County board discusses maintaining services, capital improvement updates

During their July 8 meeting, the Cook County Board of Commissioners discussed how best to manage a county staff providing a diverse set of services, updates to the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), and leadership transition with the hiring of a new county administrator. Interim Administrator Rena Rogers spoke to WTIP following the meeting.

Contracting to support a small county staff

The board took action to approve a contract with The Human Development Center to provide crisis response services. Rogers explained that for a small county, staffing for a wide range of services can be difficult. “Because we’re very small, but we have to do everything that big counties do, like Hennepin County or Ramsey County, we’re one deep everywhere,” she said.

Rogers added that for a number of county roles, including in crisis response, Cook County does not have the option to maintain a staff large enough to either provide redundancy of training or more coverage of those services. Contracting some of those roles to outside organizations who are able to provide the county additional support bolsters the small staff that the county is able to maintain. “It’s a way to manage this real risk associated with being a small population, but having a big scope of work.”

Capital Improvement Plan

Several projects within the CIP have also made progress in recent weeks. Rogers commented on the courthouse basement renovation, which should be completed before the end of July. The project created additional office space within the courthouse,  which was identified as a need within the CIP. She said that while Facilities Director Brook Lessard had hoped to have the project ready for staff to more into right after the July 4th holiday, the county is currently waiting on a delivery of office furniture.

Another project that should be completed by the end of the month is the Hovland transfer station. The satellite location is part of a larger transfer station project the county has undertaken. While the Grand Marais main site has a longer timeline, Rogers said that east end residents should be able to take their waste to the Hovland station in the coming weeks. She added that an official opening date is forthcoming.

Administrator transition

With an official start date of Aug. 4 set for incoming County Administrator Kristen Trebil-Halbersma, Rogers said she and Trebil-Halbersma have been working to get the new hire up to speed on the job and the community.  Rogers said a focus has been discussing how different pieces of the community fit together. “The sooner you can sort of understand those connections, the sooner you can become really, really effective. And I think she’s going to be really, really effective.”

WTIP’s Kirsten Wisniewski spoke with Interim Administrator Rena Rogers. Audio of that interview is below.

Kirsten Wisniewski July 10, 2025