Commissioners approve hiring a fifth deputy sheriff

Moody County is looking for a fifth deputy to fill a position being added this year.
After an executive session at the Feb. 5 county commission meeting, commissioners voted to advertise for the deputy position and a dispatcher position.
Sheriff Troy Wellman has been asking for a fifth full-time deputy, based on the need and the increase in county calls. Commissioners budgeted for the additional deputy but put the hire on hold until county and city leaders could talk about whether it would make sense to have a joint law enforcement between Moody County and Flandreau. Flandreau Mayor Mark Bonrud and City Administrator Jeff Pederson have said the city is not interested in changing the current law enforcement coverage and that residents are happy with the city police department service.
In addition to Wellman, the Sheriff’s Office employs chief deputy Ken Prorok and deputies Logan Baldini, Carl Brakke and Mark Lee.
It also has two people willing to be part-time deputies, positions that would be rarely used when the new full-time hire is made, said Marty Skroch, county human resources director. With the new deputy position, the county will reduce the number of dispatchers from five to four, he said.
In other commission business,
•The county will pay the nearly $6,000 for the 211 Helpline resource established especially for the concern about suicide. The service is working in the county now, and additional money will need to be raised. Commissioners voted to give $1,000 to the project and will be reimbursed by other donors.

•The county will pay $2,833 for four radios for the ambulance service. The existing radios are 15 years old and have trouble holding a charge, Skroch said. The money will come out of the ambulance budget for 2019.
•The new 4-H extension employee, Jennifer Hayford, introduced herself to commissioners. She will be working in Flandreau on Mondays and Tuesdays and in Madison the remainder of the week.
•Commissioners decided to get additional estimates on how much it will cost to add a larger breaker box and wire in an outlet to plug in a washer and dryer at the extension building. The initial price was $4,785 from Bob’s Electric, which included working on a Saturday to complete the two-day job. The breaker box needs to be larger because it is running at 150 percent capacity so the appliances that would be used by Moody County Head Start can’t be added, Skroch said.
•Janii White, a health nurse at Avera Flandreau, said the county is seeing more people coming to the community from Central American countries. Those families need additional time for their appointments because of language translating that is needed and the number of services the people may need, she said.
“Usually they need other things. They need food. They need clothing. Can you look at my daughter’s ears?” she said.
An overall community needs assessment has been completed, and opioid use and mental health are the top issues, she said.
She also has been visiting the schools to talk about health issues, including electronic cigarette dangers for multiple grade levels and human sexuality for seniors.
•Todd Kays with First District, which helps the county promote economic development and provides other services, presented an annual report. Kays talked about grant money, legislative issues and zoning ideas.
He told commissioners they did the right thing in recently disallowing a third home on a quarter.
“They are asking for something you can’t even ask for,” he said.
Under a planned residential district there is room for negotiating, he said. It’s possible that closer to town, the county would want to allow for greater density, if the city of Flandreau would agree with that, he said.
Moody County rules are similar to neighboring counties, he said.