Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette Houghton County Commissioner Roy Britz, right, updates the county board on negotiations with Portage Township over the annexation of a potential site for a new county jail on Sharon Avenue as Administrator Ben Larson and Commissioner Gretchen Janssen listen.

HOUGHTON — At a special meeting Wednesday, the Houghton County board approved next year’s $20.5 million budget and learned of the 11 applicants for the county administrator position.

The board added two amendments to the budget before approving it. Commissioner Glenn Anderson suggested doubling the amount to the Keweenaw Economic Development Alliance (KEDA) to $20,000.

“It’s a bargain for what they’re doing in Houghton County, everything from the revolving loan fund to working with the land bank authority to working with various municipalities throughout the county,” he said.

The county will also budget the $1.1 million to buy a site of a potential jail on Sharon Avenue. The property is owned by First Apostolic Lutheran Church, which is building a new church elsewhere.

“I would hope you would close on that transaction by the end of October, if possible … at least get it signed before you leave, and ideally purchase it,” Anderson told Administrator Ben Larson, who is leaving for a private-sector job at the end of October.

Commissioner Roy Britz said the county had reached a Public Act 425 agreement with Portage Township for conditional land use of the Sharon Avenue site. However, the township is holding off on an agreement for Houghton to formally annex the property until the jail is built.

The complex is also expected to include the sheriff’s department, which by state law is required to be in the county seat — in this case, Houghton. The same may apply to courts, which may be moved to Sharon Avenue as well, Britz said.

“There’s a bit of a gray area, and I think we need to hash this out with the township and the city,” he said. “…I absolutely want to have this signed and done while Ben is still here. He’s worked his jail off on this.”

For the first time, the board formally adopted budgets for the marina and transfer station. Larson said the budgets were based on three-year averages. The board also approved fourth-quarter budget amendments.

Tuesday had been the application deadline for the administrator job. The applicants are David Juntunen, Mary Sears, Elizabeth Bjorn, Christina Holcomb, Keith Anderson, Dale Shalifoe, Kerry Pontis, Kassy Heikkinen, William Lytle, Jeremy Marshall and Adam Gill. Board members will review the applications at home before meeting at 1 p.m. Tuesday to decide which candidates to interview. The date and time of the interviews has not been set.

The board also closed out the Community Development Block Grant revolving loan fund loan for Cross Country Sports in Calumet. About $24,600 remains on the loan, made in June 2020. Cross Country Sports has met compliance standards by staying up to date on payments and keeping all six employees on its payroll.