SCC board deeds 1.06 acres back to Glenwood City
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
HUDSON — The St.Croix County Board has approved a quit claim deed that deeds 1.06 acres back to Glenwood City.
The parcel was missed when the fairgrounds was transferred in 1996, said Heather Amos, St. Croix County Corporation Counsel, at the St. Croix County Board’s February 7 meeting.
The parcel of land is located at 221 Water Street and is used as Glenwood City’s recycling center.
According to the background information included with the resolution that authorizes the county board chair and the county clerk to sign a quit claim deed transferring the title of the parcel, Autumn Lindquist, the attorney for Glenwood City, contacted Amos to discuss the parcel of land.
The 1.06 acres was to be transferred to Glenwood City as part of Resolution 10 (96) from May of 1996, but the legal description was not included in the warranty deed recorded on October 2, 1996, according to the background information.
The St. Croix County Board unanimously approved the resolution for the quit claim deed on a voice vote.
Facilities director
The St. Croix County Board has appointed Taylor Mabis as the new facilities director for the county.
Mabis has worked for St. Croix County for eight years, has worked his way up through the facilities department and has been serving as interim director for the past few months, said Ken Witt, county administrator.
Jim Elsbury retired from the position of facilities director in November.
When Mabis was asked to address the county board, he stepped to the podium, simply said “Thank you,” and stepped away, much to the amusement of county board members and the county administrator.
According to the background information Witt provided to the county board, “After an open recruitment process, our internal candidate, Taylor Mavis, was the best fit for our organization. It is my honor to recommend his permanent appointment as the facilities director for St. Croix County.”
CNA pay increase
The St. Croix County Board also approved a pay increase for Certified Nursing Assistants for the county’s long-term care facility at the February 7 meeting.
There is a nationwide shortage of CNAs, and a wage study revealed that St. Croix County is paying “below market” for CNAs, making it difficult to recruit, hire and retain CNAs, said Audrie Haycraft, St. Croix County human resources director.
The starting wage for CNAs will be at Step 8 of Grade 53, so the increase will be from $16.44 per hour to $17.53 per hour, she said.
Haycraft also recommended that the pay for existing CNAs be increased by three steps to maintain pay equity among the positions.
The fiscal impact will be $62,232, she said.
When asked how much money St. Croix County pays for contracted services to fill in for positions at the long-term care facility that St. Croix County has been unable to hire, Haycraft said the cost is several hundred thousand dollars per month.
Contracted services refers to what is known as “traveling” CNAs and nurses.
There are 54 Full Time Equivalency (FTE) CNA positions approved for the health care campus. The county currently has 32 on staff, with 20 who are full time, so the county is 30 CNAs short, Haycraft said.
Without a full staff of CNAs, only 40 of the 50 skilled nursing beds can be filled, and there are other beds in other parts of the facility that also cannot be filled, Witt noted.
According to background information Witt provided for the county board, since the long-term care facility is an enterprise fund, the additional expenses will decrease the net profit of the Health Care Campus, but the positive cash flows will go toward paying back the cash advances from the general fund.
The positive potential, according to the background information, is that additional staff could expand the number of beds that can be filled at the long-term care facility, which would increase the net cash flow.
