Nate Carr, with the Soil and Water Conservation District and Planning and Zoning administrator Loria Refuffoni, seated at the table, were at the last County Board meeting to review various issues while commissioner Bill Groskreutz listens to the discussion.

There were a number of topics to discuss when Public Works director Mark Daly appeared before the Faribault County Board on Tuesday, March 15.

“We have received bids for striping, seal coating and crack sealing,” Daly mentioned. “The low bid for striping came from Traffic Marking Service in the amount of $86,125, which was almost $5,000 higher than our estimate but well under the $100,000 we had budgeted for striping.”

The bids for seal coating were discussed next.

“We rejected one bid because they did not include a bid bond with their proposal,” Daly explained. “I know there was a similar situation a few years ago and the board decided then it did not want to set a precedent of accepting bids which did not meet all of the requirements.”

The current board discussed the matter and decided to maintain the policy.

“I think it is important to be consistent,” commissioner Bill Groskreutz said. “This company that forgot to include a bid bond has done business with the county before so they know our process.”

A bid bond, as Daly explained, helps to prevent contractors from submitting frivolous low bids to win a contract and acts as a guarantee that the contractor who wins the bid will honor the terms of the bid after the contract is signed.

“Maybe we need to make it more clear in our documents that a bid bond is required,” board chairman Greg Young offered.

The bid for the 2022 seal coating was awarded to HG Meigs, in the amount of $363,000.

“The cost per ton came in at $605, which is the highest the county has ever paid and is 33 percent higher than in 2021,” Daly remarked.

The final bid presented by Daly was for crack sealing.

“MP Asphalt Maintenance had the low bid in the amount of $27,664,” Daly shared. “Our engineer’s estimate was $49,400 and there was $100,000 in the budget for crack sealing.”

The board voted to accept the bid from MP Asphalt Maintenance.

Daly also asked for and received approval of a resolution between the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) and Faribault County concerning a lighting maintenance agreement for lighting systems on Trunk Highway 169 at County State Aid Highways (CSAH) No. 2, No. 4 and No. 52.

“It sounds like MnDOT will also be installing lights at some of the intersections on Highway 22 between Wells and Minnesota Lake,” Daly added.

Next, Daly reported the Park Board had met and would like to apply for a grant to help pay for adding 10 more sites to Pihls Park.

“It will cost about $6,000 per site for each one we add so that would take $60,000,” Daly said. “We thought it would be worth it to apply for the grant.”

The commissioners agreed and passed a resolution directing the Park Board to apply for the grant.

The Public Works shop in Frost was also a topic of discussion.

“It is really too small for us to utilize to park a snow plow inside of the shed,” Daly noted.

The board did decide to have fiber optic cable put into the shed since it could be done at no cost. They also considered whether the building should be offered for sale but took no action during the meeting.

Discussion on the condition of the county highways was next on the agenda.

“Since 2017, we have improved 18 miles of highways from poor to good,” Daly explained. “At the same time, another 18 miles of highway went from good to fair. This lack of significant progress reinforces our commitment for bonding for 2022 and 2023.”

Planning and Zoning director Loria Rebuffoni was also at the meeting to present an application for a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) to the board for construction in Clark Township.

“The Planning and Zoning Commission recommends approving the resolution, which is for a CUP to ITC Midwest LLC. and Scott and Susan Seiberlich for a substation control enclosure,” Rebuffoni said. “The conditions include applying for a 911 address, a driveway permit and maintaining security lighting and fencing.”

There were no objections raised to the CUP and it was passed unanimously.

Rebuffoni also presented the board with an updated contract for services with the Soil and Water Conservation District, which was approved.

Also on the agenda was consideration of a short-term loan in the amount of $60,000 to the Faribault-Martin County Transit Board to cover a portion of the funds needed to purchase two replacement vehicles.

“One of the vehicles arrived on Feb. 28 and the other one should arrive at the end of this week or the beginning of the following week,” Faribault-Martin County Board Transit director Jeremy Monahan told the board.

Monahan, who attended the meeting virtually, informed the commissioners the Martin County Board had approved a similar motion earlier Tuesday morning.

“Once we accept delivery of these vehicles, we have 30 days to make payment in full to the vehicle sales vendor,” Monahan explained. “We are then able to submit a Request for Funds to the Minnesota Department of Transportation for our vehicle replacement contract. MnDOT will reimburse us for 90 percent of the vehicle cost up to the contract amount.”

Monahan provided the board with the details of the transaction which showed the total cost of the two vehicles to be $184,500.

“If the Transit Board had to pay the full amount it could potentially cause a cashflow shortage,” Monahan commented. “The Transit Board does have sufficient funds to cover the remaining $64,500 not covered by the loans from the counties.”

Monahan was asked how long MnDOT would normally take to reimburse the funds.

“It typically takes 30 days or less for reimbursement of those funds,” he replied. “Once the Transit Board receives the reimbursements, each county will be paid back the $60,000 in full. It is anticipated this will happen in May at the latest.”

In other business:

• A request from Mary Eckhardt of the Faribault County Attorney’s Office to attend the three-day Karpel Solutions National User Group Meeting to receive training to more efficiently use their office management software was approved.

• A vote was taken approving the request of Emily Bonin of the Faribault County Sheriff’s Office to attend the Minnesota Fraud Investigators Association Spring Conference.

• Briar Bonin and Mark Purvis of the Faribault County Sheriff’s Office were given approval to attend a conference of the Special Operations Training Association.