County Planning and Zoning administrator Sara Hauskins and attorney Steve Vatndal, above photo, address the board.

The Faribault County Commissioners, at their meeting on Nov. 19, revisited a zoning issue that last came before them in 2016 and 2017.

Planning and Zoning administrator Sara Hauskins brought the issue before the board looking for some guidance on the matter.

The question centered around property owned by Wells resident Mike Weber and whether the land, which is located on the south end of Wells, should be zoned as residential or agricultural land.

“I am just looking for direction on which way to go,” Hauskins said. “Either way, whether you decide it should be zoned residential or agricultural, I will have to help Mr. Weber deal with setback issues.”

Weber was represented by Mankato attorney, Steve Vatndal.

“This is a really unique property,” Vatndal explained. “It started out in 2003 when the county zoned the land as R1 (residential). Later the property was involuntarily annexed into the city. In 2010, there was a disagreement between Mr. Weber and the city and the city de-annexed the property and it went back to the county. But, for some reason, the land was zoned as agricultural even though it had previously been zoned residential.”

It was noted during discussion that a house and shed on the property were hooked into the city’s sewer system.

“The issue for this conversation is zoning,” county attorney Cameron Davis reminded the board. “Those other issues can be dealt with later.”

Chairman Bill Groskreutz voiced his support for Weber’s wishes.

“Obviously, there is not a good paper trail for some of the decisions that were made,” Groskreutz commented. “But, I am in favor of the land being zoned residential.”

Commissioner John Roper made a motion to confirm that the parcels in question should be zoned as residential land. Following a second, the motion passed.

Public Works director April Wellman was at the meeting and reported that the construction work for the year was complete.

“They finished work on installing the box culvert by Bricelyn at the end of last week,” Wellman reported. “We are now working on preparing for next year’s projects. We are also bidding the lighting project for the intersection of County State Aid Highway (CSAH) 16 and CSAH 17. We began advertising for bids on Nov. 4. The bids will be opened on Dec. 11, and awarded at the Dec. 17 meeting.”

Bolton and Menk engineer Derek Behrens joined Wellman in leading a discussion on a request for a variance for the CSAH 56 reconstruction project scheduled to be worked on in Bricelyn next year.

“CSAH 56 will have a total reconstruction including pavement, curb and gutter, pedestrian facility upgrades, storm water drainage and utility improvements between County Road 2 and Fourth Street,” Wellman commented. “Bolton and Menk is working with the city to replace/upgrade the sanitary sewer and water main infrastructure as part of the county project.”

The variance is needed for the street width and parking.

“The State of Minnesota requires a parking stall depth of 20 feet for a diagonal parking stall at a 45-degree angle,” Behrens said. “We are asking for a variance to allow for a stall depth of 18 feet.”

Behrens provided a drawing to the County Board which showed the current sidewalks along the streets are 10 feet wide, the driving lanes are each 11 feet wide and the angled parking stalls are 18 feet deep.

“What we are proposing is to have nine foot sidewalks, 12 foot driving lanes and parking stalls that are 18-feet deep,” Behrens stated. “If we were to follow the state standards, the sidewalk width would be reduced to approximately 7.33 feet on both sides of the street. We feel the extra width provided by the variance will provide better ADA accommodation and a safer walkway for pedestrians in the downtown area.”

The commissioners agreed and approved a motion to ask the state for a variance for the depth of the parking stalls.

Discussion was also held on whether to use asphalt for the whole project or whether the road in front of the elevator should be constructed of concrete.

“The part of the highway that would be concrete would be from CR 2 through First Street,” Wellman noted. “Asphalt would be used from First Street though Fourth Street.”

The use of concrete on the portion of the road by the elevator would increase the cost by $200,000 compared to using only asphalt. However, the board members expressed their opinion that the road would last a lot longer around the elevator if it were concrete and voted in favor of the concrete option.

Also at the meeting, Sheriff Mike Gormley was recognized for his 30 years of service to Faribault County.

The board also:

• Approved a gambling permit for Ride 2 Remember to conduct a raffle on April 13, 2025.

• Approved the training requests of Kasta Amundson of the Sheriff’s Department to attend a seminar put on by the Minnesota Crisis Intervention Team dealing with mental health awareness for dispatchers and Megan Cook of the Extension office to attend the Southeastern Minnesota Extension County Support Staff Professional Development Day.