Jill Schramm/MDN Melissa Bliss, interim director for the new Ward County Human Service Zone Board, presides over the board’s first meeting as County Commissioner John Pietsch, left, and Louis “Mac” McLeod, right, look on.

The new Ward County Human Service Zone Board spent its first meeting Tuesday largely discussing budget matters.

North Dakota officially established human service zones across the state on Jan. 1. A number of counties combined their former social service offices to form zones, while the state’s four largest counties, including Ward, converted their social service offices to single-county zones.

Ward County commissioners who made up the former social service board serve on the new zone board, along with Rep. Clayton Fegley, R-Berthold, and Louis “Mac” McLeod, executive director of the Minot Area Homeless Coalition. Interim director Melissa Bliss, who has served as director for Ward County Social Services, chaired Tuesday’s board meeting.

A topic of discussion was the $130,000 in indirect costs that Ward County expects to incur in the operation of the human service zone this year. The state is taking over the cost of human services but it is reimbursing certain expenses as indirect costs rather than including them in the operating budget. Those costs include such things as printer ink, vehicle maintenance, furniture, computer servers and insurance. Often counties have combined these social service expenses with those of other county offices, accounting for the state’s decision to reimburse them as indirect costs of the human service zones.

Fegley said the current situation is an interim step in transferring human services from counties to the state, and the handling of many of these indirect costs could get addressed by the Legislature next session.

The human service zone operating budget for Ward County is $5.7 million.

The board also decided to retain its office in Kenmare, which is open two days a month. Services are limited to taking applications for assistance, and the office averages three clients a day. Under the new service zones, residents can seek services from any zone office. Kenmare-area residents have the option to travel to Bowbells, which is closer than Minot.

Bliss excused herself from the meeting for the discussion on hiring a director for the service zone. The board voted to begin advertising for applicants. The hiring decision will be made at the state level.