Lincoln County discusses engine breaking concerns, ambulance funding

The Lincoln County Board of Commission met Thursday, Oct. 29. Highway Superintendent Terry Fluit requested board discussion and possible board action regarding dynamic engine braking/unmuffled engine braking signs. 

“We have a resident from the Southern part of Lincoln County that wants to talk about a possible ordinance to do dynamic engine braking,” Fluit said introducing Mike Conlon.

“I have lived in at the intersection of Highway 11 and 294th Street  for five years. During that time, I have worked with Terry Fluit and Greg Rothschadl on other issues involving the intersection and surrounding roads. I appreciate their help and their willingness to work with me in the past. I approached them about this issue and Terry recommended that I bring this engine braking concern before the county commission and that’s why I’m here tonight. Over the five years I have lived here, semi-truck traffic has been increasing, and the noise from engine braking has become a growing concern. I want to be clear that I appreciate truck drivers and the important work they do. Trucks are essential to our economy, and I am not opposed to truck traffic or here to criticize drivers for doing their jobs. My concern is specifically the excessive noise that engine braking can create near homes. It can interrupt conversations outdoors, disturb the peace inside a home, and interfere with sleep. The noise can carry a considerable distance, making it difficult to escape even when you’re inside,” he said. 

“It probably isn’t a bad idea to put one up and I suppose at least 50% of them will abide by it,” Commissioner Doug Putnam said. 

Fluit returned to discuss options with the commission. 

“The last three years we had a detour agreement with the DOT for Highway 46 to run 294 down there. This year, it will be done when they open 46 and I know it can’t get done soon enough because we have work we need to do on that road. I would think a majority of that traffic will be ending, at least a lot of the trucks, and I believe once the detour is off we will end up putting load limits on that road to force them down to 46,” Fluit said.

Chairwoman Tiffani Landeen asked if Fluit had any heartburn about putting the sign up. 

“If this is something that we are going to do, we’re going to end up putting up hundreds of signs. It’s not just going to be at this one location, folks are going to come from all over and we’re going to have to put up a lot of signs,” Fluit said. 

Sheriff Steve Swenson walked up to the podium to weigh in on the topic. 

“I agree with Terry wholeheartedly. We will end up putting this signage on every intersection in Lincoln County and it would be a monster to enforce across the county creating more complaints in my office than any ordinance you could ever pass. To put a rural farm community restriction on a safety piece of equipment on a truck, just my opinion, but the further you get North it will be at every intersection,” he said. 

Joel Arends made a motion for internal review of the intersections and a timeline of when the work would be completed; it was seconded by Herman Otten, motion carried unanimously.

Human Resources Director, Kari Elling requested board discussion with possible action to approve an overhire in the Department of Communications. 

“I am requesting the overhire in the Department of Communications to care for getting somebody up to speed and trained while covering leave coverage for somebody that is going to be scheduled to retire in April. We’d like to hire this person hopefully to start at the end of December, so it will go into the 2027 payroll budget,” she said. 

Commissioner Arends asked if there was already someone in mind for the position. 

“We have interviewed some people that we think would make potential candidates because we hired someone already,” Elling responded. 

Motion was made to approve by Jim Schmidt, seconded by Arends, motion carried unanimously. 

Rombough requested a proclamation for supporting Operation Green Light for Veterans. The proclamation reads: PROCLAMATION BY THE LINCOLN COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS IN SUPPORT OF OPERATION GREEN LIGHT FROM NOVEMBER 4TH THROUGH NOVEMBER 11TH, 2026 WHEREAS, the residents of Lincoln County have great respect, admiration and the utmost gratitude for all the men and women who have selflessly served our country and this community in the Armed Forces; and WHEREAS, the contributions and sacrifices of those who served in the Armed Forces have been vital in maintaining the freedoms and way of life enjoyed by our citizens; and WHEREAS, Lincoln County seeks to honor individuals who have made countless sacrifices for freedom by placing themselves in harm’s way for the good of all; and WHEREAS, veterans continue to serve our community in the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, religious groups, civil service, and as County Veterans Service Officers in 29 states to help fellow former service members access more than $52 billion in federal health, disability and compensation benefits each year; and WHEREAS, approximately 200,000 service members transition to civilian communities annually; and WHEREAS, active military service members transitioning from military service are at a high risk for suicide during their first year after military service; and WHEREAS, the National Association of Counties encourages all counties, parishes and boroughs to recognize Operation Green Light for Veterans; and WHEREAS, Lincoln County appreciates the sacrifices of our United States military personnel and believes specific recognition should be granted; NOW, THEREFORE, with designation as a Green Light for Veterans County, Lincoln County hereby PROCLAIMS November 4-11, 2026, as a time to salute and honor the service and sacrifices of those transitioning from active service; and BE IT FURTHER PROCLAIMED, that in observance of Operation Green Light, the Lincoln County Courthouse and Lincoln County Justice Center will be illuminated green; and BE IT FURTHER PROCLAIMED, that Lincoln County encourages its citizens in patriotic tradition to recognize the importance of honoring all those who made immeasurable sacrifices to preserve freedom by displaying green lights at their residence or in a window of their place of business from November 4-11, 2026. “I believe this is the fourth year we have done this and when we upgraded the LED lighting, the lights high above where the guard sits were put in as light bulbs that could be changed to different colors, so it’ll make it a little easier for us to light that area green. At the new building, I confirmed today that the pillars were also put in and are able to be lit green and I’ve been told we will be able to do that next week,” he said. 

Motion was made to approve by Arends, seconded by Schmidt, motion carried unanimously. Commission Assistant Paul Anderson requested a board work session with Lincoln County Townships regarding Ambulance Service. 

“A couple weeks ago commissioner Arends requested to have a work session with the townships. We have some township guys here along with Nate Vander Plaats from the City of Lennox. The goal for the work session is to have a free-flowing discussion between you and the townships regarding the Lennox Ambulance,” he said. 

City Administrator, Nate Vander Plaats gave an overview of the previous nights meeting. 

“The meeting last night covered two agenda topics, the first was figuring what a funding formula looks like for the political subdivisions that were there. That was figured out over the course of time. We jokingly referred to it as the Hagena plan because Jonathan Hagena is the one that kind of got us to the final point on that. At the end of that session we were able to come to an agreement for what the funding formula would look like. The next item was to figure out a joint operating agreement. Several sections had comments on the initial draft that we incorporated in. There’s a couple sections that need to have our City Attorney and Drew have a meeting on wording to essentially have an agreement in principal before the final document needs to be drafted out and sent out and then each governing body will be asked to approve the joint agreement,” he said. 

Chairwoman Landeen asked for members of the townships to speak. Dana Knutson of Delaware township stood to speak. 

“Last night was the first I got to hear about all of this. I think the meeting went great. It’s better for Delaware Township with the formula versus the initial expense that we were expecting, so we are happy with that, but our biggest concern is what is the 5 year plan or 10 year plan. If the counties don’t keep contributing that’s going to have a huge effect on the townships if we try to stay in there because the townships have the smallest sliver of property taxes and barely have enough to operate, to fund the gravel roads, and do this simple maintenance that we need to do. Yes, we want to fund these ambulances too, but that’s going to be the struggle if we can’t hopefully continue this without the county’s help,” he said. 

Chairwoman thanked everyone for their participation in the discussions.