This house in Blue Earth is one of the ones being considered to be sold by the county to the city, for the purpose of correcting blighted properties. No decision was made at the meeting last Thursday.

Plans for revamping the heating and cooling systems in the Faribault County Courthouse may create a need to find a different venue for jury trials next summer.

“We have been told by the people at Kraus-Anderson (the construction firm hired to do the renovations) the courtroom could be out of commission for 2-3 months,” commissioner Greg Young told the board. “They are aware of the difficulties this could cause and will try and minimize the length of time needed to complete their work.”

County attorney Cameron Davis was at the meeting and volunteered to speak with court administrator Kelly Iverson and also with Fifth Judicial District Judge Troy Timmerman to make them aware of the situation.

“It is possible it will not be an issue,” Davis said. “The courtroom may not be needed, but this way we can be prepared if there are potential conflicts.”

Even though the renovations are not scheduled to begin until next year, the commissioners had to deal with a more immediate problem in the courthouse.

“One of the four boilers has developed a substantial leak,” county auditor/treasurer/coordinator Darren Esser explained. “Only three had been operational to begin with so we are down to two working boilers and one of those is operating at a substandard level.”

Esser explained one option available to the board would be to purchase one high-efficiency boiler which would meet the specifications of the future renovation project and be able to heat the building on its own.

“If it cannot be used in the renovation we could use it to update the boiler at one of the county’s other facilities, such as the Highway Department building,” Esser commented. “It would run off of natural gas. The cost of the new boiler would be $19,000.”

Young explained the Building and Grounds committee had explored other options.

“To replace a boiler with a similar one would cost $7,500 but with the one boiler underperforming, it should probably be replaced also,” Young noted. “So, the total cost would be closer to $15,000.”

Asked how soon a new boiler could be installed, Esser replied, “The company we work with has one in stock and they said they could install it the week of Dec. 27.”

Public Works director Mark Daly was present at the meeting when the board authorized the issuance and awarded the sale of $5.355 million General Obligation State Aid Highway bonds.

“Bids were solicited through 11 a.m. on Dec. 8,” Esser stated. “Five bids were received and the winning bidder was Piper Sandler and Company with a true interest rate of 1.4553 percent. The sale was $5.355 million rather than $6 million because we received a $480,861 premium (upfront money) which resulted in a total of $5,835,861. This keeps us under the $10 million bank qualified threshold for 2021.”

Daly then presented the board members with a map which showed which county roads were currently scheduled for work in 2022 and 2023 and what roads might also be worked on in 2023 because of the bonding.

“The roads scheduled for work next year are County Road (CR) 29 heading north out of Wells, CR 31 located mostly in Clark Township, CR 28 south of Walters, CR 30 north of Walters and CR 21 heading north from Brush Creek,” Daly reported. “In 2023 we will be doing roads more on the western half of the county as well as resurfacing the Unity Trail heading out to the rest stop.”

The board also approved a request by Daly to purchase a tire balancer for the Public Works department at a cost of $14,035 with unused funds remaining in the department’s 2021 budget.

The commissioners also took time to report on their experiences at the Association of Minnesota Counties (AMC) annual conference which was held Dec. 6-8.

“One of the most interesting things I learned was information about Minnesota’s retirement population,” commissioner Bruce Anderson commented. “In 2010, 15 percent of the residents living in Minnesota had retired. By 2020 the number had grown to 20 percent. Now, they are predicting that as many as one third of Minnesota’s residents could be retired by 2025, and that the number could be even higher in rural Minnesota.”

The board then moved on to discuss an open position in the Faribault County Extension office.

“It is considered a full-time position at 30 hours per week,” Central Services director Lexie Scholten explained. “It is a support position for the Extension educator.”

The board had previously debated whether or not this should be a full-time position because of the drop in the number of kids who participate in 4-H.

However, after visiting with Extension personnel, Anderson and Young felt it might be best to keep the position at 30 hours for now.

“I learned they do a lot more than I realized,” Anderson said. “They are also hoping to increase student involvement because there are fewer COVID restrictions in place than there had been.”

Commissioner Tom Loveall expressed his concern over what curriculum was being taught.

“If there is critical race theory or a “woke” emphasis in the teaching; then I have a problem with it,” he stated.

The board approved advertising for the opening as a 30 hours per week, full-time position.

Scholten also informed the board there are four other positions to be filled.

“We need a full-time dispatcher and a part-time dispatcher,” Scholten explained. “There is also an open administrative position in the probation department and we are looking for a part-time legal secretary.”

Also at the meeting:

• Ben Gettis of Midwest IT reviewed security protocols with the commissioners.

• The board approved a four-day per week contract with CEDA (Community and Economic Development Associates) for 2022 with a three percent increase.

• A vote to approve the repurchase of a tax-forfeited parcel in Elmore passed. The former owner, Kristin Travis, applied to repurchase the parcel and had paid all of the back taxes and fees in the amount of $9,169.

• The commissioners tabled requests by the cities of Blue Earth and Wells to purchase tax-forfeited properties for the purpose of correcting blight.

“I have learned the Department of Revenue is requiring a more detailed proposal of how the blight will be corrected,” Esser explained. “So, to stay out of trouble, I feel we need to wait on approving these requests until the cities provide more information to us.”

• The board passed a motion to pay the remaining $225,035 Public Works ditch bill utilizing budgeted 2020 and 2021 general fund dollars.