh’s salary was frozen for the second year in a row at $68,180.

The commissioner’s salaries were frozen at $24,200.

The county’s per diem for meetings was set at $40.

Nelsen: Seibel Center saves on long-term costs

The Michael H Seibel Family Visitation & Exchange Center is potentially saving the county more money than it costs, according to County Attorney Kristen Nelsen.

In 2011, the Seibel Center helped more than 100 new children, housed 552 visits over about 1,267 hours, and there were 624 exchanges where children were transferred from one parent to another, according to the Seibel Center’s Heather Steinkamp.

The Seibel Center gives families a safe, monitored place to transfer children between separated parents.

There were also more than 100 Human Services visits at the center.

“I thought it was really important to have her (Steinkamp) come over and … make the full board aware of how much they’re actually doing at the Seibel Center,” Commissioner Tim Gabrielson said.

Sheriff Terese Amazi said exchanges have turned ugly before and ended in assaults. Nelsen said the center keeps exchanges from turning to disputes that can escalate to violence.

“Every one of those exchanges has the potential for serious, if not lethal, violence,” Nelsen said. “That’s when bad stuff happens.”

And if the Seibel Center weren’t operating, it would probably cost the county much more later. Nelsen said it would only take one or two violent incidents to rake up big costs in the county attorney’s office, law enforcement and courts.

“You can’t begin to estimate the cost savings just for those 624 cases,” Nelson said. “Is everyone of those cases going to end up in violence? No, but all you need is one or two really big ones.”

Gabrielson said the facility is an asset to the community, and it’s branching off to serve other communities. The center has a contract with Dodge County, and deals with other counties are being discussed.

“I think we’re really lucky to have that in Mower County,” Gabrielson said.

Mower 1 of 10 to get AmeriCorps’ worker for 2012

Mower County’s 4-H program will get an extra helping hand in 2012.

The county is one of 10 in Minnesota that will have an AmeriCorps volunteer working with schools and area children to develop 4-H and assist with educational projects.

“We feel really lucky to have gotten one of 10 in the state,” said Jayne HagerDee, regional director of the University of Minnesota Extension.

Steffanie Stundahl will work in the county on a federal grant. She’ll be working at area schools and the Austin YMCA to run programs and help get youngsters interested in 4-H.

Some of the projects will focus on wind power, since the county is known for its multiple wind farms.

Stundahl, a Mower County native who spent more than a decade in 4-H, said she plans to reach out to as many county schools as possible.

HagerDee also told the board she will soon be retiring from Minnesota Extension. The regional directors in Rochester and Mankato will split her duties.

Board seeks city’s expertise on plan

The county will ask Austin’s Finance Director Tom Dankert to coordinate the county’s five-year capital improvement plan.

Dankert just finished coordinating the city’s improvement plan, and County Coordinator Craig Oscarson said Dankert is very experienced in the process.

Oscarson described the capital improvement plan as a document for the county board to use to look at projected capital purchases like vehicles, highway equipment, computers, software and buildings.

The document will help the board when planning the county budget.

The county will pay Dankert about $70 an hour for roughly 100 hours of work.

Public Health nabs $100K grant

Mower County Public Health officially received a three-year, $100,000 grant for intensive home visits to at-risk pregnant women.

The Department of Health grant will fund Public Health nurses and social workers to go to homes of high-risk families before and after a baby is born to educate parents on proper child-rearing. High-risk families are typically families in poverty, among other factors.

The grant comes after Mower County was identified as one of seven counties with large populations of high-risk families as well as pregnancy complications.

The grant means county officials will concentrate on high-risk families instead of some of the low-risk homes they have normally visited.