(Cass Co) The Cass County Board of Supervisors this morning approved allocating $70,000 in ARPA funding for a temporary full-time Wellness Coordinator.
At last week’s meeting, Kate Olson with Cass County Extension explained that up until recently, Brigham Hoegh was in that position, but she left to pursue other full-time opportunities. Her leaving increased the pace of expanding that position. The Wellness Coordinator helps with partnerships, networking, initiating new programs, supporting current programs, and assisting in securing grant funds for a variety of entities. The Nishna Valley Family YMCA, Cass County Board of Supervisors, Cass County Extension, and Cass County Public Health have funded the position since 2019.
Today, Supervisor Mark O’Brien spoke about some concerns brought to his attention about what kind of quality applicants they would get to apply for this position when it might only be for three years. Public Health Director Beth Olsen had this response…
The Supervisors voted four to one to approve the ARPA funding with Bernard Pettinger voting Nay.
In other activity, the Supervisors approved changes in employee benefits effective July 1, 2023 by leaving ISAC and electing a stand-alone health insurance plan with Wellmark, saving the county approximately $143,000 from the current premiums. The partial self-fund claims should be between $200,000 and $300,000. They will also pay to keep the wellness program, EAP program and accident & dismemberment plan.
The Supervisors also approved a resolution to amend the Cass County five year construction program for Fiscal Year 23-28. Engineer Trent Wolken explained that he would like to advance bridge #250 on 710th Street near Cumberland so they can let that project this fiscal year. The Supervisors then approved the Cass County Secondary Roads five-year construction program for Fiscal Year 24-29. The program in the next five years includes 13 bridge projects, three culvert projects and paving of about 23-miles.
