Parts of the retaining wall around the front and south side of the Faribault County Courthouse are in disrepair, and much of it is leaning. The County Board is looking at making repairs or removing it entirely.

On a 3-2 vote, the Faribault County Board of Commissioners passed a resolution at their Nov. 21 meeting to increase their annual salary to $24,425.84 beginning Jan. 1, 2024. The resolution also included language which maintains a per diem of $80 per day for serving on any board, committee, or commission of county government.

This marks the first pay increase for the County Board in three years and represents a 10 percent pay increase over their previous salary. Other county employees received an 11 percent pay increase during the same time period.

Commissioners Bill Groskreutz, John Roper and Greg Young voted for the motion while chairman Bruce Anderson and commissioner Tom Loveall voted against the motion.

The board also took action to approve the hiring of Kendall Olson as the tax accounting clerk, Tammy Emery as assistant auditor/treasurer/accountant, Nathen Ericksen as the Human Resources director, Dean Jahnke as Parks manager and Taylor Doering as the staff engineer in the Public Works Department.

Olsen and Jahnke have already begun working at their positions. Emery’s first day on the job is Nov. 27, Erickson begins Dec. 4 and Doering is a part-time hire who begins working at her position on Dec. 11 and will work 30 hours per week.

Buildings and Grounds director Saxon Warmka was at the meeting to discuss a number of maintenance issues concerning county buildings.

“We have been in the Law Enforcement facility since 2009 and have not had proper signage for people to navigate their way around the building,” Warmka said.

Warmka presented a bid for signage by Flatline Design LLC, which will cost $16,393 and will be paid for with remaining ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds.

Signs will be used to direct people to the Sheriff’s Office, the courtroom, inmate visitation area, deliveries and the jail.

Warmka also presented a quote from Stateline Tuckpointing of Kiester to do repair work on the north side of the county attorney’s office building.

“We have had some water damage in the building,” Warmka explained. “There is some tuck pointing which needs to be done and some broken bricks and hairline cracks on some of the corners that will need to be fixed.”

Because of the current colder temperatures, the work will not be completed until next spring. The commissioners approved the quote of $6,360 so that the job can be put on the list with the contractor for early next spring. The money needed to make this repair will also come out of the ARPA funds.

The courthouse retaining wall was the final item on Warmka’s list at the meeting.

“The retaining wall was installed in the 1930s and is showing its age,” Warmka commented. “It was repaired on the south side of the courthouse in the 1980s, but it still has a lot of damage.”

Warmka offered two options for the board to consider.

“We can either remove the old wall and install a new one or the old wall could be removed and then the side hill could be sloped to a reasonable grade,” he said. “The least expensive bid for putting up a new wall is $88,300. The lowest bid for removing the wall and sloping the hill is $26,300.”

Warmka also had a bid for installing new steps and the sidewalk leading to the courthouse. That bid was for $27,795.

The commissioners voiced concerns that the sidewalk along the boulevard could be damaged when the wall was removed. The board decided to table the matter to give Warmka time to meet with the contractors to determine if the old retaining wall could be removed without damaging the existing sidewalk.

Other projects to be considered at some point in time include replacing more windows in the courthouse and doing dirt work and installing a fence for the parking lot east of the courthouse.

The commissioners also:

• Approved the request to issue a credit card to auditor/treasurer Amy Sathoff with a limit of $25,000 for the uses approved in the Faribault County Credit Card Policy. The board also voted to have Sathoff replace Mark Daly as the authorized officer of the county credit card account.

• Approved a resolution to have the auditor/treasurer resume the duties which had been temporarily transferred to the Faribault County Recorder to process state deed tax and mortgage registration tax on documents presented for recording.

• Voted to approve the training request of Lori Mehrhof of the County Assessors office to attend the Minnesota Association of Assessment Personnel Winter Business Meeting. They also approved the request of county auditor/treasurer Amy Sathoff to attend election security training.

• Tom Elmer of the Sheriff’s Office was approved to attend a Winter Law Enforcement Conference and Erin Beske, also of the Sheriff’s Office, was given approval to attend a seminar titled Releasing and Redacting Law Enforcement Records.

• Merissa Lore of the Faribault County Drainage Department was approved to attend the Minnesota Watersheds Drainage Workshop.

• Moved the first meeting next month to Thursday, Dec. 7, at 9 a.m. due to the AMC (Association of Minnesota Counties) Annual Conference being held during their normal meeting date of Dec. 5.

• Had the second public hearing on the Faribault County Sheriff’s Office body worn camera policy.

• Approved a motion to allow the repurchase of tax forfeited property by Robert Ruble of Bricelyn. Ruble had paid the repurchase price of $4,573 on Nov. 5.