Faribault County Economic Development Authority specialists Jennifer Howard, left, Amber Patten, middle, and Celia Simpson, right, presented the 2023 Annual EDA Report to the County Board on Feb. 6.

The Faribault County Board of Commissioners, at their meeting on Feb. 6, approved the hiring of five individuals in their efforts to fill open positions within the county.

Sarah Van Moer was approved as the HR Generalist in Central Services/Human Resources. Her start date was Jan. 9. In the same department, Amanda Shoff was hired as the Human Resources director with a start date of Feb. 8.

The board also filled the vacant position of full-time senior treasurer clerk by hiring Nadia Lane. Her first day on the job was Feb. 5.

Luke Schonborn was hired as a full-time drainage inspector in the Drainage Department with a start date of Jan. 18.

The last hire approved was Cody Schwarz. He accepted the position of maintenance worker II in the Public Works Department and will work out of Wells.

Dennis Wick and Taylor Doering of the Public Works Department were at the meeting to present two bids for the county paving projects scheduled for this summer. Those projects include resurfacing parts of County Road 11, CR 17, CR 23 and CR 51.

“We received two bids,” Doering reported. “The engineer’s estimate came in slightly over $8.1 million. One bid, from Minnesota Paving and Materials, came in at $9.4 million while Ulland Brothers submitted a bid of $7.5 million.”

The board members voted to accept the bid from Ulland Brothers.

The commissioners inquired about the expected completion dates for the project.

“They are all scheduled to be completed by July 1,” Wick replied.

The board asked Wick to be sure the roads are maintained in the meantime, especially being active in managing the dust control when the weather turns warmer.

Former county engineer/Public Works director Mark Daly attended the meeting to discuss ideas with the commissioners about attracting a new engineer to replace him, as he retired in December of last year.

“Mark told us last year we would have to raise the base salary we were offering to be able to hire an engineer,” board chairman Bill Groskreutz said.

Daly suggested hiring an interim engineer for now.

“You need to have a licensed engineer on staff to be able to receive state funds,” Daly reminded the board. “I would recommend you hire a person just for the engineering duties and distribute some of the other duties I had, like overseeing the county parks, to someone else.”

The board set a goal of having a plan in place by the last day of February.

Jennifer Howard, Celia Simpson and Amber Patten of the Faribault County Economic Development Authority were at the meeting to review the 2023 Annual Report.

One of the accomplishments highlighted by the trio was the completion by Bevcomm and Faribault County of the broadband grant program which began in 2021.

“Over 17 miles of fiber lines were laid impacting 700 homes and 110 businesses,” Howard reported. “Bevcomm is currently seeking additional funds from the State of Minnesota Border-to-Border Program to build out fiber in Minnesota Lake.”

The group also talked about the $27,500 the EDA has distributed, in the form of nine forgivable loans, to childcare providers in Faribault County

“The ability to participate in the childcare loans came about because of the EDA working with Bevcomm on the broadband grant,” Groskreutz reminded his fellow commissioners, referring to funds the EDA received for their involvement with the project.

Future activities being planned by the EDA include conducting a manufacturing tour of more local businesses and possibly holding another job fair.

Howard also mentioned the Faribault County EDA will continue working with the Blue Earth EDA on the veterinarian retention program.

Because of retirements and staff changes, action was also taken by the commissioners to appoint new members to the 2022-2024 Ballot Board. Kendall Olson, Kim Poole and Tammy Emery were appointed to complete the terms of Gertrude Paschke, Amy Huber and Jessica Blair.

The board also voted to renew their lease at the Ag Center for space occupied by Faribault County Planning and Zoning along with Faribault County Soil and Water.

The three-year lease runs through Feb. 28, 2027. The terms of the lease call for an annual payment of $26,124 the first year, $26,778 the second year and $27,447 the final year of the agreement.

Scott Adams, chief deputy with the Faribault County Sheriff’s Department, was at the meeting to get approval to receive two grants.

“The Snowmobile Grant is a two-year grant for 2024 and 2025,” Adams said. “It is $2,001 for each year. The ATV Grant is also for two years and is $4,294 per year.”

The board voted to accept the grants.

The board also:

• Approved a rental agreement with Metro Sales, Inc. for a new copier at the courthouse at a cost of $209 per month.

• Gave approval to the request of Veteran Services Officer Jenna Schmidtke to attend the National Association of County Veterans Service Officers. The cost of attending the conference is paid for by the Minnesota State Association of Veterans Service Officers.

• Approved the requests of Bryce Werner and Jade Warmka of the Public Works Department to attend the ATSSA (American Traffic Safety Services Association) ‘How To’ Conference.

• Passed a motion to approve Taylor Doering, John Oswald and Bryan Schaper, employees of the Public Works Department, to attend the District Seven Engineers and Technicians Conference.

• Approved the request of Sheriff’s Department employee Vincent Do to attend Emergency Risk Protection Order training.

•Approved Briar Bonin of the Sheriff’s Department to attend the Special Operations Training Association Conference.