(Spirit Lake)– In a discussion carried over from several weeks ago, the Dickinson county board of supervisors Tuesday took no action on a request from Veteran’s Affairs Director John Tonsfeldt to increase the amount of hours for Ernest Cupp, an assistant in the office, and to pay him for back overtime. Tonsfeldt said the workload in the office has increased substantially as more veterans are requesting services. Adding to that, Tonsfeldt says, is the extensive research and planning for the veteran’s memorial plaza to be built with the new courthouse. The supervisors directed Tonsfeldt to meet with the committee working on the memorial plaza to see if that project could be put on a slower timeframe. Supervisors Wayne Northey and Mardi Allen said they’re concered that increasing the amount of hours for the Veteran’s Affairs personnel may set a precedence and result in similar requests coming from other offices.
The supervisors also met with Paul Klein of RDG…the architect on the courthouse project. Klein requested the supervisors draw up a protocol spelling out the channels major changes in the courthouse project would need to follow. Klein also requested regular update meetings held by the contractor and subcontractors be closed closed to the public. Three supervisors attended the last meeting, making it public since there was a quorum of supervisors. KUOO news was on hand for that meeting. Klein said it wasn’t their intent to hide anything from the public by closing the meetings. But he said having the public and media present at the meetings could make for some awkward situations, as some of the discussion, Klein said, has a tendency to get heated once in awhile.
