Freeborn County residents will pay more for a permit to carry a gun, and the sheriff says increased state requirements are to blame.

The fee will be $100 for a five-year permit. In the past, residents have paid $10 per year.

Despite protests from two residents who didn’t believe the extra work could cost that much, the county board voted unanimously to approve the fee increase.

But Sheriff Mark Harig said each permit application will now require the sheriff’s department to pay a $21.50 state fee, and the new gun law passed by the legislature this spring requires annual criminal and mental-health checks on applicants. He said those costs make a fee increase necessary.

Even the $100 fee is barely enough to cover the expenses, when the state fee is considered, he said.

&uot;Basically, we’re dealing with a little less than $80 to do five annual checks and do the materials,&uot; Harig said.

Harig has put all applications on hold until he could get the fee increase approved by the county board. Now that the fee is changed, he said he can start processing applications.

Commissioners said the fee increase seemed justified.

&uot;As long as he has to do that check every year, to me it’s simple economics,&uot; said Commissioner Dan Springborg.

In other county board news:

-The board approved a new one-year contract for sheriff’s department deputies that includes a 3 percent pay increase and a new shift differential clause that pays employees 25 cents per hour extra to work night shifts.

The extra night pay will apply to shifts between 5 p.m. and 7 a.m., said deputy Todd Earl, who appeared on behalf of the union.

The new contract also includes a $15 increase in the annual clothing allowance, which deputies use to replace their uniforms. It’s the first time the allowance has increased in nine years.

-The sheriff’s department will purchase a new four-wheel-drive sport-utility vehicle to replace a car that was destroyed in a collision at the end of a high speed chase.

Harig said having a four-wheel-drive vehicle will help the department when deputies need to drive off-road or tow snowmobiles or boats for enforcement purposes. He said buying an SUV instead of a car could cost around $3,000 extra.

Commissioner Dan Belshan voted against allowing the purchase, citing the cost.

-County Administrator Ron Gabrielsen responded to allegations by two citizens about his involvement in Belshan’s removal from the Freeborn County Family Services Collaborative joint-powers board.

Gabrielsen provided copies of a letter to the board and to Jim Hanson of Clarks Grove and Roger Bok of Albert Lea, who have repeatedly asked the administrator whether he worked to have Belshan removed.

He denied writing a letter that was signed by collaborative board chairman Bob Graham asking for Belshan to be removed. Hanson has claimed that Graham told him Gabrielsen wrote a letter and pressured Graham to sign it. Graham has since refused to comment on the matter.

Gabrielsen said he wants the board to meet in closed session if any more discussion about the allegations surfaces.

&uot;I am not going to have my performance or integrity degrated or insulted,&uot; he said.

Earlier, Hanson asked the county board to have County Attorney Craig Nelson conduct a hearing into the matter, but the board took no action.

When pressed by Belshan later in the meeting, Gabrielsen reacted angrily.

&uot;I thought I made it clear that there was an allegation brought up and I answered it,&uot; he said.

-The county will consider banning all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) in county right-of-ways, citing liability concerns.

A new state law allows counties to decide whether to implement a ban, and county employees say a ban is a good idea because the county can be sued if a rider is hurt while riding in a ditch, or culverts and drain tile can be damaged by the vehicles. The board made no decision Tuesday.

-Adolphson and Petersen, the county’s courthouse project manager, reported that the project is on schedule despite getting started almost three weeks late because of weather.

-The board agreed to sign on to a tax-free zone application planned among around a dozen southern Minnesota counties.

Each taxing authority in the proposed zone must agree to the application under the JOBZ (Job Opportunity Building Zones) initiative passed by the legislature. The zones exempt some property owners from certain taxes. Three zones will be created in Minnesota.