Meeker County's application for a $31,387.26 grant to help in upgrading the county's GIS system, received approval of the County Board at its April 21 meeting.
The grant, County Administrator Paul Virnig said, will help in “tying things together” in the county’s 911 system.
Board member Steve Schmitt said the amount was Meeker County’s share of a $640,000 grant received by the Central Minnesota Emergency Services Board, on which Schmitt is the county’s representative. The grant will be administered through the county Planning and Zoning department.
Highway project bids approved
Two highway improvement project bids were approved — or CSAH 1 and CSAH 9. The two projects were let as one bid, with Duininck of Prinsburg winning the work with a low bid of $1.366 million.
Bids were higher than expected, with Duininck’s winning bid being 6.1 percent higher than the county engineer’s estimate.
Board member Mike Housman expressed surprise at the bids, given that prices for oil and other pavement raw materials are low.
Public works director Phil Schmalz said bids “somewhat surprisingly” exceeded estimates, but “I don’t really understand why it would be higher right now. I didn’t get a specific answer on why the pavement was higher.”
Social services update
Paul Bukovich, social services director, said that his team was “doing an excellent job maintaining contact with clients and children we serve” during the difficult time of stay-home orders.
Social workers have seen a rise in educational neglect cases since school districts began sending out distance learning letters, and the department has stepped up efforts to reach out to children and parents.
Health care, beyond COVID-19
Board member Beth Oberg said she wanted to “get the word out that the clinics are available” in answer to a significant downturn in patient volume at the Meeker Memorial Hospital and Clinics.
Early efforts to get people to call before coming in for medical care seem to have kept people away from the hospital and clinic entirely, Oberg said.
“We don’t want people not to come in if they’r enot feeling good,” she said. “The hospital is the cleanest place you can be in this county.
“Our fear now is that people that aren’t healthy are not taking care of themselves,” she continued. “Then you’re creating another crisis.”
The hospital is required to keep at certain staffing levels, regardless of the number of beds occupied, she said. And as the census stays low during the coronavirus pandemic, the hospital loses oney.
“We have the same health care available we’ve always had. We have to get that out there,” Oberg said.
