The Koochiching County Board Tuesday is scheduled to consider a joint power agreement with St. Louis County supporting ongoing sewer projects in both counties.

The county board meeting is scheduled to begin at 9:45 a.m. in the boardroom at the courthouse. It follows a Koochiching Development Authority Board meeting scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. in the boardroom.

The joint powers agreement, scheduled for discussion at 2 p.m., is also expected to include appointment of two commissioners to serve as members of a joint board on the matter.

The agreement came from discussions with state and federal lawmakers who told commissioners that they may be more successful in obtaining funds for sewer projects in and around Voyageurs National Park in a combined effort. Koochiching is now planning to extend sewer service to the former village of Island View, several miles east of where sewer service now ends. St. Louis County has projects in the Ash River, Crane Lake and Kabetogama areas.

The joint board would be a governing body that would seek and distribute money for the projects.

In other Environmental Services Department business, the board will consider a recommendation of the Wetlands Conservation Act Technical Evaluation Panel and ESD staff to approve eligibility of 65 percent of a field and three acres of buffer for credits in the wetland banking program. The proposal by Bruce Hasbargen sought to designate all of a field.

The land would be one of the first private properties to be available for the purchase of credits to mitigate wetland disturbances in construction.

In other business, the board is to hear a request for support of the “Walk a Mile In Her Shoes — The International Falls Men’s March to Stop Gender Abuse” planned for Oct. 6.

At 10 a.m., the board will hear a request from Sheriff Brian Youso to increase a temporary employee to part-time status and to make expenditures to improve jail kitchen equipment. Land Commissioner Dennis Hummitzsch will ask for resolution of timber auction bid issue at 10:05 a.m.

At 10:15 a.m., the board is scheduled to handle routine Community Service Department business, and at 10:20 a.m. will consider awarding a contract for a project on County State Aid Highway 77 and to increase pay for the senior engineering technician.

The board is also expected to hear about a proposal by the Minnesota Department of Transportation to give the county the section of Highway 332 between U.S. Highway 53 and Highway 11 East along with about $3 million. No decision is expected to be made on the issue Tuesday. The board is expected to discuss the issue again in September.

Attorney Steve Nelson is scheduled to discuss court appointed attorney fees at 11 a.m., and at 11:15 a.m. Citizens for Backus are scheduled to ask the county to set a hearing date to allow two tax exempt bonds to be issued to pay for the floor renovation plan for the Backus Community Center. The county is expected to incur no debt or other liability through the action and only serve as a conduit for tax exemption.

A public comment period is scheduled to follow the Backus discussion.

At 1:30 p.m., the board is scheduled to meet in closed session to discuss legal action taken by Thomas Jacobson against the county on a cartway matter denied earlier by the board.

Jacobson requested a cartway across property to his seasonal property. The owners of the property he proposed to cross opposed providing the cartway. Jacobson had a restricted easement to his property by court order, but has said he needs a larger road to accommodate logging and building a larger home, and the easement restricted his property use. The board denied the cartway request stating he already had access to the property and the board could not require the easement be discontinued because the court had ordered it.

At 2:40 p.m., the board is scheduled to meet in committee with International Falls Councilor Cynthia Jaksa, who also serves on the city’s Cable Commission, to discuss enhancing the public’s access to government.