The death of U.S. Representative Jim Hagedorn, and the resulting need for a special election, resulted in the Faribault County Commissioners approving the purchase of Electionware software at their March 1 meeting.

“The board approved applying for a grant to help purchase the software at a prior meeting,” county auditor/treasurer Darren Esser explained. “I feel pretty certain we will receive the grant but with Rep. Hagedorn’s passing and the special election and possible primary which may now be necessary, I feel we need to move on this now.”

Esser explained among other things, the update would make the system more secure.

“The price of the software package from Election Systems and Software is $10,899,” Esser told the commissioners.

“And you are fairly confident the county will receive the grant?” the board asked.

“I am at least 75 percent sure we will receive the grant,” Esser answered.

The board approved the purchase by a unanimous vote.

Esser also asked the commissioners to approve setting 8:30 a.m., Friday, April 8, as the time and date for a private land auction which would be held in the board room at the courthouse.

“It is a small parcel in the city of Wells and it is too small to build on,” Esser said. “The private auction would be just for those individuals who are adjacent landowners.”

Commissioner Bill Groskreutz shared he had walked by the property.

“It is not very large, maybe only 15 feet wide,” Groskreutz offered.

A motion was passed to approve the auction date.

The board also took action to approve liquor licenses for the Derby Inn, Golden Bubble, Riverside Town and Country Club and the Elmore American Legion Sanford Post 192.

“The current fee is $1,000 plus another $25 for Sunday sales,” Esser commented. “Half of the fees go to the county and the other half is sent to the township in which the establishment is located.”

Esser also expressed his desire to schedule a work session in the future to review the fee structure.

The board voted to approve the licenses for all four businesses.

Central Services director Lexie Scholten attended the meeting with a request for a revision to be made to the current Faribault County Personnel Policy regarding workplace protections for expectant and new parents.

“The current law states an employer must provide reasonable unpaid break time to an employee to express milk for her infant child,” Scholten explained. “The state has expanded these protections. The new law clarifies that an employee has a right to take multiple breaks each day and is eligible for break times during the first 12 months following the birth of a child.”

The board passed a motion adopting the changes.

Billeye Rabbe, the Solid Waste coordinator for Faribault County, attended the meeting with a list of eight solid waste haulers and six recycling haulers needing to have their license to operate in the county approved.

“There are 54 vehicles being used to haul solid waste and 42 trucks to transport recycled material,” she told the board. “The county grants these licenses to the businesses who operate as waste haulers and meet the county requirements of being bonded and insured. It is a nominal fee of $10 per truck but it gives us a way to make sure they are recorded.”

Public Works director Mark Daly presented the board with four bids for a lawn mower with a 72-inch deck to be used for mowing the county parks.

“These are the four lowest bids. They are all from Kibble Equipment because they allowed more for the mower that we are trading in,” Daly explained. “The mower we prefer will be available in March. The other three will not be available until June or later.”

The board approved a bid in the amount of $10,638 (after trade-in) for a John Deere model Z970R with a 72-inch deck from Kibble Equipment in Blue Earth. The mower is to be delivered by March 24.

Daly also informed the board bids for seal coating and crack sealing will be opened on March 10.

While training requests normally do not cause a great deal of discussion, a request from Planning and Zoning employees to attend the 2022 Fusion Online Land Use Training generated more scrutiny than usual.

“I am concerned with the way the term ‘equity’ is applied when used in the program,” commissioner Tom Loveall offered. “I have seen too many times where the use of equity is used to discriminate against some people.”

Planning and Zoning director Loria Rebuffoni, who attended the meeting virtually, addressed Loveall’s concern.

“I believe there is only one session where that term is used,” Rebuffoni said. “All of the other sessions are basic land use management 101.”

Commissioner Bruce Anderson offered his opinion.

“I understand what Tom is saying,” Anderson noted. “But I believe our staff needs to stay up-to-date on their knowledge.”

The motion to approve the training passed on a 4-1 voice vote with Loveall casting the dissenting vote.

Other business included:

• Approval by the board to sign the Board Ratification Statement between TriMin Systems-Integrated Financial Systems (IFS) and Minnesota Counties Computer Cooperative (MnCCC) for maintenance and support of IFS. The annual dues are $6,585 plus an enhanced system plan in the amount of $1,200 per year.

• A vote to approve the training request of Veteran Services Officer Jenna Schmidtke to attend the National County Veterans Service Officers Annual Training Conference.

• Approval of a request by Chase Davis of the Faribault County Sheriff’s Office to attend a conference titled Authorized Use of Deadly Force by Peace Officers.