Karen Newman
jokarmid@gmail.com

At the Clay County Commission’s December 17 meeting, three long-time county employees were honored for their exemplary work. Chris McCarthy has served in an exemplary fashion as a staff member of the Clay County Sheriff’s office in several divisions during his 25 years of service. Lydia Schreiner received accolades for her 15 years of work with the Clay County Detox Center. Julie Klier was praised for her excellent efforts as a 15-year Clay County Social Services employee. Each employee received a certificate of recognition.
In further business, Clay County Sheriff Mark Empting updated the commission on the Sheriff’s K9 program. When the sheriff’s department recognized a need for the addition of a second dog for the K9 program, they reached out to the public and raised in excess of their $30,000 initial goal. The sheriff thanked the community for their generous support. He acknowledged support from community groups, business and individuals. He specifically shared that a child from Sabin contributed half of the profits from a warm weather lemonade stand to the cause. Deputy Sam Grandbois will become the dog’s handler when the animal is acquired on January 6. Grandbois and his canine partner begin twelve weeks of training in March. The Clay County Sheriff’s Department also received the donation of a squad car kennel from another county.
The commission unanimously approved a 2020 budget in excess of $95 million and a final levy of more than $35 million. Commissioner Jenny Mongeau reminded spectators and those watching the live feed of the meeting that the relatively short time it took for the commission to approve the budget and levy at the December 17th meeting didn’t reflect the hard work that preceded the day’s presentation for approval. She stated that the commissioners, individually, and as a group, attended many departmental meetings and received citizen feedback over the past year as the budget and levy planning process took place. Mongeau reassured Clay County residents, “We are being as careful as possible with your tax dollars.”