BROOKINGS — Tuesday morning’s meeting of the Brookings County Commission largely centered around housekeeping-like duties, including naming new leadership, setting meeting pay and establishing county polling places.

For 2024, the new chairperson will be Commissioner Larry Jensen, while the vice-chairperson will be Commissioner Kelly VanderWal.

“First, I’d like to thank Commissioner (Ryan) Krogman for his leadership in 2023,” Jensen said. “(It was) a good year, and we’ll start a new year.”

Afterward, commissioners approved a resolution setting the pay for election officials in 2024. It breaks down like this:

• Vote center deputy: $14 per hour
• Vote center superintendent: $14.50 per hour
• Post-election audit officials: $14 per hour
• Election school attendance: $25
• “On-call” election officials: $50

Commission Department Director Stacy Steffensen noted that the post-election audit officials is a new addition for this year.

Another resolution, this one approving vote center locations for countywide elections, also received a green light from commissioners. The locations will be: 

• McKnight Hall in White
• Volga Community Center
• Elkton Community Center
• Bruce Community Center
• Aurora Fire Hall
• Brookings Activity Center
• Two voting areas in Bethel Baptist Church — area 1 and area 2 — in Brookings
• Holy Life Tabernacle Church in Brookings

Commissioner Ryan Krogman pointed out that, at some point, the vote center location in Aurora will have to be changed because, well, the fire hall that hosted it has been torn down.

Adding a second voting area to Bethel Baptist is intended to improve the experience for voters who use the facility.

“If it alleviates the pressure … this place gets overwhelmed — there’s lines, there’s long lines,” Krogman said. “This allows to have two different areas to vote that will hopefully be more convenient. … I think it’s something we should give it a try, see how it goes.”

Meeting pay for volunteer county boards was also approved for 2024. The breakdown is as follows:

• Weed Board members: $40 per meeting
• Zoning Board members: $75 per meeting
• Extension Board members: $40 per meeting 

In other action at Tuesday’s meeting, commissioners:

• Approved Rural Access Infrastructure Fund applications from townships in Brookings County for primarily culvert-replacement projects. This included efforts in Eureka, Oak Lake, Oslo, Preston and Volga townships.
• Heard the annual report from Executive Director Todd Kays of First District Association of Local Governments. The report detailed the benefits provided by the association to Brookings County and other area county governments.
• Named the county’s legal papers: Brookings Register, Volga Tribune, Tri-City Star and Elkton Record
• Approved the county’s official depositories: Richland State Bank, BankStar Financial, Citizens State Bank, First Bank & Trust of Brookings, Dacotah Bank, First Interstate Bank and Central Bank

— Contact Mondell Keck at mkeck@brookingsregister.com.