Five new contact tracers hired by health department

The Hill County Commission announced at its weekly business meeting Thursday hiring five new contact tracers for the Hill County Health Department.

The commission also approved two budget amendments for the health department.

The first was to include $74,000 of additional CARES Act funding given to the department.

The second was for a $20,000 Maternal Childhood Health Bloc Grant.

Both passed 3-0.

The commission also voted to approve a contract between Bear Paw Development Corps.’s Brownfields Program and NewFields LLC to evaluate the Great Northern Fairgrounds Office Building for hazardous material, namely asbestos.

This issue was brought before the Great Northern Fair Board in a recent meeting after it was determined that the building may well contain asbestos.

Hill County Commissioner Diane McLean said this evaluation comes at no cost to the county.

The commission voted 2-1 with Hill County Commissioner Mike Wendland as the dissenting vote.

He said he’s never heard of the NewFields LLC and wanted more information about them before voting yes.

NewFields LLC has worked on similar projects brought before the commission including a Phase Two Environmental Assessment of the former location of Griggs Printing back in 2016, which the H. Earl and Margaret Turner Clack Memorial Museum Foundation is renovating to use as a home for the H. Earl Clack Memorial Museum.

The commission also announced that the bid package for the Hill County Courthouse’s new security cameras is on still on hold due to a need for additional language to be added.