Faribault County Public Works director and county engineer Mark Daly, left, gave a full report to the County Board on Thursday.

The availability of new equipment that the Faribault County Highway Department has been trying to purchase remains a problem, according to Public Works Department director/county engineer Mark Daly.

“We had two snowplows budgeted for 2022 and were not able to get them that year or in this year,” Daly told the Faribault County Board of Commissioners at their meeting on Thursday, Dec. 7. “We also had a motor grader budgeted for this year and were unable to complete a purchase.”

Because those budgeted dollars were not spent this year, the board took action to designate those funds for use in 2024.

One piece of equipment which is available for purchase is a skid steer loader.

“I’ve got bids for a Caterpillar and for a Bobcat,” Daly offered. “The Caterpillar lists for less but the bid from Bobcat offers a better trade-in value for our old machine which makes the difference between the two bids much less.”

The bid for the Bobcat minus the trade-in was $63,000 while the bid from Caterpillar with the trade-in was slightly less.

“The bids are close enough that I believe we should purchase the Bobcat and support our local dealer (Yeager Implement),” commissioner John Roper said. “I think it is important we support the businesses in our county whenever possible.”

The other board members agreed and approved the purchase of the Bobcat skid steer loader provided the bid numbers remained the same.

Daly also submitted bids for the purchase of box culverts for 2024.

“We had four bids and R & D Enterprises of Mankato was the low bidder,” Daly commented. “It appears the box culvert prices have returned to where they were two years ago.”

The County Board approved the bid from R & D Enterprises in the amount of $851,407 which came in well below the engineer’s estimate of $1,196,058.

A motion was also passed by the board directing Daly to begin advertising 2024 overlay, seal coat and striping projects for bids.

With the two 2023 bridge projects now complete, the commissioners authorized the final payment of $5,000 to the contractor.

The board also approved executing a Joint Powers Agreement with the city of Kiester in regards to the reconstruction of streets, one of which is a county road, and infrastructure.

The total cost of the street and infrastructure project Kiester is undertaking is $13 million. The portion which Faribault County is responsible for carries a price tag of $840,000.

Chief deputy sheriff Scott Adams was also at the meeting to discuss the fees charged by the Faribault County Sheriff’s Office.

“Our current daily fee for keeping someone out of the county is $60 per day and we would like to raise that to $75 per day. Our out of county fee for special maintenance prisoners is also currently $60 per day and we want to raise that to $200 per day,” Adams explained. “We also want to raise the fee for out of county juveniles to $150 per day from the current fee of $60 per day.”

“What makes someone special maintenance?” commissioner Greg Young asked.

“They are people who are more difficult and because of that we may have to call in more people to help with the situation,” Adams replied.

The fee changes were approved.

The board was also introduced to the staff currently working in the county auditor/treasurer’s office.

Assistant auditor/treasurer/accountant Tammy Emery, drainage secretary Cassy Lewis, senior treasurer/clerk Athena Thompson, tax clerk Kendall Olson and county auditor/treasurer Amy Sathoff all made a brief appearance at the meeting.

Commissioner Bill Groskreutz gave an update on the Towards Zero Deaths (TZD) committee he sits on.

“Since 2003, there has been a 32 percent reduction in fatalities and serious injuries due to vehicle accidents,” Groskreutz reported.

The board also:

• Set the meeting time for the Dec. 19 County Board meeting at 3 p.m. with the Truth in Taxation meeting beginning at 6 p.m.

• Passed a motion to hold the first County Board meeting of 2024 on Jan. 2, at 9 a.m. and appointed county coordinator Brian Hov to convene the meeting until a new chairperson is elected.

• Voted to authorize senior treasurer/clerk Thompson to receive full access to all banking at First Bank Blue Earth, MAGIC and Wells Fargo to perform the duties of senior treasurer/clerk.

• Approved a resolution delegating the authority to make electronic funds transfers in 2024 to county auditor/treasurer Sathoff and Thompson.

•Approved the hiring of Jean Mosloski as an administrative specialist in probation and Jade Warmka as the new maintenance crew lead worker in the Public Works Department.

• Voted to approve a three percent general wage increase (cost of living adjustment) for non-union employees of Faribault County for 2024. In addition, Faribault County will also contribute $4,150 annually to those enrolled in the HSA compatible PEIP plan for 2024.