By Gary Lee Stuber
The Clay County Commission met in its first April meeting on Monday, April 9. All three commissioners were in attendance. Joyce Johnson and Duane Legg were physically present and David Schoolcraft was present by phone. The Commission started by taking care of routine county business. They approved minutes from the previous meeting, bills, purchase orders, budget revisions, erroneous assessments as presented by the Assessor, fiduciary appointments as presented by the County Clerk, including approving last wills and testaments, appointment of co-executors and affidavit and waiver of final settlements for estates.
Karen Nicholas asked for her annual funding request for the public library. Many changes at the state library commission have changed the way funding is done. Just as they did last year, the Clay County Commission picked up the insurance cost for the library with a promise that if more funds were to be realized, the library would get another look.
Sheriff Allen King also came looking for funding. He needs close to $20,000 for the publishing and then mailing of delinquent taxes as required by law in May and June. This is a cost that changes every year and always seems to just go up. Commissioner Legg said that he just got his annual budget and those should have been added into the budget this year. They will do what they have for the past two years, pass this cost on to next year’s Sheriff’s Budget.
The commission approved a Big Otter Waterline Resolution #18 for $176,000. And the commission approved the 911 Ambulance hiring of Haley Bosewell, pending a good background check.
Before a motion to continue until April 21, 2026 to Lay the Levy for fiscal year 2025-2027, the commission took comments from the floor.
Donna Salisbury read a statement: “April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month. Pinwheels symbolize childhood joy and imagination but they also represent something deeper. They remind us that when the conditions are right, children can thrive. Prevention is about creating those conditions early by: partnering with parents, strengthening families and investing in community-defined solutions. ‘Pinwheels of Possibility’ reflects strengths-based vision that centers families and communities as the founding of child well-being. We hope that with each display you pass by, you remember that you can create positive childhood experiences.”
She brought blue and silver pinwheels and she and the commissioners placed them in the planter boxes in the courthouse yard. Yes, they expect children will pluck them out and bring them home. And if there aren’t any when your child is there, just cross the street to the Family Resource Center, Donna would be happy to find them one.
The next regular commission meeting will be Monday, April 27.