Clay County Commission 

Dan Haglund 

A fresh year and a fresh start for the Clay County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday.

Commissioners Jenny Mongeau and Paul Krabbenhoft were elected as 2026 board chair and vice chair of the commission.

And an assessment of the past year from Commissioner and exiting Board Chair Kevin Campbell in the State of the County annual address.

Campbell delivered synopses for each of the county’s departments, beginning with the Assessor’s office, and moving through each of the other sectors with activity descriptions of their past year.

The overall take from his delivery was of solid economic growth, a stable workforce, yet property taxes saw a bump in spite of various cuts at the county level. Cost-of-living adjustments aside, which matched closely with neighboring counties, were necessary and fair in order to maintain the excellent staff within the county.

Concluding his remarks, Campbell, Dist. 4, gave special thanks to County Administrator Stephen Larson, through which all department heads function.

“We’re fortunate to have one of the best county administrators in the state,” Campbell said. “We can’t go without saying thank you Steve for your leadership on behalf of Clay County.”

Campbell added that state and federal legislative changes have presented real challenges, but that the county remains “steady, collaborative and forward focused.”

Campbell thanked all staff for their dedication and professionalism throughout the past year.

In other action, the Hawley Herald was approved as the official publisher of county “corresponding memorandum and understandings” for 2026.

Board votes down flood diversion land purchase last week

On Dec. 30, the commissioners voted down an option to repurchase 22.37 acres of flood diversion project land south of Moorhead originally acquired for just over $4 million.

The land is now being offered to the previous landowners for $111,000. Those landowners then have 30 days in which to provide official intent to repurchase the land.

The four parcels in Holy Cross Township, considered Zone 1 properties with excess easements, is currently owned by the Moorhead Clay County Joint Powers Authority, a partnership created in 2019 between the city and county to handle land acquisition in Minnesota for the Fargo-Moorhead Area Flood Diversion Project.

“I am of the opinion and continue to be that this is excess lands,” Mongeau said. “These are unique properties.”

Mongeau explained that one of the parcels could end up land-locked, and that was one reason for her opposition to the county purchase.

The Metro Flood Diversion Authority, which oversees the project, determined that the properties are no longer needed. The properties were purchased between 2017-23 for $4,033,700.

The MFDA is offering them at $5,000 per acre, a loss of more than $3.9 million.