The Nobles County Board of Commissioners met Tuesday, Sept. 9th at 9:00 a.m. in the County Board Room. They began with the Pledge of Allegiance.
The first item the Council looked at was a presentation by MnDOT, District 7 Engineer Greg Ous and Principal Planner, Sam Parker. Parker led the discussion informing the board of the State’s Transportation Improvement Program for the next 10 years. Funding was gone over as well as a tentative time line for repairs of roads and bridges in District 7. He told the Board that the FAST Act (Fixing America’s Surface Transportation) expires in September, but they believe it will be extended. Ous told the Board that it is a challenge to decide where to apply the dollars with all of the projects that need to be done. Highway 59 north of Worthington was discussed. It is not scheduled to be resurfaced until 2027-2029 and is bad shape now. MnDot assured the Commissioners that their comments would definitely be taken into consideration.
A closed session was then held for union negotiation strategy. The meeting was reopened at about 10:15 a.m.
The tax abatement request for Colt and Kaitlyn Bullerman was approved.
Stephen Schneider talked to the Board about the .05% local option sales tax. He needed guidance as to how to proceed. If the Board approved the option sales tax, it would be in place from the 1st quarter of 2021 until December 31, 2036. He presented a list of projects that needed the funding to be completed. A discussion was held as to whether or not to scale the list back, or leave everything in. The question was raised as to whether they were committed to completing the projects if on the list. They were assured by Schneider that they were not committed. Ahlers commented that he had people tell him now was not the time to add an increase in sales tax.
After a discussion, it was decided by a 4 to 1 vote to approve the .05% local option sales tax for transportation.
The 2020-2021 paving projects for the County were discussed. The projects being proposed for bituminous overlays are CSAHs 3, 4 and 5 in Indian Lake Township. CSAH 4 is a top candidate for reconstruction as part of the local option sales tax. This is a six mile section of roadway. If CSAH 4 is included in the local option sales tax, it is recommended that CSAH 3 in Lorain Township, and CSAH 3 in Graham Lakes Township be included in the 2021 construction program. These two roadways are a total of six miles. Schneider stated that delaying approval of the projects for 2021 will result in the bid awards to be done in 2021 and the loss of some state aid municipal funding in 2021. The resolution for the paving projects was approved.
County State Aid Highway 10 safety improvements were presented. The new Intermediate School will be built in 2021-2022 with a completion date before school begins in 2022. A study was done on traffic patterns and it was determined that with the additional traffic, turning lanes would need to be installed and the road restructured for additional width to accommodate the working industries that use the road and the housing activity as well as school traffic. They will be looking at crosswalks near the Learning Center and Gymnastics facility. The work needs to be completed before school begins in 2022. The funding would come from state aid funds. This was approved.
Schneider presented a detour agreement with the State for when the three roundabouts are improved, removing the concrete in the center and the curbs to make the transition smoother. A discussion was held on the detours routes. Schneider was concerned that closing the roundabouts at the same time would cause traffic problems for the elevator, implement dealer and JBS. The large vehicles needing access would be hindered. The Board talked about sending this concern with the agreement, but Schneider said the State would do it anyway. The improvements will be done in September and October this fall. The resolution was approved.
It was approved to replace a full time officer in the County jail to stay compliant with State guidelines.
The Community Services Department was given approval to purchase a new van as the mileage on theirs is very high. The prices on a Dodge Caravan SE from Marthaler came in at $23,997 and the price from Papik Motor in Luverne was $23,250. Papik had the van on site while Marthaler had to travel to get it. It was approved to purchase the van from Papik because it could be done immediately.
Hunter Heitkamp was working with Data Driven Pages in ArcGIS to create a series of plat maps of the City of Worthington that is sorted by section. These section by section maps are vital because they give more detailed information about lots/blocks and plat names. A digital version of these maps will also be available to the Recorder’s Office that can maintain updates to the plats. It would take approximately 2-3 weeks to complete. The funding for this project will come out of the Recorder’s Compliance Fund, which would not affect the budget. Thelma Yager asked to have the Board approve keeping Heitkamp on to complete the project as he knows what is going on. Board approved.
Kathy Henderscheidt from Environmental Services brought before the Board a request for a conditional use permit for Paul Langseth, Worthington, MN, to change the use of an existing cabin to commercial use consisting of vacation rentals. A public hearing had already taken place before the Planning and Zoning Commission. There were several concerned citizens present on Zoom to further the discussion from the hearing. It was decided by the Board that since the Planning and Zoning Commission had already made a recommendation and all conditions and paper work had been met, to approve the Conditional Use Permit.
A budget update was made by Amy Dykstra, looking for imput from the Board.
Bruce Heitkamp gave the Board an update on the CARES Act program. He explained that four townships had applied. He has been in contact with the remaining townships as the deadline is fast approaching. He indicated that three other townships have expressed interest, but were not certified as of yet. He encouraged the Commissioners to keep in touch with the townships in their districts. The city of Worthington had grant requests coming in, but not as fast as the County would like. He also suggested that they be looking at other programs to utilize all of the funding by the end date.
Jerry Brake has filed for reappointment for his position on the Kanaranzi/Little Rock Watershed Board and Jeff Rogers has filed for reappointment to his position on the Okabena/Ocheda Watershed Board. Both appointments were approved.
