Ellsworth County Sheriff Murray Marston met with county commissioners Monday to find a more consistent way for the sheriff ’s office to be notified in the future when the county approves a burn ban.

“We’re trying to improve things,” Marston said, noting the sheriff ’s office was not informed of the current burn ban.

According to County Clerk Shelly Vopat, the reason was that she and another member of her office were out sick the day the ban was approved and notification did not go out to the sheriff ’s office.

However, the burn ban was the lead of the commission story in that week’s edition of the Independent-Reporter.

Marston suggested the county clerk’s office email and call the sheriff ’s office in the future.

Commission Chairman Greg Bender said he will make an effort to communicate that information better to the sheriff ’s office.

In other business:

• County Appraiser Carl Miller said the value of ag land is going down because in the last four years, farm income is going down while farm inputs are going up. He expects that trend will continue for the next one to two years.

As far as residential sales, Miller said a total of 385 homes or dwellings sold in Ellsworth County between 2019 and 2022 — an overall increase of 5 to 10 percent.

Commercial property sales also reflect an increase in sales from 7 to 12 percent.

• Approval was given to the 2023 list of county officers as follows: Greg Bender, commission chairman; Dennis Rolfs, commission vice chairman.

• Approval was given to the 2023 list of appointments as follows: Kerianne Ehrlich, health supervisor; Teresa Shute, noxious weed/landfill supervisor; Dale Houston, road and bridge superintendent; Vopat, purchasing officer; Dr. Ron Whitmer, health officer; Whitmer, Dr. Easton Casey, Dr. Jerzy Slomka and Dr. Katie McWilliams, county coroners; PA Shawn McGowan, special deputy coroner; Nathan Florian, EMS director; Slomka, EMS medical advisor; Keith Haberer, emergency management director; and the Ellsworth County Independent-Reporter, official county newspaper.

• Approval was given to pay $11,790 to Sonny Seager to provide an online tax search capability. The cost includes a $10,000 set-up fee and a $1,795 permonth maintenance fee. It will be paid for using the Local Emergency Tribal Contingency Fund.

• No action was taken after a 10-minute executive session with Shelly Vopat to discuss non-elected personnel (pending litigation).

From the Jan. 3 meeting:

• An agreement for snow removal for the Ellsworth County Health Department was approved.

• Mary Ann Frederickson of Ellsworth asked who to contact if she has questions about the county. The commissioners said she could reach out to them or the county clerk.

• After the commissioners requested County Treasurer Geneva Schneider present information for having online real estate tax payments available, Schneider will get more information and whether there is a cost for this service and report back to the commissioners.

• Approval was given to a proclamation declaring January 2023 as Stalking Awareness Month in Ellsworth County.

Due to the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, the next meeting of the Ellsworth County commission is Tuesday, Jan. 17, at 9 a.m. at the county courthouse.