Embattled George Gartner told Morton County commissioners he has his Fort Rice yard 99 percent cleaned up after being ordered to do so earlier by the commission.

Gartner appeared before the commission at Tuesday's meeting. The county has yet to inspect the cleanup, but commission chairman Matt Erhardt and auditor Paul Trauger said they would do so in the near future.

"I think I got the yard pretty well cleaned up," Gartner said. "I've got 99 percent of the garbage out, though there is a big pile of wood that's going to be burned, though I'm waiting for the snow. I know a lot of people at the casino made a lot of comments that it looks pretty clean."

Gartner wasn't the only property owner in Fort Rice ordered to clean up, just the first. Trauger said his office hadn't received any reply from the other property owners who had been sent letters to clean up their lots.

Commissioner Dick Tokach questioned Gartner about the boxcars on the property. Gartner said that he had received approval from a previous county commission to use the boxcars for storage. The first one was brought to the property in the late 1970s. Gartner said he had plans to paint one of the boxcars that had been charred by fire.

Trauger told commissioners that approval for the boxcars didn't come through planning and zoning, but that he would review commission minutes to see if Gartner had been granted approval for the boxcars. Gartner also said that there had been complaints about the semi-trailers in his yard, which he used for storage. He said they were still usable and were all full right now.

"Someone has been complaining that I have to get rid of them. I put it to you guys, why do I have to get rid of them?" Gartner said. "They can be hooked up and moved. I have them parked right alongside the shop."

It was recommended that when Erhardt and Trauger go to inspect Gartner's progress that they look over the trailers and come back with a recommendation. Gartner said that there also are three mobile homes that he is currently dismantling for salvage.

Gartner did ask the commission if it would be all right for him to construct a fence out of steel from the electrical transformers he had salvaged. He said he wants to bring some sheep onto his property to keep the grass and weeds down and the fence would keep them in.

Commissioners saw no reason why he couldn't, but warned him that he couldn't be bringing more junk in and that the property was to be free from debris and hazardous chemicals.

In other action, the Morton County Commission:

3 Approved a request by recorder Mary Stewart to fill a position of Tech II in her office. Stewart is retiring at year's end and will be replaced by her assistant, Carole Schaner, who won the recent election.

Schaner requested that the remaining person in the recorder's office be promoted to Tech VI and received the appropriate salary. Schaner also requested that she receive the salary Stewart was getting.

Trauger said that the commission had set a minimum salary for elected officials. Commissioners took no action and will review the matter.

3 Appointed Mark Bitz to the Mandan Progress Organization.

3 Authorized the auditor to look into using a commercial credit card for all county purchases.

3 Held a discussion regarding the feedlot ordinance in Morton County. The planning and zoning commission is considering the current ordinance and bringing it into alignment with the state ordinance.

(Reach reporter Gordon Weixel at 250-8255 or gordon.weixel@;bismarcktribune.com.)