Faribault County Housing Redevelopment Authority (HRA) chairman Don Nichols, above, left, and Judd Schultz, the Housing Services director for Minnesota Valley Action Council (MVAC), attended the County Board meeting last Tuesday to talk about an opportunity regarding housing vouchers.

The Faribault County Board of Commissioners, at their regular meeting on Feb. 3, set 9 a.m. on Feb. 23 for a public hearing on the question of whether to allow rifles for deer hunting in the county or have the county remain a shotgun only county.

Following the public hearing the board may or may not pass an ordinance to have the county allow shotguns only for deer hunting. If the board decides to forego any action, the county will automatically become zoned for using rifles.

“I appreciate that we have scheduled this public hearing after the Wells Rifle and Pistol Association holds their forum on the matter,” commissioner Bill Groskreutz said. “They are hosting a discussion on Feb. 18, at 7 p.m., at the Wells Community Center.”

The first bids for 2026 county highway projects came in at a lower cost than anticipated, according to Public Works/county engineer April Wellman.

“We had two bids for the pavement rehabilitation on County State Aid Highway (CSAH) 19,” Wellman told the commissioners. “The lowest bid was from Ulland Brothers for $2,941,523. We also had a bid from Duininck, Inc. for $3,828,560. The engineer’s estimate was $3,079,000 and we had budgeted $3,250,000 for the project so the actual bid was lower than what we had budgeted.”

The CSAH 19 project covers about nine miles. The board voted to accept the bid from Ulland Brothers.

Wellman also had bids for the board to consider for the mill and overlay project on CSAH 23 from County Road 16 to Interstate 90.

“We had three bids for that project and Ulland Brothers once again had the low bid,” Wellman said. “Ulland Brothers’ bid was $287,236, Nielson Blacktopping, Inc. bid $358,628 and W W Blacktopping’s bid was $376,945.”

Wellman noted that the bid price came in below the engineer’s estimate of $398,200 and was also lower than the budgeted amount of $400,000.

“We have five box culverts out for bid,” Wellman concluded. “We will award those bids during the first meeting in March.”

The County Board also took action to update the county’s panic button system.

“Our current system is antiquated and provides relatively slow response times during an emergency situation,” sheriff Scott Adams informed the board. “We expect a reasonable response time of four to 10 minutes plus travel time. The new system will allow instant notification to local law enforcement with no additional subscriptions fees.”

The cost of the new system is just over $32,000.

“The Sheriff’s Department will cover about $13,400 of the cost,” Adams commented. “Plus we will provide a radio.”

Once the panic button is pushed, a notice goes out to the Sheriff’s Department and the local police department and the notice is immediate.

“We had an incident where the old system did not work,” county attorney Cameron Davis noted. “We ended up dialing 911 for assistance. However, a person can not always dial on a phone in an emergency situation. I feel it’s an important upgrade to provide for the safety and security of my office staff.”

Chairman Bruce Anderson said that he and commissioner Groskreutz had done a test two years ago and it took 17 minutes for the response time.

“Any city could add this to their City Hall building,” Adams added. “Schools would also be able to tie into the system.”

The board approved the purchase of the new system.

While Adams was at the meeting, he was asked how his department deals with ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement).

“If someone is arrested they are fingerprinted and we can tell if they are wanted and whether they are legal or illegal,” Adams explained. “We make a phone call to ICE and they respond right away. They can put on an administrative retainer if they want the person held in custody. We can’t hold them beyond 48 hours unless a judge, for instance Judge Timmerman, puts a hold on them or sets bail so they can’t be released. It is the state attorney general’s position that detention beyond any court order hold would be a violation of civil rights, If there is no court order and they are not picked up, we have to release them. I can only think of a couple in the last number of years who were not picked up. It is the same protocol we have had for 31 years. Nobody’s rights are violated.”

Human Resources director Amanda Shoff was at the meeting to seek approval for a new hire in the recorder’s office.

“A vacancy has existed in the recorder’s office for a records clerk due to the transfer of Terri Van Reese from the recorder’s office to the auditor/treasurer’s office,” Shoff said. “We received 24 applications for the position and selected the top six candidates for interviews. Following the interview process, Korissa Libra was identified as the top candidate based on qualifications, experience and overall fit for the position.”

The board approved the hire and Libra will begin work on Feb. 9.

Judd Schultz, the Housing Services director for Minnesota Valley Action Council (MVAC), and Faribault County Housing Redevelopment Authority (HRA) chairman, Don Nichols, attended the meeting to talk about an opportunity regarding housing vouchers.

“MVAC administers the Faribault County HRA under contract with the county, delivering the Housing Choice Voucher program which provides rental assistance to low-income households in the county,” Schultz commented. “Recently, the agency delivering the program in Martin County decided to voluntarily give up their vouchers and the Minneapolis HUD (Housing and Urban Development) office asked if the Faribault County HRA could take those additional vouchers and deliver the program.”

Schultz stated that the Faribault County HRA Board had discussed and passed a resolution accepting the vouchers.

“That was a required step in the process,” he commented. “The transfer would take place on July 1 and the Faribault County HRA would receive 215 additional vouchers and the budget authority for those vouchers.”

Schultz also brought up that Martin County would like to have a non-voting member serve on the Faribault County HRA.

“An advisory board member from Martin County would be welcome,” Nichols said.

The commissioners passed a motion saying they are in agreement with the acceptance of the vouchers.

County recorder Kelly Hendrickson asked the board to consider changing the credit card vendor for the recorder’s office.

“Our current provider has a minimum charge of $3 per transaction. Forte charges $4,” Hendrickson said. “I am recommending we go with Certified Payments which has a minimum charge of $2 per transaction and is also waiving the fee for installing two terminals in our office. The cost is normally $350 per terminal.”

The board approved the request for a new credit card vendor.

At the request of Hendrickson, the board also approved a new fee structure for services provided by the recorder’s office.

Passport photo fees will increase from $12 to $20, research/document retrieval fees will increase from $20 to $50, a government corner book increased from $3 to $5 per certificate and the veteran’s certificate will now be free (it was previously $5 unless a person went through the Veterans Services Office).

County auditor/treasurer Charles Schrader also had some fee increases that the board approved.

Among those were an increase in a TIF Distict set up from $0 to $250, an individual assessment lien release from $46 to $56, a tax lien recording will also increase from $46 to $56, a delinquent publication from $20 to $25 per parcel, a repurchase of forfeited property from $120 to $250 per parcel and an auctioneer’s license from $10 to $20.

The board also:

• Approved the training request of Brittney Gehrking of the Sheriff’s Office for a Dogs for Law Enforcement K9 Seminar.

• Approved Veterans Services Office Jennifer Howard taking basic benefit accreditation coursed online.

• Approved the request of Vincent Do of the Sheriff’s Office to attend TASER instructor certification classes.