Many of the people attending the County Board meeting asked the commissioners to do something to control the dust on CR 17 and CR 23.

Dust control on County Road (CR) 17, from CR 16 to Frost and on CR 23 from CR 16 to Bricelyn brought some residents who live along those roads to speak up during the public comment portion of the Faribault County Board of Commissioners meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 21.

Those two roads, along with CR 11, all went through full-depth reclamation this fall and are scheduled to be resurfaced this spring.

Amy Schonborn, who along with her husband, Brian, resides along CR 17 ,was the first to speak and voiced her concern about how the road was being maintained.

“Until it rained, the dust would hang in the air and create white-out conditions,” she stated. “Semis really create a problem.”

She added she appreciated that ‘road closed’ signs were posted at both ends of the highway.

“But unfortunately, it hasn’t seemed to have much effect on the number of vehicles still driving on the road,” she commented.

She also mentioned the dust from the ground asphalt leaves a sticky film on everything.

“Even power washing does not remove the film,” she explained. “You have to scrub it off.”

Schonborn also made it clear she and the others at the meeting were not upset with the county for tearing up the road.

“We understand leaving the road unpaved over the winter will result in a better road,” she concluded. “We are just looking for answers in reducing the dust.”

Brian Schonborn then spoke of the dangers the dust creates.

“Not all farm implements have lights,” he said. “I am concerned for the safety of the farmers and everybody else who uses the road. We are just asking for a little help.”

Nate Walton, who lives on CR 23, spoke next.

“I have a seven-year-old son with really bad asthma and the dust resulted in us having to take him to the hospital,” Walton noted. “He has been forced to stay inside because of the dust. I am asking the county to do something to mitigate the dust. I have talked to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and am of the opinion it is the county’s responsibility to control the dust since they worked on the road.”

Mark Walton, who also lives along CR 23, also spoke up, “I worked for the county for 42 years. I have never seen dust this bad.”

Later, when Public Works director and Faribault County Highway engineer Mark Daly arrived to discuss Public Works business, the board took up the discussion of dust control.

“If we created the problem, we need to mitigate the problem,” commissioner Tom Loveall said.

Daly said the county used their remaining calcium chloride product in the city limits of Frost and Bricelyn and so far that seemed to be working.

“Could we use the water truck to water the roads and keep the dust down until it freezes?” commissioner Greg Young asked.

“Yes, we could absolutely do that,” Daly responded. “We have the manpower to do that.”

Commissioner John Roper wondered what it would cost to use the soy products that are available.

“Maybe we put the soy products where the houses are and water the rest of the roads,” Roper offered.

Daly also offered to put signs up to reduce the speeds to 45 miles per hour on those roads.

The question was raised if CR 11 also needed to be watered.

It was noted that the dust does not seem to be so bad on that road.

“It probably has to do with the materials which were used in making the road,” Loveall speculated. “The chemical composition is probably different.”

Daly said they can water that road also.

With Daly’s retirement date approaching the board took up the topic of finding his replacement.

“We have had the job opening posted since June and have not had one application,” Daly told the board members. “When you look at what surrounding counties pay their county engineer compared to what we pay, I believe that is part of the problem.”

Daly presented a table which showed Faribault County offered the second lowest salary for a county engineer of the 13 counties on the list. Faribault County pays an annual salary of $115,272 to their county engineer. Martin County pays $158,532 and Jackson County pays $144,876.

“I believe to become competitive we need to raise the annual salary by $23,000,” Daly stated.

The board did not take any action on Daly’s recommendation at this time.

Daly also presented a proposal to the board which would allow the county to take part in a Federal Carbon Reduction Program to purchase an electric powered pickup for $15,320.

“The estimated cost per truck is $76,500 with Federal Aid covering 80 percent, or $61,280 of the total cost,” Daly explained. “These would be available in late 2024 or 2025.”

Although none of the commissioners were very excited about electric powered pickups in general, they voted 4-1 to participate in the program with Roper voting no.

“I’m not crazy about electric powered pickups,” Loveall said. “But, when you can get a pickup for under $20,000, I think you do it.”

The board also voted to sponsor four LRIP (Local Road Improvement Projects) in the county. Two of the projects are in Blue Earth, one is in Wells and the final one is in Jo Daviess Township.

“Because these are small cities and a township, the county is required to sponsor the projects,” Daly said. “We sponsor the projects but the cities and the township are 100 percent responsible for any costs associated with the projects.”

Daly also announced that the Minnesota Department of Transportation has approved increasing the speed limit on old Highway 16 between Blue Earth and Fairmont to 60 miles per hour.