FAIRMONT– The Martin County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday considered a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the county and the Martin County Veterans Memorial (MCVM) Committee.

County Attorney Taylor McGowan drafted the MOU, which clarifies that the county owns the site and that any purchases for or changes made to the site need to go through the board of commissioners for approval.

McGowan said that he and Commissioner Richard Koons met with the committee and that the MOU also covers a lot of what the committee wants in regards to active participation.

However, McGowan said that while committee members want to actively work on the site, the MOU says that they will need to sign up as volunteers for the county so it provides the county some cover.

“I added that… the board reserves the right to amend any proposals brought to it or authorize any additions or modifications of its own accord. I think that’s a good reminder that the board would be the ultimate authority,” McGowan said.

In the past there have been some conflicts between the board, the committee and other groups that have made changes to the site without seeking prior approval from the board.

Commissioner Steve Flohrs questioned if any agreement like this was in place before and Koons said no.

“They’re actually the ones who asked for this. Terry (Viesselman) started working on this and here we are today. This is what Taylor and I, with some input from the committee, came up with,” Koons said.

The board unanimously approved the MOU between the MCVM Committee.

The board also heard from Chuck Mixson, a member of the MCVM Committee, who requested approval to do some improvements at the site.

Mixson said after a storm a few months ago, he went to the site and noticed that the flags were almost all shredded. In replacing them, he found that three of the poles were broken.

“Those poles were donated to us by the Bob Meschke family. Those are residential poles… they’re not conducive to what we want to do. It was a great donation but we need new poles,” Mixson said.

He said they have ordered and purchased new poles and were asking permission to dig new holes for the bases of the poles. Mixson said they would like to get it done before Memorial Day.

Mixson also requested permission to install an engraved bench near the helicopter, and permission to have some landscaping in the form of shrubbery done.

The board approved installation of the poles, bench and landscaping, which will be paid for by the committee.

In other news, the board approved:

— A Memorandum of Agreement between Martin County, Law Enforcement Labor Services and Canine Officer.

–The hire of Abigail Hilty as a full-time correctional deputy in the Martin County Sheriff’s Office.

— The hire of Josie Bleess to help with daily programming over the summer at the Martin County Library.

— An increase in per diems for citizen advisory committees/boards from $30 per day to $50 per day.