New chairman Larry Haws now leads the Stearns County Board of Commissioners as the chair. At his side as vice-chair is 3rd District Commissioner, Vince Schaefer. Haws is commissioner for the 1st District and represents portions of St. Cloud. He’s served as Commissioner for five years. As 3rd District Commissioner, Schaefer now resides in Rockville and represents the Kimball, Cold Spring, Eden Valley, Collegeville, Avon, Holdingford and St. Stephen areas. Schaefer is beginning his second year on the Stearns County Board of Commissioners. Board schedule At Tuesday’s meeting, the Board set their 2004 schedule. The Board will continue to meet the first, third and fourth Tuesdays of the month. Second Tuesdays will be open meetings, which will allow for special events or meetings with department directors to discuss subjects in greater length. All meetings will be in the Board Room of the Stearns County Administration Center in downtown St. Cloud. Salary increases Four of the county’s elected officials will get modest salary increases this year. The County Board agreed to raise the Sheriff and Attorney’s salaries 2 percent in 2003. Sheriff John Sanner will earn $90,780 and County Attorney Janelle Kendall will make $105,060. County Record-er Diane Grundhoefer will receive a 1.5 percent increase to make her salary $69,000. The board agreed to give Auditor-Treasurer Randy Schreifels a 2.5 percent increase. He now earns $91,600. The moderate increases are a reflection of the tight budget times the county is facing. Earlier last year, the commissioners voted to freeze their own salaries. Half-day Fridays In continued response to the state budget crisis, the board decided to keep county offices closed on Friday afternoons. The decision will be reviewed again in six months after the legislature has ended its session and the financial impact of their actions are known. In May of 2003, after a reduction in the state aid funding, the board decided to close the doors on Friday-afternoons to help save the county money. This has allowed employees to take time off without pay, and because the county is operating with fewer staff, it gives employees time to complete paperwork without interruptions. Although, the Administration Center is closed, License Center West remains open during normal business hours. Sheriff’s deputies and county parks also continue to operate on a normal schedule. Emergency upgrades The county’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) is receiving some necessary upgrades. A bio-terrorism disaster exercise last fall identified some shortcomings in the EOC. Nearly $40,000 of federal grant money will be used to replace aging telephones, provide computer network connections for all EOC staff, add fax capabilities and purchase several computers. The Emergency Management Department hopes to make additional changes in the future, if funding becomes available. Other than being used for routine meetings, the EOC is activated whenever there is a disaster or emergency of any kind.
